Thanks to everyone who reviewed- Jenny, Prettylittleowl, Labyris, CeredwenFlame and Mysticalstar1- you are all too kind! Still, I know that my lack of updating has made everyone touchy. People have removed me from their favorites list in what I believe to be an act of protest. *shrugs* I have reasons, you know! My parents were sick for weeks and I had to take care of them; my second nephew was born… Things have been crazy and some serious questions came up about whether I should write this fic. A conflict of interest got in the way and I didn't know what I was going to do and so I became discouraged. I have gotten around that obstruction now, so although this chapter isn't that long, at least it's out! I am very sorry that it took me so long to update- I will do better.

Initial Fury: The Next Step

"We shall find no fiend in hell can match the fury of a disappointed woman,—scorned, slighted, dismissed without a parting pang. " Colley Cibbler, Love's Last Shift. Act iv.

The morning before:

            Jareth wakes up early and smiles to himself as he feels the energy of anticipation run through the Labyrinth. He smirks to himself. Today she will come. She's not ready; she is still young. I can take advantage of that. She won't see the real me; she can't! I hate her and I'll make her hate me! The prophecy will never come true then. I'll show everyone how ridiculous that prediction is.  He stares out the window. Today is the day that I win, Sarah. I'll show you…

The morning after:

            Jareth comes into his sitting room and stares blankly into the fireplace. After a few moments of silent communion, his goblins come and find him. As the volume increases in the room, Jareth gets increasingly disturbed. He glares at them, but they don't understand the meaning- he glares at them a good bit of the time. Suddenly erupting, he screams, "Leave, all of you!" The goblins stop what they are doing and stare at him for a second, but they still don't move an inch. Jareth narrows his eyes. "I said for you to get out of this room, so go!" Finally they get the message, so they reluctantly go to trash the throne room instead.

            Still scowling, he lounges back in his armchair- an attempt to relax. His shoulders remain tense and his thinking is almost garbled in his state of shock. He simply cannot believe what happened. He actually lost; the Labyrinth turned against him and let her through to the end. In the last few moments, she jumped and his heart leaped with her. Caught between his fascination with her and his driving desire to win, he suspended the rules to protect her, so that she would not fall… or so she would not touch her crawling, baby brother. He shakes his head before cradling it in his hands in frustration. After that, he had spoken his mind and gone too far, further than he would have ever allowed himself to think… and she denied him, his power, his love.

            "She should've said yes; it was a much better choice by any stretch of her overgrown imagination!"

            As always, Rolyat knows when to make an entrance. He appears at Jareth's feet and pats his master's leather boot. "Maybe she did not feel that subservience was a good option. Allowing someone to rule over you is very difficult; it's a conscious effort. However, allowing something to rule over you is not nearly as hard; it could be anything- power, affluence, acclaim, love or just about anything. Sarah did not want to be tamed."

            Jareth's bloodshot eyes snap open. "Don't say that name! Besides, what would you know of ruling over anyone?"

            The old goblin sits down in a nearby chair that he had claimed as his long ago. "I may not know about ruling over anyone, but I know about being ruled over, sir. The reason that I allowed it in the first place was that I believed in my master and his vision. I believed that although he was not perfect, he would try to make decisions in the best interests of the people. Of course, it was open to discussion. In the end, I trusted him to do the right thing."

            Jareth gracefully sits forward and almost calmly voices, "So you're saying that Sarah doesn't trust me?"

            He sheepishly answers, "Well you didn't do much to help her in that department, Master Jareth. You did your best to make sure that she lost the game so that you could have your way. You didn't even try to be kind to her!"

            The Goblin King stands and pulls himself up to his full height to tower over his inferior. "I was generous! Besides, she was no nicer to me than I was to her! Why should I waste my kindness on her anyway? The others didn't need kindness to give in to me, so why should she be a special case?"

            "Because she simply is, Your Majesty… but she made her choice, like it or not… what are you going to do now?"

            A vein begins to pop on Jareth's forehead. "I will do whatever I please and if it does not please you, maybe I should fire you! After all, you do not put your trust in me, so why would you allow me to rule over you?"

            Rolyat throws a chastising look at his master. "You know that you cannot fire me, sir. Even that is not within the range of your powers because your ancestor put a spell on me. I will always serve his family and help his line to reign, unless I want to leave of my own free will."

            "It's not a spell; it's a curse," Jareth mumbles.

            "Despite appearances, I am fond of you, Master Jareth and I am proud of how you growing up. I want what's best for your realm; it is in that interest and in your best interest that I press you."

            "Shut up; that is more than enough. At least we are safe and you can shut up about that stupid prophecy!" And now I don't have to deal with her or get involved ever again!

            After the joyful party in her room, Sarah is left alone to supposedly sleep. But as she stares out her window at the now-clear night sky, she feels so tired that she can't fall into her bed and dream. Combing her fingers through her loose hair, she sighs and feels mildly irritated at herself for not being able to rest. All of a sudden, her arms ache to hold Toby to reassure herself that he's safe and real. In order to kill some of her anxiety, she walks out her door and goes to check on Toby.

            The fair baby boy is curled up around Lancelot as he sucks his little thumb. Sarah smiles wistfully and lightly runs her fingertips over his soft hair. Reflecting on the journey for the first time since she got home, she feels her heart clench at what could have occurred. She looks down at his in his crib once more and the pain edges away. The worst did not occur and now she must return to life. Everything must, thankfully, go back to normal.

