Labyrinth 1. Leaving the Aboveground

The cold fall, faded into a harsh winter, and just as the snow turned to slush, Sarah reflected on her travels Underground. It had been nearly ten years since her run through the labyrinth, and it took five years of awkward moments right after her visit to realize it was true, that the Goblin King had truly gifted her with "certain powers". Which made remembering the rest of that line, so angrily spoken the night she wished Toby away, equally distressing. If what she had been experiencing was completely her own doing, did the Goblin King truly fall in love with her, long before she had spoken those words that night?

She locked up the house, following a routine carved well into habit before she had ever found the cavern and it's tunnel leading down into the Underground. The small bag on her back used to be Toby's. It was so small, it wouldn't fit a 3-ring binder and a textbook inside, but it was just big enough for her to fit the clothes and flip flops she currently wore inside with room for the trail mix and water bottle she always brought along just in case. Already her feet complained about the cold as she hurried down the porch steps and made her way down the street toward the park. She was quick but knew better than to run, a sprained ankle or worse would not get her there any faster, and would probably prevent her from transforming for months.

It was dark enough for her to not worry about finding another at the park. And she blushed in embarrassment as she remembered the first time she was nearly discovered putting on her clothes. That was something she had no desire repeating, and had managed to keep hidden until the young couple had left. Crossing the bridge and moving further into the woods, she darted off the path and hissed at the icy sludge that sucked at her feet. She ran now that she was ankle deep in snow and water. Directing her thoughts toward the first night exploring the land around the labyrinth. There had been terrifying moments, but she couldn't keep herself away for very long as she carefully learned which creatures she should avoid and who would tolerate the small black cat in their presence.

That night had also revealed the time issues that she hadn't been aware of before. The Goblin King had reordered time, had even told her this, and yet she was surprised when she returned aboveground to find out that she had been gone for about two days when she swore that she hadn't been underground for more than five or six hours. The next day, realizing how easy it would be to stay an aboveground week underground, possibly without even noticing it, she bought a small stretch bracelet and purchased a tiny digital watch with a date and day of the week function made for a young girl's wrist. With a bit of wire and a new set of pliers, she had attached the clock to the bracelet to wear around her neck underground, to remind her of the time easily.

Near the entrance to the cavern, Sarah looked around for movement in the dark before squeezing behind the shrubs and bushes that blocked the entrance. The entrance was very small, far too small for her to squeeze into it, which left her out in the cold quickly stripping and stuffing her clothes and flip flops into the small bag. Shivering, she quickly stretched the bracelet over her head, praying for it not to break as she had hoped the last few times, before settling it tight against her throat. Bag zipped and stuffed down the entrance, she knelt in the cold and shut her eyes to focus on the sensation that first let her change in her parents' house seven years ago.

In a flicker of soft light and magic-wind tossed hair, the nude girl vanished and a shivering black cat stood blinking at the woods around it. Shaking its body, and managing to get the watch to lay against its chest, the cat scented the air before darting into the cavern.

Sarah found her bag easily, as the cavern was barely more than an animal den at this point. Biting the handle, she dragged it along as she made the long trek down the tunnel. She didn't know why she bothered, since she never changed back underground, but every time something insisted in her mind, that maybe, just maybe, she'll need the food, water, or clothes this time.

Tired, she pulled the bag to the entrance and waited. Yawning to stretch her jaw muscles and get rid of the cramp, she scented the air and listened to the otherworldly sounds of the underground woods. The noises from the insects, creatures, and even the wind through the trees sounded so different from the woods she played in as a child aboveground. If Sarah knew what a cat would look like smiling and show signs of contentment without being petted, she would have known exactly what she looked like right at that moment. Well, until she heard the voices.


	2. Whispers at Dusk

"Aelfric, we've been travelin' in these woods for three days now. When'll we reach the path?" The voice was off to the right, and not very far. She could see a dimmed glow of what must have been a campfire in the dusk light, the smoke was there but not very strong, as if something was dissipating it with some luck.

Something was hit, hard, and she heard a grunt of pain as something hit the ground with a thud.

"Dunderhead! I told you. No names." another voice, thick with a strange accent and a slight slur, though the words were clear as if the man made a habit of speaking in a clipped manner.

"But what if someone asks us?" the first man grunted as he must have settled back either on his feet or sitting. Sarah dared not move from the tunnel to get a better look.

"Let me deal with what ifs. Tell me again of what you are to do during the festival ball." the threat of violence hung in those words and it was a moment before the other spoke as the campfire sizzled as water was poured over it.

"At the first of signals, I draw the knife, the one I smear oil on the night before, iron oil shavin's." Metal scraped metal, and the cat hidden in the tunnel shivered in fear.

"Go on." Sarah wondered if they could hear the pounding of her heart as she listened to what sounded like a plan for murdering someone.

"I get behind King Jaret-" the voice cut off as it sounded like the rest of the name was muffled, like the second man had prevented the first from speaking it.

"Idiot!" the slurred word was barely recognizable to Sarah, "No -" The sound of flesh hitting flesh made Sarah flinch back further into the tunnel, barely managing not to knock over her pack "names!"

They were after Jareth! Please, let her gasping breaths not be audible to the men. The beating continued as she struggled to calm her breathing. Oh, she must tell him, but how! More noise as the sound of flesh hitting flesh stopped and Sarah refocused her attentions to the voices again.

"Say 'target'. I will not repeat myself again." he sounded out of breath, but the slurring was fading back in strength as he must have returned to focusing on the words.

"Target." the first man said, hissing in pain as he must have got up from the ground. He had a blade, she had heard it, why hadn't he used it to defend himself. Sarah couldn't understand why the man just took the hits and kept following this Aelfric.

"Get behind target, when not dancin', and bump into his back as I use the blade." Scrapping of something against the rocky dirt and one of them grunted, "Then walk through the crowd in the confusion, leavin' quickly but not in hurry."

"Correct. Now repeat that in your mind until the ball. Do not speak of it again. We will be in his territory tonight." Sarah knew that she'd have no problem with that, and probably long after whenever this ball was to occur. She remembered her conversation with Hoggle nearly a month ago, and he had said nothing about preparing for a festival. She only wished she knew how much time she had to get to the king and that she had the same power as he did to be clothed before and after the change.

They spoke no more, and it sounded as they had left. But Sarah dared not move for another aboveground hour. She would not be able to drag her pack through the labyrinth and make decent time, nor would it be wise to go as herself. She didn't think that her presence would go unrecognized even after so much time, but at least the cat form gave her a size advantage when it came to being spotted. And she was sure that no one knew that she could transform into a cat, let alone the new one that wandered the woods outside of the labyrinth and Goblin Kingdom.

