AN: Thank you for the reviews everyone. I hope that you all had a good weekend. Mine was very good. My computer didn't break down on me and neither did my truck. : ) *does a happy dance * Well here is the next chapter. Enjoy.

Priorities…

Sarah opened her eyes slowly and she immediately felt a sense of loss. It wasn't very strong at first but as she lay gazing up at the ceiling the loss grew until it overwhelmed her. She began to sob and started to choke on her tears. She thought it had been a bad dream but she knew from what she felt that it was not a dream but reality. She had miscarried only a few days after she had become pregnant. She had lost Jareth's child…

She had not missed Jareth's angry display in the hall. She had heard him break something before he had entered the room. He had entered and the look on his face was pure anguish. He had pulled her into his arms. She sobbed louder as the memory of Jareth sobbing with her added to her misery. She had never heard Jareth cry. She had seen him overwhelmed by powerful emotions of sorrow but she had never heard him cry. He was too proud to cry, too arrogant.

"Ssssssh." Sarah gazed through tear filled eyes to see Megmora. The dragon was trying to comfort her. Her daughter was beside the dragon.

"Don't cry mommy. Jareth went to get the bad man." Aryanna told her.

"What?"

'Jareth went to get the bad man who hurt you mommy."

Sarah was suddenly sitting straight up in her bed. "He didn't?" She glanced worriedly at the dragon. "Meg, please tell me he didn't go after Gorgin." She knew that Jareth was upset, surely he had not gone alone after Gorgin to vent his anger, his frustration, his loss.

"I'm ssssorry Lady Sssarah. The King did go after him, but not alone. He isss raisssing an army. He hass put a bounty on hiss head and will capture him if huntersss do not."

"Why is he going after Gorgin? We escaped. We're safe, we're free."

"He believesss he is the causse of your… of both of your pain thisss day."

"But this is my fault! I'm the one who miscarried! I'm the one who lost the baby!" She shouted.

"What baby, mommy?" Ary asked. She crawled onto the bed beside her mother , her hazel eyes wide with wonderment.

Sarah pulled her into her arms, stroking her long dark hair. "Oh sweetie….You were going to have a brother or a sister…but mommy lost the baby."

"A brother or sister? Is that what the bad man took from you mommy? Is that what he took from Jareth?"

Sarah suddenly began to sob all over again. Ary hugged her mother tightly. "Please don't cry mommy. You haven't cried in so long. Don't cry about the baby." Ary's caring words made her sob more and she buried her face into her daughter's soft hair. Sarah stopped sobbing after a short while and just held her daughter.

"My lady…you are tired from your journey through the tunnelsss. It would be wisse for you to resst and eat sssomething." Megmora tried to tell her.

Sarah shook her head. "I'm not hungry, and I couldn't sleep if I tried. I have too much on my mind." She lowered her face back into Ary's hair and rocked her daughter in her arms. Megmora watched, a feeling of worry eating at her.

"Mommy I'm scared." Ary whispered quietly as she clutched onto her mother.

"Of what sweetie?"

"Jareth…." She said so softly Sarah had to strain to hear her.

Sarah pulled back to gaze into her daughter's face. "Of Jareth?" Ary nodded. Sarah suddenly looked very worried. "Why are you frightened of Jareth? What did he do?"

"He broke a statue mommy and he said he wanted the bad man dead. He stormed off down the hallway. Is he going to hurt us Mommy? Is he? Like daddy hurt us?"

Sarah hugged her daughter tightly. "I don't think so sweetie. Jareth loves us."

"But what if he does? Mommy I don't want him to hurt you like daddy hurt you. He has a bad temper and uncle Toby said that people with bad tempers take it out on other people, even if they don't mean it. Jareth has a temper and I'm afraid he will take it out on us. I want to go home mommy. I'm afraid." She clutched her mother tightly.

Sarah cringed as Jareth's words from an earlier conversation echoed in mind. 'One day I am going to lose my temper and she may see it. I would never direct my full fury at her. But she will see it. And what will she think of me? She might hate me, might be frightened of me….'

Sarah gazed directly into Ary's eyes and held her shoulders. "Sweetie, we all have tempers. Jareth would never take things out on you or me. He loves us both very much. He is upset right now. Ary do you understand about the baby?"

"Someone wished away another baby didn't they? And you and Jareth were going to keep it and it was going to be my brother or sister, right? It was wished it away and the bad man stole it from you and Jareth."

Sarah shook her head. Her daughter was known to have a runaway imagination. "No Ary. Mommy was going to HAVE a baby. I was pregnant." Ary's eyes widened. She spoke her next words softly and slowly. "Jareth was the father of the baby. Do you understand?"

Ary nodded slowly. "How did the bad man take the baby mommy? Did you have it already and I missed your big belly? Kelly's mommy has a big belly because she is going to have a baby and-"

'No no…" Sarah shook her head. Ary was beginning to ramble. ". Something happened and mommy lost the baby. It didn't develop properly and …I never had the chance to get a big belly. Jareth thinks that this was Gorgin's fault but it's my fault." tears began to stream down her face. "…I lost it." Sarah began to sob again and Ary hugged her.

'Don't cry mommy. I'm here. I'll always be your baby." At her daughter's words Sarah broke down.

Megmora rose from her chair by the bed, with a heavy heart and left the room.

* * *

"I don't care if they have shops to run, I need my guards. Tell their wives or their children to run the shops for a few days!" He shouted loudly. "And I want the posters for his arrest drawn up and posted with in the city by this afternoon."

"Begging your pardon yer majesty but that's imposs-"

'I don't want to hear your excuses! Get it done now!" Jareth roared and snapped his fingers. The goblin disappeared from the room in a flash of light.

