Chapter Three

They stood in harsh orange sunlight, the soles of her bare feet crunching against the hard-packed dirt.

Sarah blinked, reorienting herself, the light and atmosphere vastly different from the climate-controlled sterility of Michael's living room.

She yelped, realizing she was still in the grasp of the Goblin King, and yanked herself free.

Jareth did not seem bothered by this. He was no longer looking at her. His head was turned, his gaze sweeping out toward his left, and Sarah shut her eyes tight before following his motion, trying for a moment to rationalize what was happening.

If I don't see it, it's not real. I'll open my eyes and be back home.

She opened her eyes.

She was not back home.

The Labyrinth stretched out, reaching from one end of the horizon to the other. It filled every inch of the visible land under the strange sky. A red sun blazed down on the maze, the walls black and with a sinister orange glow to them, twisting and winding endlessly as far as the eye could see.

Sarah frowned and glanced at Jareth, the words leaving her mouth before she could stop herself. "It looks different. The color is wrong."

Jareth gave a nod, his gaze unwavering on the grand structure. "It has been conquered."

Sarah could not believe what she was feeling, seeing, smelling. She remembered this place. The barren, craggy land which lay outside the walls of the Labyrinth. She had stood here once before, thirteen years ago, desperate to find her baby brother. Somehow, this time felt worse than the last. It was something in the oppressive atmosphere. And she was twenty-eight years old now, no longer a fifteen-year-old girl. She was too old to be indulging in fantasies.

This could be an illusion. A trick.

Sarah took a deep breath and let it out. "I'm dreaming," she said aloud. "Any moment now, I'll wake up."

Jareth reached out and pinched her.

"Ow!" She jerked her arm back. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

He flashed her a quick grin, his sharp canines exposed beneath thin lips. She glared at him, but he bobbed his head in a self-satisfied way and walked toward the fountains and gardens which lined the border of the maze. Sarah narrowed her eyes at his retreating back before glancing around. There was nothing out here but howling emptiness, bitter, sharp winds that stripped the leaves from the branches of all the flora nearby. She huffed out a breath and followed, seeing few other choices.

"Why did you bring me here?" she demanded when she had caught up to the Goblin King. "And why didn't I remember it until you showed up?"

He gestured at the sickly-looking walls of the Labyrinth. "My realm has been taken from me." He glanced at her and added, "The Labyrinth does not like people to remember it. Not people from your world at the least, although I had suspected there was something different about you. That you would remember with the right... prompts." An indeterminate look passed over his features before he shook himself and turned away.

She waited for more explanation, but when he was not forthcoming, she stalked over and pointed a finger directly at his chest. "Hey, jackass. Give me a little more information. What happened here? Where are my friends?"

She remembered more as time slipped by. Ludo and Hoggle, and the incomparably brave though reckless Sir Didymus. Her mind was also whirling with her world above. Wedding plans, school, work.

Why couldn't he have left me alone?

Jareth folded his arms and looked down his nose at her. Imperious bastard, Sarah thought, glaring right back at him.

"You happened," he said, scowling. "After you conquered my Labyrinth, my people lost faith in me. I've been fighting against insurrection and rebellion ever since. Approximately a year ago, they won."

She clenched her teeth and raised her finger, pointing it towards his face. "I only did because you kidnapped my baby brother."

"You asked me to."

"And I asked you to give him back!"

He smirked. "Words have power. You wished him away, but you never wished him back."

She opened her mouth and stopped, stunned. "You would have given Toby back if I had said I wish?"

His eyes glimmered, but he said nothing.

She threw up her hands. "You cheated! You turned the clock forward on me and tried to tip me into the bog of eternal stench!" She took a deep breath, "And you dropped me down a hole, twice! You sent the cleaners after me, made my friend betray me, tried to hide my brother when I reached your castle, and—" she stopped, breathless. He was staring at her, still and waiting. "And you tried to... I was fifteen, you freak!"

Jareth laughed. "What was I supposed to do? Not tempt you away from your brother? Human children are prized in my world, but you? Too old to turn, too young to keep. A pity." He tilted his head. "Did you think it would be easy, playing with the fantastical? Did you think your words would have no consequences?" He sneered. "You got your wishes, and all you could do was complain it wasn't fair."

Sarah tried to change tactics. "I don't belong here. You can't kidnap me."

A hard glint shone in his eyes, and the Goblin King's jaw set with a click of sharp white teeth. "Yes you do, and yes I can."

