The Tale of the Labyrinth By Eamane-Shu
Sarah
wrapped her shawl tighter around her body and shivered involuntarily, the soft wool
did little against the cold that had penetrated her body to the core, gotten
into her bones. The healer had made her stay in bed all morning and most of the
afternoon, but she had finally discharged Sarah, who had immediately gone in
search of Danae and Aldous, anxious for news of the battle. When she arrived at
Jareth’s study, which Danae had been using as a base of operations, it was
deserted, and Sarah was informed that the princess and her advisor was standing
on the balcony outside the front of the castle. Sarah hurried to join them.
Nothing
could have prepared her for the site which was waiting for her outside. Danae
and Aldous were standing, staring off into the distance, a cold look of horror
on their faces. When Sarah followed their gaze into the distance she gasped.
The blood drained from her face in shock leaving her standing there, deathly
pale. “Oh my God” she whispered to herself in horror.
Noticing
Sarah’s presence for the first time Danae turned to her, her face as pale as
Sarah’s own. The princess grasped the other girl’s hand, and they stood there
clinging to each other for what seemed an eternity, staring at the horrific
sight that lay before them.
The once
lush green plains bordering the labyrinth were now stained a dark red colour,
the colour of blood underneath a healing wound. But there was a worse sight
than this, a sight that had caused Aldous’ breath to catch, and Danae’s legs to
falter when they had first seen it. Smoke was rising from the fields. As far as
the eye could see the sky was blackened out, by thick dark acrid smoke.
“What’s
going on ‘Nae?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
“The
alliance is burning the battlefields” Danae explained, her voice level and
controlled “They are preparing for a retreat, while causing the maximum damage
that they possibly can.” Seeing the stricken look on Sarah’s face, Danae
decided on a course of action. “Let’s go back inside; there is nothing we can
do here.” And the princess led Sarah back inside the castle, to the parlour,
where she sat Sarah down, and ordered her a hot cup of tea.
After a
little while the warmth returned to Sarah’s arms and she began to feel less
anxious about the day’s events.
“Sarah?”
she was jolted back into reality by the princess.
“Sorry,
what did you say?”
“I asked
you, what did the healer say?”
Sarah
brought her hand to her belly slowly. “She said I was expecting a baby”
Danae’s
eyes widened and she nearly choked on the tea she was sipping. “What? How far
along are you? Does Jareth know?”
“I’m about
two months gone, and Jareth doesn’t know yet, I only just found out, and it’s
so much to take in.” She glanced over at the princess who was beaming “You
won’t tell him will you? I want to tell him myself, when the timing is right.”
“Of course
I won’t!” Danae reassured her, “I’m going to be an Aunt” she told Sarah
giddily.
But any
further news was cut short by the arrival of Aldous, “Your Highness” he
addressed the princess formally. “May I have a word?”
Danae nodded
and silently followed Aldous out of the room, squeezing Sarah’s shoulder gently
as she passed her. Once in Jareth’s study Danae stood behind her brother’s
chair while Aldous spoke slowly.
“Ivenan has
returned”
“How is
he?” Danae asked anxiously.
“He’ll be
fine, he took a bad wound to the shoulder, but nothing life threatening, he’s
being seen by the healer as we speak.” Danae’s relaxed, however Aldous
continued “However he brings bad news.”
“What kind
of bad news?” Danae asked warily.
“Jareth was
trapped in the flames” he told her sadly, Danae brought her hand to her mouth,
shocked. “He didn’t make it.” Aldous’ voice broke, “All they found of him was
his medallion.” He placed the silver piece in Danae’s hand; it was spattered
with blood and darkened with soot.
Danae sank
down into the chair slowly, cradling the medallion in her hands. The enormity
of what had just happened, and what she was going to have to do sinking in
slowly. Tears streaming down her face. “Could you…” her voice faltered for a
moment “Could you go and tell Sarah what has happened. I need some time to
think.” Aldous nodded his head and left her alone.
Her
thoughts drifted back to the conversation that she had had with Jareth last
night. ‘If anything should happen to me
Nae, people will be looking to you to make the next move. Don’t waste your time
mourning me; you must do what needs to be done.’ In that moment Danae made
the hardest decision that she had ever had to make in her life. She abandoned
Jareth.
When Aldous
came back from breaking the news to Sarah, he found the princess sitting,
regally, reading the contents of an envoy which had arrived a few moments ago.
