The breeze whispered through the open window, taunting the King with his failure. It spoke of nothing but ancient fears and long forgotten regrets that had been awakened within him; it whispered that he would never be a good man. That he would never truly capture her heart. And so Jareth listened as he sat on the stone ledge, legs stretched out before him as he regarded his Kingdom below. The window was cavernous, with nothing to separate him and his people but the open air. He had sat in that same place for days on end at times, sometimes thinking of all his past mistakes and losses, sometimes counting the leaves on the trees in hopes that he would forget them if only for a second.

But tonight, tonight he could tell would be a long night. He could still hardly believe all that had transpired in only a few minutes. How had things been ruined so spectacularly, undone by only a few simple words?

He longed for the night before when Sarah had smiled at him, even planned a future with him. He tried hard to forget the cruel shard of hatred he had seen in those eyes of hers. And all over such a small lie.

He could take her to and from her world in an instant; he'd always known it. But if he had allowed that then who's to say she wouldn't have run from a fate he knew they both shared? Who's to say that she would never accept what must be and will come to be? He would have told her eventually he mused, just in this delicate period of time he thought it was best not to. Was that so bad?

"I apologise, your Majesty. I seem to have upset your lovely bride to be." An old voice met his ears that had not a note of a true apology lurking below the surface of the words. Jareth locked his eyes at a star on the horizon, refusing to grace Lukin with gaze.

"You know full well what you have done. Although I must beg the question of why? Do you enjoy making my life difficult?" He sighed, watching some winged creature fly across the horizon.

He heard Lukin shift, taking a seat in the armchair that Jareth knew adorned the corner of the large chamber.

"Quite the contrary. I thought, since you've told the girl of so much already, she would know that she could go home at the drop of a hat. I was merely curious as to why she was mourning them."

Jareth tensed his jaw. Over the years he had grown tired of the life in court and all of their pointless games. It was all so tedious, the whispers in corners of scandal and gossip, the thinly veiled compliments disguised as threats. He loathed it. It was years ago that he had decided to hold court in his castle no longer, the tempestuous act of it all had tired him.

"You knew, Lukin. Do not think that I'm not aware of you and your ambition. You have stabbed many a foe in the back to get what you need and I suppose your King is hardly any different."
"I do not know what you mean."

It was at that moment that Jareth turned to him, his eyes glinting with a deadly warning in the moonlight.

"You think if you can destroy what I wish to build with Sarah then you will prove me an unworthy king. And who better to take my place than you?"

Lukin waved him away, a small chuckle escaping him.

"I don't want a throne, your Majesty. No, the responsibility of looking after an entire Kingdom...a dying Kingdom at that...I do not think it would suit me at all. And despite yourself...you are a good King."

Jareth faltered, regarding the man with a wary eye.

"Then what? What could you possibly gain from all of this?"

Lukin ran a hand over his face, as if disappointed that his King had still not grasped the point.

"I know she will destroy us. Maybe not now, maybe not her children, but one day her descendants will grow too proud, too brave. They will do the same thing as before. They will wage another war against us that now we cannot win. I'd prefer to stop this now, before it gets to that point." Jareth felt the warm weight of a crystal settle in his palm and began to toy with it, rolling it this way and that in an effort to vent his frustrations.

"And you'd rather let this world die?"

"I'd rather go peacefully, on my own terms. We all would. And it was cruel of you to give your people hope like that when you know that failure is an inevitability."

"You can see the future now can you?"

"Can you?"

Jareth sighed; exhausted by the fact that everyone seemed to want to fight with him today. It seemed that a moments rest was a luxury no one was willing to gift him.

"I'm right about this. And I'm right about her. That should be enough for you."

He heard Lukin swallow hard, a wave of memories crashing through the old mans mind. He knew what was coming, he had heard it often enough before.

"You weren't old enough when it happened, Jareth."

"I remember."

"You remember. But you didn't have to fight. I did. All of that blood and steel. So much of it Jareth, it changed us all."

"I know." He tried to keep his voice levelled and low, unwilling to shout the old soldier down.

"What happened to your mother was...words couldn't even begin to describe how sorry this entire kingdom feels for you. But those of us who fought in the war, we saw that type of massacre everyday. We saw it all. You were just a boy-"

"I remember." He ground the words out, his patience slowly starting to break. Lukin raised his hands in defeat, an apologetic look crossing his face for a moment.

