Just as I can be so Cruel

by irishgrlnextdoor

Revamped and Rebooted, the 2010 original by Chemical-love aka Irishgrlnextdoor. Sarah beat the labyrinth and won back her brother, but nothing is as it seems and Jareth isn't about to let her or his heir go so easily. Dark Jareth non con dark themes etc

25. Chapter 25

Beta for this chapter is The lovely The Art Of Suicide

The previous night:

Jareth had a wonderful time with his son in the music room, a smile absolutely glued to his face as he carried his tuckered out little prince back to the nursery. Toby was already sound asleep in his arms, his little head resting against Jareth's shoulder as he walked along. They had spent the better part of two hours just playing music together, Jareth showing Toby the different instruments and then laughing when Toby ultimately decided they all were to be played like a drum no matter what they were.

The most precious thing though was when Jareth would sing and Toby would bounce on his legs a little bit in his own sort of dance. It was absolutely the most charming thing in the world.

It was late though, no doubt the others would be finishing supper if they hadn't already, and here he hadn't even gotten anything to eat yet. He could see from some of the windows- the ones that didn't just constantly show rain or sunshine or snow no matter what was actually going on outside- that it was dark outside, and so it was past his son's bedtime. He was surprised though when, as he came upon the nursery, he heard footsteps approaching fast up the stairs. If it had just been one set he would have thought it was Sarah, but two caught his interest and he turned around to stop and wait.

Ishapell and Torik came up the stairs and rounded the corner, relief on Ishapell's face when she caught sight of him, her pet following along obediently. "Oh, thank the Gods I found you cousin!" she gasped, winded from the stairs still. Jareth was surprised that both she and her pet looked distraught, although the human never looked up from the floor and was equally out of breath, he could still tell from his stance and the way his mouth kind of hung the slightest bit that something was wrong.

"Shhh," Jareth warned his cousin as he gestured his head to Toby in his arms, cautioning her not to wake the little tike.

She nodded and kept her voice low. "Of course, your highness, but I must speak with you… now."

Something was definitely wrong. "Come in here then while I put him down," Jareth invited the two, taking Toby into the nursery.

Ishapell and Torik followed behind, Torik closing the nursery door behind them.

Jareth looked back at Ishapell over his shoulder. "Well? What is it?"

"It's about Sarah," Ishapell warned him.

Jareth turned around quickly and there must have been something on his face because Ishapell immediately held her hands out palms down between them as if to say 'calm down', "She is not hurt."

Jareth did force himself to calm down then, knowing that she was at least alright. He ran his hand through Toby's growing hair. "What is it then?"

Ishapell looked back at Torik as if for support in what she was to say, but the human boy didn't even look up at her as he continued to stand by the door and stare at the floor, obviously nervous to be in this room. "Well, she… she might be…"

Jareth rolled his eyes. "Has she done anything?" he asked, figuring she had broken another one of his rules and, like Clora had been so eager to do, now Ishapell was here to tattle on her- not that he discouraged it.

"Well, not yet really," Ishapell mumbled.

Jareth's brows knitted together in impatience. "If you have something to tell me then you best do so, cousin."

Ishapell nodded her head, aware that she was stalling. "I just don't want Sarah to get in trouble is all," she admitted.

"If my wife has done something or will do something to get herself in trouble then no blame rests on you. I appreciate any concern for her you may have, but if you know she is up to something you must tell me. If she hasn't done anything yet but plans to it might save her some reprimand in the long run for me to know and see that it does not happen." Jareth reasoned with the female, meaning it when he said he was touched by her concern for his wife. He knew that they hadn't exactly gotten off on the right foot at first.

Ishapell fidgeted with her hands. "I don't just worry about her getting in trouble with you, but that she might be in a different kind of trouble."

Jareth frowned at that. "What do you mean?"

Ishapell's eyes flicked to Toby. "Will you put your son down? Then I will feel better about telling you."

That was not good.

Jareth did so without comment though, feeling very worried suddenly about what she might have to say as he placed Toby gently into his crib with such ease that his son made no fuss whatsoever and never once stirred from his sleep. He turned back to his cousin so she knew she had his full attention.

"Like I said, your majesty, I don't want to see Sarah in trouble, but I heard her planning something just now, and I'm afraid she'll possibly be in danger if I don't tell you."

"So then tell me," Jareth growled out, trying to keep his cool and already failing.

"Sarah… Sarah was in the garden just now, Torik and I were going to stick to our plans to take a walk in the garden, but when we got to the door we couldn't help but hear her on the other side… talking to someone." Ishapell wrung her hands out till Jareth thought that they would snap into little pieces against each other. "I think she's planning to run away."

X

Currently:

Jareth's mind couldn't help but drift back to the night before last when he had first learned of Sarah's plans, as he listened to Mavid giving him his report.

It was early morning now, the sun not even up yet. Jareth sat on his throne. He hadn't slept at all last night, and couldn't have even if he had tried. The strange thing was that he didn't even feel tired, he was past the point of sleep. He would yawn now and then and his eyes stung around the corners, but in all honesty, he didn't feel at all tired.

Although he listened to Mavid, he looked as though he was hardly paying attention at all. He sat slouched on his throne, leaning against the side with one leg up. He held his riding crop in his hands, turning it over and over carelessly. His eyes were focused on it, but not seeing it. His mind kept going back to the night before when he had first found out about Sarah's plans to run away. He had been so shocked… so angry… so betrayed.

His mind just kept throwing at him what Mavid and his father had already told him; that it was Carrie all over again. At least with her, they had been happy in the beginning, but Sarah wasn't even allowing the chance for happiness. Every time those thoughts came up he pushed them down, but it was harder each time. This just couldn't be how this played out.

They hadn't found the worm, that much truly didn't surprise him, although it infuriated him none the less.

"He could be anywhere in the Labyrinth," Mavid continued. "We won't find him unless he comes to us. I highly doubt he will try to contact your wife again for a very long time though."

Jareth let out a long and slow breath, "And the Underground Women? Was I right that they were in on this?"

There was a long silence. It wasn't until Jareth looked up that Mavid spoke. "When I arrived at the Crying Caves last night the Underground women were there, in absolute fits already. Apparently, they had sent their only two remaining changelings through a mirror they were able to get a hold of and had watched as Carrie killed them herself. After a little persuasion, I got out of them that Carrie had contacted them shortly after the counsel had refused to send her children back to her, and that they had made a deal. They would send their changelings through the mirror, and I gathered that they were to send Sarah and Toby through with them but it was hard to tell for sure with all the screaming."

Jareth could tell from the way Mavid's eyes flicked away when he said that and the way the corner of his lip curled up just the slightest bit that he had used his usual forms of 'persuasion' on them. "They actually were willing to make a deal with Carrie again? After what it cost them the last time how could they possibly have thought to get away with such a thing?" Jareth asked in mild disbelief.

The corner of Mavid's lip quirked up again at that. "This part is the real kick in the head. Once I made it so there were a few less voices screaming over each other, one of the sisters told me about how that was the deal they had made with Carrie, but they in fact still hadn't forgiven her for the changelings they had lost the last time. They had made some other plans for your wife and son."

Jareth gripped his crop a little tighter in his fists and his voice came out so low you could barely hear the strain as he held his temper. "Such as?"

"They were planning to slay the queen to punish Carrie, and then keep your son a prisoner to punish you."

Jareth could hear the blood rushing in his ears and feel the way it pulsed through his temples as he closed his eyes tight and tried to focus on his breathing. His blood boiled with his anger. Just the thought of someone trying to cause his family harm in any way…

Jareth raised his crop and brought it down hard on his own leg. The sting of the crop never reached his leg through the black lacquer shielding of his armor, and never would no matter how hard he swung. It helped to release a bit of his frustration none the less, but not nearly enough.

If Sarah had gotten away with her little scheme… Jareth thanked the Gods again that she had chosen to leave Toby behind regardless of what the outcome would have been.

