The Tale of the Labyrinth By Eamane-Shu
Three days
later the day of Roland’s funeral dawned, the labyrinth had been plunged into a
cold snap, which was uncommon for the time of year, however despite the chill
it was a perfect sunny day, not a cloud in the sky. Jareth suspected that the
weather had been caused by Danae, though he was unsure if she had done this on
purpose, or unconsciously.
Sarah was
woken up by one of the ladies in waiting, who had already laid out Sarah’s
clothes for the day, a grey morning dress, with a matching veil and gloves.
Sarah’s
dress was very simple, it was a soft dove grey with a deep round neck, and long
sleeves. When she was dressed, she wandered over to Danae’s room, where the
silent girl was having the finishing touches done to her hair as her maids attatched her veil. Unlike Sarah’s dress, Danae’s was
much more ornate, showing her position as princess. It was made from the finest
black silk, with an incredibly tight bodice and full trailing skirt. Over the
top of the bodice she wore a lacy, long sleeved tunic, which tied loosely at
the top. Her hair was pinned behind her head, with a sheer veil covering her
face. She looked tired and drawn, Sarah knew for a fact that she had barely
slept, and Camille had confided in her that the majority of food that had been
sent up to the girl had been left untouched. Danae hadn’t left her room since
Jareth had broken the news to her, she had spent the majority of her time
sleeping or lying on her bed in silence. Today would be the first time she
would face the world since Roland’s death, and she looked as if the slightest
puff of air could knock her down.
Sarah took
hold of the girls hand “Are you ready?”
Danae
nodded, but looked unsure of herself, her face was ghostly pale “Where’s
Jareth?” she asked uncertainly.
“I’m here”
a soft response came from the Goblin King, who had been standing silently in
the doorway for some time. He was dressed entirely in black, black boots, black
britches, black jacket. Like his sister he looked drawn and tired, from holding
everything together, Sarah mused. For the past three days Jareth had been torn
between comforting Danae and making preparations for Roland’s funeral, like
Danae he had been taking his meals in his quarters, and Sarah was certain that
he hadn’t been eating properly.
“Sarah?” a
voice interrupted her thoughts “Aldous is waiting downstairs to escort you.” It
had been decided last night that Sarah would accompany Aldous to the funeral,
allowing Jareth to tend to Danae.
“I’ll see
you in a bit.” She smiled weakly to Danae before heading off to find the King’s
advisor.
“How do I
look?” Danae asked her brother shakily.
Seeing her
so frail, Danae, who was usually so invulnerable, even though she had already
lost so many in her life, broke his heart. His eyes filled with unshed tears as
he answered in a cracked voice “You look beautiful Nae.”
“Jareth”
her voice was so soft that it was barely a whisper “I don’t think I can do
this.”
“Of course
you can. And I’ll be beside you for the entire ceremony.”
She slipped
her small hand inside his gloved one. She took a deep calming breath. “I’m
ready Jareth.”
Hand in
hand they both disappeared, then reappeared beside Sarah and Aldous in a
Sarah,
holding Aldous’ arm followed Jareth and Danae inside one of the temple
buildings, inside was a single large room, with an ante chamber behind it for
the priests, it was all made out of pale grey stone, with few adornments. At
the front of the room on a large slab of grey stones lay Roland. He was decked
out in a white robe, with simple embroidery on its edges, befitting the status
he held in life. His face was peaceful, but through the thin material Sarah
could glimpse, on his chest, the knife wound that had killed him, and she was
reminded that his was not a peaceful death.
The priests
were chanting now, as they gently washed Roland’s body with fragranced water. Its
scent, combined with the incense burning in the temple, made Sarah feel
slightly light-headed, so she gripped Aldous’ arm tightly as she listened to
the head priest speak in the high tongue. “No more shall he wander the green
fields of this earth, for he has passed beyond this realm. An evil death has
taken him from our midst. And although we stand here in death’s shadow, fear
not, for Roland was brave and true, he will pass to the halls of our fathers…”
Sarah
looked around the room, near Jareth and Danae stood Ivenan, and with him,
holding the arm of a beautiful brunette, stood a man, who from resemblance
could only be Carstonan, the elder of the three sons. Beside him, stood who
Sarah could only assume were Roland’s parents, King Menus, the eldest living
son of Stevan, if Sarah remembered correctly, and his wife, the Queen Consort,
her eyes were red rimmed. She stood as still as a statue, as she watched the
funeral rites performed on her youngest son.
