I know it's been ages since I updated but I've managed to get you a chapter of both my stories this week I hope to get you more while my muse is cooperative.

Please If you like it tell me, If you think it makes no sense because my spell checking power sucks at silly o'clock in the morning, tell me!.

Enjoy

Chapter 5

Now that she had recovered a little from her wound Sarah had been moved from what obviously served as the Infirmary for the Goblin Castle and surrounding City, not that she had seen many Goblins during her stay there. Her new room, she was told, was in the royal wing not too far away from the nursery.

Compared to the spartan accommodation of the hospital wing, and the house she had lived in all her life Above, the room was vast but not overly ornate. The bed was a four poster complete with bed hangings. There was a large window with a balcony, that one day she might be able to actually have the strength to use. The ceiling, which she spent most of her time looking at was vaulted the walls were hung with lavish tapestries or embroideries, Sarah never really got what the difference between the two were. The stone floor was covered in patches by deep carpets. The room was kept warm by a fire set in a large fireplace that was cleaned and relaid each morning.

She knew there was a closet through one of the doors she could see as every day the doctor or one of his nurses came to see to her dressings and a change of nightgown was brought in by a maid after she had been carefully bathed. She couldn't wait until she could take a bath without needing help so she could regain a little dignity.

Still weak from her wound and the fevers she was often lulled to sleep by the sounds of the children playing through the door that she had asked to be left slightly ajar. Toby and Iona were brought to see her a couple of times a day and Sarah felt glad that they weren't suffering from the loss of Robert and Karen, her own grief hadn't seem to hit her. Maybe it was because she wasn't in her usual setting, she couldn't imagine her parents walking through the Goblin Castle so she didn't miss them, like she was just on a holiday.

"How are you settling in?" The voice of the Goblin King washed over her and pulled her from her drowsy thoughts. It was the first time she had been conscious for his visit in over a week.

"Well I think. The children seem to love it here." She said with a melancholy smile, but she didn't turn to face him fully.

"Are you still in pain?" He asked, his voice slightly harder.

"As long as I don't try bending or laugh too much it's not all that bad." Sarah down played her discomfort. She could feel his eyes on her calling her out on the lie. "It's alright J..." Sarah stopped herself unsure of whether she was allowed to call him by name, "It's not as bad as it was. Iona doesn't quite understand why she's not allowed to use me as her climbing frame though."

"She's such a precious little girl."

The comment made Sarahs breath hitch but the reaction seem to go unnoticed by his Majesty.

"And Toby has absolutely no fear, I've had to put wards around the nursery to stop him from escaping to go on adventures with his new friends."

"Thank you for saving them." Sarah said again.

Jareth sighed inwardly. Sarah had never thanked him for her own continued existence. As if it didn't matter whether she lived or died as long as the children were happy. He knew that he wouldn't be happy until she was completely well again, till she was once again the woman he had turned his world upside down for, he didn't know how to treat the compliant creature she seemed to be at the moment.

"Did you get the suitcase?"

"Yes I did, the toys were given back to their very joyful owners and the mementos carefully stored. I took the liberty of taking a few other things from your house," Most of the contents, he added silently to himself, "Just in case you missed anything. I didn't send the letters though, I assumed that they wouldn't be needed now."

Having thoroughly looked through the case he had almost torn his office apart when he realized that nothing inside belonged to Sarah, not one thing belonged to her. Sure she was in some of the photos and the toys were her hand-me-downs but there was nothing from her life as it was in the box. She had never meant to come back to the underground. She'd only called out to him because she was dying, she'd known that she was probably going to die and had made a contingency plan, but hadn't asked for his protection.

Her voice was full of hope as she asked, "Am I allowed to stay here then?"

"Did you really think I was going to send you home?" Jareth replied, venom leaked into his voice, "That you were going to pass off your responsibilities onto me and go back to your normal life?" He felt his rage building.

Sarah turned to look at him for the first, probably moving too quickly if the sudden wince was anything to go by, but Jareth could see a different sort of pain in her eyes, "Of course I don't want to abandon my family! I just didn't know if I was allowed to stay, my coming here wasn't part of the bargain or the wish. I don't know how it works, I didn't think that far ahead."

"Of course I'm not going to send you away, you belong with your remaining family here." With me, was his unspoken thought. Although there were going to be consequences for that particular decision.

"Thank you, your Majesty."

There was a radiant smile on her face tempting Jareth to go over and taste her lips. "You should rest, Iona a Toby will be here to see you soon." The Goblin King pulled together what was left of his willpower and left the roon in a small cloud of glitter.

The creature knew that his master would not be pleased with his findings, that the children he sought where most likely already in the underground. That The Goblin King had taken them to his Labyrinth, a place where none but its own citizens could go without harm.

It took another two weeks for Sarah to have the strength to fully leave her bed, she spent most of her time in the nursery playing with the children. The hardest moment was when Toby asked about his parents one night as she put him to bed.

"Sarah, are Mommy and Daddy coming here soon? They've left us here even longer than they left us at Grandmas." His blue eyes looked at her asking for her to make everything better.

Somehow she had to find the words to explain, "Toby, Dad and Karen, they... they wanted to come but... you remember when you and Iona were taken by the bad men?"

The look in Toby's eyes and on his earnest little, darling, face said that he did.

"When we went to try and get you back, the bad men didn't want to let you go and tried to stop us and Dad and your Mom, they were hurt so bad that had to go to heaven like Grandpa Williams."

A tear fell from Sarah's eyes to land on the hand that held Toby's small one. There were tears in the little boys eyes too.

"They didn't want to leave us, but they didn't have a choice."

"Did the bad man hurt you too, is that why you were so sick? The bad men said you were going with us."

"Yes the bad man hurt me."

"Does that mean that you have to go to heaven too?" There were tears running down both their faces now.

"No Toby, I'm all better now I don't need to go to heaven, I'm staying right here with you and Iona."

Sarah held Toby in her arms until he was asleep and then watched him till she felt herself dropping off. She made her way back to her room her eyes still streaming. Jareth was waiting by her door, his face gave nothing away. Sarah rushed to him and broke down feeling his arms fold about moments later as her tears soaked into his shirt.

The Goblin King took Sarah into her room, when she'd calmed slightly, and left her while a maid helped her change for bed and put her under the covers. He lay next to her and she lay in his embrace tears still running from her eyes. "Sarah, you need to rest now."

"I can still hear it in my mind, the gun going off, two loud bangs and then they laughed. My parents were dead and they just laughed." She replied having finally exhausted her supply of tears.

"Shhh, you are safe now Sarah." He said smoothing back her hair as her eyes finally closed in sleep.