Chapter: Healing the Sunday Roast

The golden light of dawn spilled in radiant spears through the tall window. The slight heat of the sun drawing tiny specks of dust up into a spiraling dance, like whispered spectres, as the light crawled slowly across the ancient marble floors to rest in a golden caress on the sleeping forms beneath the warm fur.

A soft yawn ghosted across her lips as her green eyes flickered open to fall once more on the shivering king resting on her shoulder. Blood clear and ruby red stained his lips, as he gasped yet another strained breath.

"Jareth? oh gods no..."

Fear, flared cold and sharp like a razor through her heart as she stared at the blood staining not just skin, but fur as well, slicking the hairs into a wet leathery plane.

Sarah's soft fingers cradled his face turning him gingerly in a vain hope to rouse him, and have him level his gold and sky gaze on her once more.

"Please Jareth look at me, let me see your beautiful eyes just one more time..." : But her words fell on deaf ears, as the fey continued to struggle through the blood in his throat.

Fever burned through him, stealing his strength and dusting his gaunt face in sickly pale hues, of white and blue...

Pulling the furs back, Sarah exposed his, oh so thin chest, to the unforgiving light, barely restraining a sharp gasp at the sight that greeted her.

Crimson blood, yellowish pus and green ichor coloured every scrap of bandage that wrapped around the shivering king.

"Shit this is bad Jareth, it's those bloody weeds, you need medicine not... bath salts and mystic runes."

Biting into her cheek, she sighed, she had nothing even close to medical equipment here, and fuck it all! There was no way for her to get anything. Oberon had been adamant in his refusal of anything remotely modern anywhere near his broken son. Not even band aids or aspirin...

Kneeling on the furs, Sarah let out a ragged sigh as she reached out with trembling fingers and began to loosen the bandage covering a deep burn along his right upper arm. Gentle peeling the sodden cloth back she hissed at the sight off the swollen and irritated flesh. No this would not do.. Lifting the slimy poultice, she gave it a quick and tentative sniff, cursing as the familiar scent of oregano and basil assaulted her. God dammit! Did they think that he was a Sunday roast?

Dropping the pungent mess onto the floor with a grimace of disgust, Sarah growled in frustration , there was no way out of it, she would have to call the healer again. But this time she would not let him wrap Jareth in kitchen herbs...

Rising from the furs, she quickly rummaged through the bag of hastily packed clothes resting against the stone wall. Pulling out a soft black sweater and a pair of loose black jeans, she dressed with all haste, before she absently checked herself in the full length mirror grimacing at the sight that greeted her. The black clothing seemed to swallow her up, making her skin even paler, than usual, and her eyes look comically large as they stared back at her from a face that had grown narrow and shadowed in the last few days. What was she thinking! why on earth would a fey lord ever even glance in her direction, if queen Titania was anything to judge by, then. ..No a plain girl like her didn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of ever catching the eye of a fey, let alone the Goblin King himself...

Coming here had been a huge mistake, yet... Turning from her reflection, to let her eyes rest on his bruised body, Sarah groaned as the unbidden thoughts faded and were replaced by a sense of compassion. How could she have stayed away, knowing the pain he had to be in, and knowing that of all the places he could have appeared, of all the summons he could have followed, he had chosen hers. No, the choice was made and now she had to see him through this, then and only then could she return to her premedical studies, and leave him to a more worthy lady.

But first thing first.

Striding towards the door, Sarah mentally prepared herself for the battle of wills which she was about to begin.

. . .

Nailing the hunched over healer with a cold glare worthy of the unconscious king, Sarah snarled: " I said LESS clove, MORE honey... yes that's it, and now you have to keep stirring until all the waxes have dissolved and..."

"Yes thank you your majesty : The treant drawled: I do know how to infuse an ointment, now what else do you require?"

Biting back an acidic reply, Sarah's eyes ran quickly over the neat rows of freshly made ointments, tinctures and poultices, each one meticulously made according to nanna Millas handed down recipes, and the knowledge of the actual active substances in each plant, that Sarah's biology and alternative healing classes had imparted.

" I think that we are done for now, I can't think of anything else that might be needed, can you?" : Ignoring the sharp tone Sarah quirked an eyebrow at him as she waited for him to answer.

"Are you TRULY asking me, your highness?"

"Well yes, can you think of anything that we might need or that might come in handy? ": Fighting the urge to snap him to hurry up, Sarah blinked slowly and sighed.

