In the Eyes of the Queen [ Labyrinth ] ✔

Chapter Eight

'Don't go that way. Never go that way,' I remember him saying.

Even if he was generous enough to aid me in finding the passage, certainly as a creature of the Labyrinth he did not direct me toward the castle. So right is wrong. My inner voice laughs but I quiet it as I turn around to take the left way instead, hoping that I am not once again being conceited in assuming I know the answers to the Labyrinth.

I am hesitant to walk into the unknown, but I know that I have a better chance at success following the path the worm discouraged me from. As Alice and I step forward, the passage melts into the same maze as the right-hand passage had, but then bright light momentarily blinds us. As my eyes adjust, I find myself in a stone passage.

I cannot see the sky, as the passage is enclosed, but daylight shines in at intervals, so I know I am not underground. I step forward, Alice in tow, trying to quiet my steps in the eerie silence.

Suddenly, I hear a telltale giggle. My mind freezes. Davey is near. Alice perks up at the familiar sound and looks around frantically, seemingly remembering her mission. I hear the low voices of goblins and rush us forward, descending the several shallow steps that lead into an intersection of passages. Before us is a large door, the same size as that which Ludo pushed open for me to enter the castle. The voices are coming from the left.

I turn and am shocked into stillness. Déjà vu. I turn my head to look back to where we came from and recognize it from the new angle. It is the passage that was before us when my three companions and I entered the castle. To the right of it, ahead of us are the steps ascending to the throne room.

Hesitantly—apprehension and determination battling within me—I step forward, pulling Alice to my side, and we walk upward toward the archway as the goblin voices grow louder.

I pause at the threshold, watching the goblins carefully. There are a few that I recognize, and I feel my mind ease a degree. There is no sign of Jareth, and so my mind eases another degree. One of the larger goblins is cradling the apparently unharmed Davey in his arms on the steps below the overlarge stone throne. I breathe a sigh of relief and let my mind ease entirely for a moment.

I hug Alice to my side. She has yet to spot her child and is instead overwhelmed at the sight of the reveling goblins.

I push her against the wall gently and put heavy hands on either of her shoulders. She slides down the wall into a sitting position. Once she is settled, I stand up and leave her side for the first time since we left her flat. Snagging one of the familiar goblins on the outskirts of the room and maneuvering my hand to muffle his surprise, I squat down and command his attention.

"Lady?"

"You see that baby over there?" I indicate Davey with a gesture of my hand. "I want you to steal him."

"What?"

"You're a goblin, aren't you? That's what you do," I say, though Sir Didymus has led me to believe that is not entirely accurate anymore. "I want you to steal that baby for me. Bring him here."

He hesitates and fidgets, his horned helmet falling forward a little, as he considers my command. With what I assume is the goblin equivalent to a sigh, he nods and turns resolutely toward the baby, sneaking through the goblins and deftly stealing Davey from the arms of the now-sleeping larger goblin earlier attending to the baby.

A moment that seems both infinitesimal and eternal passes as I watch him wind his way toward me. I step back toward Alice and pull her up to a standing position. She leans against the wall in a daze.

The goblin clears his throat as he reaches me and I look down at him, considering. We have the baby, so how do we get out of here? Jareth tried to prevent me from reaching Toby, so perhaps touching the child will send us back. The questions are many. If I touch Davey, will we two alone go back, leaving Alice behind? We could touch him at the same time, but exact coordination is difficult, what if one or the other of us touches him before the other, just long enough to make a difference? I cannot take that risk, so I turn to Alice.

"Alice. Alice, I need you to pick up your baby."

Confused, Alice looks around until she spots Davey in the goblin's arms and recoils.

"Put him down and leave," I instruct the goblin.

After he obeys, I address Alice again. "Alice, I need you to pick up Davey."

She is staring at Davey as if he is a venomous snake. Glancing at Davey, I am drawn to pick him up myself. I sigh. I know I should not pick him up, but every cell in my body quietly goads me to take possession of him.

Fighting my impulse, I push Alice into a sitting position again, in front of Davey. I take her head in my hands.

"Alice, you need to pick up Davey. If you pick him up, you can go home. You will pick him up and you will go home. You will forget everything from the moment you voiced that fateful wish. Do you understand?"

I will her to understand. I plead with her to understand. I beg her to forget. I do not know whether or not physical contact will work, but I need her to try. If it does not work, I will think of a new solution, but for now, this is it.

"Pick him up, Alice."

Without hesitation, Alice reaches for the child beforeus.