Sorry for the major delay in getting this up! Time seems to slip away from me lately and I didn't realize I hadn't updated since March. Eep! But here it is! The next chapter. Enjoy!

Erus Crux - I wouldn't call him a nice guy but for certain people he definitely checks his outer jerk at the door.

notwritten - Thanks!

xXx

The woods thickened the further Madeline carried on. The ceiling of leaves over her head blocked out nearly all light although a wayward sunbeam snaked its way to the ground every once in a while. Madeline stuck her fingers into a nearby ray and watched as her skin glittered. But the jitter in her hand rattled away the serene image.

Her jeans were leaden and felt like they were pulling her backwards. Her shoes squished and her shirt clung to her, frigid, sending goosebumps rolling over her body. Madeline stuck her tongue between her teeth to stop the chattering but it wasn't long before she tasted blood. Every blink lasted longer and longer as it was a drag to open her eyes back up. The forest was starting to blur. The shimmer at the edges of her sight was getting brighter. Strange caws and thumps started getting closer and Madeline was thirsty. So thirsty.

Bits of leaves and dirt crawled their way up her pant legs, scratching at her skin. She tried to swat at it once but fell into a tree. It wasn't worth the risk of toppling over to exert any more energy. Each swipe, each topple, was that much less energy to propel her to the castle. Madeline needed to keep her legs working. Nothing funky. Just walking and that was hard enough.

She chanced a glance over her shoulder, feeling the dizzy flow through her head, and something licked the sight at the corner of her eye. When her eyes focused, only the leaves of a small bush were rustling. Nothing else. The woods was following close behind her, pressing in on her back. Another shrub moved and a faint laughter prickled her ears but there was still nothing but green to see.

There was a splash and Madeline's body cringed involuntarily. It was the Labyrinth. Bodies of water with crazed merpeople could pop up anywhere. Her head slowly leaned forward where she looked upon a small babbling brook. Only a few feet wide, it was, at most, a foot deep at its center but it was enough.

Madeline stepped back out of the water, not bothering to listen to the squish or feel the icy chill numbing her toes. She knelt down at the edge of the small bank. As her knees pressed into the dirt she thought about the stains her jeans were going to collect. She didn't care.

Her fingertips danced on top of the flowing water, its coolness for once refreshing. She could nearly taste the water through her skin. Madeline leaned forward and watched her reflection for a second as it rippled and wavered with the current. Her face was dotted with small, smooth stones and the occasional tiny fish. When her hand penetrated the surface, all of that disappeared, falling away through her cupped hand.

The water sloshed around, spilling over her fingers as she brought it to her lips and drank deeply. Her hands were empty almost immediately and she dipped them back into the stream for a second fill. Again and again she drank until she could feel the water sloshing in her belly and her tongue no longer screamed for water.

Madeline's reflection was back, staring up at her and smiling. She put her hand to her face and felt her mouth. No smile. Still her reflection stayed the same. Happy. Glowing. Madeline frowned slightly and her reflection started to waver away. Each ripple took away a piece of her face, floated it downstream and something new came to replace it. The wavering, watery pieces settled together to form a picture. A bedroom. A huge four-poster with a white feathery, furry blanket. A fireplace the size of her apartment with flames licking the stones that contained it. Its light cast a warming glow over the entire room. There were chairs and chaises scattered about, soft white rugs scattered on the floor. The one window she could see took up nearly an entire wall. Sheer white curtains fluttered in the breeze and the candles in nearby sconces flickered with its touch. Stone offset the white and it made Madeline think. Whose room was this . . . ?

She reached out her hand and her fingers danced atop the water again but the water wasn't cool. It was as warm as this watery room looked. Her fingers pressed through the surface and the room swallowed them whole. What she should have seen through the water was gone. She pulled her hand back out and everything was intact, including the room shimmering in front of her.

