"Cara," Sarah called, trying to get the older woman's attention. They stood outside the fairy ring, but Cara was busying herself by inspecting the edge of the forest. She seemed to be testing her limits, lifting a hesitant wrinkled hand out to the clearing. Cara continued to almost ignore Sarah's presence.

Sarah studied Cara, then she decided to copy her movements. She inched her way to the edge of the forest, now curious, and extended her hand out. The young woman wondered what it would feel like to cross the boundary. She wondered if the atmosphere would feel different, as if she had stepped into space. Or would she feel the same? Magic-less and disappointed?

In her consideration, Sarah was lost in her mind and completely unaware that she had been leaning into the field, her hand still extended in mid-air.

"No, child!" Cara's shaky voice startled her. The old woman was suddenly behind her, a protective hand had shot out and grabbed Sarah's shoulder in warning. "You mustn't go any closer."

Sarah drew her arm in, suddenly aware of the danger she had almost fallen - quite literally - into. "Cara," she asked, turning to the older woman that had given her a considerate amount of space, "Just what is this thing?"

"Haven't you heard the legends?" Cara raised her brows, "All the humans stolen away in the dead of night because they wandered too far?"

Sarah shook her head. She knew this place was dangerous, it must have been to be practically a spawning ground for the fae. A portal he had said. Although, she had never heard the stories behind it.

"It is said," Cara began in her teaching voice. She seemed to become more confident when she was explaining or sharing knowledge, regardless if it was correct, or not. "That Fairy Rings are places where Fairies gather. They dance and sing throughout the night, leaving behind a ring of mushrooms…" Cara's eyes narrowed to the edge of the forest. "However, there are no mushrooms here. But as you can see," the old woman motioned to a line of grass that was slightly more brown than the rest of it, "That is the boundary line. Do not cross that without my permission."

"Why not?" Sarah pushed.

"If you were to enter it, there would be no telling what would happen to you. You could be stolen away to the Underground, never to be seen again. There are many possibilities."

Goosebumps raised across Sarah's skin. A freezing wave of fright and caution pulsing throughout her body. Jareth had tried to get her to enter the fairy ring. That was what he wanted from her, wasn't it? He wanted to steal her away for revenge purposes.

"Cara… could, could a fae pull someone in?" Sarah asked, her green eyes wide and staring straight at the line of brown grass that separated the forest from the ring.

"No, they could perhaps touch you. They could grab you, but they cannot force you in the ring physically. You would have to enter it of your own accord. Well," Cara cocked her head to the side, rethinking her statement. "That doesn't mean they couldn't persuade you, or even use magic to willing have you enter. Besides, if a fae could pull you in, I doubt they would. They're a mischievous bunch and they'd much rather have a challenge."

Sarah frowned, deep in thought. Was this what her relationship with Jareth was? Was he trying to coerce her into entering by being sweet? Perhaps her thought he could woo her into wanting to enter, and then he could sprint her away to the Underground?

Is that such a bad thing? Her mind taunted her.

Yes, yes it is, she reminded herself. She would need to further question Jareth before she could even begin to trust him. The worst part was, she felt a part of her was in denial. A part of her told her that he would never do something like that to her. She wanted to laugh at how naive she could be.

"We should return." Cara said, beckoning Sarah to leave with a quick wave. "Although, I believe it would be beneficial to your magic lessons if we would practice a few times out here…" the old woman continued, now walking away from the fairy ring. Her loose curls bouncing with each step.

Sarah followed the old woman, her mind too busy on a certain fae to listen to the witch's words.

They had entered Cara's hotel room only half an hour later. Earl, Cara's husband, had caught sight of them, ducked his head in acknowledgement, and swiftly exited the room with no further comment. Sarah had thought to tell him he could stay, but she briefly wondered if he wasn't leaving out of politeness, but out of consternation towards her presence.

It wouldn't be the first time, Sarah reminded herself. She remembered those dreaded days in high school. The awkward dinner table conversations that had been strained out of fear for her quick, fiery temper. Thankfully, she had long since reigned it in.

