Chapter Sixteen: A Sudden Visit
"Linda," Jeremy asked suddenly over a quiet breakfast of cold cereal.
"Yes, dear?" She looked up from the script she was reading.
"What's Sarah's phone number?"
Linda's eyebrows scrunched together. "Um...I don't think I have it, actually. She's usually very good about calling us anyway. Why do you want it?"
Jeremy shrugged. "I was just thinking about her lately. Don't you think it's weird we didn't meet Jareth before they got engaged?"
"Oh, Jeremy," Linda waved a hand at him, "don't act so behind the times. I'm just glad she brought him out here before they were married with three kids."
Jeremy frowned at what was left of his breakfast.
"Well, I'm off or I'll be late." Linda deposited her bowl in the sink, pecked her husband on the lips, and danced out the door.
***
Sarah frowned into the crystal.
A familiar triple-pound knock rang against her door.
"It's open," she absently announced.
"Sarah?" Jareth stepped into the room. "Are you well?"
"I'm not sick, if that's what you're asking." she sighed and dismissed the image of her step-father from the crystal.
"Then why aren't you up?" He asked as he crossed the room. "May I?" He motioned at the bed.
"Of course." Sarah smiled and held out her hands.
Jareth took them in his and returned her smile warmly as he sat down on the edge of her bed. "What's troubling you, my love?"
Sarah closed her eyes as the familiar shudder tingled pleasantly up her spine. "Should I tell Jeremy?"
"Tell him what?" Jareth's pointed eyebrows drew together.
Sarah took a deep breath. "That the Labyrinth is real and it wasn't just a dream. He's been asking my mom about me all week."
Jareth studied his fiancé's gray eyes. "Do you trust him?"
Sarah's initial impulse was to respond with an abrupt, 'yes, of course I do – He's family,' but the look on Jareth's face stopped her. He's not trying to be offensive, she told herself, he just wants to be sure our world will be safe. He's trying to protect the Labyrinth, which is probably why he hasn't gone parading around on Earth as the Goblin King before. Can I trust Jeremy to keep our secret?
"Yes," the Goblin Queen answered quietly, solemnly, "I trust him."
Jareth nodded. "Then do as you see fit. In the meantime," he released her hands and stood, "I should like to eat before the council convenes."
"Okay." Sarah stretched and climbed out of bed in her dark blue nightgown. "I'll be down in a minute."
"I'll be waiting." He took her chin in one hand and delicately touched his lips to hers before vanishing.
***
A short hour later, while the Goblin King convened with the goblin council, the Goblin Queen retreated to her bedroom to take care of some family business. As soon as she touched the crystal, the image bloomed within and she could hear the phone ringing.
"Hello?" Jeremy picked up the apartment phone.
"Hey, Jeremy!" Sarah answered brightly.
"Sarah!" Jeremy took a step back and looked all around the room suspiciously. "I was just thinking of calling you, but it turns out we don't have your number."
"Well," Sarah responded smoothly, "now I've called you. So what's up?"
"Well," Jeremy began checking behind and underneath every piece of furniture in the apartment. "I had this really crazy dream a few nights ago, and you were in it."
"Really?" Sarah tried to sound interested, but thought she probably just sounded like she was dreading the upcoming conversation. "What happened?"
Jeremy summed up his adventure in the Labyrinth as best he could without taking forever. "Pretty crazy, huh?" He asked, finally satisfied with the state of his apartment and flopping onto the couch.
"Yeah," the Goblin Queen agreed, "that was pretty crazy. Do you want to know what happened after you left?"
Her step-father stared at the air in front of his face for a moment while Sarah bit her lip. "It really happened?"
"Yes," Sarah confirmed quietly, "it did."
Jeremy nodded. "And you're really the Goblin Queen?"
Sarah smirked. "Make a wish of the Goblin Queen and see what happens – but just be careful how you word it."
"Okay," Jeremy rubbed his chin, "I wish that the Goblin Queen would bring me to visit her in the goblin castle."
"Done." Smiling, Sarah snapped her fingers and vanished.
She appeared near the edge of the enormous and colorfully overpopulated flowerbed of the courtyard next to her stunned step-father. "Hey!"
"Sarah!" He looked her up and down, taking in her dark yellow dress, then turned around in a circle. "Where are we?"
The Goblin Queen's smile took on a crafty edge, "the courtyard. Jareth's with the goblin council right now, which is where I usually am in the morning as well." she wandered over to a stone bench and sat on one side, leaving room for Jeremy. "But I had some family business to take care of today instead."
"I see." Jeremy sat down warily. "Nothing's going to jump out at me is it?"
Sarah laughed. "No, not here. The Labyrinth likes to play tricks, and there are so many strange creatures living in it, but this is where Jareth and I live. Everything's perfectly safe."
"Even the goblins?" Jeremy glanced over his shoulder.
"Especially the goblins."
"What about the Goblin King?" Jeremy asked while staring behind him.
"Of course Jareth is safe." Sarah turned to see what her step-father was looking at. "Oh."
"Are you sure?" Jeremy's voice cracked at the end of his question.
"Stay here." The Goblin Queen jumped up and went to meet her fiancé before he arrived at the bench. "What happened to the council?" She inquired brightly.
"I adjourned it," Jareth explained with a scowl, "when the goblins stopped arguing and sat very still like someone was wishing away a baby, and after a second they all looked at each other like they didn't know what to do."
"Oh."
The Goblin King took a very deep breath and questioned here in a low, even tone, "what is he doing here, Sarah?"
Sarah answered him confidently, "he wished that the Goblin Queen would bring him to visit with her in the castle."
"Does he know he only has one wish left?"
Sarah frowned. "I thought he'd get three from each of us."
Jareth shook his head and sighed. Three years, he thought to himself, and she's still taking things for granted. "We both draw our power from the Labyrinth," he explained patiently, "and the Labyrinth only grants three wishes."
"Oh." Sarah glanced over her shoulder at where her step-father was sitting, watching them like a mouse might watch a pair of hungry cats. "Would you like to explain that to him?"
