Battle of the Labyrinth: The Goblin King's Queen

14: How did she do it?

How did she do it? {Detrin}

The early morning light was barely seeping through the dark purplish clouds. I had been awake for many hours by now. The Master liked to have most of the work done before he awoke. Not that there was much to do. The castle was and always would be a place not known to be clean and pretty. But that was how we liked it.

I looked forward to seeing the Master this morning. I was in a ridiculously happy mood. The night before the Dark Prince had received my message. I told him about the new mortal girl being in the Labyrinth. And how her power combined with Jareth's would surely rise over his own. He would make sure that the girl never got here. He would not want our side to win, of course.

"Master!" A voice called.

It was Harold out in the entrance corridor.

"What is it, you fool?" I heard my master say, sounding rather annoyed.

"It's...it's our soon to be queen," Harold said.

"What?!" Both my Master and I exclaimed at once.

My master rushed forward into the entryway where Harold and several other goblins stood. Others gathered around at the sign of excitement. I edged closer to the group but instead of crowding around the door, I made my way to a cracked stain glass window. Through it, I looked around. I spotted the garden, but I could not see anyone. But, wait, there it was. The mortal was just a bit more than a speck in the distance, but her long dark hair that I had seen in the orb flapped unmistakably in the early morning breeze.

It really was her.

But how? The Dark Prince would not have allowed her to come to us. Not when she would help Jareth so much. What had happened? Had this mere mortal defeated The Dark One enough to get past him? Most unlikely. But even if by some miracle she had, how had she made it through the rest of the horrid labyrinth so quickly and apparantly unscathed?

My mind was boggled. If she had successfully done these things, then she was more than I thought she was. She was more powerful than I had previously believed. If. If. If...

I hated to even think it, but could she really be our Queen?

I could barely comprehend the idea. She was a mortal. A teenage mortal, which meant she was immature, very young, and unknowing of her world. How could she even begin to know or understand of ours?

The doorway which had moments ago been crowded and noisy, was now completely empty except for the King. He had cast the others back to their chambers. I steadily started to creep away.

"You," His voice said after me, and the coldness of it made me shiver, but in delight.

I turned. "Yes, master?" I asked quietly.

"I want you to greet your future Queen. I want you to show her to my study, where I will meet her," Jareth said, his eyes looking down on me.

"Y-yes, Master," I said.

How did she do it?

The King stepped away and moved down the hall. I moved to the grand entrance and watched as the mortal girl approached.

Her long dark hair traveled in waves down her and was disarrayed. Her strange and colorful outfit was torn in places. Her cheeks were dirt-stained. She looked as if she went to hell and back.

She looked at me expectantly. "I'm Lilia," She said.

Then she added huffily, "Where's this Goblin King of yours?"

I led her down the hallway and then to the left. We reached the door of his study and stopped.

"So do I like just, go in?" She asked.

I looked at her. Without saying anything, I turned and hobbled away.

Pssht, mortals.