One moment Sarah was jumping down to save Toby, the next everything was falling to pieces around her as she fell. She eventually landed, somehow gently, on her feet and looked around at the mess of broken stairs and rock all around her, but she could not see Toby.
"Where is he?" She asked aloud to the thin air, her face etched with worry.
"Where do you think?" Came the snipped reply from the shadows. Jareth slowly emerged from a dark corner. "He is back in your home unharmed. You won."
A small sense of relief passed through Sarah at his words, but she still doubted whether she could trust him. "Well if I won, why am I still here?"
A slow smirk began to spread across Jareth's lips as he stepped towards Sarah. She instinctively began stepping backwards, away from him. "Sarah, Sarah, Sarah, hasn't anyone ever told you to read the fine print when making a deal?" He was like a predator going after its prey.
Sarah gazed at him with a confused stare, her mind racing trying to understand just what he was getting at. "But we didn't have a written contract…"
"Exactly," his smile grew ever wider, "Your mistake was not asking for one." He continued to stalk towards her, but Sarah still resisted and continued moving away from him. "If you had asked for one, you would have realized that by beating the Labyrinth, yes, Toby would be sent home unharmed, but that you would also win a prize."
Sarah didn't like the way his face darkened as he said the word 'prize'. "And just what is my…prize?" She squeaked out the last word hesitantly, afraid of what he was about to say.
"Why me and the Labyrinth of course!" He chuckled darkly. "You are now Queen of the Labyrinth! My Queen..." He smiled seductively as he reached out to brush a stray hair away from her face.
Sarah gasped when he said 'queen' and took an even bigger step back, not realizing that she was nearing an edge with a fall of about ten feet. She began flailing her arms, trying wildly to grab on to thin air, when she felt two strong arms wrap around her waist and pull her away from the edge. Before she knew it, she was clamped against Jareth's chest, feeling his chest rise and fall against her cheek; he was breathing rather rapidly she noticed.
Jareth was frozen with her in his arms. All he could do at the moment was breathe. He had acted instinctively when he pulled her back from the edge, but he was surprised at how much it had scared him when he saw her starting to fall.
After a moment of stillness, they both began to thaw; Sarah sidestepped out of his grasp and he let her.
"Thank you…for…for catching me," she stammered, tucking that stray strand of hair behind her ear. Jareth was just about to accept her thanks with a witty reply, when he heard her take a deep breath and then lock her eyes onto his. "However," she began with newly found courage, "I will not be staying here nor will I be your Queen, the Labyrinth's Queen, or anyone else's. Return me home now."
Jareth's eyes widened in shock slightly at her confident tone, but he had expected her to resist initially at least, albeit not so forcefully.
"I'm afraid I simply cannot at this time," he began matter-of-factly, "You are bound to the Labyrinth by our verbal contract. You must stay," he finished, crossing his arms over his chest, hoping to intimidate her.
"For how long?" she asked immediately, praying he was not going to say forever. She was trying to stand as tall as she could and keep her voice strong, but she was starting to waver.
Damn, Jareth thought, hoping she wasn't going to ask that question. He had stupidly hoped she would just assume forever. He mustered up some gruff in his voice to make it sound more terrifying when he replied, "One whole year…"
Sarah let out the breath she had been holding. At least this wasn't forever, but still, a whole year? "What are my family and friends supposed to think? That I've just disappeared and then in a year say, surprise! I'm back?" She exclaimed.
Jareth sighed. Again, she had asked a question that he had hoped to avoid. He wished he could re-write the laws of the Labyrinth contract, but it was bound by untouchable, centuries old magic. "You need not worry love," Sarah cringed slightly at the term of endearment, but he continued anyway, "Time runs differently here in the Underground. To you, a year will go by here, feeling much like a year Aboveground, but if you decide to return home after one year here with me, mere hours will have passed in your world. You'll be back before your parents even return home from their date."
Sarah noticed his strange use of the word 'if'; why wouldn't she want to go home? However, for now she decided to focus on the matter at hand. "But what about Toby?"
Jareth simply waved his hand declaring, "Toby was returned safely to his crib less than a second after he was taken."
"Well I can't just leave my baby brother in a house all alone for six hours!" Sarah yelled, feeling so very tired of playing this seemingly endless game with the Goblin King.
Jareth waved his arm again, but this time a crystal appeared in his fingers by a flick of his wrist. "I can assure you, dear Sarah, that Toby will sleep soundly for the next six hours Aboveground unharmed." He held the crystal out to her and she found herself drawn to look within it. She could see Toby sleeping in his crib as the minutes ticked by on a clock nearby at hyper speed. Sarah was watching so intently that she did not notice the Goblin King slowly pulling the crystal towards him. She also didn't realize that her feet were following, like she was in a trance-like state.
