Notes: Yet another update.

As always, thank you for the favs and follows. Please do review.

Chapter 7: The King's Move

He was bored again. Some hours had passed and while Sarah still had plenty of time to solve the labyrinth, Jareth was becoming rather impatient. The subjects in his throne room were beginning to annoy him and young Toby had fallen into a rather long nap after being fed and burped.

That was the hard thing about his role in this adventure. He had to remain for the most part in the shadows, unable to help Sarah. He had been just as impatient when she had been on the path to solving the labyrinth the first time. He remembered how as a teenager, he had taken out his anger of his boredom on his subjects, even threatening to put several of them, including his keeper, Pogo, head first into the Bog of Eternal Stench. The only difference was that this time, as an adult, he was keeping a lid on taking out his anger and had involved himself as much as he could in his queen's journey.

Sarah had managed to escape the Cleaners and was now making her way as best she could towards the castle. He had seen that she had already befriended one of the gentle giants in his labyrinth. It was not surprising to him. His queen had always been able to win the love of his subjects easily in her old life.

While he noticed that she did make a few mistakes as she continued her journey, she seemed to be more confident, as if she had some sort of bearing of where she was going. Were some of the memories of her past life returning to her? Jareth didn't know. But what he did know was that he had been out of the game long enough and now was the time for him to make a move, a big move.

"Goblins and Other Creatures of the Labyrinth. Volume One." Jareth read out the title that his wife had written on the front page of one of her leather bound journals. He saw several more journals under it, indicating a series that Sarah had written. He had known that she had kept several journals of her various adventures in his kingdom since their official engagement. Even so, he never expected for her to write volumes about them, nor an encyclopedia about the various creatures that lived in their kingdom. "How much did you write?"

His queen looked up from her spot on the floor. She was sitting in front of a chest that she was in the process of reorganizing, despite her husband's protests that she should take it easy as she was pregnant. Sarah would have none of that. The baby was giving her a break from feeling sick and she was going to take it and do something productive.

"I don't remember. Six or seven books, maybe, on just that." It hard for her to remember. She had written so much and hadn't stopped. "We have a lot of subjects, Jareth. Besides, it may be a bit outdated, but I think it might be good for the baby to have when they get older. They should know who the people of our kingdom are. Besides, it was my way of understanding more about your kingdom when we were betrothed. The way to understand something is to study it and live it."

The Goblin King looked down at his wife. This was just one of many reasons he loved Sarah. She had this curiosity about her, a willingness to learn and explore. But no matter how much knowledge she retained, she would always make her own decisions.

"Our child will be very prepared for the throne indeed." Although, Jareth knew that that day would not come for many years, he was glad that they could think about their child and his or her wellbeing. "However, on the subject of studying, I have seen that you have been practicing with your certain powers."

Sarah's face flushed red, nervous and embarrassed. She had been practicing, trying her best to grasp magic and spells. Since she became pregnant, her powers seemed to have gone a bit haywire, as if she held within her such raw energy that it was hard for her to tame. She wondered if it was because the baby within her womb had inherited their father's magic and could only, for the moment, express their powers through their mother.

"You were able to turn those goblins back from cats and dogs, weren't you?" She asked softly, ashamed that while she could cast some spells, she did know how to undo them yet.

"Yes, although I was half tempted to leave them in those forms." Jareth found it all amusing. Then again, he did not expect her to have a handle on her powers yet. He had only granted her them a short while ago. She did not have the years of training in the magical arts that he had.

Her face regained a normal color and she laughed. Her husband knew how to handle any situation and make her smile.

Jareth moved to sit down next to her in front of the old chest. Taking a peek inside, he could see it was full of sentimental items from Sarah's old life, her life as a lord's daughter in the Aboveground. From the chest, he picked out a stuffed bear. There was nothing magical about other than that it was incredibly soft.

"Lancelot." Sarah told him when she saw the bear in his hand. While she knew that Jareth had learned some about the Aboveground for her sake and had listened to her stories, there were no doubt some things that her husband was still confused by. "He's a children's toy that I had growing up. Just a source of comfort for me as a child."

"He?" Jareth took a better look at the toy to try and figure out what made it male.

"In the Aboveground, it is common enough for children to give their toys names and assign them some sort of gender." Sarah explained. "You had toys growing up too, my love. Don't be so surprised." She had even seen some of the toys from his childhood as she was picking through and trying to decide appropriate toys to pass down to their coming child.

Her husband let go of the bear and took another good look at Sarah's chest.