            She smiles once more at her sleeping sibling and shuts the door so that he won't wake from his peaceful rest. Once back in her room, she looks around and remembers the Junk Lady piling her belongings on top of her. Shuddering with the unpleasant memory, she regards her room with new eyes. The bedroom is cluttered with "precious" things, leaving no room for anything new- no new books, no new memorabilia and no new dreams. Since she realizes this, she decides to store most of it in boxes and put it up in the attic- not gone forever, but not solely taking up space.

            Before too long, she has packed the majority of the objects and pictures that she wishes to catalog and put in storage. Each object provokes a memory as she gently organizes it into boxes. Next, she goes to the upper right drawer of her dresser and takes out the red book. She caresses it as she walks it towards a box filled with things that remind her of the Labyrinth, but accidentally drops it onto her carpet. The little red book falls to the ground in seeming slow motion and bounces open. A letter and piece of shaped metal on a chain appear at her feet.

            Her eyes alit with curiosity; Sarah reaches down to pick up both objects. Suddenly she stops in the middle of the motion and second-guesses herself- after all, everything is not as it seems. She becomes very serious for a moment before shaking off her feeling because she is now at home, not back in that strange land. Her ordeal is finished- her duty done and Toby has been returned to his rightful place. She places the metal on the dresser and sits down to read the note.

Hello Sarah,

            So you have found my letter. Your mission is over and you have triumphed magnificently, as I hoped that you would. If you hadn't, you wouldn't be reading this letter right now. At this moment, I wonder how old you are and I wish I could be there to see the beautiful woman that you have no doubt become. Now comes the time for you to know the truth.

            Darling Sarah, you don't know me, not really. I wish that you did; I wanted to be there with you every step of the way, but I was unable to fulfill my duty to you, my precious daughter. Regardless, I hope to watch over you along your path- through your fears, your joy and your loneliness.

            The memories that you have of me must be vague and are most likely fading into darkness with each passing year. The truth is- I did not want to be a gentle, but invisible ghost watching over your every move. I don't want to be a dead wife kissing the cheek of my husband as he joins hands with another woman. Oh I know that she's very different from you, Sarah- I know that you two mix about as well as oil and water- but your father will love her and she will give him another chance for love. I hope that you are able to love me and that you know how much I love you. Never forget that, Sarah. I love you and I tried to protect you through my choices. You will hate me when I tell you the rest of the story, but I pray that you will understand with time and remember that I love you and that I tried my best.

             I think I can see how you are now, dear one. I would have preferred to be there in flesh and blood, but unfortunately I was dealt a bad hand, including the card for breast cancer. When I see you in my dreams, I am saddened and encouraged. You have pictures of me stuck in the sides of your mirror in your room, but you still do not see me, not the real me. In your heart, you have placed me upon a pedestal and I must admit that I am flattered.

            I had my success on the stage that filled my heart with joy, but more than that, I fell in love with your father and gave birth to you. No, I regret but one thing- that I cannot help you. My daughter, you do not see all of the frailties inherent in my being- you do not yet know the truth. When the day comes, I hope that you will be able to forgive me for the crimes I have committed, against my will yes, but still crimes that I committed that inevitably led you to the fabled Labyrinth of the Goblin King. So there was nothing for me to do than to prepare you as best I could to finish what I accidentally began.

            That is why I wrote this book called the Labyrinth and filled your head with its stories. I was once in the castle of the Goblin King, Sarah. He tricked me into wishing you away; in exchange for your humanity, I had to promise that one of us would write the story and publish it so that the words would never be forgotten. There was a prophecy that someone would defeat the Labyrinth and its king- you are the heroine that fulfilled that prophecy. You need to know that I allowed this; I did it to protect you, so I pray that you will someday forgive me. I did not mean to leave my responsibilities to you, but time ran out for me. I know that you are weary from your journey, but please know that it is not finished yet. Please finish the story by publishing the book. This will never be finished if you don't. All you want is to be free of Jareth; but in order to do so, you must at least fulfill this one duty.

            I know that you must be furious with me; you have a right to be. I didn't leave you defenseless- you never were. You just don't know your power. I didn't either, not before my trip into the underground. That pendant represents the pact that I made with Mikal, the Goblin King, also the father of Jareth. It will help you, Sarah.

            I know that my apology and explanation seem rather pathetic and I can only strengthen my appeal to my own imperfections. I will always be with you, my dear daughter. Good luck with the book- I know that you will become a wonderful writer. Take care and remember the importance of making choices and hoping in the future.  I love you.

Your mother,

Linda Katrina Ostling Williams

            Sarah folds the letter carefully and places it back in its hiding place in the book. Stooping down, she picks up the necklace and holds it in her hand. The pendant looks like a more polished version of the one that Jareth had around his neck. She brings it closer to her eyes to examine it and it grows hot to the touch.

            She drops it as quickly as possible. When it leaves her fingertips, she feels her fury burn in her chest. Incensed by what her mother had written, she throws the pendant back in the book and sends the entire object flying into the box, almost breaking the statue that resembles Jareth.

            She sits down on her bed and hugs a random pillow to herself. Mother, how could you do this to me? This isn't fair! A voice in her head wonders what her basis for comparison is. She puts her hands over her ears as another thought comes to her- That's just the way it is. Glaring in the direction of the book, she fumes about her mother until she finally falls into a blessedly dreamless sleep.

That's all for this chapter; sorry again that it was so late. Of course, it's not as simple as just writing and publishing the story, no, no… what kind of writer would I be to do that? No, I have an idea- not that I'm not open to what everyone wants to see. If it doesn't happen, don't hate, it just wouldn't work in the line that I had planned. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it and I will update sooner than I did before!