Chapter 3

Lost in the Labyrinth

It was a beautiful summer evening, and the boys had been outside most of the day playing and exploring. Jeremy and Jay really knew how to run now and Sarah had hired a younger assistant named Aviana to help Aria so they could keep up with both of them.

Aviana came highly recommended by Chayrone and that was good enough for Sarah and Jareth. She was Chayrone's niece and had plenty of experience with toddlers as she had worked in a private nursery for centuries. Aviana preferred her new employment at the castle much more than her old job.

One reason may have been that her fiancé was one of the elite fae body guards at the castle in charge of watching over Sarah. His name was Kaden and he was the guard Sarah had recognized at The Underground Club during her date night with Jareth.

Jay and Jeremy truly were Jareth' sons, as they came up with all kinds of tricks to make live hard for their nannies. Teleporting themselves up on the roof and hiding behind the spires as Aria and Aviana looked for them, close to having a heart attack for having lost the princes.

Or they would start to float around them like little helium balloons laughing and giggling and not letting the nannies catch them and bring them down to Earth.

Their favorite game was to smash crystal balls over the head of an unsuspecting goblin showering him with glitter. Nothing more a goblin hated than being showered with glitter. They would always blame it on another goblin, never suspecting the two little princes, and start fighting amongst each other, much to the delight of Jeremy and Jay who would sit there laughing.

Of course this was brought to the attention of Jareth and Sarah by most of the staff at the castle including the goblins. Even they were tired of beating each other up, and coming from goblins, that was quite hard to believe.

"What are we going to do about Jay and Jeremy"? Sarah cried to Jareth with an aggravated look. "Apparently they terrorized the garden goblins and pulled out all the flowers they had just planted, floated in the air, and dropped them like little bombs."

Jareth smiled proudly. "Isn't it great how much progress they are making with their gravity defying magic and their teleportation?" He grinned from ear to ear and did not seem to understand what all the fuss was about.

Sarah stopped pacing and looked at Jareth with a disgruntled face. "No, Jareth, it is not great. If this keeps up we'll have no staff left. You want to become a gardener and start planting petunias?"

She gave him and intense stare.

Jareth wasn't too happy to hear about that possibility. He did not see himself much as a gardener. Digging around in the dirt to plant dainty little flowers was definitely not a thing for him.

"Ok, babe, I'll have a talk with them", Jareth sighed in defeat with his hands up in the air. Sarah stood there and gave him a stern look with her hands on her hips.

"When?" Her eyes squinted and Jareth thought he saw some flashes come out of them.

"Ok, I think I can make time right now for them", he said hurriedly, carefully scooted out of his chair, and walked rather quickly towards the door. Sarah smiled victoriously as she watched him disappear into the hallway.

"I won", she said with a mischievous cackle and went back to playing her ukulele while having her afternoon tea.


When Jareth arrived at the nursery he heard quite a commotion going on. "What on Earth?" He wondered as he opened the door. Feathers were flying everywhere as Jay and Jeremy floated around the room and unloaded their pillow content onto Aria and Aviana.

"They tore four pillows already", Aria huffed angrily spitting out some down feathers as Jareth came walking into the blizzard. Jay unloaded a full pillow right over his head and covered Jareth completely from top to bottom. Jareth stood there silently with his eyes closed for only a few seconds before he pointed his goblin stick at the two boys and forced them to come down.

"Aw, no", Jay protested and tried to float himself back up again, but Jareth had put a stop to it.

"Enough now, that's quite enough for today". He looked sternly at them and both boys tried to look as innocent as their little faces would let them.

"Ah, no don't you pull that magic on me. Your mother is quite upset at me, and when your mother gets upset with me over you, guess what, I get upset with you, because that means no nice time with your mother, and that makes me upset."

He wasn't quite sure the boys had followed his rambling as they stared up at him and giggled.

"Play", Jeremy squealed and held out his little arms to Jareth. Jareth tilted his head and smirked in defeat. Had Aria not intervened in her authoritarian manner, Jareth would have let them get away with it.

"It is time for your naps", she declared and picked up Jay. He was already rubbing his eyes and Jeremy followed suit. Aviana picked up Jeremy and gave Jareth a blushed smile.

