Okay, I'm heading out for a few days, I'll post again when I get back! This was supposed to be beta'd but after not getting it back for a few days I went ahead and decided to post it anyhow. I wanted it up before I left so I could come back to lovely comments and reviews!
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True to his word, within the thirteen hours of Sarah's arrival in the Goblin Kingdom, Jareth had a suite of rooms cleaned and set up for her. When he had shown her, Sarah declared her love for the nature themed bedroom and bathroom, though deemed an extra room to serve as a closet and a sitting room to be too much. Jareth had shaken his head and told her she could do whatever she wished with the sitting room, even turn it into something Ripley would enjoy, which quieted her refusal of the rooms. Jareth left soon after to give Sarah time to settle in and rest a bit on the bed she was sure would fit at least five people if it had to. She was highly surprised to discover a small bed in the corner of the room that Ripley curled up in, and made a mental note to later tease the Goblin King about going soft.
She couldn't tell how many hours had passed when a knock at the bedroom door roused her from the nap she had taken and did her best to smooth out her hair while crossing the room to open the door. Almost the instant she had the door halfway open, a dwarf woman pushed her way into the room, followed by three goblins and several fairies. Sarah just blinked at the entourage for a few seconds before cautiously asking what they needed.
"We be needin' your measurements, obviously," the dwarf woman said with an eye roll as she grabbed Sarah's wrist and pulled the woman into the middle of the room. She pulled out what looked like a tape measurer with runes instead of numbers and began to hold it up and wrapped it around different parts of Sarah's body. She called out the numbers to the goblins, who were scribbling on little boards, then let the fairies swoop close to Sarah, where they gently started to tug at her hair so it was temporarily piled on top of her head. After a few seconds of staring at her, the fairies nodded and flew out of the room, leaving behind a trail of glittering dust that looked strangely similar to the stuff that flew around when Jareth appeared or disappeared from a room.
"Excuse me, why is it exactly that you need my measurements?" Sarah asked as the dwarf knelt in front of her and started to try and measure her feet. The dwarf woman looked up and raised an eyebrow at her.
"Well, the king said you had naught but the clothes on your back, so you'll be needin' some new ones, ain't you? To make you new ones, we need to know what size to make them. We have orders to get your measurements then start immediately on dresses."
Sarah was surprised at the level of cooperation she got from the dwarf, having expected to get the usual gruff remarks and half answers she normally got from citizens of the goblin kingdom. Appeased for the moment, Sarah fell silent and waited until the dwarf was finished and herded the goblins out of the room, then went off in search of Jareth. With Ripley helpfully giving directions to places, after searching the library, dining room, and knocking at what Ripley said was the King's study, she found Jareth lounging on his throne, surrounded by goblins in his throne room. The Goblin King was pinching the bridge of his nose while a fight broke out between several goblins and gloved fingers gripped his riding crop tightly, as if he was holding himself back from smacking the squabbling goblins with it.
Seeing the dark riding crop in that gloved hand brought images to Sarah's mind of a dark bedroom and a body above hers, of Jareth's quiet laughter and of mind blowing sex. A small squeak slipped from her lips as she tried to banish the thoughts from her head, and caught the attention of a few goblins. As they slowly started to quiet down and the room went silent but for the sounds of a chicken pecking at the ground, Jareth raised the hand from his face and looked up. Upon seeing her standing there, he smirked.
"Well now, Sarah. You seem to have the ability to shut my goblins up, a magical gift if I do say so myself. I suppose I will have to keep you near me constantly."
Sarah had already been blushing from the images in her head, and his words only made her cheeks deepen in color, much to the king's amusement. Rising from his throne, the Goblin King made his way over to Sarah and leaned in, so his face was close to hers.
"What do I owe the pleasure of your company, Sarah?" he asked, the smirk still playing across his lips.
"I wanted to tell you, that while I appreciate the thought, I don't need new clothes. I have clothes in my apartment…if you could just get them for me…" Sarah trailed off and looked at the ground, her mouth turned down in a frown.
"Your human clothes are not suitable for the time you will spend down here if a visitor comes to the castle or we go to another kingdom. However, you will want to dress in your clothes for your visits Above, so I suppose I will have to summon them," Jareth said, his smirk turning into a smile as Sarah's head lifted and her eyes widened.
"Visits Above? But my father gave up… our deal. I can't ask you to not honor it," she said quietly.
