1. Darkness Awakens
"Your Highness! Your Highness! The shield! The shield is cracking!" In the depths of Dark castle, a voice echoed, coming closer and closer to the throne room. "The time of Trial has come!"
The man, sitting on throne, carved from blackened wood, depicting the bones, piled on each other to form a seat, slowly raised head, scrutinizing the little creature that skid to halt before him to relay this information. A smirk played on his lips. These creatures were so pathetic. It was almost shameful to be their ruler - although they were not the sole inhabitants of Western Underground, yet while bidding time until the Trial, they were the only ones allowed to reside around him. Large ears, fluffy fur, wide and naive eyes...these creatures were more suited to live in Aboveground as someone's pet, instead of fulfilling the role of decent servants for their king.
"There won't be any Trial!" He stated. "Not this time."
Lucan, the former Goblin King, now self-proclaimed King of Yorgs, stood, stretching his stiff limbs with content groan. For countless times, he faced the Goblin King in this Trial...and each time lost. Of course, Jareth, that tousled hen, had little to none match in power, but he was determined to put an end to this once and for all. Lucan felt like reborn, full with fresh energy and spirit, after affirming this decision to himself.
"W-what do y-you mean, Your Highness...?" Earmin (the little creature) didn't understood, while some rustling and hushed voices began to fill the air in the throne room.
"I mean precisely what I said, you idiot! If I'll face Jareth again, the outcome won't be hard to guess even for such dimwitted thing like you. No, I have much better plan!" Lucan's voice grew more sinister. "This time the Goblin Kingdom will be mine." He let his gaze roam over his subjects, frowning in displeasure, failing to find one particular individual, though it was not the easy task, given how similar these fluffy things looked. "Salmon, where are you?"
"Right here, Your majesty." Earmin scurried out of his residing spot and approached the king's feet whose owner had comfortably reclined back in throne.
"Gather the grawes, each and every one of them! Right now!" Lucan barked the order, his darkened gaze flashing lightnings. He knew that as soon as the shield would dissipate, the rest of his subjects would awaken from their lethargic slumber. "And you - " He glared at the restless creatures at the foot of his throne, "stop shivering and prepare the armory!"
The silence fell over the throne room, not a single movement could be seen from the creatures, who, while having some decent level of intelligence, still failed to fully comprehend just what their king requested of them to do with the armory. All of this was too...unusual for these creatures.
"But, Your Highness...the Trial...it happens tonight..." One of earmins attempted to make a squeaky remark.
Once again silence fell over the room. Lucan very slowly rose up, slowly lifted his arms to rest clenched fists on his hips, and just as slowly tilted his head toward earmins. Just as slowly and gracefully he made a step to descend his throne, closer to those who dared to speak against him instead of rushing to obey the orders before he even finished speaking, but...his foot stepped onto the edge of his own cloak. Very quickly, as opposite to intended, Lucan tumbled down the steps and found himself sprawled on his stomach, below the earmins' eye level.
"There shall NOT be any Trial!" He roared from the ground, and finally his subjects began to rush out of room, pushing and tripping over each other in haste to get out, not waiting for their king to put his threats into real action. "Get the hell out of my sight! Get to work! Move! Or I will make a bedchamber rug out of your worthless skins!"
Steaming in fury, Lucan glared after them. With such pathetic army, his chances of any kind of success were slim, he thought, finally scrambling up on his feet. This battle would require wits and trickery just as much as strength. Thankfully, his kingdom consisted of more creatures than bunch of worthless flurry pets. Dormant until now, it was matter of time before they would awaken and ready to serve their master again.
Lucan walked across the room and stood by the window, looking outside where twilight already set over the Underground. Somewhere in the distance a faint, yet bright light could be seen, which, as he knew all too well, came from Goblin City. Only an hour was left until the beginning of the Trial. Lucan smirked, imagining Goblin King's face when he would arrive to the Trial and realize that his opponent simply is not there at all. How long it would take for him to figure out what it means, and what awaits him and his kingdom?
The minutes passed, and Lucan felt the shift in the air as the invisible shield, blocking his kingdom from the rest of Underground, began to crack and fall apart. His body felt the familiar pull that indicated it was time for him to teleport to the sacred circle where the Trial had to take place, but he ignored it, pushing the unpleasant tingling in back of his mind, resisting the urge to leave. Not this time. He had spent long time, preparing to fight the magic that bind him and the Goblin King to this Trial, knowing all too well the price he would have to pay for this, and the shift in the Underground it would create.