"I'm sorry about the mess. We'll get it cleaned up as soon as we put them to sleep." She curtsied and shuffled off with Jeremy in her arms.

Jareth only shook his head and closed his eyes. The nursery looked like the snowstorm of the century had hit it. He put his hand to this forehead and rubbed it with a quiet groan.

"No, I'll do it. Somehow I feel responsible for this. I get it cleaned up."

He started waving his goblin stick and hands around and the feathers started to blow together in a tight rotating column and disappeared.

"Where did they all go?" Aviana wondered and looked around.

"A safe place", Jareth answered and left with a groan, while the inhabitants of Goblin City were wondering where the clouds of feathers had come from that started to cover the downtown square.

Sarah had finished her self-defense lessons and meditation practice with Faron and was about to take a shower when little Jay appeared in her bedroom. Sarah had barely time to put her bathrobe back on.

"Jay?" She had just enough time to ask, when Aviana knocked and ran into the room.

"I'm so sorry you highness", she curtsied and lowered her eyes, "he got away again." She sounded disgruntled and pointed at Jay who peeked out from behind Sarah, giggling quietly. Sarah threw her head back and heaved a big sigh while rolling her eyes.

"Jay", she said in a portentous tone, "you go and do what Aviana tells you now, do you hear me?"

Jay pouted, but walked over to Aviana who scooped him up, curtsied to Sarah one more time and left the room closing the door behind her. Sarah was left standing with her head hanging before and went downstairs to the study.

"Jareth", Sarah asked with a serious tone, "did you have a talk with your two sons about their magic powers?" Jareth looked up from his desk and raised his eyebrows seeing her appear in front of him with only a bathrobe on.

"Sure did, well, kind off", he shook his head and waved one hand around in the air. "Why are you asking? And what happened to your clothes? Not that I mind." He sounded like he was ready to hide behind a bookcase.

"Jay appeared in our bedroom as I was about to take a shower. We can't have them just popping in and out. What if they do that when we are in the middle of making love?" She looked at him with pleading eyes, her anger dissipating.

"Good point", Jareth replied having regained his composure.

And she did have a solid point with that. Anything that was going to interfere with Jareth being intimate with Sarah was a serious problem and had to be remedied immediately.

"I get them a magic trainer tomorrow to start teaching them control, and I also put a restraint spell on them."

He walked over to Sarah and looked her close into her eyes. "Would that make you happy, babe? I definitely don't want anyone popping in on our lovemaking." He put his arms around her waist, trying to move his hands underneath her robe, and smirked at her in his own boyish ways. Sarah couldn't help but to smile.

"You always know how to talk yourself out of things, don't you? No wonder those boys are like this. They are your spitting image, times two." She laughed and gave him a kiss.

"But that's why you love me so much. You don't want some boring guy."

"Oh you are everything but boring all right", she laughed out loud and got herself lose from his embrace. "I'm hungry let's eat", she declared and sat at the table.

"Babe?" Jareth interrupted her getting comfortable at the table. "Don't you think you ought to put some clothes on? I mean it's perfectly fine with me, but..." He gave her a deviant grin as Sarah growled and teleported out. Within minutes she was back dressed in a nice housedress.

"Not a word", she warned Jareth pointing her finger at his face.

Aria and Aviana brought Jay and Jeremy in and they all had a nice, and for once, quiet dinner. Nobody teleported or hovered in the air bombarding the diners with mashed potatoes.


Sarah and Jareth were still asleep in bed when a loud banging was heard at the door with Aria calling out for them to open. Sarah woke up first and stumbled over to the door as she put on her robe.

"What is it?" Sarah asked still not quite awake.

"It's the princes", Aria was white as a sheet.

"What about them?" Sarah asked somewhat more awake now as the tone in Arias voice stirred an uneasy feeling inside her.

"They are gone, they teleported themselves out of their rooms this morning when we went to change their diapers, and now we can't find them anywhere on the castle's grounds. Jareth had woken up by now and had heard what Aria had said.

"On my way", he declared forcefully, already fully dressed. "Sarah, look all over the castle again, but do not leave the grounds. I shall be back in a short time", he added sternly and teleported away. The way he had sounded, Sarah knew, this was serious and he was in full search mode.

