Jareth peered down at the beauty, who slept soundly beside him. An elated sigh escaped from her lips as he swept his naked hand across her forehead. Though he knew it was wrong, it felt good to have her in his arms. Her soft white skin was warm and touched, as if she had been made love to softly all night. However, Jareth had made sure not to cross that line with her; not whilst she was under a love charm. The thought crossed his mind, of course - as well as the idea to keep her under the spell for the rest of eternity. But deep down, Jareth knew that he did not want her love in that way. If he was to ever take her virtue, it would be because she had wanted it.
So, when morning had broken, he quietly removed a crystal from his sleeve, and absorbed the enchantment from her restful body. Then, he left her to sleep in peace.
Unlike Sarah, it took Ludo forever to traverse the Goblin City. To his misfortune, the goblins had surfaced and the poor beast had to endure yet another fully-fledged battle. Some of the little brutes charged at him and began to pound him with their little fists. Ludo would have been able to toss away one goblin easily, but whole bunch of them was much trickier. If only he had gathered Didymus, Hoggle and his other accomplices before he so candidly trudged into the Goblin King's domain.
A bit further away, two other goblins were loading up a cannon which they were planning to fire at him. The others stepped back as they lit the big gun, but a more stupid goblin dived onto the beast just before and unintentionally took the bullet for him. He rocketed into the air and landed with a clunk. As the others ran to help him, Ludo finally managed to slip away and headed directly towards the castle.
Eight and a half minutes later...
The creaking of the rusty marble door kindled her from her deep slumber. Then, her eyelids began to open. From the first few blinks, everything seemed hazy, but instantly she knew she was not where she should have been. She sat herself up on the spongy divan that she lay on, and focusing her eyes, she recognised that she was positioned on a bedstead, which rested inside a vast chamber. Confusion flustered her face, for she did not know why she was lying in a bed; a large one at that. Not like the dilapidated, musty bed that she slept on in Hoggle's hut, but a bed made for a king! It had silk maroon-coloured sheets, stitched with gold embroidery and supple golden pillows. No wonder she'd been asleep for so long. It was the most comfortable bed she had ever had slept in. But whom did it belong to?
She scanned the room for more clues, and saw that whoever owned this bedroom had quite an obsession with a certain avian variety - an owl to be exact. There were feathers everywhere; on the curtains, on the carpet, hanging from the ceiling, and so forth. There were only two people she could think of that would possess a bedroom so dramatic and bird-like - an ornithologist (unlikely), or the one and only Goblin King!
But what was she doing in Jareth's bed? She couldn't remember coming to the castle. Was it a trick? Did he bring her there? Either way, she knew had to get out of there before he came back, so she removed the quilt and hopped off the mattress.
'Phew!' she thought, noticing that she was fully-clothed. At least she could rule out a night of heavy drinking and unmindful passion. 'Nothing happened, nothing happened' she kept on thinking, as she stood in the centre of a feathered rug and spun around to scan the entire area. After all, when would she ever be returning again?
Though large, the room had a cosy feel to it, with plenty of carvings and statues of many different legendary creatures; goblins, gremlins, unicorns, et cetera - all which she guessed were figurines of real-life creatures located somewhere in the Labyrinth. The thought of a unicorn existing within the maze appealed to her greatly, and she couldn't help but reach out for the statuette and observe it closer. But as she did so, she felt a large shadow cross her path. She gasped, and turned around to face whoever had discovered her whereabouts.
"Ludo!" she shrieked, quickly placing the unicorn back onto the mantelpiece. The beast did not say anything, just titled his head in bewilderment. This caused her to feel more nervous. "Ludo, it's not what you think. I don't even know what I'm doing here!" she explained.
"Sarah sleep?" quizzed the giant.
"Yes, yes, that's all! I fell asleep!" she said with urgency.
"You sleep more?" asked Ludo, preparing to leave now that he had seen his Sarah was safe.
"No, no! I don't need to sleep anymore!" she cried as she ran over to the beast and gripped his furry paw. "Let's just go okay!" She pulled him out of the door, to find herself standing in a dark narrow corridor with a hint of light coming from the far end of it. Leading him slowly down the passageway, she bit her lip in hope that no one else would see where she had been.
When she reached a small brown door at the end, she pushed it open hesitantly, and a sigh of relief struck upon her when she entered the throne room to find that Jareth and his goblins were nowhere in sight. The last thing she wanted to do was see him right now, whether he knew about her presence in his castle or not.
"Quickly!" she told Ludo, as they both raced out of the castle and down the suspiciously quiet streets of the Goblin City.
