DISCLAIMER - I don't own Sarah or Jareth or the Labyrinth (unfortunately) they belong to Jim Henson & Co, and I'm definitely not making a profit from this. (Bummer) All other NPC's are a figment of my own imagination.

Chapter 13 – The City of Silver Stars

She sat luxuriating in the scalding hot bathwater when there was a knock at the door, interrupting her.

"What is it?" She called, a little curious about who would be knocking on the door, since Jareth didn't bother and just walked in.

"Its Lucia darling, I'm here to help you with your things for tonight." Sarah climbed out the bath and wrapped a large towel around her before opening the door.

"Tonight?" She returned to the bath and pulled the plug out, grabbing another towel to wrap her hair in as Lucia turned away and entered Sarah closet.

"Didn't Jareth tell you?" She asked, rummaging through Sarah's rather black wardrobe.

"He never tells me anything." Sarah sighed sitting down on the chair in front of the dressing table to brush her wet hair out.

"Tonight he is to have a private audience with the High King, we are going along for the fun." She said smiling. "This will never do Sarah, who on earth chose your wardrobe?"

"Not me. Perhaps they chose mostly black because that's all I wore at... at home." Sarah muttered pulling at a large tangle.

"No, no child, not like that." Lucia said, putting down a dress and taking the hairbrush from Sarah's hand. "You must be gentle with your hair, else it will frizz up and look messy." She scalded brushing through her long hair gently. "I'd do anything to have your colouring, but I'm afraid I'm stuck with being pale and washed out." Sarah smiled up at Lucia, taking in her translucent skin and almost white hair and brows.

"I'd swap you any day." She sighed as she rubbed moisturiser into her hands and face.

Lucia played with her hair until she had it just right, with fine strands of silver interwoven amongst braids and emerald beads and made her face up so that her eyes looked smoky and alluring with a hint of green at the edges.

"Put some lipstick on dear, and I'll get your dress." She said giving Sarah's hair a final tweak.

Lucia turned away and picked out a black dress of a beautiful cut and shape and made Sarah put it on before she began to mutter.

"No, I don't like that, longer sleeves, tighter waist, longer train, yes, that's better, now for the colour… dark green, no, darker, and silver embroidery, here, and here…" She continued to touch the silky fabric, making it change shape and cut to her whim, Sarah carefully catalogued the changes away for future reference, and the ease of which the dress changed. She had to admit she looked rather stunning when Lucia had finally finished.

"Thank you Lucia." Sarah said touching Jareth's sister on the hand.

"One more thing Sarah, do not touch another Fae unless they give you their permission." She said squeezing Sarah's hand kindly. "To touch another Fae is to give intimacy of the mind and soul."

"I'm sorry, I didn't realise."

"Don't worry, you'll be fine, act like a Queen, look down on them all, and stay by my side. The women will envy you for your looks and power, and all the men will curse Jareth for his good fortune. You barely look like a human any more anyway." Sarah frowned and turned back to the mirror. What Lucia had said was true, she did barely look human, even her ears looked more defined in a pointy kind of way.

"The form changes to suit the will of the bearer. You wanted to fit in more to your new home, so you have adapted. It may take a little longer for me to train you out of your human habits though." Lucia smiled. "Now run and find my brother, and tell him I'll be along in a moment." She disappeared in a small flash of light leaving Sarah on her own to take one last look at the woman standing in the mirror. She turned and walked from the room trying to act regal without tripping over her skirts.

She found Jareth pacing the hallway at the bottom of the stairs, his long ebony cloak swirling around his feet as though it was alive. He stopped as he saw her coming down the stairs and waited for her to descend.

He raised an eyebrow as she reached the bottom but said nothing, turning away to pick a grey cloak up for her. He motioned for her to turn around so he could place the cloak over her shoulders. Sarah sighed mentally, he could have at least said she looked ok.

"You look exquisite." He whispered in her ear. She smiled slightly as he moved away and turned to watch the rain pouring down the windows. "Where is my sister?" He enquired several minutes later.

"Getting ready. I think she spent far too much time on me." Jareth grunted and turned back to the window. Sarah jumped as a young Fae man suddenly appeared right in front of her, shaking the rain out of his cloak.

"Gosh I'm ever so sorry!" He gasped as he turned round and found Sarah standing right behind him. She smiled shyly.

"Its ok, no damage done."

"You must be Sarah. It's a pleasure to meet you My Lady." He said bowing low to her. Sarah's smile increased as she saw his playful grin.

