Nothing is mine. *tiny tear* (Sniff) I don't make any money off this either. Oh, and I'd like to clarify something. One of my reviewers pointed out something critical. There are stories of mine on other sites with slightly different author names. In order to prevent further misunderstanding, I would like to point out that I will always go by either Melda, Melda_Undomiel or Melda Burke. Any stories written by me will be under those three pennames, which are relatively similar as you may see. I have simply a variety of sites that I participate in, so don't panic if you see the exact same story on a different site. Of the two other sites that I participate in are Lord of the and Underground Retrogression. However, if anyone sees any of my work on a site besides those, I'd like to be made aware. Plagarism is NOT cool! Thank you for your consideration. :D ~Love and peanut butter, Melda

Jareth pulled the two of them with him into the room. The ceiling was high and decorated with carved figures of griffins, centuars, and even a Meduse-like figure. Along the left and right sides of the walls, there were broad windows covered by a kind of sheer material that fluttered as if moved by a slight breeze. Tall, white columns split the room into three parts and drew one's eye to the middle where a grand table was placed. At the head of the table was a beautful, pale woman with white-blonde hair. She smiled kindly at the newcomers and rose from her seat. "Brother, it has been a long time." The forty others around the table remained silent and seated.

Jareth bowed. "Indeed, too long, Mirwana."

Mirwana regarded the Scrub with mild curiosity. "Who is this? She is not our Champion."

Jareth unhooked his arm from hers and nudged her forward. "Introduce yourself." He whispered.

Scrub curtsied prettily. "I'm Martha, your..erm.." She glanced nervously at the lovely woman before her. "It is your majesty, isn't it?" Mirwana nodded, a smile curving the ends of her ruby-red lips."But you may call me Scrub, most everyone does."

Mirwana's eyes twinkled. "Very well, then." She looked at Sarah. "If our Champion would please step forward and introduce herself as well?"

Sarah walked up to her friend's side and curtsied, too. She drew a deep breath as she took in the sight of all the people around her. Now was not the time to get stage fright. "My name is Sarah, your majesty. I am your Champion. Seven years ago, I solved the Labyrinth and won back my little brother whom I'd wished away in a moment of anger." There were whispers going through the crowd at the table and all of them leaned forward in order to get a better glimpse of the Champion.

Mirwana hushed them with a wave of her hand and left her place at the table's head. She walked past the two girls and touched her sibling's arm, guiding him to his seat beside her. Jareth stretched out in the chair with an air of complete ease, while the two girls were left standing awkwardly at attention. He noticed this and snapped his fingers. A goblin quickly appeared with two satin pillows in hand and seated them on a raised platform beside the two monarchs. Mirwana folded her hands on the table in a business-like manner and began to speak to them. "Now, the members of the High Court will be introduced to you one by one. I'm afraid that, while this may take a good while, it is a necessity. Afterwards, we will address what to do with you both."

First up were two nobles dressed elegantly in gold and beige in a similar fashion to Jareth. They must have been twins because they had nearly the same features. They bowed, introduced themselves, and sat back down. Next was a portly gentleman dressed ostentatiously in violet and orange. He was some Duke or another of some far off place. He made himself known especially to Scrub as he went all out and kissed her knuckles reverantly. His flirting was cut short by an impatient throat-clearing from Jareth's direction. With a flourish and a final wink at Scrub, the man returned to his chair. Scrub tried to cover her slightly green complexion by turning her head away after the encounter for the sake of being polite.

Twenty minutes later and Sarah had begun to nod off, she wasn't used to staying up so late. She snuck a glance at the watch on her wrist, it read about eleven and she mentally sighed. The last man had finished introducing himself and it was only after he was seated that Mirwana spoke again. "Now, we shall get down to business. Our Champion will be returning with my brother and myself-" She stopped when she noticed Scrub's hand was in the air and waving furiously. She lifted an eyebrow. "Yes?"

