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.