(A/N) This is a recent edit, (as of 4/07/08) The dialogue between Jareth and Sarah after the ahem-as-I-try-not-to-spoil-it inciden needed some freshening up. I hope to have GASP a new chapter up by the end of the week but no promises. My car is dead right now so I have other things on my mind at the moment.

Thanks for bothering to stick with me, you guys/girls/what-have-you's seriously rock!

DISCLAIMER: I OWN IT….not….

for clarification please refer to previous disclaimers….

II DISCLAIMER: Garth Nix get's the credit for the Spiral Library. (No jokes or anything) Hats' off to him.

STATEMENT: I meant absolutely no insult to anyone from Japan who might be

reading this, it was just a pain in the butt to ship my computer there…

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

CHAPTER VIII - Into the Spiral

As Jareth watched the girl astride the great black horse, he couldn't help but smile along with her. Her hair was tousled from the ride, her face flushed with excitement and a mad grin split her features as she praised the stallion up one side and down the other.

Though he was loathe to admit it, Jareth knew that the damnable beast was probably worth his weight in gold. With the training he'd had put into him, and his impeccable breeding, he could probably turn his weight in gold even if Jareth decided to sell him then and there.

He smiled ruefully; better get his chuckles now, he was always in a foul mood after loosing a bet.

"Well, well…what have we here?"

Even as he stepped away from the shady cover of the trees, Jareth knew he'd made a mistake. He appeared, seemingly out of the ether, in front of the animal, who, to his credit, did what any sensible horse would do in that situation. In true jumper style, Cheval had perfected a way to simultaneously rear, leap, twist in mid-air and land several yards away in the same span that it took Sarah to think, Shit! This is gonna be so bad-!

Jareth saw it coming, felt his blood run cold, and he knew he'd never be able to get to them in time. His traitorous mind instantly provided him with a whole list of possible injuries, while reminding him of the fact that he had the magickal healing ability of your average goldfish. Shit.

Sarah landed on her back in the grass with a dull thud that effectively knocked the breath out of her. She opened her mouth to call out, but all she could manage was a small wheezing noise.

Sarah had always considered herself a fairly sturdy person, to the point that she was usually on her feet after a fall in seconds. At that particular moment, all she wanted to do was close her eyes and sleep for a week or so, and she could already feel the bruises forming.

"uhhh…" well, it was better than the wheezing…

"Sarah!" She turned her head at the sound of her name to see Jareth pelting towards her through the tall grass, even as Cheval danced nervously away. " 's okay, buddy boy." she breathed. Spectacular! Her voice was actually responding. Jareth slid to a halt beside her. "Lie still."

She wheezed her agreement; it sounded like a perfectly wonderful idea to her.

"Can you feel all your fingers? Toes? No-don't try to get up yet." everything seemed to be in working order. Half way through her check she realized Jareth was muttering rebukes at her, "…don't know what you were thinking….deranged beast could probably snap you in two…broken your silly neck…"

She decided she'd rested long enough; nothing had fallen off, and if she waited much longer to move her bruised body would stiffen more than it already had. She was definitely going to feel this one in the morning. Climbing to her feet, she tried her legs and was pleased to find them reasonably useful.

"I'm fine." she groaned, "Bruised maybe…" she twisted, carefully stretching her arms as far as they would go overhead until she heard something pop and felt marginally better. "…but nothing Ibuprophen can't fix." her back spasmed, complaining at the range of motion the movement required, "I think…"

Jareth gave her an odd look, "Ibuprophen…I suppose he's a physician, but the name isn't ringing any bells. Do I know him?"

Sarah groaned again, putting real feeling into it now, "You people do have painkillers, don't you? You know, aspirin, Tylenol, Motrin, Ibuprophen…pills?" Oh please, please let him be joking….

Sarah's mind wandered back to the super sized bottle of Motrin she had sitting on her desk back home. B-e-a-utiful...

He shook his head, "There's no need. Even in the Goblin City we have fully capable and highly qualified healers."