"Of course you do. Of course. I just don't want you to go through something like that again because of this girl." Jareth could not help the laugh that tumbled from his mouth.

"I had no idea that you cared so much."

"I've known you since the day you were born. I think I can't help but care."

Jareth threw the crystal through the window, watching its flight until it shattered against a tree far below him.

"Then leave me be. If you care then leave her alone."

Lukin stood from the chair, and just for a moment Jareth had hope that he was leaving before discarding it as another foolish thought.

"I'm afraid I cannot help but interfere. You are a selfish man Jareth. And you can be cruel."

The room seemed to still as the words settled in the air, and Jareth could feel a fire igniting in his veins. He had allowed Lukin to speak freely so far as a courtesy to his elder and oldest advisor. But now he had gone too far.

"How dare you-"

"I dare because someone has to. You've used people and tossed them aside before. Much like my daughter." Standing deftly from the window ledge, Jareth waved him away, tired of treading old ground.

"She came into my bed willingly."

"That she did. But she was young and foolish with a head full of crowns and pretty jewels. You broke her heart."

"I never cared for Lellore. She knew that."

"Did she?"

"We spent all of three weeks together. Hardly enough time to start a love affair." He said incredulously.

"True. But as I said, she was naive. And now everyone in the kingdom knows she was the King's whore. What do you think that does to a young girl?" Jareth rubbed his eyes with a gloved hand, trying to control his temper.

"Is that what this is about?"

"No. I know she would not make a good Queen. Just as I would not make a good King. But the point is that if Sarah, one who has such a fire in her belly, is tossed aside when you get bored after a few hundred years...who's to say that she won't seek revenge? That her children and their children won't seek revenge?"

For a moment Lukin observed his King. For anyone that didn't know any better he was sure they would say that he was losing his mind. His hair had always been unkempt, but now it stood on end, disturbed by restless nights and endless fiddling. The bruise like shadows under his eyes had worsened lately, and all because of this girl. Lukin couldn't understand why the boy had allowed himself to come to this state.

"Nothing like that will happen with her."

"Are you so sure? She is spirited. Too spirited. And she will challenge you until the heavens fall down and the ground freezes over. You could have chosen anyone Jareth. Any woman in this kingdom and God knows you've had your share-"

"You grow too bold when speaking to your King." The warning in his voice was clear, an Lukin knew too much of Jareth's rage to stoke the flame much further

"I am telling you only what you already know. She's human. And she will be the same as the others."

"Are you really so prejudice?"

"Are you not? After what happened to you?"

Lukin's gaze lingered on Jareth's eye, forcing him to look away.

"No. I do not bother myself with such things." The old man laughed humourlessly.

"What a pleasant life you must lead, to not be bothered by such things."

"You will leave her alone. From now on you will not talk to her, you will not look at her. Do you understand?"

Lukin gazed at his King with a raised brow and an almost pitying gaze.

"Is it really so fragile? This partnership you've formed? Can a mere word from an old man truly destroy it?"

"Words can do many things, Lukin. It was the consequences of her words which has caused all of this."

"She is a foolish girl, that much is apparent. But then you are a foolish man to fall for her." For a moment he saw the alarm in Jareth's eyes, quickly covered by the impassive mask that he had always been so good at. Lukin felt his heart sink. So it was true.

"I have not fallen for her. She will make a decent companion and she is fit for this great task we must undertake, that is all." The King spoke quietly, the absence of any emotion at all in his voice was telling enough.

"You think we do not hear the gossip that comes from the absent kings castle? You think your Labyrinth can stop certain words from traversing the land to reach our ears?" Lukin sighed, his body almost overwhelmed at Jareth's misfortune. He had always wanted him to find someone. But what a pity it was that he had settled on a human girl.

"What are you talking about?"

"Many a goblin has told the tale of a lonely king who fell in love with a human girl. You think it is a secret?" Jareth was silent, cursing his loose lipped companions.

"People talk, your majesty. They think you weak. They think you have lost your mind. And staying in this dreary castle all day with those goblins, never venturing outside, does nothing for your image."

"You and I both know I never cared much for my image."

"What happened to that charming king we used to have? One who would hold balls and feasts and keep us merry?"

Jareth let his head fall back against the wall, gazing at the ceiling and wondering how much longer the onslaught of questions could last.

