Ohh.. it's good to be back - I've really missed writing and publishing :)

Here is a bit more, Steele :)

Sarah Rose: Excellently spotted! Jareth is not directly seen feeding Toby, I believe, but it is implied when he compliments a burping Toby. However, Sarah was not present with them in that scene, so she would have had no reason to think Jareth had done so and therefore it is not mentioned, as the story is solely from Sarah's POV. A note in chapter 13 will later explain why - even if he did feed him - Toby was not affected.

When Sarah woke, the room was bright with sunlight, streaming in all colours through the tall window panes. She found that the tray with dinner had been replaced with another, this one with bread, butter, cheese and fruit. The table had been wiped and the bedcover she had placed on the floor was gone, so clearly someone had been in here. First of all, she needed to find a bathroom. She had been too tired last night to look around, but now she rushed to the door of the wash room, as Jareth had called it, assuming that something would be in there. What she found was a smaller room with just a single clear window, and in the corner, hidden in a niche, was a set-up looking like something from an old medieval movie – a wooden lid, covering a low chamber pot. In a basket beside it was a pile of dried moss. Although primitive, it was at least relatively clean, without any dust on it - so it looked like this had also been brought in during the night, just for her.

On a shelf stood a water jug and a basin, and a pile of rough towels lay beside it. Otherwise there were no modern bathroom facilities – no shower, no bathtub, no sink, and Sarah realised that this was one aspect she had never really thought about at all, but just taken for granted. The Goblin King looked so careful with his appearance that she had half imagined him to have a huge master bathroom decorated like a theatre dressing room and filled with appliances. She washed her hands and face with water and then opened the wardrobe which dominated a full wall in the dressing room. It was empty, except for a single lonely bundle of clothes of a shelf. Everything looked and smelled as if it had been deserted for years, perhaps decades – a musty museum smell that Sarah associated with the colonial village exhibitions, she had often visited as a child – but when she took the bundle, it looked relatively fresh and clean, as if placed there very recently.

Going back to the room, she spread out the clothes on the bed. There was a white shirt with wide sleeves gathered at the wrist and a green dress wide a low-cut bodice and a wide skirt carefully embroidered with a complicated leaf-design in silver and green. She recognised some other bits as old-fashioned underwear, but decided to stick to her own and just wear the shirt and dress. There was also a simple pair of black shoes, which fit reasonably well, when she tried them on. She would have felt a bit better in her own clothes, but after sleeping in them – twice – she really felt she needed to change out of them to look her best for the meeting with Jareth.

After getting dressed, she grabbed some bread and walked slowly to the large windows, where she perched comfortably on the window sill that was broad and silky smooth to the touch. Looking though the light-yellow brightest past of the colour-stained glass, she was disappointed to find that there wasn't much of a view – she could only see she was at least thirty feet above the ground and just opposite was a sandstone tower structure, bare and without windows. Far to one side, she could glimpse the twisting walls of the labyrinth and a bit of the Goblin City.

Savouring the taste of the warm bread, she realized how odd it feld to not have to conceal what she was eating – to be actually freely eating without pretence. The bread was much similar to what Hoggle had been bringing her these past years, but the fact that it was fresh and there was plenty of it was unusual enough. She felt a bit better after eating, but still very tired.

Looking around the room, she noticed something white in a corner. It looked like another piece of furniture, just covered up nicely with a relatively clean sheet. She went there and tentatively lifted a corner of it to see what was underneath – and a worn teddy bear stared back at her from between the bars of a large crib. The crib was obviously old and presently unused, but it was fixed up with blankets and pillows under the cover, just waiting for an occupant. Like Toby, she thought angrily, or another unfortunate baby. There was a knock on the door, and she let the cover fall back and straightened. A goblin, looking cross and resentful peered in and snapped at her to come with him to His Majesty.

Combing her hair with her fingers and straightening her dress, she followed him through long empty corridors made of yellow sandstone and with only a few windows for light. Even the Castle was maze-like – the corridors weren't straight or even with the same height, and after just a few minutes of turning left and right without any seeming pattern, Sarah was well and truly lost. She was grateful she hadn't gone out by herself to explore – she would never have been able to find her way back on her own.

At last they reached a set of grand doors slightly ajar, and the goblin pushed her towards them and left without a word. Sarah took a deep breath and knocked on the doors.

"Do come in, Sarah," a familiar voice called, and she pushed the doors open and entered an equally familiar room, the Goblin King's throne room. The doors immediate slammed shut behind her by themselves and made her jump in surprise, and she glared at the king that was surely responsible. Staring around in the room, she noticed the mess in the corners and things here and there clearly belonging to goblins, but Jareth looked immaculate as ever, slung back on his throne, wearing his white poet's shirt, blue breaches and black boots. He was alone, not a goblin in sight anywhere. Again, Sarah felt intimidated by his overwhelming presence.

"Well, Sarah," he began, his eyes glittering as he looked her straight in the eyes and smiled lazily. "What are we going to do with you?"

She slowly approached the throne, stopping a small distance from him and returning his gaze boldly not to show her uneasiness. "I can wait," she replied and willed her voice to be calm. "I'm more interested in seeing Hoggle and knowing he is safe."

Jareth frowned. "The dwarf, the dwarf, always the dwarf. I'm beginning to think you care more about him than me, Sarah."

"He is my friend, you know I care."

"Yes, I do," Jareth sighed and then made a gesture with his whip to his right. Sarah's eyes followed, and she saw a smaller door opening. And behind it…

"Hoggle!" Sarah rushed to meet him and caught him in a big hug, and he squeezed her back with a big smile. "I've been so worried! Are you ok? What happened?"

"Yes, Hoggle," Jareth said behind them and sounded amused, "tell her what happened."

"Well, no need to get all into details," Hoggle said and looked away, "I'm fine, Sarah girl, and that's all that matters, isn't it?"

Sarah turned back to Jareth with narrowed eyes. "Is he free now? Are you letting him go?"

"He was never my prisoner," Jareth said evenly and crossed his arms in front of him. "Tell her, Hoggle."

Sarah spun around again, now really confused. Hoggle looked the same as always, except that he shuffled his feet and wasn't meeting her eyes. "What, Hoggle? What is it he wants you to tell me?"

"Well, ye see, I sort of didn't really get arrested," he mumbled and picked at the bag of jewels hanging from his belt.

"You did! I was there, remember?" Sarah took a step towards him and kneeled down to look him straight into the eyes. "What is it, Hoggle? Don't be afraid of Jareth, I won't let him hurt you."

Jareth snickered in the background, but Sarah ignored him and smiled reassuringly at Hoggle, who looked even more uncomfortable than before.

"I'm sorry, Sarah, I… I didn't mean to upset ye," Hoggle stammered, "but it couldn't go on like that. Ye were dying, that was clear to us. We had to do something."

"We…? Who is 'we'? And no, I wasn't dying."

"Yes, ye were, me girl," Hoggle insisted, "I could see ye get weaker from the lack of food - ye were losing yer spirit and will to live every day, every week. A month more, and ye might have gone to sleep and never woken. I couldn't let that happen – yer me best friend."

Sarah grew cold and felt her smile disappear. "Oh no, Hoggle, what have you done?"

"I… I asked him to pretend to arrest me, Sarah." The confession sounded strained and his eyes were sad and pleading. "If ye would not call him to save yerself, I thought ye might do it to save me. And I was right. Everything will be alright now."

Sarah sank to the ground in disbelief and covered her face with her hands. Somehow, she doubted that anything would ever be "alright" anymore.