"Theo you're a right klutz." Jareth sighed watching them.

"Blame my mother." He said turning his beautiful grin on Jareth.

"I do. Regularly." Jareth replied returning to his window.

"Do what Jareth?" Lucia asked walking down the stairs in an elegant cream brocade dress.

"Blame you for your son's inability to take anything seriously." Lucia laughed and walked over to her tall son touching his face fondly.

"Hello Theo darling." She said hugging him to her.

"Hello Mummy." He replied laughing with her as she swatted the back of his head.

"You're his mother?" Sarah asked in shock.

"Why?"

"You don't look old enough to be his mother!"

"Well that's a compliment if ever I heard one!" Theo laughed holding out a cloak for Lucia. Lucia winked at Sarah as she blushed.

"Here, I forgot to give you these." She said handing Sarah a fine pair of black lace gloves.

"Thank you." Sarah said putting them on.

"Well if we are finally ready to go…" Jareth said holding his arm out to Sarah who took it quietly, not looking at him. The world went dark, she could feel her breath and her heart beating, but could still feel Jareth's arm, firm beneath her hand. She took that as a comfort, small though it was.

They emerged in a large plaza in the centre of what Sarah assumed to be the High Kings grand palace, until she turned around and saw that the grand palace stood on a hill to the south of where they stood. She prevented herself from looking around, wildly excited by her first look at a Fae city and adopted a calm if bored expression, hiding her amazement at the soaring architecture, and the feel of magic in the air as lights glimmered all around them. Flashes of vibrant colour in the golden glow took Sarah back to her first time at a fun fair. The atmosphere was just the same as Fae danced in and out of the buildings, calling and laughing to each other, surrounded by glamour and glitz. Only a few Fae took the time to notice the new arrivals, but none came close enough to greet or bow to the King of the Goblins. In fact, Sarah thought she saw several Fae move purposefully out of their way as they walked through the busy streets towards the great palace.

More joined them; strange creatures and Fae dressed in beautiful clothes all making their way up the broad, tree-lined roadway and eventually into the grand entrance of the palace through gateways of gold and silver.

"It's just like a fairytale." Sarah whispered to Lucia as they took their cloaks off in an antechamber. Lucia smiled at her and motioned for Sarah to follow her through the crowds back to Jareth and Theo.

"Come Theo, lets go find something to drink, and let Jareth introduce Sarah to the grand and glorious Fae Court." Lucia said laughing as Theo pulled her away into the dancing crowds. She looked up at Jareth and caught the tiniest hint of him rolling his eyes. She was about to ask him why he was so annoyed by Theo's exuberant ways but was interrupted by several people all crowding up to them. Sarah kept a firm grip on Jareth's arm as the Fae threatened to jostle her away from him. He responded by placing his hand over hers.

"Your Majesty! What an honour it is to have you back in court again. We have missed you immensely." One woman said, flashing an extremely large and exposed cleavage at Jareth as she curtseyed to him. He nodded and tried to turn away from her, but was accosted by another younger woman who giggled and curtseyed as well.

"Tell of your travels Your Majesty in the human world!" One begged, batting her eyelashes at him.

"Hush Fellesna! King Jareth doesn't want to talk about that dreary old place." Another woman chided pushing the younger girl out of the way so she could wrap her hand around his other arm. Jareth sighed and gently told them all to push off so he could go and get something to drink. They all laughed and ran away back into the crowd.

"Are you always that polite to them?" Sarah asked as they managed to break free of several more girls. Jareth smirked as he looked down at her.

"Jealous?"

"Of them? Maybe if they had more than 3 brain cells between them." Sarah replied snorting. Jareth laughed and lead her on through the crowd, occasionally stopping to speak to somebody he knew. Nobody asked to be introduced to Sarah, but she could see them all eyeing her up as though she were a cow in a cattle market, though she very much doubted that any of them would recognise a cow if it ran over them. She smothered a grin at the thought and glared disdainfully at a young woman who was being escorted by a tall Fae with many marks of office on his tunic. The young woman turned away, her nose in the air.

"I'd watch where you're walking with your head in the air like that." Sarah said nastily under her breath as they turned and walked away. They were further across the room when suddenly the girl slipped and landed flat on her perfect behind. Sarah had to turn away and drink some of the sharp liqueur that Jareth had handed her before she broke down into gales of laughter.

"I do believe you're a bitch Sarah Williams." Jareth said leaning down to whisper in her ear. She choked down the rest of the liquid and looked up at him.

