Author's note: Right, here is chapter 2. I would have put it up sooner had I not been working all week (I have had one day off since I posted the first part and I spent that one day recovering from going out the night before!). However, all of the lovely reviews that I received motivated me to get on with re-drafting and proof-reading this part. Thank you to all of you who took time to read and review. Reviews make me happy, especially when I'm having a mad day at work and they come through to my phone.
I'll do my best to post a new chapter every week, but I make no promises since work and life can be somewhat unpredictable (just take last week as an example). I'm also hoping to get a good start on the sequel to this and figure out where exactly I want to go with it so that when we get through this together, I can share something else.
Again, please forgive me if there are any errors lurking in here. I have read it over a few times, but there may still be the odd mistake.
I hope you enjoy this as much as you did the last.
GlitteringAngel x
Disclaimer: I do not own Labyrinth (except the DVD), I am simply playing with other people's toys for my own entertainment. Anything you recognise belongs to someone else.
Running. She was running. Through familiar corridors, along familiar stone floors, towards a familiar and yet utterly disorientating room. The room was filled with stairways that reached in all directions; upwards and downwards, left and right, right-side up and upside down. She whipped her head around, her hair flying out behind her, looking for something, someone, but she couldn't remember whom. She tried to remember if she was running from or towards that mysterious someone. There was no baby to rescue this time, that much she knew.
She turned and started up the closest set of stone steps, almost scrambling as she hurried, all the while trying to remember whom it was that she was looking for. And why. Corner after corner, stairway after stairway, she continued on her quest to find or escape whatever it was that she was missing. It was like having the crucial piece of a puzzle missing from the whole, nothing made sense.
But, then again, little in this place ever did.
This place.
This castle.
The Castle Beyond the Goblin City.
She shuffled towards the edge of the platform on which she stood and looked over the edge. She was getting nowhere just running in this place, all that she was succeeding in doing was making herself dizzy.
She wanted out.
She wanted to wake up.
It had to be a dream, just had to be. The last time she had been in this place she had jumped and the room had dissolved and...then she had confronted Him. He was the one she was looking for, surely. He was her way out.
She looked over the edge again, trying to judge the void before her, when a familiar voice rang out behind her.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you."
That wasn't the voice she had been expecting. That wasn't the voice of the Goblin King, though it sounded just like something he would say. That was the voice of...her husband. She gasped and spun around, taking care not to lose her footing and fall from the gravity defying platform she had been considering leaping from.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
"What kind of a greeting is that?"
"You can't be here, this is all wrong!" she insisted. Something inside of her was frantic, her dreams were her escape and now her living nightmare was standing right before her.
"Oh, Sarah. Sarah, Sarah, Sarah…" her husband tutted at her, speaking as though he were addressing a child. He slowly stepped towards her, leaving her no escape but to take that leap of faith.
She glanced at her husband and then to the emptiness behind her. Anything was better than staying here to see what he had planned for her and perhaps, when she jumped, she would wake up.
After all, this had to be a dream.
"You have no power over me, Bryan," she stated, more calmly than she in her dreams he intimidated her. She took a deep breath, squeezing her eyes tightly shut, and stepped off the edge of the stone platform into thin air.
"No!"
She heard his cries as she fell, but, just as before, it felt more as if she were floating down to whatever awaited her, rather than speeding down to meet it.
When she finally opened her eyes, instead of the crumbling pieces of the room she had just been in, Sarah found herself in a familiar crystal ballroom.
This was the way the dream was supposed to be.
She was no longer dressed in the clothes that she had scrambled around the Escher-esque room in, but instead the same satin and silk meringue she had worn as a fifteen year old after she had bitten into that tainted peach. However, unlike in the peach-induced dream of her teenage years, or those that followed in the years after her victory over the Labyrinth and its king, she found that she did not need to search out those stunning eyes, for they were right in front of her. She was already in those strong arms that held her so firmly and yet so lovingly. She was face to face with her King of Dreams.
