Whoohoo! I can't believe I have this many reviews! How exciting. More shall be revealed in this chapter about the other citizens of the underground and who the mysterious 'they' are. I'm sorry to keep you on your toes (who am I kidding? I'm not sorry, it keeps you reading and I like suspense!). You are a delightful group of readers and reviewers. I'm honored.


Instead of continuing his search for Sarah, Jareth returned to the castle in much need of sleep. His emotions were out of control; his mind and clothes were a mess; his nerves were frayed to the breaking point. To top it all off, his magic reserve was depleted from throwing flaming crystals all evening and he needed a good, long, uninterrupted sleep.

He magicked himself directly to his bedchambers, disrobed, and threw himself on his overlarge bed. It can wait till morning, he told himself. I need the rest if I'm to handle this situation properly. I can't face Sarah like this. And with that thought, he fell into a deep, dreamless sleep for the first time since Sarah had returned to the labyrinth.


After only a few hours, however, Jareth was roused from sleep by a knock on his chamber door.

"Sire?" a timid goblin voice came from the other side of the heavy wooden doors. "Sire, are you awake?"

Mumbling something about "stupid frightful things having the nerve to wake him up at all hours," Jareth fumbled out of bed. He had just enough decency to put on his breeches before yanking the door open and glaring down at whichever goblin of his entourage had so rudely awakened him. The goblin squawked with fear and cringed back from the looming king.

"Well?" sneered Jareth. "Do you have something to say or did you just have an urgent desire to be thrown headlong into the Bog of Eternal Stench?"

The goblin squawked again, but recovered his composure enough to protest Jareth's threat. "N-n-no sire. It's j-j-just that, well, y-y-you—"

"I what, you sniveling creature? I'm tired? I have more important things to do than to stand in the hall with a quivering goblin who can't talk to save his life?"

"You have a g-g-g-guest, sssire," the goblin finally managed to say.

"A guest? Whoever it is, tell them to go away. It is the middle of the night and I am in dire need of rest. Tell them they can wait until morning, that is, if you can put two sentences together clearly."

"Tell me yourself Jareth," a dignified voice retorted. "Or are you so discourteous that you will not speak to an old friend and neighbor face to face? And leave that poor creature alone, it was only doing what I asked."

Jareth looked up to see a stately figure robed in jade green and grey striding down the hallway toward him. He had hair the color of wet earth and chestnut eyes. His hair was cropped short against his head and his decidedly masculine features made him look more akin to a war-leader than a magician like Jareth. His smile was charming and his manners, welcoming. He smiled at Jareth warmly, but there was enough of a hint of danger and obstinacy in his eyes that an onlooker could not be fooled into thinking him harmless.

"Kyran," Jareth mocked. "What brings the Centaur King to grace the lowly halls of the Goblin King at this hour?"

"Oh shut up Jareth. You know you're glad to see me even if you don't want to admit it. We've been friends for too long for you to fool me with your sarcastic facade. I see right through you." The man called Kyran reached out to take Jareth's hand in his own and clap him on the back, a gesture Jareth begrudgingly reciprocated. "It's been too long old friend."

"Agreed," replied Jareth, still wary of the man before him.

Kyran pulled back to look Jareth in the eyes searchingly, "Where have you been hiding these past seven years? The rest of the kingdoms have been worried about you."

"Busy, Kyran, like you. Like the rest of us who have the honor and privilege of ruling one of the underground's many kingdoms. I'm a king—in case you forgot—and I have business to attend to constantly."

"That never kept you from occasionally appearing at the Court before, Jareth. Don't pretend that you haven't been hiding from us all."

"I'm not pretending anything, Kyran and I don't think I like your tone. Excuse me one moment, while I make myself more presentable."

After a long pause in which Jareth had returned to his chamber to make his clothing and hair more presentable, he returned to the corridor and led his guest to a sitting room down the hallway. He poured Kyran and himself both drinks and started a fire in the fireplace by tossing a crystal into the grate. Kyran noticed the gesture and flinched slightly. A long moment of silence ensued as the two men drank and stared into the blue flames of the fire.