"Takes one to know one Your Majesty."

"I'm not really sure what you're implying there…" He replied huffily as she handed him the empty glass. He looked at the glass as though she had just handed him a used tissue. She sighed and took it back off him just as a waiter went past with a tray of filled glasses. She neatly intercepted him and exchanged the empty glass for a full one, knocking it back before Jareth noticed what she was doing. She smiled at the shocked waiter and turned back to Jareth.

"So when do we get to meet the High King?" She asked as they continued on through the crowds.

"Really Jareth, surely you could have found somebody better to bring to court than your mortal whore." Elindah said from behind them. "Nothing like lowering the tone. Soon everybody will think that all we run here is a brothel." She said sneering at Sarah who turned and glared at the woman who was trying to kill her.

"Speaking of lowering the tone." Sarah remarked looking down casually at Elindah's dangerously low neckline and her practically see-though dress.

"How dare you talk to me? You don't belong here, the slums and kitchens are that way." Elindah snarled flicking her hand out and slapping Sarah smartly on the cheek. Sarah looked at her in astonishment and then laughed. She caught the dark look on Jareth's face, and the anxiousness of the rest of the silent crowd as they carefully backed away from Elindah as her face went from pale to an angry mottled colour. "How dare you laugh at me!" She screamed stamping her foot. Sarah only laughed harder at the woman who was almost frothing at the mouth in fury.

"Good evening Your Highness." Jareth said politely before turning his back on Elindah and escorting a still laughing Sarah away. "No more drink for you." He said handing her a glass of water as she began to hiccup once they had stopped in a darkened alcove. She looked at him and sighed, her mirth draining from her like sand from a broken timer.

"Why does everybody round here feel the need to slap me?" She asked looking up into his eyes. Now that she had stopped laughing he could see the fingerprints on her cheek. He smiled at her sadly before slowly removing the leather glove from his right hand. He moved his long graceful fingers up to touch her chin as she looked away from him, and she gasped at the coolness of his touch.

"Please don't…" She whispered moving her head. "I didn't…" She closed her eyes as his fingers gently traced her lips and then caressed her cheek, taking away the burning humiliation of being called a whore and being slapped in public, leaving her cool, goose bumps breaking out on her arms. Then his touch was gone, just as she wanted to melt into his touch and forget the world, forget his cruelness and ruthlessness.

"Sarah." He said bringing her back to his reality. "Come, we have to meet the High King." He said holding out his gloved hand to her. Nodding she sighed and took his hand, not noticing his trembling fingers or that she was shaking just as much as he lead her off towards a massive set of doors at the far end of the room.

Jareth muttered something to the guard stood to attention by the doors, he nodded and opened a small side door for them to enter, Lucia and Theo materialising behind them to follow them from the room. The red and blue and gold corridor swept them round in a spiral higher and higher until finally they reached another ornate set of doors, again flanked by imposing looking guards. Jareth ignored them and walked straight through the open doors into a chamber that looked out over the Fae city. Sarah couldn't help but gasp as she looked out over the rooftops and towers reaching for the sky, all studded with tiny lights like stars. She walked forward, not noticing anybody else in the room and placed her hands on the cool glass, looking down into the darkened gardens.

"Do you like my city Lady Sarah?" The High King asked from his throne across the other side of the room. Sarah bit back a groan of dismay and turned to face the others, curtseying low to the High King.

"Your city is beautiful Your Majesty." She said moving back over to Jareth's side, who continued to ignore her.

"I'm glad you approve." The High King said jovially as she blushed. "You know why I've sent of you Jareth, there's no point in grazing through the thistles when we really need to get to the flowers. My daughter has once again been causing problems. I have ordered her to remove any of her… subjects… from your kingdom and to cease all hostilities. I would ask that you also do the same."

"I'm not sure I understand what you're referring to Your Majesty." Jareth said innocently, folding his arms across his chest.

"Please Jareth, do not take me to be an idiot. Remove your army from her borders and I'll say no more about it, unless of course you could accidentally kill her, in which case I would be eternally grateful... There is however the question of her request for marriage. I see that once again you have refused her petition. I have no need to tell you that you will now need to produce a counter petition for somebody else in order to negate my daughters own contract."

"Indeed." Jareth growled. "I have…" The door behind them slammed open and Elindah stormed through, followed by some of her retainers.

"She insulted me! I demand that she be brought to justice!" She screeched pointing a finger at Sarah as she swept past her to her fathers throne.

