Sarah did not sleep well that night. Though she was not cold, the metal board was hard beneath her back and the chains restricted her movement to only a few centimetres. For a long time she hung, staring straight ahead and thinking. Despite the humiliation that she had under gone at the hands of the Goblin King, Sarah was overjoyed to find herself out of the dreary, monotonous life that she had been living in since her return from the Labyrinth four years before. Her readings as a child had told her enough for her to understand something of the complex workings of underground politics. And she was aware that not only was the Labyrinth itself alive, but that it was intrinsically linked to Jareth himself. The old lore left little room for negotiation, so Sarah accepted that she would have to bear the present, and look forward to the future.
Sarah sighed and let her mind wander towards that future. A wedding, herself as Queen, numerous wonderful possibilities waiting to be fulfilled after she was accepted by the Labyrinth and council. She thought of Jareth's earlier comment about her disobedience. The Labyrinth must have questioned her loyalty to its King. It would expect her to prove this through some demonstration of love or devotion. She wondered what the task would be. There were many terrifying tings in the underworld that he could ask or to do, or many forms of humiliation, both private and public. She sincerely hoped that whatever lay in store for her, she would not be separated from her King. She felt she could stand anything, if only he was with her. Worries began to fill her head and with them came fears of the up and coming assessment from the Underground council. What would they want to know? What if she failed? What would happen to her then? Would she be cast into the bog, or left to rot in some prison cell? Perhaps she would be banished to a far corner of the Labyrinth, meaning she only saw Jareth on the rare occasions that he visited his kingdom. Or, and she shuddered at this prospect, perhaps she would be sent back to the overground, to resume her life as though nothing had occurred. Sarah did not think that she would be able to stand that. But if she passed...oh how she longed to pass. A life time with her Goblin King, her rescuer, the man who had enslaved her with his mere force of personality and charisma four years ago.
Sarah must have dozed off dreaming of Jareth, for the next thing she was aware of was the cold light of dawn, creeping its way from the narrow window across the floor, fingers caressing slowly further up her body as the surreal underground light began to grow.