She hoped.

"Sit down, dear." Cara said, patting the seat next to her.

Once they were both comfortably seated, and Cara had placed before them two steaming cups of tea, they began Sarah's magic lessons.

"I feel that you have been doing exceedingly well, Sarah. You've already accomplished much more than the others."

"The others?"

Cara froze, her tea cup halfway to her mouth. Blinking, the old witch tried to regain her composure.

Sarah leaned forward, waiting for the old woman to explain.

"Now dear," Cara chuckled, her wrinkled body relaxed. "You didn't let me finish." She placed the tea back on the coffee table. "I meant 'others' as in 'most people'. Not everybody can access magic, you know. It's like… A natural born talent." She shrugged, forgetting her still completely full tea, and leaned back comfortably.

"Oh," Sarah smiled. She, of course, had her suspicions, but she supposed she could drop them for now. Cara would open up when she wanted to, and Sarah wasn't the jealous type. If Cara was training other students she would hardly care. Besides, Sarah had to be the last person that was qualified to lecture someone on secrets.

"As I was saying," Cara continued as if they had not just had an odd moment of silence, "I feel we need to advance your lessons. Let's start with your mind." The old woman leaned forward. "I can establish a link, a way to access your magic easily, if you would let me. I would have to enter your mind and create it."

"Uh," Sarah unconsciously shifted away from the older woman, "I don't think that's…"

"Oh, come now, darling." Cara leaned herself closer to the slowly shrinking girl, "It's no big problem. Establishing a link between two minds is a way for me to help you. If you were to mess up, I would be able to access your magic and control it. Think of it as a safety precaution."

The young woman sighed, reasoning with herself that there was no reason to distrust the older woman. Scratching the side of her head, Sarah nodded and said, "Well… when you put it like that. I guess…"

"-Great!" Cara jumped up, her eyes beaming with something. She looked at Sarah the way a mother would look at their child, and Sarah, never having a devote mother, couldn't help but feel a rush of pride.

"Okay, great. So, how do we start?" She said, straightening her posture.

"It's easy, just relax yourself. Rigid minds are a whole lot harder to get into." The old woman placed her cold fingers on Sarah's forehead. The young woman couldn't help but tense at the temperature of the freezing digits.

"Oh, geeze, Cara. Your hands are cold."

"Shhh," the old woman crooned. Cara closed her eyes, and to Sarah she seemed to be focusing greatly. She could see the witch's eyes move rapidly under her eyelids, and she could feel the cold fingertips increase in pressure on her forehead, but Sarah, herself, did not feel anything.

"Relax, Sarah. Try not to think of anything." Cara furrowed her eyebrows.

She tried to clear her mind. Sarah tried to focus on only waiting for the link to be established. Then, she wondered what it would feel like. Would she know when the link was put into place? Would she be able to always feel it there in her mind? Perhaps, the constant presence of something else would slowly drive her insane.

Sarah shivered, Cara's fingers were even colder than they had been before.

Would it hurt when the link is established? Would it burn, singeing her mind? Or would it be a chill that settles across her body, almost as cold as Cara's hands. Sarah shrunk away from Cara. "Actually, I-"

"Shhhh, foolish girl." Cara clenched her teeth, grabbing Sarah's head with force. "Stay put."

"No," Sarah pulled away, prying Cara's fingers off her head like stubborn vines. "I don't want to anymore. I didn't want it in the first place, really."

Sarah stood, ignoring the harsh glare the older woman sent her. She pretended not to notice how Cara clenched her fists, or how she seemed to be shaking with fury. "Have a good night," Sarah said calmly, picking up her satchel, dusting herself off and walking away.

"Child, this is a most unwise decision. I promise you." Cara said to the young woman's back.

"Goodnight, Cara." Sarah called, giving her a quick wave without a glance back, and swiftly exiting the room.

The witch stood, riddled in fury, in the now empty room. She had stopped it. This girl had somehow figured out how to block her mind from her. Cara had felt the woman tense up, she had felt the girl's mind push back in defense, but she hadn't expected much more force than that. But the girl had somehow put up a shield against her. No matter, Cara thought with conviction. It was a flimsy mind-barrier and could easily be broken into. Sara hadn't been trained for it yet, so she did not know how to put up a strong, sturdy block.

