Chapter Three – Too Much Rejection

The morning dawned with a radiant golden sunshine which shone mildly through the windows of the castle. Jareth woke feeling very rested. Just as he was about to open his eyes, he felt that something warm was rested against his right arm. He opened his eyes and turned to see that the girl, Jennifer was curled up into his side, still sleeping quietly. The Goblin King could not believe it. Did this little girl, whom he had only just met, trust him that much already?

He smiled to himself and slowly turned onto his side to look at her properly. Gently he reached over to stroke her soft dark hair just like he'd done the previous night. She moaned softly and began to stir beside him. "Shh" Jareth whispered. "Rest Jennifer." And she relaxed into sleep again.

Slowly he climbed out of his bed leaving Jennifer to continue to sleep until she was ready to get up herself. After dressing into his clothes, he headed towards the door to his chambers. He glanced once more at Jennifer with a smile before heading out into the corridor closing the door behind him.


An hour or so later, Jennifer turned over awakening from her deep sleep. With her eyes still stuck closed from sleep, she instantly remembered all the events of the previous night. She rubbed her eyes and opened them. With a gasp of surprise, she quickly sat up taking in the spectacular room which surrounded her. Then her gaze drifted down to the ginormous bed she was in. The space next to her was empty. She remembered that during the night she'd woken and found that she was sleeping beside the Goblin king. Though that feeling may have been different for others, the wonderful memory of that safe and secure feeling it had granted her, warmed that part of her which had always felt empty and incomplete.

She climbed out of the bed and found she was still in her pyjamas and socks. The cloak which Jareth had given her was draped on the edge of the bed. Without a second thought she picked it up and wrapped it round her.

Where is he? She wondered as walked over to a tall door which stood to her left and opened it. On the other side was a long stone corridor. Jennifer stepped out wondering which way to go. It was impossible to decide because both directions seemed to go on and on.
Just then she heard an odd sort of tinkling sound and to her left. To her surprise, she saw something rolling along the stone floor. It was a small crystal ball which was around the same size as a tennis ball. She looked back along the corridor it had come, but saw no one there. Once it passed it continued on its way in the opposite direction down the corridor to the right. Should I find out where it came from? Or should I follow where it is going. Out of curiosity Jennifer decided on the latter. It would probably be easier to follow it than trying to find out where it had come from.

The crystal wasn't rolling fast so it was fairly easy to keep up with. Strangely it didn't turn any corners just continuing down the same corridor. Well, if we're going in one direction it won't be too hard if I want to try and find my way back.

Her footsteps on the stone floor echoed as she walked and passed a few more doors and archways but she didn't have time to acknowledge them as she didn't want to lose the crystal in case it suddenly changed direction.

Soon the crystal started slowing down and just ahead of them Jennifer saw that the corridor had split in three directions. To the left and up ahead were two more corridors and to the right was a massive pair of double doors which seemed to be made of metal. The crystal kept on rolling straight ahead and Jennifer still followed.

The corridor finally came to a corner which led to a winding staircase. It seemed to be the end of the line for the crystal, but to her surprise the crystal started bouncing up the stairs like a rubber bouncy ball still making its sweet tinkling noise. She smiled and climbed up the stairs after it.

After a short climb, the doorway they reached opened up into the throne room which she had been in the previous night, it was now all lit up from the morning sun. The crystal rolled over to Jareth who was seated on the open stone window ledge gently turning three identical crystal balls in one of his gloved hands. The solitary crystal stopped at Jareth's boot and slowly hovered up into the air. Without looking, Jareth reached out and took the crystal from mid-air and placed it on top of the three crystals he was still twirling in his other hand. The sight was so beautiful that Jennifer's face broke into a smile.

"Did you sleep well?"

Jennifer gasped as she had been so distracted by the crystals. "Er…yes thanks." She stammered quickly.

The Goblin King turned his handsome face to her and beckoned her to come to him. She obliged and she went to join him at the window.

"For a moment I was afraid that this had all been just some wonderful dream." She said feeling a bit embarrassed.

Jareth slowly shook head. "Oh no, my dear Jennifer. I assure you; I am just as real as you are and this place is just as real as your earth itself."

She turned and looked out the window. The sun was shining brightly and saw the vast view of the Labyrinth. Eyes widening, she went over and had a closer look. It truly was a sight that would enchant anyone who loved fairy tales. The sun glowed off the stone houses of the Goblin City. In the far distance she could see mazes made up of stone and hedges. A stretch of what looked like a forest and just outside the walls of the city was a very unattractive looking rubbish dump. "It's…so...vast."

"That's putting it mildly, little one." Jareth chucked, genially amused. "If you were to try and solve it, it would seem even further that you'd think." A calm silence passed between them as they both admired the vast view.

A sparkle of light caught Jennifer's eye and she glanced back down at the crystal balls Jareth was still turning in his hands. "What are they?" she asked.

