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

37. Chapter 37

There was no wet nurse, so there was no one else to watch the new babe. This was something Sarah found out right away that Jareth and Mavid expected her to do. She had thrown down her defense of acting placatory towards Jareth to curse him for springing that on her and ask why Mavid couldn't take care of his own son.

He hadn't gotten angry back at her like she expected, speaking to her like he was trying to calm her down as he explained that there was no need for a wet nurse and that taking care of Mavias would be great practice for her for when they had their own child. The only thing that kept her from throwing something hard and sharp at him was that at that moment she had had the baby in her arms and she honestly wasn't about to throw him! She had nothing against the baby. After all, he couldn't help anything that was going on. It wasn't his fault that his mother had died during birth, or that Mavid and Jareth were thoughtless and chauvinistic, or that he cried every time he needed anything and just seemed to always need something.

Jareth and Mavid had turned to leave then, and when Sarah protested being left alone with the newborn Jareth simply waved off her concerns. "Don't worry Sarah, if anyone in this castle can care for a baby it is you. Mavid and I need tonight to prepare the castle as much as we can for the child's care and safety."

"But-"

He placed a kiss against her lips to silence her, running his hand over the newborn's forehead. "This is just for tonight Sarah, by tomorrow we should be able to move him into our room with us to make his night care easier for you."

"I'm not going to raise him by myself," she had protested, although it sounded more like a whine.

"Of course not, just watch him while Mavid and I attend to meeting his needs." Without giving her a chance to say more, he had bid her and both children goodnight and left, closing the nursery door behind him.

If someone had told Sarah how that those first couple nights with the new babe in the castle was going to go she might not have fully believed them, so there really would have been no way for anyone to prepare her for it. Mavias had been cribbed in Toby's nursery for the first night since it was the warmest place for him to be; and although Sarah had expected Toby to fuss and throw fits over it so far he had done nothing of the sort. Instead he had surprised her by wanting to help with the baby in all ways, offering to find a toy it could hold and making funny little faces at the crib side to stop Mavias from crying… and cry he did.

Sarah felt blessed that Toby was not doing anything to aggravate the situation or Mavias, because it seemed as though everything else did that plenty. He had cried twice for food and once for a change the first night he had stayed in Toby's nursery and once or twice it seemed like he cried just because. Sarah had ended up sleeping what little she could in the nursery amongst some of Toby's stuffed animals since it was far too cold in either her room or Jareth's to move him in there, but the nursery was warm and cozy and in all honesty if it hadn't been for her repeatedly being woken up by Mavias crying she could have possibly had the best sleep she had gotten in a while with no cold and no Jareth to waken her.

Toby whined every time Mavias cried that night and woke him up, but he would roll over and fall back asleep once she got to her feet to go sooth him.

The next day Jareth had been the one to wake her up, carrying her from the nursery back into his room so that she could have a proper nap before the children woke up again and she had been surprised to find that the room was almost as warm as the nursery, Jareth having stayed up most of the night using magic to make adjustments to it so that the balcony was now gone, replaced by wall and the cold had a much harder time getting through the stones. The fireplace had almost doubled its size to combat that which did manage to get in.

Far too tired to fight or resist in any useful way, Sarah had just laid there as Jareth kissed her head and praised her for taking care of the babe during the night, informing her that now that it was fit to do so they would move the child into this room with them so Sarah wouldn't have to spend her nights in the nursery till he started sleeping through the night. She might have screamed at him more if she had had the energy, but as it was her eyes had simply fluttered shut and she had fallen asleep.

X

That had been almost a week ago. The only thing that had seemed to change so far involving Mavias was that now he cried all night in their room and Sarah was no longer allowed to sleep in her own bed. The few times that Jareth had gotten up when Mavias cried was only to take him out of his crib and bring him and a bottle to her to see to. So she had spent much of her week dead tired.

They all had come to the Devine Castle for a visit today, everyone from Jareth to Torik, so that Jareth's parents and even Erib could see the newborn themselves. They had been awing over him for close to an hour already and Sarah found herself growing tired of sitting. Honestly though she was just tired in general at this point. A week of little to no sleep had that effect.

Sarah rubbed at her heavy eyelids with her free hand, holding Mavias against her shoulder as she lightly patted his back to burp him, a spit rag draped over her shoulder. She had thought Karen had forced her to help out a lot with Toby… boy was she wrong. Mavias managed to burp finally and immediately started fussing again. Sarah could feel her own lip curl as she started to rock him, humming to him to try to quiet him down. "I feel like I'm always doing something wrong because you never stop crying at me," she admitted to him, fighting off the tiredness from her voice.

"Let me try holding him then," Kaleen offered, holding her hands out to Sarah from where she sat next to her on the little loveseat. "I promise to give him back," she laughed when Sarah hesitated.

"Sarah let her hold him," Jareth ordered, giving her a pointed look from one of the other seats located in the overly refined sitting room of the Devine Castle.

Sarah bit back her urge to scowl at him since it wouldn't make any difference and probably just get her in trouble and handed over Mavias, keeping a protective eye on him as Kaleen started cooing at him and brushing her fingers over his little tummy in an effort to calm him down.

Despite his fussiness Sarah still couldn't help but have reservations about handing him off to others. Jareth and Mavid had taken him and Toby both during the day a few times, but night time care and seeing that he was washed and fed were almost always left completely up to her up till now. She hadn't been able to help forming a level of attachment to the babe with all the time spent to him. She just wished he wouldn't cry all the time, it made her feel like she was failing him somehow. That only helped to stress her out even more about this whole thing.

She wasn't the only one who had formed an attachment, for at that very moment Toby had moved himself from Jareth's lap over to Kaleen, leaning against her knees as he reminded her to hold the babe's head. Toby had been surprisingly wonderful about the new babe from the very first night. He still wanted to hold him and help out in ways he just couldn't yet, but Sarah had let him help with the babe's feeding a couple times after showing him how to do it properly. Toby had loved that. It almost seemed like he understood that Mavias was brought into the castle for him. Like a new toy that he was allowing her and Jareth to put together so that he could reap the final rewards of loving it and playing with it.

Sarah suppressed another yawn and leaned her head against her hand, her elbow propped against the couch. To her surprise nobody chided her for doing something so improper… but honestly she probably would have laughed if Jareth had scolded her for posture when sitting. Granted right now he was sitting all right and proper in his chair, discussing something with his father in that fae language of his again, but Sarah knew he much preferred to lounge about with at least one leg propped up.

"Are you alright Sarah?" Ishapelle whispered to her from her other side on the couch, trying not to draw attention.

"Just tired," Sarah whispered back. "I'm good." honestly she was too tired to put up a front of propriety.

Her attention got pulled away when Jareth suddenly turned from his father and called over to Toby, still speaking in that fae language of theirs as he said something to his son. Sarah watched as Toby turned to his father and went back over to stand next to his chair, possibly having been told to do so. Jareth, his father, Mavid and Erib were all seated around each other and Sarah bit down an impulse to call Toby away from them now that their attentions were focused on him. She could only watch though as Jareth said something to him that she didn't understand, then as King Hamold said something else.

Her heart practically clenched when Toby laughed and for some reason unknown to her lifted up his shirt to expose his belly to them, saying something back in a few of their fae words. They all chuckled at him and Mavid reached out to poke at the side of Toby's waist playfully, causing Toby to have a fit of giggles as he dropped his shirt back down and moved in front of Jareth's knees, saying something else Sarah didn't understand before Jareth lifted him back onto his lap.

Ishapelle had seen her watching this and knew that she wouldn't understand what had been said. "They were commenting on him loosing his baby fat. Toby showed them how much."

Although that had been a part of it, not knowing what they had been saying had only been the tip of the iceberg for Sarah's anxiety on this. When Toby spoke in that weird fae language with Jareth… it almost felt like he wasn't the human baby she knew anymore. He was growing more into his fae ancestry right before her eyes and she didn't like it. She would never be able to do such a thing; would always and forever be a human from the Aboveground made to live in the Underground. Toby could grow into this world yet… she was starting to feel like she never could. She still didn't really accept that this was her home now. It felt nothing like her home.

When Toby spoke in that other language though it made her realize beyond doubt that this was his home.

She felt a tingle in the tip of her nose that meant she was very close to crying and she stood up quickly from next to the queen, only half excusing herself from the room before hurrying out and into the hall before anyone could question her beyond more than the looks they gave her. By the time she reached the hall a few tears had already slipped down her cheeks and she could only wipe them out of the way for the new ones that fell right behind them. She hurried down the hall, scared that someone might follow her from the room and find her like this, ducking into one of the ornate doors that was unlocked. She was thankful to find that it appeared to be an unused guest room and she leaned her back against the door as she tried to get a grip on herself.

