Ch 38

Sarah was having such a good time with Jareth, and she hated it to end. But they needed to get ready for Julie's wedding, which was in less than three hours. They headed back into the castle. "I think I need to take another shower," Sarah said, wrinkling her nose. The Labyrinth wasn't exactly the cleanest place to be.

"I will as well," Jareth said, disappearing into the bathroom. Sarah headed across the hall to what she was beginning to think of as "her" bathroom and took a quick shower. She wrapped herself in a fluffy robe that she found in the bathroom closet, and went back across the hall to get ready.

She opened the door to see Jareth already dressed, looking very regal dressed all in black. He smiled at how pretty she looked, all shiny and red from the heat of the shower. He couldn't resist giving her a long, deep kiss. He held her tightly to him, gently running one hand up and down her back. Sarah sighed as they ended the kiss, rested her head against his chest. She wished it was her getting married tonight; she didn't want to have to go home and leave Jareth. Her life Aboveground already seemed so long ago. The only thing she missed was her family.

That thought led her to pull away from Jareth. "Would I be able to send my parents another crystal, just to let them know I'll be back tonight?" she asked him.

"Of course, love," he replied, and effortlessly produced a crystal ball and handed it to her. She quickly told her parents what was going on, promising to explain everything when she got home. She gave the crystal back to Jareth and he sent it off to her parents. "I really hope I'm not freaking them out more by sending them crystals," she said with a grin.

Jareth laughed. "Oh, I'm sure you are!" He leaned down and kissed her. "I'll leave you to get ready now. Your dress is hanging on the hook in the wardrobe, and I'll send in a maid to help you."

"Okay," she said, and he turned to head out the door. "Jareth?" she called.

He turned. "Yes, love?"

She smiled. "I love you."

He smiled back. "I love you too." Then he went out the door and was gone. Sarah turned her attention to getting ready. She opened up the wardrobe and saw that a beautiful, pale pink gown was hanging inside the door. Sarah gently took it off of its hanger and set it on the bed. She let the robe drop, and quickly pulled on her undergarments. Then, she lifted the dress and carefully slid it over her head. To her dismay, it got stuck halfway down her body, and she wriggled frantically, trying to get it on.

She jumped as she heard the door open, and a gasp. She heard little feet running over to her, and someone cried, "Oh, dear, you seem to have gotten yourself into a bit of a pickle!" Sarah detected a bit of laughter in the voice, and she felt rather embarrassed to be caught in this situation. Nevertheless, she obviously needed help.

Blindly, with the gown covering her head, she said, "I assume you're who Jareth sent to help me?"

"Yes, my dear," the voice replied, "I'm Helma." Sarah could feel Helma carefully adjusting the dress, and finally Sarah was free and the dress was flowing over her body.

She looked at Helma, red-faced. "Thanks," she said with a small smile. The goblin looked somewhat familiar, and Helma saw Sarah looking at her curiously.

"You have already met my sister, Herma," Helma told her. "I'm told I resemble her, although why anyone thinks I look like that wrinkly old thing, I don't know." But her eyes were sparkling, and Sarah could see she truly loved her sister. She had the feeling she'd like Helma just as much as she liked Herma.

Helma busied herself tying up the corset strings along Sarah's back. When she was finished, she hustled Sarah over to a vanity against the wall. She sat Sarah down, and began fussing over her. Sarah hid a smile as Helma fretted over how to arrange Sarah's long, shiny hair. Finally, she twisted it up in an extravagant style, leaving small wispy tendrils to float around her face.

Sarah sat very still as Helma deftly applied her makeup. Helma was very cautious, and Sarah soon grew stiff from sitting so still. Finally, Helma stood back and looked at her creation. "Finished!" she proclaimed proudly.

Sarah looked into the mirror and was surprised at how well the little goblin had made her up. With her flowing pink gown, elegant hairstyle, and soft make-up, she looked like a fairly princess. She grinned at the thought. Well, close enough, she said to herself.

She turned around to thank Helma. "Everything looks wonderful, Helma, thank you so much. And also, thank you for…helping me…with my situation earlier." Helma laughed at that.

"Oh, you're welcome, my dear. And I want to thank you for being so kind; I'm glad to see his Majesty has found the perfect woman to be his Queen." With a smile, Helma turned and left.

Sarah smiled after her. Helma was so different from her sister. She had a feeling she could end up growing quite fond of the little goblin maid. She turned to study her reflection in the mirror once again.

She was startled when the door opened, the she saw Jareth peek his head in. "Helma said you were ready," he said as he entered the room. He stopped when he saw her. "Sarah, you look absolutely breathtaking." He wanted to kiss her but he was afraid of messing her up.

Sarah smiled. "Thank you. Helma did a good job." She stood up and kissed his cheek. "How soon do we have to leave?"

"Actually, we'll have to leave now. It took you longer to get ready than I had imagined." She started to object, but saw he was joking.

"Ha ha. Beauty doesn't come easy," she teased back. Jareth smiled. "Oh, I think it does for you, darling. You're beautiful at any time of the day, regardless of what you have on."

She grinned at the compliment, and kissed his cheek again. "Come on, let's go see our best friends get married."

With that, he took her hand and transported them to Bayron's castle.