Chapter 9

It wasn't meant to be

Several times during the night Jareth had woken up worrying about Sarah, but she never stirred, and there was no sign of trouble. He had become increasingly worried about her unborn baby. Was it going to be ok? How did the near drowning and the hypothermia affect her pregnancy? He would summon the doctor tomorrow at first light.

It was barely seven o'clock, and the sun was only now starting to rise above the horizon, when Jareth had already sent a crystal ball message to his doctor. He wanted him to come within the hour and check on Sarah and her unborn child. He had done a good job during Sarah's first pregnancy and Jareth trusted him.

Sarah was still sleeping and hadn't even moved at all during the night. Jareth kept checking on her to make sure she was okay.

The doctor had just arrived as Sarah opened her eyes. She looked weak and groggy. Jareth helped her up to go to the bathroom and put on a robe before she crawled back into bed.

"Good morning your highness", Dr. Tartal greeted her with a smile and a nod. Jareth helped Sarah to sit up and adjusted the pillows behind her back.

"Good morning Dr. Tartal", Sarah smiled and tried to look upbeat. She liked her doctor. He had always been good to her, and she never held it against him for not realizing she had been carrying twins. A lot of doctors in the Surface World were unable to spot twins either.

"How are you feeling today?" he asked Sarah as he moved a crystal across her body as if it was scanning her. He listened to her heartbeat and her lungs, as well as the baby's. He put his fingertips against her temple, similar to what Jareth had done to erase her migraine, and concentrated intently as if he was receiving messages of some sort. After he had finished he nodded to Sarah with a smile and left the room asking Jareth to come with him. Sarah was too tired to care about anything at that moment. She sunk back into the bed and fell asleep again.

"How is she? Is the baby ok?" Jareth asked anxiously.

"She seems ok, but it is too early to tell about the baby. I did detect a faint heartbeat. I suggest she stays in bed for the next few days and take it real easy. It is important for here to eat the right foods to get her strength back and nourish the growing child."

He turned to leave before he addressed Jareth one more time.

"You did great last night with keeping her warm the way you did. You saved her life. Without your treatment in that hot water she would be dead now, and so would be the child. I'll be back again tomorrow morning and in the late afternoon as well." He nodded respectfully at Jareth and left.

Jareth went back into the bedroom and found Sarah sleeping crunched up in her pillows.

"Let me fix that for you, precious", he whispered and rearranged her pillows so she could lay straight and not get a kink in her neck. He sat by her bedside and looked at her with worried eyes, before he took her hand into his.

"You'll be ok, precious. I'll do anything I can to get you better, and the baby."

He went to send his morning messages by the window sill. An hour later Hoggle came in to bring him and Sarah their breakfast.

"How is Sarah doing?" Hoggle inquired with a deeply worried look.

"She's hanging in there, Hoggle. All we can do now is hope." Jareth tapped him on his shoulders and sat down. Hoggle sighed and left for the kitchen, but not before he placed a small yellow flower on her plate.

"From Krum, he's sending his get well wishes", he murmured and left.

Jareth gently woke up Sarah as she needed to eat something.

"You want to eat in bed or over here?" he asked her with a smile as she came around.

"I'll come over there. Sorry for sleeping so long", she replied with a long yawn.

"Babe, don't apologize. You needed your sleep. You've been through hell yesterday."

He helped her get in her robe and made sure she was not going to fall on her way to the little table as she was still quite unsteady on her feet.

"My feet and hands still hurt", she mumbled as she rubbed her fingers together.

"Oooh cinnamon rolls and chocolate milk, and a flower. I bet it's from Krum." She was easily distracted by her favorite breakfast and flowers. Jareth was happy to see she hadn't lost her appetite.

He filled her in on Oda being the informant for the goblorks and therefore responsible for the break-ins into the Labyrinth. She had also put the same extraction spell on a young inexperienced guard to get security information out of him, just as she had on Sarah. Sarah shook her head at that news in disbelief and astonishment.

"Come to think I actually liked her. I thought she was a friend, and her only purpose was her revenge against you. That's sad and disturbing."

She took a bite out of her cinnamon roll and looked at Jareth with a guilty and sad look on her face.

