I just noticed that I had named the previous chapter wrong. Re-uploaded that one so now everything is right. I hope...

Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Labyrinth. Serina, Kelgar, Matilda, Ralir, and Yelava are mine.

Chapter 9

It was the same at every meal over the next week and Jareth was getting extremely agitated over it. He was tired of having to restrain the woman and actually sit on her in order to get her to eat. He slouched regally on his throne, a leg thrown over one of the armrests and stared out the window as he pondered the situation. Kelgar stood nearby trying to think of someway to help both the woman and his king.

"Perhaps your sister could be of some help Jareth?" Kelgar asked thoughtfully.

Jareth tapped his finger against his chin as he considered the idea. "I'm not sure Kelgar. Serina is getting stronger every day and I wouldn't want her to harm Lisae."

"Nor I Jareth, but you cannot continue to have this battle with Lady Serina." He watched as Jareth waved his hand towards a large mirror and Serina's image came into view. They watched in silence for a few minutes as Serina paced her bedroom like a caged animal. Even through the mirror they could feel the rage that rolled off her in waves.

"No. I don't think it's safe for my sister to go near her at this time. It's too dangerous"

"I'd suggest a trip through the Labyrinth, however…"

"She'd tear the place apart within minutes since she knows I'm connected to it," Jareth responded with a sigh as he continued to watch Serina through the mirror. He sighed again as he dropped his head back against the back and snorted. "There are times when the look in her eyes makes my blood run cold Kelgar. The first night I was forced to feed her, she threw a dish at me then proceeded to attempt kicking my head off as well as spitting the food into my face." He shook his head. "It has gotten worse as she regains her strength. Just this morning she nearly bite me. She is filled with the rage of a thousand wars one moment, and then suddenly she's like a lost child. I have attempted everything possible that I can think of to calm her down to no avail."

"Perhaps someone from her own world then?" Kelgar suggested as he began pacing the floor. "Surely there is someone who could speak with us about her."

Jareth bolted upright, "Good idea my friend. Now… let's see. She has spoke before of the Itoras Warriors" He turned towards the mirror again to see Serina pacing the room again and cast a spell at the mirror. They waited as the mirror rippled. Once the rippling stopped, they stared for a moment in stunned silence; the mirror was filled with an inky blackness which showed nothing. Confused, Jareth summoned a crystal and sent it through the mirror. A moment later, they heard movement and a tall woman dressed in white robes, with long blonde hair and bronzed skin stepped into view. Her blue eyes glowed briefly in the darkness.

"Who are you to have disturbed my peace?" Her voice was soft and melodious yet commanding.

Jareth rose to his feet and stepped closer to the mirror. Regally, he bowed to the woman. "I am Jareth the Goblin King. I seek the Warriors of Itoras"

The woman tilted her head slightly then uttered a word, causing light to flare up around her. "Well met King Jareth. I am Yelava, High Priestess of Itoras. I have been expecting you." Jareth arched a brow in surprise at the woman's words.

"Are you familiar with the one known as Serina?"

A look of hope crossed the woman's eyes briefly, "I am, Your Majesty. Do you have news of her?"

"Yes. She is here at my castle."

"How is she?"

Jareth smirked slightly, "Something drew me to your world and to Serina. When I found her, she was near death." The woman in the mirror gasped in shock. Jareth nodded in response to the priestess's unspoken question, "She's alive , though how well she is I can not be certain of."

"How do you mean?" She asked as she stepped closer to the mirror.

"She had starved and beaten by her people." Jareth looked up in surprise when he heard a sharp explicative escape the woman's lips. "One of the villagers found us and wished her to me as that was the only way I could return with her. They were going to kill her."

"You managed to save her? You are indeed powerful Your Majesty. She has suffered much, both before and after she came to us. I will assume that she has given you great trouble? That is why you have contacted me, is it not?"

"Indeed. She was improving, however, I have spent the past week force her to eat. She has fought me at every turn. Even now, she paces her room like a caged animal in the midst of a rage. On occasion I've found her curled up in a window, staring out over my lands like a lost child, in a corner somewhere in her chambers."

"Therein lies part of your trouble King Jareth. Serina is a free spirit, she cannot be confined."

"I cannot turn her loose. She has become violent and refuses to eat, which results in her having to be restrained and force fed." Jareth continued to answer her questions regarding Serina current conditions.

"There is little I can say Your Majesty. Serina is a respected warrior in our lands. Many love her greatly. She is a gentle soul however." The woman arched a brow at the king's snort. "Serina helped bring peace to our kingdom. She is a woman strong of mind and body with sharp wit, there is little that she failed at."

"Is there anything that can be done for her?"