He had been very busy indeed yesterday. After Ishapell had told him what she knew of Sarah's escape he hadn't trusted himself anywhere near her and so had gone to wait in Mavid's chambers till his attendant had come back from chasing that wood nymph. After that, it had been a trial indeed to keep himself from going back to Sarah's room and throttling her. He had summoned up a crystal to view her, seeing that she was indeed in her bed at that point, laying under the covers as she tried to fall asleep. Her lips were turned up in a smile.

He had hurled the crystal against the wall, taking satisfaction in it when it had shattered.

He wasn't going to stop her though, that much he was certain of, not right away anyway. He had to know what she would do when it came down to it. He wasn't sure why he had needed to know, but he had. He had kept the faintest glimmer of hope alive to the very end that she would change her mind and so had spent the entire day making sure that nothing would keep her from being able to leave if that was indeed what she chose. As a bonus, this was a most opportune chance to be able to catch that pretentious fish-bait of a worm and make it so he would never again be a nuisance to him.

So, despite the foul taste, it left in his mouth with the knowledge that he was making it at all possible for Sarah's little scheme to work, he had gone about doing so anyway. He had done everything for her, making sure that Rally held their lessons in the room he had picked near the kitchens, warning the kitchen knocker to open for her without argument, telling the brownies to make sure they were not in the kitchen when Sarah first arrived, and to leave a decoy sauce sitting out.

He hadn't told anyone but Mavid of her treachery and had threatened his cousin and her pet to not let on to anyone else as well. If Sarah had backed out of her scheme, then there would be no reason for anyone to know. Not that there was any reason anyway. If it got out that she had tried to escape him it would only disgrace them both. So rather than letting anyone else in on the plan, he had simply requested that the cooks use the sauce that she had tainted in everyone's dishes except for his and Mavid's'. It had to be convincing to Sarah after all that she had succeeded in poisoning the entire castle, and he and Mavid would simply go along with it.

He had gone to make sure that the garden door remained unlocked, which it never was once everyone turned in for the night, and at that point the brownies had informed him that she had indeed come to the kitchens and had done something to the sauce. The thought that she just might really intend to go through with this…

He hadn't planned to, but he and Mavid had gone to see Aboris before supper, making them just the slightest bit late. He had been strung out, wired and in an extremely dangerous mood. If he had gone to supper in such a state she would have seen it for sure and known that he must have found out something. He would never give her the option of leaving him, but he did want to know what she would do if given the chance. If he threw open his castle doors for her would she stay or take his son and run? He wanted to know the outcome without worrying about her escaping.

Mavid honestly hadn't seemed surprised when he had told him what he had learned, and of course agreed to go along with Jareth's plan, keeping his own opinions wisely to himself, but as the day brought them closer and closer to supper, Jareth noticed that even Mavid was tightly wound, his eyes practically sharp with the anticipation of punishment.

Aboris had obediently given them both a small amount of gash weed, which when inhaled through either the mouth or nose had the same properties as an Aboveground tranquilizer. It was enough to calm them both down enough to at least make them seem relaxed. Jareth had been worried when Sarah had first seen him at dinner that maybe she had seen that his eyes were slightly dilated, but she had seemed to think better of it. The tranq had worked to his advantage later to help slow his breathing and relax him enough so he would easily seem asleep after supper. All through supper he had tried to act as natural as possible, but just like when he had visited her in the morning, he had even noticed that he was being overly nice; most likely in an unconscious act of encouraging her to change her mind about trying to escape.

After Jareth and Sarah had retired to their room Mavid, acting on Jareth's instruction, had made sure that the rest were indeed all going to bed, then had taken Toby up to the nursery for Tallia, putting Jareth's son to bed and then taking his shadow form to lay in wait. Jareth wanted to know what Sarah was going to do, giving her every opportunity he could to change her mind about the whole thing, but he wouldn't risk his son in the slightest. He had instructed Mavid to stop her and call for him the moment Sarah should try to ghost away his son.

So, when some time later Mavid had come to his room and informed him that Sarah had simply said goodbye to Toby and left, he had been stunned to hear such a thing truly. He had never expected her to do such a thing.

He couldn't really explain it, but when he heard what she had done all the anger that had been coursing through him as he sat on his bed and waited for Mavid… it was as if someone had just reached out and pulled all his rage away from him. He wasn't left with happiness or any form of solace, far from. But he no longer felt the tension that had coiled inside of him just moments before.

The thing that killed him was, he knew that because of that moment if Sarah had even made it to the garden and changed her mind… he could have forgiven her for her traitorous attempt to make a fool of him. He would have allowed her to come back into the castle believing that she could have gotten away with it, and honestly, that would have been most preferred because if so he wouldn't have had to worry about her trying such a thing again in the future.

He and Mavid went outside the castle walls to wait, and it wasn't until she suddenly appeared outside the garden that any of his anger returned to him, but not nearly as fiercely as he had felt it before. She had tried to escape and failed, and now he had the grim task of punishing her for it. She would probably hold that against him too, even though it was her own fault she was to be punished.

This time it would be more difficult to punish her fittingly. Tomorrow he had to present her before the counsel after all. He had thought briefly about calling it off altogether and just accepting that he would have to make do with her as a concubine, but when Mavid had come to him and told him of how she had spared his son from her exodus it only seemed now more than ever before that he had made the right choice in picking a mother for his son. She loved Toby deeply, enough so to be able to look past her own selfish wants to know what would be best for his son. Who could he possibly hope to find that could love his son more than Sarah, who loved him so much she was willing to give him up if it meant that was what was best for him. The sheer strength of her love made him covet her even more. He wanted that love for himself, just as he would want a Pegasus's quickness and strength for his carriages or a goblin army for its protection of his castle. For whatever the reasons, he wanted Sarah to love him.

"Jareth?" Mavid spoke up, pulling Jareth back from the sinking spiral that were his own thoughts.

Jareth recollected his focus and brought his hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose between his fingers. "You took care of them all, right? The Underground women?"

"I trusted you would want me to, they had no changelings left this time, sending the only two they had from the last time off to their deaths in the aboveground. This time I dealt with the root of the problem."

Jareth nodded his head in agreement. "Did they happen to have any stolen children there?"

Mavid shook his head. "No, I looked."

Jareth nodded again. At least he didn't have to see to finding homes for stolen children on top of everything else on his plate now. Even if the worm got away, the underground women were no longer a problem, and never would be again. Two changelings were sent to Carrie in the Aboveground… now that was interesting.

Jareth conjured up a crystal and turned it on his wrist, confused when he saw not Carrie as he had expected, but an image of pure white. He came to realize that he was looking at a white sheet for some reason. There was a human walking next to the blanket, dressed in scrubs and placing rubber gloves over his hands. He pulled the sheet back and Jareth almost dropped the crystal, slamming it down on the seat of the throne next to him where he couldn't see it as his brain tried to rationalize what he had just glimpsed. It had been a coroner's room, that was for sure, and a body had been under that sheet…

It couldn't have been Carrie. Surely, his gaze was deceiving him.

Surely…

"What's wrong?" Mavid asked, concerned from the expression on Jareth's face and the very rigid stance in which he sat at the moment.

Jareth braced himself and brought the crystal back up again, slowly looking back down into it.

It was Carrie.

Jareth slowly turned that crystal away from him and once more set it down on the seat beside him. "Carrie's dead," he stated simply, his voice sounding hollow even to him.

Mavid's face held the same shock and disbelief that Jareth's must have. Jareth couldn't help but feel a slight tightening in his chest at learning that the woman who had been his second wife for over a hundred years…

"Are you alright?" Mavid asked, his voice careful.

Jareth forced himself to shove the grief aside, reminding himself of all she had cost him, done to him, put him through. He wouldn't allow himself to forget them all and remember only the good times just because now she was dead. It was a good thing, he told himself. Now he didn't have to worry about her trying to interfere with his family anymore. "Don't be foolish, I'm fine." he scolded Mavid.

Jareth thought about that man she had duped into marrying her in Aboveground, Sarah's father, and turned the crystal around in his hand again.

