Chapter Five

Her friend took his time in starting, pouring himself an ale and devouring several of the pastries before he began, brushing crumbs from his front.

"Where do you think that playbook came from, Sarah? The one that contained the words to defeat The Goblin King?"

Sarah blinked, startled. "What do you mean?"

"You told me to start at the beginning, and I am," Hoggle said, "Do you remember getting that book? Who gave it to you?"

She frowned, trying to think back. For such an important piece of her history, she had thought about it precious little in the previous years. In fact, she could not remember seeing it again after her run. "Someone gave it to me," she said slowly. "But I don't remember who."

"Yes, you do," Hoggle insisted. "You were maybe thirteen at the time."

She had been. She remembered that she had just gotten her first cycle, too, not but the morning someone gave her the book. There was something about the red cover that made her think they knew what had just transpired. And they had given her something else, besides. A music box!

Sarah pulled in a startled breath, "It was you! I remember now. Your hair was ordinary, and you were dressed normal, but that was you."

Hoggle nodded. "On Samhain. You said to me, it's not Christmas yet, and it's not my birthday."

She continued where he left off. "And then you said, you watch yourself, and turned and left. It was the most baffling thing. I could not make sense of it at the time, but I wanted to keep those beautiful things so badly."

They had felt like magic.

For all she knew, they were.

She laughed a little, eyes unfocused as memory blossomed. "When all the adults in my life demanded to know where I got them, I told them a friend got them for me before moving away, as an early Christmas present. When they asked who, I made up someone named Kelsey they had never heard of before then. It was my finest piece of acting."

Hoggle snorted. "They bought it?"

"How could they not? I'm an incredible talent." She grinned.

Seemingly despite best efforts, Hoggle smiled back. "Oh! There you go again. You have the charisma for it, no doubt. You would be fantastic on stage. Do you sing?"

"Sometimes," she admitted shyly. "I don't know if I'm very good." Then she shook her head, frowning. "We're getting distracted." There was the affection she had retained for her friend over the years, but more was growing between them as they sat there speaking to one another. A feeling of personal connection she had been sorely lacking in the Above. "Why was it you who gave me the music box, the book? What was going on?"

Her friend traced the patterns of veins in the stone countertop with his thick fingers. He was studiously not looking at her. "I'm the mayor of The Goblin City, did I ever tell you?"

Sarah laughed, then stopped abruptly. "Wait—you're serious?"

"Of course I'm serious!" He spluttered, finally looking at her. "What? You think I can't handle being an elected official?"

"It's not that," she said hastily. "It's just—Hoggle, you were peeing in a fountain when I first met you." She flushed crimson at the recollection.

So did he. "Well, you caught me unawares!"

"You were killing fairies!"

"How many people do you think actually work around here? No many. I have to lead by example, or not a one of this lot would get off their asses." He snorted, waving a hand. "Regardless, I'm the mayor, and with that comes specific obligations. Between the citizens and the king, there's me. Or there's supposed to be. This lot don't care much for rules and structure, so most of them go to him directly even though it's a dumb idea—"

"Okay," Sarah said, raising a hand. "What's your point?"

He glared at her and she did the same right back. "I was getting there. I was sent to you by Jareth, don't you see? The Goblin King wanted you the moment he knew you were up there, and he made sure I put The Labyrinth in your path. He gave me the book and the music box to give to you."

Brow furrowed, Sarah felt frustration rise. "Why? Gods, that's all I want to understand! Why?"

"You're the prophesized one," Hoggle said simply. "Your mother's family is from the Underground. They can trace their blood all the way back to the Summerland and the fae court at its heart. You are part of them."

Sarah pulled in a breath. "I'm like him?"

"No, not really. Can you conjure things out of thin air, or teleport from one place to another?" He motioned to the pendant resting at her breast. "Maybe with that you can. No, your family's line has interwoven with mortals for generations. You're more human than fae, for certain, but you've got a drop or two in your blood. Enough to make magic easier, and perhaps aid you in your run."

