Those Cruel Eyes Edition 1

Chapter 13

An hour later, Jareth and Emmeline came to the same clearing where Sarah had rescued Ludo from Jareth's guards all those years ago. Even the rope used to suspend Ludo upside down was lying on the ground, rotting away.
"Wow," Emmeline commented loudly, "Hoggle has really let the place go since he became King."
Jareth opened his mouth to answer when he was interrupted by a familiar yet unwelcome cackle.
"Actually, this is all Jareth's handiwork," Hoggle laughed cruelly.
Emmeline and Jareth turned at the sound of his cackle and glared at Hoggle, who was perched upon one of the overgrown hedge walls, checking his nails like every narcissistic, power-hungry moron. "I've only been King for three days or so. Jareth was the one who left it to crumble when Sarah rejected him. The only thing that has changed since then was the order of events in which Sarah had partaken in her journey." Hoggle snorted. Emmeline could not believe that this was the goblin her mother had befriended.
"My mother only surrounds herself with good friends, so it boggles my mind that she would be your friend, of all people! How do the other goblins stand you?" Emmeline spat the words at Hoggle as if they would cause him unendurable pain.
Hoggle only smiled coldly. "My dear girl. The goblins stand me because I am their ruler, and the Goblin City would crumble without me. Oh, and your mother likes me because I am kind to her... and..." He flushed deeply, then looked at Jareth with undisguised loathing, but Emmeline could see in his eyes an unspoken grudge against Jareth.
Emmeline rolled her eyes at him then stomped down a foresty path, in the opposite direction of where Hoggle was reclining.
"C'mon Jareth! Or we'll be late!" Jareth hurried after her, not even bothering to glance at Hoggle. Fed up with both of them but especially Emmeline, Hoggle melted into the air.

"So, you were saying? About my mom?" Emmeline pried. The jungle they were going through was silent, and for Emmeline, it was too much to bear.
"Ah, yes, well, I had done my best to taunt her, to mess her up, to tempt her, so that she could stay with me longer. The only thing, I didn't take Sarah thirteen hours."
"What?" Emmeline asked, "But you said-,"
"I know," Jareth sighed, "But the Kings have the ability to move time around. In total, it took Sarah about twenty hours.
"When Sarah was here, I would watch her progress using my crystals and I would see her disgust towards me, those flames of hatred fanned by Hoggle. Deranged and terrified that Hoggle was switching alliances, I forced him to give Sarah the peach. When I spoke with Hoggle, I was petrified. I read minds, see, and Hoggle fancied Sarah! More than that, he had fallen as hopelessly in love with her like I had. The only difference: she hated me. Then he gave her the peach, giving me a chance to connect with her.
"Sarah's phantasm was everything I could've dreamt of. I was in it, not that ugly dwarf. She was dressed in a thick white ball gown with glitter and ruffles, like a queen." He fell silent, apparently basking in the memory. Emmeline resisted the urge to clear her throat.
Taking in the information she learned, Emmeline asked, "Has there ever been a Goblin Queen?"
Jareth nodded. "Yes, we are born just like humans, and we can be sterile as well. We are very similar, just the Fae have magical abilities and we live longer. I was a rare specimen; no one before me ever stumbled upon the kingdom. I mean, don't get me wrong. We only take the unwanted children and always gave the wisher a choice. Most deny the chance to get their child or sibling back and just accept the crystal."
"What kind of magic does the crystal posses?" Emmeline asked.
"It shows you your dreams." Jareth replied simply.
"What? That's it?" Emmeline was aghast. Mothers had given up their own flesh-and-blood to gaze into a crystal and see things that they themselves know doesn't exist. It was like trading a child for a television.
"Well, it's a bit more complicated than that," Jareth defended, "When you gaze into the crystal for a certain period of time, the dream becomes reality." Jareth paused. "The forest is thinning out."
"That must mean that we are almost there!" Emmeline scanned above the trees for any sign of Jareth's castle. "There!" she exclaimed, pointing.
Jareth followed her gaze to the direction she was indicating. A large, black stone tower was standing proudly and portentously above the trees.
"That's not my-," Jareth started, but Emmeline had already sprinted for the clearing and was soon hidden by a thick grove of trees.
"Emmeline!" Jareth called. Suddenly, a girl's scream echoed around the trees followed by a bone-shattering roar.