DG groaned as she took her shoes off revealing toes already turning black and blue. "If I ever see another suitor again, I might let the goblins attack their kidneys," she swore.
She heard a giggling coming from her mirror, "That's what you get being born a princess."
DG turned to face her sister in the mirror, "How are we supposed to live with this? My toes were stepped on so many times I think it'd be safer to cut them all off. A lot less painful, anyway."
"It'll get better, baby sister." Az smiled warmly, "Not a baby anymore, though, are you? Happy birthday."
DG smiled back, "I think you're one of the only people who've told me that today that I actually believe. I'm tired of hearing insincere wishes."
"Not too tired to open your presents, I hope," Az teased.
That caused the younger princess to perk up. "Presents that I might actually like? Cool. Never too tired for those."
Az held them up to the mirror and DG touched the frame, letting a small bit of magick to the work of opening the portal between the two rooms. Az passed them through, her hands grasping DG's after the presents were safe on the birthday girl's side.
Wordlessly she smiled at her sister before letting go and letting the portal fall dormant again. The magick was too risky to keep open for too long.
DG opened the box and gasped at the necklace within. She picked it up, "Oh, Az, it's beautiful. Was the morutanium hard to find?"
Az shook her head, bringing her own matching necklace out of hiding, "Not at all. I've already put some spells for protection and well-being in them, all they need now is a bit of your power to bind them together. A sign of our binding as sisters."
After putting the necklace on, DG looked at the effect in the mirror only to see Az grinning in approval. The younger princess put her hand to the pendant, putting in some of her own magicks to mingle with her sister's. Both pendants pulsed with a dark blue light before going back to normal.
DG turned her attention to the book. She raised an eyebrow, looking questioningly back up at Az. "It's from Ahamo," Az explained. She had stopped using the terms Father and Mother with DG some years ago. "He said it's wisdom from the Other Side he thought might be helpful to you."
Tears came unbidden into her cornflower blue eyes. "He said to tell you that he loves you," Az whispered, unsure it was the best thing for DG to hear.
The younger princess nodded, putting the book down again. "Tell him I said thanks."
A knock was heard on DG's door and she turned to glance at it before turning again to her sister, "I love you, Az. Thank you."
"I love you too, Deej. Happy birthday."
"Night."
"Goodnight."
The mirrors on both sides returned to normal. "Come," DG said as she slipped her necklace beneath her gown to rest over her ribcage below her breasts.
A guard - Tinny, she thought her name was - walked in with a drawn face. "What is it?"
"Your uncle needs you," the guard said. DG was on her feet in an instant, slipping her feet into a comfortable pair of boots. "This way."
"What happened?" DG asked again.
Tinny looked at her princess before replying with a question of her own, "What do you know about the one called the Lady of the Labyrinth?"
DG faltered as she thought about the question. "I know my uncle lost his heart to her when she went back Aboveground after a short visit here right before I came here."
"There is a bit more to the tale than that, your highness."
"What does the Lady of the Labyrinth have to do with my uncle right now?"
"She has returned."
DG stopped dead in her tracks. "Tell me what you know," she demanded from the guard.
"I'll tell you as we walk to the infirmary." Tinny compromised. As the pair set off again the guard told the parts of the tale that she knew: "I didn't meet the Lady of the Labyrinth until the Battle of the Goblin City, but I have spoken with those who were with her throughout the Labyrinth. She wished away a child in a fit of jealousy and when the King appeared to offer her payment for the child, she demanded the opportunity to run the Labyrinth.
"She bested him at nearly every twist and turn, learning the secrets of the Labyrinth with an ease few others have ever shown from the Other Side. Other Siders prefer to believe us myth and legend. But not that one." Tinny's voice took on a captivated note, "The Lady Sarah was - and is - a special one. So is Master Toby, her brother that she wished away."
DG waited patiently for Tinny to continue as they passed through numerous corridors and stair cases.
"When she left, she left the King broken hearted and the Labyrinth in disrepair."
"Why is she back?" DG quickened her pace, feeling the need to get to her uncle's side as quickly as possible so that she could support him.
"No one knows."
--
Jareth wasn't sure to cry in anger or joy. Or despair.
Sarah was back in the Underground, yes, but she was very close to death and he was not sure he had the power to save her.
As he was busy trying to convince himself that the pallor of her skin and the massive bruises were just tricks of the light, and her breaths weren't becoming more and more shallow, a hand touched his shoulder. He looked up into the worried eyes of his niece.
"I had always thought that she'd be more commanding," DG said, giving her uncle's shoulder a squeeze.
Jareth snorted softly, "You should see her when she's awake and at her best."
"I intend to." She pulled up a chair next to her uncle's and sat down. "But first we have to get her better, now don't we? Tell me what happened."
Jareth took one of Sarah's limp hands in his own, forcing himself to look at the beautiful brown hair now matted with clotted blood, and the face now covered in cuts and bruises. "She was in a car crash. She called out to me as the cars hit, just before she fell unconscious. Her wounds are too deep for me to heal alone - far too deep for even the most skilled healer."
DG put her hand on top of Jareth's and Sarah's joined hands. "What can I do?"
"Your connection to the light is greater than mine. I believe the answers lie there." He looked at his niece, his eyes begging while his voice said, "I will not force you to do this, DG. It could be dangerous for you and I'm not sure it will even work."
