Hello all! First thank you for the favs, follows, and reviews, it means a lot too me. Next I realize that this is a short chapter but it is necessary to the story, the upcoming chapter is going to be longer and more about Jareth and the politics of the Underground as well as more details as to Jareth's curse and who his family is. I hope you enjoy this chapter. On another note as promised I have done some artwork for this story featuring varius goblins and people from my story. You can see my artwork for this at;

www DOT kibasgirl4ever DOT deviantart DOT com (no spaces).

go to my gallery and look under my gallery folders, should be the first one on the left hand side. I would love to hear what you think and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE leave feedback about art and/or story, I have lots of people reading but very few people leaving feedback :( please leave reviews. Am I being clear enough? LEAVE ME FEEDBACK grrrrr...please *puppy eyes*

Please remember this story is rated M and will continue to be so. Again i claim no ownership of Jim's characters only the insanity that spews forth from my head to my computer.

Chapter Ten

Sarah awoke to the feeling of sunlight on her face; slowly she forced her eyes open. She stared at the ceiling for a minute frowning—this wasn't her room! Where was she?! Her thoughts abruptly halted as she noticed the one and only Goblin King lying asleep next to her on the bed, one of his bare arms thrown across his face, blocking out the intruding sun. Following the path of his arm she fought to calm her racing pulse as she realized he was wearing no shirt. She struggled not to panic, fighting the scream that wanted to burst forth from her throat. She recalled how he had comforted her the night before, even when she had tried to resist him; he had been patient and soothing with her. He had simply held her until she cried herself to sleep.

As all of her memories of the day before resurfaced in her mind she tried to control the blush that stole across her face as she remembered the kiss, how his lips had felt pressed against hers', how aggressively held her in his arms, he had moan—

"What I wouldn't give to know those thoughts Precious." his voice broke the silence of the room, disrupting her thoughts, sending her jolting upright in surprise.

"Huh?" asked Sarah dazed, her cheeks blazing red.

"What were you thinking about hmmm?" teased Jareth his voice husky from sleep, as he sat up, reaching out to brush his index finger gently across her cheek, making her duck her head, her face deepening in its blush.

"N-Nothing…" mumbled Sarah embarrassed, did her voice just crack?

Still smirking he leaned forward so that his mouth was against the shell of her ear, "Liar." he rasped.

"Ahem…uh—um…soooo what's on the agenda for me to do today?" asked Sarah changing the subject as quickly as she could, shifting herself as far away from him as she could, while trying to keep her eyes only on his face, and not the fact that the sheet had slipped down to his lap AND by the looks of it, it looked like he wasn't wearing any pants.

The teasing that had been present in Jareth's eyes only a moment before faded, as he stared at her intently, "I had hoped to save this conversation for later love, but I can see that you are in need of some answers presently." sighed the king, snapping his fingers as he rose from the bed now fully dressed, clasping his arms behind his back as he turned to regard her silently.

Sarah nodded her head, unwilling to let him know that as he had moved to rise, she had been ready to throw the blankets over her head rather than see him "al natural". Managing to get her embarrassment under control waited for him to begin talking, yesterday she had been too upset. Today she was ready to hear what he had to say and if necessary face off against that horrid troll again.

"As I am sure you already understand the troll," Jareth spit the word out as if it had left a bad taste in his mouth, "that accosted you in the marketplace yesterday is a prince…"

At Sarah's hesitant nod he continued, "He seems to live under the misapprehension that he is entitled to whatever he may desire, in this situation, namely you. I need you to understand Precious…" said Jareth tucking an errant strand of hair behind her ear.

"Understand what?" asked Sarah fighting back her uneasiness.

"He would have dragged you off, he would have raped you until a babe grew in your womb, then he would have repeated it again and again, until your spirit was broken, until you were nothing more than a shell of your former self. I had to ensure that he could never be allowed to touch you and live. That if he tried I would be allowed to stop him—that no one would ever be allowed to touch you in that manner again." stated Jareth crossing the room to stare out one of the large windows overlooking the Labyrinth, his back to her.

"I still don't understand your majesty…" whispered Sarah. She recalled Jareth's words to the troll, the burning on her throat—

"Jareth." he said interrupting her thoughts as he faced her once again.

"What?" she asked befuddled, she already knew his name.

"Call me Jareth." he purred, stalking back over to her on the bed.

"O-Okay…" stuttered Sarah looking away blushing, "B-But I still don't understand what you did." she muttered looking down at her hands nervously.

Jareth squared his shoulders and cautiously positioned himself on the bed facing her, trying not to alarm her anymore than she already was.

"Sarah, do you recall the parameters of our bargain?"

Meeting his eyes hesitantly she nodded, what did that have to do with this?

"Then you must also remember the nuance within the arrangement with which I told you, you where mine." stated Jareth leaning towards her slightly.

Again Sarah nodded, a knot beginning to form in the pit of her stomach, something told her she was going to hate what he had to say next.