"I didn't ask to be here!"

"It doesn't matter."

"You have to take me back home."

"I can't."

She shrieked in frustration and a sudden bolt of pure fear. "What do you mean you can't? You brought us here, didn't you?"

His lip curled, and at that look, Sarah took a subconscious step backward, remembering when she had seen the expression before. "And I used up almost all my power to do so," he growled.

Sarah's ire rose, and she was about to say a few choice words when someone cleared their throat. She jumped and looked around for the source.

A tall, potbellied goblin stood nearby, so close Sarah could not believe she had missed his approach. He looked quite different than the little creatures she had seen the last time, and there was an unmistakable intelligence to his countenance as he glanced between them with glittering beetle-black eyes. Despite his large gut, he was obviously well-muscled beneath scarlet leather armor. His greasy black hair was pulled into a top knot, and his bulbous nose reddened a little when he showed his crooked yellow teeth in a grin.

"Jareth," the goblin said, his voice like rocks grinding together. "You've returned."

The Goblin King had gone still, his face a hard mask of anger. "Kozack."

There was silence for long enough Sarah began to fidget, sliding a step toward Jareth. "What are you doing here?" The goblin growled.

Jareth drew himself up to his full height. Though the goblin was taller than most of his brethren, he still had to look up to meet Jareth's gaze. "Kozack, leader of the Kin, usurper, and King of the Goblins, I challenge you to a duel for the crown. Name your terms."

King? Sarah thought with a shock. What does he mean? She opened her mouth to ask when the goblin waved a hand at her, the gesture lazy.

She gasped, her vision and hearing ripped from her. The world went dark, and she instinctually threw out her arms to steady herself from the sudden lack of stimuli. She felt a gloved hand close on her left arm and pull, the motion surprising in its gentleness. She knew it was Jareth without seeing him and tried to ask what was happening, but her throat would not work. The hand on her arm slid down until he was gripping her hand in his, the touch reassuring despite the beat of her heart like the pounding of surf in her ears.

Clutching at her throat, she turned to where she thought he was, trying to motion that she could not speak. His fingers squeezed hers, and he was pulling her hand away, and she could feel the heat of his body. He pressed her hand to his throat, and she could feel a reassuring vibration thrumming beneath her fingertips. She could not tell what he was saying, but the calm way he held her, his grasp solid and comforting, soon calmed her racing heart.

Letting her hand drop, Sarah could not say how long she stood there, with his grip on her shoulders and her feet on the ground the only anchors she felt to a world gone dark as the space in between stars. It felt as though it had been at least ten minutes, but she could not be sure with the sensory deprivation. It might have been longer.

When her senses were restored, Kozack was gone. Sarah pulled herself out of Jareth's grasp for the second time in the last hour, trying to calm her breathing and blinking against the sudden, bright light of the dim red sun.

Jareth watched her, expression impassive, and a surge of irritation rose within her. "What the fuck was that?" she demanded.

He glanced away and rubbed a hand over his face. "That was Kozack. He is the Kin leader, the main force behind the rebellion which lost me my throne."

So you really aren't a king anymore. In a way, the thought appealed to her sense of a just and righteous world, but, if she were honest, the appearance of the Labyrinth with its odd, pulsating walls and the weak, hazy sunlight disturbed her. What was happening to the place which had so captivated and enchanted her from so many years before? If this had been the Labyrinth she had been forced to run, she would have been scared silly.

"What did he do to me?"

"He withdrew your abilities to hear, see, and speak. He wanted a word in private." Jareth sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose with long, leather-clad fingers. "The terms of the duel are sacrosanct between the interested parties."

"Well, excuse me, but who the hell got hauled out of their house, barefoot, I might add, by their imaginary arch-nemesis in the middle of the morning! I think if anyone is entitled to hear the terms of your stupid duel are, it's me." She crossed her arms over her stomach, brows raised.

Jareth considered her for a moment. When he spoke, his voice was calm, though laced with an edge of irritation. "All runners face similar rules, whether they run to retrieve a wished-away child, or they run because they are challenging the current ruler for the rights to the throne. Find your way to the castle beyond the goblin city within a certain amount of time. Along the way, there are... tasks I must complete, and there are guidelines as to how I may accomplish them as laid out by the challenged."

Sarah waved her hand, silently urging him to continue.