"Great-!" she snapped, "Just perfect! Fat lot of good that does me now! Why don't I just…" she let her sentence trail off.

She was doing it again; Lynn had warned her about taking her temper out on hapless passerby. The second time she'd tried it had earned her a whack on the arm with a riding crop. It was a habit she had been trying to break.

"I was trying to help."

She sighed, "Sorry. I suppose it's not really your fault." Jareth gave her a smug look. "This time, anyway."

Why did this always happen? No matter what the subject, or how benign the conversation she and Jareth always managed to end up at each others throats. She didn't mean it to happen, he just seemed to bring out the worst sort of whining, griping, teenager in her.

"It's weird, no matter what we're talking about, we always wind up arguing…" she whispered.

"I noticed. Although, technically you did start this whole thing."

"What!!" there, that's what I get for trying to be nice!

"You were the one to wish me up, Sarah. It isn't my fault if my presence sheds light on things you'd rather be left un-illuminated."

Sarah opened her mouth to argue, then flapped it shut. He did have a point.

"You know what I wish, honestly? I wish that once, just once, we might finish a conversation without it turning into a fight."

"We do seem to make a habit of it." his voice was calm.

"Well, if you would stop dragging me off to worlds unknown, that might improve my temper just a bit." she said sardonically.

"Sarah, my dear, you are truly a walking, breathing contradiction, you do know that, don't you?" The jibe wasn't meant to sting, but it did all the same. She was too used to her classmates taunts, to being the 'odd one', or 'the strange girl'

"You think I'm a contradiction?"

He grinned, "Why, yes, actually. I do."

"You claim to want a normal life, yet you pour over fantasy novels, you throw yourself into acting and playing at being anything and everything-anything to escape the world you live in, and now, you're vexed with me for obliging your wishes by providing you with the very escape you so desperately sought, and for pointing it out. No-don't try to deny it, I can see it in your eyes." he smiled, "Is it so terrible for you to admit you might actually like it here? That the Underground might not be a horrible as you want to believe?"

"I never said it was," she snapped "I don't hate it here, and I certainly do not want the Underground to be horrible, I am stuck here you know!"

"Perhaps, then, you can educate me as to why you try so hard to make everyone believe that you do?"

"I don't hate it," she repeated, "it's just…different."

"Obviously."

"Jareth-"

"Oh, very well." He decided it was time to change tactics. "If it is not 'horrible' here, and you do not hate the Underground, why do you avoid it so?"

Sarah sighed. How could she make him understand when she wasn't really sure that he didn't already understand. She could never be sure when he was poking fun at her and when he was serious-it was exhausting to be so constantly off balance.

"Jareth, it's another world! It's so different from everything I've ever known. I don't hate it, really I don't, I just…I don't understand it. I know the rules are different here, but I don't know what they are…"

"You could learn."

"Not easily."

"Nothing worth having is easy to acquire…well, almost nothing."

"Jareth, I think you've missed my point."

He gave her a superior smirk, "Well, then tell me, Sarah, what is so very special about your world that you prefer it so. The fact that it is familiar does not count."

He's not going to let this drop. "It is familiar. All my family is there; my friends, everyone I've ever met, my job-"

"You've already made many friends. And you seem to be fitting into the position you've been given. There are still plenty of people you've yet to meet here in the Underground." he pointed out logically.

"What about college!" she countered, sure that this point couldn't be pushed aside so easily.

"What about it?"

"I want to go!"

"The City boasts a highly respected university, Sarah. We have had students from almost every corner of the Underground."

"Well, we have pain killers, and cars and convenience stores."

"First off, I think we both know perfectly well what mode of transportation you prefer." Sarah realized that the riding helmet was still dangling from her fingers, "Secondly, a qualified healer more than makes up for pain killing substitutes. And last of all," he gave her an especially smug grin as he pulled his hand from behind his back with a flourish, presenting her with her bottle of Motrin. "What could possibly be more convenient than this?"

