Ok, so I know it's Thursday and I said Friday, it's early! You all wore me down with your lovely reviews. Thank you's to: Faeries Midwife, yodeladyhoo, Mint Tea Rose, rose217, notwritten sweetbobby33 and silver.shadow23. You're all brilliant. Oh and I figured out where my inspiration for this fic came from. Would you believe it was a line in a song? A single line! 'Any Other World' by Mika, and the line that set this whole mess off?

"Because it's all in the hands, of a bitter, bitter man,

Say goodbye, to the world you thought you lived in,

Take a bow, play the part, of a lonely, lonely heart

Say goodbye to the world you thought you lived in,"

Ultimately the whole chorus helped but it was that first line that really set it off.

Anyway, I own neither song or the Labyrinth, though Clara and the other OC's are all mine!

Chapter Ten: Summer Solstice.

As days went past, Jareth could feel the pull of the summer upon him, the days became longer and this was the hardest time of the year for him. This was the day when both Fae men and women were the most able to conceive. Each year the drive to attempt to create a child, even with a woman he despised, became greater and greater. In the days leading up to the midsummer ball, he would hide himself in his chambers, the maids were not even allowed in to change the sheets.

For Marissa, the summer solstice was the best time, she, too, could feel its magical pull on her body and each year she knew that Jareth became less and less able to resist her. She also knew that this year may well be her last chance. If he could hold off for the next eight months, he would divorce her. The idea of the divorce terrified her, it would bring great shame to her and to her Fairy clan. This she could not afford.

Marissa had not been happy when she had been told that she was betrothed to a man who was nearly one hundred years her junior. She had always been raised to believe that she was beautiful, and with her trim figure, long raven hair and her turquoise eyes, she was. Upon seeing Jareth, she had decided that she was the victim of a cruel joke. True he was handsome, and as he had reached maturity he had grown into his looks. However, blonde men did nothing for her, his hair style, while obviously needing monthly trims, was wild and totally untamable. It was his eyes, though, that had repulsed her the most, the eyes which were the only sign that he ruled over the goblins, considered by many as the most ugly creatures in the Underground. His mismatched eyes of sea green and royal blue disturbed her, it had taken a great deal of self control to win the young king over and she cursed the plague that had carried off his parents.

For Jareth, the idea of getting married had come as a horrible shock. Being told at the age of one hundred and ninety seven that he would be married on the day he reached true maturity had upset him. When he had seen Marissa, however, that opinion had changed. He wanted his birthday to arrive faster so that he could marry her. He found out what a mistake she would be on his wedding night. Not only had Marissa sent her maid, one of the Taken and a girl who Jareth had helped to raise, from the room in hysterics, a brilliant red mark on her cheek, she had also taunted him and his "lack of proper experience." She had been so unwaveringly cruel that night, that the marriage had never been consummated. From the day he had been married to this day, he had been celibate. It was understandably hard for him and now he just wanted the final year to be over.

With Sarah now here, things had gotten worse. He was beginning to forgive her for what she had done to the Goblin City and the castle. She had not known that things would have the result that they had. She was a good worker, pulling more than her weight in any given task. Better, she cared about her colleagues, defending them against both him and his wife. In the eight years since he had seen her, she had matured beautifully. Now he had begun to forgive her, old feelings were stirring. Things he thought he had buried, and with the summer ball that night, he knew that he would need the protection of his feelings for her to keep him from his wife. As he adjusted his ruffled collar in the mirror, he hoped that his plans for the evening would go as he wanted them to.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

He sat and watched as the nobles of the Goblin Court whirled around him, the same decadence on display that he had allowed Sarah a brief glimpse of all those years before. He had opened the ball by dancing with his wife, a task he truly hoped never to have to repeat again. In one hand he held a goblet of the finest water, clear and sparkling, he knew that Marissa had drugged the decanter of wine before him with a potion of lust, and in his other hand he held his riding crop. He tapped the crop lazily against his thigh as he watched, bored and tired of the desire that ran through his veins.

With an almost negligent swing of the riding crop he nudged the decanter and it fell, splashing his pristine white trousers with brilliant red. He muttered to himself, shouted a curse for good measure, swiped the crop and the nearest, unfortunate goblin and marched out. Behind him the Court stopped and watched, then continued.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Sarah stood on the balcony, staring up at the moon, her eyes distant, also feeling the magic of the midsummer solstice and wishing that she could not. To take her mind off her feelings and how much they disturbed her, she thought about how she had wound up in this place. Why she had been on the plane in the first place, why she had called out to Jareth in her time of need and why she had been so unwilling to die when all she hard really wanted was to do just that.

"Sarah," a soft voice interrupted her thoughts and she turned to look at the door. It was Jareth, his tight trousers now a midnight blue and his poet's shirt white and half open so that she could see the pale skin of his chest. She once again cursed the pull of the midsummer moon and turned away from him, trying to distract her self from his strong sexual allure by picking at the stone railing.

"Your Majesty," she breathed, he came to stand next to her, not leaning as she was, but she could feel his eyes on her. "Should you not be at the ball?" She asked quietly, now trying to ignore the silent command from his staring eyes that she look up at him.

"I grew weary of such trivial pursuits." He shrugged and decided to lean on the same railing, better able to see her face and her eyes. "I would have thought that you would be enjoying the servants party right now." She laughed harshly and looked up into his mismatched eyes.

"I don't really fit in down there. I just wanted to be alone." She let her gaze linger and he lowered his head to press his lips against hers. For a second he thought she would respond and knew that if she did all was lost, but she did not. Instead she pushed him away, her face a mask of anger and pain. "What the hell are you doing?" She demanded. "You're married."

"It's hardly the happiest of marriages, Sarah."

"I don't care if it's happy or not! I won't become the other woman. I won't put your wife in the same..." She trailed off as she realised what she had been about to tell him.

"'In the same' what, Sarah?" he asked as he moved closer to her, his voice low, husky with suppressed desire. She glared back at him, moving away, towards the door and freedom.

"It's not important," she whispered, trying to hide her pain from him and doubting that she was succeeding.

"What's said is said," he reminded her and she nodded but did not answer his question. "Sarah, why were you on that ridiculous flying machine?"

"It's called a plane. I was going to see my family."

"Without your lover?" So he had known about Jason. Despite her best efforts, tears began to fill her eyes. He looked at her for just a moment before he realised why. "He was with another." He said it softly and took her into his arms, holding her as she began to sob.

"I walked in on them, they were in our bed." Her voice was quiet and he understood the sentence that she had not finished. She would not put Marissa in the same place that she had been. She had more integrity than that. He stayed silent and when she stopped crying she moved away from him.

"Thank you," he bowed his head but his face had taken on his usual mask of cool indifference. He turned away from her and she realised that he was still angry with her. She turned to leave. "Sometimes," she paused, "sometimes I wish that you could see past your anger over what I did. I was an ignorant teenager. I wish you could just see me for what I am." She walked away, magic shimmering in the air around the King as she did.

"I already do, Sarah, I already have."

Bad Jareth, bad! Silly stupid Fae king!! Why can't he just wait eight damn months. I was getting to the damn kiss already. Ah well, more scope for confrontation now. Next update after the weekend. And ooh look! Wish magic, he he, but just because he's already forgiven her, doesn't mean that he has to be nice, right? Right? Oh and just quickly, thoughts on Sarah having a little love interest? Jareth having a rival for her "affections"? As always R&R, the more I get, the quicker I update! Just for you all, next time, we learn even more about Clara, Jareth and Torel. Will Sarah get to go home?

Artemis