Her fingers went in again, this time pushing to her wrist, her elbow, nearly her shoulder. The creek wasn't nearly this deep and she didn't feel an ounce of wetness. Madeline pushed her other hand through until she looked like she was rooting around for something, her arms disappeared and her head only inches from the water.

Feeling silly but compelled at the same time, Madeline lowered her face to the water. She still expected it to be chill against her face but instead she could feel the heat of the flames on her skin. Holding her breath and closing her eyes, she tipped further in and as if losing her balance, the rest of her body followed, throwing her into an abyss. Her stomach fluttered as a light breeze tickled her face but the feeling of falling still gripped her. Her eyes creaked open but the blackness was overwhelming. She couldn't tell if they really were open or not.

Madeline squeezed her eyes so tightly shut her muscles ached and there was no mistaking they were closed. Slowly she released them and inched them open. Instead of blackness she was greeted with a navy sky and lights twinkling beneath her. The feeling of stone pressed its way into her fingers and when she looked down, she was leaning on a large stone sill. In the expanse in front of her she could just barely make out the twists and turns of the Labyrinth, set darker among the dark. Flickers of light dotted the landscape, making it look something like a city.

The sheer curtain fluttered onto her face and Madeline raised a hand to sweep it away. With a turn she was facing inward at the room in the creek now so much more than a wavering image. She took a step in and a softness she'd never felt greeted her feet. On the floor was a white fur rug. Madeline fought the urge to get down and press her face to it. The room was exactly as it looked in the image but far larger than she could have ever imagined. She felt dwarfed standing on the edge of this great expanse.

The fabric against her skin glided around her as she walked and when she came to a mirror, she started. The white nightgown, while down to her ankles, was nearly translucent. Heat flooded Madeline's face and she tried to arrange her arms in ways that would cover the pieces she'd never dared exposed before.

"There's no need to be embarrassed."

Madeline started and turned to the voice behind her. Out of the shadows stepped her king and her cheeks flooded even hotter and the loss at what to do overwhelmed her. He walked closer to her, his white boots making the odd click as his steps found stone floor. His white leggings revealed nothing and his white flowing shirt was opened nearly to his waistline, his pendant dangling against his fair skin.

"You will be the queen. You have nothing to be ashamed of."

Madeline tried to speak but her words choked in her throat. She started to fluster and she could feel the panic rising in her chest. When the king was within reach he reached out a bare hand and lightly brushed her naked shoulder. The imprint was searing yet her skin prickled and Madeline calmed instantly at his touch.

She couldn't look him in the eye as exposed as she was. She just couldn't. Yet hers found his and their gazes locked. The corner of his mouth turned up and he reached for her hand. Madeline's mind was a jumble of panic but her body belied that. She didn't shake as he placed her hand against his chest. His heartbeat pulsed through her palm and straight into her own heart. Their rhythms synched and for a moment Madeline's breath was taken away. Her breathing was jagged as she ran her hand along his bare flesh, her ears pulsing heat when her fingertip grazed a nipple. His smile widened and his hand came up to brush her cheek. She leaned into the touch and closed her eyes, savoring the feeling. The scent of peaches and power and fantasy filled her nose and she opened her eyes to see him staring at her, want on his face.

His hand moved to the back of her neck and then pressed into her shoulder as he urged her forward. Madeline's hand stayed underneath the flowing material of his shirt as it slid around his ribs and settled on his back. His arms wrapped around her and she pressed her cheek to his chest as he held her tight. Madeline could live like this forever – wrapped in his warmth and his scent and his strength. Maybe this was it. Maybe she didn't have to get all the way to the castle after all. She closed her eyes tight again and tried to absorb as much of him as she could. Anything could happen in the Labyrinth. It could just be a trick and she'd be back in the forest hugging a tree as soon as she opened her eyes.