Sarah accepted the bottle with a shrug. Alright, he's got that one.

She was determined not to let him win without a fight. "We have cell phones and indoor plumbing!" she crowed.

"Well, we have immortals and unicorns."

Now she really was confused. "What do immortals have to do with plumbing?"

"Nothing at all. But given the choice of seeing a bathtub or seeing a unicorn, which would you choose?"

"I suppose it'd depend on how much I wanted a hot bath."

Even Jareth chuckled at that.

"Granted, my dear, granted. But surely you can see my point. You do give the impression that you would like nothing more than a chance such as this, yet when it is presented you, you can't wait for it to be over and done with. You are a contradiction, Sarah, just when I think I've got you figured out, you dash off and do something like this…" he smiled, "I have to admit, I have never found anyone quite like you."

Sarah frowned at the renewed sting from his earlier comments.

"Well perhaps if you hadn't been spying on me, without my permission I might add, you wouldn't be so confused over what I was reading now would you?"

"Well would you have given you permission if I'd asked?" that friendly, joking tone was gone. Replaced by the haughty Jareth she had come to expect.

Sarah snorted, angry with herself for letting herself get so frazzled over a what was obviously a misunderstanding and angry with him for being so quick to notice it. "And I fail to see just how what I read is any of your business."

"It isn't." he said simply, "I was merely pointing out a fact."

"Well maybe if you stopped to think of someone besides yourself, namely me and what little privacy I already have, you wouldn't have to!" she snapped.

Jareth chuckled, "Am I to understand that you find me arrogant?"

The truth of it was that he was arrogant. He knew it, and she knew it, and both of them knew that the other knew it, but Jareth couldn't resist the chance to tweak her just a bit more.

Sarah realized then that-as usual-he was trying to bait her into saying something that she'd regret. And up until that point, it had been working…

She smiled sweetly at him, pouring every ounce of false sweetness she possessed into that smile. If that was how he wanted it, fine; two could play at that game.

"Well," she said slowly, considering her options, "Not arrogant, exactly…I think spoiled was closer to what I had in mind."

"Spoilt?" his voice was just a tad bit strained.

Her grin widened.

"Actually I said 'spoiled' but that's close enough."

"Oh, ho? And how's that?" Arrogant was one thing, but spoilt? It was hardly possible for him to get a moment to himself, he did have a horde of rambling, babbling, drooling goblins to manage, after all.

"Look over there, in the front pasture." she said, pointing to the one she had in mind, "Tell me what you see."

Jareth took a moment to study the space in question. He didn't like the smug expression she was currently wearing, no, he didn't like it one bit. In fact, he had a sinking feeling that he was about to have his proverbial ass handed to him on a silver platter. "I don't know…grass? Horses?"

Sarah snorted, "Yes, horses…Now, out of curiosity, how much did they cost you?"

He looked blankly at her. That nagging, sinking feeling had increased, but for the life of him he couldn't see it coming.

"Come on then, Jareth, how much?"

"I fail to see the point of all this."

"I can see you're going to be difficult about this. Lets just say more than the average goblin-Joe has on hand for a splurge." He shrugged non-committaly. "And when, Jareth, was the last time you rode any of those admittedly expensive, immortal horses?" This was the real clincher, if she guessed wrong then the whole thing fell through, but she was willing to bet he had more than a few things in common with the upper crust snobs that inhabited most high dollar horse barns.

Jareth chuckled, "Why would I need to? We have perfectly good stable hands to exercise them. Of course, I will be riding Judgment to the fair."

Sarah grinned. Bingo.

"That's not my point. Just because it isn't strictly necessary to keep them in top form doesn't mean you can't enjoy riding, or just spending time with them. When was the last time you rode any of them just for fun?" he didn't answer, "Or…played with the foals? Groomed them, petted them? Brought them the extra carrots from the kitchen just because you knew they'd enjoy it?"