This time he could see that man, see that he was much scruffier looking than Jareth remembered from the times he had glanced him before, his hair longer and unkempt, his cheeks red and eyes puffy from weeping. He was holding someone in his arms, crying into their shoulder as his hand ran over and over their long dark hair. It was indistinguishable what he was saying exactly, but it sounded like maybe he was praying.

"We just have a couple more questions please," a gentle male voice coaxed from outside of Jareth's view.

Sarah's father eventually got a hold of himself enough to nod his head and although he kept an arm tight around the woman he was holding, he released her enough that she could turn with him to the voice. Jareth almost dropped the crystal, losing his grip on it and just barely re-catching it when he saw Sarah there, except he knew for a fact that it wasn't Sarah. Even in the world of magic it was impossible for there to be two of the same person. That had to be one of the changelings that the underground women had sent. It must have taken the shape of Sarah, and no doubt that meant the other one had taken to look like Toby. It seemed like just the sort of stunt the underground women would pull.

Jareth started laughing before he even truly thought it funny, he did, in fact, find it to be hilarious though. As far as Jareth was concerned, justice was served.

Mavid scowled in his confusion at Jareth's sudden mirth, to which Jareth tossed him the crystal so he could see for himself. When Mavid looked at it he scowled even deeper and then astonishment washed over his face. "The changeling?!"

Jareth nodded. "Apparently, Carrie wasn't able to kill them both. Who knows? Maybe that changeling killed her. Isn't that precious, Sarah's father must think he finally has his child back. She can never be sent back now." She had no reason to run away if there was nowhere for her to run to.

His sour mood had suddenly vastly improved at the unexpected but welcomed results of this whole mess. Maybe things weren't nearly as lost as he had thought they were. After all, with the Underground Women gone, the worm in hiding, and the changeling laying claim to Sarah's life Aboveground she had nothing and no one to encourage another escape attempt. She was his now. She had no choice but to see that.

Jareth got up from his throne, slipping the crop back into the leg of his boot and adjusting the collar of his black armor. "I suppose I should go say good morning to my wife then."

Mavid's attention shot from the crystal to Jareth at that. He looked at him as though Jareth had just grown another head. "Your wife? You mean to keep her as such?" Mavid asked, the shock thick in his voice.

Jareth nodded his head as he stepped down from his throne. "That's right."

Mavid said nothing, but the look of disapproval in his blue eyes said more than enough as he met Jareth's gaze and held it.

"I trust there is no objection to that."

Mavid's gaze never wavered from Jareth's when he spoke, which spoke volumes to how close they were despite their stations. It reminded Jareth again that he needed to look to Toby's future in securing an attendant for him. "I hadn't realized that you intended to still make her your wife after last night."

"More than I ever intended before as a matter of fact."

Mavid looked down at the ground rather than Jareth then, as though that would hide the scowl on his face.

"I know what you're thinking-"

"I doubt that," Mavid interrupted. "You've never thought yourself an idiot before in your entire life."

The rage was enough to stun Jareth in his tracks completely, but only for a moment. Mavid's own armor made it impossible for Jareth to grip any fabric there, but he instead shoved against Mavid's shoulders, forcing him up against the wall. Even though both knew in hand to hand combat than Jareth could very well hold his own, Mavid was still more skilled than he. It wasn't the fear that Jareth was stronger than him that kept Mavid from fighting back at all, but rather the respect for his and Jareth's stations that stayed his defense. His deep blue eyes met Jareth's, his face without expression or emotion. Jareth's own was the picture of danger with how hot his temperament was running now.

He'd had a very emotionally rough couple of days, was running on almost two full days without rest, and his wife was in a shallow and dark oubliette as punishment for trying to poison him and run away. He was really notin the mood for any of Mavid's or anyone else's opinions or solutions or input of any kind.

Mavid was the one to eventually turn his eyes to the floor.

Jareth released him, but didn't back off at first, holding his ground so that there were no delusions between either of them just who was alpha in a way that came naturally and biologically to all males of any species or race.

Jareth moved past Mavid, ordering him to not follow as a final punishment for the male's offense. No matter what Mavid's personal feelings were about Jareth's decisions with Sarah, Jareth knew that his friend still would have enjoyed and no doubt had been hoping for the opportunity to at the very least witness some of the punishment that would be bestowed upon her by Jareth. Jareth didn't have to look over his shoulder as he headed for the dungeons to know that Mavid was indeed scowling at the stone floor like he was debating trying to stab it.

X

"Oh Sarah, wake up, please wake up," a soft voice whispered urgently from somewhere around her.

Sarah opened her eyes as she came out of her hard-won sleep, wanting to groan when the soft light from an overhead torch illuminated just enough to remind her of where she was and how she had gotten there. Sarah's back and legs ached as they begged for her to allow them to stretch out, but the shallow and small oubliette left her no options to do such a thing. She had to stay curled up on her side just to fit. She remembered belatedly that someone had spoken to her and that surely there must be a source of the torch light.

She shifted around slightly on her back and looked up through the small holes in the grating of the oubliette's lid, still in a sleeper's daze. She could see that someone was indeed on the other side, but not who. "Who's there?" she asked, her voice cracking from the dryness that sleep had left her throat and lips in and she had to take a moment to clear her throat.

The familiar voice on the other side of the grate was practically frantic in answering. "Oh, Sarah! It's me, it's Ishapell, I had no clue that he would put you here!"

"Isha-" Sarah shifted around again so she could lay halfway on her back. "Is it morning yet?"

"Very soon, Miss. The sun is rising even now, I had to come down here and tell you-"

"Ishapell, you have to get out of here!" Sarah hissed back just as frantically through the holes of the grate, now very much awake and alert. Jareth had said he'd come back for her in the morning and she didn't want to think of what would happen if he came and found Ishapell here. Maybe he would think that the female was trying to help Sarah escape and punish Ishapell too, or at least send her away. Sarah very much didn't want to have that. "If Jareth finds you here you could be in big trouble and he might be on his way right now! You have to leave!"

"Please though, I must tell you that I'm very truly sorry," Ishapell pleaded, her voice sounding shaky.

The tone of her voice gave Sarah a very deep feeling of dread for what she was about to apologize for. Sarah laid back against the dirt of her little prison as though she had suddenly lost all strength in her muscles, her heart beating very quickly and slowly at the same time. She could practically see the slight vibration of her chest every time it beat inside of her. The way Ishapell had said it, somehow Sarah knew what was coming but her mind refused to recognize it all the same.

"Sarah? Sarah, I'm s-sorry," Ishapell sobbed, trying hard to hold back her tears as everything else spilled out of her. "I never thought that this would happen to you, I swear I didn't. I- I told Jareth what you were planning."

Sarah felt her eyes close of their own accord as Ishapell continued. Every part of her felt heavy.

"I only did it because I was afraid for you. Last night you suggested I not take Torik for a walk in the garden, well I thought I would anyway. When we got to the door I could hear you on the other side and I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I heard you nonetheless and when I heard that you were planning to run away to the Crying Caves I was afraid for you. The Underground Women are not to be trusted and if Jareth found you out during… I just… I just thought it would be better for you if I went to him with what I had learned straight away. I was sure that Jareth would punish you somehow, maybe some more lashes, but better than a punishment he would give you if he found you out later. I didn't think he would let you go along with your plan anyway." Another sob echoed off the walls of the dungeon and Ishapell tried to collect herself as best she could. "I- I'm s-so so sorry Sar-"

"Get out."

"Wha- Sarah-" Ishapell sobbed.

Sarah gripped a handful of the dirt in her cell and threw it up at the holes of the grating, having to shield her face and eyes when most of it came right back down on her after either failing to escape the lid or falling right back down through it. The sound of Ishapell's surprised yelp on the other side was mildly satisfying though and Sarah could hear the female move away from the oubliette, the light retreating with her. "GET OUT OF HERE!" Sarah screamed again, this time so loud that her voice almost gave out before she was even done and stung fiercely when she stopped.