His pressure on her lightened and Madeline's eyes fluttered open apprehensively, afraid of what they'd reveal. Her held breath released in relief as the room greeted her but her head spun trying to figure out what happened. No longer was she standing in her king's arms but prone on the giant bed, the fur tickling her skin. She lifted her head and gasped when she saw her king sitting on the edge of the bed staring at her, the slightest hint of a smile tickling his lips. Without shifting his gaze, he turned around and started to crawl to her. Madeline's sight wavered and nearly the only thing visible on Jareth was his skin and his pendant, the rest sinking into the white of the bed. Her eyes bounced between his and the pendant. Should she sit up? She felt kind of silly laid out like a plank with her head tilted up. As soon as she moved her elbow underneath her, Jareth was on her, his hand easing the side of her face, his weight pressing down on top of her, settling into the pillows.

She shimmied out her hand from underneath her and touched her fingers to her face. She watched her own hand trail his cheekbone, down to his chin and shyly trace his bottom lip. All the while his eyes remained on her, studying her, and when Madeline looked up to him, his head started to dip and his lips closed the gap to hers. She'd dreamed about this moment. Literally. His kiss. And now it was going to happen! Right?

Madeline held her breath as his lips touched hers, their warmth pulsating through her skin and straight down her body. They lingered there for a moment, not moving, not breathing, until his mouth opened slightly and in turn, Madeline followed along. She'd never kissed a boy, any boy, before and her first kiss was with a king! She felt her hands start to shake and she tried to split her focus between not drooling and not shaking so hard she punched him. But Jareth was clam, easing his mouth open and guiding Madeline along. His tongue played in her mouth and hers played back. She couldn't tell if she was going it right. He said nothing so she didn't change.

Just when she thought her lungs were about to burst, the king broke the kiss and traveled his lips to her chin and down her neck. Madeline gasped, forgetting she could use her nose to breathe if her mouth was occupied, the noise shattering the ringing silence of the room, drowning out the crackling in the fireplace. Her hands gripped at his hair as his lips rippled their power throughout her body. Even the touch of his bare hands against her skin was almost too much to bear. Her mind started to shut off, the inexperienced questions died away and Madeline started to listen to her body. It told her to follow him.

The urge between her legs made them part and the king slipped between them with ease, pinning her underneath her nightgown. When he stopped, it was as if he never needed breath. He hovered over her, calm and sedate, as Madeline nearly gasped for air underneath him.

His hands found the wisps of straps barely touching her shoulders and brought them down. Madeline guided her arms through the loops until they were free. Her ears beat red as she thought about the direction her clothing was heading. A slight breeze tickled her skin as he pulled the gown lower and pressed a kiss between her breasts. She lifted her butt only slightly as he eased the delicate material over her hips and her legs came up and stepped out of the clothing before the king could remove it completely.

Madeline tried not to think about her nakedness, how exposed and vulnerable she was just lying there. Then Jareth covered her with himself and those fears disappeared. He was her clothing. His shirt and pendant were gone but she could still feel the softness of his leggings against her skin.

She closed her eyes and leaned into his touch as he grazed her cheek with his fingers. Her king was going to become her lover. After all these years, after all this time, it was finally going to happen. As it should.

A sharp pinch caught her jaw and Madeline's eyes wrenched open to see her king studying her like an insect. She tried to move her head but he held her chin fast, twisting her skin. She frowned and tried to speak but only a squeak came out. His lip curled up into a sneer and her head jerked to the side as he threw it and pulled himself up.

Every thought in her brain crashed into each other. Was this a sick joke? A test? Real? Madeline lay stiff as a board on the softness of the bed as the whiplash of the moment overtook her. It was so sudden and abrasive that it was almost funny. She propped herself up on her elbows, momentarily forgetting her nudity, and inched a small, flirty smile on her face. But when she saw the king had changed, the joke dropped right off the bed.

No longer was he free and open in his white clothing but shut off and buttoned up in cloaks of black. His back was to her as he stared out the wide window and Madeline groped desperately for something to cover herself with. What was going on?

"You're not what I thought," he said, his sneer dripping from his voice.

