~Chapter Two~
"Okay! It's been a half hour, Trevor! You know our rule!"
Sarah had looked for the Prince everywhere she could think of. He wouldn't break the promise not to wander off, and he couldn’t disappear into thin air.
"Tre-vor! Unless you come out soon, I'll tell your father you weren't listening to me!"
Sarah knew that was the one thing that would force the boy from his hiding place. Trevor loved his father and would never do anything to upset him.
But still, the child did not appear.
This worried her. Sarah tensed up and her heart beat faster. "Trevor? Uh, please tell Auntie Sarah where you're hiding. You've won the game, you know…"
Nothing.
She pulled her crystal from the air-Jareth taught her how not too long ago-and concentrated on Trevor.
It showed only barren, gray space. "This…is bad." Sarah whispered. "I have to tell Jareth."
At this, she shuddered, and didn't know why. Jareth would probably have better luck finding him, after all. And Trevor was probably farther than he thought, and out of hearing range. But as Sarah held her crystal and thought of the castle, the chill that made her shutter wouldn't go away.
* * * * *
A knock came at the parlor door.
"Come in."
Sarah poked her head in. Jareth was reading and Ana was drawing, one of her favorite pastimes.
"Jareth, I need your help."
"With what?" The King put down his book and got up, smiling.
"Trevor and I were playing hide-and-seek, and he must have hid somewhere out of hearing range, because I called and called, but he didn't come out."
"Have you tried your crystal?" Jareth asked.
"Yes, but it didn't show where he was."
"Well, it's alright. The crystal I gave you has not nearly as much magic." Jareth explained. "I'll take a look."
He pulled one of his own crystal from the air and concentrated on Trevor. Nothing again.
"Isn't it working?" Wondered Ana, looking up from her drawing. Jareth shook his head.
"Sarah, are you sure you were just inside the Goblin City?"
Might as well tell him, thought Sarah, biting her lip.
"Well, not exactly." She admitted softly. "We were actually just outside the Labyrinth Gates…"
"Sarah! You know my rule! Trevor isn't allowed past the Goblin City; he's much too young! What were you thinking?"
"I'm sorry. I know he's too young, and I shouldn't have let him hide out there." Sarah lowered her head.
"Yes, well, just bring us to the place where you last saw him."
* * * * *
"There." Sarah pointed to the small bush Trevor had hidden behind forty-five minutes earlier. "And that's the last time I saw him, because he hid twice. I had to count, so I didn't see where he ran off to." Deep regret was obvious in her voice. And the chill she'd felt reappeared, colder than before.
"No…" Jareth was saying, almost to himself. He shook his head and sighed. "It's…somewhere else…"
"What is?" Ana inquired, half-hearing her husband speak.
"I feel something…like Trevor disappeared somewhere."
"If he made himself disappear, I'm off the hook." Sarah mumbled. Jareth gave her a Look and she abruptly stared at her feet.
"By the wall…" The King put a hand on the Labyrinth's outer wall and walked down aways. "Here!"
The only thing in the spot where Jareth stopped was the same, brown, brick wall that had always been there. And if there was once something there, no evidence showed itself.
The King pulled his crystal from the air again and said aloud, "Crystal Mirror, what happened here?"
A bright flash illuminated the are for a split second; a mirror of crystal that Snow White's stepmother would have been proud of spread out before the trio and began to replay the events almost an hour ago.
It showed Sarah counting, hiding her eyes with her hands. Trevor was looking desperately for a good hiding spot. There was a green light on the wall; the Prince saw it, ran to it, and hid in the hole that appeared.
All three glanced at the wall, then. "No hole there now." Jareth commented dully.
Sarah looked and look, but didn't seem to notice the small hole. Slowly, it began to close, and just as Trevor was about to crawl out, he was somehow pulled back, and the hole was fully sealed.
The crystal mirror returned to its normal state, and Jareth looked at the wall, shocked. Ana blinked and shook her head, then put a hand to his shoulder.
"Honey…?"
"How could you?" Asked the King so softly that Sarah didn't hear him. She took another deep breath and paced on the hill, head in her hands.
"This is all my fault." She mumbled.
"Yes, it is!" Jareth shouted, causing Ana to jump. "How could you let a small child hide out here? And so close to the Fae Boarders?!"
"The Fae have Trevor?" Ana's calm eyes instantly became frightened.
"What will they do with him?" Inquired Sarah, biting her lip again. Jareth narrowed his eyes at her.
"Generations ago, my ancestors built this Labyrinth, and the Goblin Kingdom within. Apparently, the fairies claimed it was their land. Yet, they had no proof. We had more power anyway; they figured it wasn't worth the fight.
"The fairies know that without an heir to the Goblin Throne, they will have 'their' land back. And, since Trevor hasn't the power yet to fight back, they've found their answer."
"My God, Jareth, I can't tell you how sorry I am…" Sarah looked him in the eyes, to show she meant what she said, and immediately wished she hadn't. There was pure fire in them; Sarah took a step back, gasping.
"That means nothing to me!" Yelled the King. "You lost my son, and he may die because of you!"
"I'm sorry…" Sarah repeated, now crying. "I didn't mean to…I…"
"If anything happens to Trevor, you will pay the ultimate price, Sarah!" Jareth raged.
"Jareth," Ana spoke up, "you don't mean that!"
"I mean it, Ana. Should our son be harmed, Sarah will die!"