Author's Note: Hi everybody! It's been a long time. Sorry 'bout that. ) School being school and all that jazz. I would like to thank everybody who was so kind as to send me comments and encouragements! Thank you notwritten and almostalyce for your reviews. :) I hope I do not disappoint and that I keep you all guessing. Okay, I do not own the Labyrinth blah, blah, blah. I do not own any David Bowie songs blah, blah, blah. I do not own Linda Ronstadt's song 'Dreams to Dream'. I just really love the song and it fits the story perfectly. (Why will be revealed in later chapters!) I own all OCs and countries outside of the Labyrinth. On with the chapter!

Chapter 3: Meetings and Singing

Shaylee busied herself by chopping peaches into small cubes. The thumping of the knife against the wood cutting board gave a steady beat by which the sprite hummed along to. Lifting the board from the counter, she walked over to a bubbling pot of water where she quickly brushed the bits of fruit in. Thumble looked up from the stew he was tasting and nodded. "Nice ditty Shaylee is hummin' today."

"Just a tune I learned from a human servant I knew at a previous home I worked in." Shaylee answered, casting a smile over her shoulder at the goblin. "I can't remember all the words though."

"No time for singing Shaylee." Blythe stated as she hurried into the bustling kitchen. "Thumble, the king wants his meal in his room tonight. I don't believe the goblins will be returning to the courtroom tonight so you might as well forget about preparing them something." A grumbling head chef turned back to his stew pot, saying something about all the food he had prepared going to waste. Blythe added, "I believe I will eat in my room too. Do not forget to come find me later Shaylee."

"Yes Blythe." The sprite answered as she hurried to help Thumble plate the Goblin King's dinner. Neither one of the pair noticed when the Fay had left the kitchen. Blythe knew that she needed to push thoughts of the human girl and Jareth from her mind for a few minutes. It was time to learn more about Shaylee.

Upon entering her room, Blythe walked over to the window. Drawing the blinds, she cautiously made her way to a table. Lighting the candle that stood upon it, Blythe's brown eyes focused on a tapestry hanging on the wall above the table. Pushing the decorated fabric aside, Blythe revealed a copper mirror hidden beneath it. The candlelight reflected and refracted off of the surface of the mirror while images were distorted in its reflection. Brushing a hand over the cool surface, the Fay woman focused on a spark of magic that she held. "I wish to speak to Elrivo of Oyhbtedu." The light stuttered on the surface before it was drawn into a circle in the center. The circle expanded till the entire surface was blinding light. Blythe turned her head away till the light died to a soft glow.

"Hello? Who calls?" An old wispy breath inquired.

Blythe turned to look at the surface of the mirror, a smile growing on her face. "It is I, Blythe of the Goblin City. It is good to see and hear you again Elrivo."

A face lined with age looked back at Blythe from the glow. A grin had spread across Elrivo's face, "Blythe! I have not heard from you since the Full Moon Celebration held at the court in Alacd!"

"It has been long hasn't it?" Blythe chuckled, taking in the features of the sprite in the mirror. "You have - aged."

"Yes - I am afraid my human ancestry has finally caught up with me." Elrivo sighed ruefully. "I knew it would happen someday. But what is the reason you summoned me?"

"I have a girl working for me who says she is from Ohybtedu." The Fay answered, not wanting to waste time. "She did not want to tell me who her former employer was because of some name smearing."

Elrivo cocked her head in contemplation. "Is that so? Is she a Fay?"

Blythe shook her head. "No. She is a sprite. Her name is Shaylee." Silence permeated the room. Blythe watched Elrivo's face turn somber. "Do you know her?"

Sighing, the aged sprite nodded her head. "Aye. I know the lass." Blythe's eyes widened at the sound of Elrivo switching to her accent. Her friend did not do that unless she had lost concentration or her temper. "You see," Elrivo continued, "Shaylee is a fine girl, but she has had a hard life here."

"What kind of life? You do not mean criminal activity?" Blythe's mind raced in several different directions.

"No, no. Not'ing like dat. Ya see - she worked for Lady Vondiva." Elrivo said.

