Chapter 13- As The World Falls Down

*Sorry it took so long, guys! I had such trouble writing the middle of this chapter.*

            Sarah was trying very hard not to panic, but was failing miserably.

            "It's all my fault!" she wailed. Some of the women from the daycare were trying to comfort her, but they all shared the same thought. As soon as his majesty found out about this, the girl's future would be settled. One woman tried to console Sarah while asking the same questions she had heard for the past three hours.

            "Are you sure you had him in your arms when you fell asleep?"

            "Yes, I'm sure! I was rocking him."

            "Was the door open? Did you hear anything?"
            "No, I couldn't, It was closed. . ."

            "You didn't see the face of the one who stole him?"
            "No, I told you, I was asleep, I didn't know he was gone until I woke. . ." At this, Sarah started bawling once more, and the woman patted her on the back.

            "Right unfortunate turn of events," she was saying to another woman.

            Sarah tried to remember the events of the night, tried to think back to her dreams, sounds, anything that would have been a clue to the baby's disappearance. She had been humming the lullaby, singing softly to Meril, thinking about how much he'd grown, how he'd be walking soon. . . then nothing. No clues as to where the baby had disappeared. She had woken up hours later, empty handed and panicked. At first thinking that the daycare women had taken him and put him to bed, she had woken them and questioned them all, but no one had seen the baby since she had taken him to rock him to sleep.

            "Shouldn't have trusted a mortal with an immortal baby," said a woman, under her breath.

            "Not the girl's fault, I just hope they catch the rogue who did this!" another cried. Sarah was tired of crying; she was becoming numb to the situation. Who would want to steal a baby? When she had ventured to the underground, she had imagined it free of the criminal temptations that plagued her own world. Apparently, she had been mistaken.

            "Go get ready," the first woman suggested. "They'll be wanting to summon you, to decide how to handle the situation. Best look your best, dear." Nodding, Sarah left the room and wandered in the direction of her chambers. On her way, she ran into Gragar. The dwarf gave her a sympathetic look.

            "I's heard what 'appened," Gragar said. "Awful string of luck, Miss. I'm 'fraid I can't help you, but I wish I could." Sarah tried to give a small smile.

            "Thank you, Gragar, I know you would. Have you seen Hoggle or Didymus?" She felt that she could use her old friends more than ever right now.

            "Aye, they're waiting for you, outside your chambers, miss." Sarah smiled another thank you, and headed toward her room. Gragar watched as she retreated, her posture slumped, and manner defeated. It was a shame, the dwarf thought. She had such a wild and free spirit. How had she been knocked down so far? Shaking his head, disgusted with the situation, Gragar walked toward the throne room.

            "MY LADY!" Sarah was almost toppled by a diminutive animal who donned a cap with a feather in it. She smiled dejectedly, embracing her friend.

            "Oh Didymus," she said, tears coming to her eyes, "I've really done it this time." The small creature looked up at her with sympathetic eyes.

            "There must be something we can do," he asserted. Sarah shook her head.

            "I was responsible. I shouldn't have fallen asleep. I deserve to be thrown back aboveground." Sarah lost the battle against her emotions, and tears began to fall down her flushed face.  "Poor little Meril, he must be so scared," she said, then stopped suddenly. "Oh my god. I've done it again." Didymus looked confused. Sarah's eyes grew wide, and she sank to the floor.

            "I don't understand, my lady." The small protector placed a paw in her palm.

            "When I wished Toby away," Sarah sobbed, "I didn't even think. . . only after my actions had hurt him, did I realize how scared he must have been. . ." She was completely distraught now, and buried her face in her hands. Hoggle entered the room, and saw his weeping friend.