Kyran cleared his throat, "There were rumors, Jareth. Rumors that the labyrinth had been defeated."

Jareth shrugged and continued to watch the flames dance in the fireplace.

"I didn't believe they were true. You know how goblins like to tell stories, but…." Kyran trailed off.

"But what? The Court sent you to check on me after seven years of silence? Did they want to find out if I was lying or if I had broken my word? Well, Kyran?" Jareth demanded, turning on the other man with malice in his eyes. "We were good friends once, Kyran. You never lied to me, ever. You always used to laugh with me at the ridiculous machinations of the Court and its denizens. You, like me, were never its toy and there was never any need to be. We both rule our lands justly and strongly. We never needed interference from the higher ups to keep us in line. They think themselves so important, but we rarely need them do we? No one really does."

"But we do, Jareth. We need the Court to hold us all accountable to our standards. There is justice and equity in the Underground precisely because our ancestors founded the Court of the Wise to begin with. Don't think you are outside of their reach, Jareth. None of us are."

"So Kyran, are you their lackey—oh, excuse me—their emissary tonight? Or did you just come to wake me up and keep me company?"

"No, they didn't send me, but they might. I came to warn you Jareth. Rumors are stirring again and all of them seem to center on you and that damn labyrinth of yours. You shouldn't have built it you know, then you wouldn't have to deal with the Court or rumors or being awakened in the middle of the night by an old friend who just happens to care about you."

Jareth sighed and rubbed his eyes, "I'm sorry, Kyran. I haven't been sleeping well the past few nights, I—I seem to have acquired an unwelcome guest, of sorts," Jareth averted his eyes, pretending to be engrossed in the flames.

"So the rumors are true."

"I don't know what rumors you're talking about, so I can't tell you if they are or not."

"There are…stories, circulating—stories about a young girl who came to the underground a number of years ago because of a foolish wish. The story goes that she came here to rescue something that was precious to her, something you had. They say she defeated the labyrinth but then inexplicably disappeared, supposedly forever."

"Seven years is a long time, Kyran. Are you going to believe stories about something that happened too long ago for anyone to recall accurately? Those rumors were quashed long ago."

Kyran gave an exasperated sigh, "Do let me finish, Jareth. It isn't polite to interrupt. The reason I came to you now is that the rumors have revived, but this time, the story adds that the girl has come back. No one knows why or how, but that's what I hear. Now, isn't it interesting that these stories should resurface now? Especially with you admittedly having an 'unwelcome guest.'"

"Of a sort."

"Yes, of course, of a sort. Who is he, I wonder. Or she?" Kyran was staring hard at Jareth, but the Goblin King's face remained impassive.

"Like you said earlier, Kyran—goblins like to talk."

"Of course, Jareth. Whatever you say. Just remember that I am your friend but others are not. There are those in the underground that would like very much for these rumors to be true, but not in a pleasant way. Hadrian, for example, not to mention Junia. I would hate to think what would happen if the alleged girl found her way into their hands for some unfortunate reason."

Jareth's jaw twitched and his hands clenched into fists, "Hadrian? Junia? How would they know anything about any of this unless you told them Kyran? You little traitor!"

Jareth turned to face the other man and his fierce eyes flashed a look of doom upon his friend.

Kyran took a step back, his hands held up in deference. "Jareth. I'm not your enemy here. The Court is beginning to get concerned at your seven year absence and with the rumors flaring up again…" he gave a gesture of helplessness. "People talk. And what's more, people think, and plan, and plot revenge. Don't ever underestimate the power of revenge in motivating people to rash action, Jareth."

Jareth gave a derisive laugh, "Believe me, Kyran, I'm the last person who would underestimate that. Now, are you quite finished or do I have more to listen to before I can finally get some sleep?"