Blythe's brown eyes narrowed angrily, "That woman who dares call herself a Fay?" Calming, she nodded as understanding dawned upon her. "I can see now why Shaylee would hide that. What did the child do to gain the lady's anger?"

"Nothing that I know of." Elrivo answered her accent under control once again. "Shaylee has never mentioned it and all the servants have twisted the truth so much that all it is now is tall tales. The lady enjoyed tormenting Shaylee to no end. The child withstood it for ten years before she came to me a few months ago to inform me that she was departing." Her head shook sadly, "As protocol demanded, I had to report it to the lady and - well - she did not wish to give up her - as she called Shaylee - 'whipping dog'."

Blythe winced at the term as did Elrivo. "Well - I can see now what brought Shaylee here."

"Perhaps," The elderly sprite said, "it would be best for Shaylee to stay there. The lady does not travel to the Goblin King's realm unless she is pressed to do so."

"Yes, perhaps you are right." Blythe agreed, "And she is a good worker."

Elrivo chuckled, "One of the best I had trained."

Blythe smiled warmly. "Then I will be sure to keep her on. I will be speaking to her soon and I am sure she will be happy to learn of her good fortune. I must now bid you farewell."

"Till we see each other again." Elrivo replied. Blythe turned to the candle and in one breath blew out the flame. The room once again fell into darkness. Blythe looked up at the copper mirror; Elrivo's image was no longer there. With a sigh, the Fay woman pulled the tapestry back into place before shuffling over to the window to draw back the curtain. Gazing out over the city below her, she noted the red and orange sunbeams peaking over the horizon as the sun set. Blythe turned back to face her room and hurried to light some lamps so she and Shaylee would not be sitting in the dark during their meeting.

~*~*/*\*~*~

Shaylee stood outside of Blythe's bedroom door trying to calm her fluttering heart. She truly hoped that this meeting would be of good news, but her thoughts would not settle into confidence. Her treacherous mind called images and memories of jobs that she felt she had failed or had not done well enough. Taking one more deep breath, the sprite decided that waiting would do no good but to just get the ordeal over with. Raising a fist, Shaylee rapped on the door.

"Come in." Blythe's voice beckoned from within. Shaylee opened the door slowly and looked in. Blythe was sitting at her table looking expectantly at Shaylee. "Please come in Shaylee and have a seat." The young woman did as she was told. She twiddled her fingers absentmindedly in her lap, watching Blythe with a hopeful expression. "How was your dinner?" Blythe asked, trying to put the girl at ease.

"Very good - thank you. And yours?" Shaylee smiled.

"The same. Now - Shaylee - I do not want you to suffer through pleasantries such as me asking how your day was but I will get quickly to the point." Blythe assured, watching the sprite's shoulders fall in relief. Continuing, she said, "This week you have exhibited a great deal of perseverance. I have been surprised and pleased with your consistency, I only wonder if you will not slack off if you feel too confident with a position here."

Shaking her head, the young woman's gray eyes widened. "I - no! I would never!"

A smile quirked at the corners of Blythe's mouth. "No, I have it on high authority that you would not." Not letting Shaylee to digest or think on the comment further, Blythe concluded, "I believe I can keep you on. The other girls could learn something from you."

Shaylee's face brightened immediately. "Really? You mean I can stay?"

"Yes. That is what I said." Blythe chuckled.

"I," the sprite's glowing face darkened slightly, "I suppose I should tell you now who my former employer was - as agreed."

The Fay woman cocked her head, "We did agree upon that, but now I do not think it is important anymore. I have already surmised the answer to that question." Shaylee's face blanched, but Blythe waved a hand. "Lady Vondiva does not have such a strong influence here. Besides, I know better than to listen to her viperous tongue." A sympathetic smile graced Blythe's face. "I know firsthand of the lady's temperament. I also have good friends in Ohybtedu who would tell me the truth of the matter. You are welcome here Shaylee."

Tears welled up in Shaylee's eyes as a smile spread across her face. "Thank you. Thank you so much, Blythe. I do not know how I could ever repay you."