On Aldous’ arrival she turned and looked him in the eyes, her head held high.
“Schedule
the coronation for as soon as feasibly possible” she commanded formally, every
inch of her royalty.
“You’re
Highness” Aldous nodded his ascent and bowed to his new sovereign. Then, taking
a more informal approach, he walked over to the princess, and took her hand in
his, and told her warmly. “I have never
been more proud of you, than I am of you right now.
Danae’s
coronation was held three days later, and to her distress Sarah did not attend.
Due to the circumstances it was a quiet and subdued affair, and after the
ceremony the traditional celebration was not held, as the new Queen was too
deep in mourning for her brother to try and act joyful on such a day.
Her first
royal duties were the most distressing things she had ever done in her life. “A
search was called to try and find Jareth’s remains, and even after three weeks
of hunting through all the thousands of dead, nothing was ever found of the
former Goblin King. Her second, equally unpleasant duty, was dealing with the
perpetrators of the attacks. Prince Harris had been killed by a deadly sword
wound during the battle, so the sole responsibility of events had fallen on the
shoulders of his wife, Lady Annabel.
She was
brought in front of the princess, who was sitting elegantly on her brother’s
throne, eyeing the other girl coolly.
“Come on
then?” Annabel demanded “Tell me what you have in store for me”
“You should
speak to your betters with more respect Lady Annabel” the Queen informed her
icily “Especially when they would be within their rights to demand your head on
a stick.” Annabel’s face paled at this implied threat, “I have however decided
to be lenient in this matter, banishment is your only punishment from the
“Remove
her” Danae called to the guards, and they escorted Annabel from the room, that
was the last time Danae ever saw her alive, rather face execution in Mannat she
hung herself four days later.
Sarah
seemed to have handled Jareth’s death better than Danae had anticipated; she
had spent a few days in mourning, and then returned to her normal routine,
spending hours in the library every day as if searching for something. The
Queen had seen less of Sarah over the last few weeks than she would have liked,
since their defeat in the Goblin Realm members of the alliance had sued for a
peace treaty, one that Danae was all too eager to accept, and she had spent
much of her time negotiating the treaty, which was due to be signed tomorrow in
Threasedene. Sarah had agreed to travel to Threasedene with Danae and Ivenan,
believing that a change of scenery would do her good, help her to take her mind
off things.
Danae was
sitting in the library with Sarah, she was quietly reading a few official
documents that had arrived that morning, regarding the peace treaty, while
Sarah was erratically flipping through a number of magic books, until she
suddenly stopped on a single page.
“I want you
to bring him back” she announced to the Queen, who looked at her puzzled.
“Bring who
back Sarah?” she asked warily, not liking the direction that this conversation
was taking.
“Jareth”
her words became faster now in desperation “Bring him back to me and the baby.
I found a spell; I knew I’d seen it before…just after Roland died. I know that
you can do this; I overheard Aldous saying the other day that you were even
more powerful than Jareth. I just want him back.” She walked over and placed
the open book in front of Danae, who studied it for a moment before turning
back to Sarah.
“I can’t do
this Sarah.” Most of what Sarah had said was true, the spell was in a magic
book that she had studied from just after Roland’s death, and through having
two royal parents of the highest order as opposed to one, Danae had been
blessed with more magic than her brother, but it just wasn’t possible.
“Yes you
can” she argued back, I’ve been studying the theory of magic and it doesn’t
sound that hard.
“No Sarah!”
Danae sounded genuinely shocked “A thousand times, no!” before Sarah had time
to interrupt she continued. “Even if I did have the power to do such a thing,
there are laws against such atrocities, and rightly so.” Sarah’s green eyes
filled with tears, “I’m so sorry Sarah, but I genuinely can’t.”
“He’s never
coming back is he?” she asked, her voice soft and afraid.
Danae took
the girl in her arms and cradled her gently “I’m so sorry Sarah”
The walls
that had been building up around Sarah for the last month slowly started to
crumble as her body heaved with great wracking sobs “How could he do this to us?
To you, to me and the baby?” She wept into Danae’s shoulder “How could he leave
us? He never said goodbye! He just left, and now I’m all alone with the baby.
And I can’t do this alone.”
Danae held
the sobbing girl tightly, tears rolling down her own cheeks. “You don’t have
to!” she told Sarah and she slipped her hand into Sarah’s.
“You’re not
alone”