She hadn't meant to start crying like this, she wanted only for it to stop, but the more she tried to make it the worse it got. Before she knew it she was gasping for air between her heavy sobs and had sunk halfway to the floor, unable to hold herself up. She had to stop this now! She felt so embarrassed by her unexpected reaction, wanting to slide into a hole somewhere and never come out. Even when she did stop crying she knew it would take forever for her face to rid itself of the red splotches it took on when she cried and for her eyes to stop looking glassy from the tears. One step back into the lounge room and everyone would know!

The thought of Mavid, Clora, and Hamold knowing she cried like this scared her in particular. What would Jareth say? What would the rest of them say?!

Sarah almost choked on her own gasp when there was a light tap on the door she was propped up against and she squeezed her eyes tight as her head dropped in defeat. Already she had been found out. They must have heard her sobs from out in the hall.

"Sarah," came Ishapelle's soft voice, "Will you please let me in?"

Sarah couldn't speak, she didn't trust her voice not to waver enough to do so, she didn't want to open the door though, as if that would keep the female from learning what she was doing in here.

"Sarah, please open the door. Jareth sent me to check on you. It's only me out here," she coaxed softly.

There was no fighting it. Either she could open the door and face Ishapelle, or she could not and no doubt that would force the fae to go back to get Jareth. She forced herself to her feet and opened the door a crack, but still couldn't wrangle in all her sorrows as Ishapelle stepped into the room with her, closing the door behind her when she saw the state Sarah was in. Sarah waited for whatever reaction Ishapelle had to give, figuring that she would urge her to get a hold of herself or ask her why she was upset. Ishapelle did none of those things however, and when she simply pulled Sarah to her in a comforting hug Sarah only needed a moment to overcome her shock before she clung onto the female, bawling like a baby into the female's shoulder as she stroked her hair and whispered small comforts to her in a way that was so much like Jareth and at the same time completely different.

They stood like that for a long time, or what seemed like it to Sarah anyway. She managed to reduce her sobs to mere sniffles with Ishapelle comforting her as best she could. "I m-miss m-m-my home," Sarah gasped out as she fought to control the last bought of tears she had in her.

"I'm sorry," Ishapelle whispered to her calmly, continuing to hold her. "I wish this was more like the world you came to us from for your own sake, and I know this world could never replace yours… but there are those here that do care about you, even though it might not always seem that way." She pulled back a little and Sarah let her, thankful when Ishapelle fished out her kerchief, dabbing at the tears on Sarah's cheeks before handing it over to her. Sarah managed to control her breathing back into something more normal as she wiped at her eyes.

Those that cared about her… she supposed so, obviously Toby, and she was willing to see now that Ishapelle did, Jareth seemed to have his moments honestly. She let out a defeated sigh and handed Ishapelle back her kerchief, her fit over and done with now and leaving her feeling even more tired than she had been before. She just wanted to lay down and never get out of bed again right now. She certainly wasn't any happier than she had been before, but she wasn't sobbing uncontrollably so that was something in her favor she supposed.

Her mind drifted back to Mavias crying all night and keeping her up and she fought the urge to slump with everything she had. He had still been fussing when she had left the room. "Is Mavias still crying?" she asked, knowing how random it probably sounded to Ishapelle given what had just happened.

"He had stopped when I came to find you. I think Mavid was holding him."

Sarah nodded her head in understanding, still thinking about how wonderful a nap would be right now. "Do I look like I've been crying?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"We can wait in her another minute or two. We'll say we had to take care of womanly business. Males never question that sort of thing if they don't have to."

That coaxed a very small smile to Sarah's lips. "Ishapelle… thank you."

X

Something was very off about her, something wrong. Jareth was willing to place money down that she had cried when they had visited the Devine Castle, but when he had asked her about it after they had left she had completely closed up on him and refused to acknowledge it. He had taken the cue to not press her on it, not really needing verbal confirmation at that point. After arriving back at the castle though she had simply taken both Mavias and Toby without comment or complaint and led them to the nursery to get them both changed from the trip and ready for supper.

Jareth watched from the doorway to the nursery, leaning against the frame as he watched Sarah fasten the snaps on Toby's green vest, Mavias was already changed, wiped down, and was currently resting in Toby's crib. "I'm hungy!" Toby whined, bouncing a little to hinder Sarah's progress.

"Hold still and you can eat soon," she said, even her tone sounding more hushed and subdued than Jareth had ever heard it before. It was like she didn't know he was standing there… like she barely knew Toby was standing right in front of her. Like she wasn't really in the room at all. Jareth didn't like it, and wasn't sure what to do about it. The sound of footsteps in the hall pulled his attention and he looked up from Sarah and his son to see Mavid coming down the hall towards him.

"Are we about ready? Supper was to be served a few minutes ago," the male pointed out.

Jareth nodded his head in agreement, but offered no solution as he turned back to his wife and child. Toby was just about done, Sarah hadn't changed out of her traveling dress though. He stepped up to her, feeling uncertain about his approach almost as though he were coming up on a wild faun and didn't want to scare it. "Sarah, how about I finish getting the boys ready and you go change into one of your dinner dresses?" he suggested.

Sarah made no protests, keeping uncharacteristically quiet as she simply dropped Toby's trousers back to the ground in front of him and left the room, Mavid staring after her in confusion when she didn't even so much as glare at him. Jareth watched too till she had closed the door to her room softly behind her across the hall. He then turned and stooped down in front of Toby, having him lay on his back so he could slip his pants on. "Mommy?" Toby asked, as though he also could tell something was wrong. Maybe he could.

"What's the matter with her?" Mavid asked offhandedly, going over to the crib to run his fingers over his own son's face and head.

Jareth was just about to say he didn't know when an ear shattering scream erupted from across the hall, causing everyone in the nursery to about jump out of their skins.

The scream was closely followed by a loud BANG from something and in less than a second Mavid had unsheathed a dagger and run out of the nursery to Sarah's room where the commotion had come from. Jareth swooped Toby up and deposited him in the crib with Mavias just as Toby started to cry from his fright and he hurried after Mavid, slamming the door to the nursery shut behind him just as Mavid pushed in the door to Sarah's room.

Jareth jumped once more when another of her screams spilled out at them, wordless but for the emotions that formed the horrid noise, and another loud BANG was closely followed by the sound of something shattering.

"Gods!" Mavid swore as he plowed into the room, Jareth running up his heels. They both stopped inside the door at the sight they were greeted with, too stunned for so much as thoughts.

From her screams Jareth had thought her to be in trouble of life-threatening measures… but that was in no way the case. She completely ignored their presence (or possibly hadn't noticed them at all) as she hollered like a woman possessed and ran through her already disheveled room in only her under-things, knocking things from her vanity before pulling down the vanity itself. The mirror shattered all over the floor to join the ripped up books and splintered sitting chair.

Jareth could feel his own jaw drop when she ran deeper into her closet then, tearing at her dresses and throwing about her shoes and jewelry as tears and sweat pored down her face. She had gone mad! She was absolutely hell bent on destroying everything!

Mavid looked back to Jareth, completely lost as to what he should do and Jareth had nothing to offer him that would be in any way reassuring. When Sarah let out another shriek that could have made a banshee cringe and started snapping apart pieces of her jewelry, completely ignoring the cuts the stones were slicing into her hands and the subsequent blood that was running down to her elbows and onto the floor and mess, Jareth rushed forward and acted on pure instinct as he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind her, pinning her arms to her sides in an effort to restrain her as she continued to fight against him and scream out her anger and sadness. She was saying something now but he couldn't understand it through her fits.

Mavid stepped forward to help Jareth restrain her, but Jareth pushed him away, almost losing his hold on Sarah in the process as she turned around to face him, her hand coming down sharp and hard against his cheek.

Jareth ignored it as though it had been nothing, recapturing her hands so she couldn't do it again. Something in her seemed to break after she slapped him though and she suddenly lost her will to keep up the tirade, her screams dwindling to mere sobs as she sank down to the floor, Jareth dragging her out of the closet with a sharp yank so she avoided the glass. He eased her down as slowly as he could manage as she crumpled to the floor on top of the torn books and dresses and a bit of a shelf, crying into her hands as her body took up the fetal position.

Jareth exchanged lost looks with Mavid, who was still beyond stunned as he stared down at Sarah's shaking body. His dagger was still held loosely in one of his hands, completely forgotten.

"Go check on the boys," Jareth barked at him, able to hear both the babes crying back in their nursery now that Sarah was silent.

"You'll be alright?" Mavid asked, keeping his attention on Sarah even though he spoke to Jareth.

"Fine, now go," Jareth sighed.

Mavid never pulled his eyes away from Sarah till he closed the door to her room behind him.

Now left alone, the room was destroyed and quiet but for the sounds of Sarah's soft sobs beneath him. Jareth's cheeked burned like fire and he thought maybe she had kicked him in the shin at some point in the struggle too since that was starting to ache as well. Jareth couldn't bring himself to feel any anger for any of this though… yet. "What happened?" he asked, placing his hand on her shoulder, feeling the shakes from her sobs vibrate through it up his arm. "What… what happened Sarah?" It was the only thing going through his mind to ask right then.