It seemed that Sarah had underestimated the length of time she had been gone, for when she and Ludo arrived back at the hut, Hoggle was stood outside of the door with an apprehensive expression, which turned into a rush of relief when he saw them approach the house unharmed.
"And where 'av you two been?" the dwarf questioned, with a slight hint of fury in his voice. Hoggle was known for his grouchiness, but it was rare for him to be this angry, especially at Sarah.
"Sorry, Hoggle! I went out for a walk. We…we lost track of time!" she lied, catching her breath while Ludo trudged behind her.
"A walk? You've been gone for hours! I was just about to send a search party out for yer!"
"Sarah sleeping. Sleeping in cas…" Ludo tried to say.
"I fell asleep in the junkyard," she quickly interrupted, not wanting anyone else to know about her embarrassing situation.
"The junkyard? You knows you're not s'ppose to be going that far, Sarah. You and your nosiness!" Hoggle sighed. "Well you better come inside. It's getting dark. You don't know what trouble you'll get yourself into if you start wondering around and falling asleep where you shouldn't."
Oh didn't she just know it.
Later that evening, Sir Didymus and his steed arrived at the hut to keep Sarah company. He and Sarah made themselves a small fire using the kindling that Ludo had previously collected, while Ambrosius snoozed in the corner. The dog yelped in his sleep, causing his master to roll his eyes at the fact that he remained a coward, even in his dreams. Hoggle was out gathering food, since Sarah had failed to do so during her apparent daytrip to the Junkyard. Hoggle wasn't stupid. He knew something about her explanation didn't quite add up. He couldn't trust her to stay on her own, so he invited the noble fox over to ensure that there was no repeat of the day's earlier upset. Not that he had anything to worry about, for Sarah herself knew that she would not be venturing off on her own again for a while. She didn't want to end up in anyone else's bed with no memory of how she got there for a second time. She was just thankful that no one else knew about it.
Or so she thought.
"My brother told me about what happened, my Lady. He said that he found you sleeping…in King Jareth's bed. Are his allegations true?" asked Didymus.
Sarah hit her head against the side of her bed in humiliation. How could just Ludo tell him about that? Though, she knew that blaming the naïve animal was pointless, since he didn't have a malicious bone in his colossal body, and wouldn't have revealed her secret out of spite.
"I don't even know what happened Sir Didymus, honest! One minute I was inside a tree talking to a strange troll, and then the next minute I woke up in Jareth's bed. Between that, it's all a blur. I think I remember running up a tower of stairs, but I don't know why. It's crazy! How can I not remember?"
"Alfred," Didymus uttered.
"I'm sorry?"
"You must have encountered Alfred, my Lady. Or Alf, as I think he prefers to be called. Well, that explains it all! When you saw this troll did he, by any chance, offer you a drink?" asked the fox.
"Yes!" she exclaimed. "It was a horrible green slimy liquid. I didn't want to drink it but he seemed persistent. It had a sickening taste though. Do you know what this drink was?"
"I'm afraid I do. It was a love potion, my Lady - crafted to attract the first creature the drinker sets their eyes on; apart from Alfred himself, of course. He's immune to the stuff!"
"I… I can't believe it!" Sarah felt sick. She had been made to think she had actually fallen in love Jareth, and he must have taken complete advantage of her.
"Nor can I," said the fox. "But I can't understand why a troll would want to do that to you."
"Oh, I can! He was put up to it!" she stated undoubtedly.
"By whom?" queried the fox.
"I'll give you one guess," Sarah looked at the fox and gave him a nod.
"But…but King Jareth didn't even want to see you. Why would he make Alfred give you a love potion to entice you when he told you to stay away from him?"
"I don't know. But I'm sure as hell going to find out!" She stood up and clenched her fists, with anger and determination in her eyes. Seeing this excited the fox.
"Ahh, finally! A battle! Fear not, my Lady. I shall be sure to defend your honour. I will swing my sword like this…" Didymus started waving his cane around, as if it were an actual sword. "and then I will swing it like this!"
"No! No, Sir Didymus!" she urged, clamping her hands on the cane so he could no longer swing it. "We're not going to fight the Goblin King. I don't think I'll ever be ready to face him again. I'm going to ask the troll why Jareth put him up to this. That's all!"
The fox looked disappointed.
"Very well," he uttered, wondering if he would ever get to be the hero.
However, what Sarah did not know was that if she wanted to confront Alfred, she would have to wait in line, as just a few acres away from her location, somebody else was keeping the troll preoccupied inside his tree, and whoever it was did not seem happy.
"What are you talking about? I gave it to her just like you told me to. Didn't it work?" asked Alfred in usual his crotchety tone.