Somewhere the distant clock banged thirteen times, with each resonating ring making Lucan to grip the windowsill tighter to stay upright, a painful groan escaped his lips. The magic within him pulled and twisted, making him feel like his bones were crushed, his intestines turned inside out, and his head felt like it was going to explode. Yet he fought against it, using every ounce of power he had to withstand this invisible torture. And the more he resisted, the more unstable magic around his castle became. Slowly, a gray, cold fog began to rise from the ground, sneaking across the ground. The grass withered and dried wherever the fog touched it on its path, moving toward the north. Oh, Lucan knew what it hid within itself. Envy, hatred, vengeance - it fueled the fog, trapped beneath the shield for three hundred years, and now it had broken free, capable to poison every living being with these emotions enough to turn brother against brother, mother against child, turn friends into enemies...and turn them toward Lucan as his loyal followers.
The last clock banging sound finally died out, and Lucan breathed in relief, feeling the pull let go of him. It was done. He was surprised how much effort it had taken from him to resist the magic, cast upon him by the High King himself many centuries ago, but he had done it. Now, it was too late. The spell was broken. Straightening up, he wiped sweat from his forehead, and caught his own reflection in window glass. Raising hand, he brushed fingers through his long, blonde hair that fell over his shoulders smooth like silk.
"Not bad." He purred at himself, self-satisfied for what he saw. "These years haven't ruined my charm at all. At least my hair is where they're supposed to be, not like that tousled Goblin King whose mane defy gravity on all sides. Kind of king, you don't say." He flexed his forearm, checking biceps, and smiled to his own reflection. "Beautiful." He murmured with one last look at the image in glass. The torch light reflected in Lucan's cold, hatred-filled eyes when he turned to resume his seat in throne, feeling pleased for successful ditching the Trial. Flicking fingers, he conjured a goblet of wine, reclining comfortably. "Welcome to my party." He toasted to non-present Jareth. "I hope you will have just as good time as I would."
Few weeks later...
Dreadful and grim silence had laid over the Goblin City. Usually so lively streets, filled with goblins and other Labyrinth creatures, now were empty and lifeless. The cold and gray fog had reached the walls of anciety Labyrinth, bringing despair and hopelessness wherever it went, and it slowly approached the city itself, closing in on the castle that proudly stretched against the gray sky.
Jareth stood at the window in his own throne room, and resignedly gazed at the empty city. Only his powerful spells protected the city walls against this fog which clearly was no sign of simply spoiled weather. He had little room to guess where did it came from. With a deep sigh, he bowed head. He had ruled over this kingdom for so long, but nothing like this had happened for very, very long time.
Clenching fists, covered with black leather gloves, he hit the windowsill in helpless outburst of anger. It was only moments later, when he realized his action caused anxious murmuring behind his back which made him turn and look at the throne room. It was filled not only with goblins as much as the rest of castle. Every single living creature that resided in ancient, magical Labyrinth, had found shelter in the Goblin City and his castle, the only place that could give some safety from the fog. Sadly they already had suffered losses, when the fog first breached the Labyrinth walls and began to seep through its passages. It hadn't taken long for its inhabitants to realize the danger this fog possessed and flee to the only place they could think of, which could protect them from further harm.
Jareth's grim gaze roamed over the room. He felt that his citizens were expecting at least some shadow of hope, but he couldn't give them even that much. His magic had proven unable to banish the fog from the Labyrinth, and the most he could do was to shield the city and on occassion provide temporary protection to scouts that were willing to take the risk and venture outside of city to assess the situation, reporting back to the king afterwards. For the first time in his immortal Fae life, Jareth faced the enemy that was invading his land without even slightest chance to defeat it. He didn't know how long his magic would hold out against the fog, and it drove him crazy.
Still not saying a word, Jareth made his way back to the throne, not even bothering to kick the goblins out of way, which only increased their concern for their king, and fell into seat, resting head into palm, staring in one point with distant eyes, not actually seeing what he was looking at, his mind drifting far away from here.