"No, no. I'm finished. Only…" Jareth shot Kyran a warning glare. "Only, if this hypothetical girl does exist and she has hypothetically returned to the underground. Keep a good eye on her Jareth. Not all your neighbors are your friends like I am."

And with that final warning ringing in the Goblin King's ears, Kyran disappeared with a swirl of his majestic robes, leaving Jareth to fume at his empty chair.

How dare he come into my home, in the middle of the night and practically threaten me with the Court's intervention? And he had the audacity to call me 'old friend.' Jareth remembered the days when their interactions had been more frequent, almost constant. Though Kyran was older than him by a few decades, the two of them had been fast friends since their youth. They had hunted together, chased dragons and trolls together through the mountains. They had both been childishly infatuated with the same woman at one point, but Jareth had gotten over it. Kyran hadn't and in the end, he married Alegra and the two settled down as king and queen of the centaurs quite nicely. Jareth still laughed at Kyran because Alegra was such a simple creature. Pretty, but uncomplicated. Boring. She has nothing to say about anything important but plenty to say about how pretty the groves are and how nice the centaurs are. Oh she made him a right proper wife if you ask me, no wonder he's going soft.

But Jareth didn't dwell long on the past because the present was his immediate concern. Kyran had made it sound as if the Court was looking to intervene in his affairs once again. After seven years with no developments, you'd think they would leave me alone. The rumors had been flying immediately after Sarah left. The goblins couldn't really help themselves on that score; they'd never seen anything like the battle in the city: flying boulders, smashed giant soldiers and hundreds of homes ruined all because of a little slip of a girl and her three friends. And she did defeat me; they merely told the truth, with a few embellishments of course.

Jareth sighed. He didn't know what to do, but he had to figure it out and quickly. The cards were on the table. Kyran had made it clear that the Court of the Wise would not take a simple shrug and sigh about goblin blabbermouths this time. No, if they were aroused enough to intervene, he would have to explain everything to them. They would find out about Toby and Sarah's first visit. They would find out that she defeated him and left. Worst of all, they would find out she was back. He didn't know what was worse, the Court finding out Sarah had defeated him seven years ago and he had kept it hidden from them. Or, the Court finding out that after seven years, Sarah had returned and was wandering around his labyrinth.

After a pause, he knew which would be worse. Neither. The worst thing possible in this situation is what Kyran warned me about: Hadrian or Junia finding Sarah first. I can't let either of them get their hands on her. I just have to hope that neither of them is paying attention to the rumors at all. If Hadrian finds her, he would take it to the Court and try to have me dethroned and banished aboveground. Then, he could have my throne and pass off the troll kingdom to the next hapless fool in line.

If Junia finds her, Jareth shuddered. I don't even want to know. Junia would destroy her. Worse, Junia would destroy her soul but leave her body intact enough to feel the entire thing and live for long years afterward. Even though she would be banished for it, Junia would gladly torture Sarah to get revenge on me—wicked, vile woman that she is.

Jareth clenched his fists even harder, causing blood to drip from between his tightly-gripped fingers.

"I have to find Sarah. I have to find her before they do and find a way to keep her a secret. This time Sarah, if anything happens to you it will be my fault and mine alone."

Jareth returned to his chambers to try to catch a few more hours of sleep before dawn. He knew he wouldn't be able to find Sarah in the dark and gloom of the labyrinth at night. He also knew that he needed rest now more than ever. He must be at full magical strength in case the need for a confrontation arose. Flinging himself back on his bed, he fell into a fitful sleep, where he dreamed he saw Sarah, twisted and broken from Junia's revenge. It was her eyes that horrified him the most. All through the night visions of hollow, broken and soulless green eyes set in Sarah's beautiful, flawless face haunted him. And when he awoke the next morning, the vision still danced before his eyes.


Creepy huh? Well, stay tuned for next time because you're going to hear all about some important stuff Kyran said. Who is the Court of the Wise? How many kingdoms are there? Where does the underground come from? Why am I so hungry right now? (okay, maybe not that one, but the other's definitely). R&R my friends! I so love it when you do. :)