Tears were already falling from her eyes but she didn't notice them at all as she screamed again despite the pain of her throat. She could trust no one down here! She was sick of it, sick of it all! All the fake pleasantries and the underhandedness, and the games, and the tricks and lies. Backstabbers! Every single one of them! She had trusted Clora… she betrayed her for the amusement of it. She had trusted Ishapell… who had betrayed her too, for reasons Sarah wouldn't, couldn't, and didn't want to understand. The kicker was that she knew Ishapell no doubt really did think that she was helping her by doing so, by making it impossible for her to leave this world, this castle, this messed up life that she was being forced to live!

The sound of Ishapell's heels running back the way she had come pounded in Sarah's head just the same as her own heartbeat did and Sarah wiped the tears from her eyes, telling herself she wouldn't cry over this, even though deep down she really wanted to.

It was total darkness once again in the dungeon, but Sarah opened her eyes anyway and stared into the blackness. It reminded her of what she had seen the night before when she had been ambushed by Jareth and Mavid outside the garden. Mavid had been nothing but darkness when she had run into him too at first, and it sent shivers of fear up and down her spine thinking that for all she knew Mavid could be in that form now right above her and she probably wouldn't be able to find him even if she had a flashlight to search with.

Her nightmarish thoughts were cut off when a noise outside startled her back to the reality of things. She stayed very still and quiet as she listened for the noise again, any slight noise.

After a moment or two of hearing nothing, she heard shifting fabric so faint she would have missed it if she had breathed. She could hear her heartbeat kick up in fear again. If it was indeed Jareth or Mavid they would have used a torch, wouldn't they?

"Sarah? Did I hear someone say Sarah?" a creaky voice spoke in the darkness, coming from outside her oubliette somewhere.

Sarah just about jumped out of her skin when it had first spoken, but her heart fluttered with joy when she heard it. "H-Hoggle?!" she gasped.

"Sarah! Tis ya then after all!" her friend's voice responded. "We heard 'em bring someone down here lass night, never dreamed it'd be ya!"

She could hear a lot more shifting from somewhere in the dungeons overhead and then two more familiar voices joined in.

"Sar-wah!"

"My Lady, ist thou alright?!"

"Wha' the heck is ya doing in here?!" Hoggle's gruff voice demanded.

Her heart beat painfully in her chest upon hearing their voices, and although she wanted to answer them, she was left with no voice and scarce little breath as she fought to keep herself collected. She had spoken with them all in her mirror last just before Jareth had come to kidnap her. They had been fine, not in pain nor afraid at all. The only reason she hadn't asked Jareth about her dear friends thus far was because since she had heard nothing about nor from them that maybe they had skipped Jareth's mind and she didn't want them drawn to his attention as traitors to yet be punished or something to use against her. Her heart ached to know that this whole time they had in fact been locked up right below her feet.

"Sarah, what're ya doing here?! An' not just in this here dungeon, but back in this here world?"

"Hoggle, Ludo… Sir Didymus!" she managed to gasp out, twisting around once more to lay semi on her back. "I-it's a long story… what are you guys doing here?!"

"Fear not, fair maiden, we are not harmed," Didymus reassured her from the darkness overhead somewhere.

"Ludo scared!" the great beast whined, pulling at Sarah's heart.

"After ya beat that rat Jareth he seemed ta just disappear from this world altogether fer a lil while, but when he come back he found us leaving the castle and had us thrown in here instead."

When he was gone that must have been when he had gone to collect her and Toby. Sarah could feel her tears sliding slowly down her cheeks back towards her ears. That meant that they had been down here for the last two weeks?! She felt so guilty, it was all her fault. Her fault that she had made them help her, that they had been in Jareth's castle, that they had been placed down here. It was her fault that they had spent the last two weeks down here. She had thought that she had been protecting them, but hadn't let herself think that if they were already in trouble that by not asking she had only condemned them to an even longer incarceration down here.

The soft sounds of her sniffling bounced around the emptiness of the dungeon and it was only moments before Hoggle spoke up. "Now don ya go fretting over the likes of us Sarah, we ain't worth it and besides, tisn't as bad as yer letting yerself think it tis. We ain't been forgotten or starved at all, and like the others down here we's only here till the end of our sentence."

"W-when is that?" Sarah sniffed.

"Two more days my lady," Sir Didymus piped in, his voice ever upbeat and unafraid, "Tis the stuff that tests one's metal, separating the foxes from the pups and all that! We are a stout-hearted group, and so we will no doubt prevail!"

Sarah couldn't help but smile and even laugh shakily at Didymus's ever brave and optimistic demeanor. She was glad to hear that they were at least alright, even if Ludo was a little scared, and that they would be freed soon enough. "D-don't be scared, Ludo," Sarah tried to comfort him, speaking back into the darkness. "A little bit of darkness should be nothing for a big brave beast like you who fought his way through to the Castle beyond the Goblin City."

There was a pause and when Ludo answered she couldn't hear any more of the fear or dismay in his tone. "Yeah!"

"Are you guys in an oubliette too?" She shuddered to think of them all squeezed into one the size of her own.

"No, my Lady, we are in a cell."

Thank goodness for that at least.

"Ye still haven' told us wha' the heck yer doing here though!" Hoggle prompted her.

Where did she even start? "I was kidnapped by Jareth and brought here to marry him and help him raise Toby, who it turns out is his son!"

"He wants ye ter marry him so he locked ya in a dungeon?" Hoggle asked in confusion.

"That is not the proper way to court a young lady at all!" Didymus snapped.

"Sar-wah back!" Ludo exclaimed.

"Well, there's a lot more to it than that really. You see he brought me back about the same time you guys were put down here," she admitted, her voice full of guilt and sadness. "I am so sorry I didn't find out before this you guys, I would have tried to get you all out of here or something, I swear I thought you were all safe somewhere."

"But if he meant to marry ya why did that rat put ye down here now?" Hoggle asked.

Sarah let out a sigh of self-pity. "Actually, I'm already married to him-"

"Why, my lady, we didn't even receive an invitation!"

"We've been in this cell ya moron! We couldn' have gone even if we did have an invitation."

"You guys, I didn't want to marry him!" Sarah interrupted them, her voice sounding on the verge of tears again. "After he kidnapped me he tricked me into that too, making me sign a paper without letting me know what it was."

"Ye shouldn' sign things without reading 'em."

"I know!" Sarah shouted, her frustration washing out of her and breaking upon her friends like a wave against the rocks. Sarah cupped her hand over her own mouth as more tears fell from her eyes, ashamed at herself for yelling at them like they had done anything wrong.

"I-I'm sorry, Hoggle. I didn't mean to yell at you. I'm just… it's been the hardest two weeks of my entire life."

There was a pause, and when Hoggle responded his voice was a lot softer as he spoke. "It's okay, Sarah. The important thing is that yer here now, and we're still here for ya."

Sarah was about to respond when the sound of approaching boots echoed down the hall. She rolled back over onto her hands and knees in a crouched down position and listened. Her fear spiked as she waited for the inevitable. She knew already who it was. Jareth was on his way here, just as he had said he would be. She wasn't sure what was going to happen, but as a dim light flickered on the walls of the dungeon and eventually started to reach her oubliette she was sure of at least one thing. No matter what happened, it would mean nothing good for her.

Her friends made no further noise either as the footfalls grew louder and louder as he approached. And as the torchlight offered her more ability to see the less hidden she felt, causing her to quietly shift over against the side of the oubliette so at least he wouldn't be right over her. His feet hit the lid of her oubliette and her heart fluttered with fear and anxiety in her chest as she stayed staring at the dirt wall next to her, afraid to even look up through the holes of the grate.

She didn't know what she would do if she looked up and saw that Mavid was with him, or perhaps if he had a weapon in his hand. She could only think of and assume the worst.

Despite her fear, when he remained still upon her cell and the light didn't waver in the least, she turned her head around to look up. For all the good it did her, all she saw was the light of the torch. She tensed again when Jareth's weight shifted above her and he moved off her oubliette, the sound of keys clinking together sounding even more frightening than his boots had. Even if it was her imprisonment, the heavy grating over her head had still made her feel protected as it acted as a barrier between her and Jareth, but now he was removing that barrier and she would be able to do nothing to replace it.