An aboveground hour was not much underground, so it was easy to follow the men. They were not heading straight for the labyrinth to the north, but rather they were headed further to the east. Or what Sarah was currently calling east, as she hadn't been able to track the sun's direction in the sky here or whether or not that orb of light even followed the same path in the sky like it's sister in the aboveground. She was nervous. Afraid of being discovered by the men walking a good distance ahead of her and afraid of getting lost within the woods, unable to find the familiar area around the tunnel back to the aboveground.

Their night vision was good, Sarah noted, so she paused and tried to memorize what she could make out herself. It was a bit hard to tell from behind, but she imagined that the man with the limp was the clipped voice from before. And the man holding his stomach was the first voice, the one with the iron oil and knife. They looked to be fae, with tall, but small frames and dark hair. They both were a bit overweight when compared to Jareth, and only the second man looked used to travel. This was getting her nowhere fast. There were symbols sewn on the packs, but they were complicated and hard to memorize. How was she to describe these men to the Goblin King when there was nothing that seemed to be unique about them aside from how they spoke.

She picked up her pace, veering to the left and closer to where she imaged the labyrinth wall would be in case she had to bolt. She moved as quietly as she could manage at that pace and darted her eyes from her path to the men ever few feet. A jagged scar from the corner of the man's left eye to the center of his chin, bisecting his lips. That was the man behind the slurring voice, another glance revealed dark eyes with a long, aquiline nose. She moved a little quicker.

Damn, the first was nearly unremarkable. Pale eyes, basic nose and lips, no obvious scars and eyebrows that mimicked Jareth's. As if he would be as easy to spot as the second, Sarah would have smacked her forehead for that assumption at any other moment. A murder plot like theirs would not have the attacker be someone obviously unique like the second, it usually involved a man who could either blend in easily or be replaced just as easily if the plot failed. Too many books, Sarah, focus! She reprimanded herself and kept moving. If only she could determine the colors right.

She moved further away from them and slowed, listening to their footfalls get further and further ahead of her. Think, Sarah, what now? The woods continued to emit unfamiliar sounds, she shouldn't stay here, that at least she knew and following the men would only do so much. She had a name, and a few descriptions of the direction they had been heading and what she has seen and heard. That was all she could offer him, and she hoped he'd listen.

A chattering bark from her right decided it for her. She needed to get into the labyrinth. Darting off from where she had stood she heard a rustling sound of leaves and snapping branches behind her. She ran as fast as she could get her legs moving together and was thankful for her night vision. Dodging plants and various other things in her path, she nearly ran into the side of some other animal, and her heart was back in her throat. Run, run! Oh where was the labyrinth walls? There! A door? She swept her eyes left and right with no sign of a way in with the path ahead of her dwindling. She had to decide. Right! Claws digging in the earth to help her turn, there was a loud crash behind her and a sound of pain. Oh run, don't look, run!


	3. Speaking' with the Labyrinth

Her lungs burned, but she kept on. Bushes started to sprout up beside the wall and she had to dive through a few, the noise of something crashing through them behind her let her know that the decision to keep running was a good one. She almost smacked her face against a fairy as she dived through the next bush, her whiskers alerting her mind to tightly shut her eyes before Sarah noticed it. Eyes wide open, and scanning the path ahead and the wall again, she heard the yells of the fairies behind her as she was still followed, the creature was barking loudly now.

'Oh please let me in, labyrinth.' she thought, 'Let this cat in before I get eaten; Jareth must know about Aelfric and the assassination plot!' Something moved by the wall ahead, Sarah barely heard it over the air rushing in and out of her tiny lungs. She dived through the next hedge. Her fear lessened at the sight of the small opening. She bounced off the wall some as she had to throw her body left to make it through, but make it she did, and the crumbled wall solidified again behind her as the creature barked angrily at the loss of the chased. She laid in the middle of the path where her body had stopped sliding, just trying to catch her breath.

'Thank you, labyrinth' she thought, trying to project it like she must have done the moment before, in order for the labyrinth to possibly hear her again. There was no change or sound to show that it heard her, but in the Underground, nothing was what it seemed.

It was very dark within the labyrinth walls at night, so much so, that her added night vision as a cat did not seem to offer much help. But the castle, the Goblin King's castle, was at the center. That much she remembered from the brief view from the hill so many years ago. It was her only hope of contacting the man short of changing back to her human form and calling for him, and she wasn't even sure that would bring the man to her or her to him. Sarah crept closer to the inner wall. She used her whiskers to sense it, so at least she didn't walk face first into it. The wall was rough and like brick, like she remembered from the start of her journey the last time. Maybe.

She unsheathed her claws and attempted to climb it carefully. The start was hard, but it was as if the labyrinth was cooperating the higher she went. Instead of climbing vertically, there were small ledges to hop to. Trembling, she laid still on the top of the wall to recharge her nerve. Surely the wall wasn't as high as she thought it was now, it was her small size that was blowing it out of proportion? Her throat was dry and she thought of her water bottle in her brother's pack back in the tunnel with her trail mix and clothes. Shaking her little kitty head, she hissed at herself to focus. She had traveled the labyrinth before, she should surely be able to do it now that it seemed that even the labyrinth was trying to help her, right?

She carefully got to her feet, the stars giving her more than enough light at this height to start picking her way toward the castle by walking the top of the walls. She had to back track a few times, but she was able to walk the top of the stone walls toward the hedges. At a few points she had to decide whether or not she would leap across the open spaces between the walls' openings. She knew she wouldn't be able to leap from one to the other without a running jump so that narrowed some choices. But jumping had other risks than just slipping and falling or banging her small body against the walls, scrambling to get up. There was no telling what she would land on if she missed the jump for one, or if she'd continue falling into an oubliette in the darkness below.

It was the remembered phrase of ' iron oil shavin's ' that fueled that first jump, and the memory of her yelling, 'it's not fair!' the first time she was here that fueled the second leap. She made good time running over the walls like this, but the third jump nearly sent her into the darkness below as the remembered words of 'you have no power over me' ran through her thoughts. That had sent Jareth falling the last time she had seen him while not in owl form, was it irony that those same words playing through her mind had almost made her do the same? Her ribs ached, and her toes were not any better as she had scrambled madly with her claws to remain on the wall. She rested again, eyes scanning the path ahead to pick out her way as she recovered from a fresh bout of trembling at the near fall.

She felt that she had been running all night, and batting at her watch revealed the aboveground time. Another two days had passed aboveground, she was missing class and work, but there was no regret this time for missed responsibilities. Though those aboveground wouldn't believe this if she were to offer them the truth as to why she was absent, she felt that she was needed here more right now and for good reason. Whether he would believe her or not, Sarah had to let Jareth know of what she had heard, maybe he would be more cautious at the least if he still decided to attend the ball.