He wore the same deep blue dress suit that he had worn the first time that she had sought him out in the dream crystal. It reminded her of the night sky, sparkling as though the stars themselves were woven into the delicate material. She looked up into his face and those enchanting eyes. In his eyes she saw the stars, those stars he moved for no-one, trapped, in those beautiful, glittering orbs.
He took one of her hands in his and she moved her other to his shoulder, her arm resting comfortably along his, their bodies fitting together perfectly as she moved closer into his embrace.
He smiled down at her.
She smiled up at him.
And then they danced.
The first thing Sarah became aware of, as she awoke from a slumber that had lasted several days, was the soft silk that brushed against her skin as she stretched out her protesting limbs. It was nothing like the cotton sheets she was used to. She slowly opened her eyes, blinking furiously against the bright sunlight that streamed through the glassless windows. Shielding her eyes and looking around, she found herself somewhere unfamiliar and yet familiar at the same time; the pale sandy grey colour of the stone walls, the cloudless, blue sky outside the window. And that smell.
Oh, that smell.
It was the sweetest of spices, mixed with the freshness of roses and cherry blossoms and there was something else, something she couldn't quite place, but it was pleasant and familiar. It made her feel safe. She closed her eyes once more as she tried to recall what it was, when she had last encountered that delicious smell, that smell of pure, untainted...magic.
She bolted upright, her eyes snapping back open and focussing properly on her surroundings. She had to be dreaming, though nothing like this had ever happened in any of her dreams before. There was no crystal ballroom, no masked onlookers, no hauntingly beautiful music. But it had to be a dream. It just had to.
She pinched herself.
'Ow!' she thought, rubbing her protesting skin. 'No, definitely not a dream. Dreams don't hurt. Not even nightmares.'
She rubbed her arm where she had pinched it, trying to alleviate the sting. She wasn't dreaming. It was all real. She was back in the Underground.
More specifically, she was in a castle.
His castle.
The Goblin King's castle.
She threw back the sheets and looked down at herself. She was dressed in a simple white nightgown, which reached down past her knees and stopped mid-calf. It was held up by spaghetti straps and was trimmed with delicate lace. Her mind raced, the last she remembered, or at least the last conscious thing she remembered, she had been dressed in her favourite comfy jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt. So, who had changed her into this? Was it him? And how? Had he used magic or had he undressed her while she lay oblivious to his actions?
A gentle knock on the door brought Sarah back from her thoughts and she quickly pulled the bedsheets back up around her, her eyes darting over towards a heavy door in one of the room's corners.
"Come in," she spoke in barely more than a whisper, watching the door as it slowly opened to reveal a creature that her memory recognised as a goblin.
"Good afternoon, Lady Sarah," the goblin curtsied as gracefully as she could before approaching Sarah's bed. "I'm so glad to see you awake at last. His Majesty will be relieved to hear it also."
Sarah watched the goblin woman, her knees drawn up to her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs tightly.
"Please, just call me Sarah. I'm not a lady," Sarah finally managed, her voice still quiet.
"Of course you are, m'lady. The king always refers to you as Lady Sarah," the goblin woman replied.
"He shouldn't," Sarah shook her head slightly, casting her gaze down upon the tops of her knees. "I'm nothing special."
"Come child, we'll be having none of that. You're thought of very highly in these lands. You are indeed someone very special. Not everyone has the determination and skill to defeat that Labyrinth out there, nor are they thought of so favourably by a king."
"I've done nothing to deserve his favour," she sighed, closing her eyes as she pressed them against her knees, wishing that she could go back to dreaming.
"Of course the Champion of the Labyrinth deserves the king's favour. Now, come on, let's get you cleaned up. The king's healer shall be along shortly to see to your injuries."
Sarah looked up again, turning back to the woman beside her bed,
"What in-" she trailed off as she remembered the bruises. "Oh."
The goblin woman smiled, in the same knowing manner as a mother smiles upon their child.