A slight creak sounded as the ancient dryad healer squinted, and surveyed the many different bottles and flasks, then apparently as satisfied the healer shook his head, with a sound that made Sarah think of old wood swaying in a storm.:" No mistress I can not think of anything else, but then your very human approach is still most novel to me... "

" Good, then grab that one labeled "burns one", and help me spread it on his chest."

"Yes mistress."

. . .

Gentle stroking her fingers through his flaxen hair, Sarah sighed, it had taken almost a full day, but now as the Goblin king rested with his head on her chest once more, she was rewarded with the even steady breath of a deep sleep.

" Oh Jareth who did this to you, and why... Who could possibly best the king of goblins, the master of the Labyrinth, he who protects the unwanted innocents... Protector of the unwanted... innocents..."

Staring down at his pain lined face, Sarah felt tears sting once more. There was so many things that her fourteen year old self hadn't had the maturity to understand.

Only now as she stood on the cusp of true womanhood did she see the goblin king for what he truly was, a role, a guise to protect a far gentler spirit than she could ever have anticipated. His was not a realm of pain and darkness, it was a safe haven a sanctuary for those unwanted lives, who would undoubtedly have passed through to the realms of the dead, had he not given them a home.

Pressing her cool lips to his fever hot forehead Sarah let her fingers sketch out tiny circular patterns on a dime sized patch of unhurt skin just above the hairline at his neck as she began humming a soft tune, her nanna had sung to her as a child.

It was a sad song about following rainbows despite burning one's bridges, and leaving all you loved behind. As a child Sarah had not understood the meaning, but now as she sang the words to a sleeping broken king, she suddenly began to appreciate the depth of what nanna Milla had tried to tell her. Nothing worthwhile ever came free...

. . .

"How does our wayward son fare, my lady? is there any progress? "

It was not that Titania had anything close to a frightening voice, no the sudden deafening thump of Sarah's heart was owed sole to the fact that the fey queen floated soundlessly through the air as if she wasn't a part of the world around her, but merely a ghost passing through.

And the lack of sound had kept Sarah unaware of the Queens approach, until she had finally spoken mere feet behind her.

Eyeing the majestic woman, as she fought to slow her racing heart, Sarah licked her lips, and quelled the sudden need to pull Jareth closer, as Titania seated herself lightly on the floor beside the fur nest, with an air of utter natural ease, as if it was perfectly natural for the wife of the horned god to sit on a dusty stone floor, while clad in a sumptuous gown of gossamer white silk.

"Ahm.. My Queen?" : squashing down her irrational moment of fear, Sarah answered: "He is doing better now that we have begun using the right herbs, but he hasn't been awake since we brought him here, and... well I was wondering could you do that, hand on his head thing and tell me if he knows that I'm here?"

"Oh by the law of seven, it gladdens my heart to hear that he is better than he was, but I do not even need to touch him to know that he still thinks this is all an elaborate dream, if he did not then he would be awake by now...": Titania's words were soft, yet her pale eyes grew dark with pain as she rested a delicate hand lightly on Jareth's shoulder, as if she feared that he might break if she was too rough:" I can't direct your feelings dear child, nor can I read them, but even so your presence here speaks volumes of your feelings for him, I do not say that you love my son, but you do care for him, do you not?"

The frankness of the words stunned Sarah, and for the briefest of moments she had no idea what to answer, then words spilled without any real conscious thought.

"Yes I .. I care... no I more than care, I was too young, too innocent to understand what it was that he offered, but as I grew I came to realise my own feelings, and I bitterly regretted my words. And when I saw him kneeling on my floor, dripping blood and god knows what... There was so much pain in his eyes, but he still lit up when he saw me... What happened to him? King Oberon said that he has been gone for almost seven years? "

Titania's eyes never left her sons face as she gentle traced his high cheekbone with the back of her fingers:" For the pain I fear this brief tale will bring you sweet child I am heartily sorry, but I fear that you need know this, if you are to have any hope of restoring not only our little goblin, but also the Labyrinth..."

Settling in more comfortably, Titania sighed and rested an ivory hand on Jareth's silk wrapped chest, as if she needed the reassurance of touch to prove to her that he was finally, and truly before her once more as she began her tale: " Where to begin, arh yes... You remember of course that the bridge shattered, as you uttered those fateful words, and that Jareth fled into his owl form as the bridge vanished beneath his feet? As you were pulled through the veil to return to your true world, he too was pulled with you from the Labyrinth. The magic of the crystal and his love forming an unbreakable bond between you. That is how he came to see you reunite with every goodly denizen of his realm, every denizen but he who loved you most... and the sight drove him near insane with pain.. You see to a Fey, dying of a broken heart is no simple expression, Once we love we do so with ALL that we are. And Jareth maybe even more than most..."