"I fear I must confess a certain lack of knowledge about how mortals conduct their lives in their realm, but in the Underground mortals are rare things; you are more likely to encounter a troll, fairy, or dwarf. Every mortal man or woman, whom I have encountered here, is under the protection of a resident of the Underground, almost all of which have been decidedly female. For you see Sarah, a mortal can only enter into the Underground by the means of an immortal powerful enough to cross realms, and of all the immortals here is only a select few that are capable of such a feat, thus the scarcity of mortals in this realm. But for all of your frailty, you mortals possess something that many immortals covet. Do you know what that is Precious?" asked Jareth staring at her intently.

Sarah looked at him and frowned, slowly shaking her head relaying her confusion.

"You and other females of your kind are able to conceive and birth children far more easily than and of the female immortal species that live in this realm. Thus making you and others like you a valuable commodity here.

When you and I made our pact I branded you, labeling you for all intensive purposes as mine, the brand was the way you carried out your part of our agreement." said Jareth.

Sarah sat there for a moment allowing al he said to slowly sink in. At her realization she feel herself becoming indignant, unable to silence her outrage, "So if I'm understanding you correctly, you're telling me that I'm your SLAVE?!" her voice a high pitched shriek at the word 'slave'. While she may have had her suspicions about her title and role in the castle to hear it confirmed so crudely raised her hackles, sure she'd read of slavery, but to find herself thrown into the role of an actual slave was sending her feminist sensibilities reeling in rebellion and abhorrence.

"Were Love—past tense." shrugged Jareth, leaning back against the headboard of his bed casually.

"Then what am I now?!" cried Sarah fighting her annoyance at the tone he had used. Something telling her that she was going to hate this answer even more then saying she was his slave.

"Now? Now you are my mistress." said Jareth unable to keep the smirk off his face completely as he looked over at her.

"I'm your WHAT?! I thought that you were just lying to get that thing to leave me alone!" Sarah panicked, her voice cracking under the shock and stress.

"Afraid not Love that mark on your neck is evidence to all that you are my mistress." stated Jareth smugly.

Sarah sat there rigidly her hand flying up to cover hr mark up instinctually—she hadn't even been there a week and already he had switched titles, what was next 'whore'? She felt herself begin to shake, she fought against the tremors her body was making, but the more she tried the harder she began to tremble. A small whimper escaped her mouth as she shook, the sound elongating into a scared keen.

To say that Jareth was surprised by Sarah's reaction would have been an understatement. He watched as she started to shiver, before that heartbreaking sound escaped from her throat, he watched as she curled into herself, and he found that all he wanted to do was make her stop crying, seeing her look so mall and weak seemed…wrong. Trying not to startle her, he reached towards her with the intention of soothing her, he had barely grazed her shoulder with his hand, but the contact was enough to startle her out of her tremors and send her scuttling as far away from him as she could get.

"Sarah?" he asked curious to her reaction.

"Can you take it off?" asked Sarah fighting to keep the pleading tone out of her voice.

"Take if off? What exactly are you asking me to remove Precious? Your clothes?" teased Jareth.

"Don't be obtuse!" snapped Sarah forgetting her fear for the moment. "The mark!' she nearly shouted.

"Oh, that...your really are no fun at all pet." he sulked crossing his arms.

"YOUR MAJESTY! I want you to take the mark OFF!" cried Sarah in distress, stomping her foot frustrated at the Goblin King's demeanor.

Jareth's smile disappeared and his eyes darkened, "Have you forgotten about our deal so soon Sarah?" he asked icily.

"I haven't forgotten!" shouted Sarah tugging at her shirt's collar to expose the mark over her heart, "I allowed you to make me your slave didn't I?!" she snarled.

"What ever I wanted I believe those were the terms." hissed Jareth disappearing only to reappear directly behind her, tugging her roughly around to face him.

"You told me that whether I gave you anything else was up to me!" whispered Sarah, her voice faint.

"I changed my mind." rasped Jareth, sinking his hand into her hair and snapping her head back before slamming his mouth down onto hers in a punishing kiss.

Sarah whimpered, bringing her hands up to push against his chest, only to be me with resistance.

Feeling her fight against him only angered him further, he shoved her away from him, sending her tumbling onto his bed. She stared up at him eyes widened and glistening with tears, her fear palpable in the air.

"You forget your place Sarah, I am king your king, and you—you're mine." he purred leaning down letting his lips ghost over the mark on her throat. "Any woman would be flattered by my offer of this title, yet you insult me by throwing my generosity back in my face." sneered Jareth.

"You didn't offer! You took, after you assured me that it was my choice." sobbed Sarah.

"You had best grow accustomed to your new title Sarah considering that you will be fulfilling its duties shortly." threatened Jareth before disappearing.

Sarah stared at the spot he had vanished from, feeling tears well up anew. Once they began to fall she was unable to stop them. Had she really been foolish enough to believe that had been more to the selfish Goblin King than she had first thought? How naïve was she?