"Come, Lady Sarah, a warm bath shall make you feel better."
Sarah thought to argue, but she hadn't the energy. Instead, she slowly pulled back the sheets and turned to sit on the edge of the huge bed in which she had awoken.
"What is your name?" she enquired, realising that she had yet to ask, even though this woman obviously knew her.
"Gretel, m'lady. I have been appointed as your personal handmaid for the duration of your stay."
"Well, I'm glad to have met you Gretel, but I'm not sure I shall be in need of a handmaid," Sarah replied, carefully standing.
"But the king insisted," Gretel argued.
"I would much prefer it if you would just be my friend," Sarah continued. "From past experience, I've found that having friends is the best way to survive in this place."
"Whatever you wish, m'lady," Gretel curtsied again.
"Please, Gretel, that means no curtsying around me."
"But, Lady Sarah-"
"And stop calling me 'Lady'. Just plain old 'Sarah' will do. It is, after all, my name."
Gretel looked nervous.
"I won't tell if you don't," Sarah smiled slightly, trying to reassure her new found friend. Gretel finally nodded.
"Whatever you wish, Sarah."
"Thank you. Now, where is the bathroom?"
Gretel smiled and showed Sarah to a door in one of the walls and opened it up to reveal the largest bathroom that Sarah had ever seen. She gasped slightly as she stood in the doorway, taking everything in. In the centre of the room there was a huge tub set into the stone floor, with ornate gold taps at one end. A few feet away from her there was a marble wash basin, with fittings that matched those on the bathtub. Beside that, to Sarah's great relief, there was, what she recognised to be, a modern Aboveground toilet. Plush, fluffy towels hung around the room and Sarah could feel warmth flowing under the stone floor, she smiled slightly to herself, it was almost as if she were in a very expensive hotel room.
When the bathtub was filled with steaming water and scented bubbles Gretel left Sarah to bathe herself, closing the door gently behind her. Sarah slowly approached the bath and carefully removed the silk nightgown that she still wore. Sliding into the warm water, she could feel her muscles finally starting to relax and she submerged herself completely beneath the bubbles. She ran her fingers through her hair, finding it tangled and uncooperative. As she resurfaced, she wondered just how long she had been here in the castle. How long had she slept in that huge bed in the room just beyond the stone wall behind her? Sarah washed her hair and then her body, taking care of the angry bruises which still covered her frail form. For the first time she noticed just how thin she had become. She was so well-practiced at hiding her battered body from outside eyes, she had even managed to hide from her own, jeans and baggy hooded tops or blouses kept prying eyes and comments at bay.
Closing her eyes, she leant her head back against the side of the bath. She recalled fleeing the house and running through the thunderous downpour. How she had wished for someone to take her away from that awful place and finally lying down on the bench, the will to go on diminished to nothingness. She wasn't sure if she'd actually believed that her final wish would be answered, or whether it was just her addled mind recalling her teenage plea before she finally gave in to the seductive call of what could have been an eternal sleep.
Her wish had been answered though. The goblins had taken her from the park she had fled to and brought her here.
Here.
His castle.
Unease suddenly settled in her stomach. What did he think of all of this? Gretel said he thought favourably towards her, but did that stretch to her appearing in his kingdom without so much as a word in ten years?
No longer able to relax, Sarah stood up and stepped out of the bath, wrapping one of the huge fluffy towels around her body, towel-drying her long hair before leaving it to hang down her back. She made her way back through to the bedroom, which she found to be empty of anyone else. She decided that Gretel must have had things to do while she took time to bathe herself. She sighed slightly then made her way out onto a small balcony, which looked out across the Goblin City and the Labyrinth beyond. It was just as beautiful as in her dreams. The late afternoon sun warmed her skin pleasantly as she observed from a distance as goblins came and went about their daily activities. Her mind began to wander to their king and his whereabouts. She knew from her conversation with Gretel that he knew she was here, but was he yet aware that she had woken? And why would he be so relieved once he did? Was he desperate to be rid of her?