She was up and running along the wall tops again. Fresh determination fueled the next jump without any memories plaguing the feeling of leaping through the air. She neared the taller wall, and approached it from where the one she stood on joined up to it. It wasn't much higher at this point, but there was quite a bit of climbing to get up there for such a small cat.

'Labyrinth, what do you think?' She asked without thinking it odd to project her thoughts to it any longer. And she blinked in shock as a few bricks started to move before her and along the wall. That confirmed her earlier thoughts for her, the labyrinth was helping her this time. Cautiously she hopped her way up to the first brick and followed the rest along the wall and up to the top. She thanked the labyrinth again, and kept moving forward. The taller wall ran straighter than the rest, allowing her to quickly cover a greater distance toward the castle than the walls that seemed almost like a honeycomb below of twists, turns, and dead ends. She had to abandoned the taller wall and return to the rest when the wall bended away from the castle and continued to become almost parallel to the outer wall far from where she stood now.

She finally reached the hedge maze, and leaped on top of the surprisingly dense hedge. Needing to be a bit more cautious in her steps, this slowed her down as the sun began to rise behind the castle. 'Oh, I am so lost.' she thought, 'I don't know if I'll be able to find the tunnel now.' She shook her head and moved forward again, 'One step at a time, Sarah, speak with Jareth first, worry about getting home after that!'

The light helped to reveal the paths below, but Sarah decided to stay on the hedge as the creatures and goblins living in the labyrinth began to wake and move about. She was small, not even ten pounds, and those goblins that tied up and messed with Ludo, who had been four times her size when she was fifteen, might be wandering the maze below right now. She couldn't imagine the trouble that she could get into at her size now. At least leaping into the hedge wall didn't hurt like the stone walls before. It was easier, but slower, and Sarah hoped that the ball wasn't today of all days.


	4. Reunion with the King

She smelled the bog before she even caught sight of the familiar pot she and Hoggle had climbed out of to get away from the cleaners. The stench got worse the closer she got to it, and it became a physical pain behind her eyes and nose, but she kept going. Limping as she was forced to switch to the stone paths with sore paw pads, she kept moving steadily. She reached the bridge that was rebuilt when she registered the barking. It wasn't the sound like the creature outside of the labyrinth, it was familiar, like a dog, which didn't alarm her at first until it became growls as well.

'What? Ambro- OH NO!' Pain radiated up her legs as she ran again, the sheep dog chasing her with no sign of Sir Didymus, though she didn't know if that was a good thing or not. Through the woods she ran, hopping over dead trees, tree roots, and rocks, and ducking beneath branches on the ground. She gained a bit of distance between the two of them, but she didn't know how much longer she could run like this without resting, without sleep. And still the dog barked. She made it to the junk field, she couldn't think of any other thing to call it, and it was difficult to get into in her current form. But the dog was still behind her, the ladies with the heaps of stuff on their backs would be in here somewhere, and the Goblin City was past this barrier, she had to keep moving. Squirming through the piles of things, she sneezed at the dust and wrinkled her whiskers at the cobwebs, but she kept moving. Here and there she saw spots that tempted her to curl up and rest. But not knowing when the ball was to be held weighed on her like a tugging at a leash, not letting her rest, and forcing her on and on.

The sun was overhead, heating up the metal bits and pieces and making her fur nearly unbearable. Sarah couldn't understand how Sir Didymus and Ludo could stand it, not that they had much of a choice anyway. She felt dizzy, and oh so hungry, but there wasn't much she could do about that now. Her muscles ached and her limping was more pronounced when she finally reached the Goblin City. Running was out of the question now, she just didn't have the strength for it. The gates to the city were open, as it looked like the goblins were going about their average day, doing whatever they did when runners weren't trying to storm their city and get to the castle.

Sarah kept expecting to get pointed out as something odd, something to chase. As this seemed to be all that had been happening ever since she had stepped foot in the Goblin Kingdom. She couldn't count her more recent travels Underground, since she had just learned that she hadn't been in the Goblin Kingdom as she had explored the land around the tunnel. But she continued on, limping past another cat who ignored her from where it sat by a house's stoop. She still tried to stay out of the path of the goblins, but kept moving, past the fountain, and up the stairs to the castle. The castle door was open as a few goblins were standing there talking, there was no agitation or alarm in the voices, so Sarah just slipped past them and into the castle, following a black chicken.

Now she was left with the task of not only finding the King, but also figuring out how to communicate the warning. The throne room was empty. Why was the throne room always empty? Or at least she hadn't found him in there last time, she doubted that the room was ever truly empty, there was always a chicken somewhere! This left her to the Escher room and those stairs. She went through six doorways before she found a hallway. Swaying, she walked on, listening for the voice of the Goblin King.

Rooms empty of the Goblin King greeted her. They seemed to be guest rooms, ones that hadn't be used in quite some time judging by the dust. Which left her retracing her steps, which was made easier by the bloody cat paws. She looked at her paws, noting that not only were they swollen and scraped, but two were bleeding. She didn't lick at them like a real cat would, but instead got back up and continued on. She didn't know what she had been walking through since retreating from the aboveground, but whatever it was was not getting cleaned off by her tongue no matter how much her paws stung.

The next set of stairs led her to a room full of books. And she would have missed Jareth for how still he sat if not for the interruption from the goblin that nearly stepped on her.

"Sire!" a quick shuffle to the left avoided getting her foot stomped on as the goblin move up to the desk. She didn't manage to keep standing though, and fell over with a soft thump.

"Stop." Jareth commanded of the goblin, and she didn't notice him looking at her as she struggled back up awkwardly. Sarah couldn't put any pressure on her right front paw, it just hurt so much. But she was here, finally, and there were only so many more steps to take before she would reach the desk. Stubborn, she moved forward, wobbling on three feet. All of them hurt. And she gasped, an odd hiccup-like noise, as her feet no longer touched the floor.

"And what have we here?" Sarah squirmed a bit, pretty sure that she did not like the feeling of being held around her ribs with her legs dangling in the air like this, especially in this form.

"Cat." The goblin answered, sounding rather proud of itself.

"I can see that." Jareth adjusted his hold on Sarah, moving her carefully, and attempted to look at the cat's right front paw. But Sarah kept yanking in away, yelping when his gloved fingers touched it.

"Sh." he murmured, along with more words that were probably supposed to be soothing, but Sarah was having none of it. She hissed and squirmed, causing the Goblin King to chuckle and focus more on keeping her from twisting out of his grasp than inspecting her paws.

Exhausted, she gave up squirming, and he brought her back to his chair.

"Gnash, continue." he said as he sat with Sarah still in his hands. He adjusted his grip on her and settled the cat on his thigh as the goblin continued on about repairs to the goblin city gate golem.