"Any time the current ruler is challenged, the Labyrinth hides three artifacts within its walls. I must retrieve these items before the way will be made clear to me, and I am allowed to duel for the right to the throne." He stopped for a moment and turned his head, the cords of his neck standing out as he swallowed hard, staring at the pulsating walls before them. "You are the only one to have stepped through these gates and made your way to the castle. The only one but me." His voice was soft, and Sarah found herself moving closer to him on instinct. "I need your help."

The words hit strange. A part of her felt almost honored he would come to her for aid. Another aspect of her, a larger piece, snarled and snapped, "Well, it was so nice of you to ask."

Jareth turned toward her, a furrow between his brow, and his reaction sparked fury in her which manifested as a fierce heat within her chest. His eyes widened minutely, as though he had realized, too late, his own confusion would be his downfall.

Sarah sucked in a deep lungful of air. "Thank you so much for plucking me out of my life to go on some bloody quest! Did you know this was my only day off for the next ten days? Did you think about asking? No, you had to barrel in and assume I had nothing better to do than assist you. I have school, I have work, and I have a fucking wedding to plan you, you—" she sputtered, glaring, and Jareth wisely kept his mouth shut. "Gods, what made you think this was a good idea? And you know what? I might have said yes if you had just asked." To her horror, her breath hitched at the end, and he tilted his head in response.

He lifted his hands toward her, palms out in a placating gesture, though his eyes glimmered. Interest sparked there, along with an amusement which stoked her rage back to the forefront of her mind. "You did not ask my permission before you summoned me to your realm the last time, and I'll have you know I missed an important social event because of it."

Sarah drew back her foot, intending to kick out at him, but her toe hit a rock mid-stride, and she yelped, bobbing on one leg as she checked for blood. There was none, but she was going to have a hell of a bruise. "Gods damn it!" she yelled.

"Here," Jareth said, tone gentle. He was by her side, a soft hand resting on her bare arm, the linen of his gloves warm. A sensation of cool water trickling down her skin followed at his touch, quick and sudden.

Sarah jerked away, pain forgotten, eyes wide. Did he touch me this much last time I was here? She thought hard, and a melody swam to the forefront of her mind, reminding her of a long-discarded music box. Was the dance real? The thoughts flashed by in an instant, and she blinked, head reeling.

Jareth smiled at her. "Look down."

She did and saw her feet were now covered in flat leather boots. They fit her like a second skin and upon inspection, had decent treading to allow for long-distance walks. "Huh," she said. "That's different."

"It is simple enough magic, though I will admit I am more drained than usual." He closed his eyes as she glanced up at him, passing a hand over his face. He spoke as he did so. "We need to get moving. We only have four days."

"Wait, days? This is going to take days? What happened to thirteen hours?"

"I had thirteen months to challenge him for the right to the throne," Jareth said, tone weary. "It seems a great deal of time has passed while I was in the between places."

Sarah was quiet for a moment, hands on her hips, looking the Goblin King—Jareth—up and down. There was a minor slump to his shoulders, and his eyes were heavy at the edges. He looked ready to collapse compared to his usual cocky and beguiling self. "You really do need my help, don't you?"

His eyes slid closed for the space of several heartbeats. "Yes," he said once he opened them, looking straight at her. "I have no one else. No one who wouldn't take advantage of this situation, no one I can trust, save you."

She could barely breathe. His gaze pinned her in place. She relaxed her posture, fidgeting a little under his unrelenting stare. "Fine. I'll help you."

He swept into a slight, mocking bow. "Thank you," he said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Shove it."

"Tell me where."

Sarah laughed.

###

Jareth's heart signaled defeat at the sound of it, pure and joyful, like nothing he had heard from her before. Not when she had been in his demesne thirteen years ago, not when they had their final confrontation, and certainly not in the tunnels beneath the Labyrinth. His pulse skipped as the vibrancy of it flooded through him, cleansing for a moment the lingering sense of dread from his talk with the usurper.

He turned his face away from her, Kozack's words ringing in his head. My challenge to you is thus: seduce the woman who denied you all those years ago. You have four days.

Jareth gritted his teeth. He did not have the power to send Sarah home, not without forfeiting the kingship.

Forgive me, Sarah. I should never have brought you here.

Author's Note:

Surprise! A day early!

Wow, everyone, I am blown away by the reception this story has received so far. I really hope that you have continued to enjoy it. The next chapter will be up on the weekend!

Cheers and, as always, please leave a contribution in the little box.

Xoxo,

CrimsonSympathy