The lid flew up and away from her, allowing the full light of the torch to find her and Sarah flinched as she looked up to Jareth. He looked impossibly menacing as he sneered down at her, his mismatched eyes intense. He was dressed in his black armor, same as he had been last night, and it clung to his skin in a way that reminded Sarah of insect shells. The only skin that showed was that of his face, even his neck was covered by the black lacquer plating. His hair looked just as wild as ever, possibly even more so and his teeth gleamed sharply in the torchlight as he knelt on the lip of her hole, staring down at her in a way that made her feel like a rabbit that had just been cornered by a wolf. She saw no weapons in his hands, but that gave her little comfort as she stared back at him.

His voice was deep and mocking when he spoke, "It's morning, love. You do know what that means." Sarah flinched but had nowhere to run when he reached down into the oubliette, seizing her arm and using it to drag her out forcibly, her legs screaming in protest at suddenly being forced to stretch out. "That means it's time for you and me to have a nice long chat about what you did last night."

Sarah kept her eyes on the torch, scared that if she fought that he might use it to burn her alive or something. If he meant to kill her she wished that he would just do it rather than dragging it out like this.

"If thou harms one hair on my lady's head," Sir Didymus cried out from a door Sarah could now see just a few steps further into the dungeon, his voice filtering out from a hole with bars across it that was far too high up for him to ever be able to reach, "I vow to use your royal guts for those weights one places on the corners of picnic blankets to keep it from blowing away and thus ruining everyone's meal!"

Even Jareth paused at that.

"Sir Didymus, please don't say anything else!" Sarah hissed at the door, fearing the worst if he had already done enough to truly catch Jareth's attention.

"He's right though, Sarah," Hoggle yelled back, "Don't ya lay a hand on her, ya rat bastard!"

"Sar-wah friend!"

Sarah looked to Jareth, searching his expression, which wasn't angry like she had feared, but instead looked somewhere between bored and annoyed. "Well now, it seems your loyal subjects are revolting, Sarah," he informed her with mock concern. "But then, they always have been rather revolting to begin with."

His nails dug painfully into her arm as he led her down the hall of the dungeon. Sarah had no idea where he was taking her, but she didn't put up much fight as he ushered her along at a brisk pace. Jareth neither spoke to nor even glanced in her direction for some time. His hand continued to squeeze her arm painfully as he put up the torch and the cell keys. Even though it was surely pointless, Sarah still made a mental note about them out of habit just in case later she might need them.

Jareth led her out of the dungeons and Sarah followed because she had no choice. "Where are we-"

"Be silent," Jareth snapped at her right away, his tone leaving no room for argument. As another shiver shot through Sarah with her rising fear, he led her down a few unfamiliar halls and to a door that didn't particularly look menacing, made of a simple reddish-hued wood with a gold pull ring serving as a handle, but if that's where Jareth wanted to take her for their 'long talk' she clearly didn't want to go there.

She pulled back on his hold just once in hesitation, but that was still enough for Jareth's hand to clamp down on her till it felt like her bone would snap under his strength and she had to bite down on her lip to keep from crying out, and even then, a whimper still managed to escape her. Jareth opened the door and Sarah was very surprised to see that inside was just a large space closed in by round walls. The more surprising thing though, was that the floor was completely covered with a thick layer of sand.

Jareth pushed her in and closed the door behind them. He shoved Sarah roughly away from him and she lost her footing on the sand, falling but suffering no pain for it per say. Jareth locked the door behind them.

Sarah looked over and could see that against a side wall was a much larger door that was currently closed, but she had no clue what it was used for. It wasn't until she looked back at Jareth that her eyes found the wall next to the entrance, where there was a wall that things like body pads and horse bridles and harnesses hung from, but other things like different sorts of whips and a bunch of different and sharp looking metal objects were located there as well. Below the wall, some saddles were laid out as well.

This must be some sort of horse training room, Sarah decided, but why would he bring me here of all places? Sarah pulled herself back to her feet, moving further away from both Jareth and the door when he stepped further into the room.

Jareth's eyes were cold as they raked over her. "You look awful," he sneered, "Like some dirt-poor peasant."

Sarah's pride couldn't help but be hurt by his cutting remark and she looked down at herself, seeing that he was right. The leggings that she had taken from his closet last night were torn in places and dirty everywhere else, and the jacket that she had taken was back in the pit. All she had to cover her top was a now-grubby yellow tank top. She could only imagine what her hair and makeup looked like after last night.

"You will continue to look like a dirt-poor peasant for the rest of your life if you test me any further Sarah, is that understood?" his voice was so full of threat that it was hard to even listen to without shuddering, but she still managed well enough.

"So then… you're not planning to kill me?" she finally forced herself to ask.

Jareth's cold gaze flicked up to her face and she almost wished she had kept her mouth shut. Those mismatched eyes of his were almost too much to look at. He didn't answer her though, instead turning away from her and going over to the wall. Sarah found herself frozen to her spot as she watched him consider the various objects on the wall, and a cold chill shot through her when he reached out and brought down the small cat-o-nine-tails.

Each of the nine little whips had a knot tied at the end of it and the handle was short and just as black and smooth as Jareth's armor. When he turned back to her his face was a careful mask, but nonetheless, she could see the anger in his eyes when he looked at her and she finally found herself able to move away till she was against the wall at the opposite side of the room from him. The distance didn't necessarily make her feel safer though, it would be only a matter of time if he really wanted to catch her, and she had nowhere to run to even if he had left the door unlocked.

"Kill you? I'm not going to kill you, Sarah," he stated matter-of-factly, "I am merely going to humble you. And I think by the time I am through you will see things my way at last."

Sarah couldn't help but feel very relieved that he wouldn't kill her, or at least that he said he wouldn't, but that relief didn't last long at all when he moved closer to her, the little whips swaying from side to side when he walked.

"I hope you realize now just what your situation is, Precious," he sneered, "Tell me, if I were to step aside right now and tell you that you had to leave this castle for what you did where would you go?"

Sarah looked over at the door they had just come in from. Honestly, though she had no clue. She wanted to say that he wasn't being fair, expecting her to come up with an answer when she was so emotionally strung out and tired that it was by no small miracle that she was even standing up now, let alone how difficult thinking was. But she knew that that wasn't really an excuse in this case.

"I'm waiting for an answer, Sarah," Jareth growled out, pulling at the cords of the whip with his free hand.

"The Crying Caves," she blurted out before she could even think of how stupid it was for her to do so. She had belatedly remembered that that was where the worm had said they were going, that there were women there willing to help her. If she had gotten out again, maybe they would still be willing.

Jareth almost looked amused at that. "Really? Is that the only place you can go? Truly I'm sure that is the only place outside my Labyrinth that you have even heard of. Correct?" This time he didn't wait for an answer, but he was right nonetheless. Sarah flinched despite herself when he smacked the whips against his armored outer thigh, showing no signs of ever feeling the contact. "I'm very sorry to be the one to have to break this to you my dear, but I'm afraid that last night the Underground Women all met with a very abrupt and tragic end. You would be venturing into nothing but an open grave if that is where you chose to go."

Sarah couldn't help but openly shudder then. "Y-you killed t-them?!"

Jareth cut in almost before the guilt could fully wash into her. "Don't you dare cry for them, Sarah!" he commanded firmly, his anger plain on his face and in the way he held himself. "Don't you dare shed one tear for those who would have slaughtered you first chance. If you knew the whole story you would be down on your knees before me now, thanking me for stopping you from escaping."

Sarah could barely keep up with what he was saying and her head spun as she tried. "Th-thanking you?" she managed to get out, her disbelief evident in her tone.