His leg was warm, and Sarah was tired. She nearly slipped off to sleep when a tingling in her paw aroused her attention. Her right front paw was dirty, but healed. She looked at it in surprise as careful touches to her hind leg drew her attention to that paw and the tingling feeling there. One by one, her pains were soothed by gloved fingers, and she would have blushed if it were possible in her cat form as she ended up letting out a quick purr in comforted relief.

"Repair the motors first, get it running. Any other changes can be made at a later time. Dismissed." Jareth said as fingers rubbed behind Sarah's ears. She didn't come here for this, Sarah shook her head quickly as his touch nearly made her forget her mission like that peach, and she leapt off his thigh.

"A fine how do you do, I think I'll name you Sarah." he said with a laugh and she bristled. Looking around for some way to cover herself, Sarah darted behind the curtains to the only window in the room. She was already flushed with embarrassment as she noticed that the Goblin King had watched his silly cat hide from him, "Some thanks." he said getting up from his desk chair.

A flash of light and the thick curtains fluttered as Sarah quickly stood up behind them and gripped the curtains tightly to catch her balance, before wrapping the dusty drapes around herself the best she could as they were still hanging to the ceiling.

"Jareth, you are in danger!" she coughed out as soon as she was able to draw a breath into her now human lungs, dust catching in her throat.

He said nothing and she made no move to look to see if he was still there as the room fell silent. Instead she continued to rack her memory of last night, saying the first thing that came to mind, "I overheard two men speaking about a festival ball and an assassination plan last night. I heard only one name, Aelfric. He was a fae man with dark hair and eyes, a hooked nose, and a scar that ran from under his left eye, split his lips to his chin. The other had dark hair and light eyes, but there was nothing that stood out, I-I, oh, and he spoke of planning to use a knife coated in oil with iron shavings. I came as quick as I could, I... Oh!" His hand pulled aside the curtain and she stumbled with it, shifting to keep her body behind it while freeing her face to see him, hoping that was what he wanted by the action as she had no plans of getting out from behind the drape any time soon. His expression was neutral, she couldn't tell what he was feeling or what might have been going through his mind, she didn't know what she should have expected, but something, any reaction would be better than none, than this. So she stood there, face revealing her worry, waiting.

His gloved hand reached toward her, and she nervously looked away from him to the bookshelves to her left. Barely a touch of leather to her neck, and the bracelet that dug into her flesh snapped, the sensation surprising enough for her to let go of the curtain and reach for her neck and the broken bracelet that was no longer there as she heard the sound of plastic beads hitting stone. Quickly she grabbed at the cloth, flushing while yanking it back around her and over her chest.

"How long have you been visiting the Underground, Sarah?" she couldn't tell if he was angry, or at least this didn't match what she remembered, and she looked at the digital watch face hanging from the broken bit of elastic in his hand.

"Nearly sixty aboveground hours, but I-" She started.

"No, Sarah, how long." he insisted.

"Oh." She darted her eyes to his face and back down to the watch face that he still held before her, thinking, "Maybe an week, uh, a hundred and sixty eight hours of underground time, spread out over 2 aboveground years?" She wondered if that was right, 'definitely not more than that', she thought as she glanced back up at his face.

"Four months." he said softly, frowning, "You've been visiting the Goblin Kingdom for nearly four months now, Sarah, and we've never crossed paths before this moment?"

"No, I think this is the first time I've been in the Goblin Kingdom since you brought me to the Labyrinth. I don't know who's land I was on. The tunnel I travel through opens up in the woods, near the labyrinth, oh, I am so turned around. The man, Aelfric, said that they weren't in your territory. I doubt I could find the tunnel again from this side to show you." She was upset, frustrated that he wasn't asking her more about the night, about the assassination plot. All he focused on was her travels, and not one question about the men! Her stomach took that moment to growl loudly and she cried out her frustration.

"I've told you about the plot," she said, looking almost ready to cry, "Now I need to go back and try to find the tunnel to the aboveground. I need sleep and to get something in my stomach before work tomorrow, that is if they haven't fired me yet for not showing up!" She shut her eyes and focused, missing him reaching for her again, her nerves making her rush, and she was back on her hands and feet, in cat form.

"Sarah." he called to her as she slipped out from behind the curtain and made her way toward the desk. He caught her before she reached it and she squirmed and hissed.

"Calm yourself, precious thing." he said tucking her into his arms more securely, "Surely you didn't think you could just dart back to my side with a warning and leave again without so much as a goodbye."

Sarah briefly wondered if her claws could reach the flesh beneath his shirt.


	5. Orange in the Morning

_Author Note: I wanted to thank the reviewers for Chapter 4! I was stunned to get one review, let alone 5 and so quickly too, :D. Thank you TheraSerenity, samee's song, Stacy Vorosco, helikesitheymikey, and tichtich2! Tichtich2, I wanted to say that I looked up that poem and I hadn't heard about it until your post, I think it's very cute! Helikesitheymikey, I'm not quite comfortable with posting answers to those questions just yet, but I have to say I was tempted to do so and also to elaborate on them! Samee's song, you are far too kind! I am happy to read that I am not goofing up the characters too much by trying to write this fanfiction, but then again, Jareth hasn't said much yet and he's the one I worry about most. ;) Yet another note: this is my first time writing consciously in third person limited point of view, and I am focusing on Sarah's thoughts with this story, so I hope I make Jareth's actions clear enough to reveal his emotions/etc. I would like constructive criticism if anyone is interested with regards to the writing itself, especially if something one of the characters do is confusing or if what they say is doesn't match up their actions, etc. Well, let me not drag this out much further... On to what you've come for:_

"You will find me to be a patient man, Sarah." Jareth sat back down in his desk's chair, Sarah still squirming. But he held her firmly to his chest with his right hand as he leaned forward to pull a page of parchment from where it was hanging off the far left corner of the desk. It had been in danger of slipping off the desk unlike the rest of the papers contained in small piles, an oddity. Another goblin came skittering through the door and up to the desk, startling Sarah from her thoughts on whether or not clawing the King's chest would do her any good now. She blinked at the parchment that was blocking her view of the goblin's face and stared at it confused as the strange writing started to twist and squirm on the page.

"Majesty?" A cautious feminine voice came from the short creature. The goblin resembled a goat with some features like her tiny little horns and the shape of her face, but the small hard beak like mouth and avian nostrils just below her large gray eyes did not follow that pattern.

"What is it, Loch?" he asked. Looking up from the parchment, he turned it from Sarah's amazed sight, as if he had noted her perusal of it as she read the slowly forming English words. He probably had noticed its grasp on her attention, because she had quit squirming when she first looked at the shifting writing. Beside a few simple words, like 'and', 'the', 'a', and 'we', she had read the word 'ball' on the page quite a few times and that worried her.

