The amount of favorites, follows, and comments are humbling; thank you all so much! xoxo The updates will be spaced out and will not occur as often as I wish or as you wish, but here is a little more.

Sunday morning.

Sarah awoke and smiled; it was just past sunrise, and the sun shone through her drapes, casting dusky rays through morning mist.

Then, tunnel vision.

She had only been asleep for two, maybe three hours. How could she sleep after a visit from...him? It all came flooding back to her; the dance, the control, the chase...the assault. His lips on her body. The feeling of his hands.

The fear.

Jareth was not one to be taunted or tempted, and he was back. Sarah could not deny it: she was drawn to him. She felt an attraction to him, to his magic, and to his danger—but he was a menace. Sarah knew better than to fall into his trap as she almost had before.

Sarah knew she should tell Hoggle, Sir Didymus, and Ludo. But, what would she say? She had had a dream? It had scared her? Sarah wondered if they would laugh. But, Sarah knew this was real. This wasn't just been a simple nightmare. She took a deep breath and visualized the beginning of her conversation with her friends. She would be blunt and true, but she would not frighten them—and she wouldn't give them the details. She went to the mirror and called for her friends.

Only Sir Didymus appeared.

"I'm sorry, my lady, but Sir Hoggle is working at the castle with the help of Ludo, as his remarkable talent comes in quite useful with landscaping purposes. Is everything alright? We've just spoken yesterday—not that I wouldn't love to see your luminescent visage every day."

Didymus' compliment that would've usually struck a smile upon Sarah's face passed over her and she was crestfallen. "I have something to tell you all, but I have to tell you when you're all together. For now, how are you, Sir Didymus?"

"Quite well, thank you for asking." The furry little knight puffed up his chest. "I must say, today is the monthly report to the king, and I have no misfortunes to report. All the other outposts throughout the land always come in with all sorts of trials and tribulations, but I seem to keep the most orderly sector of the kingdom. Nothing ever seems to go wrong in my domain. It seems no troublemakers dare set foot in the bog; I humbly say I'm proud of myself, as I must strike fear in the hearts of anyone who dares bring ill will to the Goblin City."

Sarah could not help but give a little smile; she would let the little beast believe the Bog of Eternal Stench was avoided due to his chivalry, not due to the Bog's...well, eternal stench.

"I didn't know there was a monthly report," she commented.

"Oh yes, there are outposts throughout each division of King Jareth's realm. We give a general report of the comings and goings of our sectors. I've not had issue since a nasty imp infestation a while back, the little devils."

Sarah had never really contemplated the workings of Jareth's kingdom or the labyrinth as a whole. She thought of the Goblin City, the trash lands, the bog, the outskirts, the cellars, the forests, and the many different areas of mazeworks. The labyrinth seemed as something alive, something timeless and eternal that just...was. She didn't think it needed maintenance or overlooking. Sarah's friends were real to her, but when she thought of the Labyrinth, all the creatures she met seemed like characters in a book. She thought of them as simply existing, and has never stopped to think of them as a society and system that needed as much process as the Aboveground. Jareth was just a villain in a story. He was a one-sided dark blot on her childhood. Her face grew ashen as she thought of him as a monarch who truly did have duties and a life; a multifaceted...person. Perhaps this was from where her attraction stemmed.

Sarah quickly shook the feeling.

"Do things go wrong in the Labyrinth often?" asked Sarah. "I never really ask about your world beyond your lives."

"Yes and no," answered Didymus, Ambrosias coming into her view and cuddling up to his master. "The kingdoms beyond the labyrinth generally do not mix with us, as we are the Underground, and the other Kingdoms are in the upper plane before your world. But, in our history there have been wars and intrusions. The northern kingdom of ice has a shameful past of aggression, but things are at peace now. The ten year council will come up soon between the lands, where the state of things within the kingdoms themselves and the Great Alliance will be discussed. Nothing has happened for hundreds of years. Trade and emigration are certainly not forbidden, but they're just not something that happens between the lands, really."

"Are there many other lands?" inquired Sarah. She was shocked; she had never even thought to wonder if there were lands beyond the labyrinth.

"As far as we know, there are seven total lands—eight including yours. There's us, the Underground of the Labyrinth and the Goblin City. Then, there's the Crystal City of the fae, the Dessert Kingdom of the sorcerers, the Great Forest of sprites, the Wizarding World, the Oceans with the many merfolks, and the northern Ice Kingdom."

Sarah's mind was completely blown. Seven Kingdom? She could barely wrap her head around the concept of there being an Underground.

"Didymus...how do you know all this?" she asked.

"My lady, one cannot be a knighted outpost to the king without first having a full education in the geography and history of the lands. Our world is much like that...that round thing you showed me, what was that...oh, your globe! Just smaller."

Sarah felt bad. She had taken Sir Didymus for granted. She thought him silly at times, but perhaps there was more to him and all of the Labyrinth than she thought.

"Sir Didymus…how old is Jareth?"

The little beast raised his eyebrows. "Hundreds of years, Lady Sarah. He saw the great Ice War. The Ice Kingdom attacked us first, as the Underground has direct access to all the lands. We are the nucleus."

Sarah had thought the man no older than 30–40 at the latest.

Sarah was upset.

"How could a rogue like Jareth end up King?! He must be a tyrant!" she cried.

"You are correct. He is a rogue and a brute. I would rescue you a thousand times over from his hand. But, he is our king. He rules the kingdom quite well, despite his iron fist." Sarah could not believe such information and wise musings were coming from her squirrelly little friend.

"I don't care," she said defiantly, "he is cruel."

"He is," agreed Didymus.

"I am," agreed Jareth, staring into one of his crystal balls that held the scene of Sarah and Didymus. His smile was sad. He reduced the bubble to no bigger than a marble and held it close to his chest. It glowed warmly with the image of beloved.