Jareth shrugged and back away a step, one hand tapping the riding crop against his leg. "I choose to view this in a fae way. Our deal was if he got to the castle and time ran out, as long as he tried, I would give you visits. He got to the castle gardens, which are part of the castle, if you look at it right, and I'll give a time penalty for getting caught in his dreams and trespassing in my private gardens. So factor in the time penalty… you could view it as he got to the castle… just not in time. Then took his dreams home with him. Which might be why they didn't turn out how he wanted them. Seems he did not think about what your stepmother would think of his new girlfriend…"
A heartbeat later Jareth had his arms filled with Sarah, who had launched herself into them so she could hug him tightly. Raising his eyebrows in surprise, Jareth hugged her back until she realized what she had done and pulled away quickly. A new blush colored her cheeks and she twisted her fingers together in front of her stomach in an embarrassed way.
"I'm sorry, I keep doing that to you," she mumbled.
"I assure you, I don't mind it, Sarah," Jareth replied with a smirk, reaching out to tousle her hair. She batted his hands away and sent him a glare.
"Yes well, don't get used to it."
He laughed quietly and shook his head, conjuring a crystal in one hand, the other outstretched towards her. "Oh no, of course not. Now, shall we go retrieve your belongings?"
Sarah stared at his offered hand as though it was a trap before giving in and placing hers in it. Less than a second later they landed in her living room, back in the Aboveground. Releasing her hand, Jareth started to prowl through her apartment, glaring at a few photos of her and Mark that had been placed around the room. At her amused look, he scoffed and sent out a wave of magic that caused all the pictures to either fall on the surface they were placed upon, or turn around to face the wall. While Jareth displayed his power magical ability to move picture frames around, Sarah headed into the bedroom and started to pull her clothes from the closet, tossing them on the bed. After a minute the Goblin King strode into the room and with a wave of his hand, vanished the clothing back to her room in his castle.
Sarah moved to a chest of drawers after seeing him wave away her clothes and gripped one of the handles before pausing and looking over at him. "Uhm… can you do the same with the clothes in here? Without…looking at the clothes inside?"
Jareth raised an eyebrow, but moved over and placed one hand on top of the dresser, sending the clothes inside it with the ones from her closet. Sarah sighed in relief that she hadn't had to open up her underwear drawer in front of Jareth, who surely who have looked at what she had with interest. The Goblin King gave her an amused smile and went to lay across the end of her bed, setting off a whole wave of images Sarah couldn't deal with at the moment, and she grabbed a duffle bag from the closet and started to go through the apartment, picking up and packing knickknacks she wanted to take with her. It didn't take long for her to come back to the bedroom and kneel down next to the bed, pulling a plastic tub out from under it. Jareth peered over the edge of the bed, one eyebrow raising at the many sketch pads and the art supplies stored in the tub.
"An artist Sarah?" he asked, not bothering to hide the impressed undertones in his voice.
"No… I mean, I like drawing and painting, but I'm not an artist. I was a teacher," she said, fingers curling around the edges of the tub. In the blink of an eye, Jareth reached out and snagged one of the sketch pads and flipped through it, an extraordinarily smug smirk twisting at his mouth at how often his image appeared in pencil on the pages.
"Why Sarah-"
"Don't even," Sarah cut him off and stole back the pad of papers, dropping it back into the box, "Don't even let this go to your head. I drew everyone I met back in the Labyrinth. Not just you, okay?"
Jareth laughed quietly and waved a hand in a flippant fashion, sending the art supplies and sketch pads back to the castle. "If you insist, dear. But did you draw them so much, I have to ask."
Sarah pressed her lips together before standing up and holding out her hand to the Goblin King, who raised his eyebrow and took it.
"I'm ready to go home now," Sarah replied to his unasked question.
To her surprise, Jareth's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open slightly before he seemed to pull himself together to take them back to the castle. He brought them into a hallway, right outside to the door of her rooms, then pulled his hand out of hers.
"This is where I must take my leave for the rest of the day, Sarah. I have letters to answer and right, as well as a kingdom to run. I trust you'll find a way to entertain yourself for a while?"
"Yeah, I guess I could do that," Sarah mumbled and made to open her bedroom door, only to be stopped by Jareth's hand on her arm. She glanced at his confused face and sighed quietly. "Sorry, I'm just not sure what I supposed to do here. You said I could go up for visits but what am I going to do when I'm here?"
"Draw? Torture the goblins? Figure out the Labyrinth? You have access to almost every room in the castle Sarah. Including a library which you seemed to enjoy earlier," Jareth told her, a small frown tugging at his lips.
Sarah smiled and nodded, looking happy once more. "You're right. I've never seen a library like yours and the idea of running the Labyrinth without a time limit or you trying to trap me sounds like fun."
