Following the Leader

As Sarah danced with one of his goblin retainers, Jareth looked on with an air of complete indifference though he was anything but. He had brought only his most trusted retainers as he knew they'd protect the Champion of the Labyrinth regardless of any personal issues they may have or have had with her. At times in the past many of his subjects may have acted as if she didn't exist, was beneath them or just a silly human there for their entertainment, but these past months she'd won nearly all of them over. That a handful of his retainers and court didn't approve of her, was of no concern to him. It was the public opinion of core of his subjects, be they lesser or high goblin, elf, rock caller, dwarf, fairy, enchanted animal, firery or something else entirely, that mattered. Their opinion being second to the Labyrinth's approval of course. The few that complained were all spies, advisers and ambassadors from the Seelie and Unseelie courts anyway. Meaning that Jareth only listened to the others opinion when he wanted to know what the other kingdoms thought.

Jareth and Sarah had entered together, making sure that they had a grand entrance that showcased them together as they made their way down the main stairs to the ground floor of the ballroom. With his retainers following them and Sarah just three steps behind and to the right of Jareth, they'd made their way to Iain's dais. The goblin retainers had bowed to the Seelie High King but Jareth and Sarah had both stood erect. Being the Champion of the Labyrinth meant she was second only to the royalty of the goblin realm. Third when the Labyrinth, itself was factored in in first place, with its King second. Though it had taken time for the goblins to remember such things. Jareth was only forty to fifty percent sure on a good day that lesser goblins knew there were such things as laws to begin with. So he was secretly quite glad that they remembered to use a title when they spoke to her at all, even if it was only the word "the." The Sarah had not cared for a title in any form and had tried to stop them but that had only spurred them on to use more ridiculous ones. She'd quickly given up.

As Champion of the Labyrinth, Sarah technically could have entered the ballroom on her own unescorted but after how Iain had acted towards her, Jareth had wanted all to see that he supported the Labyrinth's champion. That it would be foolish indeed to disrespect her. The Seelie High King had no right to treat the Sarah as he had. All high fae knew the key laws of the Labyrinth, laws that made Sarah Iain's equal. It was not her fault that she was the first human to ever succeed. If he had qualms with her humanity he should have left her alone.

Sarah's behavior in Jareth's throne room had spread through the goblin kingdom like an avalanche. That Iain had treated the Champion as nothing, as lowly, had seen many of goblin citizens ready to rip a certain Seelie idiot to bits as quickly as word had spread. Some of the high fae subjects may have still been uncertain of their acceptance of Sarah but all of citizens of the Goblin nation had been quick to see disrespect of the Champion of the Labyrinth as disrespect of the Labyrinth. Which was wholly unacceptable.

That Sarah had not bowed had cause Iain's face to turned a lovely shade of purple in his rage. Which had clashed beautifully, in Jareth's opinion, with his pumpkin orange attire. Jareth leered at Iain before turning to Gundahar, the Unseelie High King and his queen, Sieglinde, when they stepped forward and introduced themselves to Sarah as equals. Sieglinde had hugged her as if they were long lost friends, a move that had caused waves of whispers and mad twitters of chatter throughout the ballroom. That Gundahar was showing more hospitality towards Sarah than the Seelie High King and in Iain's own home, did not bode well for the imbecile's already impossibly small reputation.

Iain had stood as if to move towards Sarah, as he was still currently under the impression that she was there as his date. Before he'd even taken a step down from the dais, Jareth had maneuvered her away and out on to the dance floor. It was quite clear to all whom Sarah belonged beside. Her dress complimented the attire Jareth himself wore. Not matching, he was not that egotistical, truly, but complimenting. They both wore blue that shifted in color with their movement. At times the cloth appeared bright as a sapphire and at others, so dark it seemed nearly pitch black. Jareth's attire was unadorned, but fitted to better show off his masculine form. It was similar in cut to what he had worn at the ball he had created for Sarah when she was sixteen. Sarah's dress was tight to the just below the hip were the skirt feathered and fell as if it were made of a hundred silk scarves. The bodice was heart shaped with tight sleeves that were slightly off shoulder and came to points at the back of her hands.