Sarah had searched the castle with the entire staff and her elite guards twice over and no sign of Jay or Jeremy. She was close to a panic when Jareth reappeared. He looked distraught and extremely busy as he grabbed his sword and several crystal balls.

"What's going on?" Sarah ran after him with a scared face. Jareth turned to her with a very serious face and a worried look in his eyes.

"Babe, we located them, they are in the Labyrinth", Jareth said as he kept grabbing more crystal balls to take with him.

"Well, can't you just teleport them out of there?" Sarah asked confused.

"I wish we could." He stopped what he was doing and took Sarah's arms and sat her down on a chair.

"Babe", he said in an almost scared voice, "we located goblorks in the Labyrinth as well. We can't get a clear lock on the babies. They keep zooming around." She could tell Jareth was extremely frustrated.

"I'm coming with you", she declared and went to put on her hunting pants and shirt Jareth had bought her several weeks back, as he planned to take her on a hunting trip in the fall.

"No, you are not", Jareth argued and tried to hold her back. Sarah looked at him with a fire in her eyes.

"I am there mother. Those are my children as well. Nobody messes with my kids, nobody. I'm coming with you. If it's something I hate it is a damn goblork, and god help the one who stands in my way", she grabbed her sword from the wall and held it up.

Jareth gently took it back out of her hands and hung it up on the wall again.

"You are nowhere near the needed skill level to defeat these goblorks", he argued back. Sarah was getting desperate.

"I can't stay here and not do anything. I want to help to bring our boys back home." She had tears in her eyes as she grabbed Jareth' arm. Jareth stopped packing his crystal balls and held her by her shoulders.

"I need you here, babe. You help me by being here, by me knowing you are safe", he looked gently into her now tearful eyes and tenderly touched her face.

"You are the queen, and your place is at the castle right now. Let me bring our sons back home to you."

"Will you promise, you come back to me with them?" Sarah asked quietly as the first tears started to roll down her face. Jareth put her face into his hand and gave her a tender kiss.

"I promise I will do everything in my power to come back to you with our sons. I will come back to you, precious", he emphasized. Sarah embraced him with a deep sigh as he closed his arms around her.

Jareth carefully worked himself out of her embrace and put the last remaining crystal balls into his bag.

"I have to go." He kissed her one more time. "I love you, precious", he whispered and vanished.

Sarah stood there, feeling incredibly lonely and lost. Tears were silently running down her face. She wiped them with the back of her hand and sniffed.

"I'm the queen, I won't let you down my king, my love", she murmured quietly and started to get ready for the day ahead.

After a while, she pushed a little button on her silver bracelet Chayrone had given her for her birthday and played the little elven flute with her wish of protecting the boys and Jareth. She only hoped her little spell would work.


Jareth rematerialized outside the North walls of the Labyrinth. Faron and a handful of his elite fae guards were already assembled and waiting on him.

"These are your best?" Jareth asked as he adjusted his sword and handed Faron some of the crystal balls.

"The best of the best", Faron assured him. "I ensure you, there are none better than these five here. They are more skilled and effective than fifty regular men, each."

"Good enough for me", Jareth replied satisfied. "Let's go."

The group instantly turned into owls and sailed silently over the walls of the Labyrinth.

When they arrived, they spread out in different locations inside the Labyrinth and drew their swords. The boys had been located not far from the North wall, close to the entrance of an oubliette. Jareth could see them from behind a large stone statue that resembled him. They were running around some boulders, giggling and laughing, not having a care in the world.

He was about to leap forward and grab them to teleport out of the Labyrinth when three goblorks came walking down the pathway besides him. They had not spotted the boys nor Jareth yet, who crouched back behind the statue, but it would only be a matter of time as Jay and Jeremy were quite loud in their activities. He had only seconds to act, and he did.

He leaped out from behind his hiding spot and skillfully beheaded the closest goblork with one swing of his royal sword, stabbing the second one with his dagger. The goblorks were stunned and stopped, but within seconds had recovered from their initial shock.

The dagger had not killed the second goblork and he countered Jareth' follow up attempt of stabbing him by blocking his attack with his bulky arm. The third goblork blew his horn and ran with sword in hand towards Jareth.

A silent arrow fell him right before he got to Jareth. Kaden, one of the faes had come to Jareth' aid.

