A/N: HI ALL. I THINK I'M GETTING THE HAND AT WRITING ON A FREQUENT BASIS. LET'S HOPE I CAN KEEP IT UP. ANYWAY, HERE'S ANOTHER SHORT CHAPTER FOR YOU ALL TO READ. HOPE YOU ENJOY IT. THANKS TO EVEYONE WHO HAS LEFT FEEDBACK ON THE LAST TWO CHAPTERS, KEEP SENDING IT IN, I LIVE OFF OF IT!

Sarah quickly made her way over to the bed where Jareth lay, unconscious. She quickly looked him over and felt his forehead. She was shocked to feel his skin very hot under her palm. Just minutes before when they were walking down the hallway to his chambers and he slumped onto her, he didn't feel nearly as feverish as he did at that moment.

Sarah noticed a washbasin on a nearby table and quickly filled it and grabbed a washcloth. She brought the bowl over toward the bed and set it on the nightstand next to it. She wrung out the washcloth and brought it to Jareth's forehead.

She decided then and there that Jareth needed to lose some of his clothing if she was going to bring his fever down successfully, so she went to work at unfastening his cape. Once that was loose and freed from his body, she set out to remove the black leather gloves from his hands, but stopped when she heard a voice from behind her.

"Ohh, it's much worse than I imagined it would be."

Sarah turned to see an elderly woman standing at the door, a small satchel that was hanging from her wrist. Sevina quickly took the time to introduce herself. "I am Sevina, King Jareth's healer. The guards told me that you had sent for me because something was wrong with His Majesty."

Sevina quickly made her way across the room toward the bed and said to Sarah, "Can you please tell me what happened to him since you woke up?"

Sarah thought for a quick moment, remembering that Jareth had told her it would be best to have everyone believe that they were truly in love and she said, "Jareth asked me for my hand in marriage and I accepted his proposal, so he thought it would be a good idea for me to bring some of my personal belongings down here until I get settled, so we traveled back to my apartment and I pack some of my things. It turns out that I have been reported missing, and someone nearly saw me up there, but Jareth brought us back down here just in time."

Sarah took a breath, realizing that everything she just said was almost said in one breath. She then continued, "Jareth ordered the guards to brings my things here so that I might be able to unpack. We started walking down here when he collapsed and keeled over. The guards carried him in here and I sent them to find you."

She paused as she watched the woman remove the cold compress from Jareth's forehead and put her gnarled hands on his face. Closing her eyes, she took a couple of deep breaths in and out before removing her hands and opening her eyes. "He will be fine. He is just exhausted, probably from all of the stress that he endured the past couple of days, then to top it off, he had to transport a large amount of mass down here."

Looking at Sarah, she said, "It takes a great amount of magic to transport himself back and forth alone. When he has to bring someone or something else, it wears him down even more."

"Are you going to be able to help him?" Sarah said, her eyes moving over to Jareth and brushing the sweaty locks of his bangs away from his forehead.

"Of course I will be able to," Sevina said, as she began to work on the knot of the satchel that hung from her wrist. "I will need you to remove his gloves, vest, and shirt for me." Sarah quickly pulled one glove away from his hand, then the other. She unbuttoned his vest and pulled his poet's shirt form his tights, then removed them and tossed them to a chair that sat near the bed.

Sarah again began to wipe the damp locks of hair away from his forehead when she heard Sevina say, "Now step aside please," as she pushed Sarah away from where she sat on the bed. "I need room to do my work."

Sarah watched as the woman pulled a couple of small bowls from the satchel and began to remove some herbs and powders. She tied the satchel again and began to mix certain herbs with others in the small bowls. Sarah moved a little closer to see what exactly was going on, when Sevina glared up at her and said, "If you don't move away from me, I will have the guards hold you outside until I am finished."

Sarah quickly retreated to a chair nearly on the other side of the room and sat as she quietly watched the elderly woman. Sevina finished mixing herbs and again placed her hands on Jareth's face. She closed her eyes and began to mouth something. She stood and began pacing when she heard Jareth gasp loudly and Sevina grabbed a small bowl of an herbal mixture and water. She tilted Jareth's head up and held the bowl to his lips as he slowly took a small sip of the mixture.

Once he swallowed he began coughing so hard that his body convulsed. Sarah began to move toward him on the bed, but stopped when Sevina looked up at her from her position on the bed, her expression telling her to remain where she was, so Sarah sat back down in the chair and watched.

"It's all right. It's a natural reaction to the tea. The couching will subside in a little bit. We just have to give him a little more and wait for it to begin working," she said, as she tilted his head up again and said something to him in a language that Sarah didn't understand. Jareth opened his eyes a little and looked toward Sarah as he took a few more sips of the tea. He closed his eyes again and Sevina released his head, which fell back into the pillows.

"He'll be fine," Sevina repeated. "He just needs to sleep for a couple of days and regain his strength."

Sarah barely heard Jareth say something to Sevina in what sounded like the same language that she had spoken to him a minute earlier. Once the words left his mouth, he slipped into a deep sleep and began to snore lightly. Sevina made a small face before turning toward Sarah.

"He wants me to inspect you and make sure that you are still healing properly," she said as she moved toward Sarah.

Sarah stiffened in the chair as Sevina moved towards her. "Close your eyes," Sevina said and Sarah did as she was told, afraid to disobey the woman.

She felt two leathery hands fall on either side of her face, and she jumped at the roughness of Sevina's skin. She opened her eyes and said, "Sorry," and quickly closed her eyes so that the woman wouldn't yell at her.

After a few seconds, Sarah felt the hands drop from her face and she opened her eyes to look up at the woman who stood before her. "Everything seems to be all right, but I am going to give you a little something just to make sure. Go and lie down on the other side of the bed."

Sarah's jaw dropped and her eyes flew over to where Jareth was sleeping on the bed. Sevina looked down at Sarah, over to Jareth, and said, "It's not like His Majesty is in any position to be taking advantage of you, so I don't think you have anything to worry about. Now go."

Sarah realized that Sevina was right and moved to lie down on the bed. Sevina went to work on mixing another concoction when she said, "You might want to change into something a little more comfortable. You also wouldn't want to wrinkle that fancy dress now would you?"

Sarah hesitated again, then moved to her luggage and began to rummage through it, looking for something to wear. As she searched, she couldn't calm the butterflies that she was feeling in her stomach. She hadn't planned on sharing a bed with Jareth, so she hadn't packed accordingly. Settling for a pair of blue pajamas, she quickly changed while Sevina was busying herself with the herbs.

Sarah moved toward the bed and laid down on it. She waited silently for Sevina as she finished with her mixture and made her way over to the bed with another bowl in her hands. She set the bowl on a nearby table. "Close your eyes," Sevina said to her again, and Sarah did as she was told.

Again, she felt the leathery hands on her face, and faintly heard Sevina say something in that strange language again. Moment's later, Sarah felt as though the wind had been knocked out of her and she gasped for air. Sevina grabbed the bowl and the back of Sarah's neck, tilted her head up and made her drink the tea. Sarah choked on it and forced it down before coughing. Again Sevina made her drink a couple more sips of the tea before releasing her head.

Sarah fell back against the pillows and coughed again for a minute. When they finally subsided, she asked Sevina, "What was in that stuff?"

"Quiet down," Sevina said as she began to clean up her things. "Just let the herbs do their work."

"What work is that?" Sarah said, when all of sudden she began to feel drowsy. Turning her head to look at Jareth. She noticed that the pale color she had seen before was gone and now he had a calm peaceful look on his face as he slept, still snoring lightly. It was the last thing she saw as she succumbed to the darkness that swept over her.

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