The King's Labyrinth
Horizon 5.2/?

Sometimes Jareth could be downright infuriating. She stabbed at the dirt 
again with her garden spade. "Some days I could just strangle  that man..."
She said to no one in particular, and hacked at another weed. After their 
argument, she'd left the castle looking for someplace to cool off. Trusting 
her instincts, she headed into the Labyrinth -full knowing that this was 
perhaps not the wisest course of action- and followed the twists and turns, 
letting them take her where they would. After a half  hour, judging from 
the position of the sun, she stumbled onto a hedged in garden. The entrance 
was a large arched trellis, overgrown with vines from which bloomed great 
droopy purple blossoms with a sharp fragrance. As she stepped inside, she 
could tell that the place had been long abandoned. A small spring bubbled 
forth in the center of the garden and cascaded down stones into a stream 
below. The stream itself was clogged with leaves and other debris. The 
flower beds and hedge wall were hopelessly overgrown, but she could still 
see the lingering trace of beauty around the forlorn place. After a quick 
trip back to the castle for tools, she began to work. Now, after hours of 
work, the place was....still a mess, but at least she could see some 
improvement. She'd never been much of a gardener and was, in truth, having 
trouble distinguishing the flowers from the weeds, but she found that the 
exertion had improved her spirits some. She'd managed to dredge most of the 
gunk out of the stream bed, and it was now bubbling along making it's 
little stream noises. 

"You've made quite a bit of work for yourself."

Amalthya sprang up from her place on the grass, ready to face whatever 
strange labyrinth creature was lurking behind her, but as she spun around, 
she found herself face to face with a woman not much older than herself. 
She had long blond hair and blue eyes, instantly reminding Amalthya of 
Jareth.  Must be Fey, she thought, then found it strange that Jareth had 
never mentioned that any of his people lived in or around the Labyrinth. In 
fact, he *never* mentioned his people. One mystery at a time, she scolded 
herself. "Um, who are you?"

"I could ask the same thing." The woman replied in a familiar, British-like 
accent.

"I'm Amalthya." She said, feeling slightly foolish. "I...live at the 
castle." She gestured off in the direction of the Castle beyond the Goblin 
city, even though it couldn't be seen over the hedge wall. She knew it was 
a lame answer, but felt it was marginally better than proclaiming she was 
the Goblin King's lover.

"Ah." The woman said, as if in complete understanding.

"And you are?"

"Someone who can tell the difference between a weed and a rosebush." The 
woman laughed.

"Well then, by all means." Amalthya gestured to the mess she'd made of the 
flower bed. 

"There are plenty of flowers left in here, you just have to know where to 
look. The woman crouched down in front of the bed. "Here. I'll show you." 
Amalthya kneeled down beside her, watching as she pointed. "There are 
irises, and these are Hosta." She said pointing to a leafy green plant with 
purple flowers sprouting from tall stalks. "You don't want to cut these 
out." 

As the lesson progressed, Amalthya was reminded of the day Jareth had shown 
her his roses. "Thank you for all your help...." She suddenly realized the 
woman was no longer in the garden. "Where'd she go, I wonder?" She stepped 
out into the maze, but the woman had vanished. "Strange." Amalthya brushed 
her hands on her pants, then realized how dirty she must have looked. She 
went back into the garden, gathered up her tools, and wished herself back 
to the castle to clean up.

----
Weeks had passed since Jareth's visit to the sorceress, and things had only 
gotten worse. He'd suffered continuous 'attacks' for lack of a better word, 
dizzy spells that launched him into some in world. A world of conflict and 
anarchy. He could feel it coming on....a strange babble of voices as the 
world spun sickly beneath him. He staggered, tried to catch his balance, 
failed and toppled to the floor. Around him, the real world, that of his 
Labyrinth, faded away.

The place was different this time. There was no clang of weapons, no blood. 
Men were gathered around him, talking hurriedly.

"The scouts report the army advancing over Canmore plain, M'Lord." A 
familiar voice said.

He looked up to see Xander standing before him. Out of place and time, 
perhaps, but it was definitely the gallery owner, no mistaking the white 
hair and violet eyes. "Thank you Xander." He found himself saying though 
he didn't know why. "They're pressing their advantage." He said to the men 
around him. "D'Avennes means to trap us between the city walls and his men. 
We cannot allow this to happen." He stood, looking in each mans eyes, 
seeing the battle-weariness there. "We must move tonight, if we're to win 
this war. Prepare to break camp." The murmur of conversation accompanied 
the men as they filed out. Only Xander remained.

"M'Lord?" He said quietly.

"They're gone, Xander. Dispense with the formalities."

"Jareth, do you really think we can beat them? Japhet's army is strong. 
Stronger than our own."

"I know that, damn it!" He slammed his fist down on the table. "Japhet has
been preparing for years. Just waiting."

"Waiting for your father's death."

"Yes. He *knew* it would throw the kingdom off balance. Create a weakness 
which he could exploit." He looked at Xander. "We may well meet our deaths 
Xander. You've been so loyal. I know that the life of a soldier isn't what 
you wanted....."

"What I want is to serve my king in any way possible. Not out of any duty 
or honor, but because he is my friend. We *will* win this war Jareth. One 
way or another."

"If only I had your faith my friend." He said wearily. "If only."


End Chapter Five