Chapter 4.

Sarah's mouth dropped, "Hoggle," she strangled on the word. "You're telling me he's in the Labyrinth with Hoggle?" her voice climbed an octave.

Jareth winced, "Well, they were just preparing to enter," he found the pitch of her voice a bit more grating than he'd expected. "They should be arriving at the worm by now."

The hands gripping the royal sleeve tightened like vices, "Are you crazy? Letting Toby go into the Labyrinth with Hoggle?"

For a moment, a brief moment Jareth himself questioned his option to allow the two to enter the Labyrinth in each other's company. "Sarah calm down," his voice wavered, just a little. "Hoggle is the last person who would allow harm to befall your brother." He had said it, but was not sure he believed it.

Releasing the grip she'd had on the King's arms, her green eyes glared at him, the long absent fires were now back, and then some. "Are you kiddin?" her hands went to her hipline, paralleling the King's usual stance, "Have you forgotten I was accompanied by Hoggle? You really expect me to just think he's going to guide Toby here to the castle?"

"He has no reason not to," Jareth's voice went to cold.

Soberly Sarah brought up her hand, her index finger extended, "First off, Hoggle hates you and knows you've always had a thing about keeping Toby!" the next finger went up, "Secondly Toby is too young to know when not to trust!" another finger went up, "Thirdly, even Hoggle is no match for the Labyrinth! I've seen that personally."

Amused, Jareth watched and listened as she went through the litany of reasons given as to why he should not entrust Toby's safety to Hoggle. He watched the fires in the eyes of the woman, ignoring the dramatics with her hand. "Why Sarah, one would think you don't have much faith in your old…friend," his voice dropped several octaves, and took on an ominous almost threatening resonance.

Angrily she turned away and headed down another corridor, "Blast it you're not listening, as usual!" she railed as she stomped away from him. "Still being a ass… still being the same old ass… I don't know why I thought you'd change…."

He stepped around a corner and in her way, "Why should I have to?" He demanded frostily, "I'm the King here, remember?"

Turning, heading down another pathway she glowered and bristled each time he'd pop up. Finally she stopped and glared at him, "Does being King give you the right to just arbitrarily screw with people's lives?"

"Yes," he said with mild astonishment, "That's part of being the King here…"

"Well I don't like it!" She bristled harshly, "You allowed my brother to enter the Labyrinth knowing he was already unable to win! That's worse than cheating, that's despicable…. It's unethical and dishonorable,"

"I beg to differ," Jareth calmly rationalized with the young woman, "I am under no obligation to inform a wish maker all of the fine print." He noticed that this only seemed to agitate her all the more.

"Oh really?" she barked at him placing her hands firmly to her hip line, "IS that so?" Instead of being intimidated by his calm cool demeanor, she was infuriated and turned antagonistic. "So you're under no~ what was that term you just used… no oblingation to inform a wish maker of the fine print? Well, then you high and mighty prat, just what are your obligations?"

"To win," he said with incredulous sarcasm.

"At any cost?"

Jareth ceased to be amused, "Are you judging me on mortal requisites and standards?"

"What else have I got," she glowered before sharply turning on heel and taking yet another stab at finding her way out.

"You snob!" he accused as he stood rooted to the spot, "I should just leave and allow you to get yourself good and lost in here.."

"Yeah," she called back over her shoulder, "Why don't you just do that…" When she turned he was standing in front of her, arms crossed akimbo over his chest, legs in a determined stance and a glower of his own painted where the smirk had been.

"Because, contrary to your thoughts of me, I do have some manners," he extended his hand to her, "You're so turned around in here now it would take weeks for you to find your way out and we don't have that kind of time." He saw her reluctance to trust him, "Sarah, I don't have time to argue with you, I've a runner in the Labyrinth…"

"You have Toby in the Labyrinth~ not just any runner," she corrected.

Taking a deep sigh he began again, "I have Toby in the Labyrinth and I don't have time to play hide and go seek with you." He insistently pushed his arm her direction, "If you please."

Her hand moved slowly upward, "I don't please," and slide over his gloves cuff. "But to bring about a prompt solution, I'm willing to allow you to transport us."

"Thank you, Miss Williams," he addressed her very formally as they began to vanish from the corridor of bookshelves. Once again appearing in the throne room, He moved away from her swiftly and called out to the still cowering figures in the room. "Has anyone checked on our runner?"

A goblin face peeked out from the ale keg, "Murphy is checking on them now, boss." After delivering the statement the misshapen face once more disappeared.

Sarah, tapping one foot impatiently looked at the king, she was not impressed. "So how soon will this Murphy report into you?"

Jareth shrugged, "Depends on how far the pair have gotten." Walking to his throne he continued to converse with the woman, "WE may as well make ourselves comfortable…"

"Here," she waved a hand at the piles of rotting food and debris that had accumulated in the once stately room. "And just how do you suggest we do that? I see only one chair… and I sincerely doubt you plan on vacating it to me." Before he could respond she went on; "This place is a pigsty! In fact, I don't think even a pig would like this…" she paused as a black pig wearing a horned helmet wandered past her, "I stand corrected."

