Through the maze

How sad it is when it takes a stroke of misfortune for one to realize how in love they are. We now find the Goblin King in this predicament.

The castle was unbearably quiet as the nervous energy steadily thickened in the room. It was something akin to waiting for a tornado to pass over, and even the goblins couldn’t take it. They had emptied the castle to mill about the city and the few human servants were using all there power to stay out of Jareth’s sight.

The said king was still in the library with his head propped up on the palm of his hand, thoughts running wildly.

‘The Hall of Mirrors should have been dealt with long ago.’

‘Damn the rules, I should’ve stopped her!’

‘If Sarah is harmed in the slightest bit, I will-’

And that’s when he realized what was causing this all consuming worry, it was a simple truth…

‘I love her.’

It was so simple, and it had felt like he’d always loved her. He couldn’t even remember when it began. Maybe it was at her first words of defiance, or was it her childlike nature? No one would ever know, and the feelings were overwhelming.

‘I know she’ll make it out of there, she’s so strong. She MUST make it out of there.’

A life without Sarah suddenly seemed so lonely.


************
Meanwhile, in the city, Sarah was beginning to rouse.

‘I never should have drank at the cast party, everyone knows what happens when I drink too much .’

Sarah groaned and cradled her head. When she finally realized she was laying on stone and not a bed, she was almost afraid to open her eyes.

When she finally did, the memories from an hour ago came rushing back. Tears flooded her eyes.

“No, it wasn’t real. None of it.” she whispered.

Glancing around, she brushed the tears from her eyes.

“Where’s the door? It was just here.”

But rays from the sun cast light on the truth. There was no door behind her, just the great stone wall that surround the goblin city.

“I should’ve known.”

Sarah stood up and dusted her clothes off. Putting a hand over her eyes, Sarah scanned her surroundings. About half a mile away, she spotted the Goblin castle which housed the last person on Earth she wanted to see at the moment, or er, in the Underground for that matter.

Just thinking about him…..

‘Do I really care for him that much?’

He had offered her her dreams, and Sarah couldn’t count the number of times his words had come back to haunt her.

“…love me, do as I say, and I will be your slave.”

It wasn’t as if she hadn’t imagined a life with Jareth, (something that was kind of embarrassing to admit, even to herself), a life so surreal and too good to be true. She could live in a palace where nothing was impossible, not to mention she would be a queen. Most importantly, she would be with Jareth. Gorgeous, arrogant Jareth, the man she was possibly in love with.

This startling revolution almost brought tears to her eyes, because as she saw it, it could never work. The ‘cradle robbing’ was one thing, but something she had read in the small, red, book with Labyrinth embossed on the cover, was pricking in the back of her mind. A detail she couldn’t ignore.

Part of the book had gone into detail about the Goblin King’s abilities, that he could draw upon the powers of the Labyrinth and put it in the form of his crystals. In this way, he kept a hold on the Labyrinth. This skill alone took hundreds of years to master, so naturally the Goblin King had to be immortal.

‘My life would briefly touch this world and he’ll be here long after I’m gone.’

It was a heart wrenching thought, almost too painful to bear.

She pushed the pain to deeper depths of her heart, but the constant throb was still there.

Fighting off the tears, she turned and headed towards the castle.

***

He couldn’t take it anymore.

“I’ll search my whole damn life for that hall, but I won’t loose her.”

With a flick of his wrist, a crystal appeared. What he saw stunned him for a few moments.

‘Sarah is here.’

Magic forgotten, Jareth sprinted to the throne room.

When he did get there, he almost succeeded in knocking poor Sarah over.
Jareth lifted her arms, turned her around, and basically looked her over. Finally he stopped and relief flowed through his entire being.

‘Not even a scratch.’

Sarah was too tired to protest when Jareth began his inspection. She couldn’t even find the strength to push him away when he gathered her in his arms and kissed the top of her head.

They clung to each other for a while before Jareth pulled away slightly to stare down at Sarah, and his eyes widened in surprise.

Sarah had fallen asleep.

Sighing, he tightened his hold on Sarah’s waist and transported them to his bedroom.

Jareth laid her on his bed and slightly stroked her cheek. She looked so small and almost broken.

With that thought, he settled himself in his chair and waited for Sarah to wake up.

********

He woke up with a start. Someone was crying and mumbling, and when he looked over he discovered it was Sarah. In a groggy state, he walked towards the four poster bed.

She was tossing and turning in her sleep, obviously in a nightmare. If he listened closely he could hear her say things such as

“No….I’ll be a good child I swear, but don’t leave mom…”

It was apparent that the damage the mirrors had inflicted weren’t physical.

Pulling back the covers he tucked her head under his chin and began to smooth her hair in a comforting gesture.

Sarah quieted down and it took very little time for the Goblin king to drift off beside her.