She laughed, "Jareth, you have everything there is to have-I'm not just talking about horses here-and it still doesn't bring you even a tiny shred of happiness. There's something fundamentally wrong with that, you know."

"First I'm arrogant, then I'm spoilt, and now I'm to understand that I have no joy? How in the world did I manage that?"

"I'm not really sure but somehow you make it work." she snorted, "Kinda like your white hair."

" 'White' hair? I do not have 'white hair'." this is really going to far, "It's blonde, corn silk, yellow if you must!"

Sarah smiled, Finally; something to needle him with…

"Fae do not have white hair." he muttered.

"Fae?" she asked, her curiosity suddenly aroused. "Is that what you are?"

He looked a bit taken aback, "Well of course. What had you thought I was?"

"Well, I'd always thought you were…well, a goblin."

"A goblin?" he raised one brow, "You jest."

"Well, no. Not really. You do introduce yourself as 'the Goblin King' so it always stood to reason that you were a goblin too. Albeit a very tall, musically inclined, handsome goblin." She bit her tongue even as her traitorous lips continued on all on their own. She shouldn't have said it, it would only inflate his already swollen ego…if that was even possible.

Handsome…? There were soooo many interesting places this could go.

"Handsome, eh?"

Sarah stared at him, in a mixture of shock and horror as the meaning of what she had said registered in her brain.

He knew he shouldn't. It was wrong. So completely, entirely utterly wrong; it was the sort of thing he'd wake up regretting for a long time to come. If he did it now, she'd never forgive him.

He tried, he really did, but it was impossible. He just couldn't help it, the look on her face was just so damn funny.

A terrible, wicked giggle clawed its way out of his throat, then a snort. Then a chuckle, and finally a full blow laugh that left him clutching his sides and gasping for breath.

Just then, Sarah wasn't sure whether the urge to smack him or the desire to find a hole and just hide in it was stronger. I said it; I've no one to blame but myself. Oh God, he'll never let me live this down.

Sarah could see it now, there she was, a wrinkled, eighty something year old lady, feeding the birds with her grandkids and suddenly Jareth would pop out from behind a dust bin, cackling at her over how she'd called him handsome.

That hole is looking more and more attractive…

Incredibly, a tiny gulp of laughter escaped her.

She didn't have any idea why, but it really was funny. Laughter bubbled up out of her throat, until she was clutching her aching sides as she gasped for breath. Just when Sarah thought she had it under control, he grinned at her, setting her off all over again.

"This is you're fault you know-!" she shrieked, wiping at her streaming eyes, "You've always brought out the worst in me, ever since I was a little girl!'

"Well it was mutual!" he gasped, his face a mix of a smile and a grimace, his sides burning with the simple effort of breathing.

Eventually they managed to regain their composure and start heading back. Jareth made a ridiculously flamboyant 'Ladies-first' gesture before falling in beside her. He studied her sidelong as they walked-slowly-back towards the barns, wondering how best to turn the situation to his advantage.

Sarah was doing her best to hide her newly acquired limp, in that respect she had always thought of Jareth like a large, dangerous predator ready to pounce; she couldn't afford to show weakness.

Nor did she stop to look for her wayward horse. Over the years, she'd had enough separations that were not mutually agreed upon while out on a hack to know that the most likely place for her errant equine was back in his own safe pasture, more importantly were the food was. She had no doubts that, like any other self-respecting, spooked, horse, Cheval had taken one look at Jareth's instant apparition and high-tailed back home. If, and only if, he couldn't be found on her return, would she start to search in earnest.

They walked in a slightly uncomfortable silence for a while, Sarah's limp becoming more and more pronounced. This would-and wouldn't-do… If she was in too much pain to attend the fair most of his plan would need to be reworked or scrapped entirely. It was also the perfect opportunity to throw her off balance again…

Jareth stopped, putting a hand on her shoulder to turn her around to face him. He cleared his throat, "Perhaps, Sarah, you should take the rest of the day to yourself. To…er…recuperate." Yes! Good! Civil, caring; sure to win points!