"Continue as you are." Blythe encouraged, "That is all that you need do." They talked for a while longer till the Fay suggested the sprite turn in for the night.

~*~*/*\*~*~

Shaylee rose as usual and made her way to the kitchen. Preparing herself a quick breakfast, she set to work. Other kitchen maids trickled in throughout the morning, greeting the sprite before heading off to their own tasks. The morning progressed as it normally would up until Blythe entered with an annoyed look on her face. "Those wretched goblins! Sometimes I can't stand them." Thumble and several of the other goblin servants looked up from their work. The Fay sighed, "I apologize. That was not what I meant. Some of the younger 'courtiers' made a mess upstairs and I can't find Oluy! That lazy girl."

Shaylee remembered seeing the Fay, Oluy, exiting the kitchen after an extremely long breakfast. Shaylee's long sprite ears had picked up a whispered conversation between Oluy and another Fay about some shopping plans, but the young woman could not imagine anyone leaving without Blythe's knowledge. Shaylee did not want to tell on the two girls in case her assumptions were not true. It would be better not to spread a rumor such as that. Glancing around to see no one had spoken up either, Shaylee cleared her throat. "If Oluy is not available, I will go clean up the mess."

Blythe gave Shaylee a relieved smile. "Would you? Only if Thumble can spare you of course." Both women turned to look at the goblin. He waved a meaty hand without looking up from his task. "Very good." Blythe declared as she beckoned the sprite to follow. "I will show you where the supplies are kept and where those - hooligans tore through."

Blythe had left Shaylee standing in a spacious hall that served as a 'crossroads'. There had been several decorative vases standing on tables, some of which that had had water and flowers in them, but were now shattered and spilled on the stone floor. Tapestries had been shredded, bespattered with mud, and some even had several darts sticking out of them. Setting down her cleaning supplies, Shaylee pushed up her quarter-length sleeves. I better start with the glass. Lifting up her broom, the young woman set to work.

She cleaned up the vases and flowers off the floor before she looked at the tapestries. It took what felt like hours to gather the mess up before Shaylee had a chance to get a bucket of water and a rag to clean up the mud that had been tracked through the halls. As was her custom, the sprite began humming in time to her movements. She absentmindedly opened her mouth and sang the words, listening to the sounds bounce off the walls. However, Shaylee would never have started singing if she knew where the Labyrinth was carrying her voice.

~*~*/*\*~*~

Jareth sat in his office, staring moodily at a stack of papers he needed to go through. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. The Labyrinth thrummed beneath his feet, pulsating with a happiness that Jareth had not felt emanating from the creature for some time. Scowling, Jareth pushed himself up from the chair and moved to where the carpet on the floor was not covering the stone. Before his booted foot even touched the bare floor, his ears picked up a sound he had never heard inside his castle. Singing. Someone was singing inside his castle. No one save himself had ever sung in his castle. The goblins attempted singing, but to Jareth it could hardly be called that. No one had sung and sung well inside his castle other than himself.

He stormed out of his office and went in search for this voice. He followed where the Labyrinth led him, ever keeping his eyes and ears open. The voice was getting louder, and the words were more discernible. He stopped short in the shadows of a hallway, not because he was shocked, but because he wanted to watch and observe this strange creature. A girl - a sprite to be more exact - was kneeling on the floor, scrubbing at the stones. She was singing in her own familiar dialect, a song Jareth had never heard. The king stood motionless as he listened. He spared a glance at her features - a bit more curious than he would like to admit to being. The sprite had wavy auburn hair that tumbled down around her shoulders in a semi-tamed manner. Her small, pale hands would reach up often to brush the curling tendril back behind her elongated and pointed ears. When she turned slightly, her profile revealed a heart shaped face. Jareth noted her bangs had fallen in front of her eyes and she huffed softly to blow the strands out of her eyes.

