| They stayed like that for what seemed like an age, Jareth and Dominic unwilling to move and Michelle unable. Silence filled the room more deeply than the light. Jareth was in awe. He had a son and heir. He had someone to love, to spoil, to watch grow. Jaden had been right; the only person who would ever have power over the King of the Underground would be his son, and right now, this small boy of just six years old had total control over the man. Michelle was distraught; she was loosing her son, the only thing she had ever cared about. Her life hadn�t ended at sixteen, simply started again. Yes harder, yes more work, but she now had a child. Her own child. She couldn�t share him; her nature wouldn�t let her. And Jareth wasn�t even his father. Jareth took a deep breath, and looked at the boy. �Come,� he said, �I�m going to show you around your new home.� They held hands like they had known each other forever and started walking towards the door. �Are you coming Michelle?� She stood slowly, unwilling to let them alone together, and followed them out of the room. The castle of the Goblin King is an intriguing place. It is very much a fairy tale castle, but not shiny enough to be that of the good King, and dark enough to be that of the bad King. It is tall, and like the Tower of London did centuries ago, it bashes its presence into the minds of all around, emphasising its own importance, and that of its owner. All the Goblins abiding in the Goblin City knew the face of their ruler. They knew how to react to him, and what was a safe distance. They had evolved quickly through survival of the fittest. Goblins weren�t the brightest of creatures, but they had learnt themselves a safe fear of the man, which kept them alive. Even they stared at the new comers though. Jareth, in his tall black riding boots and tight trousers, walked with his head high, and with what was probably the closest to a real smile of joy that he could muster (something between a smirk and a grin.) He had his arm around a small boy. Some of the unwise Goblins who worked at the castle proudly shared their knowledge of the King�s dealings, and soon the rumour spread around the city that Jareth, their dread lord had found his half mortal son, who would be heir to the throne of their Kingdom. The female Goblins giggled to each other that the boy was about their height, while the males simply noticed the miserable looking young woman that trailed behind the two. Some of the closer goblins could just about hear their conversation. �This is the city I was telling you about, Dominic.� Jareth kicked a chicken. Dominic was laughing. He had never seen so many odd looking people in one place. Nor had he seen so many shades of brown and green on people�s faces. He was too young to hide it, and did not notice the stares he himself was getting. Michelle trundled along behind, suddenly understanding what zoo animals feel like, and pitying them. These were strange creatures, but she had seen the film the labyrinth, and the existence of goblins was really not alarming having met the Goblin King and his brother. A few goblins tried to sell her things, and when she said that she didn�t have any money, some looked decidedly confused and some just laughed at her. She decided to catch up with Jareth and Dominic; no one tried to sell them anything, and she half ran half skipped until she caught them. Then she stopped and didn�t know what to say to them. �Have you ever been here Mummy?� Dominic asked. �No,� said Michelle. �Yes,� said Jareth She looked at him. �Last time she never left the castle,� he explained with a sneer. �She didn�t really know where she was.� Michelle felt sick, and her face suddenly went very pale. She swayed a little on her feet. Jareth took her arm, his face suddenly very concerned. �Michelle?� �I�m fine, just tired.� �Stay with me, we don�t want you collapsing in front of my subjects.� He looked at Dominic; �Run ahead Dom. We�re going to look around the labyrinth.� The tour didn�t end, or even pause. Jareth put his arm around Michelle�s waist, a contact she could have done without, and they walked together, both with their eyes on the small boy in front of them, skipping from goblin to goblin, idly chatting and, weaving his way towards the great gates that lead to the labyrinth. The labyrinth is one of the great wonders of the underground. Some said that Jareth created it, which in some ways is true, but others say that it created Jareth, which is also true. It is hard to know whether the labyrinth for Jareth is a job or a pass time, whether it is there for him or he for it. It is the mystery in the myths of Earth, but so is Jareth, but even if Earth�s visitors to the Underground had written down their accounts, the labyrinth would still be a complete mystery. This is because it�s very basis is magic. It cannot be described to people, like you cannot describe colours to a colour-blind person, and how the human mind cannot understand a fourth dimension other than time. And just like room George Orwell�s 101, it changes to create the hardest environment for the present challenger. A pit of tarantulas has no effect on a spider lover, and a steep climb means nothing to someone who has climbed Everest. Jareth�s challengers are not just anyone. They must have something he wants, normally a young child in their charge he wants to serve him, but sometimes he just wants someone to be able to beat, and sometimes a conquest of another kind. He watches them for a long time before he challenges them, finding weaknesses and sore spots, and also tempting them. They find the film or various manuscripts in his knowledge, he gives them dreams, painting images in their minds until it becomes an obsession. Jareth doesn�t always use the labyrinth to get what he wants. A girl was travelling through the labyrinth. She had made slow progress; she was a very weak little girl who suffered from asthma. She had found herself back at the beginning on three occasions so far, and she was scared she was getting short of breath, the fear making it shorter. She didn�t have her inhaler. Jareth disappeared. Michelle spun around searching for him. �Dominic!� The little boy turned back to her, from where he had been talking to a strange worm who was in the process of inviting him to come into his home. Michelle was very scared. Jareth knew and this was her punishment for lying to him, to wonder the labyrinth with her confused son at the man�s pleasure, she could feel it. �Come here Dom,� she said, and the little boy came and she wrapped her arms around him, though she was shaking. �And how are you enjoying yourself, my dear?� The girl jumped, then breathed raggedly for a few moments. She turned to face her tormentor, but didn�t say anything; all she wanted was her little sister back. She wished she had her inhaler, especially as the beautiful man got closer to her. It became harder and harder to breathe. A crystal appeared in his hand, and she stared at it as he played with it, twisting it around his fingers, rolling it over his hands. Then he caught it and looked at it, then looked at her. He threw it at her, and she shielded her face with her hands. She felt something small and light hit her, and she looked to where it landed. She grabbed her inhaler and took a huge gasp of its air. She was so relieved. She sat on the hard ground for a rest. Jareth grinned then walked around a corner of the maze. The girl stood up and followed him through curiosity. |