The Goblin King did not noticed that his gaze caused one particular individual to squirm restlessly as if his pants were invaded by army of ants. This individual was grumpy looking dwarf who sat in the furthest corner of room, right next to the entrance, so no one would dare to disturb him and he would have quick exit, should he needed so. The exception to disturbance rule, however, was His Majesty, and Hoggle could only be relieved that Jareth at the moment was not searching for suitable subject on whom to unleash his bad mood and was not focusing his gaze on anyone in particular.
The dwarf inconspiciously stood up, tugging his trousers up, then carefully made the two steps that brought him directly to doorway. Casting cautious glance at the king, he swore without sound, then slipped out of room and headed downstairs to continue swearing - aloud and without censoring himself.
One of largest rooms on first floor was given to army goblins and Fireys - wild beasts that probably were the only ones in entire Labyrinth to rarely take anything seriously, even the current situation. Hoggle suspected they only left their homes in forest and came to castle after Jareth threatened to take off their heads and bring them to castle anyway, leaving the rest of their bodies in woods. Aside of goblins, everyone else kept their distance from the wild gang, because their favorite pastime was taking off their own limbs and tossing heads around, and they tried to engage the other creatures to join these activities. Needless to say, no one even tried to take their own heads off just to bounce them around.
Hoggle poked head inside the large room and assessed the situation. Surprisingly, there was no sight of Fireys, they probably had wandered off to test the patience of those who were... anywhere but here. Meanwhile goblins had sprawled all over the place, filling the room with snoring in every possible tune and sound level. But Hoggle had no need for neither Fireys, nor goblins. He raised on his toes, looking around, until he finally found the one he was looking for.
Sir Didymus, brave and loyal fox-knight, settled in front of fireplace comfortably, meticulously polished his staff that was shiny enough to cast flame reflection on its owner's black snout. Hoggle began to make his way toward the fox, careful to not step on sleeping goblins which was not the easiest task as they were not the most peaceful sleepers, and more than once dwarf barely avoided stepping on some fingers or foot that appeared in his way. Sir Didymus hadn't noticed his friend's presence yet, he still was busy with his staff, resting against the gray and white sheepdog's back. The dog for a change slept peacefully, oblivious to the common worry, unlike the others who either twitched in their sleep or murmured incoherent monologues in between the snores.
The dwarf stopped few steps from the fox and observed him for a moment. Such inner peace was unusual. As long Hoggle knew him, Sir Didymus found the greatest joy by being in the epicenter of any kind of battle, which often caused well-based protests from Ambrosius, his sheepdog the fox used as steed. It was no secret that unlike his master, the dog was famous coward which had proved in practice numerous times, but right now he had no reason to worry about threats to not receive any meals in foreseeable future, because Sir Didymus showed no signs of potential desire to head out into battle. And that seemed very strange to Hoggle.
"Didymus?" He risked to break the silence, addressing his friend, not adding 'sir' to his name - something that fox allowed only from him and their other friend, demanding everyone else call him by full name and title. Hoggle had asked once, who actually did gave him Sir title, and much to dwarf's amusement, Sir Didymus had cleared his throat and changed subject swiftly, which made Hoggle to suspect that the knight had skipped the actual 'knighting' part, but for the sake of their friendship, he did not pressed the matter further.
At hearing friend's voice, the fox turned and glanced fiercely at Hoggle with one eye (the other was covered with black eyepatch - Sir Didymus never elaborated just how did he lost his eye, and it was another thing Hoggle never asked, feeling it might be touchy subject). "My brother, have thee brought any news?" He asked with spark of hope in his voice, and Hoggle couldn't hold back the snort which said more than any words. Only few days ago, Jareth had sent a group of scouts to explore the southern walls of the Labyrinth after receiving rumors that some of his citizens still are trapped out there and might be immediate assistence, as well as to survey how far the fog had spread. Until now, none of them had returned yet, and Hoggle could understand knight's eagerness to have some activity, small as it might be.
"Bleh..." He grumbled, slumping down beside his friend and followed his example by resting back against Ambrosious' thick fur. "Ye sit right here, the castle door ten steps from 'ere' Unless the scouts sprouted wings to fly directly into that rat's window, which I doubt, ye see them first. If they do come back." For the first time he voiced his concern aloud.
"Has thee king spoken?" Sir Didymus did not ceased to pry on the matter, receiving another gruffing sound in response from his friend.