There was no "glitter" as Sarah called the little mirrors that some goblin tailors had sewn into the cloth of Jareth's previous wardrobe but her dress was studded with hundreds of diamonds, no bigger than a grain of rice. These were mostly set in the cloth at the shoulders, they were set sporadically down the whole of the dress until there were only a small handful here or there, near the bottom hems of Sarah's skirt. Stones no bigger than the tip of Sarah's thumb were woven into the waves of her dark hair, though not in Jareth's. Of late he'd taken to keeping his hair styled like his human glamour, a style that did not include tiny shiny things of any form. Jareth knew he looked magnificent as he always did when it appeared as if he were clothed in the night itself but he was nothing compared to Sarah. She was awe inspiring, breathtakingly beautiful, clothed in stars and midnight.

Heads turned to follow her wherever she went. When she was not on the dance floor, she was seen talking with any number of people though as the night went on she was often seen beside Sieglinde, to whom she had introduced Gwenhwyfar and Mathildis as her close friends. All four ladies now looked to be true friends and not courtiers merely pretending to be. Jareth was proud of her. She acted and was received like a noble. That she showed no ill will towards Iain when he approached her alone and without his retainers, after much bribery and haggling on the retainers part, saw her win the affection of many in the courts. She was now accepted by key players in both the Unseelie and Seelie courts.

She had danced once with both of the high kings and danced several times with Jareth. Very few females could claim to have dance with all three in one evening. Yes, Jareth was immensely proud of her. In one evening Sarah had solidified her position in the Underground with more ease and less bloodshed and manipulation than Jareth had believed possible. He wondered now why he'd been so worried. The Seelie retainers that would do anything for Iain to keep his tantrums at bay were currently laughing good naturedly at something Sarah had said. Her laugh rang out among their own, a radiant smile gracing Sarah's face. Iain clearly wanted the attention yet wasn't seeking it from his own people.

He was now in fact competing against his subjects for Sarah's attention, though he didn't seem to comprehend that he was. It rather irked Jareth that the imbecile wasn't taking Sarah's polite but not so subtle hints that she was not at all interested. After several hours of mingling and dancing, Jareth noticed Sarah was making her way back towards him. Iain was following behind her but did a three hundred and sixty degree turn on his heel when he finally realized that she was walking towards Jareth. Jareth literally bit his tongue to keep from laughing, Iain had been only seven feet away and had cut himself off mid-sentence. Jareth bit harder as thoughts of what the previous Seelie High King could have bred with to produce such a idiot began to flash through his mind.

"Jareth, how much longer are we staying? It's nearly three thirty in the morning... Do you think we've been here long enough that we can leave without causing offence?"

Jareth held up his hand, smiling warmly at her as she took it without hesitation. Within the next blink of an eye they were in her apartment, their clothing replaced with casual everyday human attire, though Jareth was unglamoured.

"Um, I know that it was my first ball and all but if I remember my protocol lessons correctly, leaving without saying good-bye to the host is bad?"

"Sarah, dear, I am the Goblin King, Master of the Labyrinth, and one with the rare ability of controlling time. They couldn't stop me from doing as I please even if they were to combine the armies of both courts and send them against me. I am glad that your lessons have paid off so well, precious... though I wasn't much of a hero tonight due to a certain 'princess' stealing the spotlight-"

"Jareth, if I had shown up in Iain's dress, I would have been nowhere near as successful as I was tonight in making friends and allies. They wouldn't have wasted their breath in even talking to me. Showing up beside you as the Champion of the Labyrinth instead of Iain's newest pet made me worth knowing... I'd have been remembered as 'that human in that vomit and headache inducing gown with the feather bustle' if you hadn't given me a new dress. Honest, you only saw the front of it, the back bustle had rooster tail feathers sewn in patches. I'd have looked like a balding rooster that had an unfortunate accident with a vat or two of radioactive dye! So thank you, Jareth. Really. You may have not been the hero for all to see but you were a hero to me... Want to watch a movie with me before you leave? I need to unwind a little, and come back to my boring self before I could even attempt to sleep."

"I would love to Sarah."