"Sarah, Precious, I would have thought that after almost freezing to death in a thunderstorm, you would have more sense than to stand out with your hair still wet from bathing," a smooth, familiar, voice drawled behind her, causing her to gasp and spin around in shock, her hand tightening its hold on the towel that covered her.
"I-"
Her voice caught in her throat, which suddenly felt as dry as a desert. Standing before her was the most beautiful creature she had ever seen in her life, or in her dreams. His wild, platinum blond, hair framed his perfectly formed face, a few wisps drawing her attention dangerously close to his stunning, mismatched eyes. He wore a simple poets shirt, left open low enough to reveal his unusual medallion, that she was almost certain he was never without, and his smooth chest. His lean legs were wrapped in his usual tight grey breeches and his calves were encased in the same black boots as he had worn the last time she was in his presence. She had to force herself not to just stand there staring, taking him all in. She had no idea when he came to be so close up to her; one hand gently taking her free one, the other moving to her shoulder, to guide her back inside her chambers.
"What are you doing here?" she finally managed, though her voice was slightly raspy. She was suddenly very aware of how underdressed she was.
"This is my castle Sarah, or hadn't you noticed?"
She shook her head.
"Of course I had. I meant, what are you doing here? With me."
"Gretel told me you had finally awoken. I wanted to see for myself."
"But you surely have better things to be doing than checking up on the girl who wished herself away to the goblins. You've got an entire kingdom to rule over," she gestured over towards the balcony and the wild Labyrinth beyond, holding onto her towel more tightly.
"I see no girl, dear Sarah," he did not miss the gentle blush that crept up to her cheeks as he almost purred the words. "And one of my duties as ruler of this kingdom is to look after those who have been wished away."
"I wished myself away, I'm not here because someone else wanted me gone."
"What difference should that make? You are still here under my care."
"I'm not a child, Jareth. I don't need you looking after me," she insisted, though her voice still lacked any true conviction.
"I know you are no longer a child Sarah, although you will insist on behaving as such at times," he replied smoothly, riling her slightly.
"What's that supposed to mean? And how would you know? We haven't seen each other or even spoken since I won Toby back!"
"And, pray tell me, just how many fully grown women do you know, who would wish themselves away to creatures and a land that most mortals do not believe actually exist?"
"I'm sure that more would if they believed," she replied sombrely.
"However, they do not."
"That's because most of them grow up."
"Oh, Sarah," he sighed and gently brushed a stray bit of her hair back behind her ear. Sarah turned her head, and stepped away from his touch, her hand clutching so tightly around her towel that her knuckles were turning white. She was now uncomfortably aware that the only thing between her body and him was the plush towel she had wrapped around herself and barely two feet of air. In her mind's eye, she could see Bryan doing exactly the same thing; caressing her cheek, murmuring her name softly and luring her into a false sense of security, before turning his anger on her.
"Don't," she shivered slightly. "Please."
Her voice was so small and suddenly filled with what he could only conclude was fear. He was confused, but only for a moment before he realised the reason for her sudden change of demeanour. That unworthy mortal had broken her. He had hurt her and abused her so badly that she now cowered away from the man who had saved her, afraid he would turn around and do the same.
"Sarah, I'm sorry," the words were soft and filled with genuine regret and yet there was something that seemed so unnatural about them to her ears. This gentle, caring Fae was not the same Goblin King she remembered from ten years ago, nor was he the powerful, unshakable creature from her dreams.
Sarah shook her head violently.
"No, don't," her eyes were fixed on the floor by her feet, glistening with unshed tears. "It's not you, I swear, but I - I just - I can't explain it. Not now. Please, I just want to be alone for a while. I need some time to myself."
He nodded.
"I'll have Gretel bring you something to eat and help you dress."
"Thank you, but I can dress myself," she replied, still refusing to look up at him, but there was the slightest hint of determination in her voice and he couldn't help the shadow of a smile that graced his features; there was the defiant Sarah he knew and loved so dearly.