"If only. The rat keeps silent. And gets more gloomy with each passin' day." The dwarf murmured. Jareth hadn't been in good moods for years, ever since... but lately he was even more withdrawn, spending more time in his study or personal chambers than anywhere else. Today had been one of very rare times, when the king actually did appeared in throne room, not that he spoke to anyone, just sat in his throne, on ocassion paced around a bit, stood at window, staring outside just to return to his seat afterwards. To the goblins, though, it felt like silence before the grand storm, and no one dared to interrupt the silence with so much as random cough, afraid that whoever might be the culprit to break the fragile bubble of silence, would face the king's wrath on its full glory. "Might be first time when I don't wanna say bad thing about king, rat as he is, but me thinks he's...afraid." The last word Hoggle spoke quiet enough for only the knight's ears.
As for his surprise, Sir Didymus for a change did not leapt on his feet to defend Jareth's honor fiercely for such outrageous claim. Instead, he only nodded slowly with sad expression, as if he had came to such conclusion himself at some point. "Thou shall not blame the King, if thy words proveth to be true. I am no coward, but without knowing where the enemy dwells, I shall remain here with heavy heart myself. And until the scouts return, 'tis all we can do...sit here and listen this...cacophony." And the knight cast a meaningful glance to the snoring goblin army.
"Ye think they will return at all? With how things look outside..." Hoggle didn't finished sentence, but the idea was clear anyway.
The knight thought for a moment, looking over the goblins, which, however, was only one part of Jareth's army. Elves, of course, were not willing to share living quarters with goblins, so they resided on the other side of hallway, yet when it came to defend their homes, the kingdom and their king, they worked side by side - goblins and elves, fighting as one. There were few of them among the scouts as well, because Jareth knew it was too dangerous to send goblins alone, because they were not the sharpest tools in shed. Sir Didymus also had volunteered, but instead of him, the king had picked someone else from their friendly trio, and the knight suspected that was the main reason behind Hoggle's question.
"Have no fear, thy brother Ludo shall remain unharmed. He can well fight his ground, my only match in battle." Sir Didymus spoke with certainty in his voice, although whether he really believed it or not, remained mystery.
Hoggle didn't answered to that. His gaze traveled around the room, and memories resurfaced in his mind. It had been five years, but Hoggle remembered it all so well as if it had been just yesterday, when yet another child was wished away, and yet another runner arrived to Labyrinth to try and retrieve the child. And yet - this runner was unlike any other. With her determination, bravery and kindness, Sarah Williams had done what none other had achieved before her - not only she did got through the Labyrinth and won the child back, she also gained Hoggle's sympathy and friendship. From gruffy loner and coward, the dwarf dared to defy the king himself and became loyal friend to her, and later to Sir Didymus and Ludo as they joined the girl on her journey. Afterwards, their friendship had remained strong, making the three inseparable wherever they went, and that was why Hoggle did not wanted to even think about shadow of possibility that Ludo might not come back.
Aside of scouts delayed return, there was something else that was just as unsettling. The intial reports about the fog and the danger it brought, came from the western part of Labyrinth, but further down the west of Underground was something that made even Bog of Eternal Stench - exceptionally disgusting place in Labyrinth which everyone (except Sir Didymus) avoided like plague - look like pleasant spa resort in comparison.
Hoggle could not suppress the shiver when he thought about the Dark Castle and its ruler. Just few weeks ago, Lucan did unthinkable and nearly impossible by not appearing on Trial, and not long after, the first sighting of this fog was reported. It couldn't be mere coincidence, could it? And if it wasn't, Hoggle did not even wanted to imagine what awaited them in future. The dwarf shivered again, inching closer to the fire, although his shiver had nothing to do with cold. There was teeny tiny part of his brain that held on small shard of hope that these two events were not related, but...as Sir Didymus pointed out, they could only wait and see.
Jareth finally had left the throne room if only to escape from the expectant looks that followed his every move. A spiral staircase led out of room and into the place that defied any laws of gravity. Among his subjects, this room was called stairs maze - and it very much looked like one. The steps led in every possible direction, stretching up and down, horizontally and diagonally, making any person, not used to magic, dizzy and vary to make a careless step, which was the main purpose of the room - to confuse the runners as well as enemies, should they reach the castle. Of course, only one runner ever had came so far to put foot in here...