"It was her, wasn't it? She bested your Labyrinth and you couldn't stand it."

"You know nothing of the things you speak of." For the first time that night Lukin felt a rage flow through him. He cursed the King's stubbornness and his inability to see what everyone else could.

"You think she is the same as you? You think you are bound together? Has our King truly fallen for such a fairytale notion!?"

"You will watch your tongue!" Jareth roared at him. And so there they stood, each man breathing heavily from their exertion and woes with the other.

"She is a selfish girl, Jareth. And she will be the end of you if you allow this foolishness to continue. Believe it or not but I do care. I made a promise to your mother, long ago."

"And what was that?"

"To protect you from yourself." He could see the flame igniting in Jareth's eyes once more and bowed before it could be stoked into the inferno he knew would come.

"I will take my leave your Majesty. I have much to attend to in the morning. And I meant what I said in Court. You may marry her, I cannot stop that. But if you wish to return to the old ways, ways that lay dead in the past for a reason...then I hardly think you can blame me for trying to slow the progress."

The old man turned to leave, looking back one final time.

"I only wonder what she will say when she realises what her penance will mean."

For a moment they locked eyes, and each remembered the time when they were once friends. But that was centuries ago, and things had changed.

"I should have killed you years ago." Jareth whispered, and finally, Lukin disappeared from sight.

With that he resumed his gaze on the horizon, wondering if the Gods were looking down at him and laughing at his foolishness.

Sarah walked through the empty halls of the castle that night, taking solace in the echo of her boots on the stone floors and the low crackle of flames in each sconce on the wall.

He was a liar. For one moment, for one golden moment she thought she could trust him. All the tales he told her of the devastation he and his people had suffered in the past had made her think that just maybe, that was why he was the way he was. Maybe he was untrusting because of it, snide and full of anger at her because she was one of them. But he had deceived her yet again, taken advantage of her weak heart and long buried hero complex to make her think that he was a good man. The way he had changed, in a fraction of a second, to a hateful creature who had pinned her against the wall told her enough. She had seen enough glimpses of the rage inside him to know that was the truth of him.

It broke her heart.

Over the years of thinking about him and what might have been, a stray thought had entered her head that maybe she had misunderstood him. Painting him as some romantic hero. To know that she wasn't wrong about him burned through her.

So she walked. Much like she had done through the castle gardens, just pondering her fate and what lay before her. It was only a small tug on the hem of her skirts that stopped her. Looking down, she saw the little goblin she had first seen in the castle. Scrabs.

"Lady Sarah?" He said in a hushed whisper, gazing at her with wide yellowed eyes. The little creature still held that earnest look he had first given her, despite herself she found it rather adorable.

"Yes, Scrabs?" He shifted uncomfortably, wringing his claws.

"We heard you shouting at the King. You made the King angry." Sarah wrinkled her nose at him teasingly.

"I think I did, yeah." The little thing gasped, his eyes growing larger.

"Did he throw you in the bog?"

Sarah giggled at the goblins emerging from the shadows, each of them fearful of whatever vengeance the King might have enacted upon her.

"No. He didn't throw me in the bog. Do I smell like I've been in the bog?"

Scrabs gave her a hard look accompanied by a long sniff.

"No. You smell nice." She knelt on the ground before him, mimicking the long sniff

"Thank you. You smell nice too." That was most definitely a lie she deemed, but it was worth it for the way it made his tail wag. It beat against the ground before falling limp when he bowed his head.

"Are you sad, Lady Sarah?" She stood, running a hand through her hair with a sigh

"Yes. The king made me angry too."

The goblins all looked to one another, each sharing worried glances. Scrabs tugged at her skirts once more.

"He's a scary man. But he's not a bad Man. He looks after us, stops the other people from treating us bad."

"Why do they treat you bad?"

"They think we're stupid. King thinks we're stupid too, but he likes us." Sarah smiled softly at him, reaching down to ruffle the tuft of hair.

"I like you."

"Please stay. King's happier-"

"Sssh. Let's not talk about him anymore. Would you like to walk me back to my room?"

With a little nod Scrabs pulled on her skirts, leading her through the vast walkways. She looked behind her to see the other goblins ambling behind her as they followed along. She felt rather like a mother hen and wondered just how much more ridiculous her life could get.