Staring down at the broken form in her arms, Sarah swallowed down the bile that rose at the thought of what she had unknowingly done to the proud and terrifying king.

" Oh Jareth, I. ... I didn't know, you have to believe me, I never even suspected... Why didn't they tell me? why would they lie to me like that? "

"Lie to you?" : Wry amusement lifted a little of the sorrow, and set Titania's icy blue eyes, alight with a soft mirth, that left Sarah completely unprepared for the barb of her words: " Oh my sweet but how can they lie to you, when you never even bothered to inquire.. hmm? No my child, no one lied to you. You commanded them never to mention anything that involved that.. and I believe that your precise words were, "disgusting paedophile bastard" to you ever again, and as you had bested their king, in his own realm no less, they had no choice but to obey. You stole the words from their lips, but you were young and ignorant of the power of your words, and I do not hold the past against you. But to return to the tale... Barred from your side Jareth roamed the veil in an attempt to forget you and heal his shattered heart, but there was nothing to be done, and in the span of a few scant mortal weeks, his magic, his life-force dwindled until the barest of embers remained, refusing to die, and let him die... It was a dread time, Jareth's temper flared at the tiniest perceived slight, be it real or imagined, and the Labyrinth reflected his anguish, becoming a field of nightmares, cruel and twisted enough to rival even the halls of the Night realm. You have no idea how it pained us who loved him so, to see the poison of his unseelie blood take hold and turn him so completely from us. "

Tears formed in Titania's exquisite eyes, to slide like perfect crystal droplets down her alabaster skin, as Sarah sat dry eyed, in too much shock and pain to shed even a single tear as Titania resumed speaking.

" Then one day a few weeks after your victory, he simple, rose from his throne, and with a wave entered the veil. We sought high and low, but he was vanished to us, and we feared him lost in the mists. Only... The Labyrinth did not die, nor did it begin to fade, no it changed, and then we knew, Jareth was alive... for this to make any real sense to you, you need to know that the Labyrinth is more than a test of love and determination, it is the barrier that separates the seelie court of summer from the unseelie court of air and darkness, and the Nightrealm of the Goblin lords from each other, but most importantly, it keeps the realm of man safe and separate from these realms of magic, even as it keeps the Nightrealm secluded from the other fey realms. And it is shaped by its king and his will."

Dark clouds of anger and hatred swirled in the depths of Titania's gaze, transforming her elusive beauty into something feral and cold, a fey creature more at home roaming the wilds hunting mortal souls, than dressed in a silken gown by her stricken sons side.

" The labyrinth changed, it became serene and beautiful in some parts, while reverting to the form it had held as you ran it, in others. But the part of it that touched the Nightrealm grew deadly and impenetrable, lethal to any fey or goblin who attempted to pass through it, no matter the reason, effectively severing the Night Realms from all other realms. That was when we understood where Jareth had gone, and it was then that we began trying to find him through our magic... I... When first I succeeded, I found him bound to the rack, at the mercy of a foul redcap, but no matter how I tried I was unable to pull him to me, and I was left helpless to do anything but stare in anguish as they tortured him relentlessly, for no apparent reason...hour after hour I tried every option open to me, every possible and quite a few impossible avenues, of recovering him. But to no avail, and soon hours had turned into days, and weeks. And suddenly they became years but nothing helped, we still fought and he still suffered not knowing that we suffered with him..."

Tears spilled from Sarah's eyes then, to flow through her fingers and down her face, in what felt like rivulets, as sobs of pain shook her, and with her the still form cradled against her...

" Sarah?... No... don't... why are you... crying... please..."

His voice was a pale sigh against her neck as he battled his own body with a bewildered look in his beautiful eyes, yet his arm refused to obey his commands leaving him to rest a limp hand on her stomach where it had fallen as his strength failed.

" Don't cry... it is but... a. ... dream... just... a. ...dream, nothing...more... come let us return to the... trees... the... light...there...is..."

Once more Jareth's voice trailed off into silence as he surrendered, to the weakness of his body, with a shuttered sigh.

" Jareth! Oh god no! please Jareth I'm really here, it's not a dream, you are safe now... Please Jareth. ... wake up.." : Raising tear reddened eyes to meet Titania's, Sarah whispered: "Why doesn't he think I'm here? Can't he feel my hands on him? If he sees me why can't he believe that I am here..."