Stepping back, he berated himself for observing the servant girl he had never seen before. I do the same thing every time I meet someone. Why should I feel any differently about this sprite woman? Jareth rationalized with himself as he began turning to leave. "I lose my way, no one cares," Jareth stopped dead in his tracks at the young woman's softly sung words. He found himself held captive by the words that floated around the stone walls, a strange feeling growing inside him.

The words I say,

No one hears,

My life it seems,

Is a world of dreams.

Jareth did not like the feeling this girl's song was eliciting. He turned back around, a look on his face that frightened even the stoutest of souls. "What are you doing?" He smirked inwardly at the audible gasp the sprite let past her lips. Jareth stepped dramatically from the shadows, fisted hands on his hips.

"Cleaning the floors. What does it look like to you Sir?" The girl answered without batting an eyelash. Jareth's brow rose in surprise and annoyance at the girl's tone. Did she not know to whom she was speaking?

"That is not what I meant." He stated icily.

She appeared to refuse submitting to his intimidating glare. Do I see a hint of her in this girl? Jareth quickly shook that thought away when the sprite continued speaking. "You should be more specific then. How am I to know what you mean - Sir?" It sounded to the Goblin King that she had added the respectful address as an afterthought. She did indeed have an independent streak.

Before Jareth could speak again, a goblin came shuffling down the hall. "KING!!!!" The creature shrieked, "WHERE ARE YOU KING???!!!" The short, dirty fellow stepped into the area where Jareth and the sprite were and stopped. "I found you King! Friend Reus is here. He wants to speak with you."

Glancing down at the girl, Jareth noticed with smug pleasure that she had gone paler than he thought possible - considering her ivory complexion. Returning his gaze to the fidgeting goblin, he nodded. "I will meet him in my office." He waved a gloved hand, signaling that the creature was dismissed. Once the goblin had run off, the king focused on the now silent girl who had hastily stood but kept her eyes to the stone floor at her feet.

"I apologize Your Highness. I did not know to whom I was speaking. I hope my foolish tongue has not offended you." Her apology sounded heartfelt to Jareth's Fay ears and he of all people could catch a lie. He was surprised that she had apologized at all. Sarah never would have apologized. Jareth swallowed the growl of frustration at his own thoughts.

Instead he questioned the girl. "So you would not have spoken to me in this manner if I was not the king? Pray tell why."

She cringed visibly. "I am afraid that a vice of mine is that I enjoy to rise the ire of nobles. It is a special game of mine."

Game? Jareth frowned as he mulled that word over in his mind. "What is your name?" He sounded bored, like he truly did not care what her name was. Which he didn't - not really.

"Shaylee, Sire." The sprite answered.

"Well then Shaylee, shall we return to the original question." He said it as an order and not a question. When the sprite nodded, Jareth continued. "What were you doing?"

"I was singing Your Highness." She hastened to add, "It is a song I learned from a human servant at my former employers."

Jareth did not much care where she had learned it, but he did care that she was singing it and that it was making him feel strange. "No one sings in my castle unless I wish for them to do so. You, Shaylee, are no different. From this moment on, you are not allowed to sing that song or any other song unless I give you permission. Is that clear?" He saw her shoulders sag. Had he made her unhappy? What did he care if he did? When she did not answer for several moments, Jareth's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I asked, is that clear Shaylee?"

Shaylee nodded her head slowly. "Yes - Sire." Jareth detected misery in her voice but surprisingly not anger. Sarah would have gotten angry. She would have yelled at me to go jump in the Bog. Once again the Goblin King cursed himself for letting his thoughts return to the mortal woman. Turning, he started to leave, only to be interrupted by the sprite. "Sire?" He paused, but did not turn around to look at her. "Is - humming or whistling included?" He thought that over in his mind. The tunes themselves would not hurt anything - just the words. Words had power.

He would show her mercy. Very little, but enough. If he did not he was certain he would hear from Blythe about his harsh order. "You may but only as long as I do not hear it." Jareth walked back into the shadows, leaving the girl behind him.

~*~/*\~*~

I'm really getting attached to Shaylee. *Sigh* I'm slightly irked at Jareth now.

Please review! Comments, questions, upset stomachs? :)