"Grab the princes and get them out of here", Jareth ordered him as he held off the attack by the second goblork who still tried to get off the ground. The fae guard quickly ran towards Jay and Jeremy to scoop them up, but as he closed in on them, they looked up at him and dematerialized into thin air. Kaden looked around in utter confusion and sighed heavily.

Jareth had managed to defeat the last goblork as he heard more of them come running down the pathway.

"Where did the boys go? We need to get out of here", he whispered anxiously. Kaden only shrugged his shoulders.

"We must find them fast. They know we are here now, and they know of the princes. Our surprise is over."

Both teleported immediately to a safer location to regroup.

Faron had heard the sound of the goblork horn and his heart sunk. He gave the signal to two of his fae guards to follow him as he headed towards the sound. When they arrived as owls and transformed back into their fae forms they found themselves surrounded by goblorks. Judging from the three dead goblorks on the ground, Faron knew Jareth had been here only recently and must be safe somewhere else now.

"Come and try to get us you spawns from hell", Faron yelled and led his guards into a fierce battle. The goblorks let out a horrific scream and started to attack Faron and his two guards, as two more fae appeared in front of them. They too had heard the sound of the horn and had come to assist. Suddenly, the odds looked a lot better in Faron's favor.

Jareth and Kaden had rematerialized about three hundred yards away and could hear the ensuing battle. They looked around to see if they could see Jay and Jeremy. Finally Kaden caught a glimpse of one of them as they disappeared into the forest. For an instant they were torn between helping Faron and his guards in his battle, or follow the babies.

"We must retrieve the princes first. Faron knows what he's doing", Jareth ordered. Kaden nodded in agreement and gave him the salute by putting his fist across his chest. They followed the toddlers into the woods.

The trees were thick and nearly impenetrable. Jareth and Kaden combed the outskirts the best they could but didn't make much progress.

"Only one thing to do here. Owl form", Jareth suggested as both morphed and flew through the thick underbrush to scan the area from above. It took them over twenty minutes, but finally Jareth spotted one of the boys sitting under a huge oak tree. Him and Kaden circled and came to rest on a branch right above. They remained in owl form as Jareth did not want to risk again them being spooked and teleporting to another location. Both, he and Kaden, scanned the area for the second child.

Jareth' guard spotted him not too far away laying under a second tree, sound asleep.

"Perfect", Jareth mumbled as he gave the signal to fly down to them. When they reached the ground they instantly changed back into fae form and Kaden snatched up little Jay sitting under his oak tree before he became aware of their presence. Jareth immediately put a teleport restraint spell on him. Little Jeremy was still sleeping under the second tree.

Jareth walked over to him and gently picked him up, but not before applying the same restraint spell on him as well.

"Take the princes back to the castle immediately and let Queen Sarah know they are safely back." He handed Jeremy over to Kaden who saluted him one more time and disappeared with both boys, safely tucked into his arms.


Sarah in the meantime couldn't help but pace nervously and anxiously up and down the hallway and the study. Every so often she would look out into the garden as if she was expecting Jareth and the boys to walk across the lawn, waving at her.

Aviana had come down before lunch to ask her if she needed anything, if she could bring her something to eat. Sarah shook her head

"Come here Aviana", she said gently and pointed her hand towards a comfortable chair in her reading nook. "Sit with me, and keep me company. Please?" Aviana nodded with a surprised look and took her seat.

"I understand your fiancé Kaden is with Jareth and Faron inside the Labyrinth trying to rescue Jay and Jeremy?" Aviana could only nod in silence as tears welled up in her eyes. Sarah lowered her gaze.

"I am so sorry that our children are causing you such pain." Sarah wanted to continue but Aviana stopped her with her hand.

"No, don't apologize. The little princes are only doing what toddlers that age do. It is not their fault. They don't know anything about dangers and goblorks and all that. They are innocent little souls." She looked at Sarah with a faint smile before she continued.

"I am always worried about Kaden being in battle, being in danger. It's his duty, part of him being an elite guard. I am very proud of him but at the same time horribly worried as well. You know what I am talking about don't you?"

