A/N: You guys are so awesome; enjoy chapter three!
The darkness surrounded them for less than a second before Sarah blinked and she was standing in the throne room of the castle beyond the goblin city.
About thirty or forty goblins were scattered around the chaotic room. Some were chugging ale from mugs that were nearly twice their size, others were chasing chickens. One goblin with lavender hair and a snaggletooth was riding a large pig backwards.
The sound of their scratchy, howling laughter hurt her ears.
Christ, how does Jareth stand this all day long?
As soon as she thought the name she suddenly remembered the particularly strong pair of arms still holding her waist. Jerking her head forward, she was immediately drawn to his eyes.
Never in her entire life had she seen anyone with eyes like his. Their mismatched quality made him look so exotic. His right eye was blue like the hottest part of a flame, while his dilated left was a warm cinnamon brown.
Staring into them, she felt her knees quiver. She was pressed so close to him she could feel the heat radiating from his hard body.
He was so dangerous and exciting, yet, soothing and enchanting…and he was smirking again!
"See something you like, precious?"
Someone might as well have dumped a bucket of ice down her shirt.
Sarah quickly averted her eyes to the floor, her cheeks blazing. To make matters worse, most of the goblins were now staring at her!
"As if, let me go!" She hissed, squirming in his arms.
After a moment, Jareth released her with a chuckle. His abruptness almost made her fall back on her rear, but he seemed to ignore her death-glare as he turned away to stand in front of his oddly-shaped throne.
"QUIET!" He thundered and the rest of the chatter and laughter promptly ceased. "I trust you all remember Miss Sarah Williams?"
All of the goblins gawked at her and Sarah ducked her head shyly, wringing her hands in front of her.
"She'll be staying here in the Labyrinth with us. Now and forever!"
Sarah jumped slightly as the room erupted with cheers. The goblins stamped their feet and spilt their ale in their excitement.
Jareth raised his hand and the crowd was silent once more.
"All citizens are ordered to make her feel welcome. Anyone who does otherwise, I will personally send to the Bog of Eternal Stench. Understood?"
"Yes, your majesty!" The goblins cried out in a jumbled chorus.
"Good. Now go spread the word!"
A stampede of goblins scattered in every direction. About half darted out the main door of the throne room, another group disappeared up the staircase to Sarah's left, the rest jumped out the windows!
"Well, now." Jareth said, taking off his cloak and tossing it over the arm of the throne before glancing at her playfully. "Let's get you settled then, shall we?"
Before she could answer, Jareth had strode across the room and was already half-way up the staircase. She hurried after him, tripping over a half-empty mug of goblin ale in her path.
The liquid splashed onto her pant leg.
Don't stare at his ass. Don't stare at his ass. Don't stare at his ass. Sarah chanted in her head as she followed the Goblin King up the stairs to the Escher room.
Once they entered the crazy stair puzzle, Jareth immediately turned to the right and continued on but the human stopped and looked around hesitantly.
She hoped her didn't expect her to walk upside down or anything.
"Come along, Sarah. Keep up." He called from the bottom of the first landing.
She sighed and caught up to him.
It was so strange; the last time she'd been here, Jareth had been the villain holding Toby captive. Now, it was the Goblin King she was trying to keep in her sights, which certainly wasn't easy.
He moved with the grace and speed of a cat, making it hard for Sarah to focus on her own footing.
Least he's not singing…DAMN IT! Don't think of his voice! Don't think of his voice!
Jareth seemed to take every right and left turn available and Sarah's calf muscles were starting to ache from all the stair-climbing. She didn't know how she was ever going to find her way out of this room!
Just when she was about to plant her feet and demand a rest, suddenly he turned into another archway to her right.
She paused at the mouth of the opening where a long hallway now stood before her.
A red carpet stretched down the length of the hall and as Jareth passed, the curtains magically pulled back revealing six narrow windows on each side, flooding the room with golden light and illuminating the cream marble floor under the carpet and the several ornately-framed portraits placed randomly throughout the room.
Her favorite part though, was the crystals.
There were several beach-ball sized crystals floating high above her head with tiny yellow flames burning inside them.
She heard Jareth call her name impatiently again, and sprinted down the hall to his side.
At the end of the corridor was a polished wooden door with a shiny brass knob and hinges.
With a wink, he opened the door and gestured for her to go first and when she did, she was suddenly breathless.