"Just be careful about where you go, Sarah. I'll be busy and won't be able to watch you go through the Labyrinth or steer you away from the many tricks it has," Jareth warned before pulling away and heading down the hallway, turning around a corner and disappearing from sight.
Sarah went into the room she was given and headed for the "closet", intent on putting her clothes away, but noticed that it had already been done. Even the clothes Jareth had moved from the drawers had been neatly tucked into new ones, much to Sarah's embarrassment. As she stood there, red faced, Ripley scuttled into the room and latched himself onto her leg, sitting on her shoe.
"Hey, Rip," she said as she carefully made her way over to her clothes, making sure not to knock the little goblin from his perch. She was reaching for a new shirt and a pair of leggings on a shelf when she suddenly stopped and frowned, then looked down at Ripley. "How long have I been here Ripley?"
"You just got here with Kingy, Sarah," the goblin looked confused at her question and hopped to the ground.
"No, I mean… how long since I wished myself here? I know I was making dinner when I made the wish… but it's barely midday now," Sarah's frowned deepened as she thought about it, until Ripley laughed.
"Kingy is good at changing time! He can make a day Above seem like an hour here!"
As Sarah contemplated that, she remembered something Jareth had once said to her.
"I have reordered time. I have turned the world upside down, and I have done it all for you!"
"I guess I'll never know what time it is now, will I Ripley?" she mused before shooing the little goblin out of the closet. She quickly changed out of her jeans and long sleeve shirt into the leggings and tank top, then slipped her feet into boots that went almost up to her knees. Remembering there was a vanity table in the bedroom, she exited the closet and used a brush to tame her hair and place it into a high ponytail. Set for her adventure, she scooped up Ripley and placed him on her shoulder, then left them room in search of the doors that led out of the castle. It took a while, even with Ripley's help, to find them and she blinked against the bright sunlight that hit her when she slipped out the doors and into the goblin city. Several goblins that were walking about stopped in the tracks and stared at her as she walked past them, heading for an entrance that Ripley told her about, which led straight to the Labyrinth. She was almost there when a large group of guards, headed by a mean looking goblin called out for her to stop. Before she could even ask what they wanted, the little goblin who looked to be in charge stepped forward.
"Stop human! You are under arrest for trespassing in the goblin city!" Sarah tried to explain, but the goblin sneered and pointed at her while yelling, "Get her!"
As the group of weapon wielding goblins started to run at her, Sarah did the first thing that came to mind; run into the Labyrinth as fast as she could. She darted around corners and turns as fast as she could, listening to Ripley when he yelled when out to go a certain place. Sarah ran for ten minutes before stopping and bending over with her hands on her knees, panting hard. After listening carefully to make sure she could no longer hear the goblins that had been chasing her, Sarah looked around and noticed several statues next to a fountain. Curious, she moved over and smiled when she realized one of them was Jareth. Next to him was a woman who had the same upturned eyebrows and a mischievous smile and it appeared that Jareth's arm was slung over her shoulders. Behind them was a beautiful man and woman, both smiling softly. The woman had upturned eyebrows as well, though the man's seemed quite normal. Upon looking closer though, Sarah could see that his ears were elongated and ended in a point that had several hoop earrings along the rim. Looking between the man and Jareth, she could see very similar facial features and concluded that the people behind Jareth and the girl were his parents.
"Well I guess that answers the question on whether or not he had a family," she said to herself, then took a seat at the feet of the statues, leaning back against Jareth's leg. Ripley slipped down from her shoulder and sat on her knee, a curious expression on his face.
"I thought we was gonna explore the Labyrinth, Sarah?"
"We were, but after being chased by those goblins, I just want to rest a bit," she explained and leaned her head back against the statue. One hand reached out and ran through the water in the fountain, which glowed softly as it touched her fingers. Too late she realized that it was infused with magic and darkness over took her vision as she slipped into an unconscious state.
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Jareth had just finished answering another letter to his mother, this one explaining about Sarah coming to live in the Underground, and stood up to stretch out his muscles. Making a low groaning sound as his back made several popping sounds, Jareth glanced at a clock that hung on a nearby wall. Noticing it was almost dinnertime, Jareth headed for the doors, intending on finding Sarah to let her know. Just as he reached the door, someone knocked on it. Opening it quickly, he was disappointed to see it was not Sarah, but the goblin city's mayor.
"What do you want, Scuttlebum?" Jareth sighed, one hand running through his wild hair.