"Princess of Woodland is in the throne room. She doesn't like to wait." Sarah looked at the small creature, and noticed that she was holding her arm oddly to her chest seconds before Jareth stood quickly. The fast movement and tighter grip on Sarah's cat body had her claw instinctively at his shirt, but he showed no sign of noticing.

"Stay here, I will return." he told her before he was through the doorway. A new set of stairs, no, a ramp, Sarah noted, led to the throne room. She had barely glanced down at the new path through the Escher room before he had them in the chaos of the throne room.

"King's chair!" a goblin shouted as another nearly flew into Jareth's chest and the cat still held there. Jareth plucked the goblin from its projected flight path as if he had pulled a crystal out of the air. The goblin dangled in his grasp for a moment before he lowered it and dropped it a much shorter distance to the floor.

"What is the meaning of this sudden visit, Freifrau Toch'tara?" He spoke as he moved further into the room. A set of guard goblins, that looked similar to the one Sarah had met at the first gate into the goblin city on her first run through the labyrinth, stood before the throne as if protecting it from the angry Fae woman and the two Fae men. Between the goblin guards and the newcomers, the much smaller goblins ran about. They were either provoking the wrath of the men or just annoying the woman by bumping into her legs or stomping on her feet as they ran past. She kicked another one before speaking.

"Call off your idiotic subjects, Goblin King!" she yelled, punting another one that hit the wall behind the throne with a sickening thud. Sarah looked for the goblin, worried, and was a little relieved when it stood up and ran back into the fray. It limped, but it couldn't be that hurt if it was running around like that, right?

"Leave, Freifrau, I have no time to spare for your ravings today." Jareth said, not moving from where he stood before the goblin guards and where he was now surrounded by the smaller darting goblins who had turned the sudden appearance of their king and the three into some sort of game and were laughing and shouting at the top of their lungs. The anger was there, though he did not raise his voice this time, and oddly enough he didn't need to in order to be heard in the din. Sarah remembered the same tone being used when Hoggle had answered 'nothing' to his question of 'what do we have here?' when they had met during her first visit to the labyrinth in the tunnels. 'Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing, tra-la-la?' it was the same anger if not more.

"You will listen!" she insisted, rage twisting what was most likely a lovely pale face into something frightening. Sarah imagined that she would have nightmares of that woman tonight. Toch'tara's teeth were long and looked wickedly sharp. Her snarl thinned her painted lips back over them and her gums to show them off to her advantage as her orange hair writhed like it was alive even though it was drawn back in something that looked similar to a loose French braid. Though she was a tiny, slender woman, who probably should have appeared harmless in her white toga dress between the two men, the Fae princess seemed to be the living example of what the worm had said, 'things aren't always what they seem in this place.'

"That man-child was ours!" she yelled, no longer bothering to kick away the goblins that were either very brave or too naive to fear her, and some continued to play their game of touch the woman and flee. It probably helped that the participants weren't looking up at her face, Sarah did, and she was still trembling in Jareth's grasp. She figured that she was in the safest spot in the room at the moment, so she made no attempt to leave his hand and instead looked back at the men. The blond man growled again at a goblin that smacked his leg with what looked like a staff made from cutting the excess limbs off a small tree branch. Both of the Fae men wore a set of simple dark brown leather armor, not what Sarah had expected one to wear when escorting a princess, and they looked nothing like the two she saw once she had exited the tunnel earlier.

"I will not repeat myself." Jareth spoke, not moving from where he stood, as a group of smaller goblins and other creatures continued running about and jumping into the small pit before him. They were excited to see their king, and it was obvious to Sarah that visitors to the throne room were rare by their overall excitement. Why didn't the Goblin King just force the Princess and her men to leave? It was his kingdom, couldn't he do that? Sarah wondered over this for a moment, before the sound of metal scraping metal, the feel of Jareth stiffening around her, and the surprised shout alarmed her.


	6. Goblin Kings take Warning

_Author Note: helikesitheymikey, I've actually started reading the Labyrinth novel maybe over half a year ago, but I couldn't get very far in reading it, maybe a few chapters in before I quit. Tichtich2, I edited the chapter so that it says goblin guards now to lessen the chance of confusion, thanks for pointing that out! Now, I think that it would be mean to leave you guys with that action just about to take place, just hanging there for more than one night (and so it would hang for the entire week like last time as I only really have time to write on the weekends), so without much further ado here's my longest chapter yet..._

Sarah saw the sword and nothing else she was seeing registered in her mind. Not the cowering dwarf, who had yelped a shout of alarm, far too terrified to do more than hold his hands up to protect himself as he had dropped the metal staff he had been holding moments before. Nor Toch'tara, who was turning to see what had caused those very sounds, or the cold fury on her face the moment she saw her underling raise his weapon. Sarah didn't register the rest of the shouts of alarm from most of the goblins, rising up to a near deafening level of sound, but she heard and felt the quick intake of breath as Jareth reacted, the muscles in his chest against her back flexing as he moved quickly.

The sword swung downward, and Sarah's eyes followed it, her cat form stiff in shock. She cried out as Jareth grunted in pain, and she gasped as the sword bit into stone. A shower of glitter had burst outward in a flash of light and smoke seconds before the sword continued down to fall with a harsh clatter of metal ringing as it bounced off the stone floor. The sword finally laid still, dusted with glitter, as the goblins turned wide-eyes to their king.

Jareth was breathing hard, as if he had run a marathon. He backed up a few steps and the goblins quickly got out of his way. They watched him collapse into his throne bent over, Sarah still loosely held in his hand before he let her go to sit in his lap as he brought both hands up to cradle his head. The goblins were quiet as his appearance was viewed as agitated from where they stood with his hair hanging down to hide what little of his face that wasn't covered with gloved hands. But Sarah could plainly see that he was in pain from her view point, his body nearly completely curled around her with his hands covering his forehead and pressing fingers hard against his temples.

Sarah cautiously lifted up a paw, and paused, before continuing to reach up and gently touch his jaw.

His eyes snapped open, and his expression softened, just a little as she pulled back her paw. He took a deep breath, holding it a moment, before letting it out and he removed his left hand from his face. Sarah let him rub his gloved thumb against the side of her face, the sensation odd but pleasant, as he brushed her check, once, twice, three times, before he moved it away, waving his hand toward the ceiling and the room darkened a bit. He straighten up some then, still holding his temples with his right hand, but the elbow of that arm was now on the arm of the throne giving his head a bit more support.

"Treble, fetch the dwarf Kernel. He should be in his home and will need my assistance. Quickly now." he said and Sarah's eyes watched one of the guard goblins straighten and salute before marching off in a near run weaving through the throng of smaller goblins.

He let out a near silent groan as the smaller goblins took that as a signal to continue their games and Sarah moved off his lap and onto the throne seat beside him under his right arm.