It was beautiful to say the very least.
The room was divided into two sections, both about two hundred and fifty square feet each, if she had to guess.
To her left was an enormous fireplace that almost took up the entire wall. The mantle had intricately designed roses carved into the wood.
Various decorative chairs with green cushions were placed in the corners, the largest of which sat by an extremely-well stocked bookshelf.
Directly across the room from where she stood, slightly obscured by the emerald-green curtains, were eight foot tall French doors leading out to a balcony.
In the other section of the room to her right, there was a grand king-sized canopy bed. The gold comforter had an adorable dark green leaf pattern that matched the seven pillows. The curtains on the bed matched the ones by the windows to the left and the wooden bed posts bore the same rose carvings as the fireplace mantle.
The flame crystals floated in the air under the dark wood beams supporting the ceiling.
Sarah roamed the entire room as if in a trance.
On the various end tables by the bed and chairs, there were gold vases with red and with roses inside. Tiny knick-knacks of gold, crystal, and emerald lined the mantle and bookshelf.
To the right of the bed there was a slightly ajar door leading to the luxurious bathroom.
Jareth approached the last remaining door a few feet to the right of the bathroom and opened it for her.
She felt her jaw go slack at the apparently mile-long closet filled with more clothes and shoes and accessories than she could ever hope to wear in a lifetime! From the most luxurious gown, to the simplest t-shirt, it was all there!
She stopped short when her hand fell on a familiar purple blouse and then the grey slacks on the hanger beside it. Turning around, she sifted through the t-shirts and found three she recognized: her pink fitted top with the black polka dots, her white Madonna concert tee, and her blue Hard Rock Café shirt with the ketchup stain. She turned to the shoe rack, though there were thousands of shoes she'd never seen before, she recognized every single pair she owned back in the Aboveground, even her cowboy boots with the hole in the sole! She bolted from the wardrobe, giving Jareth a curious glance before stopping in front of the book shelf.
Her hunch had been correct, all of the books she had kept in her room back home, were on the shelf!
"Do you like it?"
She flinched at the sound of his voice but managed to keep hers steady.
"It seems a little…excessive."
She heard Jareth's footsteps approaching.
"Really? How so."
Sarah turned around and crossed her arms over her chest as she contemplated her answer.
"I don't know, I love it, I just…wasn't expecting all this."
"What exactly did you expect?"
"The dungeon?" She asked lamely.
"Have you committed a crime, Sarah?"
"Um, no?"
"Then why on earth would you stay in the dungeon? What an idea." Jareth laughed heartily then and Sarah tried to ignore the way her heart sped up at the sound.
"Still, it seems like a lot of needless trouble to go through." She persisted.
"Why is that?"
"Aren't you going to turn me into a goblin?"
All traces of humor left the Goblin King's face for a moment and his expression went blank.
She could've sworn she saw something akin to annoyance flicker in his eyes.
Suddenly his expression turned mischievous and he stepped closer, tilting her chin up with his hand.
"What a waste of exquisite beauty that would be, precious."
Sarah's eyes went wide and a tingle raced up and down her spine at the compliment. The soft look he was giving her made her stomach flip.
WOULD YOU STOP ACTING LIKE A HORNY TEENAGER?! Her mind screamed at her. FOR GOD SAKES, YOU'RE THIRTY YEARS OLD!
She pulled her head away from his fingers and stepped back, trying desperately to get her thoughts under some sort of control.
"S-so, if I'm not going to be a goblin, then what's my…position here?"
Jareth regarded her for a second longer than necessary before shrugging.
"I suppose the title of 'ward' would be best."
Ward?
It felt so odd, but not entirely unpleasant, thinking of him as her guardian.
"I'll leave you to get comfortable," he announced abruptly as he turned and headed for the hallway door, "one of my goblins will fetch you when it's time for dinner."
She blinked.
"Uh, okay?"
Geez, would it kill you to sound more confident?
Just as Jareth reached the door, he stopped and spoke again quietly with his back to her.
"You are not a prisoner here, Sarah. This is your home now. You are free to do as you please."
A wave of emotion washed over her, but before she could say a word, he shut the door and was gone.
A/N: Whew! Man it was a pain describing that room! Anyway, let me know what you think in your reviews. What do you guys say to some Jareth POV in the next chapter?