Scrub stood and bowed. "Your majesty, Sarah and I are like sisters. I could not stand be parted from her for a moment. Could I please accompany you?" She put on her puppy dog face. Sarah nearly snorted, those green-blue eyes of hers had widened to nearly an impossible degree and Scrub was utilizing all of her tiny, baby-faced charms. For a woman of twenty-two, she was quite adept at impersonating an innocent little girl. "Please." Repeated Scrub. Sarah knew that Mirwana was lost. That look could crumble any resolve, be it that of an all-powerful monarch or Sarah herself. "With peanut butter and chocolate sauce on top?" She asked, sealing the deal. Sarah rolled her eyes. Did anyone order a large ham?

Mirwana threw her head back and laughed. "How can I resist? Of course you may go." She and the other members of the Court seemed amused at the young woman's antics. The violet-dressed Duke, though was practically drooling and leering at Scub with such an intensity that it would make any self-respecting maiden blush. Scrub's expression fell as soon as she noticed and, though her face remained expressionless, her expressive eyes revealed a fierce annoyance directed at the fat Duke. This look was lost on the Duke who continued to stare with a heated gaze. For the second time, he was rebuked by Jareth. Scrub gave him a grateful smile and sat back down.

"Now, where was I? Oh, yes. Since Jareth will be gone, you all will be in charge of the Underground until he sees fit to come back." She leveled her gaze at the nobles. "You must remember to work together, for seperately none of you could swat a housefly, however, collectively.." She chuckled. "You could take on the entrity of the Aboveground." She smiled at the shocked expressions of the nobles. "Your duties will be those of the king, you know what I am saying. You must elect someone to be judge, someone to control the goblins, someone to respond to the wishes of the humans, and other such tasks. Hopefully, the castle will remain intact when this is over." She got up and moved away from the table. "Now, it is late and I am sure you are all very tired. You are all dismissed."

The simultaneous sound of scooting chairs resounded through the meeting room. Then, without any adue, the nobles vanished. Simply vanished. There was no pop, no poof, and (thankfully!) no whirlwind of dust. They just were no longer there. Jareth joined his sister and together they walked up to the pair of girls. "Finally! I was getting tired of all the formality." Sighed Mirwana. "I'm simply not used to it."

"Yes, and I noticed that we weren't the only ones nearly bored to sleep." He said with a knowing smirk at Sarah. Then he snapped his fingers and the pillow goblin hurried to his side. "Are their rooms ready?" The goblin bobbed his head up and down. "Good." He bowed and grinned at them all. "Goodnight, you all." He was gone in a cloud of glitter.

Mirwana shook her head, laughing quietly. "That's my brother, all right. Such a show off." She, too, bowed. "Well, I'll see you on the morrow. Fairfarren to you both." And she, like the nobles, vanished into thin air. The goblin motioned them out the doors and down the hall, opposite of the way they'd come.

Scrub walked backwards, as she often did when she wanted to talk while going somewhere. "Did you see the way that creepy dude was staring at me? It felt really weird, like he was undressing me with his eyes." She shivered violently and it wasn't from the cold.

Sarah nodded. "Yeah, but I don't think you're in any danger. I mean, Jareth and Mirwana seem to have them pretty much under their thumbs, so I don't think anything would happen to you or me." Scrub still looked unsure, but agreed. Sarah couldn't really blame her, the guy had acted like a real creeper.

The goblin halted at a pair of doors. Both were made of mahoghany and had round, crystal handles that reminded Sarah of the crystals that Jareth often juggled and danced across his hands. Sarah said goodnight and went into her bed, not even bothering to appreciate the room she was in, and fell asleep immediatly.

Scrub, however, entered her room and sat down on the bed. She was a bit of an insomniac and so she wasn't very tired, plus she was very excited about being thrust into this new and interesting world. The room she had been placed in was decorated in red and gold. The walls and ceiling were scarlet and the carpet was gold. The one window was covered by a heavy, black curtain and the covers of the bed were in black as well. She pondered what would happen the next day and, slowly, she slipped into the dark oblivion that was sleep.