Sarah knew perfectly well what she was talking about. She felt exactly the same way about Jareth. So proud of him being king of the entire Underground, being strong and powerful, but also scared to death something would happen to him and she would lose him from one second to the next, and she knew with goblorks around that was a distinct possibility.

Her heart sank as she nodded and grabbed Aviana's hands.

"Let's keep each other company until our men return", she said. "Don't worry about any duties. We will wait for them together, you and I. Would you like that? It sure would make it easier on the both of us." Aviana nodded with tears running down her face.

"Yes, your highness that would be more than helpful", Sarah squeezed her hand, called Hoggle to bring them some tea, cookies, and cakes, and to inform Aria to stand by in case the boys would return soon.

She also sent a horynth coach to Chayrone to join them in their wait, which she graciously accepted, as Faron too was locked in battle. Aviana managed a thankful smile, as all three women waited together in the study for their loved ones to return.


Faron's battle was fierce. The goblorks outnumbered them ten to one, but they paid a hefty price for their invasion into the Labyrinth. Not one of his fae guards had been killed, but the goblorks had been cut down to nearly none. Only a handful remained. Faron and his guards were determined not to let a single one live and escape this time.

They almost had them on the run and Faron conducted one last charge as they had them blocked in with no escape, when one goblork charged forward and broke out. Faron ran after him, giving his guards orders to take care of the rest.

Faron caught up and cornered him. The goblork turned and threw his dagger at Faron as he came running around the corner. The dagger penetrated his chest and Faron fell to the ground. The goblork grinned with surprise. Faron was a big deal and he had brought down one of the top commanders. He was sure he would receive a high reward for his deed.

Slowly he approached Faron and stood over him as Faron was laying on the ground gasping for air, his eyes wide open. How foolish of him to run around the corner like that. One slight mistake in over three thousand years and it had cost him. Would he see Chayrone one more time?

The goblork only sneered at him with delight and raised his sword. Faron held up his hand and waited for the end when he saw a blade blink in the sun, followed by swooshing sound. For a moment nothing happened and then the head of the goblork fell slowly to the ground, landing right next to Faron.

Faron looked up and blinked his eyes as the sun shone right into them. When he finally could make out the figure it was Jareth standing there with a raised sword over his head looking down at him with steely eyes.

"I leave you alone for a few minutes to go after my unruly children, and you go and try to die on me. Well, not today old man. Time to go home."

He grabbed Faron by the shoulders, lifted him up gently, and teleported straight to the infirmary of the military base in Elvenwood. Faron was immediately taken care of, and Jareth stepped out with a sigh of relief.

The rest of his fae elite guards had also returned with good news. Not a single goblork had escaped them, and they had flown another reconnaissance over the entire area to make absolutely sure. The goblin army had been sent in to sweep through the labyrinth, remove the dead goblorks, and stiffen up the defenses.

It was already getting dark when the doctors at the military base gave Faron the green light to go home. Jareth took him and teleported both of them back directly into his study.

Sarah and Chayrone both jumped up from their seats when they appeared. Aviana had gone home with Kaden as soon as he had arrived back at the castle with the two boys, and given them an update on the situation.

After Sarah had hugged her two sons and made sure they were in perfect health, Aria had taken care of them and put them to bed. They both were worn out from their adventure in the Labyrinth.

Sarah and Chayrone both ran to their husbands and hugged and kissed them.

"Jareth", Sarah could barely whisper as she held him close to her. He had his arms around her squeezing her tight, and then gave her a long passionate kiss.

"We got them all, babe. Not a single one escaped. Sooner or later, they will run out of new ones."

"Are you hurt?" Sarah asked with concern, as she saw that Faron had a bandage around his chest and Chayrone helped him to a chair.

"No, I'm good", he looked at her with a smile and deep relief.

"I put a magic restraint spell on the boys. There will be no more teleporting, gravity defying, or any other magic for a long time. Not until they are old enough to understand the consequences."

Sarah smiled with a big sigh and gave him another tender kiss.

"Thank you honey. It is for the best. I do want to keep my staff and the nannies around. Means more time for us, alone", she winked with a smirk as she said it.

"Well, now that you put it what way, babe. We definitely need time for ourselves. Especially in a little while when everyone is gone and you and I are alone.

I have so much to tell, I mean show you", he whispered quietly into her ear, before he passionately kissed her once more.