"How do I know this is real?" She asked, still gazing into the crystal's depths at Toby. The feeling of Jareth's breath against her cheek startled her, not realizing he was so close. She instinctively pulled back and he let her.
"You are just going to have to trust me," he purred. "You have seen that I can reorder time."
A lightbulb went on in Sarah's head and she blurted out her next words before she could even think them through. "Well then…couldn't you just fast-forward through my year here then…please?" She added hopefully.
Jareth's laugh reached Sarah's ears instantaneously. He was shaking his head while he chuckled happily, "Not likely, my Queen, not likely."
Sarah didn't even flinch. She had known it was a long shot. "And don't call me your Queen!" She shouted in frustration as she crossed her arms over her chest, mimicking his own stance.
Jareth continued to chuckle. He found her quite cute when she was annoyed. Sarah's mind on the other hand was frantically thinking about poor Toby being all by himself, even if just for six hours. He did look peaceful in the crystal though, Sarah thought, but then a sickening idea came into her mind.
"You didn't give him something to make him sleep for the next six hours, did you?" Her fear was evident in her shaking voice.
Jareth stopped laughing and composed himself. As he had learned just moments before, he did not like to see Sarah so genuinely frightened. He placed a gloved hand on her shoulder. She tried to squirm out of his grasp, but he just held on tighter. Using his other hand, he turned Sarah to face him and then lifted her chin with his fingers so that she was looking into his eyes. "You have my word that I did not give him anything. His time in the Labyrinth has simply tired him out, so he is just a sleepy baby."
Sarah was surprised that she actually believed him. For just that moment his voice and his eyes seemed to be so pure and innocent, like he was really telling the truth. Sarah wasn't ready to stop trying to negotiate though. "Well, you at least have to let me return to my house so I can grab my stuff," she said, staring him down, refusing to give in.
"No, I don't," he replied in that sing-song voice he had. "I've already had a room prepared for you in the castle with everything that you will need." His smile reminded her of the Cheshire cat. Sarah was just about to protest when he exclaimed, "Let me show you!" He quickly grabbed her hand and a second later they were standing in a large bedroom.
Sarah's mouth opened slightly in awe of the beauty of the room. Her reaction pleased Jareth. He had redecorated for her, but he wasn't going to tell her that. Everything was coloured in rich jewel tones, mostly purples and blues, but there were also accents of creamy white. As she took in her surroundings: the King sized canopy bed in the middle of the room, the antique writing desk in the corner, and the bookshelf along the wall filled with so many volumes, Jareth opened her wardrobe across from the bed so she could see her vast array of clothing options. If Jareth had his way, she would only ever dress in off the shoulder, flowing gowns, but he knew his Sarah and that would never fly with her, so he also included some casual wear: jeans, t-shirts, sweatpants, hoodies. He did want Sarah to be comfortable after all.
Sarah touched a few of the dresses, one in a beautiful shade of emerald green with ribbons to match and another that was silvery gray with velvet sleeves. She was just about to comment on how lovely they were, when she noticed another wardrobe not too far away. Figuring it held more clothing for her, she went and opened it, but was confused by what she saw.
Sarah slowly turned to face Jareth, a suspicious glare building in her eyes. "Why is this wardrobe full of your clothing? Do you not have enough space to store it in your own room?"
"Our room," he corrected her.
She raised her eyebrows at him in disbelief. "I am not sharing a room with you," she stated flatly.
"Again, I'm sorry precious, but your prize includes this room and me in it," he replied with smug satisfaction in his voice.
"Well one of us needs to find another room." Sarah wasn't going to budge on this point.
"Be my guest," Jareth stated simply, gesturing towards the door.
She narrowed her eyes a him, unsure as to why had given up so easily. She had expected more of a fight with him. Sarah moved towards the door and out into the gray stone hallway. There were many heavy wooden doors to choose from, so she chose one, three doors down on the right. Pushing it open, Sarah's mind began to spin. There standing in front of her was Jareth in the same room she had just left! She shook her head frantically and turned around to open the door across the hall. Jareth's smirk greeted her yet again! Sarah ran down the hallway, her frantic steps making tapping sounds that echoed and followed her. She threw open every door in sight only to have the same effect each time.
"You have to be kidding me!" She sighed breathlessly.
"Unfortunately I am not, my sweet," Jareth crooned. "The Labyrinth knows that this room rightfully belongs to you as part of your prize and therefore will not let you have any other."
Sarah's mind was working in overdrive, trying to find a loophole. "Well then, either you need to find another room to sleep in or I'll sleep in the living room." Sarah crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a defiant stare.
Jareth, who had been enjoying watching her run frantically around up until now suddenly became deadly serious. Sarah saw the changed expression on his face and the intensity of it did frighten her. She tried to hold her ground as he approached her. He got so close that she could feel angry heat radiating from his body. "Now Sarah," he began in a deathly quiet tone, "The Labyrinth may want you to have this room, but I am still its King. If you do not comply with me, I can have you exiled and tied up to a tree in the Bog of Eternal Stench for the next year!" He finished loudly, making her flinch.