"I know that. But we have to try anyway." She wasn't sure whom her words were meant to reassure, but she said them anyway.
"I'll guide you through it, although I have only ever healed children."
DG nodded and closed her eyes, her hand tightening over Jareth's and Sarah's as she fell into the deep well that was her magick.
It was akin to falling into a deep hole, like the oubliettes that littered the Labyrinth. She searched thoroughly for the necessary skills and magick to heal Sarah's deep wounds. Using her physical connection to the dying woman as a grounding point, DG let her psyche fall into her body the way her tutor had taught her. With the magick firmly in hand DG felt herself fly through Sarah's body, healing the internal and external wounds as she went. Until that moment DG had no idea what she was willing to do for her uncle. But somehow, she knew that if this woman died he would die as well.
Jareth watched as his niece's magick caused a glow to fill Sarah, leaving behind nothing but the beautiful woman that he remembered from shared dreams and crystal viewings.
DG gasped when she let go of Sarah's hand, her job done. The patient was breathing clearly, her physical injuries completely gone. However, as she tried to stand up, she wobbled, her knees too weak to support her weight.
"DG?" Jareth asked, the worry evident in his voice. Sarah may have been back and now safe, but that didn't erase his concern for the amount of magick DG had just expended.
She waved him off, "I didn't think I used that much of it. I just need to sleep, is all."
Jareth nodded, still concerned but pushing that to the side for now. He'd check in on her in the morning after she'd rested and he'd had a chance to see to Sarah. He motioned for one of the guards standing at the far side of the room to escort her back to her rooms.
DG sagged in relief against the Elvin guard she vaguely remembered being named Halan. He practically carried her all the way back to her chambers and the care of Squet and Brinn and her hobgoblin maid, Lulu.
She didn't even remember her head hitting the pillow.
--
"Jareth?" a raspy voice asked from the bed. He looked up, his neck popping from the sudden movement. Apparently he had fallen asleep the night before watching Sarah.
"Sarah," he replied helping her sit up on the bed.
"What am I doing here? What are you doing here?" She asked groggily as she looked around the unfamiliar room. She could only assume she was in the Labyrinth because Jareth was there and because she was pretty sure there was a goblin standing guard in the corner of the room.
"It's my castle. I'm allowed to go where I please," Jareth said in a cocky tone. "As to why you are here, Sarah: you called and I came."
She seemed surprised and confused. It took a few seconds, but everything that had happened the night before came rushing back: driving home from the theatre where she worked backstage, the drunk driver, and calling out to the Goblin King to save her when it was apparent that she wasn't going to avoid a collision.
"Thank you," she whispered, knowing it wasn't enough but the only thing she could say. Vaguely she wondered how she was completely unharmed if she had been in a car crash the night before.
As if reading her mind he replied, "Your wounds were too deep for me to tend to myself, but with my niece's power and my skill we were able to heal you."
Sarah nodded, registering the words but still in a daze at the turn of events. "Will you thank her for me?"
"You can thank me yourself, you know."
Sarah and Jareth turned to the sound of the voice to find DG standing in the doorway behind a servant's cart that held many different breakfast items on it. "I thought you might be hungry," she said by way of explanation.
Sarah eyed her from head to foot, finding that the niece looked remarkably like the uncle in the matter of dress. DG was clothed in a flowing poet's shirt that allowed for a wide range of motion in her arms, topped off with a waist cincher that accented her waist nicely, and a pencil skirt with a slit up the front that revealed deerskin boots that matched her cincher. Her hair was up in a ponytail to keep it out of her face, and there was a thin chain around her neck that disappeared into her shirt.
DG was very well put together and beautiful in her young age. Sarah looked down at the marked difference her own appearance made: She was wearing a fading Star Wars: Episode Five tee-shirt and jeans with splashes of paint on them from painting various sets throughout the years. She knew there were bags under her eyes, and her hands were rough and calloused from work.
Although she knew there was no reason to do so, she couldn't help comparing herself to Jareth's niece, who was now loading up a plate with a variety of finger foods for Sarah to eat. When she held it out, Sarah visibly pulled back, remembering what had happened the last time she had eaten in this realm.
"It's not going to hurt you, Sarah," Jareth said, watching her reaction carefully. "There's no peaches on that plate and certainly not any enchanted peaches."
Hesitantly Sarah took the plate and set it on her lap. DG gave her uncle a quizzical look, "You gave her an enchanted peach from Great-Grandmother's garden?"
Jareth shrugged, causing DG to continue, "That's cheating, Uncle, and you know it."
At that Jareth pointed at Sarah, "She cheated, too!" he huffed like an indignant child.
DG just shook her head as she fixed a plate for her uncle. "I have an appointment with General Huffypants about the situation with our guests that might be staying with us for an extended time."
Sarah nearly choked on the bite of toast she had just bitten into. Huffypants?
Jareth raised an eyebrow at his niece, "He has a proper name, you know."
DG raised her eyebrow right back at him, "I think Huffypants suits him better than Dugan." She handed her uncle the plate of food and kissed his forehead. As she left she called back, "Don't worry, I'll be nice to Devon."
A/N: TA DA!! This was for those of you so eagerly awaiting the return of Sarah. You know the drill: you want more then click on that loverly button in the bottom left corner. ...It's almost a light shade of periwinkle ... if periwinkle looked like lavander.