" Because child he has spent more than six years being tortured both body and soul, and he no longer trusts what he sees hears or feels, and because... " :Trailing off Titania's face clouded over with sorrow and guilt.

"Yes because?"

" Because he thinks you dead..."

" WHAT!? And when were you going to tell me this? Why? I understand that, he wouldn't recognise me, after all these years, but why would I be dead!"

" Hush child, do not yell! you need only ask, and I will tell you everything, I am fey, my child and thus I can never lie without pain. "

Sitting up straighter, Titania folded her hands demurely in her lap as she seemed to sink into the painful memories once more: " Four years ago, They found you... "

Staring at the queen in stunned silence, Sarah tasted acidic bile in her throat as the queen continued quietly: " We had no idea that they were even seeking you, nothing we had seen in those two years had in anyway indicated that you and your family, may they find rest in the eternal realm, were in any type of danger. If we had known..."

Dread cold and terrible seized Sarah's heart at the softly spoken words, as the horrifying scene of her family's death played out in her mind for god only knew what time, only this time the mist had lifted, and she now saw the tiny cat sized creature, as it stopped in the headlights, gnashing its dagger like teeth and flashing evil ruby red eyes, as its aura of fear caused her father to swerve, hurling the car out over the cliff.

Keeping her eyes on Jareth's still face Titania continued softly: " We were too late to save your loved ones, and for that I am eternally ashamed, we should have foreseen it. It was only through the goddesses will that we even found out what had happened and that you had hung on, you wonderfully stubborn girl, and through the veil we healed you as best we could, even as the goddess of death closed in. But to keep you safe, we were forced to ward you from sight, making all creatures of night blood blind to you. Oh how it broke my heart to bear witness to Jareth's broken cries as they tormented him with what they perceived as your death, and then suddenly he stopped screaming, and a soft smile crept onto his anguished face, as he whispered your name. That was when he stopped screaming all together, no matter what they did to him, he would not cry out. He would whisper your name, but no cry would escape him. And that was when the depth of their perversion, their plan so dark that we did not believe it at first, became apparent. ... Sarah they meant to kill the Labyrinth, they still do, and we have but days to save it. "

. . .

Night had fallen and strange stars more brilliant than any she had ever seen above ground filled the velvet sky, casting their silver light on the Labyrinth spread out below the castle. Leaning on the windowsill Sarah stared out at the breath-taking scene without seeing it, her mind still struggling to process the enormity of what she had agreed to do...

" It will die, Sarah,: Titania had said: in three days it will be Samhain, and on this night the realms merge, as the veil retracts, and we celebrate, life and magic. And every forty-ninth Samhain, the goblin king, reaffirms his bond with the Labyrinth, by infusing it with his magic. If he does not it will wither and die, forever merging the four realms as in the times before human memory, unleashing the night goblins on us all. This Samhain is the forty ninth in a cycle..."

" But Jareth doesn't even know where he is, there is no Way in hell he will be strong enough to... "

" We know that sweet, strong child, and we have but one choice, there is only one other whom the Labyrinth would accept as its master, or should I say mistress... and only one way to make it happen in time..."

What choice had there been? turning her back on the sweeping starlit Labyrinth Sarah sighed as she looked at Jareth, Goblin King, Master of the Labyrinth and come morning...Her husband.

Running her fingers through her own unruly mane of ebony hair, Sarah sighed deeply. This was not how she had expected to see Jareth again.

Sitting down on the furs beside him, she stroked her fingers through his thick mane of silvery gold, noticing how much it had grown since she had seen him last, now it reached all the way down to his waist. It would have to be kept braided or cut to keep it from becoming impossible to manage, the last thing Jareth needed right now was more pain.

His thick ebony eyelashes look almost like feathers, as they trembled slightly, a moment before he opened his eyes to look up at her, with a softly confused look, that clenched her heart.

"Hmm Sarah?... It is so... dark... why..."

"Ssch Jareth its night, go back to sleep, I'll be right here beside you, I won't leave you, not ever again..."

" Hmm You ...promise..."

" Yes my love... I promise."

His mismatched eyes grew heavy as they feasted on her face, before they slipped closed with a chilling finality.

Settling down beside him, Sarah wrapped her fingers around his bandage swathed hand, kissing the limp fingers, as she rested her head beside his feeling his warm breath caress her skin, as she too drifted into a restless sleep.