A/N: I think this story may be going in a slightly different direction than I expected…Sarah and Jareth just kinda took over. So please bear with me, we are reaching the climatic point fairly soon. R&R!
After the storm, Sarah saw nothing of the Goblin King for a full week. She spent her days either with Musa (though they never mentioned Jareth) or, if Musa has to attend to her duties as ambassador, wandering the castle and grounds alone.
When Musa was with her, she learned to use a loom, visited the stables and sat in the garden. But when Musa had to leave, Sarah was left alone with nothing but her thoughts, and they weren't very comforting. It was very difficult to keep herself from thinking about Jareth and, on the occasions that she started to, she would attempt to ignore his existence, curling up with a book or feeding the horses, all the while maintaining a commendable indifference. Occasionally, though, she would be all alone and hear the creak of a stair or the swish of a cloak and wonder if her disregard was even worth the effort.
What with pretending Jareth wasn't real and Musa being increasingly busy with diplomacy, Sarah was beginning to feel rather lonely.
Nonetheless, she was rather surprised when, early one morning, she climbed the stairs to the library and found Jareth there, staring out the window with his back to her. She quickly backpedaled, hoping she could escape without his noticing. But, of course, he already knew she was there.
"I always find it rather interesting," he said, without turning around. "that, when I see something every single day, I almost forget how beautiful it actually is. At least," he paused and she could practically hear the smirk in his voice, "Some things never loose that beauty."
"I don't think anything that seems less beautiful just because I see it every day." Sarah contradicted icily, trying to control the sudden, uneven thrumming of her pulse. She wasn't scared of him.
Her turned to face her then, a trace of the smirk still on his lips. "Why ever not?"
Sarah scowled. "I don't know, I just don't." The smirk grew more pronounced.
"Contrarian." He accused.
"I am not!" she disagreed.
"Oh, aren't you?"
"No!" she shook her head, "I'm not!" Jareth laughed and she flushed, realizing her arguing had only served to prove his point.
"I don't see what this has to do with anything." She changed the subject hastily.
"I was merely making polite conversation." He replied condescendingly. "Is that not the proper thing to do?"
"I don't want to talk to you." Sarah grumbled childishly. "You have no power over me."
An emotion flashed in his eye and vanished too quickly for her to determine what it was. "I know." He said curtly and she shivered at the coldness in his voice. There was a long silence and Sarah was determined not to be the first to break it.
"Are you done being childish?" he scowled.
"I am not being childish!" she snapped. "I'm being perfectly reasonable."
"Reasonable." He scoffed. "What reasonable person verbally attacks those making conversation with them?"
"What reasonable person kidnaps unconscious teenagers?" she demanded.
"If you were reasonable you would appreciate being 'kidnapped' from that place." Jareth growled.
Sarah didn't answer. After all, he was right. She was usually happier here than she was anywhere else. Only Jareth made her uncomfortable. It irked her that he seemed to know that.
"Now," he said, somewhat less ill-tempered. "You may be interested to know that there are several individuals waiting for you to come let them in at the gates."
"What?" Sarah asked, completely thrown off track. He inclined his head towards the door and smiled mockingly. Sarah's eyes narrowed and she turned away, flipping her hair impudently. She could have sworn she heard a low chuckle as she made her dramatic exit, but she was determined not to turn around and see.
As soon as the door had clicked shut behind her, Sarah raced down the stairs, eager to see whoever it was that had come to visit her.
She reached the gate in record time and tugged it open. There stood Ludo, Hoggle and Sir Didymus. Sarah beamed and rushed to them.
"Sawa!" exclaimed Ludo, pulling her into a rib-cracking hug.
"My Lady Sarah!" the ever-excitable Didymus cried with a bow.
"How ye holdin' up, Sarah?" asked Hoggle. Sarah replied by making a face.
"I'm so glad to see you guys!" she told them. "But how did you know I had no one to talk to?"
"Why, Lord Jareth sent for us." Didymus explained. "He said you were lonely and we, as gentlemen of this kingdom, could not leave a lady friend in such distress!"
