Disclaimer: Lenna and the ditzes belong to me. The rest do not.
Sarah stared at the image in the crystal, her mouth agape. She wasn't sure whether to be livid with Lenna for getting herself caught in this mess after she had given herself to save her or whether to be appreciative for Lenna's valiant, though senseless, attempt to rescue her.
Jareth's smile of victory grew as he watched Sarah battle herself internally. She hadn't been nearly as difficult for him to deal with as she had been when she had run his Labyrinth years before, as if she had fully accepted that she owed him for setting Lenna free in the first place. And, obviously, she would give anything to set her free again.
She'd already promised him anything he wished, so she could be kept within his hold for eternity. However, he was aware that he wouldn't get what he truly needed from her if she was kept prisoner.
Sarah let out a sigh and, feeling her head spin at this new discovery, she backed up and sat on the bed, putting her head in her hands.
"You would be free to go anywhere in the kingdom you would like," he informed her. "And you would be ruled by the greatest ruler there ever was," he continued, suddenly behind her, speaking into her ear.
His hot breath annoyed her and she grew tense with anger at his words. She spun on him, shooting him a glare that might bring death to a mortal man.
"I've already said I'd give anything to save her. If you must rule me, oh almighty king," she said, her words oozing with sarcasm and disdain, "why don't you just exercise your rights to use my promise?"
Jareth smirked at her and leaned in, mere millimeters from her face. "You, my precious thing, are already under my authority as my guest. I have no way of making you a loyal resident without your agreement," he said as if she should have already known this. "You may not think highly of me as a ruler, but I am most certainly not foolish enough to set one who defeated me free in my lands to corrupt my people."
He raised the crystal in front of her eyes once more. "Will you be my subject or have I earned myself a new goblin?"
Sarah watched Lenna in the crystal and bit her lip. It was a huge decision to make, though she supposed that she had at least been told what she would be giving up this time. She was about to answer when she saw Lenna stride over to one of the candles lining the walls. Sarah's brow furrowed and she felt a flutter of hope when Lenna "accidentally" knocked the candle to the floor and, "gracelessly" tripping over it several times, eventually kicked it into the pit in the center of the room.
Sarah's eyebrows rose as she watched the candle's small flame catch onto a blanket. It then traveled along the blanket to catch fire to a piece of straw and it continued this method of travel until the entire room was ablaze, Jareth's throne included. Sarah's eyes rose to meet Jareth's. She gave a smirk of her own and watched question enter his previously confident expression.
Jareth, who had been watching Sarah's face intently until now, glanced down at the crystal. His jaw set and he swiftly stood.
"We will finish this arrangement later," he said tonelessly, "providing she is still here for you to save."
The anger in his voice sent chills down Sarah's spine.
