Breaking Barriers (Chapter 28 up)

Sarah was lounging on her soft, satiny bed wrapped in her warm, fuzzy robe and was reading through a myriad of stories, poems and plays. Stacked high next to her bed were dozens of dusty books: large books and small, romantic and tragic, Latin and Greek and many others of rare varieties. And there were still hundreds more that lined the bookcase in her bedroom. The first two days of her confinement were spent in total isolation with nothing but herself, her books and her pajamas. If Sarah had not been captured and held here against her will, she would have said she was in heaven. As of now she was reading the fairy story "Thousand Furs" by Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm. But that was only after reading the Iliad, William Tell, Jane Eyre, Midsummer Night's Dream, Walden, Oedipus Rex and several other treasures of the written persuasion. Why, oh why did Jareth have to be the provider of books so good and close to her heart? She was just finishing up the Grimm brothers and was moving on to Mark Twain when she heard the tiniest of knocks at her bedroom door.

There was a quiet little creak and the door opened a finger-width's distance apart. An eye was pressed up against the crack and just the beginnings of a nose was emerging from darkness. Not long after, a small mouth appeared and soon that small mouth uttered a phrase in a very small voice:

"Um, I don't wish to disturb you... Are you... decent...? May I...?"

"Enter. Absolutely." Sarah sat up on her bed and watched as the tiniest goblin she had ever seen entered her room. This particular creature was much more childlike than any of the other goblins she had seen. It was also more feminine than any of the other female goblins she had seen. A lot more like a little girl than a goblin at all, in fact. The being had large, worried-looking hazel eyes, dull brown hair and smooth unmarred skin. In her little arms she carried a bundle of fabric that was twice as big as herself. Sarah, forgetting for an instant that this creature was supposed to be her enemy, scrambled off her bed to gather the fabric in her arms.

"Here, let me get that for you," Sarah set the bundle on her bed, then turned to welcome her strange visitor.

"Thank you..." the girl whispered, shy, "The King wished for me to give these to you as a personal gift from his highness, and to tell you that he has already discarded the clothes you were wearing previously."

Sarah blinked. Then anger set in.

"What?!" she exclaimed, thinking Jareth meant to play another trick on her, "He got rid of my clothes?! And in exchange I get these "personal gifts" from His Royal Pain-in-the-Ass? I suppose he wishes for me to appear as a pauper now? Or perhaps as one of his serv-"

Sarah inspected the fabric more carefully. The colors were rich. The embroidery exquisitely detailed. Sarah spread apart the fabric.

Before her lay three beautiful, fantastically constructed gowns in green, blue and deep mahogany. Sarah lifted the blue one and gasped as it glittered in the sunlight. They were possibly the most gorgeous objects she had ever set eyes on. The small voice interrupted her stunned silence.

"I'm sorry if they're not quite up to your standards... I did try my hardest on them, and I'm sorry they appear as rags to you..."

Sarah turned and stared at the goblin incredulously.

"You MADE these?"

"Again, I am exceedingly sorry. The King was quite detailed in his instructions but I have failed. I promise I will try harder in the-"

"How could you think such a thing?!" Sarah hugged the dresses in her arms and barely suppressed a giggle of delight. "They're magnificent, stunning, absolutely perfect!"

Sarah squatted down so she was at eye level with the goblin.

"I am the one who should be apologizing to you. I am so sorry for belittling your profession and I accept these works of art in complete humility."

The little goblin smiled shyly and looked up at Sarah adoringly.

"I'm Curlique."

Sarah grasped the hand that was no bigger than a toddler's and gently shook it.

"I'm Sarah."

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Jareth couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief after his discussion with his most recent citizen of the Goblin City. For the most part goblins were disgusting creatures with slovely dispositions, bad manners and even worse hygiene. However, when a child first transformed into a goblin they tended to maintain human attributes for about a year or so. Sometimes he was lucky enough to get a child that was slightly literate. Even less frequently he would acquire one that had some measure of talent as well. He still held little respect for his people, but generally speaking they were more adept if they had just recently turned goblin. The self-named Curlique was even more so than average. She had been transformed little over a month ago. Jareth had been more than happy to take out his recent frustrations over acquiring Sarah on the little girl, and she had turned out to be more than worth his while. The girl had been a highly intelligent, albeit shy human child with a remarkable gift for sewing and a natural talent for very minor enchantments. Naturally Jareth had set her to work immediately. Rarely did he stumble upon such a find, and he made sure she was to be kept in the palace until she was of no more use to him. Lately she had been charged with the task of hemming his personal garments, but he knew she longed to create something that would truly showcase her skill. Curlique had been the first to come to mind when Jareth had contemplated his new plan. Surely she was the most inquisitive of all his people, and he knew that once she got over her shyness she would also be the most likeable. Whoever he chose he wanted Sarah to trust completely, and little Curlique fit the bill to a tee. It would not do to have Sarah restrain herself around his new set of eyes and ears. That's when Jareth's brain hatched another idea. And not only one that would endear Sarah to the young goblin, but one that would put him in an attractive new light. Decisions made, he summoned Curlique and presented his request to her.

She, of course, seemed hesitant at first. It had been only one short month since he had kidnapped and transformed her, but he persuaded her to the best of his abilities and eventually the desire to create a trio of gorgeous evening gowns especial for the Goblin King was too much to resist.

Before she could leave in her hasty excitement, Jareth had, of course, one more spell placed upon the Goblin. One that enabled him to see and hear through Curlique as if it were he himself. Of course, he didn't tell Curlique this. She would have immediately acted nervous toward Sarah if she had been burdened with this knowledge- even more so than she would otherwise. So Jareth simply told her he was placing a charm on her to help her sew to the best of her abilities. The young goblin had readily accepted that excuse and happily obliged. Most likely with this false knowledge she would inadvertently sew better and work harder anyway. And Curlique could add a happiness enchantment to the dresses later if she so choosed, Jareth was sure to let that option be known. He wanted the gowns to sweep Sarah off her toes, and after Curlique told her who had organized the whole affair surely he would regain some of his hold on Sarah. Having the goblin now in Sarah's presence would make things easier as well. In fact, Jareth was this close to destroying the mirror that revealed her room to him. His new plan was much more brilliant and was proving much more practical. But, he hated the thought of it gone. The mirror had become a sort of security blanket over the past few days and who knew? Perhaps there would come a time when he would need it after all?

His new plan involving Curlique however, was infallible. The little goblin would surely not gawk at Sarah as she undressed as he was apparantly wont to do, and as long as he told the goblin to hang onto Sarah's every word, whim and limb, there was no way he could come out of this looking bad. More likely, Sarah would praise him for his gifts and thank him for the little goblin. Suddenly, Jareth could not wait for tomorrow to come. He was certainly on top of his game now and he was more certain than ever Sarah's magic would be his.

Nor could he wait to hear every detail of Sarah's pathetic little life here in the Underground through the use of Curlique... and doubtless her wanton feelings of him.

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A/N New character alert! The young female goblin Curlique has now been added into the mix... I wonder what new dilemmas and resolutions she will bring to the story?

Sorry this chapter was so short... but they are about to get bigger soon... I have a feeling it's going to start getting difficult deciding where I divide up the new chapters. :D Hoping I can keep up with the notion of having updates every day or every other day... In any case, thanks for reading ~TheArtist