"Maize, Kine, Rafter, Bale, and Dole, stay. The rest of you, out into the gardens or the city, no games in the castle today." Groans of disappointment followed that announcement, and Sarah noticed Jareth clench his jaw and a slight narrowing of his eyes signaled the increase of pain that the louder sounds had given him. But he didn't bark at them to shut up, and waited for the room to clear before signaling for the first goblin to approach the throne.

"Sire?" the small goblin limped up to the throne, glancing down at his leg from time to time with a confused look on his face. It was the one who had been bashed against the wall just behind the throne before running back into the game they had created to annoy Toch'tara.

"Stand there, and stay still." the Goblin King said softly. Sarah wasn't sure if Jareth spoke that way because the Goblin King was in pain or just tired, or because the goblin looked so confused as to why his leg wasn't doing exactly as it was told. Sarah thought that the goblin looked like a child that had been told that he couldn't go out and play because one of his shoes was falling apart. But the Goblin king just leaned forward, his right hand holding onto the arm of the throne as he hovered his left hand over the goblins leg.

"There, go out and join the others, Rafter. Bale, come here." The first goblin skittered off, a large grin on his face as his leg did what was expected of him. Turning as he reached the door to call out a thanks to his king before he was gone and the next goblin took her turn.

Maize was the last one to stand before the king as Treble brought the dwarf in. Sarah hopped down from the throne and went to them, her eyes raking over the creature that looked rather similar to Hoggle, only less wrinkled and with a darker gray hair color. His hand was wrapped clumsily with a cloth that was stained with a dark brown liquid. Was that his blood? Sarah meowed, vocally voicing her worry in the only way she could in this form and looked back toward the throne.

Maize's bump on the head was healed and the little guy was far more energetic when Jareth told him he could leave. He was gone and the guard was dismissed back to his duties as the Goblin King stood and approached the two creatures left in his throne room, well, beside the three chickens that had flocked to the empty pit to peck and scratch for whatever scraps that may have fallen in now that the room was clear of goblins.

"Hand." Jareth said as he crouched down, wincing in pain at the movement. But when Kernel held out the wrapped hand, Jareth cupped it lightly in both of his. His eyes closed slightly and the dwarf shifted nervously, but Jareth's hands just held Kernel's steady. Opening his eyes and letting go of the dwarf's hand, Jareth stood up, returning his right hand to press on his temples, as he looked down at the worried creature.

"You can unwrap it. Go and give your duties to Taman, tell him that you will resume them tomorrow. Dismissed." Jareth watched as the dwarf blinked at him in surprise before nodding.

"Yes, y'er Majesty, I'll do that." The dwarf pulled at the bandage, before looking down at it, and then looked back up at Jareth, "Thanks, y'er Majesty." The Goblin King nodded lightly at the dwarf and Jareth watched as he left the throne room, walking unlike the goblins that ran to get back to the others.

Sarah bumped her head and body against Jareth's boots, and he looked down at her, a soft laugh coming from him as he watched her circle him once before heading for the stairs.

"Yes, we better get back to Loch. Are you leading the way?" he asked with a soft smile and Sarah attempted to give him a look as if to say, 'Just get your glittery butt over here already'. It didn't quite translate, she imagined, but he was already moving her way before she gave him the look anyway. The sword left where it was, ignored.

Sarah followed behind him, watching as he pressed his hand against a wall as if to steady himself from time to time. She was worried, it seemed to be a constant emotion for her whenever she stepped foot in the Goblin Kingdom. Even after telling him of the threat, she had been worried about friends, family, and her work aboveground, and the run before hand for Toby had not been 'a piece of cake' despite her words to him otherwise those long years ago. She was still tired, but not quite as physically exhausted as she had been before Jareth had let her rest herself in his arms. Though it hadn't prevented the added emotional exhaustion from the events leading up to their march back to the room with the desk, books, and injured goblin. But there were questions burning in her mind and she didn't know if she could truly rest before those were answered.

"Loch. Stay there." he called out to the goblin. Sarah spotted the goblin sitting by the window where Sarah had revealed herself to the Goblin King. A little more than she cared to remember actually, and Sarah wondered if anyone underground could tell that a cat was embarrassed by its body language.

Jareth had to kneel down as he crouched this time to get to the injured goblin's arm. Sarah jogged the short distance between them to get a better look, and missed seeing him rest his hands on Loch's arm to heal it.

"Hold your arm out, yes like that, now bend it." They watched the goblin test her limb and both sighed lightly in relief when the goblin's eyes glittered as the goblin thanked her king.

"Good as new!" She chirped, getting up as the Goblin King stayed kneeling. He smiled lightly at his subject.

"Good. Now I need you to do something for me." he said.

"Speak the words and they are as good as done!" She smiled. The grin was a little odd to look at, at first, as it was basically only an upturn of the corners near her strange beak-like mouth, but Sarah thought the little goblin was rather of cute, in her own way.

"I want you to lead this cat to the room, you know the one, and provide the Lady of the Labyrinth with clothing, food, and a bath if she so wishes." Jareth said, as Sarah watched Loch's reactions to the words before they fully registered in her own mind.

Loch went from smiling at the Goblin King, to having her mouth fall open with shock. Her wider than usual gray eyes left her king's face as she turned her own face to look down at the dirty black cat standing next to his left knee. The very cat that had been by her king's side since she had come in here to tell him that the Woodland Princess was in the throne room. Her shock was replaced quickly with excitement and her eyes sparkled as she grinned again, this time at the little black cat.

"Yes, Sire, right away!" she said, hurrying to her feet. Jareth steadied her when she nearly fell over, "My Lady," she started talking to Sarah, but Jareth cut her off.

"A moment." he said and the grinning goblin nodded at him, moving around them both and toward the desk to wait.

"Sarah." She looked up at him, her thoughts spinning in confused circles. 'Lady of the Labyrinth? What? Is that because I beat it nearly ten years ago? And what does he mean by "the room" and why would Jareth expect Loch to know exactly which room he was talking about? Did I really have time for all of this? I need to get back aboveground. I've got to call work, and pick up my textbooks for class next week, and call mom about rent for next month, and Toby's birthday is-'

"Sarah," he repeated, and she shook herself as if to shake her spiraling thoughts out of her mind like most animals would shake off water. She met his eyes this time, and he repeated himself, no longer smiling as she had gotten the impression that that expression had faded off his face after he had made his request.

"There are many questions to be asked and words that need to be said between us." he said, his voice stiff as if he was expecting the exchange he spoke about to go badly, "But, I need to send out word of what you have witnessed. Both, the threat you heard while traveling and the attack against one of my subjects by a subject of the Alder King. It would be easy to avoid the ball, but I dislike the thought of letting those two slip away only to have their threat return when I am unaware." He looked distracted as he let the conversation hang between them for a moment.

