Okay, before I begin with the disclaiming and the chapter I would like to point out a few things that I have heard complaints about. First, I named the dog Lancelot because I honestly prefer that name. I had planned on using the name Merlin for something else later in the story, but now I am not so sure. Small changes seem to trouble people so much that it is hard to keep artistic differences.

Disclaimer: If I owned the Labyrinth I wouldn't be writing fanfiction about it now would I?

Chapter 7:

Jareth placed Sarah gently onto his bed. Her breathing was frantic and she was shivering badly. Her pulse was growing fainter by the moment. Jareth sighed. He had no choice but to call for assistance in tending her wounds. He briefly considered calling Layne, but that thought ended when he remembered Layne was still tending his own wounds. He decided to call Akala. As soon as his decision had been made a brief knock was heard on his bedchamber door.

"Enter," Jareth commanded in a tired voice.

"Your highness,"Akala said with a deep curtsy,"you summoned me for aid?"

Jareth nodded briefly and began to assist Akala in removing Sarah's tattered clothing before cleaning her wounds. As soon as the more serious of the wounds were covered in clean cloth, Jareth left Sarah in Akala's capable hands.

Akala hummed a quiet lullaby in an effort to soothe Sarah as she continued her task. Suddenly Sarah sat straight up and looked around frantically. She was very dazed and not willing to trust her surroundings. Akala was not prepared for this.

"Mommy?" Sarah questioned in a voice tainted with shattered innocence. "Mommy why did I have to? Mommy.."

Akala attempted to soothe Sarah back into a troubled sleep by using a minor enchantment with her voice. It was an easy charm and would not hurt Sarah if she would succumb to its power; Sarah, however, felt the slight tug from the magic and tried to crawl away from Akala's helping hands.

"Get away from me! Mommy? Where are you, Mommy?" Sarah began to shout as she scooted away from Akala.

Eventually, Sarah's back ran into one of the bedroom walls. Sarah haulted in her exclamations long enough to turn and face her own reflection.

"Bad, bad girl,"Sarah began to speak softly as if beginning a meditational mantra,"Bad girls get punished. I'm a bad girl. Daddy had to do it. Bad. bad girl.." Sarah continued her whispers as she began to wring her hands together in her lap and bang her head roughly against the wall.

"My word," Akala gasped at the spoiled woman tormented by mental images. She could only imagine what this poor young woman had seen if the rumors were true. She could not emotionally survive in the aftermath of a stay in the obliette of madness. No matter how quickly her physical wounds healed, the scars would remain in her mentality until the day she died. That was the way the obliette worked and not even the goblin king himself could deny its effectiveness as a means of punishment.

Sarah snapped out of her mantra and tried to stand up despite the serious leg injuries she had incured.
Her arms sought out support in the wall in front of her as her finger tips dance across its surface. Her caress of the wall made Akala spring into action.

"Now now, dear girl, come along to bed. You've gone and got worked up over nothing. Come on now, dear girl,"Akala spoke gently, yet firmly as she touched Sarah's shoulder.

When Sarah felt the pressure on her shoulder, she lashed out at Akala, screaming her protest.

"No! You can't have me! I won't let you! You have no power over me," Sarah's screams were followed by shaky punches and her collapse into a sobbing, cowering heap on the floor. "No, you can't win...I have to get Toby back..." Sarah soft ramblings began to ebb off and she fell into an untroubled sleep.

"That will be all, Akala. Return to your other duties until I have further need of you," Jareth spoke softly as he gently picked up Sarah and replaced her onto his bed.

Akala gasps slightly at the sudden appearance of her king and his gentle treatment of the girl. She had not even heard him enter the room. How long had he stood there as the girl struggled? Akala knew better then to give voice to her wonderings, so she merely curtsied and left the king to handle the girl.

"I bid you good rest, sire," She spoke as she quickly walked out of the door and shut it.

"I can only hope," Jareth spoke aloud more to himself then to the departing servant.

He placed a thin sheet and a warm quilt over Sarah's slumbering form before lying down beside her. He pulled Sarah carefully into his embrace so that her mending wounds would not be disturbed and closed his eyes. He would share her dreams and keep her safe tonight. Tomorrow, however, she would have to face the world and he feared her mentality was not ready for that just yet.

Jareth drifted off to sleep as a deep chime went off on a grandfather clock hidden somewhere inside the castle. Sarah's time had run out and she was now stuck in the Underground. Only time would tell how she dealt with that realization, but for now her body was curled safely inside the goblin king's embrace and a soft smile lay on the face of both Sarah and Jareth.

And that's all I have for now. I know it's yet again a short chapter, but details are hard for me to express at times. Review or critique, the choice is yours. Adieu for now.