Labyrinth of love

By Tora Tama

I do not own Labyrinth

Chapter Two- Hide the Obvious

Jareth sat at the window, the same window he had watched Sarah fight his army from, making sure she did not get hurt. Now, he held a crystal in his hand, watching her at her house. Gently, he ran a finger down her cheek. It hurt him, having to hide his feelings, especially when it put his beloved in danger.

He shuddered at what the cleaners could have done. Even as he put her in danger, he watched to be sure she was safe. He watched her every chance he got, as if that might make her come back to him. A knock on the door made him quickly clear the crystal.

"What do you want?"

A dwarf walked in, clearly scared by the look upon Jareth's face.

"Your majesty, the goblins have requested an audience with you," said the dwarf, in his raspy voice.

"Very well, Hoggle. Tell them they can have their word."

The dwarf bowed and left. Jareth let his mask of anger and malice drop. He did not always like his image, but it had to be fierce to command obedience.

His thoughts turned to Sarah again, and the thought he despised surfaced. Though he did love Sarah, he would have to use her. At the end of their last encounter, he did get at least half of what he wanted; he became real because she believed in him. Until he had her by his side, though, he could never be content. This was because he despised and loved his position as King; he loved the power and authority it gave him, but he wanted more. For the longest time, he had existed only within Sarah.

Jareth knew that Sarah had set him free; even after she had refused to admit he had power over her, he existed. He wondered if that could mean… no, it couldn't. He shook his head, trying to clear his heads of thoughts about her. He needed to concentrate on the goblins and what they wanted. Nervously, he ran his fingers through his long, blonde hair. The last time they had wanted to speak to him, a war had almost broken out.

Jareth cursed himself as he remembered. He had been tightening his hold on his kingdom without realizing it. He had hated the image they saw for the longest time; it would feel good to show his kinder side. He could only hope it was not worse.

His mask came back over his face as the door opened. Hoggle was there, waiting to escort him down to the great hall. Jareth quickly overtook the dwarf's short strides, not wanting to let the dwarf see his face. As he came to the doors of the hall, he readied himself. He threw open the doors, hoping to see only a few rebels, but what he saw was most of his army and all but a very few of the civilians. Despite this, he marched confidently to the head of the room and stood with arms crossed.

Any remaining noise quickly died down and the leader of the group spoke up.

"Jareth, we will get right to the point. You have a choice- give up your throne or it will be forcefully taken from you. There is no point in this, as you can see. We have you outnumbered greatly. So, what say you?"

"What say I? What say I! I say never shall I give up the throne! It is mine until such time as I step down and appoint an heir."

"So be it. Men, let the preparations for war begin!"

At this, the rebel army left the palace and Jareth returned to his study, the castle keep. From the window, he released a crystal bubble and set it after the rebels.

In the meantime, he turned into a barn owl and set off for Sarah's house.

He needed her help.