As The World Falls Down

Chapter 12

You woke with a jolt to the the sound of a small fist banging hurriedly on your bedroom, the sound echoing down the hallway and throughout your room, and the adrenaline of being woken up so abruptly made you sit up stiff as a board. Next to you, Jareth stirred much less, his arm still wrapped around your waist with his face buried in the pillow. You removed his arm, eliciting a grunt from him, and got to your feet, stretching as you recognized the ache in your legs from last night was still throbbing dully in your muscles as you approached the door and opened it. You found a wild eyed goblin wearing a shoddy knight's uniform staring up at you, a splintered spear dragging behind him.

"Good morning, ma'am," he greeted you in the garbled goblin tone you were becoming accustomed to. "You wouldn't happen to have seen the king?"

"Uh," you stuttered, trying to think of how the hell you were going to answer when Jareth appeared at your side in a split second, his stature and energy suddenly commanding and royal even with no shirt and a bad case of bedhead.

"What business is so important that you disturb me and our guest?" he demanded, and the goblin's face crumpled. "Well, on with it before I strip you of your duty and send you out on your sorry ass."

"I'm sorry, sire," the goblin apologized, bowing deeply with a tremor in his voice. "I just wanted to alert you that Sarah has been trying to contact you all morning."

You lit up, excited to see how Sarah was doing and get some interaction outside of Jareth and his staff, and you could see Jareth brighten at the news too.

"I'll attend to that, thank you," he replied nonchalantly, moving to close the door, but the goblin started shaking his head and opened his mouth to speak again.

"No, your majesty, you don't understand, she was unable to reach you so she got the goblin called Hoggle to bring her to the city," he explained, on the verge of tears. "I'm sorry we couldn't alert you sooner, so sorry!"

"She's already here?" Jareth yelled in disbelief, his face clouding with frustration. "I thought I told you idiots not to let that Hoggle go behind my back again! You know, he's only alive because Sarah cares for him, you lot aren't so lucky! Unbelievable!"

"We are all so sorry, my King," the goblin blubbered, falling to his knees dramatically. "PROMISE it will not happen again, we promise!"

"Bring her and Hoggle both to the parlor and then get out of my sight," he spat, and the goblin immediately took off down the hallway in a frightful sprint, tripping over his feet. You turned to Jareth with a disappointed look and he let out a frustrated breath out, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Is it really that big of a deal, or do you just like being mean to those poor goblins?" you asked, and he scoffed, turning back into the room as you shut the door.

"They know better than to let Hoggle out of their sight," he complained, putting his shirt on and securing the rest of his baubles over it. "He's on thin ice as it is. And to go over my head and transport Sarah without my approval? That is completely unacceptable."

"He's not even undermining your authority," you insisted, getting dressed hastily and pinning your hair up with a big, wooden clip. "You're still the most powerful person in this whole damn kingdom, relax. Who's Hoggle anyways?"

"He used to work for me before he defied me to help Sarah solve the labyrinth years back," he grumbled, combing his hair through with his fingers. "They stayed friends so I have to keep him alive, or Sarah would never let me forget it."

"He sounds nice," you said and he scoffed again. "I mean, you're friends with Sarah and he's friends with Sarah, can't you just let him be?"

"I don't easily forgive and forget, you should know that by now," he replied, getting up from pulling his boots on and sidling next to you. "But perhaps you have a point. Killing him would be so quick and painfully easy, but keeping him alive lets me draw out all the fun to be had."