"Yes, thanking me," Jareth spat back. He turned on his heel and paced a couple steps slowly first to the right of her than the left like he had done in the ruined Escher room, but this time there was so much more anger in him. "Once again I have done everything for you and you appreciate none of it! Do you know what would have happened to you if you had made it to the Crying Caves last night? The Underground Women never planned to help you. They planned to kill you. Carrie cost them dearly when they had helped her to escape, something they did only because she carried my child in her at the time, and they were still very bitter about it. They said they would help because they wanted to punish her and I both, and they would use you to do so."

By the time her thoughts could keep up with all what Jareth had just said Sarah's heart was pounding in her head and she found herself leaning back against the wall more for support than anything else. "You're lying," she accused him against the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Jareth's eyes flashed dangerously and he advanced on her then. Sarah's fear kicked up to a new level and she tried to regain her footing enough to run, crying out in fear when Jareth seized her arm and swung her over in a way that caused her to trip and fall onto her side in the sand, his hand never letting go of her elbow as he brought the whip down sharply on her now exposed backside. Sarah shrieked at the pain of it. "I do not lie, do not accuse me of such again," he ordered, his eyes still flashing as he glared down at her.

Sarah's entire backside burned unmercifully, feeling like he had hit her with fire rather than a whip. It was so much worse than the crop had been when last he used it. She wasn't sure if it was because of the knots tied to the end, the fact that it was like being whipped nine times all at once, or because he had put some force behind it. All she knew what that it hurt terribly and she didn't want him to use it on her again. Sarah looked down at the sand rather than at those eyes of his and tried hard not to cry out any more than she already had.

Apparently, that wasn't enough though. "Apologize to me right now," Jareth ordered.

Sarah's pride burned at the thought of apologizing to him for anything at all after he had whipped her, but when he brought the whip up again she quickly thought better of it. "I'm sorry!" she cried out so quickly it almost didn't even sound like she was speaking English when she said it.

Jareth didn't bring the whip down, but he didn't swing it either, his other hand tightening on her arm when she tried to pull away. His voice was very calm and serious when he spoke again. "I do not lie, Sarah. They plotted to slay you and keep my son as a prisoner. You would have walked right into their trap."

Sarah's mouth had gone dry and her throat felt tight. They wouldn't have…

Surely, he was-

The worm wouldn't have allowed-

Her throat seemed to completely close for a moment and she couldn't breathe in to save her life, causing her heart to beat faster as she automatically panicked and Sarah started gasping for breath. Jareth could see she was having an attack and let go of her arm so that she could roll onto her stomach, struggling to get enough air into her lungs as her mind seemed to fly everywhere at once. She was vaguely aware of Jareth's hand on her back, grounding her. It was his voice that cut through the panic and gave her something to focus on though. "Breathe, Sarah. You're not going to die. The Underground Women can never hurt you nor my son ever again. You're safe from them."

She just couldn't believe it, she would have walked blindly into her own death. And if she had taken Toby with her… oh God!

"You must calm yourself, Sarah," Jareth coaxed. "Breathe."

Sarah tried to do as he said this time, focusing on her breathing to try to calm down. She managed to get in a shaky breath and then focused very hard on doing so again. Jareth said nothing more for a few minutes, his hand still resting against her back as she finally got her breathing under control and came out of her small panic attack. Her emotions were boiling over on her now though and now instead of panicking, she was left with tears rolling down her face in large wet drops, falling to the sand beneath her and darkening it.

Once she was at least calm again, Jareth continued. "You needn't be so dramatic, Sarah. You were never really in danger of walking into their trap. If I hadn't known in advance about your little plans you would have never even made it out of this room last night."

Sarah's confusion at what he was saying helped cut through her sorrow and she sniffed back her tears, eventually looking back over her shoulder at him for an explanation. The mask was back on his face as he met her gaze. "W-what?"

Jareth raised one condescending brow at her then. "You didn't really think you got out of here all on your own last night? Clearly, you have no idea just how many obstacles I had to move out of your way for your scheme to work at all. I spent the better part of the day making sure you could escape."

Sarah was completely lost for words and could only listen as he continued.

"I can hardly remember all the things I had to do, but let's see, shall we?" Jareth asked in a mockingly flippant tone as he made a show of tapping his chin like he was trying to remember, "First I had to make sure that your lessons were located near the kitchens. Rally had planned to teach you in a room halfway across the castle. So, you're welcome for that," he bit out, "Then, of course, I ordered the kitchen knocker to let you in. He would never have on his own by the way. I can scarcely imagine what you would have done then… so you're welcome for that as well. I suppose you should also thank me for making sure the brownies weren't around long enough that you could use the poison, then for not throwing it out after you had stuck your hand in the sauce, glad to see you're ok by the way," he sneered.

Sarah didn't want to hear anymore, "Stop it!" she hissed.

"You will listen!" Jareth shouted back, causing her to flinch once more before continuing. "Then, of course, there is the matter of locked doors. Every night that we have spent together I have locked the door to my room before bunking down, I'm surprised you never even noticed that I didn't do so last night, but then I'm sure your mind was elsewhere. Goodness, what would you have done if you had gone to leave only to find the door locked? Toby's door is also locked every night by the way, but not last night. And as a bonus, the door to the garden is locked down tight every night as well, the same as every entrance and exit to my castle." He paused and tapped his chin again, but his eyes were still focused sharply on her. "My, my, it seems you have even more to thank me for than you ever could have known. Unless of course, you already had planned a way to get past such barriers, in which case I would love to know how, " he concluded in a mockingly interested voice.

Ishapell really must have heard everything, and apparently, she hadn't been stingy on the details. Sarah's head spun with this new information. Not only had he known the entire time, but he had been setting her up to ultimately fail. But she couldn't see why he would do such a thing unless he was just that hell-bent on being able to laugh at her.

"Why would you do that?" Sarah gasped, her earlier anxiety at least put on the back burner if not forgotten as she twisted back over to her side, his hand falling from her back to return to his own side.

Jareth shrugged then. "I wanted to know what you would do. And besides, I wasn't going to easily pass up an opportunity to finally confront that simple-minded worm."

"You tried to kill him," Sarah scowled before she could even think about her actions.

Jareth didn't seem angry though as he shrugged again. "He tried to run. He wouldn't be able to run if he was dead."

"He didn't try, he succeeded," Sarah sniffed as she turned her head away from him.

Jareth reached out then and firmly gripped her chin in his hand, forcing her to look back at him as anger flashed in his eyes once more. "Don't you jerk your chin at me, little girl," he warned in a very low voice.

This time Sarah wisely kept her mouth shut. After a few moments, Jareth released her chin. This time she didn't turn away.

Jareth seemed to pull back on some of his anger in response to this. Her eyes darted to the cat-o-nine-tails sitting on the sand next to him and he noticed as much because he turned to look at it, his hand reaching out to stroke the handle like it was a forgotten lover or something. "You needn't be so afraid, Sarah. I am not nearly so angry with you for trying to run away as I once was. This is merely… in case you continue to upset me further." He turned back to her and although he claimed to no longer be angry, his eyes still told her that now wasn't the time to test him on such a promise.

"Truthfully, I am pleased by the outcomes of you trying to escape."

Sarah frowned at that. "What outcomes?" she asked hesitantly, almost afraid of the answer she would get.

"Well, for one thing, I no longer have to worry about the Underground Women presenting me with any problems," he smiled coldly, sending chills racing through Sarah.

She would have found that answer disturbing enough, but he continued. "Then, of course, there are the smaller matters such as knowing that my castle is, in fact, secure from the inside out unless I make it otherwise and knowing that my subjects here are loyal to me, as they should be. Not to mention the fact that this entire situation has allowed you to get this whole escaping idea out of your head."

A look of doubt slipped over Sarah's face before she could stop it and she braced herself for Jareth's wrath. It didn't come though and Jareth simply chuckled.

"Now don't argue with me, sweet thing. Of course, you have no reason to try running away anymore. After all, now you can tell yourself that you honestly tried everything you could and should be able to accept your destiny just as you should have in the beginning. There is no running from our fates, Sarah, and yours is crossed with mine. Not to mention the fact that this was your best chance and it failed dismally before you could even set it up."