"I'm sorry I caused you grief. I don't want you to think I believed her, but I did want to find out how she knew all those things. I didn't know there was such a spell."

"That's ok, precious. She's gone and you are here and that's all that matters now."

Jareth walked over to her and crouched in front of her chair as he held her hands. "If somebody would make comments as these about you, I would punch their lights out and kill them too, babe."

He smiled, and as he leaned forward, he took her face into his hands and kissed her long, deep, and with a lot of passion. He poured all his love into his kiss and Sarah reciprocated.


Sarah was not a good patient. She started to feel better and stronger and refused to stay in bed. Dr. Tartal and Jareth had the hardest time to convince her it was the best for her and the baby. Finally, after one full week, Dr. Tartal gave her the green light to get up and walk around and do light chores. No workouts, no exhaustion, but daily walks to get her strength up.

Jareth had turned over command of the base temporarily to Faron and Arman so he could stay with Sarah and take care of her. The official word on Oda's death was drowning by falling through the ice. No mention of Sarah or a fight. They did not want the goblorks to become suspicious and wanted to use their new found knowledge to lure them into a trap.

Jareth tried to keep Sarah occupied with watching movies, playing music together and learning new songs, taking long walks in the park with the twins and visiting different areas of the Labyrinth Kingdom she had come to enjoy and like. He even took the whole family out to the Goblin Plateau for the day to see some wildlife and enjoy nature. Sarah had really enjoyed seeing a new part of the kingdom.

He did stay away from Elvenwood for the time being, as the memories of Oda were still too fresh in Sarah's mind.

Sarah truly appreciated all the activities Jareth had thought up to entertain her with, but she became increasingly frustrated with his reluctance to be intimate with her.

"Why don't you want to make love to me?" she asked him one afternoon as they were sitting in Emerald Pool Cave. She even splashed at him and moved to the other side of the pool with a pouting face.

"Babe", Jareth replied with a pleading voice, "It's not that I don't want to. Hell, I want to very much. You have no clue how much I want to, but it is doctor's orders. No love making for a couple of weeks until we can be sure everything is ok."

He looked at her with a disappointed face and waved at her to come back to him. Sarah still wasn't pleased with the answer.

"Get a new doctor then", she replied still pouting and splashing more water in his direction. "A girl has needs too, you know."

Jareth laughed and grabbed her around her waist.

"You know there are other ways we can do certain things. Let me show you."

Sarah pouted no longer and gladly followed his lead. The day was saved, for the both of them.


Mara, too, had fully recovered thanks to Faron's quick actions, but she was angry at herself for having been duped by Oda. That would never happen again she vowed to herself. Unless the food came directly from Jareth or Sarah, she would refuse to accept it. No more third parties. Mara, too, had learned a valuable lesson, a lesson that had nearly cost her life.

The weather had finally warmed up and all the snow had melted away. The trees had started to butt out in the warm sunshine, and flowers were blooming everywhere. The lake was no longer frozen and Elvenwood guards had recovered Oda's body. She had been cremated in a private ceremony on base according to the laws of the Underground despite being a traitor. They needed her soul to rest and not come back to cause more harm.

Sarah had never thought about that aspect, but this was the Underground, and everything was possible. She, too, did not want Oda to come back in any shape or form ever again.

Faron, Arman, and Aden kept Jareth informed on any movement by the goblorks. They had made it impossible for any more spells to be cast upon their troops or the citizens of the kingdom. Kelan had seen to that by casting an ancient blocking spell. The goblorks, however, could not tell, and were therefore lured into believing they still had an advantage over the kingdom. Faron and Jareth wanted to set a good trap.

"I miss Marjorie", Sarah mentioned out of the blue in the evening when Jareth had finished a new painting of the twins sitting by Deimos and Phobos. It was quite impressive and Sarah wanted it hung over the fireplace.

"Well, have her come down for a day or two if you like. I'm fine with it. I need to tell Mark a few updates as well and go over some applications with him. How would next weekend sound to you?"

Sarah jumped up with joy and grabbed her old Motorola phone she still had from when her dad gave it to her for their last Christmas together in 1990.

"I need to upgrade", she mumbled as she dialed the number. "There are a lot better phones on the market now."