"What's wrong with this place?" Jareth demanded, not having reached the throne. From his point of view the room was fine, "I don't see anything wrong."

He sounded defensive, and to Sarah's ears not unlike her stance on why Karen should never come in her room back when she was fifteen. "I see, you don't mind these goblin subjects of yours coming in here and defacing and vandalizing your throne room." Even as the words left her mouth she could hear Karen's voice saying pretty much the same thing ringing in her ears. "Blast it, I've become my parents…." She muttered. Having gone this far she shouldered the weight now on her shoulders and turned to Jareth with contempt. "I'll bet none of the other Underground Kings have any respect for you!"

The façade of control dropped from Jareth's face, his hands fell to his sides, and for once he looked truly hurt. "How would you know," he snapped.

Turning from the face with its hurt, she pointed to the dripping keg, "Why should they take you seriously? Look at the mess you've allowed to accumulate!"

"It's not that bad," he hedged, "I mean I suppose it looks a bit… disorganized~"

"That's putting it mildly," she interrupted. "When was the last time you had this floor washed?" She walked over to the wall, "And what color is under all this grime, do you even know?" She heard the gasps coming from the goblins hiding where ever they had found a crack or a crevice. Ignoring them she pressed onward, "Can you even read the runes?"

"What runes," he moved toward her, looking at where she pointed. Shock registering as he found she was right, there were runes to be had on the wall.

"I suggest you put these lazy good for nothings that have been partying here and devouring food and drink to work!" She snarled at him, completely forgetting her place and his station. "That is unless you like being a laughing stock!

The insult hit home, "No one laughs at me!"

"Not to your face," she suggested nastily, almost immediately regretting it, "But honestly," she changed her tone, "Look at this place, would you want to invite someone here?"

Not having taken into consideration the appearance of his throne room or the slovenly habits of the goblins that had become somewhat his own, Jareth reluctantly had to admit the woman had a point. Aggravating as she was, she had a point. "No, I wouldn't." one hand rose in the air to magically correct things, but was instantly halted by a softer ungloved one. He looked at her with more shock.

"No," she insisted still in the quiet more respective tone; "Not that way, if you use magic to correct it, they won't learn…." She saw little heads popping out, and eyes peering at them, "You have to have them clean the mess… after all, they made it," she reasoned.

"How do you know I had no hand in this," he asked just as quietly.

"You may be guilty of complacency, but look at yourself, your clothes are immaculate, and you bathe…" She whispered.

"Point taken," he cleared his throat and addressed the hiding goblins. "Every goblin within hearing of my voice," he stated clearly, "It's time to clean up our act!" He watched as some crawled out of hiding, "I need volunteers to clean up this mess." He turned to Sarah, "Where do you suggest we start?"

"Get the livestock out of the throne room," she whispered, but it was still overheard and met with stunned gasps.

"You heard the lady," Jareth called out. "Get the livestock out!" When no one moved he bellowed, "I said get the livestock out of here!"

Little bodies scurried to and fro; some passing Sarah muttered things best left unheard under their breath. Others cried out and pitched fits, while some just began to pick things up as it they always meant to anyway. Sarah looked the king with more compassion, "That wasn't so bad was it?"

However the King was not so sure, for some of the goblins who usually sang his praise were glaring at him, "I'm reserving judgment," he grumbled taking his place on the throne. He waved his wrist and a small gilded chair appeared, "You may be seated, Miss Williams."

Sarah recognized the chair at once, "You're kidding," she murmured. The expression on the king's face told her wasn't nor was he remotely amused. Sarah approached the chair timidly; the one thing she was certain of was she wanted nothing to do with it. She tried to find a way to gracefully beg off, and found it. "This chair is covered in glass, your Majesty."

Jareth peered down at it from his throne, "So it is," he mused.

Standing still, she waited for him to do something to clear the glass away. He looked away, no longer interested. "I cannot and will not sit in glass, not for you or any one else."

"Then you can stand," he said in a gruff tone.

Sarah turned her back on him, if he was going to make the chair vanish as swiftly as he'd made it appear he was going to do so without her watching. "Your mother must be so proud of how you turned out," she grumbled insultingly. Sarah heard the gasps of the shocked and frightened goblins, bit down on her lower lip, and braced for the King's rage to hit her.

"You know nothing of my mother," rasped the man who even then was rising from the seat he occupied. "You know even less about me."

Sarah knew without looking that he had vanished in a swirl of glitter and anger. She also knew he'd left her in the middle of the resentful goblins who instantly halted their clean up to glare at her. Knowing that she had a choice, cower or take over, she spun on her heels and glared right back. "Back to work!" she barked. Goblins muttering went back to the job of cleaning up eons of debris. Wordlessly she moved to the vacated throne, she sat down and watched and directed the movements of the creatures who lived here.