"Sarah?" Jareth knocked quietly on the door, ears straining to hear movement from the room. After Lukin had left he had thought long and hard about many things. In doing so he found that the one thing that unsettled him the most was Sarah. But why was he surprised, that had always been the way. He found it difficult to contend with her rage, the thought of it was suffocating. Almost without realising it he found himself outside the door of her chambers, willing the insufferable gnaw of guilt to vanish. Gods, he felt pathetic.

But there was no answer; only silence met his ears. Knocking more forcefully he tried again.

"Sarah-"

"Leave me alone." So she was there. He rested his head against the wood, almost thankful for the pain the splinters wrought against his skin

"Sarah...I want to...I want to repent, for any sin you think I've committed against you. I lost my temper. As did you." Silence rung through the corridor and Jareth bit his lip with sharp teeth as he tried to push through her stubbornness.

"Sarah-"

"I said leave me alone." He eyed the door in fury, contemplating whether he should break it down or not.

"You think this is helping? You think this is the solution?"

"I don't want to talk to you, Jareth!"

He pounded his fist against the wooden door, ignoring the way it shook in its frame.

"I am trying here, Sarah!"

After a few moments the door swung open, Sarah bracing herself in the frame as if blocking him from entering.

"You don't think I tried? Last night I tried. I listened and I wanted to help. But you lied to me, how can I trust anything you've said?" He took in the flush of her cheeks and the dangerous shard of anger in her eyes. He could have almost thought that he was looking in a mirror

"It was a small lie, Sarah. One, which I would have not kept from you forever." She looked away from him with a shake of her head.

"If you lied about that then what else have you lied about? What other secrets are you keeping from me?"

"Nothing. I am keeping nothing from you."

A small whisper in the back of his mind reminded him of her penance. He silenced it quickly. Now was not the time.

Sarah stepped closer to him, her eyes narrowed, scanning his face.

"Look me in the eye and tell me there are no more secrets." Jareth held her gaze, suddenly uncomfortable with her scrutiny. After a few long moments, he spoke.

"I have no more secrets."

She watched his face in the darkness, that impassive mask of his never changing. But there was something there, lurking beneath the cool blue of his eyes. Something was being guarded, and she knew it.

"You're a liar." She breathed, outraged as a bitter smile crossed his face.

"Is this how we mean to go on then? Never trusting, never exchanging anything more than a sharp word or a jaded glance?" She scowled at him, grasping the door to close it.

"That's all our relationship ever was." He gripped the door, swinging it open once more.

"That's not true." He growled. Before she could speak he cut her off.

"Last night, there was something there. Something. And maybe it wasn't much, but it was pleasant. For one moment we were more, so don't tell me that hate is all we ever were." Sarah pressed her hands against her face, sighing into them.

"Jareth. Stop. You spin a pretty tale, and you try and manipulate me into thinking things and feeling things, but I know better now. You have no power over me. Remember?"

For a moment she thought she had gone too far, the way his lips parted ever so slightly and his eyes widened were nothing short of the calm before the storm.

"Your tongue is wicked Sarah. But believe me, if we are going to speak of past truths then I have plenty for you-"

"Leave me alone."

As she made to leave he grasped her arm, leather-clad hands squeezing the flesh tight.

"Let go of me." She said, her voice low with her fury. Jareth tugged her closer until they were almost nose to nose.

"Why has this upset you so? Why are you allowing this to consume you?"

"Because I thought, for one moment, that you were more. I thought that maybe you weren't a hateful person. I thought maybe you weren't arrogant and lecherous and every awful thing I've ever thought you were. I thought maybe you were misunderstood, and that maybe you were just acting out because of everything that's happened to you and your world in the past. And I thought, maybe, just maybe, I could trust you."

For a moment he thought he saw the guard in her eyes drop, leaving nothing but unbridled hurt and disappointment clear to his gaze. He hated the way it made him feel.

"You can't even possibly begin to imagine what that meant to me. And you can't possibly understand how it felt to know it wasn't true."

He released her arm, lowering his gaze to the floor with a shake of his head.

"Sarah. I-"

"Stop. Just stop it. I can't do this anymore. Or at least not right now."

"You cannot avoid me forever." He stepped towards her, faltering as she moved away.

"I can give it a damn well good try though."

She went into her room, shutting the door with a slam. Jareth let his palm rest against the door, withholding a sigh.

"So be it."