Sarah continued to cry for a few moments, shaking her head dismally as she did so. "You're taking everything from me," she finally managed to squeak out between her sobs.

Jareth was about ready to do some screaming of his own then, having been through this with her one too many times, but then she continued.

"I have almost nothing left to remember where I'm from, nothing left from my old life in the Aboveground. I did have Toby, but he's not… not human. He's half fae, and not something I can keep with me from the Aboveground like I thought he was; like I had counted on him being. He's starting to s-speak fae and use magic, and now there's another baby who looks and seems human in every way but he's not e-e-either. He's even more fae than Toby and it constantly taunts me that he'll grow to do the s-same things. I… I've tried to accept that I'll n-never leave here. I know that. I'll never leave the Underground ever again… but I wasn't ready to give up everything about the Aboveground that I love! I have nothing left of it," she sobbed, her voice still no more than a whisper. "I don't even have a resemblance of the things I had there anymore. I had friends, I had hobbies… I had the ability to leave the house if I wanted to. I don't have that here. I want those things back! I was a child in my world. Now in this one I suddenly have to be a woman. I just cant do that overnight! I- I've tried to be brave and act grown up like everyone expects me to and thinks I should, but I'm not there yet, I'm just not! I'm only eighteen! Now I have to be a mother to two babes and everyone expects me to just be able to manage it no problem and… and…" she broke down into sobs again, unable to go on.

Jareth couldn't leave her to wallow in her self-pity, moving some of her hair out of her face so she could look at him. "Sarah, don't do this. Don't upset yourself like this." She continued to cry and he had no clue what he could say to her to help. A part of him knew that she was just blowing off what had obviously been a building storm of steam and that it would pass, but he would need to find some way to help or these feelings would just build up in her again and unleash once more at some point.

Jareth shoved some of the debris out of his way with his boot and scooped Sarah up in his arms, cradling her to him when her cries hitched. "W-what are you doing?" she sobbed pitifully, her body tense as though she were expecting a punishment now.

"Putting you to bed," Jareth whispered to her. "I want you to get plenty of sleep tonight, I know you've been lacking it. We can talk about the rest tomorrow." She didn't fight him at all when he carried her through to his room, which was much warmer than hers was now that Jareth had changed it, and laid her out on the bed. Sarah continued to sniffle and her face was stained with the blood from her hands, which thankfully had stopped bleeding but the blood still remained on her arms. "I'll be sending Aboris up to tend to your wounds," he told her softly as he pulled his comfiest blanket up over her.

She gave no response but he knew that she had heard him.

He hesitated a moment before bending down to place a kiss against her blood stained cheek. "Sleep well."

She nodded her head once, closing her eyes right away and Jareth took one last look at the state of her before shaking his head in astonishment and leaving the room. He had truly never expected for anything like that to happen… although now that it had he wondered over the fact that it hadn't happened sooner. He also couldn't help but wonder over what Sarah had said to him, about how she had nothing from her world left. He had thought that the charms of the Underground would be more than enough to sustain her, but they weren't… at least…. Not the ones she had been exposed to thus far.

Mavid came out into the hall, the nursery quiet behind him. "What in the name of all Seelie was that?!" he demanded.

"Nothing," Jareth sighed.

"Witch spit!" Mavid huffed back. "I just watched with my own eyes as that little-"

He didn't get to finish that sentence because Jareth slammed his forearm across the slightly shorter male's neck and clavicle and shoved him against the wall. Dead serious when he spoke. "You saw nothing, understand? You heard nothing and saw nothing. So you will also speak of nothing."

The breakdown Sarah had just had… Jareth would not allow her pain to be shared around the castle like some amusing joke. While there were times where she needed humility and admonishment for her reckless actions, this was not one of those instances and Jareth could see the difference. Right now she needed rest and healing. There was no doubt in his mind now that what had happened earlier at the Devine Castle had been just a forewarning or a pre-eruption to what had just happened and he had for the most part ignored it. Tomorrow when she was calmer they would talk, but not tonight.

Mavid narrowed his eyes at Jareth, clearly not understanding. "This is you now? She acts out and you turn a blind eye."

"I know better than anyone else what happens when she starts 'acting out' against me. This is not one of those times."

Mavid cocked a brow in disbelief, but said nothing of protest out loud.

"Not a word about what just happened to anybody Mavid. Do you understand me?"

Reluctantly, Mavid nodded his head in agreement.

X

"Superficial really, wont be with you more than another day or two. By tomorrow they shouldn't even hurt anymore." Aboris assured her, snipping the gauze off and taping it down on her injured hand, her other one already seen too. Sarah wasn't really paying attention to what he was doing, or really listening to him as he informed her that there would be no scars left. Scars were not even on her mind and she knew they never would be. She kept thinking about it, what had happened. She could scarcely believe that she had done that, even though she knew she had. She could still faintly feel the fabrics in her clothes tearing apart in her fingers, and the minor satisfactions that brought to her.

She had just felt so hopelessly sad ever since her first cry fest in front of Ishapelle. She knew she had been closed off, trying not to feel sad by not letting herself feel anything for a little while. After she had gone to her room to change she simply removed her top dress, something she had gotten used to doing by now, and had been about to select a dinner dress when she had noticed the full length mirror she had been standing by. Like some sort of living zombie Sarah remembered she had gone over and looked at herself in it, her mind thoughtless as she stared at a reflection she barely recognized. With her clothes and painted face, bound up hair and gaudy jewels she had looked like a stranger to herself, just some woman standing in her refined closet, her face the picture of sadness. That wasn't who she was now… it couldn't have been. It had to be some sort of tricky mirror, she had thought to herself at the time. She had moved her arms around, but the image in the mirror imitated everything she did so exactly. It was her!

Sarah had taken her hair down right away, rubbing at the makeup on her face to try to find herself underneath. The picture in her mind of herself when she stood before the goblin king to claim Toby after the Labyrinth looking nothing like the woman who stood before her in the mirror, but when she had looked up to the mirror after removing the cover-ups it still didn't look like her. She wasn't able to just wipe away some mask that made her look like this. She was starting to look like a woman from nature and time taking their course and there was no turning back the clock to what she was familiar with. She didn't even know herself anymore. She was losing herself. She couldn't seem to keep anything from the life she had loved in the Aboveground… not even herself!

She only vaguely remembered what had happened after that, slamming the mirror to the ground and shattering the glass like that would kill off the woman inside of it that had claimed to be her, but it didn't of course, the broken shards reflecting up to her that her plan had of course failed and she still looked like the sad stranger. Her anger had blinded her and she had set off to destroy everything that had changed her, the clothes and jewels and room that were all meant for the reflection in the mirror, that had changed her into what she had seen! It had made sense to her at the time and it had felt good, really good. Especially when she had smacked Jareth across the face. He was the biggest reason she couldn't recognize herself. Her hand warmed at the memory and she clenched it around the gauze as Aboris sponged the last of the blood off of her face.

"I'm going to give you some powder to hold on your tongue," he told her, it will help you get some rest.

She allowed him to uncork a vial of greenish dust and he poured a little out into her mouth. It matted on her tongue like sand and Sarah sucked at it rather than swallowing it.

Sarah eventually fell asleep thinking about how she had destroyed the vanity table.

X

Since she had missed supper the night before Sarah had welcomed it when breakfast was brought to her, not minding for once that Jareth brought it to her. He had helped her out of her corset and hoes, but she had been comfortable enough in her underwear to leave those on. How she had managed to sleep in those other things he had no clue, but could only guess that she had been more than extremely tired in order to do so. They had not spoken about last night yet, neither of them mentioning it now. Jareth had used his magic to vanish the destroyed bits of the mess Sarah created in her room off into the Hills of Waste and clearing the mess from the rest of it. He had also removed the little window in her room, which helped immensely with the chill. There was no sign today that anything horrible had ever taken place there but for the half empty closet and lack of most any kind of furniture. Those could be replaced, though he wasn't sure it would be a good idea to do so right away. So that Sarah could get a proper rest Jareth had kept Mavias in the nursery with Toby and had spent the night with them so that he could see to it when the babe would wake up. He hoped that she seriously appreciated that he had given up his bed and his sleep to lay among a pile of stuffed animals on the floor of his son's nursery.

Jareth watched as Sarah ate her breakfast without comment, scooping up more of her food with her spoon. She had a bowl of assorted fruits both familiar and foreign to her, and she ate it all without question or hesitation. Though she was doing better now, Jareth hadn't been willing to chance giving her a fork or knife just yet. A slight bruise had already formed on his cheekbone just from where she had slapped him, looking more like a shadow under his eye. Now sitting this close to her on the bed of his room he had only been willing to trust her with a spoon.