"As you wish. Hopefully you will find something to your taste in the wardrobe behind you."
She nodded.
"Thank you."
"No need to thank me. If you should need anything, you need only ask. Sarah, you are my guest, not a prisoner."
It was almost too much for Sarah, it took every ounce of her self-control not to break down in fresh floods of tears, right there in front of him. He could feel the turmoil as it raged within her and decided it best to leave her to herself for a while. He didn't want to force his company upon her and so he slowly turned and made his way towards the door.
"Jareth?"
He paused and turned back, his hand already pulling on the door. Her eyes, those beautiful, sad, emerald eyes were finally back on him, tears glistening in the sunlight. How he could lose himself in those eyes. And her voice, even quiet and strained as it was, her voice caressed his name in a way no other ever had or ever would.
"Yes, Sarah?"
She looked into those mismatched eyes, so full of concern, not the slightest hint that he was at all angry about her presence. She took a deep breath, mustering all the courage she still held, then blurted out,
"Can I stay? I mean, I'm not talking about staying for good, I just - I need to get my head together and I know that I won't be able to do it if I go home. There'll be too many people. Too many questions and I don't want to go home just yet and I just - I need -"
"Time," he finished for her.
She nodded, her eyes silently pleading with him. If he was at all surprised by her request, he didn't show it, he simply nodded.
"Of course. As I said, you are my guest. You may stay here as long as you like."
"Thank you."
"Will there be anything else?"
Sarah shook her head,
"No."
He nodded.
"Then I shall leave you in peace."
With that, he left.
Alone once more, Sarah walked across to the wardrobe and opened the ornately decorated doors to look upon its contents. Hanging from a rail there were dresses of various designs, colours and materials. All she really craved were her favourite flannel pyjamas and her fluffy dressing gown, but she quickly realised that that would not be an option. She sighed slightly and began running her fingers through the dresses, finally selecting an almost floor-length mint green dress with long sleeves a high neckline. Luckily there were no complicated fastenings and she managed to dress quickly in her selected outfit before Gretel returned.
"M'lady," Gretel greeted as she entered the room. "I mean, Sarah," she corrected herself, although Sarah made no reaction to the formality. "I have brought you food and drink."
"Thank you Gretel. Where are they?" Sarah enquired, looking around for any sign of a tray or any kind of food.
"I have them in your sitting room."
"My what?"
"Your sitting room," she indicated the door through which she had just come.
Sarah crossed her bedroom and followed Gretel as she retreated through the doorway and entered another lavishly decorated room. There was a fire crackling gently in the fireplace, in front of it there were two chairs and a small table, on top of which Sarah's meal was laid out waiting for her. Sarah took a few moments take in her surroundings before moving towards the chairs and table and taking a seat.
"Any more rooms of mine I should know about?" Sarah asked partly joking, trying to relax a little more into her usual self.
"This is as far as your chambers come. However, His Majesty has said that you are welcome to explore the castle if you so wish. He said that you might enjoy the library. He said that you like to read," Gretel explained, smiling at Sarah as she lifted a silver dome from atop a steaming plate of what appeared to be chicken, in a creamy mushroom sauce, and a selection of vegetables. For the first time since waking, Sarah realised just how famished she was as her mouth began to water at the delicious sight and smell of her dinner, which in turn reminded her of the question she had meant to ask Gretel when she had finished her bath.
"Gretel, how long have I been here?"
Gretel looked up at Sarah from the goblet she had been filling with water.
"Almost three days, dear," Gretel replied, with the same sort of motherly concern she had shown earlier. "Tonight will be the fourth night you have been in the castle. You were very ill when His Majesty brought you -"
"Jareth brought me here?" Sarah interrupted, her fork halfway to her mouth with food.
"Why, of course. Who did you think?"