Soft padded footsteps were approaching and Jareth spun to see Megmora standing in the entranceway to his throne room.

"I thought I asked you to stay with Sarah and Ary!? Why are you disobeying me!?"

Megmora bowed her head. " I have newsss of the lady Sarah…"

"What of her?" Jareth's heart was suddenly racing at the mention of Sarah's name. He was trying to forget about what had happened, what Gorgin had done to himself and to Sarah. He had tried to busy himself with preparations all that morning, but it was useless. All he could see, all he could hear was Sarah sobbing. All he could think about was that she had miscarried because of a greedy bastard who had wanted his kingdom. Gorgin would face the Goblin King's full fury for taking his child.

"Ssshe is blaming hersself for the losss of the child, my lord. Ssshe will not eat, will not resst herself. Sshe is exhaussted but she will not ssleep." Meg paused and looked Jareth directly in the eyes. "Ssshe needsss you to comfort her."

Jareth turned from his healer , hiding his pained expression from her. "I don't have time. I have an army to finish preparing…a man to arrest."

'Don't have time?" There was anger in the dragon's voice. "Do you wissssh to losse her? Do you wisssh to losse her child?" Jareth's brows furrowed at her words. Megmora had her opinions but she rarely spoke out against him. "The child iss frightened of you becausse of your disssplay in the hallway. Sshe wantss to go home. Ssshe will need reasssurrance that you ssstill love her. And Lady Sssarah iss falling into despair. I've seen it happen to many. I know when it will happen and sahe iss falling. If you want to catch her before sshe hitss rock bottom you had better do something. What iss more important to you, getting even with an enemy or lossing the oness you love?"

Jareth gazed at the dragon who was standing taller then usual. There was anger in her eyes and carefully hidden beneath it was concern and Jareth felt fear take over his body once again.

* * *

Ary was sleeping peacefully on her bed. The servants had brought her lunch and she had fallen asleep after eating. Sarah had not touched a single thing on the plate. She didn't want to eat, didn't care if she ever ate again.

She was standing at the window, her bare feet on the cold stone floor. She was in a loose fitting silk nightgown that nearly touched the floor. It was growing later in the afternoon and she vaguely wondered where Megmora had gotten off to. Not that it mattered much. She felt empty, as if a piece of her was gone and a hole was all that remained. In truth she had lost a part of herself and a part of Jareth as well. Tears welled in her eyes and for a brief moment she tried to force them back. She was tired of crying, but she was so weak that they fell anyway. She leaned over onto the windowsill, burying her face into her hands as sobs wracked her body.

Warm hands touched her and pulled her to stand upright. Then they turned her to face their owner. Still sobbing she gazed into Jareth's mismatched eyes. He pulled her into his arms.

'I lost our baby.." she sobbed against him.

"Ssssh. Stop this Sarah. You have to stop this."

Ary opened her eyes and remained quiet on the bed. She watched Jareth hold her mother, trying to soothe her with his soft words.

'I lost the baby…I lost the baby…" she kept repeating.

"Sarah, stop it! It's not your fault."

'But I'm the one who carried it, I'm the one who lost it!"

He pulled back from her and shook her slightly. He lowered his head, gazing into her eyes. "It..is …not…your …fault." He told her slowly.

She collapsed against him. "She wants to go home…." She sobbed clutching his white shirt into her hands, changing the subject from bad to worse.

Jareth gently stroked her hair with his bare hands. "Who wants to go home…?" His voice was painfully soft. Sarah didn't miss the fear in his tone.

"Ary…she wants to go home…she's frightened…" Jareth froze. Meg had warned him, but he thought that perhaps it had been merely that, a warning.

"Did…did she say that?"

"Yes!" Sarah sobbed. "I don't want to go…I want to stay with you…" She clutched him so tightly her knuckles turned white.

Jareth held her to him. She was losing it, breaking down and if he didn't control himself he would break down with her. But he had to be strong for her, needed to be her anchor in this terrible storm.

Ary slowly brought the blanket over her head slowly, quietly, leaving a small hole that she could peek out of. She quickly closed her eyes when she saw Jareth beginning to turn his head toward the bed that she laid upon. Seeing that the child was sleeping beneath the blankets, Jareth replied.

"I don't want you to leave Sarah. I don't want Ary to leave. I want you both to stay with me. I want to rid the Underground of the man who took our child from us so that it will be a safer place for you, for Ary, for our future child. I want you to rule beside me. I want that happily ever after I told you about when we walked on the beach." He started to kiss her hair. "I can't survive without you…without Ary. I need you both in my life. I am incomplete without you."

Sarah pulled back, tears streaming down her beautiful face. "But you frightened her Jareth, made her unsure and now she wants to leave!"

"I was foolish…so foolish in the hallway. She saw my anger….I let it get the better of me." He let his face fall into her hair, his voice full of fear. 'I have no idea how I will shake that fear from her…" He pulled back looking into her eyes. "She saw the truth of who I can be. She should have been warned that I have a temper, but that I would never take it out on her. She must be so frightened of me…It is I who has ruined everything. I couldn't control my temper." His eyes were full of anguish, heartache written clearly all over his handsome face.

She reached up to stroke his face with the back of her fingers. He looked like a frightened child. He could not hide his fear from her, a fear that she felt along with him. She was so afraid that after all they had gone through, they would not be together. It had taken her 20 years to find the other half of her soul…the thought of losing him was more then she could bear. She fell against him and he held her tightly in his arms, kissing her hair and stroking her back. They both were aware that Ary would be making her decision soon. A decision they had not even been able to fully explain to her.

The Goblin King rocked his Sarah in the dying light of day, unwilling to let go of her. Neither of them aware of a pair of hazel eyes that watched them curiously through a space in the blanket of the bed.