"Sara, would you like a ride home? You look kinda tired."

"Thanks, David. I am kinda beat." Sara was so tired she didn't notice the predatory look on David's face as he walked her out to his car and settled her in the passenger side seat.

'This is going to be so easy,' he thought as he slid behind the wheel and started the engine. As he went to put the car into reverse, he brushed his hand along Sara's thigh.


"Why don't I come in? Just for a moment."

"Not a good idea, David. I'm just going straight to bed and that's it."

"But, Sara. . ." She was already in the door and was trying to shut it. He attacked.

His window of opportunity was small so he took it. He lunged at the door, knocking Sara back into the apartment. He made sure to shut and lock the door behind him. After all, he didn't want anyone disturbing him in what he was about to do.

"David, you need to leave." Sara had pulled herself up along the wall and was looking at him in fear, all trace of exhaustion gone.

"Now, Sara, is this any way to show your appreciation for all I've done for you? I gave you a job, referred you to this apartment, even spoke to the landlord in order for you to get the dump. I think I deserve a little payback." He had been approaching her as he said this. He had her pinned against the wall and started pulling at her clothes. "Now, why don't you be a good girl and just take of your clothes? Let's do this the easy way."

"No!" He smacked her across the face. Sara was now terrified. She knew that no matter how much she screamed no one would save her.

'Jareth would save you. Just call for him.' That was an unfamiliar voice in her head. Suddenly, David was on top of her, slapping her and tearing at her clothes. 'Call for him, Sara.'

"JARETH, HELP ME!!!!!!!!!!!" she screamed out loud.


Jareth was knocked to his knees by the force of her cry. He didn't even stop to see what was going on, he simply disappeared from the castle and reappeared in the little hovel that Sara had called home.

David was taken by surprise when Jareth attacked him with a fierce battle cry. He threw David into the wall and David found himself slumped on the floor. He watched in amazement as Jareth picked up Sara who buried her face in his neck, sobbing and the two of them disappeared.


Sara looked at the room Jareth had brought her to and realized that it was a hospital room, in particular her father's hospital room. She quickly sat down in the chair next to the bed. "Daddy?" He turned his head toward her.

"Sara? I knew you would come. I knew Karen was lying when she said you didn't care enough to come and see me. I love you. I know you and Karen never got along but I always loved you."

"I love you, Daddy. I always have. Karen was just always so mean to me. She didn't like me from the start."

"I know. And all because you look just like your mother. She was always jealous of your mother because I never put away her pictures." He paused for a moment and then continued. "Sara, I know I don't have much time left. I wanted to let you know that I know what happened to you and Toby five years ago. I know who Jareth is. I've had my own encounters with him." At this point, he looked up at Jareth. "Take care of my daughter. Don't hurt her. Enough people have done that in her life."

"I will care for her forever. She is more precious to me than life itself." Jareth looked down at Sara. "Someone's coming, Sara. We have to leave now."

"Daddy! Don't leave me!"

"I have to for now, honey. I'll always be looking out for you though." With that, Robert Wiliiams died, his hand slipping quietly from his daughter's as he exhaled for the last time.

Sara stood up as the tears fell freely from her eyes. She turned to Jareth. "Take me out of here. Please."

He wrapped his arms around her and they disappeared just before the nurse entered the room.


"Sara, why don't you lay down and get some sleep?" Jareth had brought her to his castle in the Underground. "Come on, sweet. Lay down on your bed."

"My bed?" Sara looked up at him. "What do you mean?"

"This is your room. I will only enter here if you call me. This is your sanctuary." He brushed the hair away from her face. "You may trust in that. Go ahead now. Sleep. You'll feel better in the morning."

He walked her over to the bed and pulled back the covers. She kicked off her shoes and lay down on the bed. She was asleep almost before her head hit the pillow. Jareth kissed her forehead and then left the room.


"Jareth, quit spying on the child."

"Dris, you are still my younger sister. You are highly annoying. She'll probably need me tonight. Her father died tonight while holding her hand. She will probably not sleep well."

Sure enough, it was at that moment that Sara started tossing and turning. "No! Daddy! Don't go!"

Jareth immediately disappeared and reappeared in Sara's room. He sat down on the bed next to her and pulled her gently into his arms. She continued to cry while Jareth stroked her hair and back. He murmured soothingly into her ear as she soaked his shirt.

When she had calmed down enough to back away from him, she looked at him with a face so full of loss that he couldn't stand it. He pulled her closer to him. "I will protect you, Sara. From all pain. If you will let me." Jareth wanted to cry for her. He wanted to take her pain and loss.

"Tell me... Tell me of my father's encounter with you." She so wanted to hear the story that might link her closer to her father even though he was dead now. It would make her think of him as alive just for a little while.