            "Sarah, what's the matter?" The dwarf's heart broke at the thought that anything could cause her pain. Sarah simply cried, venting all the emotions that she had felt since stepping foot onto underground soil. "The kitchen staff, the staff of the castle, everyone thinks that things will turn out alright," Hoggle said, patting her shoulder and trying his best to be comforting. " No one believes that you will be sent back to the aboveground. His majesty is quite fond of you, you know. . ." This only made Sarah raise a tearstained face, to look forlornly at her friend.

            "If you were king, Hoggle, and a subject was responsible for the loss of one of your subjects, due to negligence, would you not punish them?" Sarah asked.

            "Well, I suppose, but maybe if the circumstances. . ."

            "It's no use," Sarah interrupted. "I've no hope left."

            "You do," Hoggle argued. "You do have hope, I've taken on a responsibility which will lead to something. . . something good, Sarah." This declaration caused Sarah to pause, wondering at her well meaning friend.

            "What do you mean?" she asked.

            "Don't you worry, missy," Hoggle continued, his posture straightening a bit with importance. "I've got the situation under control." Sarah smiled tearfully at the dwarf and gave his hand a squeeze.

            "Alright," she answered, allowing a small ray of hope to enter her heart.

In the throne room, another dwarf stood, hoping to have the situation under control. Gragar, the king's head dwarf, stood resolutely in front of the throne.

            "It's not her fault, she's never shown a moment's worry where the children are concerned," Gragar was arguing. "I trust my little one to her, and to be honest, Mia has quite taken to the girl. All of the women in the daycare agree, sir." Jareth sat, back straight, an unyielding expression taking over his features.

            "Take heed who you defend, master dwarf," Jareth warned him. "The girl is in fact a woman, who has full knowledge of where her responsibility lies. Since the moment she graced the underground with her presence, she has been a liability. You have a choice; either agree with me and continue to be able to feed and shelter your family, or disagree and face the bog of stench. What will it be?" Watching the anger in his sovereign's face, Gragar knew better than to tempt his wrath. He had seen goblins whisked away to the nether regions of the labyrinth for lesser sins. Bowing his head, Gragar backed from the room.

            "As always, your majesty, your opinion is mine as well." As he retreated, he saw shadows once again cover Jareth's features.

An hour later, Sarah was summoned from the room, to report in Jareth's throne room. Her stomach sank as she realized that she would be held accountable for the baby's disappearance. Such sadness she had caused this family! It would have been better if she'd never met them at all, Sarah thought. As depression set in, she forced herself to venture toward Jareth's throne room. When she entered, she saw Jareth, sitting regally in his stone throne, Miriam and Dorian sitting on a bench to Jareth's right hand side, and Mr. Breanon standing before the king.

Miriam was whimpering softly, and looking back and forth between her father, Sarah and Jareth. Dorian was whispering something softly to her, obviously trying to console his sister. Sarah's heart ached for them both, and wanted nothing more than to give them a hug and tell them that everything would be alright. But everything would not be alright. Thanks to her.

            "I demand that the one responsible be punished!" Mr. Breanon was shouting. Jareth's eyes had grown cold and unfeeling. Again wondering at the strange circumstances that had forced her to love this man, she shrugged off a feeling of fear. She had faced the king before, and would do so again.

            "Sarah Williams," Jareth began. "You have been accused of negligence where Meril Breanon, son of Cedrith and Lyvian Breanon, is concerned. Do you dispute this charge?"

            "I didn't mean it," Sarah whimpered.

            "Miss Williams," Jareth replied coldly. "I have been told that you fell asleep while watching over young Meril Breanon, and did not awaken when he was kidnapped. Do you wish to dispute this?" All the time the two had spent together melted away. He no longer trusted her. Sarah could have screamed in frustration.

            "No," she said quietly.

            "Then as king of the goblins, I must sentence you," Jareth continued. Mr. Breanon looked on with an expression of smug bitterness.

            "Wait!" Sarah called, frantically searching the king's eyes for any sign of humanity. "Isn't the person who took Meril responsible for his kidnapping? I loved that child! There's nothing I would ever do to let harm come to him, or any of the Breanons!"