"Elindah, please, have some respect for my guests. You will have to wait until I have finished my PRIVATE audience before you can bring forward any claims of insult." The High King sighed watching Elindah flounce up to him in her inappropriate dress. "You will also retire to your rooms immediately to put on some decent clothes." He said in a tone that brooked no argument.

"Please Father, this is the latest fashion." She scoffed touching her dress fondly.

"For common Fae maybe, but whilst you are my daughter you will wear clothing that is appropriate for your rank, and not for a common whore." He shouted, pointing towards a small door behind his throne.

"But…"

"Now Elindah!" Elindah snarled and stalked off, her retainers following in her wake. "I beg your indulgence Jareth, please continue." The High King said, wincing as the door behind him slammed. Jareth let out this held breath and gathered his frayed thoughts. Trying to keep the image of Elindah as his wife out of his mind before he ran in terror to loose himself within the depths of the darkest and deepest oubliette he could find.

"The documents you require Your Majesty. As I mentioned in my previous correspondence to you, I would be grateful if you would give me the time I asked for. As you can imagine, the situation is a little delicate." He said finally taking several rolls of parchments from the air and handing them to the High Kings aide.

"And the question of lineage?"

"Verified and accounted for, though I will also ask for you to remain silent with regards to that until I have done all that I need to do."

"Very well Jareth, you have the time you requested. I shall finally tell my daughter to leave you alone, and hope that she obeys me. You have my permission to defend your kingdom and your subjects with deadly force should you need it, though I prey that it won't come to that again." The High King sighed and took the documents from his aide, rolling them out to scan them quickly.

"Everything seems to be in order. Lady Sarah, please disregard the complaint against you issued by my daughter, I would only say to avoid her if at all possible. She's just like her mother, vindictive and persistent." The High King told Sarah as he rolled his eyes. "Go, fly away little butterflies into the City of Silver Stars, I no longer require your light." He said rising from his Throne and walking away from them.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings," Sarah whispered as they once again strode down the spiralling corridor. "But your High King is either on drugs or missing a couple of sandwiches from his picnic with the fairies." Theo walking behind her smothered a snigger as Jareth rolled his eyes.

Clever Lass - Fabulous story. Drew me right in. Loved the details about the Seelie court and all the politicking. Poor Sarah! You've really got a thing for torturing the poor girl, haven't you? I do hope you make things come round for her soon.

A/N Yer, things get better, after they get worse heheheh. You have to admit, she was a bit of a spoiled brat in the film, I thought it was time to make her realise that dreams are never as perfect as you think they are. I'm glad you liked my court scenes!

Dragonsdaughter1 - Jareth is an idiot. Well-written story.

A/N Indeed. I would have said typical man, but he's not… Typical Fae…they are very different creatures from us, and I guess Jareth is worse because he's a king as well. Thank you for the compliment!

Ladyofthedragons1 - aw now I'm all sad fix and make it better please

A/N I'm trying to! There are a few more things that I have to include before everything gets better (My muse will sulk like crazy if I don't!) Thanks for reading!

BatteredChild - So sad, I didn't think she'd be doing any of that in this story. Oh well, can't wait for more.

A/N Hopefully I'm good enough to resolve all her "issues" and make her happy again. If only for the sake of Jareth's sanity! He's so not used to sulky mortal girls who refuse to be in love with him… Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Morrigana - Wow, very dramatic, very poignant. I love angst, and this was chock full of it. Its about time Jareth learned there were consequences even too his actions. Too many fics have scenes were Jareth slaps her or hits her and she forgives him and everything is hunky dorey. I like that you've shown that even the Goblin King can't get away with abuse. Can't wait for the next chapter

A/N I guess I've made Sarah a little harder than she was in the film. Life has really sucked for her, so what she desperately craves she will get in the end, it just won't all be plain sailing! (I was very tempted to eventually turn him into a submissive husband, but I just couldn't live with myself.) I think its better that they fire off each other. Much more entertaining that way!

Itsacrystalnothingmore - I love this... i woulda made Jareth a woman! Tez

A/N What a plot twist that would have made! Thank you for continuing to read!

AmyLauren - Fantastic story! Please keep writing and keep the updates coming! Hooray

A/N Thanks, I will do, more chapters coming very soon!

Many, many thanks to everybody who has read and reviewed, or even just read, you inspire me to reach for greater things and never stop dreaming the dream! Huge hugs! Elandria xxxx