Sarah gulped. Having personally been to the Bog before, she certainly did not want to go back; not just because of the smell, but also because of the isolation and loneliness she would feel there being all alone in exile. Anger simmered under Sarah's skin towards the Goblin King, but she knew that she had to keep her head about her. "Fine," she responded through gritted teeth, "but do I have your word that you will not make me do anything in this room other than sleep?"
"I won't make you do anything against your will," he drawled, "besides sleep in this room."
Sarah sighed, knowing that getting direct answers from him was impossible.
"Speaking of sleep, I think it is high time for bed," he raised his eyebrows at her in a come hither fashion.
Sarah made a noise of disgust as he said, "You will find suitable sleep attire in the bottom drawer of your wardrobe."
Still seething, Sarah marched to the drawer, wrenched it open, grabbed the first thing she touched, and stomped into the ensuite bathroom, slamming the door behind her.
Jareth chuckled at her fury. This is going to be fun, he thought wickedly. Not needing a washroom to change, Jareth simply waved his arm over his body and his tight fitting clothing changed to looser, yet still form fitting silk pajamas in a deep blood red. He then gracefully laid down on the bed, undid the top few buttons of his shirt to expose his muscled chest, crossed his ankles and then his arms so they were casually resting behind his head as he waited eagerly for his princess.
Sarah meanwhile was mentally kicking herself as she looked in the mirror at her reflection. In her rage she had just grabbed the first piece of clothing she had touched in the drawer and it just happened to be a silk, teal nightgown. Sarah liked the feel of the silk against her skin and she liked the colour, but she did not like the spaghetti straps, the ways it dipped to a low 'v' in both the front and the back, that it fit quite snug to her body, and that it only extended to her mid thigh. It was more lingerie than nightgown. Sarah did like the way it made her look and feel sexy, but she certainly did not want to look or feel sexy for him.
"I am not going out like this," she said resolutely aloud to her own reflection in the mirror. She went to grab her clothes that she had discarded on the floor minutes before, but they weren't there. Even the towels had disappeared! He must have heard me, she thought, stupid, non-human hearing.
"Oh, Sarah," his voice sang to her from the other side of the door, "come on out please." She could hear the smile evident in his voice. She was trying to think of a scathing reply when he added in the same sweet sounding voice, "Don't make me come in there…because I will…" he taunted.
Deciding that she had probably pushed her luck enough that night and that she shouldn't test him, she slowly opened the door with a dejected look on her face.
"My, my, my," Jareth exclaimed as he exhaled a breath and sat up in the bed, "You are beautiful." He let his eyes roam over her body, satisfied that he had picked out the right style to accent and accentuate her beauty.
Sarah stood in shock for a moment, completely still. She was surprised by the sweetness of his reaction. She had expected something more tasteless and crude. The first thing she could think of to say was, "It's not very warm…" while pulling at the hem resting on her thigh.
"Well," Jareth sighed, "I suppose you could grab a sweatshirt and a pair of sweatpants from your wardrobe to wear over top. I'm not heartless you know…" he finished, looking right into her eyes, with just a hint of warmth in them.
Unsure of how to verbally respond to his last statement, Sarah just went and put on the warmer clothing over top of her nightie. She felt Jareth's eyes on her the entire time, making her feel uneasy. Turning away from the wardrobe, Sarah just stood there, not sure of what to do next.
Jareth patted the space in the bed next to him, beckoning her over. She walked with trepidation towards the bed, stopping at its edge. "You say you aren't heartless," she began, suddenly finding her voice. Jareth gave a slight nod of his head before she continued. "If you aren't heartless, please let me sleep under the covers with you on top of the covers; you on your side of the bed while I'm on my side, with no meeting in between…" Sarah looked hopefully into his eyes, trying to gauge his reaction.
"Alright," he began, "I agree to your terms, except since it was my bed originally, I will sleep under the covers and you can sleep on top, unless you decide to join me…" He winked at her.
"Nope! That's fine," Sarah amended quickly, while trying to stop from blushing. "I'll sleep on top of the covers." She grabbed the purple fleece blanket at the foot of the bed, plopped herself down on the mattress, and then immediately laid down on top of the covers facing away from Jareth. She felt him shift in the bed as he got up to turn down the covers. He carelessly threw them open, causing the corner to land on her bare arm that was peeking out from the purple blanket. She froze. As he laid back down, Sarah felt the mattress sink again. She felt his weight shift forward in order to grab the covers. His fingers brushed her arm lightly as he dragged the covers across her bare skin, causing her to shiver.
"Goodnight Sarah," he chuckled. She felt his warm breath on her neck before he rolled over to face away from her. Sarah chose to stay silent, her lips pressed together with anxious energy.