"I thought," Sarah put down her cutlery and looked down at the napkin in her lap, feeling somewhat foolish. "I thought that some of the other goblins might have. I mean, it was them I wished to take me away. I never asked for Jareth."
"But, my dear, he is the Goblin King and he holds you in such high regard. You are Champion of his Labyrinth. He would not leave your rescue to anyone else," Gretel rested a gentle hand on Sarah's and gave a slight squeeze of reassurance. "He was most distraught when he discovered just how close to death you came, Lady Sarah. He did not want to see you lost forever."
But what no-one knew was that the King of the Goblins had fallen in love with the girl…
Sarah looked up at her goblin maid.
"Should you be telling me such things Gretel?"
"Perhaps I should not have said anything, but perhaps you needed to know," the goblin woman replied gently, letting go of Sarah's hand and motioning for her to continue with her dinner. "Eat, Sarah. You need to keep up your strength. His Majesty would be most displeased if he thought I had let you starve any longer. You've been wasting away my dear child."
"I hadn't noticed," she lied, but continued to eat.
Although Sarah was unable to eat the entire meal, Gretel seemed satisfied that she had eaten enough to keep her strength up for the remainder of the evening, after all, she had no plans of exerting herself before returning to the plush bed in the room next door. As Gretel cleared away the tray and its contents, Sarah turned to look into the fire, her mind whirling with the events of the past few days and the emotional turmoil that came with it all.
Meanwhile, away from her chambers, Jareth sat in the window of the throne room, absent-mindedly playing with a crystal in his hands. His mind was on Sarah, as it so often was, and he was fighting the urge to conjure a crystal for the sole purpose of watching her. She was in the castle. He could go and see her, he could demand for her to let him speak with her. But he wouldn't, he knew better. Where his beautiful Sarah was concerned, he had to act carefully, demanding anything of her in the past would have earned him a lashing from her quick tongue, now however he wasn't sure she had it in her and he wasn't about to take advantage of her somewhat submissive nature. She would never forgive him once she was back to her normal, stubborn, self and neither would he forgive himself.
He had been so relieved when Gretel had delivered the news that Sarah had finally awoken from her illness-induced sleep. The healer had told him that her body had suffered terribly from the freezing rain during the storm and that it would need to be warmed through to continue to function, an ailment he believed that those Aboveground referred to as 'hypothermia'. He had also referred to numerous bruises and marks across her body, although he could not say for certain what had caused them, not that he didn't have his suspicions. Jareth knew only too well, but he would not admit that he had been watching the young woman as she suffered at the hand of her husband. The healer did what he could for her; gently treating the angry marks that stained her skin, and insisted that her room be kept warm to assist in raising her body temperature back to a safe level. All they could do then was wait. Wait for her body to fight back and wake of its own accord.
And so, he had waited.
Just as he had waited ten long years for her to call for him.
He could wait a while longer.
Sarah spent the evening in her sitting room, staring blankly into the fire that Gretel had built up and which now crackled and danced happily. It was late, she could tell that much, although she had no idea of exactly what time it was or how long she had been awake. The healer had visited her shortly after she had finished eating and had checked her over carefully, insisting that although he was pleased with her general condition she should refrain from over-exerting herself for the next few days as her strength returned fully.
Now, as she sat before the dancing fire, her mind was on Jareth. He had come to her. He had saved her. It hadn't been his goblins as she had thought. It had been Him. She couldn't help but think about how different he seemed from the last time they had met. There was nothing cruel in those eyes she had looked upon earlier, not the slightest hint of malice or malcontent, but instead something that could have been...concern? What was it that had Gretel said earlier?
"He was most distraught...He did not want to see you lost forever."
What had she done to deserve such concern from the great Goblin King? Had she not defeated his Labyrinth and refused his offer of her dreams when she had been a spoilt, stubborn teenager? Why should he care if she lived or died Aboveground?
She looked at her left hand, at the two white gold bands which encircled her ring finger. She began to turn them with the thumb of the same hand, watching as they caught the light and shimmered, glittered even.