She gave him a look to melt glaciers, and pointedly jerked out of his grasp. "Alright, Jareth. What do you want?"

"What?!" How had he gone wrong now?!

"You're never this nice unless there's something you want. What is it?"

Jareth did his best to seem genuinely wounded. He wanted her to see him as something other than the villain. True, he had manipulated the situation to try and achieve this, but surely that didn't count against him? How else would he ever get anywhere with this ludicrous idea of his?

"Sarah my dear you wound me." he laid one gloved hand over his heart. Before seeming to reconsider,

"Then again, if you'd rather I find some chore for you to complete, I'm sure I could dream up a few interesting…tasks…to suit. If that's what you want, of course." Sarah didn't even want to consider exactly what sort of tasks he'd find interesting, though judging from his voice and the way he was eyeing her like a hungry dog eyes a steak, she could make an educated guess. The horrified look on her face was enough to make him regret the offer, well, for the most part.

He sighed, it chaffed at him to control his temper, as it wasn't something he was accustomed to needing to do. "Sarah, I would like you to take the remainder of the day off. the goblins will assist you with dinner, as I have other business to attend to tonight."

There was no way it was really that simple. This was the same man who had tortured her for nearly thirteen hours, twisted her emotions to suit his own whims. Jareth The-Goblin-King, ruler of all he surveyed, the perverted bastard who had seen fit to spy on her doing Gods knew what over the years, did not give people the afternoon off.

"Jareth I don't-"

"It was not a request, Sarah." He snapped. "But don't worry my dear, I'm sure I'll find some way for you to make it up to me."

Shaking her head, Sarah changed direction and started the long trek up to the castle. Leave it to Jareth to turn giving someone a day off into an insult and a debt. Still…there had been something….

She gave herself a mental slap. No, bad Sarah! Do your time, get it over with. Period!

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

When Sarah woke the next morning there was only one thought burning in her brain. It. Was. Hot.

Really hot.

Truly, insanely, unbearably hot.

A real otherworldly summer. She thought sourly.

Though she wasn't aware of it, nor was there any reason for her to be, it was in fact a real other worldly summer. During the summer months, the lands south of the Northern wood-including Jareth's kingdom-took on all the soothing qualities of a sweltering oven.

With a groan Sarah peeled back the coverlet, but it did little to relieve the sticky heat that hung in the air. It was barely past dawn and already the sun was beating down with on the Labyrinth with renewed fury, burning away the mist that had rolled in off the lake the first few mornings of her stay.

Though she'd left the window open the night before in the hopes of attracting a wayward breeze, the air was dead still and her skin was already sheened in sweat. Damn.

There was nothing else for it; she'd have to take another bath. Not that she was against bathing in general, normally you couldn't have paid her not to shower at least twice a day. But this was the Labyrinth. Which of course meant that nothing was normal. Especially when this particular labyrinth was run and, more to the point, observed, by a very self assured Goblin King. There was no telling when and where one of those damned crystals of his would pop up.

She glanced at the door. More to the point, she glanced at the door that had no locking mechanism on it. What to use…? her eyes traveled over the sparse furniture of her room, and came to rest on a small wooden chair, carved to match the simple desk it sat next to. Perfect.

The chair was just the right size. Sarah jammed the back of the chair under the bronze door handle, jingling it a few times just to be sure it would hold, before turning back to the bath.

She'd worn shorts and what she was fairly sure was properly called a tunic to bed, and stripped then and there as she turned the spigots on. Steaming water gushed from the faucet and Sarah blessed the Underground for inventing indoor plumbing by then. She was loathe to think about what she'd have to do otherwise.

By the time the tub was full, the room was filled with clouds steam, and Sarah slid into the tub with a sigh.

God-! But it was good to feel clean again! She swished her head this way and that, turning her hair to rinse away the smell of horse and the sweat from the sweltering heat, and reach for what she hoped was a jar of shampoo.

