A/N: well that took forever didn't it. Sorry about that folks, but you'll be pleased to know that the next…six chapters will come out much swifter because they don't have to be completely retyped like the last ten. I am never letting my dad 'fix' the computer again.

Redaura: So sorry to keep you waiting but I hope you think it was worth it.

TopazQueen1188: Hope you like (yeah I know I am slow with the updates lately) and sorry I've been a non-internet presence lately. That'll change after next week and my exams are done (^_~)

Emerald Skye: Thanks so much. I'm glad you like this. Sarah is in the chapter but you'll get a much bigger dose of her next chapter.

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Kara was sitting in the Great Hall, countless bolts of fabric of every colour and description spread out before her like a sea that had not quite decided what colour it wished to be. Several attendants were fussing over it, each demanding her attention simultaneously as they pointed out one fabric or another. Hunter was standing at the other side of the hall trying to explain to an older Lord that he was no longer dealing with matters of state, at least until after he was married and if there was a problem of any kind then it should be taken up with the King.

Absently Kara picked up some of the fabric nearest her, letting it slide effortlessly through her fingers, but her mind was not on fabric and dress designs. Instead she was thinking about everything that had occurred when they had arrived back at the palace after Ulrich's death.

Initially they had been summoned by the King who, judging by the look on his face when he had arrived, intended to rip them both to shreds over their disappearance, but one look at Kara and the look had vanished, followed by a sigh and orders for tea and someone to attend to her. She had endured it all, Hunter's explanations, the Kings sympathy, anger and relief and the ministrations to her wounds, in a sort of blank and dazed state. After it had all been dealt with she'd been ushered to bed and she had slept for two days. When she had awoken she had immediately been thrown into wedding plans leaving her no time to think over what happened. Which was Hunter's plan. He was worried about how often she was whimpering and crying out in her sleep.

The insistent attendants cut through Kara's thoughts as three roles of white fabric where held up for her inspection. As far as she could tell they were all the same but the jabbering voices swimming round her head told her otherwise. She groaned inwardly but managed to keep her face a blank mask of utter calm. She held up her hand for silence.

"Um…I really should take time to think on this," Kara said quietly. "Why don't we work on the bridesmaid dresses?" this would be easier she thought, after all she knew what she wanted and the plans had already been drawn. Somehow it still took two hours to wade through the fabrics on offer before she found the right one. She stifled another sigh as she remembered that she still had to pick the bridesmaids.

Kara looked up and realising for the first time that the sun was beginning to set she began politely but firmly dismissing the attendants. She had something else to do that night that was going to take a lot of energy, energy that she refused to continue wasting listening to arguments of how one fabric ranked above another. She smiled across the hall at Hunter who seemed to have traded one problematic Lord for another. Then she rose, leaving the hall and making her way back to her bedroom. Almost as soon as she walked in, Millie appeared holding a small but deep box in her arms, which she placed on the bed.

"It took a while, but I finally found it. Someone had moved it when they put other things into storage."

"Thank you! Could you unlace this dress for me?" Kara asked, too tired to want to struggle with the numerous laces, buttons and countless other fiddly things by herself. She was sure her dresses got more and more complicated every day. Like she was being worked up to full period dress. Millie hastened to comply with the request and in no time her skilful fingers had removed the dress. She helped Kara into a robe and stepped away.

"Do you need anything else miss?"

"No, thank you, I can do the rest alone, but you have to keep the Prince out of here." Kara reminded her. "Tell him that I'm ill or something, just make sure he doesn't find out I'm gone."

Millie nodded her head before leaving the room quietly.

Kara removed the pins from her hair and shook it out, letting it fall free before moving to the bed and opening the box. Half smiling to herself she took out the clothes she had worn the day she had first entered the Labyrinth. She supposed she could have kept the dress on but for what she was planning she thought it would be best to wear something, well, more ordinary. Plus it felt good to be pulling on her old, familiar jeans. She pulled on the blouse, finished fastening it and let her black waist length hair hang loose. She crept from her room, moving as fast as she dared. She was terrified someone would see her and start demanding explanations.