"Sore feet, bumps, and bruises are one thing, but that sword would have easily sliced..." he cut himself off, frowning darkly. He started rubbing at his temples again.

Sarah wasn't sure if he meant to say more, but when he didn't continue and instead shut his eyes, grimacing in pain, she batted her paw against the side of his thigh to get his attention.

He looked down at her, his grimace of pain fading into a tight frown.

She nodded her head and turned from him, walking a few steps before she looked back over her shoulder at him pausing.

"I will join you there soon as I can." he said softly, getting to his feet with the aid of the wall.

Sarah turned her face back in the direction she was heading, and looked up at a now worried expression on the previously joyful Loch. Loch hesitated herself, before turning around and quietly leading the way out of the room. Sarah followed, glancing back at Jareth as she walked through the doorway.

He had sat down in the desk's chair heavily, and as she glanced back, he had his head held tightly in his gloved hands, whatever facial expression he currently wore was blocked from her sight.


	7. Downtime

_Author Note: Serena221, I'm glad that you noticed that neither Jareth (nor Sarah) had been "hit" (They just had a goblin flying in their direction, the sword was after the dwarf) sorry that my descriptions are lacking. :(. Timeline for helikesitheymikey: nearly 10 Aboveground years since her run through the labyrinth, 3 Aboveground years after her run she learned about the cat transformation (If I can't work that bit of a story into this story, I might have to do a side story ;)). Sarah has been visiting the Underground for past 2 Aboveground years (which, as Jareth noted, is approximately 4 Underground months, but no mention of how long the Underground year is), helikesitheymikey, you completely lost me on the rest of the review, 'grats and interesting! :D. No note on Jareth's whereabouts for this timeline, though assuming that he was mostly Underground would be a good guess. Thank you all for the reviews, and the favs! They sure keep me focused on getting these chapters out to you all regularly. Here's another "longer than the previous ones" chapter..._

Loch was rather quiet for the short walk through the staircases. The stairs themselves did not rearrange for Loch and Sarah as they had when the king walked them with Sarah. So the two had to walk up and down quite a few sets of stairs for a distance that would have been much shorter otherwise. Sarah imagined that they had to travel just far enough to get her legs and her stomach muscles aching again. But her paw pads were blissfully fine thanks to the Goblin Kings magic. Sarah swore, that if she could avoid it, she never ever would walk that far while in this form again!

Loch paused at the top of the staircase, letting the cat catch up to her, before she motioned for the cat to go before her. Sarah looked at Loch and then at the open doorway and the hall before her before leading the way through. As soon as her whiskers touched the space before the open doorway, Sarah felt an odd buzzing sensation, like the air was charged with static electricity or vibrating. Sarah stumbled back quickly, tripping over her hind legs, and sprawling quite comically on the stone.

Loch didn't laugh at her, though she was smiling again as Sarah looked up at her. Sarah quickly regained her feet, with a little less grace than she would like and twitched her whiskers in embarrassment.

"Go on, it is only a ward. It won't hurt you." Loch said softly. Sarah wondered what her definition of hurt was, as the goblins seemed to stand quite a bit of pain before they showed it. Loch sighed, and shifted on her feet.

"I can't lead the way through, the Lady of the Labyrinth, you, have to pass through the doorway first before it is open for us goblins." she insisted. When Sarah didn't move, Loch reached forward and pressed on the air before her. Sarah watched a little amazed as the white hair on the little goblin's head stood up as if each strand suddenly refused to touch each other. But other than that, as the goblin leaned her body fully against it, there seemed to be no other effect from the barrier. Sarah felt a little guilty for just watching Loch like this. What if it had been dangerous, would Sarah still have had Loch braved the barrier first because she thought that goblins felt less pain? Sarah was disgusted with herself.

Taking a deep breath and lifting her head up, Sarah steadily marched herself forward. Loch straightened up as Sarah neared the ward again, and watched the cat flinch her eyes shut again at the strange sensation that came when her whiskers touched the ward. Sarah faltered, but reached her right paw further, and then her left foot touched the barrier, and pushing herself forward despite a bit of pressure that pushed back at her, she broke through. The barrier disappeared with a loud pop, causing Sarah to jerk with surprise and look up at Loch who just grinned down at her.

"It's been a few centuries since us goblins have had a Lady of the Labyrinth." Loch said matter-of-factly, pushing the tiny glasses further up her face, "We've had three kings since Lady Aimee, her things are probably still in here."

Loch lead the way down the hall, moving a bit quicker as she seemed to be studying the path but more excited to see what lay at the end than what she passed. Sarah followed, flicking her eyes back and forth between her surroundings and Loch's legs. The stone had vanished beneath a thick fitted carpet and seven tapestries hung on the walls at regular intervals. They passed the five closed doors and a large open window that faced what looked to be a large garden, before Loch paused at a carved wood door at the end of the hallway. The hallway itself smelled of lemongrass, cardamom, and something Sarah couldn't place in her mind, it was light, flowery, and together the scents were soothing. There was no dust floating in the air or covering the rather vibrant colors in the patterned carpet, it was as if this part of the castle had been under some sort of stasis spell or something. 'I'm probably leaving dirty paw prints all over the castle', Sarah didn't know whether she wanted to laugh or go back and rub at the spots. She yawned, her cat jaw clicking shut, and she opened her eyes to see Loch blinking at her, looking a bit surprised.

"I suppose the explanations can wait, you look exhausted, Lady Sarah." Loch knelt down on the carpet and seemed to be examining the door, "If you press your paw here, the door should open." She said finally, pointing to a carving of a little ball. There was a little goblin carved next to it, as if he had been chasing the ball. There were other creatures on the door as well, aside from quite a few goblins, Sarah saw fairies, dwarves, and birds in the small space as she pushed on the ball. The door moved, something clicking, before it swung inward, opening smoothly.

"Lady Aimee had that worked into the door for when her hands were full." Loch said quietly, as if passing along a well kept secret, "She could push it with her foot to open the door. Rather convenient for you while you are a cat."

Loch got up and moved into the sunlit room, Sarah followed her with her eyes partly shut at the bright light. They stopped in a dimmer room, and Sarah blinked at the odd tub that sat before her. She heard Loch moving around behind her, but she was more interested in the strange limbs that held most of the tub off the ground. Sarah was familiar with claw foot tubs, many magazines that Karen read would have one or two within the pages, but there were actual limbs on this tub. They kind of reminded her of miniature horse legs until they got to where there should be hooves, that was where the likeness ended. At that point, oddly avian-shaped three-fingered hands pressed against the smooth stone floor with claws as long as the little fingers themselves, digging into the stone. 'Creepy', she thought before Loch moved alongside her to pour a pair of metal buckets into the tub.

