Early the next morning they received another messenger within the mirror. This time however, both Sarah and Jareth were wide awake and fully clothed, and this visitor was much more welcome than the last ones.

"Hoggle!"

The dwarfish little man's already buggy blue eyes widened in surprise. "Sarah? What you doin' there—er here, I mean?"

"Jareth brought me," she said. She finished braiding her hair and tossed the long plait over her shoulder. "How have you been? I haven't seen you in . . . well, years."

Hoggle waved that away. "What d' you mean, Jareth brought you? Did he kidnap you? He did, didn't he?"

"No, of course not," Sarah said. She crossed her legs and folded her hands on top of them.

Hoggle eyed her doubtfully. "Then watcha wearin' a dress for?" he asked shrewdly. "And why are you sittin' on his bed, in his rooms?"

"Hoghead!" Jareth said. He came into the room and beamed at Hoggle.

"Hoggle!" Hoggle said angrily.

"Yes, quite." Jareth smirked.

"Do you have to do that?" Sarah asked. "You know damn well what his name is. You're just doing it because you know it annoys him. Must you?"

"Whenever the opportunity presents itself," Jareth said.

She sighed. "I am often surprised by how childish you can be."

"And I am often surprised by how often you are surprised by that," Jareth said, grinning.

Sarah shook her head, but she was smiling. "Hoggle was wondering why I am wearing a dress—oh, and he also wanted to know why I am in your rooms, sitting on your bed. Why don't you tell him, Jareth?"

Jareth gave her a long hot look. She was wearing a simple burgundy dress with a gold fleur-de-lis pattern over a white chemise with long billowing sleeves, it was completely modest, almost too modest for her taste, but that look made her feel decadently naked. She flushed and looked down at her hands in her lap.

"Well, as you are an adult and fully capable of dressing yourself in whatever you choose, I suppose the only reason why you would be caught dead in something like that is because we are expecting guests," Jareth said, speaking more to her than to Hoggle. "And as for why you are in my rooms, in my bed . . ."

Sarah tensed and snuck a look at Hoggle, who had gone paper white and looked like he was about to have a fit.

Jareth chuckled. "I don't really think that's any of his business," he said. "But then again, it appears Hoggle has already pretty much figured it out, don't you think?"

"Yes," she said faintly. He didn't look too happy about it either. He gave her a look that was half way between angry betrayal and injured puppy.

"Now, about our guests, Hogbrain," Jareth said, turning to face the mirror. "I presume they have arrived?"

"Yes, your majesty," Hoggle said, still looking between Jareth and Sarah as though he suspected he might be going a little mad. "They just got here. What do you want me to do?"

"Let them in, of course," Jareth said.

"Er—the normal way, your majesty?"

"Don't be stupid. That would take them hours, and as much as I despise the whole thing, the quicker they get here the quicker I can be rid of them."

"So I should, er—I should let them fly in?"

Jareth turned away from the mirror like he couldn't stand to look at the ugly little man for another moment. "Yes, yes, lift the spell. But only for a minute. Only long enough for them to get here, then close it again."

"As you wish," Hoggle said with a bow, then the mirror cleared and he was gone.

"What spell?" Sarah asked, standing in front of the mirror and staring at her own reflection.

"Not a spell really, so much as a ward," Jareth said vaguely.

She looked at him over her shoulder. He was sitting in her place on the bed, leaned back on his elbows, watching her. She strongly suspected that the moment before she looked at him, he had been checking out her ass.

"A ward against what?" she asked.

"Unwelcome creatures entering the City by air," he said.

"What about birds and insects?"

He shrugged. "I like birds and most insects, so they're not unwelcome."

"Oh." She turned around, folded her arms under her breasts, and met his eyes. "So how long do we have before they get here?"

He lifted a brow and grinned wickedly. "Not nearly long enough. In fact, I believe they may already be waiting for us in the entryway."

She huffed out an annoyed breath. "Well, here we go again," she said. "I am really glad I took those acting classes in high school."

"Why?"

"Because I'm probably going to need them."