Heheheh, HI GUYS! I'm baaaack~ So, first off I really apologize for getting this out so late, school started and I was basically getting readjusted. So I sincerely apologize for everyone who's been annoyed and my lack of posting. Second, Yes yes I know this chapter is short and it doesn't give a lot of description on Ceylon, the next chapter will include more background on him, please be patient. . (And yes, he is having an affect on Sarah, and Jareth slightly too.)

Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who's been reviewing my stories! :D I'm always curious if you guys are liking where it's going and what I should give more details about. There are quite a few things I still wish to incorporate into the story before we hit off on the REAL excitement, so bear with me here.

Disclaimer: I own none of Jim Henson's Characters. Any relation between a character and a person in real life...is highly possible. -_-

Without further adieu! ENJOY~

The sweet smell of hay and alfalfa enveloped the air as Sarah ran the soft bristled brush over Sky's luscious dapple coat. A week or so had passed since Jareth and she had made up, the one conflict that still lingered in her mind though was what he had meant when he had said she could never understand what he'd done.

Sky nickered towards her when she had spaced out and stopped brushing down his back.

"Sorry boy," she ran a hand through his soft mane, "just have a lot on my mind. Sky," she moved around until she was directly in front of him, staring deeply into his sweet purple eyes that were listening to her, "What is it that Jareth is hiding from me? What happened that was so bad that he can't stand to hardly think about it?"

His eyes saddened and he nuzzled her shoulder softly, almost as though telling her,

You really don't want to know what he did.

Her eyes narrowed, more curiosity and confusion coming into her.

"Does it have to do with the Darkness?" she asked, holding the rough halter so Sky would continue to face her.

He shuffled his feet nervously.

She let go of him and watched as he slipped through the paddock door and ran out into the open field. Even Sky's reaction to her question was roundabout, Jareth wouldn't talk to her about it, Dangle refused to speak about it, and she couldn't get to the books in Jareth's study to look more carefully.

Sky whinnied again and again as he galloped about the pasture, Sarah watching from the side of the barn, sitting on the yellow hay bales with a few books nearby. Tonight was the Goblin Ball, guests had already begun to arrive a few days ago, although hundreds more were expected to arrive later this evening. She'd been avoiding as many of them as she could, Jareth had been right when he said they loved to gossip. It was something they thrived on, and they made every attempt to make Sarah feel bad whenever they saw her.

One guest had even critiqued the way Sarah had curtsied when she had arrived, others said the usual; she was sleeping with Jareth so she could get ahold of his crown if he married her.

These didn't' bother Sarah, but they annoyed Jareth enough that she did her best to avoid giving them ways of spreading more rumors simply by avoiding them altogether. Sky had become a great companion in the past few days as well as certain goblins she was well acquainted with.

The sun turning into a golden hue, twilight on the horizon, meaning the Goblin Ball would be starting soon and she had best get inside and get ready. She didn't have magic like the other Fae ladies so Dangle would have to help her with her hair instead. Jareth's magic would have worked fine, but she insisted that she'd wanted to surprise him, so he'd let her to it with a smile.

Picking up her books, she slid off of the hay and began walking the dirt path back to the castle. Her books reminded her of the Darkness and a small seed of worry rooted itself in her again. This darkness was a thing of terror to say the least, and she had witnessed a firsthand account of a small attack when she had gone up to the lake.

Too lost in her thoughts, she fumbled over her foot and crashed into the hard dirt path she'd been walking on. Her wrist caught most of her fall, unfortunately, and there was a long tear in her dress she was wearing. She muttered a curse under her breath and picked up the books she'd dropped, trying to hurry inside where she knew Dangle would be waiting, almost impatiently by this time.

Passing through the ever moving halls, she rounded a corner a bit too quickly and ran head on into a guest.

"Oh my goodness, I'm sorry, I didn't see where I was going," Sarah said apologetically offering a hand to help her up. The model-worthy, blonde haired, blue eyed Fae ignored it and glared a spiteful look towards her.

"Watch yourself human," her voice came out in a snarl as she slammed into Sarah's shoulder and continued on her way.

Sarah huffed in annoyance, this wasn't unexpected, it had been happening all week. It was only a matter of time before they would all have to watch themselves.

She made it to her room without further encounters, and sighed with relief when she saw Dangle waiting with a soft smile.

"Been a rough day for ya miss?" she asked with deep sympathy in her voice as she led Sarah over to the bath and helped her undress.

"You've no idea," she said as she stepped into the warm milky looking water, "I knew they loved to spread rumors, but I had no idea that they were this vile towards humans, I've done my best to stay out of their way, but it doesn't ever seem enough." Dangle took a soft ball of odd looking moss and began brushing down Sarah's arms, one by one.

"They can be a bit rough, yes," she pointed towards Sarah's legs indicating she wanted to work on them, "but, keep yer' head up, they'll have to give up eventually."

Sarah closed her eyes as she relaxed in the deep warm water, the massive tub big enough for almost three people felt like heaven to sprawl out in. She mumbled some sort of agreement to Dangle and just listened as the goblin hummed softly. It went quiet for a moment and Sarah wondered if Dangle was even there anymore when she heard the humming again. Although, this time, the humming seemed much deeper than before. There was small pressure on her neck to lean forward, which is what Dangle usually did to wash her back.

"How many people are expected to arrive this evening?" she asked, her body relaxing more and more into the warm water.

"More than you think precious," his voice whispered, softly blowing on her ear.

Her eyes opened and shock and she turned over so fast in the water so she was facing him. Her eyes and nose were the only things barely breaking the surface.