"Very well, Sara. I warn you now, this story is not a pretty one."

"I don't care. I knew so little about my father's past."

Jareth sat down on the bed with his back against the headboard. Sara scrambled up to put her head against his shoulder. He wrapped one arm around her and pulled the covers over her. "Dris, I know you're out there. You might as well come in. This story pertains to you too."

Dristeria crept into the room, almost ashamed at being caught by Jareth. She sat down on the bed as well.

"Sara, this is my little sister, Dristeria. Dris, this is the Lady Sara." Dris shot a curious look at her brother who simply nodded. He knew well what it meant that he had introduced her as the Lady Sara. He had just laid claim to her. He meant to take her as his wife. "Now for the story. When your father, Sara, was about fifteen, he wished his little sister away. I gave him the same chance to get her back that I gave you. However, he didn't reach the castle. His sister was forfeit. Of course, I don't turn the children into goblins. I send them to live with fae parents. We fae have difficulty producing sufficient offspring. The human children I take are adopted into families here that want children that they can't produce themselves. My parents were the next on the list. I handed them the child, Lillian. Dristeria was born some time after. Lillian loved my parents but she held some vague memories of your father taking care of her and singing her to sleep.

She would sometimes wake up crying at night and didn't remember why. Mother tried to erase her memories of your father but it didn't work. In fact, it only made the memories clearer. Eventually, they brought her to me and told me to send her back to the Aboveground. She begged me not to send her away from the only parents she knew. She promised to put these memories away and never talk about them again. She succeeded in that task for quite sometime. One day, though, Lillian took a walk outside my parents' home and never returned. The legends have it that she found a way to go back to the Aboveground. It wasn't until some years later that we managed to quell that rumor.

It vanished when Lillian turned up married to the Lord of the next kingdom over. He has always been a friend of mine but he also never fails to keep a promise. He promised Lillian when he found her being attacked by some bandits in his woods that he wouldn't tell anyone where she was. He was released from this promise at the birth of their first child. Their daughter was beautiful and elegant.

Her name was Lindarel. She somehow disappeared when she turned sixteen and then reappeared in the Aboveground. No one knew how she had gotten there but some think that the child had such powers as would let her travel Aboveground as well as Underground.

But by the time we discovered where she was, she had married a man who turned out to be her uncle. When we found her, she was pregnant. With you. She had shortened her name to Linda and married Robert Williams. Her mother was the one who came to her to tell her the truth. That the man she was married to was her uncle. Lindarel begged her mother not to tell Robert. She promised she would leave him and her daughter behind and never contact them again. It was the only way to keep her daughter safe.

You see, Sara, upon discovering that Lindarel had gone Above, assassins from several rival kingdoms set out to remove her from the progression for Tarmain's throne. She was the heir apparent and many other kings wanted to take over the kingdom.

When your mother left you behind with your father, it was for your own protection. She knew that no matter what happened or whose hands Tarmain's kingdom was in when the time came, the Seelie Court would see to it that you recieved your throne.

Here in the Underground, we believe that a familial succession is the best. That's why, until a family is proven unfit to rule a kingdom, they are left in power. And in a case like this one, the Seelie Court is currently administering the kingdom in question until either an heiress appears or a suitable replacement can be found.

You see, not only did your father die yesterday, but so did Lindarel. In a 'car accident'. At least, that's what the police are calling it. We know for a fact that it was an assassination. They knew that she was almost ready to come back to lay claim to her kingdom."

"Are you trying to say that . . .?"

"You, Sara, are the heiress to Tarmain's throne. We have to take you to the Seelie Court immediately. However, I can't just appear there. We'll have to take the long way and be very cautious about it." Jareth turned to his sister. "Dris, you can't tell anyone about this. Not even our parents. They would be too excited and tell everyone that Sara had come to claim what is rightfully hers. You understand, don't you?"

"Of course, Jareth. I only hope they can forgive us for being so secretive."

"They will. They'll understand it's the only way to protect the succession." He looked down at Sara. "Will you promise me, Sara, that no matter what happens in the next few days, that you will do what I say when I say it. You have to understand that your life is in great danger. I can protect you but only if you agree to do as I say."

"I promise. Jareth, contrary to my recent actions Aboveground, I have no death wish."

"Good. We will leave first thing in the morning. It will look to all as if I am just going to visit my parents and taking a tour of the kingdom at the same time. You will be a young lady I have taken from Aboveground. You wished yourself away because you couldn't handle everything."

Sara heard nothing more because she was too busy processing all the information. She was a princess. A real princess. All of those dreams had been right.

She curled up tighter to Jareth and closed her eyes, smiling. 'This could get interesting,' was the thought to run through her mind as she fell asleep.