Madeline's face felt like it was going to ignite. The red must have clashed with the white fur she pulled up to her neck. She was exposed and ashamed and guilty and buried underneath all of that, she was furious. The brewing, wracking sobs of shame drowned it out but it struggled to stay afloat. The anger sent her heart fluttering against the stop/start of embarrassment.

"I—"

"You are not a queen." He didn't move when he spoke and the way his voice echoed around the room, his words could have come from anywhere, not just the statue at the window.

"But y-you haven't given me a chance," she said as she lifted herself to her knees and started to scoot to the edge of the bed.

"I've seen all I need to see."

Holding the fur to her body, the only protection she had, she placed one foot lightly in front of the other and made her way slowly towards him. The closer she got, the cooler the room got and she started to shiver. She didn't bother to try and hide it.

Madeline reached out her hand but paused it inches from his arm. Her fingers twitched in the cold air. She pressed forward and just as she was about to touch the foreboding fabric, he wrenched away from her as if he'd just been shocked. He looked down at her with a face twisted in disgust, as if she oozed as she stood there.

Madeline's hand stayed suspended and she stared as the space where his arm used to be. Tears prickled in her eyes as she lowered her arm and when she looked to his hardened face, the wet slid from her eyes, running away down her cheeks.

A finely arched eyebrow quirked up, lifting the sneer into a scowl. "You're pathetic."

He took a step forward and Madeline's gaze dropped to his chest, staring at the pendant that swung around his neck. She brought her hand up to her own throat only to feel nothing. Her smaller mirror crystal was gone.

"You were rejected by family after family in that plan, drone world for a reason. Did you really think it'd be any different here?"

Madeline's gaze dropped to the floor and she took matching steps back as the king pushed forward, ripping his gaze right through her. Her throat tightened and started to close with the sobs choking it up. Her breath started coming out in big, heaving gasps and when she bumped into the footboard of the four-poster, she grabbed onto it for support. If she fell, he didn't look like he was going to catch her.

"Go back to that other world, that gray world where you were nothing. You'll always be nothing and you'll die as nothing with no one to care about you when you're gone. You'll sit alone in that dismal apartment and rot. It's where the likes of you belong."

She could feel his breath on her face and it turned her tears to ice. She wanted to look up and see if his face really meant what he was saying but she couldn't. The pain was too heavy.

"What a disgusting choice for a queen. Even your parents threw you away."

Madeline's back slid down the dark wood of the footboard until she could go no further. She wrapped the blanket tighter around her to keep out the arctic cold trying to freeze her veins. Her hands trembled under the fur and Madeline looked at a point beyond the king's boots, somewhere between the floor and the air above it. The molecules there held her gaze as the toe of his black boot dug into the fur.

The air stayed silent as he knelt down in front of her, except for the deafening ring in her ears.

"Did you hear me?"

His head didn't move to try and catch her eye and Madeline didn't dare look up. Instead she wrapped the blanket tighter and sank closer to the floor.

"That's where you belong, you know. On the floor. Where all dirt belongs. As if you ever had a chance with the likes of me."

Madeline clenched her eyes shut against the daggers fastened to the ends of his words. Her whole body started to shiver and she tried to hold herself still but she might as well been dancing. She could hear noise, the tone of his voice picking at her ears but his words were no longer understandable. The floor softened and Madeline's stomach sunk as the floor dropped out from underneath her.

Her eyes remained clenched, tears fighting to break free and one winning the battle every so often. The silent thrum in her ears turned into a roar and Madeline just wanted it to stop. Everything needed to stop. Her life needed to stop.

A sob tumbled out of her knotted throat, then another and another until they were fighting each other to get out first. She didn't hide her wails in her blackness. She didn't care if he heard. With one last haggard intake of breath, Madeline ripped out a scream that threatened to shatter her own eardrums. And then, like a vacuum, all noise, all life, was sucked up and silenced. Not even the thrum in her ears survived.

xXx

Reviews are always appreciated.