It was, and-she noted sourly-it smelled distinctly of peaches. Shrugging, she lathered it into her hair anyway-she knew she shouldn't complain, she was lucky to have a room in place of a cell, let alone ironically scented shampoo.

By the time she felt close to human again, the water had cooled to tepid at best, and she had gained a startling resemblance to a raisin. None of which mattered in her mind. For the last hour or so, her room had been a crystal-free zone, for which she was intensely thankful. Of course, it did make her wondering just what a certain Goblin-King was up to…

She shrugged it off. Better not to know.

Wringing her wet curls over the tub, she pulled a towel off the shelves and turned around to find her clothes, coming face to face with Justine in the process.

"Oh-my-God!"

Sarah let out a shriek to wake the dead. Leaping backwards, she collided with the claw footed tub, sending waves of soapy bath water over the edge to pool on the floor.

Justine stood in the doorway, cool and calm and-if Sarah hadn't known better-she'd have sworn that the younger girl looked just a bit pleased with herself.

"Jareth sent me to fetch you." Justine informed her coolly. "You are to report to him in his study." She looked Sarah up and down, seeming to make a mental note of her dripping hair and towel, "I would personally suggest getting dressed before we leave."

Sarah nodded. At the moment, recalling exactly how to breathe was taking up most of her concentration. The smug little grin on Justine's face told her that the girl had gotten exactly the reaction she'd been looking for.

"Of course, if you'd rather not, I don't think he'll complain. He won't notice much of anything until the fair get's started at the end of the week."

Sarah nodded reluctantly and snatched her blouse up off the floor before it could be entirely soaked. It would have to do. Damned if she'd wear any of the more, ahem, daringly cut tops that a certain Goblin King had seen fit to include in her wardrobe.

"Some time while we're still young would be nice!" Justine quipped, as Sarah pulled on the peasant skirt from her first night in the castle. "Well, maybe if you'd give a girl some warning…"

"Hey, I don't have all day here, hon. Of course, if you think you can manage to get yourself to the Spiral Library without getting lost?" she glanced over her shoulder at Sarah, a wicked grin on her face. " thought not. Hurry up."

Library. Something about the location stuck in Sarah's mind. She tried to recall the layout of the Castle that Hoggle had shown her, and realized what it was.

If Jareth had come from the Library, he would have to go to the opposite end of the grounds to tell Justine to come back to the northeast corner of the castle to get Sarah-or so she'd thought. Which made no sense whatsoever. Sarah mentioned as much.

"Well, technically Jareth asked second assistant librarian Greeves to fetch you," Justine said in a pained voice, "he subsequently passed the job on to the Hob, who told Augusta in passing who then told me to come and get you and take you to the library, and well, here we are. It was simpler to tell you that Jareth sent me."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Anyway. He's probably wanting to talk to you about the Midsummer Ball. Since I know you're wondering what I'm talking about, the Midsummer Ball is held after the first day of the Fair. It's this big Fae, highborn…thingy; boring, formal; prom with swords. You get the idea."

Sarah had to choke down a giggle as she tried to imagine her high school class in Underground attire and carrying swords. The two things mixed almost as well as oil and water.

Still smiling, she turned her attention back to Justine, "This may be a silly question, but why is called the Spiral Library?"

"That's an excellent question, I'm so glad you asked that Sarah." Justine said, her voice overly chipper, "Library 101. First off, it's big. Huge really. The first circuit is almost a mile and a half, that should give you some idea-" Sarah cut her off,

"Circuit?"

Justine sighed, "It's where the name comes from. See, the library's shaped like a nautilus shell. The main tunnel starts here at the base of the castle and winds down several thousand feet into the rock of the mountain in a tightening spiral. It's basically a long twisted ramp."

It sounded…interesting. "So that's all it is? Just a big spiral of book cases? Wouldn't a regular library work just as well for that?"

"No. it's not just a big spiral book case, that would be silly!"