"Did you not want this finished?" he teased holding the green ball in his hand. She narrowed her eyes and raised her eyebrow, questioning his actions. He kept a steady gaze and slowly she turned around so only her back was facing him. Jareth brushed the moss ball in soft circular strokes, his heart lurched when he saw the scars from the glass she'd fallen on before she'd come to his kingdom again.

"What is it?" she asked, sensing something was wrong when he had stopped humming. He didn't say anything, but she felt his lips pressing softly into the different parts of her back.

His hands tipped the side of her head so he could reach her neck with ease. She leaned her head backwards, the water up to her shoulders and looked at the Goblin King's smirk upside-down.

"You look rather pleased with yourself," she said reaching her hand out of the water tracing down his jawline.

"Perhaps my dear, it's because I've got the most beautiful person in the world in my sight," he leaned into her touch and twisted so he could kiss the center of her palm.

A rush of warm color came to her face, the king watched, amused at her reaction, and leaned down above her, his spice scent flooding Sarah's nose again as she leaned up to grasp his lips with hers. He paused and kissed her gently again, pressing deeply. The kiss was strained, she could sense he was worrying about something in the back of his mind and it began to worry her.

Sarah's other hand came up and she held his face to hers, pulling on his bottom lip lightly with her teeth. She traced his lip with her tongue and pulled away blowing as she went. Pride surged through her when he quivered and tried to do the same to her. He reached for her face, when Sarah moved back in the tub suddenly.

Sarah's eyes widened in a mix of amusement and shock as Jareth's hand slipped on the edge of the tub and he fell, head first into the pool of water. She couldn't stop herself from giggling and did her best to cover her face when he came out of the water with a very…un-amused look in his eyes.

"Oh you find this amusing do you?" he asked, his tone teasing but slightly harsh.

Sarah bit her lip and did her absolute best to give a serious face, which failed miserably.

He moved over to her and tucked one hand delicately behind her head, while the other held them both securely to the side of the tub. She reached up, locking her hands in fistfuls of his wet hair, a small fire of passion beginning to develop in her stomach as he pressed his lips fiercely against hers.

"Sarah," he whispered softly as his lips traced down her neck, leaving a burning trail after them. He could hardly control himself when he heard her moan as he licked over her pulse. Her hands reached into his shirt, unable to resist herself from touching him. She twisted her face, before he could leave a mark on her skin and captured his lips, trying to earn some dominance ground. He smirked and opened his mouth for her to explore to her heart's content.

From the side of the room came a very loud throat clearing, which Sarah felt should be answered, although Jareth had other ideas and leaned away only to trail his tongue up from her mouth to her ear and lick every crevice that could possibly be exposed, the throat clearing came again, and he twisted around enough to bite the spot between her neck and her ear. Leaving a sweet red mark behind for him to admire, Sarah herself had lost most coherency and yelped when he bit her. He pulled away to look at her with tender eyes, and only at the last moment did she notice a trace of fear when he teleported away.

"That boy, trouble doesn't even begin to describe em'," Dangle said as she held up a towel for Sarah to step into. Sarah smiled as the goblin rambled a bit about his bad behaviors.

"We all have our moments," Sarah said as she stepped into the dress Jareth had had made for her. It was a masquerade ball, so her dress had been styled around it. It rose above her ankles, stopping just below her knees, making it easy to move in. The pattern was checkered black and silver, with almost a tinge of gold in it. It wasn't centered on her shoulders, rather it wrapped around them on the sides and had a slight lace trim on the hem. The sleeves weren't overly puffy, but they did have their fluff to them.

Dangle smiled as she helped lace up the black corset that hugged Sarah's figure perfectly.

"That we do, but fer em' it always seems to be an exception," she hobbled over to the bureau and pulled out the special glittery gold stockings.

"He definitely isn't without his tantrums, I'll agree with that," Sarah said smiling and sat down to roll the stockings on, followed by lacing up the boots she decided to wear.

"Now, how did ya' want to do yer' hair?" she asked running the comb through it. Sarah smiled and reached for her nightstand, pulling out a few hairpieces she'd bought while she'd been around the town. Dangle's eyes widened as she looked at them.

"These are beautiful Miss Sarah! Jareth will love them!" she said happily and began helping Sarah curl her hair into big soft curls.

When they had finished Dangle disappeared for the moment and returned holding a beautifully carved mahogany box.

"This, Miss Sarah, is the special mask Jareth had the artisans create specially for you, along with this pendant," she said and held it open for Sarah to admire. The mask was pure black but lined entirely with silver, and the pendant was the one she'd bought when she had gone off with Sky, simply cleaned up. She took it out and admired it when she realized if she turned it sideways, similar as his crystals did, she saw his eyes, as though they were truly watching her.

"It's beautiful Dangle," she said as the little goblin latched the necklace onto Sarah's soft pale neck. The anxiousness of the approaching event finally starting to sink in. She stood up, walking over to her dressing mirror and felt her heart stop. There was no way that could have been her, the one in the mirror was practically Fae worthy she was so beautiful. Her eyes glowed such a bright green, it would be hard to not notice her in a swarm of others. Somehow, that had to be the doing of Jareth, Sarah figured.

"Ready Miss Sarah?" Dangle asked as she looped her hand in with Sarah's and led her towards the hall.

"I don't think I can do this," Sarah said as they neared the ballroom, her hand began shaking at her side.

"Just hold yer' head up Miss Sarah, you'll do fine, I promise," she said and opened the doors for Sarah's entrance.

Oooh, exciting. What could possibly happen at the royal ball! "Cliffhanger, hanging from a cliff!...and that's why he's called cliffhanger~"