"Do you miss it? Living in the Aboveground, that is." He asked her. She could hear worry in his voice, as if no matter how much he could give her, he could never give her back her childhood, her home in the Aboveground. "I may be your husband, but I don't want to also be your captor. Sarah, if you ever want to go, to return home, just tell me."

Sarah put a gentle hand on her husband's shoulder.

"You were never my captor, Jareth. It is true that I do miss my old home from time to time, but who wouldn't miss their childhood home?" She was being honest with him, as she always was. "It is where I came from, my origin. While I may visit it from time to time, that doesn't mean that I will leave you forever. My home is here, with you. I love you. I love the labyrinth and the Underground so you needn't worry."

She would be there with him always and forever, no matter what.

The dwarf had abandoned the girl. While Jareth held some concern for her being on her own, he held himself back from helping her. Sarah needed this time by herself if she was ever to learn her truth strength. Besides, as he was playing her villain, he doubted that she would accept his help. That was why he needed someone else to put the move he had planned into motion, someone that he knew that she trusted.

Continuing his role, he faced Hoggle. No one could doubt that Jareth was a good king, but even he knew that since his queen had died, he had been rather harsh on his subjects, coming off as cold and even cruel with those who had a brain. In that moment, Jareth knew that Hoggle was nervous and frightened of him, wishing that he had never been a part of the reborn queen's journey. The Goblin King held the high ground and he was using this to his advantage.

"Wait." He told the dwarf who was more than eager to get out of his sight and find Sarah to take her back to the beginning. "I've got a much better plan, Hoggle. Give her this." Sarah had already warped the rules of the game. It made him wonder if there ever had been rules in the first place. But his Sarah, then and now, was creative and always achieved whatever she put her mind to.

Jareth summoned one of his crystal balls, which turned into a peach. It was no ordinary peach by any means, but he knew that she would eat it. Sarah had loved the fruit in the past, so why would things change now?

He tossed the fruit at Hoggle, who caught it. The dwarf seemed confused as to why his king would give him such a fruit to give to Sarah. Jareth knew that the dwarf would not remember, very few would, that peaches had been the Goblin Queen's favorite fruit. Nor would many remember how after Sarah had solved the labyrinth the first time and Jareth had declared her his betrothed, that he had made her a princess. Upon hearing of Jareth's betrothal, the council had petitioned against the match because even in the Aboveground, Sarah was not a princess. She had been a lord's daughter. Even as a teenager, Jareth had been clever as he had rebelled against the council. He had used his authority as king to name Sarah as the Princess of the Peach Orchards, making her in all technicality a princess and of an appropriate status for him to marry. Twisted rules indeed.

"It ain't gonna hurt the little lady, is it?" Hoggle asked.

"Oh. Now, why the concern?" Jareth seemed to be curious, but he knew. Even now, Sarah could win the hearts of his subjects. It was no surprise that when she had been his queen in her past life that his subjects had adored and loved her. In this new life, though she did not know it yet, she was easily regaining their affection.

"Uh. I won't do nothin' to harm her." Of course, Hoggle's concern was for naught. Jareth would never do anything to harm his Sarah.

It would not do, however, for the dwarf to back out of this. Jareth needed him to be his piece on the board, even if he had to bully Hoggle into doing so. This was for Sarah and for her, he would do anything.

Frightened of the king, Hoggle stood for a moment, Jareth's unwitting pawn. The Goblin King's play was now put into motion and there was nothing that anyone could do about it.

He had returned from the council, who were proving to be an annoyance. They were furious at Jareth for his actions, but their hands were tied because of his power and immense kingdom. To go against him would result in a war that no one wanted.

The Goblin King wanted nothing more at the moment then to be with his wife. Sarah always knew how to calm him down. The only problem was that she was not in their castle at the moment. It was true that he would never hold her prisoner for he loved her. She was free to go where she wanted, but that didn't help him when he wanted her.

Before he could do anything to see if he could track her down, he heard a voice calling out to him. It sounded desperate and in deep pain as if it were last words. He knew the voice. It was Sarah's.

"I wish that the goblins would come and take me away, right now!"

He was gone before the wish had even finished being said.

Notes: Things are starting to get interesting. I'll leave you all with that cliffhanger until the next chapter, which is coming soon.

Also, Sarah's journals in one of the flashback scenes are loosely based off of the summary that I read of The Goblins of Labyrinth by Brian Froud, which I hope to be getting in the mail from Amazon soon.