“…And at
the end of days we will see him again, we shall hear his call, for his is not
lost to us but waiting in the life hereafter.” As the head priest finished his
ritual, four of his silent acolytes, picked up Roland from where he lay and
carried him to the pyre, waiting for him outside. Roland’s family walked over
to the pyre, to say their final farewells, until there was only Danae waiting
to stand beside him. She walked over slowly and took his hand in hers.
“Fare thee
well my love” she whispered quietly as she brought his cold hand to her lips,
before rejoining Jareth.
As
tradition stated, it was Jareth, King Menus, and Roland’s two brothers who had
the task of lighting the pyre. Danae stood staring at the pyre as it began to
burn, her face cold and expressionless. She had been in so much pain for the
last few days that she was simply shutting down.
Roland’s
mother, Queen Lana, came over and hugged the young princess, before travelling
home with her husband and remaining sons, she spoke little, her grief seeming
to be beyond words, though when questioned about her welfare by Jareth she
replied sadly, “No parent should ever be forced to outlive their children.”
As the
mourners departed, the four from the Castle beyond the Goblin city were left.
Jareth, tried to usher Danae home, but she firmly declined his efforts, “No, I
want to watch it burn.”
As Sarah
and Aldous began to walk out of the temple they turned to see Danae sink to the
floor, letting the grief, which had been pent up over the last three days out,
while Jareth watched over her, a few feet away.
After the funeral
Danae had returned to her room, and she had remained in there ever since. Sarah,
Jareth and Camille had been keeping a silent vigil over the girl for the last
week, sitting in the room with her, Camille with her embroidery, Sarah with one
of her books, or Jareth, who just sat and held her hand. But despite all the
comfort they offered her Danae was still drowning in her grief. She was still
refusing to leave her room, and most days she refused to get out of bed. It was
almost as if she had stopped seeing a reason to live. In the end Jareth had
forced her to come downstairs every night for their evening meal, but even
then, she pushed her food around her plate silently.
After about
a month Jareth’s temper was strained, he had found no lead on Roland’s
assailants, three goblin patrol groups had also been slaughtered recently in a
similar fashion, and the people were starting to grumble about not seeing
Danae, who was considered the brightest jewel in the Labyrinth’s crown. Sarah
and Jareth had come to harsh words several times in the last few weeks, over
how Danae should be treated.
“She just
needs more time” said Jareth coolly, unhappy that they were yet again having
the same argument.
“She’s had
time” Sarah reasoned.
“It’s only
been a month” snapped Jareth “Don’t be so unreasonable to expect her to have
completely moved on.”
“I don’t
expect her to have moved on” she replied, exasperated, “only to have shown some
improvement over the last month. I understand that she’s hurting, but she has
to start healing.”
“And what
could you possibly understand about the situation”
“Oh, I
understand more than you realise” she glared back at being dismissed in that
manner.
“Well I don’t
know what to do!” he yelled loudly at her, causing Sarah to take a few steps
back. He immediately cursed himself for frightening her. He fell back into a
low chair and held his head in his hands “The gods help me Sarah; I don’t know
what to do to make this better for her.”
“You need
to get her to come out of her room” Sarah said softly, pulling up a chair
beside him, and taking his hands in hers “You have to make her see that life
goes on. It’s going to be hard for her to realise that, but it’s the only way
she will ever get over this.”
The next
morning, Jareth appeared at Danae’s door with a fairly large box. He knocked
softly, and was admitted by one of the maids. “I’m afraid she isn’t dressed
this morning Your Highness” she said sadly.
“Tell her
highness, that I will wait here until she is dressed”, he said entering the
small sitting room which led to Danae’s bedroom. The maid curtsied and went off
to do as she was bid. Ten minutes later Danae appeared wearing a loose fitting
black velvet dress. The dark colour made her look washed out, and her hair was
scraggly and unbrushed.
“Good
morning” Jareth said with forced cheeriness. Danae sat down in one of the
chairs and looked at her brother expectantly, she remained silent, so he
continued. “I’ve brought you a gift.”
Danae
looked at the package curiously. “What is it?”
“You’ll
see” Jareth replied smoothly. “I’ll leave it with you. However, if you wish to
keep it you must join me for a walk in the gardens this afternoon.” And without
another word he put the box down on the floor and strode out of the room.
As soon as
Jareth had gone Danae opened up the box cautiously, and gasped as she saw what
was inside. There nestled sleepily amongst a small pile of straw lay a small
kitten. She was black with three white paws and a white belly. Danae
immediately fished her out of the box and started playing with her, a smile on
the beautiful girls face.
That
afternoon, for the first time since Roland’s death Danae went outside in the
sunshine.