            "Miss Williams," Jareth said again, patiently keeping his temper in check. "Since you've discovered the underground, you've defeated one of its most powerful kings, demanded that I reorder time to meet your every whim, rejected my affections when they were handed you, then complained when I withdrew them. You've been the cause of one death from the shadow due to your careless disobedience, also from this family, and caused havoc wherever you've gone. Now you expect me to overlook an act of complete negligence. Well I will tell you, it will not be done. . ."

            "Stop!" Sarah shouted. The sadness that she had been feeling was slowly transforming. Now, it was a steady anger that was building within her. "Just stop." Jareth's eyes flashed at her defiance.

            "You dare interrupt me, Sarah? After all that you've done?" He spat the words at her, eyes flashing.

            "Yes, yes I will interrupt you." Sarah's anger was full fledged now, and she let him have the brunt of it. "I've been through just as much as you have, but I've moved on, instead of becoming bitter and cut off like you have. Haven't you ever made a mistake? Wasn't there ever a time when you were young and didn't understand the full implications of things going on around you? Wouldn't you rather try to open your heart instead of just letting this thing kill people off? What's your problem?" Despite her determination, Sarah's voice wavered at the end, betraying her terrified emotional state. Jareth's eyes flashed with anger.

            "As punishment for your lack of attention toward Meril Breanon," Jareth stated coldly, "You are to be exiled to the black forest for the remainder of your 13 months in the underground. You will have accommodations there, and will be expected to work for your survival. This arrangement does not break the contract between you and I, but we never expect to see you again." His eyes flashed, and Sarah's heart sank as she realized the depth of his anger toward her. With a sneer, he snapped his fingers, and Sarah disappeared.

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SO sorry for the delay and the length. I was having the worst block writing the middle of this chapter! Hopefully the other chapters will come quickly afterwards.

AnimeMoonGirl16- Aw, what a compliment, THANKS!

GothicTemptress- I hope that my story continues to meet your expectations! Thanks!

Desdemona321- LOL oh no! *ducks* Well I *was* going to kill him off, but now that I have all these threats of bitings. . . lol just kidding, of course. ;-)

Draegon-fire- Of course he blames her, he's a stupid guy, right? ;-) lol. . . And yes, Dorian is in a pickle right now. We shall see how it all turns out.

Tessie-fanfic- Well I'm pleased to be the first to do so! Thanks! I've actually not seen Kenshin, I've been warned that it's too addicting for my own good. ;-) But I will definitely read your fanfic as soon as I get an opportunity!

Lady of Shallotte- Thanks, and so sorry! I'll TRY so very hard to concentrate and get another chapter out. ;-)

Jessica White- As always, thanks so much for the feedback! I will try not to let you down. ;-)

Diamond- I'm so glad that you are hooked! As strange as that may sound. . . hehe.

Cherokeeelady- Ah, please don't bite me! LoL. . . I promise I won't kill Jareth off. ;-) Glad that you like the suspense! I'll do my best to keep you guessing. And glad you like the responses to the reviews! You guys keep me going, so it's only fair that I let you all know how much you're appreciated!

Ryuu-YOukai- Sorry for the delay! Hopefully I'll do better next time!

Neoshipper- Good luck with the college applications! Glad that you're enjoying what's going on. . .

Innocent Dreamer- Someone replied I think and said that the name was 'The Bachelor and the Bobbie Soxer.'

If_666- Thanks for the feedback! Always nice to hear that you like the story from beginning to end; it lets me know how well it's flowing!

Leanna-Marie-Malfoy- I promise to continue!

Breezy- I know. . . *hangs head in shame* I'll try to do better!

Draegon-Fae- Thanks so much! I've emailed you the URL, since I couldn't get it to post correctly. Let me know if you didn't receive the email; I've been having issues emailing aol addresses, for some reason. J

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