"We'll get one next time we are up there", Jareth called to her as he hung up the painting and stepped back to admire it. It looked great hanging right next to the painting he did of Sarah on her 18th birthday. He nodded satisfied and sat on the couch to strum a few chords on his new guitar Sarah had given him this past Christmas. It was a 1972 Egmond twelve string and he loved it.

"Marjorie?" Sarah happily yelled into the phone, "Wanna come for a girl's weekend? Bring Mark. Jareth wants to go over some stuff with him on your residency application."

"Oh hell yeah", Marjorie replied with a yell of her own. "I've been missing you girlie. That sounds like a wonderful idea. I know Mark has been itching to come back and talk to The Underground Club owner."

"Sounds like a done deal then" Sarah replied happily and gave a thumbs up to Jareth who laughed to himself as he played a few riffs from 'Major Tom'.

"You know, you guys don't have to yell. We're only a dimension away and it has an outstanding magical connection."

He laughed out loud as Sarah threw a pillow his way, but he never missed a lick on his guitar.


Kaden delivered Mark and Marjorie safe and sound to the castle that Friday afternoon. Sarah was really excited to see her best friend. Again it had been some time and she needed a distraction especially right now. She had so much to tell her. It would take an entire day just to cover the past few weeks.

While Jareth and Mark did their official residency business in his conference room which was on the other side of the castle, away from his private quarter, Sarah and Marjorie went up to the nursery. Marjorie had brought more Troll dolls for Jay and Jeremy.

"Seriously, girl?" Sarah laughed. "What is it with you and these Troll dolls?"

"Oh, laugh now, but they'll be a big collector's item, just wait and see. Give it a couple of decades." How prophetic.

"So what's up with you? Anything new to report to Auntie Marjorie?" Marjorie asked Sarah as she started playing with her nephews.

"A bunch. It'll take a while", Sarah replied as they all sat down on the floor to play with the Troll dolls while Sarah filled her in on everything that had happened. After she had finished Marjorie sat there with a wide open mouth.

"Oh my god, girl, I had no idea. You never tell me any of the scary and bad parts. You need to start letting me know those things. I would've brought you my special soup", she added with a tone of pride as Sarah busted out laughing.

"Ok, next time I call you and ask for your soup", she promised with a sheepish grin.

"Let's go downstairs."

Sarah was picking up Jay and got up as a sharp pain went through her lower abdomen and she collapsed with a yelp on the floor.

"What's the matter, are you ok?" Marjorie asked with a worried look and handed Jeremy and Jay to Aria and Aviana who had just come into the room. They too looked with worries at Sarah.

"I'm fine", Sarah moaned and tried to get up again, but once more collapsed onto the floor with excruciating pain.

"Get Jareth, now", she barely was able to speak and her breathing became heavy and the pain intensified. Aria put down Jay and teleported out of the nursery, as Aviana stood there with a scared face.

"Get the twins out of here", Sarah ordered Aviana and she grabbed the boys' hands and walked out. Marjorie tried to help Sarah the best she could but she didn't know what to do.

Sarah only moaned and held her lower stomach. They both were thinking the same thing, but were afraid to admit to it. Sarah was losing the baby, she was having a miscarriage.

Jareth materialized within a minute of Aria's leaving and rushed to Sarah. He bent down to her to find out what was going on when a pool of blood formed on her pants, between Sarah's legs.

"I'm losing it. Jareth, I'm losing it", was all she could whisper before another painful contraction swept her body.

Jareth heart broke. He quickly picked her up and teleported out of the nursery and straight into Dr. Tartal's office.

He didn't have to explain a thing when he arrived as Dr. Tartal didn't needed to be told. He came rushing over when he saw Jareth lay Sarah on a cot, blood running down her legs.

"Quickly get her pants off. We must do a delivery, and..." he looked at Jareth, "...and I don't want you to witness this."

"I am not leaving my wife, I am staying with Sarah", he demanded and held on to her hand. He wasn't about to budge. Sarah was close to being delirious at this point and was not able to talk as the pain was getting too much.

"Fine, as you wish your majesty, but I don't advice it".

He no longer paid attention to Jareth and quickly worked with a fae nurse to take Sarah's pants off. Jareth held on to her hand, but felt extremely weak as he watched Dr. Tartal work on her. The nurse had given Sarah an herbal drink to ease the pain and dull her consciousness. She was only half awake and moaning quietly every so often.