Jareth shook his head vigorously to push these memories away, and began his aimless stroll up and down the stairs, for a while lingering on steps that for anyone else would appear being upside down, made a graceful 180 flip to the other side of stone platform he just had been, and crossed over to another set of stairs, this one parallel to ground along the wall. Eventually he came to stop, sliding down and resting head against the wall, eyes closed, and let out deep, long sigh.
For some time he had certain suspicions about the origins of the fog. He cursed himself for not actually paying attention to that particular area earlier, but how was he to know exactly what consequences would be to Lucan's resistence and blatant break of the binding magic rule? He did not doubted that the High Court already were informed about this, but it unnerved him that they had not yet done anything to interfere. Perhaps his father thought it was the matter to be solved between him and Lucan without any assistence from aside? Jareth had sent the letter two weeks ago, yet without any response whatsoever.
Without any warning, the memories of the last Trial resurfaced, and Jareth flicked fingers, making the crystal appear, watching the last meeting with Lucan...
The circular field was covered with smooth stone plates, the torches lit up all around the circle, illuminating the faces of goblins, fireys and other Labyrinth inhabitants that had gathered to watch the duel and show support to their king. Only few minutes had left until the beginning of the Trial, and both Faes were yet to show up. Here and there, a few earmins also could be seen, trying to look invisible among the goblins, looking around with anxious eyes. And they had good reason to be anxious.
This Trial had taken place numerous times already, two kings facing each other to battle over the throne of Goblin Kingdom, and so far Jareth had came out victorious, which meant that Lucan returned in Dark Castle, locked in solitude with only his most harmless subjects for company until the next Trial. After first Trial, he had attempted to break free, using every possible spell he knew, and High Court was forced to add another matter of security - the Castle was covered with magical barrier, shielding him from reaching out with magic of any kind.
"What ye think, who's gonna win-win?" The goblins exchanged hushed prognosis among themselves.
"Kingy will win, bad kingy lose." A confident reply came. "Bad kingy back under shield, no win-win."
Earmins, hearing that, exchanged unhappy looks. Being forced to serve Lucan, since their old king had perished many, many years ago, leaving Dark Castle inhabited until High King placed Lucan there, they were not looking forward to such outcome. But they did not had much time for any further thoughts, because something white glided above their heads, revealing itself to be an owl, a barn owl, and within blink of an eye, Jareth appeared on one edge of circle, his midnight blue cloak gracefully billowing on his shoulders, glittering like starry sky above their heads, smirking as he stepped in the light, hearing the cheering from his subjects. The rest of his attire consisted of white poet shirt with rich ruffles, black leather waistcoat, but his lean, muscled legs were covered with black, skin tight pants and knee length leather boots. The Goblin King pendant glinted on his chest, almost bare due to low cut opening of his shirt, adding the final touch of his majestic appearance.
Another figure appeared out of thin air, wearing white robes, adorned with gold insignia, a symbol of High Court. Not a single Trial passed without one of Court members present to oversee that both kings stick to the rules. Jareth greeted him with polite bow of head, when in the distance the clock began to chime, and everyone fell silent. With the final chime, a dark shadow flickered on the opposite side of the circle, black raven landed, in a flash revealing his true form.
Lucan strode further into the circle, ignoring the weak cheer from earmins and booing from Labyrinth inhabitants. Some of them, who had lived long enough to remember what it was like to live under this king's rule, held certain grudges, and even though Jareth was stern ruler, they would never pledge loyalty to Lucan if given choice between the two. The hatred in Lucan's eyes seemed to radiate from his entire body, clad entirely in black, when he came to halt and glared at his opponent, who calmly returned his gaze. Goblins crossed their fingers (or whatever they had), silently sympathizing with earmins.
Jareth bowed his head slightly, greeting his opponent. It seemed that nothing would give greater pleasure to Lucan than a chance to wipe Goblin King's face against the ground, but he restrained himself, returning almost imperceptible greeting. "Ready to be defeated?" He snarled quietly, out of Court member's earshot.
"I heard that before." Jareth coldly retorted. "You have enough confidence, that I can't deny, but it's about time to understand that some things won't change. Not this time."
"You could make things easier for both of us. Give me the amulet, and let's end this right here and now. You will go home, back to live under father's wing, and I'll get back to what's rightfully mine." Lucan's eyes fixed upon the pendant around Jareth's neck, greedy longing reflecting in his eyes as he casually fingered his own, which strangely mirrored Jareth's, only it was turned upside down, and the central symbol consisted of three engraved spirals, while Jareth's had infinity symbol, carved with luscious twines.