After a little while longer it was Sarah who finally broke the silence. "I…I'm sorry about last night. It sounds too cliché to say I don't know what came over me, but it's kinda true. One minute I was in front of my mirror, and the next I was just filled with rage."

Jareth was rather stunned by that, he hadn't expected her to apologize for it. He could tell she meant it though. He took the chance to reach out and brush some of the hair from her face. She let him. "Don't fret over it Sarah. No one knows what happened, not even Aboris unless you told him. I simply told him you had an accident and needed some cuts on your hands seen to."

She put her now empty plate off onto the side table, still looking tired even though she had slept way in this morning. It was honestly nearing lunchtime.

Jareth moved the tray further from the bed and moved closer to Sarah's side. "Sarah what happened?" he asked, trying to keep most of the demand from his voice. That question had been plaguing him all night though.

She simply shrugged, "I don't know. I've been feeling depressed for a while now, I guess I didn't realize how much," she muttered, playing with the corner of the blanket.

He wasn't going to let her slip by with that. "Can you tell me why you left my parents sitting room yesterday to go cry?" When she had come back it had been obvious that that was the case, her eyes puffy and glassy and her cheeks stained red.

She looked him straight in the eye then. "I don't want Toby to speak fae!" she blurted out.

That stunned him for a moment. He had suspected something to do with Mavias. "The pristine language?"

"I didn't know you were teaching it to him and I don't like him knowing it. I got upset because it just seemed like one more thing for the universe to shove in my face to remind me that he's not human and he has a place down here."

"Sarah there is no getting around this, I wont stop teaching him the pristine language. Toby is half fae and will grow into monarchy and as such he must be able to communicate with others of the fae race. There are some elder ones that refuse to speak any other language but the pristine one, for fear of their last words being in another tongue."

Her scowl didn't let up, but she didn't fight the issue more. So either she accepted it or she was closing up again. Jareth reached out and took her hand. "If I could stop for your sake I would Sarah, but Toby must learn this for his own sake. Mavias will learn it too."

"Could I learn it then?" she asked, catching him completely off guard.

He had never expected that question from her, and was hard pressed to answer her truthfully. "I apologize Sarah, but no you may not. I can not and would not teach you."

Her scowl deepened then. "W-why? Wouldn't that be something that could help me too?"

"It would do you more harm to speak it I'm afraid. The pristine language is considered such because it is only the fae that know it. No other species may speak it and if they try they will be punished," he stated factually.

Sarah continued to scowl as she snapped her head away from him to glare at the wall. "That's so… stupid."

The way she had said it, Jareth couldn't help the slight laugh that escaped him. At the sound Sarah actually seemed to relax a little in her spot, her arms uncrossing to simply sit on her lap.

"Dr. Dee will be coming to visit you in a few nights time, I believe he has an opinion on that as well. You two can snarl about it together if you wish."

Sarah's interest perked up at that and she turned to face him again, her eyebrow raised. "You're going to let me see someone who has an opinion? Really?" her tone bordered on teasing, but he knew she was only slightly doing so.

Jareth smirked back at her. "You'll find that Dr. Dee has a great many of them."

A small smile actually pulled at her lips at that and Jareth felt relieved to see it. He leaned forward and placed a kiss against her cheek, pleased when she allowed him to. "You've been taking good care of Mavias, by the way. Mavid knows it too."

"I don't really have any other choice," Sarah replied, her voice clipped enough to get Jareth's attention.

"Is there something you would like to say now?" he asked her, his own tone lowered as though he were preparing for a fight. Jareth realized it and pulled himself out of the defensive.

Sarah paused only a moment before speaking up. "I just wish you would have warned me it would be this way. You didn't tell me that it would be me taking care of Mavias while everyone else sleeps though the night. He is Mavid's child. I don't see why he cant help out."

"I didn't think it was something that would surprise you at all," Jareth huffed, "Even in the Aboveground isn't it women that see to newborns? And who else in this castle has more experience with a child? If you were taken by surprise that you would be helping than it is because you did not bother to think about the obvious at all."

"I'm not helping, I'm doing everything! I'm the one staying up all night with him, I'm the one who prepares the bottles for him and changes him! I'm the one he's always crying at! Toby never cried that much."

Jareth had to reign back his anger before he answered that one. "I assure you that you are not doing everything. Let's first address what you are doing, however. You are correct that you are the one staying up at night with him, but you are also the only one out of Mavid and I that doesn't do anything for the kingdom during the day. Mavid and I need our sleep to keep this place running and you have not learned anything to help us with that task yet. I would not leave Mavid's child and Toby's attendant in the care of Ishapelle or Clora because although they are cousins of mine, they are still fae and there are certain base instincts we have when it comes to obtaining children. I will not put the temptation before them. You do stay up at night, but you also sleep in till the early afternoon because of it… the only person in this castle who does that by the way… even though you still get a solid half-nights sleep every night despite Mavias's best efforts. The crying isn't something he can help, he has colic. Sometimes he is going to cry for no other reason than he has some pains. He will grow out of it."

Sarah's challenging eyes finally lowered from his a bit but he wasn't done yet, his temper stabbed from being informed he was doing nothing about the new babe. "Now should we discuss what you don't do in regards to that child? It is Mavid and I that take him into the study with us on those days that you just seem a little extra tired, even though we get next to no work done with both him and Toby in there. We have both changed at least several of his diapers and fed him several bottles. I am the one having more bottles brought into the castle, and importing anything through the labyrinth is a task in of itself. I am also the one who personally prepared whole sections of the castle to be safe and comfortable and goblin free for both the children and you, despite the extra headaches the goblins have presented me for it. The further they get pushed away from the kitchens the crabbier they get. They know there is a new baby in the castle and their curiosity is peaked by it. A quarter of my job these days is making sure they cant get near it."

Sarah's eyes snapped to his then and she actually looked worried, "Would they try to hurt Mavias?!"

Jareth shook his head. "Even goblins know how precious children are, but they may try to take him to trade him around for more karbobs or something."

Sarah relaxed back a little against her pillow, but only a little.

There was something else that Jareth didn't get a chance to ask her about before this, but it was heavy on his mind. He turned the subject to it now. "What set you off Sarah? You said you were in front of your mirror than angry. What was it?"

She hesitated for a moment, but answered before Jareth could start to press her, which he certainly would have done. "I was staring at myself in the mirror and… I didn't like what I saw I guess. Its going to sound stupid trying to explain it. All I can tell you though is that I looked in the mirror and I didn't see me anymore, I didn't see the same girl I used to be and I guess it scared me. It made me mad too because I didn't even realize it had happened so… its almost like finding out someone you knew was dead and you never got to say goodbye at all. That's how I felt. It may have been time for me to leave my childhood behind… but I didn't get to say goodbye."

Her eyes were glassing over and Jareth could hear the strain creeping into her voice that warned him she was getting emotional. He supposed he could understand her distress, but at the same time it seemed like just a growing pain to him. Everyone got scared when it was time to act and be seen as an adult. Although it had happened a very very long time ago for him, he could still vaguely remember times that he had worried about it too, that the thought of leaving his parent's castle had terrified him more than once. After all, what if he had failed? What if he had made a mess of things in the kingdom he had come to rule over? What if someone challenged his authority. They were all worries that Jareth had overcome or faced with success. There had been no fail option.

Sarah would see that too, like everyone else who became an adult she would have no other choice. He knew she would be fine, even if she had severely serious doubts right now.

Jareth didn't say all these things, pulling Sarah up against him from the bed and to his surprise when he held her to him and whispered to her that everything would be alright she wrapped her arms tightly around him in response, burying her face in the crook of his neck. He could feel the wetness from her tears running down over his clavicle and pulled slightly back, tipping her face gently up to him so he could kiss every one of the tears off of her cheeks, the salty wetness entering his mouth as he petted her arms and hair.

It wasn't very long before her tears slowed and eventually stopped all together. Her sadness subsiding at least momentarily. Jareth placed one last kiss against her mouth, thinking to keep it chaste. It actually startled him for a moment when Sarah grabbed the back of his head and pulled it against hers as she deepened the kiss, leaving Jareth stunned as this was the first time she had done that. Her other arm wrapped around the back of his shoulders and he felt himself pulled with her as she lay back down on the bed. He didn't fight her, but he hardly moved of his own for fear of causing this to stop. Her tongue stroked over his own and Jareth felt a pang of lust shoot straight between his legs, Sarah's soft body hidden from his by only a thin sheet that seemed to tease him by allowing him to feel every curve of her without actually being able to touch her. His erection became cradled against her hip and he couldn't help but move slightly against it, the little sparks of pleasure clouding his mind as his hands moved over the sheet that covered her breasts. He could feel the little buds there responding to him, but he insisted on seeing them, forcing himself to pull back so that he could strip the blanket from her.

