Sarah's Return To The Labyrinth: Sooner Than You Might Think

Chapter 9 Silver Leaves Burning Orange In The Sunset

Chapter 9

Silver Leaves Burning Orange In The Sunset

Sarah's POV

After we finished breakfast, me and The Goblin King left my family and went for a 'stroll' around the gardens.

The gardens were beautiful, but there wasn't much there. Some flowers that were glowing nicely, some hedges, but that was it.

"Close your eyes." The Goblin King said, breaking the silence.

"What?"

"Close your eyes." He said again, taking hold of both my hands.

I closed my eyes and felt The Goblin King lead me away. As we walked, I felt the once stone flooring give way to soft dirt, and then a wooden floor sloping upwards. A bridge?

He turned me to the side, wrapping his arms around my waist.
Ok now I'm a little nervous.
Resting his head on my shoulder, he said, "You can open your eyes now"

Opening my eyes I gasped... It was stunning. We were stood on a bridge made from tree logs that spanned over a small river that seemed to cut through the forest in front of me.
The trees looked like normal trees, but were covered with slight glitter and the leaves were silver.

The Goblin King chuckled behind me, pleased with my reaction.

"Do you like it?" he asked puling me into him closer.

I backed into him, comforted by his actions. I was no longer nervous.

"It's..... It's... Wow..."

He laughed lightly, kissing the side of my face causing me to blush bright red.

He walked from behind me to stand beside to me.

I pouted at the lack of closeness. One minute he was there then the next, he just stood next to me.

I turned to look at him as he took my hand and lead me down the other side of the bridge and down a pathway. The sound of the silver leaves, that had fallen to the ground, crinkling under my feet was rather relaxing. He lead me up a small set of stairs that were hidden so well in the brush that I hadn't even seen them before we were climbing them.

When we reached the top of the steps, I was surprised.
I didn't think it could get any more beautiful.

In front of me was a gorgeous, marble stone, pavilion. With a metal net styled domed roof, that had Ivey and roses crawling up it. In the centre of the pavilion, there was a marble fountain. It had two tiers to it with water trickling gently down the edges.

We sat down at the edge of the fountain in silence. It was colder than I thought. The Goblin King must have seen me shiver as he took off his jacket and wrapped it around me, it was so warm. He then shuffled closer and wrapped his arm around me, slowly rubbing my arm in effort to stop me getting cold.

We sat like that in silence for a long time before my curiosity got the better of me.

I looked up at him. "Goblin King?"

He looked down at me. "Sarah." He must have finally given up an trying to stop me calling him Goblin King. "Will you tell me about them? Your family, I mean."

His expression went dark. Most people would have been unable to read it, but I too had lost a parent.

"My mother's name is Elisa." He said looking into the fountain.

His mother's name 'Is' Elisa. 'Is' is good.

"My father's name, as you know, was Allius. Together they ruled over the kingdom of the Fae. I have an older brother" He said, not offering up any names for his older brother.

I wonder if he was banished. Saying the name of a banished is a one-way ticket to The Bog Of Eternal Stench.

He continued. "Then there is my older sister Areyn. Then me and my twin brother Gareth-"

"Wait... You have a twin brother?"

"Yes"

"Called Gareth"

"Yes" he said again looking at me for a moment the back to the fountain.

"Jareth and Gareth? And your twins?"

"Yes, I know, we find it rather amusing too. Especially considering on how were identical, even for twins there is no telling us apart. It used to drive our mother nutts." He said smiling a little at that.

"And then theirs Flora. Youngest of the bunch. She's..." He thought for a moment. "510 now? In our world she is anyway. In yours she's probably about 10."

"What do you mean 'In my world?'"

"Flora was born 3 weeks after my father died. My mother didn't want anything to do with us and even tried to kill Flora. So me and my siblings decided that the only way to keep Flora safe, was to put her up for adoption in the aboveground. She knows about all of this" He gestured around him. "But until she reaches the age of 20 in your world, it would not be safe for her to come back."

"Oh." Was all I said. What else could I say? 'oh, sorry your mum turned into a homicidal maniac when your dad died.'

We sat in silence a little while longer.

He took my hand. "It's ok Sarah. Really. I know she's happy. And my mother is back to normal and has been for a long time." He said trying to make me feel better for how bad I felt bringing his family up.

"How old are you then?" I asked, considering on how Flora was the youngest and she is 501 years old.

He thought for a moment.

"In your world. 20-21 years of age."

"And in this world?" I asked

"I am 1008 Years in the underground."

I sat for a moment in shock before finally saying, "Your age in my world against mine, Is not bad, were the same age. Your age in this world compared to mine.... Ouch.... That's one hell of an age gap."

We laughed at that for a while and continued to talk about nonsense.

We talked for hours.

It was starting to get late so we walked back to my room, The burning orange of the setting sun glinting off the silver leaves on the trees, making the whole forest look like it was on fire. No words could ever be formed to describe it's beauty.

When we got back to my room The Goblin King took my hand, kissing it in farewell.

"Good night my dear Sarah"

"Good night... Jareth"

He smiled at the sound of his name on my lips as I closed the door.

Hi guys. Bit of a soppy chapter I know but I thought it was nice. I know its late too but don't say I didn't warn you, cos I did, at the end of chapter 7.

I would just like to say Thank for reading. It means allot.

The characters Elisa, Flora, Gareth, Areyn (Air-In) and, as you know, Allius all belong to me. I got the idea of the name Gareth from another story but other than that this character will be all my own.

I would also like to admit that I did not come up with all of the details for the gardens in this chapter myself either. I had some ideas of what I wanted to be there like the silver trees and the fountain, but that was it.

 So, today I had to baby sit my bosses daughter at work because she was ill, and my boss was busy. To cheer her up I gave her the task of making up 'a magical garden in a magical kingdom ruled over my a handsom king.' Needless to say she wildly enjoyed the task.

If anyone would like a better imagining of what the fountain and pavilion looked like to me, please comment and I will look at trying to send you some rough sketches I did.

As always, comments are, of course, welcome.

Thanks For Reading

Labyrinth