"She wishes to return home."

"That is out of the question. I am sure that you know that if the wrong people find her, they will kill her on sight. I will not risk her life that way. This is why I ask for your aid. Is there anything I can do to convince her to live?"

"Why do you care so much King Jareth?"
Jareth sneered, "Perhaps I like a good challenge."

Yelava nodded with a slight smile. "Might I speak with Serina?"

"Certainly. I will allow a connection from the mirror in her chambers to yours." He started to leave then stopped and looked back at the woman. "Let's just hope she doesn't try to behead me when she sees me." he smirked as he snapped his fingers and vanished from sight.

Serina snarled angrily when Jareth appeared in her room. "Come, come now kitten. I am simply fulfilling a request on your behalf." Jareth turned towards the mirror that stood against the wall, uneasy about having his back turned on the flame haired woman. He waved his hand across the surface of the mirror and spun back around to face the angry woman. He almost laughed at the incredulous expression on the young woman's face.

"Well met my child." Yelava's soft voice held a soothing tone as she gazed at the troubled woman.

Serina stepped forward and kneeled before the priestess. "Greetings Mother Yelava." Jareth stared in shock at her actions.

"Rise Serina, there is no need to kneel before me." Yelava smiled sadly. "You are a part of the Underground now, no longer do you need to follow our customs."

"But…" Serina rose to her feet indignantly.

Yelava shook her head, "You will always be a child of Itoras my dear, however it is time you embrace your future as a woman of the Underground."

"My place is with the Itoras." Serina's voice was cold. "I wish to return home."

The priestess shook her head again, "It is too dangerous Serina. The First Elder has spread word across the kingdoms that you are to be brought to him immediately if you are found. He has spread fear of your name and even some of the Itorans are willing to do as he asks.

"What?" Serina couldn't believe this. The First Elder wanted revenge on her family so badly that he would stop at nothing, even going so far as to poison her tribe against her.

"Even the family that took you in all those years ago was slaughtered by the hands of those hunting you. It is known that you were taken, though by who and to where is not. The Hunters were charged with taking down any and all who were close to you."

"Nalem? Is he…"

Yelava sighed and looked away, "Not by their hand. I am sorry my child, once word spread that you were gone from our world, he left for the Olaven Ridge and never returned. Warriors found him several days later. We believe that a Warrior Mantis killed him."

Serina fell to her knees, covering her face with her hands as she sobbed, "It was my fault…all my fault."

"No child, it was not."

"Yes it was!" Serina shouted. "It was my fault I lost the baby, I left the tribe. I left Nalem! I was weak, I couldn't bear the pain I felt every time I looked at him."

"Is that why you returned to your birth-home?" Yelava asked softly. Her eyes grew even sadder when Serina nodded. "Child, Nalem did not fault you for losing the babe. It pained him greatly when you left and he held on to the hope that you would return to him."

"I thought that by leaving, it would give us time to heal. That I could forget the pain."

"Shh my child. Long ago, we knew that one day you would leave us as suddenly as you joined us. You brought much life and joy to our tribe over the years, but it was time for you to travel your own path." The priestess stepped back a little and studied Serina with a fond smile. "I remember when you first came to us. You had such fire and spirit. You stood before the Protectorate as if they were nothing. So brave and defiant, yet terrified."

"I was never afraid of you."

"I never said that your were child. It was your own self that you were terrified of. The fire in your soul was raging. You were determined to defy all."

Jareth snorted wryly. "She still defies all," he muttered, drawing the Priestess's gaze.

"Your Majesty, you must understand that Serina is extremely strong willed and defiant by nature. She would not have survived on her own otherwise. Our people are warriors. That is what drew our tribe to Serina, her inner strength that refused to be bound by the constraints of her birth-people. She was not meant for this world, it would have destroyed her before her time." Serina growled that it was of no concern to the King as she glared at the him.

"But it does child," Yelava admonished gently. "Your time here is at an end. It is time to forge a new path. Do not forget what you have learned my child. Use your knowledge to make a new life, a better one than you had here." This made Serina cry even harder. She refused to give up her homelands and the people she had grown to love.

"Do not worry my child. All will be well." The priestess leaned forward and touched a hand to the mirror. "Be well daughter of my heart. Tend to your new duties and be strong. May the goddess bless you in your new life as she has in the old."

"Farewell Yelava," Serina lowered her head again. The priestess stepped back from the mirror and after a moment, the image faded away, showing nothing more than Serina's reflection and that of the Goblin King standing behind her.