"Undress," Sarah whispered to him, surprising him again with a first.

Jareth complied because he knew she was absolutely right and quickly removed his clothes, eager to get back in the bed with his wife and see where this took them. As he did this, Jareth was aware that Sarah was staring at his body, her eyes heavy on him like she were judging a piece of food. She slipped off her own underwear and when he was fully nude he came back to the bed, throwing the blanket out of the way and positioning himself between Sarah's legs, but she brought both her right hand and leg up and pushed against his side like she wanted him to move off of her. Jareth hesitated, unsure why she would want that.

"Lay on your back," she told him, clearly expecting no argument.

Jareth hesitated again, however, unsure if he should put himself in a position that was as vulnerable as that when Sarah was acting like she never had before. It was obvious to him that she was desperately seeking comfort, that she was probably unaware that she was deciding to use him in order to feel pleasure again.

"Lay down," she coaxed again "Please," and this time he complied, moving to the middle of the bed to lay on his back next to her, his hard length sitting against his lower stomach and both clenched when Sarah got up and kneeled between his legs.

Jareth felt his eyes grow wider when Sarah's eyes focused on him there and he knew what she planned to do even before her lips touched him, the sensitive nerves jolting as she wrapped her hand around the base of him and guided him straight up. Fear laced his excitement and held him immobile as he watched her take him into her mouth. His eyes rolling into the back of his head for that first lick of her tongue as the suction of her mouth sealed over his tip and Jareth couldn't hold back the feral sound that invoked from him as he laid his head back. Sarah continued to lick and suckle him, moving her hand over him gently and firmly. Leaving him moaning and sighing from the pleasure.

It made him yearn to flip her over and return the favor, but she soon released his cock and moved up to his hips, straddling his waist and he found he could only watch as she guided him into her, moving slowly and Jareth felt more shocks shoot through him as he watched every last inch enter her till he was all the way in. At that point Sarah paused and he watched her as she mewed over him, her eyes closed and her hands on his chest for balance as her body adjusted for him, obviously liking the way it felt to her. She was wet and hot and softly squeezing him from the inside as she simply sat there, but when she started to rise off his hips before coming back down a harsh gasp escaped Jareth at the unthinkable pleasure and he gripped her hips hard between his hands, helping her as Sarah set a rhythm that drove them both wild. Her hips rolled as she moved over him and he wondered if he would last more than a few moments with what it was doing to him. Her head was thrown back and her long loose hair just barely brushed his thighs, tickling them gently as hot softness gripped and stroked over his shaft. He watched as Sarah's breasts bounced with every movement and he didn't fight his desire to reach up and cup them, running his fingers over the already erect nips as Sarah moaned over him.

She started to speed up the pace, her moans getting deeper as she rode him harder. Jareth looked up at the mirror overhead and could only watch in awe as she bucked her hips over him. In the mirror he could see the expression of pure pleasure on her face, her eyes cracked open and her mouth agape as she moaned. He realized that she was also looking at the mirror, watching herself as she worked him for her orgasm.

"Faster," she moaned up at the mirror, obviously talking to him.

Jareth didn't even think to disobey her though, gripping her hips to hold her in place as his hips started to piston against her. She cried out, but not from pain and he watched the mirror to see her eyes close tight and her jaw clench. Her whole body tensed and her nails scraped the skin of his shoulders before she let out a particularly long moan and a shudder rippled through her whole body all the way down to her sex and the slight vibration was enough to send Jareth over the edge, joining her in her orgasm. If she realized that he was coming inside her, she didn't protest against it this time. She was too caught up in her own post sex bliss to be bothered to care about something like that now, and Jareth certainly wasn't going to remind her.

X

Sarah let out sigh of relief and thanked whoever was looking out for her as she pulled some things out from under the bathroom sink. She had started her period today, which she was unendingly thankful for. The last thing she needed was another baby and she had been starting to grow worried. After she got things taken care of she went back to the mirrored wall and looked at herself in it. Today it didn't set her off, she merely examined herself in the mirror. She took in the darkness under her eyes from her lack of sleep and the way she was starting to wear the dresses and shoes more comfortably. She had on one of the few dresses that had survived her and she was starting to look like she was filling them out more in the ways that a grown woman would.

Since yesterday she actually didn't feel any happier or particularly accepting, but she no longer saw the point in fighting it tooth and nail either. It was a losing battle, and she was feeling very battle worn these days. Sarah let out a sigh and left the private bath. She had slept in later today since she had once more been up with Mavias the night before. She went over to the crib that housed him on the other side of her and Jareth's bed, where he had been sleeping (or rather crying) since that first night. Since Jareth told her that he had colic, however, his cries had become a lot easier to swallow because now she at least knew it wasn't because she was doing anything wrong with him. That actually did help.

In one of his rare moments of quiet, Mavias was currently curled up partially on his back and side, watching her make her way over to him. Sarah couldn't help but smile softly at him as she leaned against the rail of the crib. He really did look adorable. "Good morning, are you ready to get up for the day too?"

His only response was to continue staring at her but she took it for an affirmative and reached down into the crib to pull him out. Mavias actually reached up towards her with his little hands and Sarah paused in her surprise. He had never done that before and she felt a little tug at her heart as she scooped him up and he started to fuss very gently against her shoulder, his little hand gripping and releasing against the skin of her collar bone.

She carried him with her across the hall to the nursery, walking in to find Toby wasn't in there. That could only mean he was with Jareth then. Sarah went ahead and fed and changed Mavias in what had become sort of a routine for her, so she didn't put much thought into it. After she got him to burp and wiped the spit up from his lip with a spit-rag she sat in the rocking chair and just rocked and held him for a while, letting him suck his thumb as she sang a lullaby softly to him. She was so busy with looking at the features of his face, tracing his little brow with her forefinger softly, that she didn't notice anyone had entered the room till she saw boots on the floor in front of her and fought to hide her sneer with some effort.

"What is it Mavid?" she asked, looking to the door to see if Jareth was with him and seeing that he wasn't.

Mavid's eyes flicked down to his child in her arms but he didn't dwell. "You're to come with me to see Jareth," he informed her.

She looked down at the babe in her arms too and saw that he was staring up at his father with his blue eyes just as bright as Mavid's were deep. He wasn't reaching for him or fussing for him in anyway though, looking up at Mavid like he was simply taking in anything else that was placed in his line of sight. He still had yet to make solid connections to the relationships of anyone around him and Sarah wondered if Mavias even knew what Mavid was to him.

She got up from the chair and rested the babe against her shoulder, placing her hand protectively over the back of his head as she stood. "Did you want to hold him?" she asked.

Mavid surprised her when he shook his head no. "You would do better to hold him. We'll be passing through areas open to goblins on our way to the stables and I can better protect with my hands free."

Now she didn't feel offended by his not wanting to hold his own son, but that was certainly surprising to her. "The stables? Are we going somewhere?" the last time she had been near the stables had been when climbing on a carriage out front of it in order to stay at the Devine Castle for a few days.

"You'll find out."

"I'm not following you if that's all you're going to give me," she hissed at him stubbornly.

His had already started to the door, but his head whipped back around at her defiance and it didn't even faze her when he glared at her. The staring match that lasted a few moments after that actually bored Sarah, but she held her glare. Mavid didn't scare her. As much as he sometimes liked to pretend otherwise he had no power over her and she had come to realize that as one of the perks of being queen. She liked little moments like this when she got to remind him of that too.

Finally he let out a huff and turned to face her. "I'm not allowed to say more than that."

She gave him a disbelieving look.

"I'm really not. Jareth… he's trying to surprise you." Mavid relented.

That alone surprised her. She frowned in confusion, but cautiously followed Mavid out of the nursery and through the halls in the direction of the stables. There were indeed a couple goblins out in the halls they passed through, and at these points she stuck closer to Mavid and held Mavias just a little tighter to her. The goblins did little more than just stand and stare till they were out of sight though. There was one that had started to follow them though, his beady eyes focused on Sarah's back and she had started to grow nervous just before Mavid turned and bluff-charged the goblin, causing it to scream and run away laughing and Mavid continued on, cussing to himself about how annoying they all were.

They reached the stables without further incident from the goblins, Jareth and Toby were already waiting there for them. Jareth was showing Toby one of the Pegasus ponies, holding him up so that Toby could better see into the stall. He actually only seemed vaguely interested in the creature. Jareth set his son down when they arrived and Sarah didn't protest when he took Mavias out of her arms and held him in one, using his free arm around her own waist to pull her to him for a small kiss. "Good morning Precious," he greeted her, a smile playing around his face.

Sarah felt almost leery of his positive mood. "Good morning."

"I have a present for you today," he told her cheerily. Sarah could only watch and wait as he shifted Mavias and dug into his jacket pocket, pulling out a small ornate bag and handing it over to her.