Glittered.
His eyes glittered, at least they did in her dreams. Those enchanting mismatched eyes, that gazed so lovingly into her own as he held her close and they waltzed around the same ballroom she had fled when she was fifteen. His beautifully mesmerising eyes always glittered in her dreams.
But when she looked into those eyes only a few hours ago, they seemed to have lost that sparkle, they seemed pained, but why? She was alive. He had succeeded in saving her. Why did he still look so sad? Shouldn't he have been relieved? Then she remembered, how she had reacted to his touch, she had cowered away from him, asked him to stop, to leave her alone. She was in no doubt that that had been the last thing he had expected; he probably expected some witty remark and a demand for him to send her home, not the desperate plea for him to allow her to stay. She was sure he had not been expecting the terrified, cowering mess she had become. He had surprised her with his generosity, especially as he asked no questions, but simply acquiesced to her requests, telling her she could stay as long as she liked.
Suddenly she became suspicious. What did he expect from her in return? Surely he wasn't going to allow her to stay, uninvited, for an undetermined length of time for nothing. But then, hadn't he always been generous?
"I have turned the world upside down and I have done it all for you! I am exhausted of living up to your expectations of me. Isn't that generous?"
Yes, he had always been generous and she had denied him the only thing he ever asked of her.
"Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave…"
He had offered her everything she could ever wish for. He had offered her her dreams. But she had had to save her baby brother, whom she had wished away so selfishly and so carelessly. And so, she had returned home, finished school, gone to college and gotten married. She had grown up, but she had never stopped dreaming.
She never ever stopped dreaming.
Sarah hadn't noticed the tears that had escaped her eyes and fallen down her cheeks until she was brought back from her thoughts by the sound of a gentle voice by her side.
"Sarah."
Sarah quickly wiped away her tears with the back of her hand, then turned to see Gretel standing beside her, her large eyes reflecting the flames in the fireplace.
"Sorry, Gretel, I was miles away," she explained, needlessly. "Was there something you wanted?"
"It's getting late, my dear. I think, perhaps it is time for you to retire for the evening. You still need to get plenty of rest."
Sarah nodded and moved to stand up,
"I think you might be right Gretel. What time is it?"
"Almost midnight," Gretel replied, making her way through to Sarah's bedroom and going to the wardrobe, from which she pulled out a clean nightgown, similar to the one Sarah had found herself in earlier in the day.
"Thank you, Gretel. I think I can manage from here and I'm sure you'd like to get to your own bed," Sarah smiled kindly.
"If you're sure," Gretel looked a little hesitant.
"I'm sure," Sarah nodded. "Goodnight Gretel."
"Goodnight Lady Sarah. I shall see you in the morning."
The goblin woman ignored the exasperated look that Sarah gave her and left her alone to get ready for bed while she made her way down to the servants' quarters beneath the castle.
Sarah undressed herself from the gown she had chosen earlier and laid it over the back of the chair at her vanity unit. She carefully examined the marks that still littered her skin, though they were a lot fainter than they had been. She wondered how much longer they would take to vanish completely, so that she did not have to be reminded of why she had wished herself away to the Goblin Kingdom. Sighing slightly, she pulled the clean nightgown over her head and then smoothed the material down before going to climb into the large bed, which suddenly looked extremely inviting.
She quickly settled herself in the centre of the huge bed, revelling in the feeling of the soft silk against her skin, and closed her eyes. She had barely breathed another breath before she was drifting off into peaceful dreams of magnificent balls and a certain Goblin King.
In his own chambers, Jareth had finally given in to temptation and observed Sarah through a crystal, watching her as she slept soundly, a slight smile gracing her lips. He wouldn't look in on her dreams, though it pleased him to find they were at least allowing her some peace and contentment.
"Sleep well, Precious," he murmured quietly into the darkness before settling himself to sleep. Tomorrow he would see her, hopefully for more than a few brief minutes.