Slowly, Serina rose to her feet and moved away from the mirror, her blue silk skirts swishing as she walked. Jareth watched with unease as the woman passed him and went to the window where she always sat. She sat in silence for several minutes, simply gazing out across the lands with a glazed look in her eyes. Jareth turned and started for the door when her soft voice stopped him.

"Thank you."

The king turned and walked over to her slowly as he studied her. Serina turned her head to look at him. Her emerald gaze was full of fire as she met his blue and brown eyes. For a moment, Jareth was stunned. He almost didn't recognize the woman who had fought him so hard since her arrival. It was as if her talk with the priestess had changed her completely, which he guessed in a way it had. He could sense that she was still angry, but there was a calmness about her that unnerved him now.

"You spoke of a child."

She turned and looked back out the window before nodding. Her voice was low as she answered. "When I was four months pregnant, I was out gathering herbs when a rust swarm attacked me. I lost the child as a result."

"A rust swarm?"

"They're a type of flying parasite that burrows into the victims body and feed off their blood. As they feed, they release a poison that kills the host within hours. I barely made it back to the village before collapsing. When I woke, I was in the temple and the healers told me that while they had managed to save me, they couldn't save the child." Tears coursed down her face as she thought back to that day and her hand instinctively rubbed across her stomach. "Nalem had been so excited when we discovered I was pregnant. I should have been more careful, should have…"

"There was nothing you could have done. As the priestess said, it wasn't your fault." Jareth interrupted gently, feeling her pain.

Serina scrubbed a hand over her face before turning to look up at him again. "I would like to use the armory." Jareth's eyes narrowed as he stared at her.

"Why?"

"I need something to do. Yelava doesn't want me to forget what I learned. Sword fighting is only a part of what the Itorans taught me. Are you afraid of what I might do?"

Jareth laughed, "Me? Fear you? My dear kitten, you are sadly mistaken to think that I would fear you."

"Then grant me use of the armory so that I may train." She twisted around and dropped from her seat in the window. Moving towards the wardrobe she looked at him over her shoulder.

He leaned against the wall, watching in amusement as she opened the doors to the wardrobe. Shaking his head when she began undressing as if he wasn't even in the same room. "I would have your oath before hand though." His eyes widened when she turned around and came back to face him.

His eyes traveled over her body. Taking in her flawless skin that resembled smooth marble. It surprised him that her skin seemed naturally hairless, save for the patch of red curls between her long legs. Even after all she had been through over the past several weeks; Serina's body was muscular, yet definitely feminine, without an inch of excess weight to be found anywhere. Suddenly, Jareth found himself envious of her departed husband. He berated himself inwardly as his hands itched to touch her and run his fingers through the long waves of flaming hair that curled loosely around her thighs.

Serina stopped a couple of feet away from him, her green eyes hard with conviction. She stared at his face, noting the way his eyes traveled over her bare form. Nudity meant nothing to her; she was a warrior and if one thought her weak simply because she was a female then that was their mistake. Slowly she went down on one knee and bowed her head.

Jareth stood in shocked silence as the naked woman swore fealty to him, slightly unnerved and more than curious about her. He was surprised to find that his hand shook when he reached out to touch her shoulder. Forcing his nerves to calm, he laid a hand on her shoulder. "I accept your oath. Get dressed."

Serina rose and turned on her heel, going back to dress. "Tell me of your kingdom." She listened intently as Jareth described the different races that inhabited the Labyrinth and the surrounding areas. She smirked when he began talking of the surrounding kingdoms and the greed of the vampires as well as the ambitions of the other fae.

Finally she came out of the wardrobe and faced him again, he sighed in relief when he saw the modest dark gray nightgown and robe she wore. "I need different clothes than those dresses," her mouth curled into a sneer with the word.

"I will see that something more suitable is found for you then. What would you prefer?"

"Some armor for starters. Pants as well." She turned to walk across the room again. "I can train in a dress should the need arise, but I prefer armor or pants."

"Is there any particular type of armor you'd like?" He sighed, deciding to try and be as accommodating as possible in hopes that she'd remain in a cordial mood. He really was tired of fighting constantly with her.

"Something lightweight and adjustable."

"Adjustable?"
"I will need to make my own modifications to it." She shrugged.

"I'll see what can be found."

"Thank you." Serina narrowed her eyes slightly, "I am still unwilling to be here and I will never allow myself to be owned like some object. You do not know me or what I am capable of."

Jareth nodded in silence, before he pushed away from the wall and walked up behind her. Placing his hands on her shoulders, he leaned forward, "I know you better than you think kitten." Serina stiffened when she felt him lean down to whisper in her ear, his warm breath tickling her skin. She felt cold when he released her to step towards the door. "I'll escort you to the training hall at first light my lady. Till then, rest well."