It seemed to take hours in Jareth' mind, but only thirty minutes had passed. The fae nurse closed her eyes with a tear and a mournful look when Dr. Tartal removed the fetus and placenta, and placed it all in a small metal bowl. He threw Jareth a quick look to make sure he was still with him.

"She's losing a lot of blood. I need to stop her bleeding or she could bleed out", he murmured more to himself than Jareth. Jareth put one hand over his mouth. Past images of Sarah fighting for her live flashed in front of him. How many more times did she have to suffer like this? She had just survived her fight in the icy lake, and now this. It seemed like she could not catch a break, and his heart broke for her over this.

Another hour passed, and Dr. Tartal worked feverishly with the help of another doctor who had come in to assist him.

Faron, Chayrone, Mark, and Marjorie had also arrived in the meantime and sat around in the waiting room. Everyone was dead quiet as no one dared to speak. Mark held Marjorie as she sobbed quietly into a tissue. Faron held Chayrone's hand, who also wiped away tears.

"Our daughter", she looked at Faron with teary eyes.

"Our daughter is strong, and she will live", he told her silently, patting her hand.

Finally the doctor came out of the room and walked over to Faron while he wiped his bloody hands and shook his head.

"We lost the baby, there was nothing we could do. She's out of danger for now, but she has lost a lot of blood. I'm going to keep her here for a few days for observation. We may even need a blood transfusion if she doesn't quit bleeding soon.

Chayrone and Marjorie both gasped and sat down.

"Where is Jareth?" Faron asked. The doctor waved his head towards the room. "You can go in there."

Faron entered and saw Jareth holding Sarah's hand and stroking her hair. She was conscious and talked to Jareth in a quiet voice. And then she cried out. Faron knew, Jareth had just told her about the baby. He wiped his mouth and approached.

"We are here for you, you know that. Sarah is our daughter now." Jareth grabbed Faron's hands and squeezed them, but he was not able to speak.

"Sarah?" Faron walked closer to her and looked in her face. She was crying quietly now, but recognized him as she reached out for him. He kissed her gently on her forehead and wiped her tears out of her face.

"I am so sorry for your loss. Let's grief together." No more was said amongst the three, as they all held hands and let their life-forces become intertwined with each other.


Jareth hadn't left Sarah's side for three days now, and neither had Marjorie nor Chayrone. Marjorie had decided to stay behind as Mark had returned to the Surface World. She had promised she would send several crystal balls a day to keep him updated.

They all took turns in watching Sarah, as Jareth still had to leave for an hour or so to do some of his duties as a king. Faron had taken over most of it alongside Hoggle.

Sarah was still bleeding heavily and Dr. Tartal was becoming increasingly worried.

"We may have to find a donor if she doesn't quit soon. She is getting extremely weak. Your majesty, you may have to put the call out to find a suitable donor. She has 0 negative and that is extremely rare. We need someone else with 0 negative as it is the only blood she can receive."

Jareth nodded. It was usually not done in the Underground to proclaim a ruler's weakness from injury or illness, but this was different. Sarah's life depended on finding her a donor. Jareth immediately sent out messengers and the word spread quickly that the beloved queen needed a blood donor to save her life.

The hospitals and clinics in the Underworld had never seen lines that long, stretching for miles with potential blood donors.

Nobody had ever heard of blood type 0 negative in the kingdom and the prospect did not look good. Nevertheless, faes, elves, dwarfs, and even goblins and a few bridge trolls lined up to help.

"We'll find you a donor, precious", Jareth whispered to her gently has he kissed her hand.

"If I have to turn this entire kingdom over a hundred times, and alter time forever, I shall find you a donor. I go to the Surface World and steal the blood if that is what it takes."

Marjorie immediately raised her fists in agreement.

"Yeah, and we'll help steal it", she shouted when he made that promise. Sarah couldn't help but smile.

Her pain was gone, but she felt incredibly weak. She had been put on a high iron diet to keep from becoming anemic, but it didn't help. Her blood loss was too severe.

Every day she grew weaker, and every day, Jareth hoped and prayed a donor would be found as time started to run out.