"No, it didn't! You sure you gave her the right potion?" questioned the being behind the scheme. But it wasn't the Goblin King that stood before the troll. It was a small dwarf, a dwarf with a red hat, wispy grey hair and a love of plastic jewellery.
"I told ya! I gave it to her!" yelled the troll.
"Then how comes she didn't fall for me?" Hoggle enquired.
"Silly dwarf. If you'd have listened to my instructions before running off so fast, you would've heard that the potion drinker will fall or whoever she sets eyes on first! She must've seen somebody else before you!"
"Somebody else?" asked Hoggle, in a dejected tone. "But who?"
"Well, if it isn't the great and powerful Hogspawn!" boomed a voice from behind him, a voice which made Hoggle jump from his uneven skin.
"Jareth! Y…Your Highness! What are you doing 'ere?" Hoggle cowered before his majestic ruler, now dressed in a bared-chested grey shirt and black breeches, and appearing rather enraged.
"Now, now Hoggle. Do I, the Goblin King, need a reason for roaming about my own Labyrinth?" He paced around the dwarf as a means to intimidate him.
"No, o' course you don't! But there's really nothing to see here," Hoggle insisted, trying to disguise his nerves as best he could. "Ain't that right, Alf?" he said to the troll. Alfred nodded uneasily. It seemed that the large troll was utterly terrified of the Goblin King; more so than Hoggle.
"Why, what is this?" interrupted Jareth, who caught sight of the troll and the mixture of green potion. Then he picked up the ladle and examined the mixture closely, turning his nose at the smell.
"Th…that's my love potion, Sire" confessed Alfred, much to Hoggle's displeasure. Surprisingly, Alfred's usual brusque tenor was replaced with shivers and whimpers now that the Goblin King was in attendance. "The dwarf, he…he told me to make it for the young lady. He wanted her to fall in love with him! Only she didn't see him first!"
"Really?" Jareth teased. "Well, I never would have guessed! Hoggle, the repellent scab, has fallen in love - with Sarah, of all people!" Then he laughed. "Oh, dear! What a pity someone else got there first," Jareth gave him an evil smirk, which penetrated through Hoggle's defeated eyes.
That was when the dwarf realised...
"It was you, weren't it? She saw you first!" Hoggle looked horrified. Of all the people she could have seen, and it was Jareth - the man he was afraid of the most.
Jareth's smile grew wider.
"Don't look so sad, Hoggle. I'm sure you'll find another ugly little dwarf to love someday."
Hoggle was crushed. More often than not, he tolerated Jareth's torment, but this was too much for him to take. Without thinking, he raised his craggy fist and thumped the King right in the leg. Of course his tiny hand didn't do any damage, but Jareth was infuriated all the same. When Hoggle realised what he had done, his whole body trembled, and the livid expression on Jareth's face told him that he was in deep, deep trouble.
"I'm sorry, Master! I didn't know what came over me! Please don't…" But it was too late for apologies. The Goblin King pulled out three crystals and juggled them in his single hand, fixating his stern eyes on Hoggle all the while. The faster he juggled them, the more they blurred together. "Oh dear," Hoggle gulped, as he watched the crystals spin around faster and faster until they blended together completely. Alf quivered in the corner, watching Jareth's expression became more and more stern as the crystals spun so fast, that they transformed into a small crown.
A crown? Both Hoggle and Alf gazed in confusion, while Jareth placed the crown on top of Hoggle's head. Why would he give him a crown, unless he wanted him to become a king? Or a prince?… A prince.
Hoggle remembered the words Jareth had spoken years ago.
"If she ever kisses you, I'll turn you into a Prince…Prince of the land of Stench!".
'He wouldn't?' Hoggle thought, but his thinking was irrelevant, since he already had.
"Arrggh! What's that awful smell?" cried Alf, holding his nose as the odour of decomposed fish, human faeces, rotten flesh and stagnant water flooded the tree's interior. It was immediately apparent that Hoggle was, in fact, the dealer of the appalling stench. The dwarf took a whiff of himself and almost fainted. It must have been bad if even Alf couldn't be near him.
"Please, Master!" begged Hoggle, struggling for air. "Take the smell away!"
"As long as you wear the Crown of Stench, you will be forever known as the ruler of Stench!" announced Jareth with a wicked smile as he watched Hoggle attempt to remove the headdress from his cranium. He showed no sympathy at all, wrinkling his nose in disgust at the dwarf's odour. "Oh, and in case you didn't know, the crown is imperishable!" he laughed, flipping back his platinum mane in a superior motion.
After sneering a few more times, Jareth vanished, leaving his stern cackle to ricochet about the malodorous air.