Hoggle went on, "There were signs and portents leading up to your birth, and then it was just a matter of discovering which of the many children born that day was the one we were looking for. When we found out that there was a fae-borne babe, we knew that must be the one. You were thirteen by then. Auspicious. You know how much we treasure that number."

"So you gave me the book and the music box because you were trying to lead me here?"

"To see if you really could conquer the unconquerable Labyrinth, yes." He tilted his head. "You conquered it in deed and in heart. You gained the affections of the citizens, the heart of The Labyrinth, and the love of its king, and you won. You won when no one else has."

Sarah tapped her finger against her bottom lip, then took another long pull of wine. "Okay," she said, gasping a little at the burn of alcohol. "What the hell is up with that? I won, and then suddenly I'm supposed to, what? Lead an army?" She laughed.

Hoggle looked at her without expression.

She took another drink.

"It's hard to explain. There is a prophecy—"

"I don't believe in fate," she said abruptly. "I don't believe in destiny, or any of that shit."

He laughed. "Girl, look where you are. Look what's happened."

She did, taking a deep breath of the magic-spiced air. There was the persistent noise of Ludo snoring in the other room, muffled through the various walls, but otherwise all was quiet. Yet, there was no mistaking that she was in the Underground. That this was a place of wonder and fantasy.

Not like the Above, with its taxes and credit scores, death certificates and mortgages. Where she was no one special. She was someone people passed over. She often had been, for careers, grants, school admissions, sports teams… you name it.

In fact, her entire childhood and most of her life had been quite lonely. Toby was her only constant companion for some time, and she had been away at college when—

She did not want to think about that now.

And she hated how unfailingly her thoughts flew to those events.

Wiping away sudden tears, Hoggle frowning at her and opening his mouth to ask something when she said, "Why—"

But was interrupted by a sharp cry, and something furry and somewhat pointed flew into her lap, clasping her around the waist. "My lady! Oh, my lady! It is you!"

Sarah jumped, then laughed as Sir Didymus peeled away and bowed deeply, black nose nearly touching the floor. He was wearing a striped red and white pajama set, a hole cut in the back to make space for his tail. He looked fairly naked without his usual knightly apparel, but Sarah grinned to see him.

"Didymus, how are you?" She slid from the stool and knelt before him, reaching for him to lift him up. "You don't need to bow to me, silly."

But Didymus was no longer responding. He was snoring softly, and was beginning to tip to the side when Sarah caught him, alarmed.

She looked at Hoggle. "What is going on?"

"That's Jareth's work," he growled, getting off the stool. "Come on. Didymus tired himself out coming down the stairs. Let's bring the basket and you can carry him back to bed. We'll finish our conversation up there."

Sarah did as she was bid, following Hoggle after he had gathered some food and drink. He led her, carrying the frighteningly light Sir Didymus, up a winding spiral staircase to the third floor. "Why is he all the way up here?" she asked as he lead her to the room at the end of the hall.

"Because it has the best view, and he would tolerate nothing less," Hoggle said, pushing open the door.

For a moment she was so stunned by what she saw that she forgot she was holding her friend at all, until Hoggle cleared his throat and motioned impatiently to the wide king-sized bed. She lay Didymus out, then went to the window and looked.

The house was situated at the edge of one of the outer walls of the city. And beyond was The Labyrinth, twisting and stretching, changing and moving as she watched. It looked like some great serpent, coils upon coils wrapped one into the next.

The sun was at the horizon, far to the left, and long shadows made the walls of The Labyrinth seem doubled, almost tripled in some places. A cool breeze came through the window and she shivered.

"Jareth was angry that you got away, at the end." Hoggle said from behind her, close enough that she knew he had left the bed and was standing just behind her. "You had already won, already fulfilled the terms of the prophecy. Your brother was safe. At the end, he tried to get you to say, but used the wrong words, I think." He sounded happy about this, though she had the feeling that he was ignorant of what had truly transpired between her and Jareth at the end. "It was good that you conquered him, too. He deserved it, but…"

Sarah glanced at him as his words trailed into silence. "But he punished them?"

