Once upon a cursed king

Chapter 9: Jinx

James sat staring at the letter he held in his hands, the words twisting and blurring from under his unblinking gaze. He had reread the letter a dozen times thinking about the repercussions of his actions had the letter been intercepted by the wrong people.

He had hoped that all the good deeds he had done throughout the last seven years could somehow erase the unwavering guilt he felt for what he helped put into place. Yet upon reading Sarah's letter, the wave of regret that washed over him threatened to drown him.

James looked down at his hands wondering how he could be so selfish and ungrateful to the man who had given him a new life.

Twelve years ago...

A young fourteen-year-old boy sat sulking in a small pit in the middle of a crowded room, in a strange castle surrounded by ugly looking creatures in an unknown land. Sat across from him lounging on his throne was the being that had brought the young boy to this place: Jareth, King of the Goblins.

"Why have you brought me here? I'm not a child, so you shouldn't have been able to take me even if my rotten stepfather did wish me away." The young boy tried to hide his fear but couldn't quite keep the slight shake in his voice at bay.

"Now, now, James, as much as you may think you are an adult, you are by law still a child. So yes, when your, as you put it, rotten stepfather, wished you away I was compelled to answer that wish," Jareth replied matter of factly.

James turned away from Jareth returning to his silent sulking, but this time he watched the clock as it continued to tick away his last moments as a human. If he was being honest with himself he was absolutely petrified, he didn't want to be turned into a goblin. He had already spent the first twelve and a half hours begging Jareth not to turn him into a goblin, but there was nothing that could be done; it was the way of the labyrinth for no human could survive unchanged for long when within its domain. For the last twenty-nine minutes, James had sat in silence desperately holding back the fear that clawed at his mind.

The clock struck thirteen and each toll of the bell James felt himself changing more and more before there was nothing left that remained of the boy formerly known as James.

"Welcome to the underground, Jinx." Jareth said, spreading his arms out and gesturing to the other goblins to go and welcome their new member.

A year had passed uneventfully; nobody had been wished away since Jinx and the goblins grew bored of the lack of runners to taunt, and a bored goblin became a curious goblin. Having been much older than the average wished away child, Jinx had retained some of his human self, not in appearance though just in his mind. This made him a little more adventurous than the other goblins and he spent a lot of his time wandering further and further away from the labyrinth.

On one particular day, Jiinx had travelled so far he could barely make out the labyrinth that stood behind him. Its usually imposing walls now looked like a black dot in the distance. Jinx stopped as he came to the edge of a dark forest, he could tell from the looks of the trees that he had unknowingly ventured towards the unseelie kingdom.

Just as he was about to flee he heard the cry of someone calling for help. Jinx raced towards the sound with a burst of unusual courage, unaware he was running straight for a trap.

Jinx stopped in his tracks as he came across the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. A woman stood inches away from him, a woman with long blood red hair and pale white skin, her eyes a soulless black. Jinx starred into them as if they were a bottomless pit.

"I know what you want little goblin, and I can help." The woman spoke with a husky gravel-like voice.

"You—you do? I mean you will?" Asked Jinx.

"Yes, but for a price." The woman smiled menacingly.

Jinx's face fell. "I haven't got anything to pay you with."

"How about you pay me by working for me?" She asked seemingly innocent.

Not knowing the danger of agreeing to a deal without knowing the full details, Jinx quickly agreed.

"Excellent." The woman laughed dangerously.

Jinx shivered at the sound of her laughter but what's said, is said. It was far too late to turn back now, Jinx waited to hear what he would be doing for his new mistress.

"Now that you work for me, I want you to head on back to the goblin city, and at the end of each moon cycle you will come back here and tell me everything you can find out about Jareth, and I mean everything." She spoke, animated by the prospect of all the information she could now garner.

"To show you that I am a benevolent mistress, I shall give you half of what you want now and the other half when you have paid your debt." Jinx could see the evil of her smile and grimaced for he knew he would not like this so called gift.

She knelt down in front of him and blew a plume of black smoke over him, as soon as the smoke touched his skin he began screaming. He screamed in absolute horror as she had returned to him his memories of his human self.

He stood panting as it started to sink in that he was still a goblin but with his human thoughts and memories. He now truly knew the meaning of 'be careful what you wish for.' Jinx turned, drew himself up ready to run as fast as he could back to the labyrinth for help. As if reading his mind, the woman grabbed his arm and pulled him back towards her, still level with him she put her lips close to his ear.

"Oh and goblin, you will tell no one anything about what has happened here, nor will you give any clues as to what you are going to be doing. You work for me now and should you disobey me, I shall do more than merely throw you in the bog of eternal stench," She whispered.

With nothing left to do she stood up and walked back into the forest leaving a distraught goblin stood staring after her.