Sarah glowered, missing the last half of the fox-like creature's sentiment. They were, again, back to Jareth. Sneaking, spying, cruel, short-tempered, intelligent, handsome…
She gasped aloud. She did not think that Jareth was intelligent. And definitely not handsome in any way. Those traits did not belong on her mental list. Bad mental list.
"Sarah?" Hoggle broke in hesitantly. "You alright?"
"Fine." she replied automatically. "Just spacing out. Sorry."
The four friends spent the rest of the day wandering the castle grounds and chatting animatedly. Occasionally, Sarah noticed Hoggle scrutinizing her as she spoke, looking at her like he expected something insane from her, but, for the most part, they all enjoyed their time together. It was, then, in a cheerful mood that Sarah accompanied her friends back to the gate as dusk fell. They bid her goodbye, promising to come back soon and then vanished into the gathering twilight.
"Sarah?" Hoggle paused, the other two already all but invisible in the dark, "Don't worry, about him, okay? Things'll work out for ya."
Sarah nodded, her good mood somewhat deflated by the subject. Hoggle looked like he wanted to say something else, but he just shook his head and turned to follow the others, leaving her, once again, completely alone.
Sarah trudged back up to the castle, meeting Musa in the entrance hallway. They walked together to the dining room in silence.
"Sorry for abandoning you again." Musa said apologetically as she heaped potatoes onto her plate. For such a tiny creature, she sure had an appetite. "Gremlins in the Labyrinth were attempting to take over parts of the firey territory." she continued. "The Fire Gang wasn't particularly pleased."
"I'll bet." Sarah murmured in agreement, remembering the loud, boisterous and violently orange bird-creatures she had met her first time in the Labyrinth. "Did it get sorted out?"
Musa nodded. "They just needed some diplomacy." she frowned at her plate. "But what about you? How was your day?"
Sarah hesitated momentarily and then came to a decision. "I saw Jareth this morning." she replied, attempting to keep her voice casual. She failed rather miserably.
Musa looked up from the noodles she had been contemplating, surprise and some other emotion that Sarah didn't recognize in her dark silver eyes. "Why?" she asked.
"He wanted to tell me that Hoggle and the others were here." And to taunt me. "He sent them to visit me."
"That sounds so cruel." Musa said slyly. Sarah shot her a look. It unsettled her how close the sprite's statement had been to her own thoughts.
"I think I'm going to go for a walk." she said, sliding out of her chair. Musa nodded understandingly.
"I'll still be here when you get back." she promised.
Sarah fled the cheerily-lit castle and stumbled out into the blessed darkness. It was cool outside and the sky was velvet-black, smattered with millions of purple-green tinged stars, glittering like diamonds. The moon was suspended among them, giving of a bright milky white glow.
Even in the quiet scenery, Sarah's mind wouldn't slow down. She let a sigh escape her lips and picked out a path with her feet and set to wandering the courtyard.
Musa clearly thought she was attracted to Jareth and even Hoggle looked at her like he was expecting her to say so. But she wasn't! Why would anyone be attracted to such cruelty, anger, unfairness…? Sarah stopped listing his faults in her mind, recalling what had happened earlier in the day.
As her mind spun in answerless circles, a cloud rolled over the full moon, plummeting her suddenly into a much more absolute darkness than before. She heard a low oath, muttered in a very distinctive voice and spun, automatically, towards the source. But the rocks under her feet shifted and she fell, scraping her hands and banging her chin with dizzying force. She heard footsteps but was unable to discern a figure in the blackness. A gentle breeze blew and the cloud shifted, throwing minimal light onto her surroundings.
Dazed, Sarah looked up. Someone was standing over her, though the stars and the crack of moonlight were not enough to throw the face into relief. Whoever it was, bent over Sarah and reached around her head. A sharp, stinging pain in her neck almost brought her out of her stunned state, but then, as a familiar drowsiness stole over her, even the stars blinked out, one by one, until she was alone in complete dark.
A/N: And it is there I shall leave off, but no worries! I have already begun work on the next chapter! Please leave reviews!