"She only made this harder on herself…" Cara shook her head. She knew what to do next.

"Jareth!" Sarah called. It was dark outside, and she couldn't see much. She had been wandering around the forest since a little before the sun had set, but she couldn't turn back now. She needed to see him.

Sarah only hoped she wouldn't stumble blindly into the Fairy Ring first.

"Jareth," she called again.

"Sarah."

His voice was closer to her than she expected, and she swung around to see him standing behind her. It was dark, she could only see the outline of him, but she felt a sudden longing to run to him and seek his comfort. However, she noticed that he seemed wary of the edge of the fairy ring. She noticed that he lingered nervously, close to the boundary line, and he seemed to want to cross over just as much as she wanted to.

"I-I," Sarah sighed, calm yourself, she thought. "I just got back from a magic lesson… it just… freaked me out a little."

"Magic is dangerous," he said, almost indifferently, "It is not like your fairy tales, Sarah. Magic is more than mischievous little pranks and parlor tricks."

"I know, you didn't need to tell me that." Her temper flared, but she forced herself to reign it in. If she could see better, she would have sworn he was smirking at her statement.

"So," He said, and his shadow crossed its arms nonchalantly. "You came to tell me a magic lesson 'freaked' you out?"

"Well," Sarah sighed, now wondering if she was being a bit too revealing. "I just came to say that… that…" Her mind searched for the right words, "That your lessons are more… fun." She shrugged, inside she was congratulating herself. Sarah knew she had really come to seek comfort, though she wouldn't admit it out loud. But, perhaps she didn't need to. He had come, hadn't he? She had called him and he had appeared to her, ready to talk. Sarah doubted he had stood by and waited for her to run to the fairy ring, so how did he know she needed him? And why did he, a king, listen to her call and arrive with no protest.

"My lessons are more… fun?" He asked, and she knew he had no doubt raised an eyebrow at this statement.

"Well, that is to say that… you're a better teacher." She said. Faintly wondering why is was that he hadn't asked her to create a mind-link like Cara had, even though they were practicing much more complex magic than Cara was teaching.

"Sarah," he sighed, "What happened?"

"Well, I doubt it was a big deal, and maybe I'm blowing it out of proportion, but," Sarah clutched her head tightly, not caring if she messed up her hair. She began to pace, "It was just too weird, and it made me feel unsafe."

"Sarah." He said impatiently.

"-She asked me to form some mind-link with her. Like, a connection so she could monitor me, or something."

Jareth inhaled a sharp breath, and this made Sarah freeze.

"What?" She asked.

"You did not agree to this, I assume?" He said.

"Well," she walked closer to him, straining her eyes to see him and where the boundary line of the ring was. She was a little surprised to see he was standing as close as he could get to her. He looked as if he wanted to cross the line so badly, which was a sharp contrast from when she had first seen him. He had wanted her to cross the line then, now it seemed like he just wanted to be with her. Stop romanticizing it, Sarah, she warned herself. "I did not agree to it, at first. But I stopped it when she did it. I think, "Sarah laughed sheepishly, "I think she was quite mad."

Jareth didn't laugh. "I do not think you should see this witch anymore, Sarah. She is too meddlesome where she should not be."

Sarah frowned, but she understood. "I think I'm actually agreeing with you, for once."

If it had been light outside, she would have seen the king before her crack a warm smile before quickly hiding it with indifference. But it was dark outside, and Sarah missed these things.

"Avoiding this witch would be best for you." He said, and it seemed like he was trying hard not to sound demanding.

"Can we just-" She shook her head, "Can we talk about something else?" Sarah could not shake the feeling of Cara's icy fingers on her forehead, the slow feeling of someone trying to push their way into her mind. She was right to think it was dangerous, and she was glad she had acted on instinct.

"Whatever you wish, precious."