Steam and more of that pleasant fragrance rose out of the tub as Sarah followed Loch back to a wide fireplace where four other pails were steaming. Sarah, let go of her cat form then, shivering a little as her bare feet pressed fully against the stone floor. The draft from the door wasn't helping, but the warmth from the burning wood was a bit better.

"Let me do this, Loch." She said, remembering Jareth's request to Loch to prepare a bath for Sarah as Sarah reached for one of the pails' dark handles.

"Wait, Lady Sarah!" Loch grabbed Sarah's dirty hands before pulling her own back just as quickly from touching Sarah. Loch fidgeting with the empty pails she had dropped in her hurry to stop Sarah from grabbing the handle, before finally looking back up as Sarah stayed paused, "Forgive me, but those are too hot for you." Loch said softly.

"Oh." Sarah said awkwardly hugging herself with her arms, a bit chilled, "Thank you, Loch."

"If the Lady would like to help, you could fill these to put in the tub?" Loch offered the two pails to her, looking like she was a bit more comfortable with the cat than the tall Lady standing before her.

"Of course!" Sarah said, taking the pails and followed Loch over to the wall beside the fireplace.

"Turn the taps left to open, right to shut, the water comes from the closed vats on the roof so it will be fast." Loch said, guiding the pail in Sarah's left hand onto the stool below the bell shaped opening in the bronze pipe. They worked together to fill the tub mostly in silence, once in a while Loch would offer the names of the little creatures carved into the stone around the fireplace when Sarah's curiosity grew to be too much for her not to ask. Besides the ones Sarah recognized to be dwarves, goblins, fairies, there were other creatures that she had seen in the Labyrinth, those she had seen outside of the Labyrinth, and quite a few she had never seen before.

Loch left her to bathe, and returned before Sarah almost managed to fall asleep in the warm bath water. On the stool, Loch left a towel and a soft, simple, tan dress. Sarah touched the embroidery on the long sleeves and the waist of the floor length dress. The designs made no sense to her tired brain, and she put it on robotically. Drying her hair again, she left the towel hanging over the spout of the water pipe as there was nothing else to put it on that wouldn't end up with it either wetter or on the floor.

Loch was standing next to a rather large bed, pulling down the thick quilt, as Sarah stepped up to her yawning again.

"Would you like some fruit before resting?" Loch asked as Sarah sat heavily on the bed.

"No thanks." She said, collapsing backward to flop on her back. 'That bite of a peach was enough', she remembered the odd feeling that had came over her with that bite, and another yawn left her as Sarah curled onto her left side, tucking her bare feet up on the bed in the loose skirt of the dress. Her stomach growled angrily but it was easy to ignore with how tired she was. Sarah drifted off with the memories of her in the library reading more about Persephone. No, Kore, Sarah reminded herself, don't call her Persephone, not even in your mind, just in case the ancient warnings were true.

A few hours later, there was a quick rap at the door but Sarah didn't even twitch in her sleep. Loch moved quickly from where she stood watching Sarah with a smile on her face to the door to prevent the next series of taps just in case they would break through her Lady's sleep. Attempting to stay quiet so not to wake Sarah, she carefully tugged it open just enough to poke her head through to see leggings. A quick skyward glance revealed an expected presence.

"Oh, King, she fell asleep!" She whispered, dragging her head back in to pull the door open fully.

Jareth winced at the bright light, blocking his eyes and waving his left hand to draw the shades on the large windows.

"I'm surprised she could manage to in this light." he grumbled some more as he moved to the small chair beside the bed. He settled into it a bit more carefully than his usual lounging, and Loch hurried out of the room. Jareth watched Sarah sleep from where he sat, but her toes peeking out of her skirt had him rise off his chair again and take the smaller quilt off the foot of the bed. He carefully laid it over her sleeping form and was sitting back down when Loch returned with a small tray.

"I brought the medicine." she said softly, setting the tray down on the table next to him as quietly as she could before holding out a small wooden box. Jareth looked from Sarah's sleeping face to the concerned goblin. A faint smile and he rested his hand on her shoulder.

"Thank you, Loch." he said softly, taking the box and then the cup that she offered him next. He opened the box, removing a few small packets of herbs and powders, before finding the packet he wanted. A small, carefully measured amount of a bluish gray powder was tapped from a small knife into the cup. With the packets returned to the box, he took the last packet and removed a small, thick leaf. With practiced fingers he scored it and dropped it into the cup as well before passing the closed box and dirty knife to Loch. She set it on the tray before offering him a small steaming pot of water.

Filling the cup, he passed the pot back and sat, breathing in the scent of the mixture without another word. Once it cooled, he swallowed the contents quickly, wincing sharply at the taste and clutched at his head as he grimaced. Loch carefully took the cup from his grasp, cautious of his mood, and placed it on the tray. She took a bowl from the tray next and patiently waited for him to notice her again. This repeated until he had a cool cloth around his neck, another pressed to his face, and a plate of cheese, cut fruit, and cold meats and a cup of cool water in his hands. Two hours passed in silence before his expression of pain started to fade. Loch continued to refresh the cloth and took back the partly finished plate of food. She poured more water for him as he loosened his shoulders a bit, hooking a leg over the arm of the chair. She smiled at him as he took the cup.

"It's clearing up." she grinned, obviously relieved that her King's pain was fading as she hadn't been very quiet.

"Old Bromley's peaceful interaction tradition," Jareth scoffed, "if only Dorset had not been so accommodating by setting the Goblin Kingdom's place as the Goblin Throne Room." A frown was back on his face, but for a different reason this time, "I would rather uphold the tradition in an oubliette."

"Past-King made many poor decisions." Loch agreed.

"How far have you gone in your reading?" he asked, looking at the far wall.

"Five Past-Kings and the only Past-Queen. I have three Past-Kings left and they did not rule long." Loch answered.

"Good, further than I had hoped." he said, his voice soft from the start, "I have written to the Court and the Gypsy Queen about the attack. My retraction of hospitality will last a month before the tradition will return so it is a good time to turn the room into an oubliette and route the stairs around it. The ban on offensive or defensive magic within that room will make for good fortifications." Loch nodded, writing on a little pad of parchment pieces in her hand.

"I suppose that repeating my earlier warnings against the younger subjects entertaining themselves in the throne room without me will ever stick. I want you to place a pair of the older guards at the door, someone they will listen to, Donjon or Kanda for example. I want someone they will not just tease. There will not be a repeat attack against them in that room, there will be no reason for them to be there." He watched the goblin jot down the names before passing his empty cup to her and refusing a refill.

He returned his gaze to the sleeping girl... Or in this case, a pair of watchful green eyes.

"So your migraine is gone?" Sarah asked softly.


End file.