Sarah's anger was boiling up again as he continued to critique her escape and try to tell her how pointless everything she had done was. He was insufferable with how he gloated and held it over her head. She shifted around to get up and when he gave her more room rather than going for the whip, she took the opportunity to get back to her feet and put some more space between them. She couldn't leave the room as it was locked, but she was having just about her fill of Jareth's arrogance and overconfidence.

He continued to sit on the sand rather than following her, leaning back on his arms in a relaxed manner. "Not to mention the fact that if you ever did make it back to your world you would have no place to return to."

Sarah stopped in her tracks at that and looked back over her shoulder at him. The bastard was so relaxed looking that you could have thought he was sunning at the beach rather than in fully body armor in this awful room full of sand. "What does that mean?"

Jareth's lips curled up into an evil smirk but he said nothing.

Sarah turned to give him her full attention then. He was probably just saying things to mess with her, to make her think all was lost, but there was also this terrible feeling forming in her stomach that maybe he wasn't. "If you did something to my father…" she warned him, not caring if her threats did make him angry with her or not.

Jareth chuckled at that. "Not your father anymore."

"What are you talking about?!" Sarah demanded, tired of his game as her heart continued to hammer in her chest. At this rate, she would have a heart attack by the time she was twenty.

Jareth summoned up a crystal and turned it over in his hands expertly, making it go this way and that over his palm and wrist. "You see Sarah, while you thought the Underground Women would agree to help you back to your world, they had actually made up their minds to send something else there in your stead."

He tossed her the crystal and it fell to the sand in front of her feet. She didn't want to touch it, afraid of what would happen, but instead, she knelt for a better look when she saw an image move inside of it. She considered the crystal… she could see her face reflected in it, but suddenly the face turned and Sarah could see that it wasn't actually her reflection she was looking at but a girl who looked like her… a lot like her… like a clone.

Her clone was being walked into the front door of her house, looking just as tired and worn out as the man that walked with her. Sarah almost didn't recognize him for the grown in facial hair and the scruff on his head, but there was no doubt that that was her daddy! "W-what is this?!"

"It is a changeling, Sarah, or a doppelganger if you will. The Underground Women love children, but all they can make on their own are these horrific creatures with the ability of glamour. They use these offspring to switch out with human children. This time they intended to switch it out for you and my son. Apparently, Carrie killed the second shifter, but yours survived. It's just like you in every way… on the surface."

Sarah could only watch in horror as inside the crystal her father led her counterfeit into her home. Her chest hurt and the pain was just building as her father leaned over and placed a kiss against that thing wearing her face's head.

"NO!" Sarah screamed, slapping her hands down on either side of the crystal, causing the sand around them to jump. "That's not me! That's not me, Daddy!" she screamed, knowing deep down that would do nothing, but having no better ideas of what she should do. As they closed the door behind them she looked back up at Jareth, tears already stinging her eyes at the hopelessness of her situation. "He thinks it's me!" she wailed.

"Of course, he does. Why would he have any reason to believe otherwise?"

"IT'S NOT ME!" Sarah screamed again, slapping the crystal and some of the sand it was on away from herself. The crystal rolled halfway across the room before it stopped, but her own sadness and anger continued to build as she held herself for lack of a better alternative. "Why wouldn't Karen tell him it's not me?!" she wailed, not caring in the least about the spectacle she was making or how Jareth may take her actions.

Jareth's face and tone were as emotionless as stone when he answered. "Because she's dead. I don't know how exactly, but I assure you that Carrie… Karen as you knew her… is dead."

Sarah just about choked on her own gasp, feeling like the last of the floor just slipped out from under her or something. She felt like she was going to drown in all her tears but she just couldn't stop. She had nothing to hope for now. There was no one who was going to help her, going to come save her. Her stomach clenched up tight from the emptiness her despair filled it with and she couldn't help but wonder for a moment if she would end up making herself sick from crying so much.

Jareth got up from his spot on the sand and slowly made his way over to her. Once he seemed sure that she would not strike out at him or anything he knelt behind her again, running his hands comfortingly through her hair. "Don't be so upset, precious. Truly it's not as bad as you think it is. Your father thinks that he has you back safe at home. Isn't that better than him living the rest of his life not knowing where you are or if you are alright? You couldn't return to him anyway, but the changeling could go to him. Her being there will ease his pain. He can be happy again. Isn't that nice?"

His words slowly wore off the edges of Sarah's outrage, like waves on the stones. She loved her father dearly, she wanted him to be happy of course. But still, that wasn't her! She should be the one at home with him, not trapped in this castle for the rest of her life. How could she go back there with that changeling around though? Her father was a very practical man who never believed in things like magic and mystic beings. How could she ever hope for him to understand the situation? He'd end up in the loony bin before he would understand a story about magic. And with Carrie dead, he was all alone… And he was happy…

Sarah could ignore the tears no longer as all her frustrations and sadness and loss came spilling out in violent sobs that filled the training room. She cried so hard that it was only mere seconds before her throat was raw and her stomach rolled like she would be sick if she didn't calm down fast. She ran out of air just after that and although her body still tried to cry no more sound came from her mouth as she struggled to calm enough for air lest she either pass out or throw up. She had to calm down, her brain was screaming at her to, but she didn't want to calm down. She wanted to keep crying just as hard and as loudly as she possibly could for as long as she could. She wanted it all out. She was sick of feeling on the verge of tears all the time. She wanted to cry until her body was so empty of tears that she would never have to cry again.

Jareth held her as she did so, and for a while she ignored him, but eventually, she lost even that fight as her body ached to be held as she wept. Jareth pulled her more snuggly into his arms and whispered soft things to her as she cried hysterically.

He was right, he was right about it all damn it! She had nowhere to go if she ever did leave this world. How could she go home now?! He life had first been stolen from her by Jareth, but now that changeling had stolen her only hope of ever returning to it. It had been so hard for her to escape the first time, and it turned out that Jareth knew and had been using it to his advantage the whole time! Jareth was cruel to her. Every time she found a friend they ended up betraying her. Her only real friends were in the dungeons for helping her. She had nothing here!

At this realization, anger crept up on her again on her emotional roller coaster from hell and she wanted to scream at the sheer injustice of it. It wasn't just unfair this time, there was no word or phrase she could think of to just how much she didn't deserve any of this. Maybe she hadn't been a straight A student who could do no wrong and who all the guys fell over and all the girls wanted to be like, but it had always seemed to her like those were the ones that ended up on the news all the time for dying from drugs or something else illegal. She was just another girl, one of a million who went to school and tried to get passing grades, kept just a few friends, and would occasionally fight with her family. She had been living a normal life.

Then Jareth had come along and changed it all, throwing her into a world she did not know and forcing her into a place that her personal puzzle piece just didn't belong. And she had worked so hard to fit into that spot long enough so that she could get away. She had been walking on egg shells and cow-towing to Jareth's backward thinking… all for nothing.

Well, Jareth had overlooked an outcome of her failed escape as far as she was concerned. He had overlooked the fact that now that she had nothing, she would have no reason to put up with his cruelty and ideals! When she thought of all the times she had kept her mouth shut… all the times she had allowed him to make her do something that she didn't want to… and she had done it all with a smile bolted to her face!

Sarah may have welcomed his comfort moments ago, but with her rage coursing through her like this she wanted nothing to do with him. She pushed away from him and since he wasn't expecting it she did manage to get his arms to release her momentarily, but before she could remove herself from his lap his hands re-caught her and he tried to pull her back to him.

"Let go of me right now!" Sarah growled out, twisting around as she attempted to throw his hands from her arms. When his grip slipped on one arm he simply wrapped his arm around her back to pull her closer, making it so she could do even less to struggle against him. Sarah screamed then in response to the anger that surged through her at him refusing to let go of her and she continued to pull away despite the look of anger on his face. She didn't care anymore though. He could go get the cat-o-nine-tails for all she cared. She just couldn't stand to do whatever he wanted and play the part of his own personal doll any longer!

"Sarah, stop it," Jareth ordered as she continued to fight him.

