Jareth and the glass of goblin ale

Sitting on his throne, watching through a crystal Sarah and his subjects celebrate his defeat, he felt as if someone had definitely ruffled his feathers. His hair was a mess, his kingdom broken and his most loyal goblins had gone Aboveground without his permission. The few goblins which had stayed behind were doing what goblins do best (and well…the only things goblins do apart from sleep), drinking. They looked like such happy fellows, drowning any fears they had in stupidly large tankards of ale.

A rather unsteady goblin with pink cheeks and a rather odd expression plastered across his features wobbled towards him, ale in hand. He hiccupped, lurching forwards and having to hold onto Jareth's boot, which was hanging over the edge of his chair, for support.

"Come on King," he said in a sing-song voice, swaying and patting Jareth's ankle. "Don't-look so un-happy." The goblins' sentence was punctuated with a series of hiccups but he determinately set the tankard at Jareth's side. "Drink!" The little goblin yelled in a surprisingly loud voice for such a small goblin. After this he shuffled away back to the keg and drew himself another flagon. After swallowing a few mouthfuls and hiccupping once more the little goblin collapsed on the floor, unconscious.

"Hmm." Thought Jareth, "Perhaps unconsciousness or at least something close to it would be a good thing today. I can't get…Sarah…" His thoughts evaporated as he caught sight of the girl in the crystal. Suddenly, Jareth rose from his chair and threw the crystal against the wall. It shattered and the glittering shards floated slowly down onto the floor. Jareth stooped down and grasped the handle of his mug, strands of his blonde hair brushing against his face. He swung himself back into his seat with a little more drama than was needed, "To hell with it." Jareth thought, "If I can't show off when I'm on my own, when can I? It's the only time I get a good audience anyway." As he stared into the murky liquid he let his thoughts slide back to the latest runner of the labyrinth but the rippling on the surface of the ale brought him back to reality. The drink was dark, a shade paler than mud and smelt almost as bad as the bog of eternal stench. Almost, this really is quite a feat.

Jareth closed his eyes, squeezing them tight shut and downed as much of the tankard as he could quickly. The rest (including the mug) he threw to the floor as his mouth and brain burned, the backs of his eyes felt as though they were on fire and for a moment Jareth could only see red. Clutching at his head, hands pressed over his eyes, the pain slowly dispersed, leaving him feeling very groggy and lightheaded. It was the feeling he associated with hitting windows while flying. The goblins swarmed towards him, wondering why he was acting so strangely. Well, stranger than normal. The stood in a circle around him, just far enough away that they were out of reach, but close enough that they could answer any orders he might have for them. After a few seconds without being given instructions the goblins began to get bored. They picked their noses, made very rude noises and some danced around Jareth, urging others to join in. A few of the goblins left and went to the party at Sarah's dwelling as it was still in full swing and they had mugs of goblin ale to share with the others…or fight over, whichever came first. None of the goblins noticed the king's next actions, or heard what he said.

The Goblin King stood, and with less glitter than usual walked a few paces into the centre of the room, his face flushed. He then sat on the cold, dirty floor of his throne room, ruining this regal attire, and continued to stare into the orb's crystalline depths. Sarah seemed to be having a good time, dancing with Ludo and Sir Didimus, leaving Hoggle to jump on her bed holding onto a fiery for dear life. "Sarah." He whispered.

"That's it!" Jareth roared. Jumping up and leering over the goblins he began to think a little more clearly. "Stay here, I'm going Aboveground." Before the goblins could protest, Jareth had disappeared. Reappearing in Sarah's room amongst the chaos, no one noticed him until after he had sat on the edge of Sarah's desk and leaned his pounding head against the wall.

Everyone stopped what they were doing. Those who had been eating let their food fall from their hands; anyone who had been dancing either froze or fell over. But all were looking at the Goblin King, even the Wise Man and his hat had woken from where they sat in a corner, eyes wide and staring.

"Don't stop on my account." Jareth said quietly, though in the small room it seemed to echo and the sudden silence made his head hurt even more. The effort to not slur his words what tremendous, he ran his hand through his hair sheepishly and grinned. Some of the goblins laughed as they had been thought to do when Jareth smiles, a few of the fairies screamed. Sarah moved towards him and the others took it as their cue to act natural, the people, monsters and everything in between began the party again but still stole glances at Jareth as often as they dared.

To be continued...

What happens next? I'm really not sure to be honest…comment with ideas or creative crit please! Or leave a reply (you know how great you feel when you get replies on your stories, so reply to mine! you'll have virtual cookies!)

Too much detail? Not enough? Please tell me!

I've written a lot of other stories and not really finished them off, and if anyone is reading this wondering why I'm starting something new, I'm sorry. I'm a student and I have to fit my writing in when I have time around work, and often I get a new idea which I would rather write.