She took it and could guess right away what was in it, but she opened it up anyway and spilled just a few of the brightly colored jewels into her hand, watching as even in the dimmed light of the stables they glittered in fabulous reds, blues, and yellows. She guessed that these would either become new jewelry for her, or that she was about to visit his mother for another 'shopping' gala to replace the things she had destroyed the previous night. That would explain the reason they were in the stables a bit more anyway if she would need a coach to transport everything back in. Sarah asked him if that was the purpose of the jewels but Jareth shook his head 'no' to her surprise. "While that opportunity will come soon I'm sure, that is not the gift you are receiving today."

Sarah looked back down at the jewels in her hand. "What are these for then?"

Jareth simply gave her a sly smirk and turned away from her, going down to a stall at the very back of the stable. Mavid followed him down and Sarah took Toby's hand in hers to join them. She could easily see upon nearing them that the last stall was filled with a bunch of old junk and discarded horse equipment. She didn't understand why Jareth was opening up the swing door to it. He and Mavid stepped back from in front of it, Jareth reaching out with the arm that didn't hold Mavias to pull Sarah aside as well, and she in turn pulled Toby back in confusion.

"What?" Toby asked, looking up at her expectantly like she would know.

She turned to ask Jareth that very thing when he gave her a mischievous wink and turned back to the junk heap, pressing his lips together and whistling as though he were calling a dog or something. One old bucket fell off of the pile, and then the whole mass started to shake and clamber apart and Sarah pulled Toby back a little further in fear when something that looked oddly like a very large beetle made out of metal and cloth and loose bits of junk the size of a station wagon uncurled itself, revealing that it was itself most of the junk in there and climbed out of the stable of it's one accord, it's six metal legs moving it out to stand before them. It didn't move further, obviously waiting for something and Sarah could only stare with her mouth agape and a death grip on Toby's hand. "W-what is it?" Although the ponies hadn't interested Toby, this moving… thing certainly did and he was pulling against her to try to get closer to it. She of course held firm though. "Toby no!"

"Wanna see!" Toby insisted.

"This is just another form I have for transportation." Jareth smirked with pride.

She was done with the guessing game bull. "Jareth what's going on?" she demanded, her patience on it's last string as she pulled Toby back.

"I've arranged a little shopping trip for you. I think it will do you some good to get out of the castle for a little while, and this is a surprise I think you will very much enjoy. Mavid will assist you and I will watch over the children while you two are gone."

She never expected any of this. "You're not coming with me?" she asked, feeling dumbfounded. Unless she was with his mother she had never been allowed off the grounds without him.

Jareth moved Mavias around in his arms and stepped around Mavid to get closer to her. Taking her right hand in his and running his thumb over the back of her signet ring his face turned grim for a moment and Sarah held back her gasp when he easily slipped it off her finger for the first time since he had placed it there. After all the times she had yanked and tore at it without managing so much as a budge he had removed it so easily, placing it in his jacket pocket. "It's safer for you to not wear this for now." Jareth simply said, "But you will wear it again as soon as you return."

"I don't understand," Sarah protested, suddenly feeling exposed without it for some reason she didn't even fully understand. She rubbed her fingers against each other, feeling the absence of the ring.

Jareth placed a kiss against her cheek and then another against her lips and ran his free hand over her cheek. "Well if you did that would ruin the surprise wouldn't it," he smirked arrogantly, tugging on a loose strand of her hair.

Sarah was about to protest further, but decided against it. Watching as the mechanical beetle opened up it's wing covers to reveal it was hollow inside. "Make sure you mind Mavid." Jareth ordered her, taking Toby's hand from hers. "Stay with him at all times and I'll see you before too long when you return."

She didn't understand, she didn't understand why only she and Mavid were going, or why she couldn't wear the ring, or why she wasn't as nervous as she probably should have been. A part of her was excited for the chance of an adventure, and although Jareth was taking precautions, it was highly unlikely that he would put her in danger. She quickly stooped down and kissed Toby goodbye, telling him to mind his father in the same manner that Jareth had just done with her. Then stroked Mavias's cheek and kissed his forehead before she even really realized that she had meant to do so.

Jareth said something to Mavid in his 'pure language' and ignored the scowl it brought to Sarah's face. Mavid nodded his head and muttered something back, stepping up to Sarah and holding his hand out to her. She didn't really have another option but to take it, allowing him to lead her past Jareth and the children and over to the beetle.

"I go too?" Toby asked.

Sarah didn't look back when she heard Jareth answer him in fae speak again. Mavid helped her up into the beetles hollowed out back, instructing her that she would have to practically lay down. She looked over to Jareth and he nodded his head in confirmation.

"It tunnels under the ground, dearest. You and Mavid can only fit in the casing if you duck down."

She complied, fighting the urge to shove him when Mavid climbed in with her, accidentally laying his elbow on her hair for a moment as he shifted around. It was cramped and she was very uncomfortable with Mavid scooting in to lay next to her, though he seemed to be trying not to touch her either. The shell of the beetle closed in on them and they were cast into pure darkness. Sarah suddenly became nervous and gasped when she felt the beetle start to move with her inside of it, in only a moment it started to quickly rock back and forth and she couldn't help but feel like a tossed salad as she bounced around inside of it. She tried hard to stay in place, but every now and then couldn't help but dump against Mavid's side. "What the hell is going on?!" she demanded after a couple minutes of this.

She couldn't see him, but Mavid's voice answered back at her in the darkness. "It's tunneling through the ground, we're probably moving along about four feet below the surface right now."

She was underground?! "This normally happens?"

"It's more cramped when its Jareth and I. Be thank -you just hit me in the ribs!" he snapped.

She tried to back off a little further, but it was no use as she was tossed back and forth continuously. "Sorry, I cant exactly help it," she hissed back.

"Are you even trying?" he grumbled.

She ignored him but fantasized about pretending to get thrown just for the excuse to punch him in the neck. The skirts of her dress were making it particularly hard for her to stay put. Just when she was about to give up they stopped rocking entirely and all was still for about four seconds before the beetle opened up and a barrage of noise suddenly filled her ears. She turned over and sat up from the odd carrier to look around, her eyes nearly bugging out of her skull at what she saw. They were still underground, in what seemed to be a giant cavern of some sort. It was lit up well enough with hundreds of candles and floating lights that flew randomly around and filled with all sorts of creatures, most of which looked shady and grubby. They all were moving around and between little stands and make-shift shops, yelling and bartering and buying and other sellers who didn't have stands were moving through the crowd to sell their few products.

It wasn't all this that brought shocked tears to her eyes though. Sarah placed her hand over her mouth to cover up her gasp as she took in the stands that were all completely full of odds and ends from the Aboveground!

She felt Mavid place a cloak over her shoulders from next to her and she didn't stop him when he flipped the hood over her head. "This is the black magic market," he whispered to her. "Jareth told me to help you find some things you want here."

She wiped her tears off before she turned to Mavid. It took her a moment to find her voice. "Why isn't Jareth here too?"

He narrowed his eyes a little at that. "Look around, does this look like a safe place for royalty to be with all these lowlifes? For that matter how many females do you see here?"

Sarah took another look and saw what he meant. Everyone looked ready to pull a knife on each other. There were a couple females… or what looked like such anyway, but they mostly looked just as rough as everyone else. The few in the area that didn't look dangerous were keeping close to someone who did. She could guess how dangerous she would look to those here; meaning that she too would have to stay close to Mavid for her own safety. She was okay with that this time; as her eyes roamed over the stands and she saw everything from Campbell's soup cans to ironing boards she only wanted to get closer.

Her heart was fluttering for the chance to get at the very familiar objects but Mavid was trying to get her attention. She finally turned to look at him.

"Before we get out of this thing there are some rules we have to go over," he informed her, his face dead serious. "The first one being that no one can know who we are. You don't say my name and I wont say yours. Make sure you don't talk to anyone but me either. If anyone speaks to you let me handle it. You need to walk behind me not in front and you are to keep one hand on the small of my back at all times so I know I didn't lose you. If you want to buy something or look at something let me know, but I will tell you right now that you are not allowed to buy anything potentially dangerous, overly large, or alive."

He went on with more rules, but Sarah hardly paid attention since it was mostly stuff about keeping a low profile and she got the importance of that already. By the time Mavid was done with his safety lecture she was practically aching to get out and look around. She could hardly believe that this was here in the Underground, or that Jareth had put this together for her. She couldn't help but actually feel touched by it. He had actually listened to her.

Mavid helped her down from the carriage and then readjusted the hooded cloak he had slipped on her to wrap it around her a little more. As her eyes darted all over the shops and all too familiar merchandise he turned his back on her and placed her hands on both sides of his waist before setting off into the crowd.