She didn't listen, of course, screaming again when he tilted forward so that she fell back against the sand and he was on her in an instant, using his weight as well as his strength to pin her down, trapping her right arm beneath her own body in the process. No matter how hard Sarah tried, she couldn't pull her trapped arm free from beneath her and Jareth's combined weight. She pushed against his shoulder instead with her one free hand. Jareth grabbed it though and forced that back against the sand by her head. "Sarah, stop this right now!" he growled, his eyes full of his own anger.

She met his glare full on with one of her own, "Or what?!" she hissed. "You'll lock me back in the dungeon? Make me some sort of slave? Beat me? Take away my life? YOU'VE ALREADY DONE ALL THAT!" she screamed. This time tears of anger were falling back from her eyes, falling fat and hot back from the corners of her eyes. "Go ahead, Jareth! Do it! I don't care! I don't care! I don't care!" she wailed, squirming around beneath him as she attempted again to free her arms. "You have no power over me anymore! You've taken away everything I cared about."

Jareth continued to hold her down, but at her words, the anger on his face seemed to change over into something else. He looked down at her with something akin to astonishment. His mouth even gaped open a little bit for a moment before he closed it again. "How can you be so foolish to even begin to think that for even a moment? Taken everything from you? I think not. I have tried to give you so much, your dreams as a matter of fact, and you have done nothing but throw it back in my face every time. You've done more than enough to try even my patience."

He shifted more weight against her torso so that he could keep her from squirming. "Get off me!" Sarah growled again, turning her head away rather than looking him in the eye. He used his free hand to grip her chin once more and made her face him.

"You will listen to me this time! What do you think, that I just pulled you into my Labyrinth for no reason? The ugly truth of that matter, Precious, is that I never intended to have you run my Labyrinth at all. You asked for that chance. You wanted to come here! Maybe it was to win back my son, but just the same you asked that the child be taken and I took him. You asked that I let you come here and run my Labyrinth and I let you. As a reward for your win, I gave you your dreams, as promised in the beginning. How many times did you dream of being in the book I had left you, to be part of the story? Or all the times you had longed for someone to simply show up one day and fall in love with you? Every little girl wishes to be a princess, and you were no exception to the rule.

"I didn't steal you away, you wanted to come here. Maybe you didn't wish for this specifically, but who's fault is that? Everything else you wished for at one point or another in your life. I granted it to you."

Sarah was shaken by his lunatic views, trying hard to come up with counter arguments but she could do little more than shake her head as he continued. "And as for you not caring if you became a slave or not, I can guarantee you that no matter how miserable you think your life will be as my queen, it will be tenfold so if you force me to make you my servant instead. You would become like Torik, Sarah. Just like him, you would become my pet, able to do absolutely nothing and go nowhere without permission. You wouldn't be allowed to ask me for anything but could only accept whatever I feel generous enough to give you. You would do demeaning chores for me during the day and at night you would serve as nothing more than a body for my use, having no say whatsoever in how I take pleasure from you. And you will not be allowed to interact with my son at all, but rather sit quietly and watch as I take a wife and allow her to help me in raising my children instead."

Jareth licked his lips as though they had gone dry from talking so much. Sarah could see from the look on his face that such a future didn't appeal to him any more than it did to her and she couldn't even bring herself to thinking of living such a life. Surely that wasn't what it was really like for Torik? But now that she thought of it… she really had no reason to believe it was any other way for him. And it would be worse for her, at least he and Ishapell seemed to really care for each other. She found it hard to even like Jareth, much less care about him. And Toby… to be so close and yet have no part in his life…

Jareth's hand on her chin let go and moved to stroke her cheek in an act of tenderness. "You accuse me of taking everything from you, Sarah. You couldn't be more wrong. I can give you so much more if you'd allow me. I want to give you more. If you would only allow me to do so I would give you love, a family, a purpose, and everything you could ever want as well as everything you'll ever need. You picked a terrible time to cause this whole mess, Sarah, but it can all still work. You can still be the queen I know you can be, and the wife and mother that you should be."

She found herself unable to move enough to do little else than blink as he brought his lips down to hers in a faint touch. She didn't even close her eyes at the contact she was so stunned as his words raced around her head. Jareth drew back and the anger she had seen before was gone. His hand which had pinned hers down no longer did because it wasn't necessary, her hand was a dead weight against the sand as his gloved fingers stroked over her palm. "You still have Toby, Sarah, and he still needs you just as much as I do. Make no mistake though, the main reason I am still willing to make you my wife is because I know how much you love him, as you demonstrated last night when you left him behind. I can think of no woman in this world or the next who could make a better mother for him."

Sarah didn't know what to do, what to say. What could she say? How could she argue? Her head swam and she felt lost amongst the currents, looking for her lifesaver and finding none.

Jareth saw her uncertainty and placed a tender kiss against her jaw. "I made you an offer once that you called unfair, but I think now you can understand just how wrong you were about that. I offer you this last time, the choice to be my wife. I refuse to go on with the rest of my life like we have for the last two weeks. This time I want you to choose, and know that it is indeed what you have chosen and not what I have forced upon you. If you agree to be my wife then I will expect you to make an effort in being so. Don't agree to be so and then change your mind the second I ask something of you that you may not like. I will ask you once and only once, and I want a straight answer. Are you ready?"

Ready? Sarah was having trouble thinking straight, just trying to keep up with everything he was saying, let alone understanding it. She was sleep and food deprived, and so emotionally drained she could hardly think at all. She wanted to close her eyes and keep them closed for at least the next five days.

Jareth didn't wait though, and his face was dead serious as he spoke. "Sarah, will you agree to be my wife, rather than fighting me on it?"

Sarah tried to get her thoughts to focus. Should she say yes? Could she? But then how could she say no? It was the exact same choice as before when she had first arrived. Either way, Jareth would have his way, she would be his wife. If she fought him on it God only knew what hardships awaited her yet. If she agreed things could be easier for her, but how could she agree to be his wife? Her mind flashed to Toby and her heart swelled. How could she refuse to be his mother when he had none? Besides, he was all she had left.

"Time's up, Sarah," Jareth drawled. "I will have my answer now or I will walk out of this room and leave you in here for a month!"

Her stomach leaped at her fear. "I- y-yes!" she stammered out.

Jareth frowned at that. "Is it yes then? That you agree to be my wife?"

Sarah couldn't say it again, so instead, she nodded her head weakly, feeling her heart fall to her gut as she did so. She still had Toby, that was the only thing in this world she had. All that mattered was that she kept him. Jareth would never harm his child, but he had managed to find other ways of using him as leverage against her. And she honestly didn't want to spend the rest of her life being treated as a prisoner. "Y-yes," she managed to get out, feeling like her mind was completely shutting down and she was sure she was falling into shock.

Jareth's eyes were intense like he hadn't expected her to ever agree and was afraid now that she would take it back. He brought his head down to her again, "Then kiss me, precious, kiss me like a wife should kiss her husband."

Sarah's free hand seemed to move of its own accord as it came up to trace the line of Jareth's strong jaw, the curve of his high cheekbone, going higher to touch the soft tresses of his silken hair. It felt like she was in a daze as she brought her head up the slight distance and pushed her lips against his in a soft touch at first, turning sweet as she moved her lips against his, brushing and sucking softly against his own till he responded, moving his lips against her as well. Both his hands came up to cup her head and he angled them so that he could deepen the kiss, making her open for him and he tasted her as if he were a starved man, his tongue stroking her just as softly and sweetly as his lips had and she tried to make her own tongue do the same. It was honestly a very good kiss, despite the circumstances.

Jareth pulled back from her slightly, a satisfied smirk on his face. She turned her head away, her mind both spinning and still as she laid there, the feel of him still pressed against her lips.

X

[On a side note, tomorrow (the 19th) is my 22nd birthday so this is kind of my gift to myself to get this chapter posted now : ) ]

[[Above note was posted with origional story. Just a few days ago I turned 28, just to give a time frame reference of how old this chapter is at least. ]]