Right; Magickal underground kingdom full of goblins; realistic. Spiral bookcase? 'Silly', indeed!

"Now, are you going to let me talk or what? Okay, off the main tunnel there're hundreds of rooms and corridors and other passages-don't look at me like that! I'm only telling you what I've heard!-Most of the rooms hold records, treaties, documents, legal shit like that. But they've also go books from every kingdom in the Underground, scrolls, maps, spells, recipes, inventories, memoirs, stories true and false. There are weapons that are always sharp, always oiled, even though no one's touched them in centuries, water that burns, fire that doesn't, there are trees older than the Above, with spell globes that shine brighter than the sun to keep them alive. Sarah-! If you can imagine it, it's in the Great Spiral Library."

"Mystical library…that's handy."

Justine snorted, "Yeah, okay, the long-winded point is that Jareth wanted to see you and he's in his office in the library at the top of the spiral. Turn left down this corridor here, first door on your right, it'll be green with oak paneling. Chief Librarian Daencielle will take you to Jareths' personal study-Sarah? Are you listening to me?!"

(A/N - Dancielle; you say it like Dane-see-ell)

The obvious answer to Justine's question was not-in-the-slightest, but Sarah was completely enthralled, and completely unable to tell Justine as much.

Laid out before her was, quite frankly, the grandest, largest, and if she was any judge, the most expensive library she had ever seen. Sarah was sure that she could have fit her house into this one room several times over, and still not come close to filling the chamber. The ceiling stretched upwards some thirty or forty feet as though from some great European cathedral, ending in arched rafters hung with glow globes that cast a steady, candle like glow over the main room, while plush green carpet stretched away underfoot like the thickest grass.

But it was more than the sheer size of the room that silenced her, it was the books. Piles of books. Stacks, rows, mountains of books lined the room housed in enormous oak shelves that covered the walls and extended out ward to create a veritable maze of books. In the center of the room were rows of wooden tables and desks, most piled high with stacks of important looking paperwork. The single wall devoid of bookcases, was blanketed in a huge, canvas map, and Sarah had a feeling that looking it over would only confuse her more about where she was exactly.

"Alright, alright. I know, it's very impressive, books, room, map, all that jazz. Got it. Now, as I was saying…Down that corridor to the left, first door on your right. You're looking for Daencielle."

Sarah nodded her understanding. Oh, to be sure, there were pleanty of words floating around her brain, but at the moment she didn't seem capable of stringing them together to form cohesive sentences.

"Oh, and don't ask her anything."

"Right."

"And, don't mention the whole, 'I-solved-the-labyrinth' thing. She'll go all spastic-librarian on you."

"Sure."

"Oh, and whatever you do, Don't. Touch. The jewelry."

"Right. No jewelry. Got it." Somehow Sarah managed to force out a reply.

"Sarah, when I said go, I meant some time today."

"Wait, what? But I thought you were supposed to take me?" Sarah whined, the meaning of Justines' words finally filtering through her brain.

She sounded like a petulant child, as she well knew, but she just couldn't help herself. She was tired, cranky, and still more than a little sore from her fall the day before. In all, she was in no mood to meet new-and potentially frightening-Fae librarians.

"No, I was supposed to fetch you. I did. I don't have time to be running all over Gods' green creation just so you don't get yourself lost, or eaten, or whatever!" Justine gave her a hard shove in the general direction of the corridor. "I'm not here to baby-sit you, Sarah. Now go!-you know how he is when you keep him waiting."

She threw Justine her dirtiest glare over her shoulder, but took a few steps towards the corridor anyway.

Great. All I need is a psychotic librarian to make my day complete. Just perfect.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

(A/N) -Okay, I know you need more action. (gimme a break okay?! I'm feeling seriously guilty for not updating in so long so here ya go.) I can however promise another one in less than a week! (I swear!!)

Anyway, again, the credit for the Spiral Library all goes to Garth Nix.

Oh, and review, I need em. You send em. -