The goblin king glanced down at the slowly spinning orbs then back up at Jennifer. "They're crystals, nothing more. At my hand they can possess many magical qualities." He took the crystal from the top of the three spinning ones and offered it to her. "Here."

Jennifer stared at the crystal almost transfixed, then tenderly she took it in her fingers. By close examination she couldn't see anything magic by the way it looked. Despite the fact she knew these crystals did hold some kind of magical power, remembering that it was this very one which had led her to this room.

"It's very pretty." She said quietly.

"If you look into it, it will show you your dreams."

These words broke her transfixed gaze and she looked back up at him. Was he serious? Could she actually see her own deepest dreams in this small crystal?

Jareth made a small gesture towards it with a smile on his face. "Go ahead, take a look."

She gazed back down and looked deep into the glass ball. Almost instantly a picture appeared inside it and she held the crystal closer to see the picture clearer. It was her and her mother standing side by side but something was different. The difference was Sarah. Her mother no longer looked lost and suffering from the inside. She looked exceptionally radiant and full of joy. As Jen watched, the miniature versions of her and her mother embraced each other with blissful love. When they turned back their images suddenly changed. They were no longer wearing their normal clothes; they were both wearing fancy royal dresses and upon their heads were crowns that looked like jeweled vines. Sarah's was rich gold and Jen's was shimmering silver. Another figure joined them and Jennifer blinked as she recognized Jareth. He was wearing midnight blue robes and he stepped between her and her mother. The two of them smiled at Jareth and he and Sarah wrapped an arm round each other. Finally, Jareth put his other arm round Jennifer who leaned into him with a content smile all over her face.

The beautiful picture then faded away slowly in a milky cloud and Jennifer stared into space. She had understood what she had saw but she wondered if that kind of dream could actually become reality. Oh, how lovely that would be.

"Well, what did you see?"

Jareth's voice broke her brief daydream and she replied without looking up. "I saw myself and mother, and we were both so happy." She didn't feel like telling him everything she saw; it seemed too private and embarrassing to admit.

Her answer seemed to confuse him. "Are you both unhappy right now?"

Jennifer, still kept her eyes down on the blank crystal ball and nodded her head slowly. Remembering how lonely she and Sarah truly were.

A gentle hand on her shoulder snapped her out of her sadness and she realized he was now standing in front her. "How about we find you something to wear and we'll talk more over breakfast?"

This seemed a good idea so she nodded. With that, Jareth led them back to his chambers with his hand still on her shoulder. Once inside he pointed to a door on the far side of the room. "You can freshen up in there. When you come out you'll find some clothes in that wardrobe by the mirror."

"How shall I find you when I am ready?"

"Fear not, I will come and find you, dear child."

He left the room and Jen headed for the door he had pointed out. Once she stepped into the room it was indeed a bathroom as she expected but she found that although it had a medieval style it still had everything you would find in her own world. Most of this was made of a smooth polished stone and on a shelf was a row of products in small china pitchers and jugs.

Deciding to waste no time she selected a few products from the shelf, stripped out of her pyjamas and the cloak. Her wash was very refreshing and the products had heavenly scents. When she was done and dried herself off, she put her hair up and with the towel secured round her she returned to the chamber. She was relieved to find that it was deserted and headed towards the wardrobe.

Once she opened the door, she was amazed to find that it was filled with a beautiful selection of dresses which all had the same medieval style of the castle. She reached for the one which caught her eye most of all. It was a lovely forget-me-not blue and was decorated with a silver vine pattern on the sleeves and the hem.

She stepped up behind the screen which stood beside the wardrobe and to her surprise she found lying there folded neatly was a pair of clean underclothes as well. Smiling to herself she got dressed and was surprised at how comfortably the dress fit her. It was floor length and had the long medieval sleeves.

Jen also found in the wardrobe a pair of silver shoes that matched the silver vine pattern on the dress. Once they were on, she looked at herself in the full-length mirror beside the wardrobe. Despite that her hair was still up in the towel, she was taken aback at how beautiful it all looked together. She recalled all the fairy-tales she had read and how the beautiful maidens whose beauty enthralled any man who crossed their paths. Smiling to herself she rubbed her hair with the towel and hoped that it would dry in time, given that there was probably no hairdryers here it might take a while.

When she looked back into the mirror again, she jumped in surprise as she saw Jareth watching her from beside the huge bed. Turning round to face him she ran her hand over her still slightly damp hair. "Sorry, I didn't hear you come in."

Jareth smiled then approached her. "You wouldn't have, since magical transportation is silent."

He stopped in front of her and looked her up and down still smiling. "You look like a princess."

"Thank you, I remember seeing dresses like these in so many books but never thought I would actually get to wear one."

"Well it suits you perfectly, but there's just something missing."

"What's that?" She asked curiously.

Jareth snapped his gloved fingers and a gently breeze blew through her hair and then stopped. "Take a look." He said pointing back to the mirror.