"Come and take it, if you can." Jareth smirked, taunting his brother. He had spent too much time by restoring the Labyrinth, setting the rules and laws in his kingdom, fulfilled his duties toward summonings and runners, taking care of unwanted children, and he knew that Lucan would never continue to uphold the effort he put into being Goblin King and keeping his land in order.
In response, Lucan retreated few steps, in his finger a crystal appeared, gleaming in near black color. Jareth did the same, only his crystal was almost transparent, both kings preparing to begin the duel. The Court watcher cleared his throat, stepping forward, his gaze shifting between both Faes. "The rules remain the same." He spoke in haste, as if afraid that both kings will begin the fight before the signal. "You can only use magic, no physical weapons, no swords, arrows, daggers, nothing. No physical force either. The one who throws first punch, will be automatically declared as loser. Is that clear? Then - BEGIN!" With last word, he was forced to leap back, in last second putting up protective shield between himself and both kings, when the first surge of Lucan's magic blasted across the field toward Jareth.
The Goblin King swiftly evaded the blast, his own protective shield blocking the most of magical force. Behind each of them, their respective royal insignia glowed on the stone plates, and shimmering wall rose around the circle, preventing them from teleporting from one place to another, forcing both opponents remain within the circle and in each other's view for entire time. As the battle ensued, both Faes kept solid distance from each other, the magic surging across the field, enclosed by either white or black flames, twisting and crossing each other.
With each passing minute, the battle grew more and more aggressive, yet neither of them showed the slightest signs of giving up. So far none of Lucan's spells had reached Jareth - he either blocked them half-way, or jumped aside with agile grace like panther. And with each failed attempt, Lucan grew more angry, slowly losing concentration - which was the opportunity Jareth had been waiting for. With one swift move, he threw two crystals one after another, one as distraction, and while Lucan tried to evade the first, the second hit him in chest. Lucan fell backwards and stared into nothingness with silly grin on his face, entranced by the vision Jareth had sent upon him.
The Court watcher already made a step forward to announce Jareth as winner, when Lucan suddenly snapped out of whatever trance he had been in, and the crystal in his hand appeared so fast, neither had time to even anticipate it. Jareth barely had time to raise the shield between them when the crystal, enclosed in black swirling smokes, crashed against it, forcing the Goblin King to use entire strength to keep the shield in place from the power of this particular spell.
Jareth realized his opponent had lost any strands of patience, since he had attempted to use one of Underground's banned curses - the Living Death. He only gasped, seeing that crystal shattered mere inches from his body - and if it had reached the target, it would've put an end not only to the Trial. Even the Court watcher stood, frozen in shock, and Jareth decided to finish the Trial which began to remind of attempted murder. Before Lucan collected his wits to try again, Jareth's spell struck him square in chest, the iron barrier raising around and over him, trapping him within the deadly metal trap, preventing him from using magic anymore.
"The Trial is over. The Goblin King has won." The Court watcher announced with poorly hidden relief. The shimmering wall vanished, and the clock struck again. Lucan's murderous glare was the last thing Jareth saw before he vanished, and along with him, the earmins were gone too from the rows of goblins in the audience. "I'll report to the High King at once." He addressed Jareth, who only bowed his head with slight triumphant smirk on his face now, while the goblins and others cheered loudly in the audience, earning a fleeting glance from their king before he transformed in owl again, taking victorious circle above their heads and then vanished in darkness, returning to the Labyrinth.
Jareth heaved a heavy sigh and sat down, resting his head against the wall, making the crystal vanish with simply flick of fingers. In past couple of weeks his gaze had grown dim, and his eyes no longer were glowing in passion and ire. How Lucan had managed to break the magical binding? It took enormous strength and amount of magic, yet somehow he did. Jareth sensed with every fiber of his body that this is just the beginning, and worse is yet to come. Of course, he sardonically thought, at least the good thing is that none of mortals had thought to make a reckless wish in these days. It would've been suicide to try and run the Labyrinth now, with deadly fog filling its passages, and he wouldn't be able to provide the runner's safety as it would be breaking the rules. He was not allowed to aid them in any way, nor would any of his subjects as they all were cramped within the castle and the city. With another sigh, Jareth closed his eyes, allowing his mind drift far away, if only for a moment.