"Spittledrum, Sire. And I have come to inform you that there is a trespasser in the Labyrinth! She was in the city and when we moved to arrest her, she ran into the Labyrinth! Kidnapped a small goblin as well," the goblin informed his king, then gulped at the furious glare he was given.
"Tell me, did the girl have brown hair? And look exactly like my honored guest who is going to be living here from now?" Jareth asked in a dangerous tone, causing the mayor to take a step back.
"I… I couldn't say, your majesty. I don't know what your guest looks like…"
"She looks like the last runner to beat my Labyrinth. There hasn't been that many of them, so surely you would know if it was Sarah, wouldn't you?"
The mayor squeaked and started to shake. "It...Might have been her, sire. She did resemble the girl who ran the Labyrinth for her brother…"
Jareth smiled and kicked his foot out, making contact with the mayor and sent the goblin flying across the hallway. The Goblin King then stormed down the hallway, disappearing after several steps and reappearing in the general area of where he sensed a human presence in his Labyrinth. He walked down a short path until he came to the turn that would lead to the statues of his family, took it and entered the open area. His eyes immediately landed on the slumped over form of Sarah, whose head was resting on the foot of statue-him. She was curled into a ball around Ripley, who was nervously petting Sarah's arm. When the little goblin caught sight of his king, he relaxed quite a bit.
"Majesty! Sarah fell asleep and I can'ts wake her! Couldn't gets you either cause the mean goblins in the city might come back and take her away! Hurt her even!" the little goblin looked worried, about Sarah's fate or his, Jareth didn't know, but Jareth didn't concern himself with how the goblin felt. He quickly moved over and knelt down next to the woman, one hand reaching out to touch her cheek. The Goblin King sent a small pulse of magic though his fingertips, negating the water's spell on Sarah.
As the water's effect faded, Sarah opened her eyes, and flinched when the first thing she saw was a hand near her face. But it drew back quickly and she relaxed her tense posture when she realized it was Jareth next to her with a shocked look on his face.
"Sarah?" he asked quietly, hand falling down to rest on his leg.
"I'm sorry, it was just… a forced habit, I guess. What happened to me?"
"One of the Labyrinth's traps. The water is laced with a sleeping spell, designed to keep a runner asleep for thirteen hours, or until I woke them up. A way to keep them from getting to the castle," Jareth explained as Sarah sat up. She nodded and pressed a hand against her forehead, eyes closing against the headache that was starting to form there.
"I just wanted to explore the Labyrinth, like you said I could. But then goblins chased me…and the fountain," she mumbled.
"That won't happen again," Jareth promised, then got to his feet and hesitantly held out a hand. "Let's get you back to the castle. It's about dinner time."
Sarah smiled and took his hand, using it to help pull herself to her feet. She didn't miss the relieved look that crossed Jareth's face when she placed her hand in his and made sure to keep holding onto his hand when she stood up. Jareth's fingers tightening was the only warning she got before he made them appear in front of the gates she had used to get into the Labyrinth. Luckily Ripley had climbed onto her shoe the instant she was standing and went along for the ride. There were guards standing not ten feet away from them and when they laid eyes on Sarah, they started forward, only to be thrown back by Jareth's magic.
"You will not touch her, understand?" Jareth hissed out, then looked at the goblins that had stopped to stare. "Sarah Williams now lives in the castle and is to be treated with the utmost respect. If I hear anyone has done differently or tried to arrest her…the consequences will be a thousand times worse than an extended trip to the Bog of Eternal Stench."
Still holding tightly to Sarah's hand, Jareth gave the goblins one last warning look, then transported them to the castle. They landed in a dining room that had a small table that was being set by a few goblins, who Jareth ignored in favor of looking at Sarah, making sure she was alright. By the way she was pressing her hand to her forehead and making a pained expression, she wasn't.
"Sarah, what's wrong?" he asked urgently.
"Just a headache. I just need to rest a bit later, it should go away," she said with a flippant wave of her hand.
Jareth pressed his lips together in a frown while watching her intently, then cursed when he thought of something. "It's probably too much magic all at once. I've moved you several times today, and you were subjected to the Labyrinth's magic. The mortal in you is fighting with all the magic that's clinging to you."
"So don't magic me back to my room, idiot," Sarah grumbled, then smiled at his offended expression. "Walk me there after dinner like a gentleman would do."
"Well now, I do believe that is something I can do," Jareth smiled back faintly, though a touch of worry still lurked in his eyes.
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Spittledrum is a character from Return to the Labyrinth and is the Mayor of the Goblin City. I put him in mostly to cause trouble and so Jareth could have another goblin whose name he could massacre.