This is again a repost and hopefully it will work out this time. Thank you for the reviews that addressed this problem and in the future I'll try to be a bit more careful with my cut and pasting.

Chapter 3:

Jareth had been pacing his throne room aimlessly as he gazed into a crystal ball. Inside the ball was the figure of Sarah jogging along the path towards his palace. She was so close yet so far from the steps of Goblin City that he almost felt sorry for her when she happened upon the entrance of the garden of terror. There we no pixies here, or Hoggles to help her. She was doomed as soon as the first thorn scratched her skin and marked her as easy prey for the Agrimony.

"Stupid girl. Why could you not just take the easy way out," he mumbled as he teleported to her side just in time to see her fall to the ground from the poison of Agrimony.

"Stop you wretched weeds," he said while waving his hands and blasting all of the Agrimony with a blue flame.

The Agrimony did not die, merely cried out in pain and relenquished their prey. Jareth picked Sarah up in his arms and looked down to see her forehead wrinkled in pain. His face flashed with concern before he teleported back to his bedchambers and placed her beneath his sheets. There was no cure or anedote for the vemon. Sarah would have to awaken from the coma on her own or die trying.

Jareth sighed and then went to his door and opened it to see a smartly dressed servant child look up at him. Many of the children wished away to him became servants,not goblins as Sarah believed, until they were old enough to care for themselves and then moved into the Goblin City to work or into another kingdom. This servant's name was Layne. Layne had been made a eunich at a very early age, so that the gender of Layne has become questionable to everyone, even Layne. Layne moved long red hair from his face and curtsied slightly to his king.

"Sire," the youth stated in a voice void of emotion or gender,"I've come at your silient request. How may I be of service?"

"Draw a bath and see that she is tended to. I want her as comfortably as possible until the aftereffects of the vemon has worn off. I leave her in your able hands Layne, do not disappoint me," and with that the goblin king walked away from his bedchambers with his head down in deep thought.

Layne nodded, despite the fact that the king was not there to see the gesture and closed the door before setting to the tasks the king had assigned. He was the king's most trusted personal servant and he knew that if the king assigned him to the girl then she must be of great importance. He pulled the covers off of the girl's body and began undressing her. The flimsy long shirt and short shorts gave him the impression that this girl was from the Aboveground and must have attempted the labyrinth in her nighttime attire. He sighed softly as he noticed the tell-tell scratches of the thorn all over her body.

"Poor dear. I wonder who could wish away someone like you in only your pajamas and socks. What could you have done to end up in the king's maze?" Layne asked the comatose girl as he removed her undergarments.

Sarah's eyes opened and she lashed out at Layne's wrists screaming in pain and shock.

"Miss please calm down," Layne soothed as he restrained her as best he could.

As if sensing Sarah's distress, Jareth appeared in his room and looked at the naked Sarah struggling against Layne. He paused for a moment to admire her naked form, before helping Layne restrain the crazed Sarah.

"Help! Please it hurts, help...please...Jareth make it stop?" Sarah whimpered as she collasped again against Jareth's chest.

"Sire?" Layne looked at his king and the naked girl in his arms,"Would you like me to continue to try to bath her?"

Jareth nodded and carried Sarah over to an old-fashioned bath that had magically appeared in the room upon Layne's entrance. He placed her in the bath and warm water appeared to cover her dormant form. He waved his wrist and a few large towels and a few small wash clothes appeared on a small stand next to the bathtub.

"She might have another delirous fit from the poison, Sire," Layne warned as he knelt beside the bath and began to clean Sarah carefully.

"I'll stay nearby in the case she does," Jareth whispered as he removed his gloves and knelt on the floor adjacent from Layne.

Jareth rubbed his eyes in an attempt to ease the stress headache easing into his mind. How could he have been so foolish to let her run the bloody maze? He knew she would not make it despite her stubborn attempt. If only she had gone in the other direction in her pursuit of the opening in the outer wall. She would have had to face a fear of heights, or climb over a snake covered wall instead of her fear of her next door neighbors.

"So little time has passed," Jareth realized,"and if she awakens from her coma, there is a chance she could defeat me again."

He sighs and decided to cross that bridge when it came. For now, Sarah was in his posession. He looked up to see that Layne had finished bathing Sarah and tending to her wounds. He was placing a slip on her to cover her nudity and sliding her under the covers, when he noticed the king's gaze on the girl.

"Permit me to ask, Sire, but does she mean so much to you?" Layne inquired while pulling the covers up to Sarah's chin.

Jareth smirked and answered,"I turned her world upside down once. Only because she secretly desired it. I'd have given her the world, but she turned me down..."Jareth sighed one more and continued," I'd have her drowned and wed to me if I had my way."

Layne merely nodded and seemed satisfied with this twisted answer. He cleared away the mess of towels and the tub disappeared with him as he left the king's bedchambers. He would be back in an hour or so to change any soiled bandages and tend to any other tasks the king assigned him.

Jareth stood up from the spot on the floor he had been in and moved to lay beside Sarah. In his mind, he said it was only in the instance she started to thrash again, but he knew better than to believe that. In his heart he knew that he wanted to sleep with her in his arms and dream what she dreamt just one more time in case he lost her.

"Too stubborn to admit your defeat my Love?" He mumbled as he placed an arm around her still form and closed his eyes,"I know that is why you are so quiet..."

Sarah moaned softly in pain in answer to him and scooted further from his warmth.

"That's my girl. I knew you would fight me," Jareth said while pulling her carefully closer before falling asleep himself.

I'll still try to get a chapter or two out every week or so depending on how my pc feels at the moment. A million and one thank yous to all of you that take the time to read my fic and review. 'Til next time.