Sarah tried to comply with what he had told her about not touching or looking at anyone, but the crowd was dense enough that it made it impossible to follow those directions perfectly. She saw a stand that particularly interested her because it seemed to have less trash and more shoes from the aboveground on it and pulled at Mavid to stop him. She managed to and he took her cue to guide her through to the stand, but they were cutting through traffic more than moving with it now and Sarah gasped when something that looked like a bear and a man combined stopped short to avoid crashing into her and growled down at her, showing teeth that surely could have snapped her in half and the look on his face made her believe that he wanted to do just that.

She tightened her grip on Mavid's shoulders and he moved her away successfully, the man bear moving on with the foot traffic. They made it to the stand she had wanted and she let out a little sigh of relief, glad to at least momentarily be away from that more than shady crowd. The stand was covered in more odds and ends from the aboveground, like someone had just grabbed everything they could see and brought it here to sell. They were all that way from what she could see, and as she looked at the shoes that had interested her she saw that almost none of them had a mate, they were all well used, and some of them were socks that someone had strung cord through to look like laces. The owner of the stand was short and green and turtle-like and there was water sitting in the concave top of his head like a bowl. He was currently trying to pass one of the socks off to a confused looking orc. "Tasty delicious! You no find better shoe anywhere. All gourmet here!"

"That's not a shoe, it's a sock." Sarah pointed out without thinking.

The seller gave her the most menacing look and the orc gazed a little closer at the sock presented to him. After a moment anger spread over his confused face and he growled at the owner of the stand, who backed off from him. "My mistake boss, we make it square, you take free shoe for snack later yes?"

The orc growled again and demanded two, and Sarah found Mavid pushing her quickly away from the stand while the little owner was busy. "Move move move," he insisted, pushing her back out into the traffic.

"What the hell is wrong with you that you cant follow the most basic of directions?" he snapped at her, clearly outraged. "I told you not to speak to anyone."

He had, but she didn't see what she had done so wrong in that case. "But he was trying to trick that orc. I'd rather he be mad he didn't make the sale than the orc be mad because he was tricked."

"That just shows how little you know," Mavid snapped at her. "I'd take on that orc any day before I take on a kappa. Those little bastards tear your liver out through your anus! These situations are why it's best to keep your fool mouth shut."

Even if he was right he didn't need to talk to her like that. She didn't appreciate it and was willing to bet that if Jareth were there Mavid would change his tone quick enough. Maybe she would tell Jareth about it later, but she wasn't sure.

She decided to change the subject. "How do all these things get down here? Does someone go up and get them?"

"I don't know," Mavid huffed at her. "Stop making a nuisance of yourself and finish your shopping so we can head back. The longer we're out here the more likely you are to get us both in trouble."

He was being very grouchy today for some reason, more so than he had reason to be anyway. Sarah was willing to bet that even if he didn't know how the aboveground brick-a-brack managed to continuously flow down here that he at least had ideas of who was bringing it in and how. He obviously wasn't going to share them with her though.

Sarah didn't manage to find what all she might have been hoping for as she went over various shops, but she did manage to pick up some things, such as a half empty bottle of dark purple finger nail polish and a picture book of animals around the Aboveground world written in English. Sarah couldn't wait to show that to Toby. He would be able to see the animals from the Aboveground that she had told him about. Maybe Mavias would enjoy it too. There had been a few more things she had seen that she had wanted, but they had fallen under Mavid's unpermitted rules of being too big or dangerous or alive (in the case of a little cockatoo bird that one of the shops was selling. She had seen a folding pocketknife that she had admired too, but once she had opened the blade and Mavid realized what it was he had knocked it from her hand back onto the table. The other thing she saw she had no idea how anyone had gotten it down here, but there was an old motorcycle at one of the shops. It likely didn't work anyway already, but Mavid had been quick to point out that she would have no use for it since she hardly ever was allowed outside the castle anyway. Mavid had worked out the pricing on her bought items and soon they would head back, but at the moment they were at the last shop of the day.

Sarah had just moved over a cracked vase when the crowd suddenly surged past the stand over to the far corner of the cavern, everyone shouting excitedly over there as some blue scaly creature went up on some raised stage and held up a live chicken by it's legs dramatically. The bird flapped its wings like mad and white feathers flew everywhere. Creatures in the crowd started to shout things Sarah didn't understand. "What are they doing?" she asked Mavid.

"Auctioning off the bird. Chickens are extremely prized down here. To have some is a sign of wealth just because of how expensive and valuable they are. Their eggs and meat are delicious and their feathers and bones used in medicines."

"But I've seen at least two of them running around the castle from time to time." Sarah said, wondering why Jareth would have them roaming freely for the goblins to pick on if they were worth so much.

"Goblins as a whole have no interest in chickens beyond the occasional urge to startle them. I don't know why exactly, but I suspect its because they resemble some of the older basilisk species that died out long ago. It used to be that a basilisk was a cross between a rooster and a snake. Now they are just snakes and worshiped by the naga race."

"If they're so valuable why doesn't Jareth breed the ones he has?"

"Because no one can. Not one egg has ever been successfully fertilized in the underground. that's part of why a chicken is valuable."

Weird. Sarah turned her attention away from the crowd and back to the table. Something actually caught her interest and she looked over at a dark green pencil case. She picked it up and opened it, hoping for good things and she wasn't disappointed. It might have been lifted off a student or something, for it was filled with pens, pencils, erasers, and a couple permanent markers. She wanted the pencils and erasers for drawing in her ample free time, and she wondered if maybe she should give the pens and markers to Jareth and Mavid for all the paperwork they were always doing. Surely they would find it easier than ink and quills.

"What are those?" Mavid asked, his tone suspicious since for all he knew she was holding a bag of TNT.

"You write things down with them, like a quill," she explained, taking the sharpie and uncapping it. She was pleased to see it working fine when she made a small line on the palm of her hand to show him. "I want this bag," she informed him quietly, slipping the stuff back in and zipping it shut.

Mavid nodded his head and called over the shop keeper. As he started to haggle Sarah looked down at the piece of black cloth the bag had been resting on and played with it idly. Her heart freezing for a moment when she found a part sewn into an unmistakable leg opening. With her heart suddenly hammering in hope she pulled the soft and stretchy fabric from the pile it was in and had to hold in her sqwee when she saw she had been right in thinking that they were women's yoga pants! She had to have them and she didn't care what size they were. She missed the comfiness of Aboveground clothes and she was aching for something to wear that wasn't a skirt. "And these!" she cut in, saying it a little louder than she meant to and earning her two dirty looks from Mavid and the shop keep. She ignored them though, handing him her find and when he finally started to include the pants in with the price she had to turn her head all the way down to the ground to hide her grin.

Mavid purchased the items for most of what was left of the jewels Jareth had given her and he stuffed those into the same burlap carrier bag with the rest of her stuff and tied it closed tight with twine so no one would easily be able to steal from it. "We're going back now." he informed her.

She was still beyond pleased with her finds and nodded her head happily. She couldn't wait to try on her new pants.

He turned and she hurried after him, her hands on his waist like he had told her to do when they first arrived. The crowd wasn't as dense thanks to the chicken auction, but there were still plenty of people and things for them to navigate their way through. It was out of nowhere when a thin and grey little imp leaped out at Mavid and intentionally swiped at his face, narrowly missing clawing his eyes out before Mavid reached out and knocked him down to the ground lighting quick! Sarah gasped and backed off a step as the imp sprang up and hissed at him, his bat like wings up and shaking in time to his hiss behind him in a scare tactic and although it scared Sarah plenty Mavid was unfazed and when the imp attacked him again he managed to get a hold of the creature's throat. Sarah was yanked from the small crowd that had started to look on at this spectacle by her wrist and she was taken so much by surprise by it that she didn't get her footing in time to stop whoever had managed to pull her away from Mavid till they were behind one of the little stands. Sarah dug her heels into the ground and was about to lash out at whoever had grabbed her, but was stopped by the familiar sight of thick dark hair and red lips grinning at her.

Sarah's jaw actually dropped at she stared back at a highly amused looking Lilith. She hadn't heard anything from the female since Jareth warned her about the succubus's nature and had her write a rejection to her. "Fancy running into you here of all places." Lilith beamed, as though they were old friends. "I knew when I saw Mavid that you had to be you."

Sarah looked over her shoulder, wondering if Mavid had shaken the imp yet and wishing that he was here now.

Lilith stepped uncomfortably close to her and turned so that Sarah was between her and the shop. "Oh don't worry about him, my little minion is just playing with him. I thought it would give us a chance to…" she leaned in even closer and if Sarah hadn't pulled her neck back their lips might have touched, "Talk," Lilith whispered the last word.

She chuckled softly at Sarah's obvious discomfort and it sounded like music to the ears as she pushed back some of her thick hair that Sarah remembered her confessing to just being an allusion. It was a good illusion though and looked so touchable. Sarah inwardly glared at herself in confusion when she found herself fighting the impulse to run her hand through it.