"Okay, then sit with me, please." Sarah said. She could see his shadow slowly bend its way down gracefully to the ground of the clearing, and she did the same thing. "Tell me a story." She asked, anything to distract her mind would be like heaven right now.

"Once upon a time, there was a beautiful young girl," his accented, and pleasing voice began, "And she was quite spoiled… She wished her little brother away to a hands-"

"Not that story." Sarah rolled her eyes.

"Well, why not?" He asked.

"We already know the ending to that one."

"I would disagree, Sarah." His voice whispered, and the air seemed to carry it to her ears.

"No - just… Anything but that story, okay?"

"Hmm," he leaned back on his arms. She could see the outline of his head gaze up at the sky. The clearing had a perfect view of the stars, and Sarah could see them too, it she leaned over a little. She followed his gaze, staring at the clear night sky. They were silent for a while, and Sarah wondered if he had forgotten to think of a story, but she didn't care all too much. She found it peaceful, just living here in this moment. Then suddenly, his voice whispered:

"Have you heard the story behind those constellations?" She could see a gloved hand motion to the stars above.

"Not really," she whispered. Sarah didn't know why they were whispering, but it seemed like a delicate moment, and the only way to maintain it was to speak softly.

She listened to his voice as he told her about the legends behind the stars, and when she began to nod off, he didn't seem to mind. He continued talking softly, his accented voice lulling her to sleep in comfort, until she was out like a light. Sarah would have been surprised to know that he had stayed beside her for the majority of the night, and when the sun rose, and he had to return to his kingdom, he conjured a blanket and used magic to lay it over her. Then he disappeared in a shower of glitter and light back to his castle.

Sarah awoke a little bit later, surprised that it was daytime, and a little disappointed that Jareth was not there, but she smiled when she saw what he had left her.

"I just acquired a nice, free blanket." She nodded in approval.

Woot, we made it to chapter 10. Things should be heating up, now. Thank you guys for reading! As always, I do not own the labyrinth. Sadly.

Just so everyone knows, I do reviews in order from the earliest ones to review, to the more recent ones.

Reviews:

3Silmarils - Awe, well thank you very much! I'm glad you weren't disappointed!

LovelyAmberLight - Yeah, go Jareth! Haha, glad I got your heart pounding, it was intended. ;)

kellyn1604 - Right? I was disappointed, too... and I'm the one that wrote it.

find your North Star - Yes, how dare she.

Guest #1 - Thank you!

hyrulian dream weaver - Awe, thank you! It made me so happy to see your review. I'm glad it seems like I'm practically painting the story for you, it means a job well done. I so want a copy of the book, too. Sadly, it does not exist. :/ Hahaha, thanks for your review. :)

Guest #2 - Hmmmm, should you be concerned for Sarah? Or is she in safer hands with Cara...? Hmmm... decisions, decisions... Thanks so much for your review! ;)

Ebony-Dove - Your review actually made me laugh out loud. Thank you!

starrmommy41 - Here is more! Wish has been granted! Hmmm, you might be onto something... I want to visit Ireland and see if I could find one. I would totally chance it and see what would happen if I stepped into one. Even if the outcome is bad, I think it would be awesome. ;)

DarkEnigma322 - Uh oh, is it good, or is it bad? You shall have to see... *Plays ominous music* Thank you for your review!

tonemara - Glad you're enjoying this story. To answer your question, they can still touch. Sarah could easily step into the fairy ring if she wants to. Jareth is the only one who cannot leave. But she can reach into it and whatnot. Kind of like in real life if I were to stumble upon one, I could still be able to reach in if I wanted to, nothing would stop me. The only thing Sarah is being cautious of is actually stepping inside the ring. I do hope that answered your question. Nothing is stopping them from touching. Thanks for your review! :)

Guest #3 - Awe, you called my story precious... :)))) Thank you!

Lion - Amazingly, here is an update! Thanks for your review! :D

ariella21 - Hmmm, we will have to find out, won't we? Thank you for your review.

I hope everyone had a great Easter. Tons of thanks for the most welcome reviews, favorites and follows. :)