It did not take her long to find the room she was looking for, having already found it and memorized the way there days earlier. She slipped inside and paused. Everything was shrouded in dust and shadow. Her heart thumped in her chest. She wasn't supposed to be here. She was about to start playing around with magic and only the court mage knew she was about to do it. Kara was well aware that something could go wrong; the court mage had told her as much, along with the general disapproval of the whole plan.

She walked further into the room and after a moment of searching she found what she wanted at the back of the room, covered with a heavy sheet. She tugged it off, raising a cloud of dust as she did so, to reveal a huge, ornate silver mirror underneath. Kara gazed at it in wonder.

Getting to this stage had not been easy, she knew, but she also knew it could have been so much worse. When she had returned the wounds that Ulrich had inflicted had been treated by the court mage due to his knowledge of herbs and how to speed the healing process. Thinking of it Kara absently rubbed at the spot of the new forming scar. Even his vast knowledge had not been enough to prevent that. She would always have a mark to remind her of what had happened then. Not that she thought she would ever forget anyway.

She had begun quizzing Michael, the court mage, on methods of travelling between the Underground and where she had come from. She had been looking for a way to pass undetected and a way of getting to a specific location without being wholly clear on where that place was. At first he had been shocked, and told her that if she wished to leave the Prince then she should speak with the Prince. He said that he would have no part in any sort of escape plan. Then he'd been worried almost immediately, thinking that perhaps the Prince was treating Kara in such a way that she would feel that 'sneaking out the back door' was the only option she had.

She had been forced to tell him her whole plan just to assuage his fears and suspicions on both counts. He still wasn't thrilled with her but at least now his concerns were only over whether or not she could handle magic without hurting herself or someone else, but it was an extremely simple spell, although he had told her time and time again that sometimes the simplest spells were often the ones that went the most horribly wrong and most often.

She pressed her hands against the smooth glass of the mirror and for a moment pulled sharply back, remembering the feeling of glass breaking under her hands and the smell…

She pressed her hands over her eyes and forced herself to breathe slowly, evenly, carefully, pushing the images and the memories firmly to one side. Maybe she would take Michael up on his offer of a potion that would stop the dreams.

After I get back, she instructed herself firmly. She had something else to do now, another task to occupy her attention.

She took her hands away from her face and once again pressed them against the glass. She breathed deeply, closed her eyes and began to speak the words of the spell softly.

The surface of the mirror began to grow warm and pulse under her hands. Kara opened her eyes to see that the surface of the mirror had become smoky and dark, like looking at the inside of a rain cloud. She began the next spell, the one to seek.

The smoke shifted, growing stormy and turbulent with each word she uttered. The surface continued to throb under her hands, like a beating heart, she thought. Gradually, a small neat bedroom came into view. Kara looked at the fairly typical bedroom with some trepidation. This could be the bedroom of any young woman in America.

Nevertheless Kara took another deep breath and began the next spell. The one that would let her pass through the mirror into the bedroom beyond. She felt the surface ripple underneath her hands, and then felt it smooth again. The pulsing feeling remained though, spreading up her arm as her hand slid through. For a moment Kara could do nothing but stare at it in astonishment. Gathering her wits, she stepped through. The strange pulsing sensation beat against her entire body and it took an effort of will to keep going. The effect was strangely soothing and she found herself wanting to stay where she was, in the in-between place.

She stumbled through the mirror, almost falling onto the lush grey carpet that her feet sank into. The bedroom door opened and the following scream nearly deafened Kara.

Holding up her hands she said, "Chill! I can explain everything!"

She looked up at a slightly taller girl with long dark hair. There was a pile of laundry at her feet, which she had evidently dropped due to her shock at finding someone in her bedroom.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

"Well my name is Kara, which won't mean a damn thing to you actually, but I really need to talk to you," Kara said in a slight rush.

The other girl frowned, "and you do that by sneaking into my bedroom? Why not use the front door, like a sane person?"

"Um…well I can't. You see I'm not actually from around here. Well…um not anymore."

"What is this about?"

"It's about Jareth."

Sarah gasped her face considerably whiter as she stared, speechless, at Kara.