"I got your letter," Lilith informed her, "It broke my heart," she pouted, jutting her lip out before chuckling again. "I'm guessing that Jareth made you write it… and I assume he may have said some very naughty things about me." The perfect smile was in place, making her look stunning, but Sarah could still catch the underlying tone that sent warning shivers down her back.

"I'm sorry, Lilith, but I don't want to talk about this now. Please let me get back to Mavid." She had to get away, she knew that much.

She jumped when Lilith let out a bark of laughter before letting out a sigh that ghosted over Sarah's face and neck, sending the most startling pang of pleasure through her loins and Sarah inched back against the shop a little more. "Oh sweet Sarah, didn't I tell you to call me Lilly?" she reminded her, running her hand down the side of Sarah's neck and Sarah found herself afraid when her body ached from the touch again and she caught herself wanting Lilith to come closer to her.

She didn't though, not really. Lilith was beautiful looking thanks to the effect she had on humans to naturally look like their ideal, but Sarah had no sexual interests of her own in females. Much less so in one that she had been warned feeds off forced sex with those that don't want it. Her body did seem to want it though, the way it was responding outside of her control. It wasn't her. "What are you doing?!" Sarah accused Lilith, sure that she was pulling some sort of hoodoo on her to make her feel this way.

"Relax Sarah, they're just endorphins, ones I can control and concentrate through proximity and touch," Lilith smiled, running her hand down Sarah's stomach through her dress and Sarah blushed furiously when she just about bent over from the surge of intense pleasure she felt between her legs from just that one diluted touch. She knew it was some sort of magic of Lilith's and that was cheating.

"Don't!" Sarah hissed at her while fighting the urge to make her do it again.

"I don't tend to get turned down often Sarah, but if you were going to do so you really should have at least done it to my face." the female purred. Sarah felt her eyes roll back in her head for a moment at the touch of Lilith's hands on her face, forcing her to look right into her eyes that had once been blue and now flashed a fire-red for but a moment and sent a chill of fear down Sarah's back. "Now you can. Just tell me no and I will stop and walk away," Lilith smirked, but before Sarah could say a thing she pressed Sarah's body between herself and the shop and pressed her lips against hers.

Sarah felt outrage and unbridled lust coursing through her body at the same time and at the same time that her hands tried to push Lilith's shoulders away her lower body grinded against her outside of Sarah's control and she opened her lips to allow Lilith in, a small orgasm ripping though her body when Lilith's tongue stroked inside her mouth and Sarah felt Lilith's nails sink into her own shoulders to hold her in place as she made a small growl of a noise into Sarah's mouth and sucked in. Sarah felt her legs grow weak, but not from passion. Rather it was like they had just lost their strength when Lilith had sucked in. Lilith helped to slowly lower her, but Sarah knew that she couldn't let the she demon do so. She would be utterly defenseless if Lilith got her on the ground.

"That was a tasty little orgasm you just had for me," Lilith grinned when she broke the kiss for a moment, "I cant wait to take more of them from you. They give me so much more strength when I take them from someone who doesn't want to give them."

Sarah pushed against her as best she could but when Lilith sealed her lips over hers again she fell to the ground, her legs feeling useless. Lilith's hands burned over Sarah's shoulders and down to her covered breasts, resting over them like she could tell through the corsets that Sarah's buds were fully erect and straining themselves to be touched under the influence of Lilith's terrifying powers. "I imagine it could only take a couple more of them to leave you utterly drained of your strength. The last person I fed from almost slipped into a coma," she giggled, sending another chill of fear through Sarah as she ran her tongue over Sarah's collar bone, just dipping below the fabric of her dress.

Jareth help me!

Sarah gasped when a large boot suddenly slammed into the side of Lilith's head above her and the female went rolling off of her, screaming and hissing. Clarity suddenly flooded Sarah's mind and body again now that Lilith was no longer touching her and she scrambled to her feet as best she could behind Mavid, who had planted himself firmly between the two women.

Lilith recovered, although it looked like her perfect face had been just about smashed in from the force of the kick. "How dare you!" she screeched at Mavid, the sound of her voice like nails on a chalkboard.

"I have a sworn duty to protect my mistress," Mavid snapped back at her. "You were clearly instructed by both her and Jareth to cease contact. You could be taken before the counsel for this."

Lilith actually laughed at that, her skin splitting where Mavid had made contact and Sarah covered her mouth as blood trickled down over the female's chin. "She could have told me to stop what I was doing. She never did, even after I invited her to do so. She would have died with a grin on her face!"

Sarah felt tears of fear and embarrassment slip down from her eyes, jumping slightly when Mavid placed his arm over her shoulders. "If you or one of your minions comes at us again I will kill you where you stand," he warned her coldly. "I know Jareth will want to deal with you himself later."

She laughed even harder at that. "If Jareth thinks he has the power than I'll throw open my doors and my legs to him to accept either his member or his sword, but until then I will live without fear and you will forgive me for doing so."

"We shall see how long you can live with out fear." Mavid hissed back, leading Sarah quickly back out from the shop. "Hold this for me, just in case," he ordered her, handing her the sack he had been carrying.

There was a couple scratches on his forehead down to his eyebrow and there was some bruising around his neck like he had been choked at some point. Sarah hugged the bag tightly to her, her body still feeling aroused from the after effects of Lilith's magic. "Are you alright?" she asked him, finding herself actually worried about his injuries.

"I'm fine," he assured her. "Jareth is going to be furious though… not at us mind you."

"What will he do?" Sarah asked, thankful when they finally reached their metal beetle.

"That's going to be the tricky part… the counsel partakes of the Black Magic Market such as everyone else, but they are all on record as being against it. Royals go there often enough, but they mustn't get caught there for a number of legal and social reasons. Lilith isn't a royal, and she flaunts that she can slip into the Aboveground constantly through people's dreams. She could escape a scandal like this one relatively easy."

Sarah wasn't sure she fully understood all of what Mavid was explaining, but he didn't say more and she was anxious to get back home. She was dying to get a hold of Jareth and relieve the pressure left in her loins. She still couldn't think all that clearly from how her body was feeling. She would have pulled up her skirts and taken care of herself right then and there if Mavid wasn't in the beetle with her, and this time the rocking did nothing to help her as images of Jareth causing her body to rock this way from his own body's movements plagued her.

"We'll be back soon," Mavid informed her softly, almost as if he knew how she was feeling, which only brought a blush to her cheeks.

"Mavid… thank you," she whispered, needing to tell him despite any hard feelings that might have been between them. "Thank you for protecting me, and saving me. And for the times you've helped me even though you hate me."

Mavid was dead silent and dead still beside her in the beetle for the rest of the trip, and she was fine with that since she hadn't been looking for a response, but merely felt she had owed him the thanks at least.

X

Sarah lay in a panting and sweaty mess beneath him on the floor of the hallway, her long layers of skirts up around her hips and her hair strewn about on the stones as she panted hard.

She had come back to him in a state that Jareth had never seen her in before; wonton with need for his body and classless in her blatant strokes over his clothed hips and sex as Mavid informed him of the trouble they had run into that had caused this in Sarah, causing his blood to boil and his vision to go red. He felt at that moment that he could have severed Lilith's head from her shoulders with his own sword. That bloody she-devil!

That urge had had to wait, however, because as angry as he was they needed to get the children back to their nursery and Sarah needed attending to before she became uncontrollable. They had just barely gotten the children in bed when Sarah had dragged him by the lapels of his jacket out of the room and into the hall, her mouth insistent on his as her small hands tore at his clothes with strength he didn't know she even possessed. Her frenzy got the better of her common sense and the moment they were in the hall she had managed to pull Jareth out of his jacket and onto the stone floor despite his insistence that they at least make it the last few feet into his room. There had been no reasoning with her at that point, however, and she had freed his member, cupping him in her hand as she started to pull up the skirts of her dress and beg him for it. Jareth had only just managed to kick the nursery door shut in Mavid's face before she had started pumping him, coaxing him to stiffen and enter her.

The sex had been thrilling and slightly shocking, finding that Sarah had started her period and that she was not only giving her permission to him regardless, but that she was verbally begging him to touch her, obviously having been susceptive to Lilith's renown control over some of the lesser species dopamine and serotonin levels. Right now Sarah's were on overload and the adrenaline that subsequently flowed through her meant that there was little that would persuade her to change her mind till she got her release.

"God, Jareth now! Please take me now, I want to feel you in me. Please Jareth," she cooed softly to him over and over again and placed kisses against his neck and chest as he positioned himself before her, pushing the situation from his mind so that he could help her through this. The initial entry left them both gasping, Sarah for the initial relief and him because between her sabotaged hormones and monthly time she was absolutely on fire, feeling hotter and tighter around his cock than he could ever remember. A brutal and feral noise escaped from deep in his throat just before he bent over her and started to pound into her just to the point of where he feared he would hurt her. She begged him for more the entire time.

X

This isn't my personal favorite chapter