Turning back round Jennifer was stunned to see that her hair was no longer its damp state. It had dried and was now styled into beautiful flowing waves with parts of it plaited with a thin shimmering silver ribbon threaded through the plaits. "Wow!" She cried. Taken aback by how she now so much more like a maiden from her stories. "Thank you."

"My pleasure, Jennifer, now come." He said offering his arm.

Entwining her arm with his he led her from the room and down the same corridor. She couldn't recall the entire route but trusted his direction, he obviously knew his castle well.

The doorway the arrived at led into a large dining room which had the same stone walls, floor and arched windows. In the centre of the room was a long table of rich polished wood and had large candelabras set in a long row from end to end. At the far end of the table Jennifer could see that there were two places set and there was food already served.

Jareth led them to the end of the table and like a kind gentleman he pulled out her chair for her which was next to the head. Once seated he gently tucked her in before seating himself at the head. "Please help yourself to anything, Jen." He said placing his napkin on his knees.

Jen followed suit then looked at the feast set before her. Most of the food was familiar to her so she helped herself to some slices of toast then she took a handful of grapes from a large fruit bowl and a peach which she instantly took a bite out of. She noticed Jareth was watching out the corner of her eye but he instantly went back to filling his goblet. Deciding to ignore this odd observation she bit the peach again which was sweet and juicy.

They ate their breakfast in companionable silence and when Jen had finally finished her toast and fruit, she put the jam pot back in the centre of the table and placed her knife on the plate. Jareth finished his dish not long after her and with a wave of his fingers the dishes and the leftover food on the table vanished except for their two jewelled goblets.

"Where did they go?" Jen asked.

"To the kitchen where the goblin servants will clean them up so they'll be ready for the next meal."

"Oh, so they don't just come and collect them from the table?"

He shook his head. "No, I don't wish to be in direct company with my subjects anymore. Once upon a time, I allowed most of them to roam my throne room and do whatever. But not long after your mother's departure, I found their company annoying and had them return to their homes in the city. I preferred to keep to myself. The only ones who remain are the cooks and servants who actually work here within the castle."

"Must be very lonely."

"Oh, it is. But I prefer the silence to the noisy racket they can cause."

Jen nodded and took a sip of the fruit juice from her goblet. She could not imagine what it must have been like for the Goblin King to have spent all these years in alone in his own solitude and no company like this. But she could sympathise because she and her mother were quite the same in a way. Though they were surrounded my many people in their everyday life they didn't have any close friends who liked to come and socialize with them.

"What is it?"

She kept her eyes on the contents in her goblet. "I was just thinking about me and Mother. We kind of live a life like that, but not exactly the same as yours."

"What do you mean?"

"We're loners too. We don't have friends who come to hang out or any visiting family members. Even when I'm at school and when mother is at her office, no one really talks to us unless they really need to."

"I find that hard to believe."

She turned to look at him and sure enough he looked dumbfounded.

"Why would anyone want to ignore you and your mother?"

Jen shrugged. "I've been asking myself that question for years. But it seems that no matter how hard we try, we just can't impress anybody. There's only one other who truly loves us and that's Uncle Toby."

"What about your father? The man your mother married; doesn't he still love the two of you?"

Jen shook her head. "No, he ran out on us a few years ago. It came to a point where he was tired of Mother's fascination with fantasies and fairytales. He wanted her to plant her feet on the ground and get her head out of the clouds. To forget about fantasy stuff and think realistically and raise me that way. It resulted in a lot of arguments and then he just packed and left without any goodbyes."

Jareth could not believe what he had just heard. How could anyone treat Sarah and her daughter like that. To meddle with their dreams and force them to forget who they were and submit to their will.

"How long have you both been alone?"

"About six years. Feels a lot longer though." She lowered her head to look and her hands in her lap.

"Six years?!" He exclaimed. "That long?"

Jen nodded still hanging her head.

Jareth reached out and gently lifted her chin so she was looking at him again. "I am so sorry you both had to go through that. If I hand known—"

"Don't blame yourself." Jen said. "I guess we're both just cursed to be unlucky with that part of our life."

"No" said Jareth standing up from his seat. "Not while I still stand. You don't deserve that and neither does your mother. You have suffered too much rejection. Come." He offered his hand. Jen stood up and took it feeling a little puzzled.

Together they left the hall and went back into the corridor. The goblin king held her hand in the crook of his arm just like before.

"Where are we going? What are you going to do?" Jen asked.

"We're going back to my throne room. I'm going to do something I have wanted to do for years."

"What's that?"

"Going to speak with your mother."


Author's Notes
Hello There Readers! Finally after a few years I was able to break the writer's block and complete another chapter for this story. I hope you like it.
I haven't started writing the next chapter yet, so I don't know how long it will be until it will come. In the meantime, happy reading and please Favorite and continue to follow and leave some nice reviews on what you think.

Kind Regards to you all!

LouisaJane007