"Yes," Hoggle said, staring up at her. "Because I'm mayor, I was spared, in a manner of speaking, but… I don't trust him. Don't trust that he would keep his word if I gave myself up in their place. It's because I told the others, the city, that he should step down. He was beaten. He should have stepped down, but the bastard is stubborn"

She paled, imagining Jareth's wrath against someone who had been so vocally against him. She may not know him entirely well, but she knew him enough to see that as the misstep it was. "What did he do?"

"Put a sleeping curse on them both. He is master of dreams, after all. They tell me about all manner of them when they wake. It's all they can talk about. That and you."

A pain spiked through her chest, and Sarah turned back to the view. "I'm sorry, I should have called—"

"Yes, you should have," Hoggle agreed. "But what's done is done. Now he has you, and he'll have everything else he's ever wanted. I was so close to getting him pushed out, too. He was almost to the full thirteen hundred years." His words turned into a growl at the end, and he jerked his chin toward the door. "Come on. I'll take you back to the castle. It's starting to get dark."

"What can I do, Hoggle?" she asked as they descended the stairs. "I'm his betrothed," she stumbled over the word. "Maybe I can get him to—"

"Don't trust him, Sarah," Hoggle turned to her, gaze beseeching. "Whatever he is becoming to you, he's a fae first, and they play games and tricks like they breathe.

Whatever he is becoming to you, echoed in her mind, and she gave pause.

What was The Goblin King to her?

Sarah's heart seemed to swell with the thought of him, and she could not deny that there was something there. Some kind of pull. "What does Jareth have to do with the prophecy?" she asked.

"Nothing," Hoggle said with a snort. "It's only about you, and what you will do. But none of us know the full contents, the full meaning, because it was written in the language of the gods, and only the fae know how to read it."

"You're all following a prophesy none of you understand?"

"We understands it plenty!" Hoggle shot back, yanking open the front door and striding through, leaving her to scurry after him. "It's just that it's not exact, the translation."

"So, tell me what it says," she insisted, keeping apace with him even though he walked faster than he had any right to. "In your words."

"No," Hoggle said, voice and expression stubborn. "When you get back to the castle, find a copy. They have a great many books in the library."

She looked sidelong at him. "Hoggle… you do know it, don't you?"

"Yes!"

"Then why won't you tell me?"

He was quiet for a long time. "I can read and write enough," he said. "But that thing is hard to recite, to remember. It slips out of your mind. Maybe you, with your fae blood, will have a better time with it."

That gave her pause.

They were most of the way back to the market before she spoke again. "Why would you do it? Help bind me to him, if you hate him as much as you do?"

"I don't hate him, I just don't trust him," Hoggle argued. "I certainly don't trust him with you."

She flushed at that.

"He's self-serving," her friend went on. "He'll do whatever it takes to reach his objective, and I don't even know what that truly is. I doubt he's shared it with anyone."

"What's he telling everyone else?"

"That he wants to free us. That he was treated as unfairly as we've been, and so he knows how oppressive the yoke of the fae rule is." Hoggle laughed and motioned her into the alleyway they had come through before. This time there was a guard standing at the entrance, who gave them both a quick once-over before nodding and stepping out of the way. "That's enough that most believe him, or enough to make them want it enough. Some of these idiots think he's some kind of savior." He snorted and fished his keys out of his belt of many pockets. "Really he just wanted to remain in power. That's why he bound himself to you. Because of the power you represent."

She remembered what he had said earlier, though. "You said he loves me."

"He thinks he does." Hoggle stopped flipping through the keys and stared at her. "Do you?"

She shook her head, but her stomach twisted. "I barely know him."

"Keep it that way, Sarah. You don't want to love a creature like that."

"Do you think he's evil?" Sarah asked after he turned his attention back to the task at hand. Her voice was a mere whisper.

He paused with the key in the door. "No," he said softly after a time. "But I don't think he's good, either."

Author Note:

Hello, friends.

Chapter six is going to arrive shortly. I wrote it and this chapter at the same time.

Thank you, once again, to LovelyAmberLight for taking a look at this story before posting. I truly appreciate the feedback.

This chapter contains some of my favorite dialogue... until the next lol.

I hope you enjoyed and, if so, please leave a contribution in the little box.

Thank you and cheers,
~CS