It had been three weeks.

Sarah marched down the halls with purpose, heading for the throne room where her newly appointed advisor Munk would be waiting for the day's instructions. After Jareth had left, Sarah had been quick to recruit some of the more intelligent goblins, giving them some measure of authority, to keep her from becoming overwhelmed. Jareth had left her with a filthy castle full of drunk and disorderly goblins, and Sarah had been working tirelessly just to get it all cleaned up. The first thing she had done was confiscate all the ale, telling the goblins they could only have it back after everything was clean. Today she had gotten up early and done an inspection of the castle and the goblin city, and her subjects would soon find out if they had done a good enough job to get back their drink.

She entered the throne room, striding confidently towards her throne, smiling kindly at her sober and subdued subjects. When she had first decreed that the ale be taken, the goblins had wailed and mourned for hours, crying and begging for her to change her mind. Sarah had almost caved, but the ever-present stench had helped her keep her resolve. This was for their own good, after all.

Munk scurried up to her as she sat down, ready with her coffee and a smile full of pointy yellow teeth. Sarah had been thrilled when she learned that the castle's kitchen kept the magical beans in stock, thank God for small mercies.

"Queen haz coffee!" Munk declared. "Now I's tell queen abouts day's bizniz."

Sarah nodded for him to continue, sipping on her drink. Munk knew her routine, no mayhem or chaos until she had her coffee. He was her favorite so far, unlike her other advisors, Munk hadn't once tried to light her on fire. Yet.

The penguin-shaped brown goblin with long, pointy ears poking out of a shock of white hair drew closer, and Sarah was once again grateful that she had insisted on regular bathing routines for the goblins. She listened to him tell her about various issues from around the city and throughout the Labyrinth, the most interesting being a sudden invasion of pineapple vines that were clogging up the outer tunnels, and the most troublesome being the continued presence of an unidentified storm that had been darkening the southern horizon since before she had come. Sarah noticed the dozens of near-mutinous eyes that stayed fixed on her as Munk rattled on, and the pregnant silence that had fallen over the room. She stood suddenly, deciding that she had kept them waiting in anticipation long enough.

"I have inspected the castle and the city," She began, pausing for dramatic effect. "And I have decided-"

Dozens of goblins leaned forward, hardly daring to breath as they waited eagerly for her edict.

"-That the ale will be returned to the citizens,"

The cheers that erupted were deafening, and Sarah had to wait a few minutes before she could continue.

"On the condition," She yelled above the dwindling noise, causing the tense silence to return almost immediately. "That drinking will only be allowed after sundown. Any creature that breaks this law will be on cleaning duty for a week straight."

The goblins stared in open-mouthed shock, completely thrown by this unexpected twist. Sarah got up and made her exit then, deciding that it would be best to let the dust settle without her being present.

She made her way up to the bedroom, deciding that some quiet reading would be a good way to pass the time until this evening, when she would reappear with barrels of ale and hopefully gain some popularity among her subjects. She wondered why she cared about the kingdom at all, and settled for telling herself that it was just a way to keep busy until she could go home again. She flopped down on the giant carven four poster bed, grabbing the book of goblin folk tales she had been reading the night before.

She had been mortified on her first night here, when, after getting a goblin to give her a tour, she found that the huge castle contained only one bedroom, belonging, of course, to the King. She had spent her first few nights curled up stubbornly on the leather armchair in front of the fireplace, but after a few days with a sore back and little sleep, she gave in and tried out the bed. She had been sure she would never be able to relax, that he would somehow know what she was doing. However, despite the rundown state of the rest of the castle, the Goblin King kept his own quarters in a state of decadent luxury. Sarah had never felt such soft silks, heavenly feather pillows and plush furs, and she was asleep within minutes, getting the best night's sleep that she had had in years.

Another issue was the fact that she only had the one outfit, the jeans and sweater that she had been wearing when the Goblin King had brought her here. She had tried sending the goblins Above to get her some clothes, but after they had returned with first an extra large mumu, then a polka-dot bikini, and then a black leather mini skirt and tube top that she had been horrified to learn had been stolen off of someone in broad daylight, she decided that she might as well help herself to the rest of the Goblin King's belongings as well, considering that it was his fault she was in this mess, after all. She would never admit it to anyone, but his clothes weren't half bad, and they fit her well, for the most part. She kept things simple; boots, leggings, and a poet's shirt. She had to admit, the boots were quite wonderful for stomping around in, she found herself strutting down the halls on more than one occasion, and she knew she looked good in the form fitting pants.

His shirts posed a problem, however, as they were very open-chested, which was less compatible with her own anatomy that it was with his. She had fixed this problem by wearing one of his black leather waistcoats under the shirt around her chest, solving the issue of a bra and keeping her from flashing the goblins all in one.

The next weeks passed with relative ease as the goblins got used to the new routine, though Sarah found no shortage of lawbreakers to assign to cleaning duty. Determined to keep her mind off of things, she fell into a routine. She would wake, get dressed and have a light breakfast of fruit and bread, then she would hear complaints and make rulings in the throne room until lunch. After lunch, she would wander the castle, alone with her thoughts. Finally, she would deal justice for the day before the drinking started, then she would retire to the royal chambers, where she would have a long soak in the circular stone tub before having a light dinner and reading until bed.

It was the afternoon of the 39th day now, and Sarah was wandering the maze of hallways and rooms in the castle, making her way slowly but surely to the throne room. Her fingers trailed along the wall, counting the stones as she passed in an attempt to keep her thoughts from Jareth or her growing panic at his continued absence. He had said he would be back in a month. Surely he would keep his word? Had it all been some elaborate scheme to ditch his kingdom on her? Her thoughts drifted to stories she remembered from Greek mythology, how Heracles had been tricked into holding up the sky for the titan Atlas. Heracles had managed to get Atlas to take it back, would she be so lucky? The thought of being stranded here alone, for the rest of her life, never knowing, was too terrible to think about.

And so she walked, and counted the stones.

She had gotten to five thousand and forty two by the time she was in the final corridor outside the throne room. Without entering, she could tell that the goblins were particularly rowdy today, she wondered what crimes her officers had to report, the cacophony coming from around the corner was deafening. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes and steeling herself for the inevitable. She opened her eyes to see sharp blue ones with different sized pupils staring back at her, twinkling merrily.

"Boo." He said.

She shrieked and jumped back, hand pressed against her pounding heart as a hundred different emotions flooded her. Once the initial surprise passed, she felt overcome with relief, he came back, she could hug him, kiss him! Then his greeting registered, and all the suppressed anger and fear from the past days flooded her.

She scowled, crossing her arms over her chest and refusing to acknowledge him until she calmed herself a bit.

The Goblin King didn't speak, letting his eyes wander over her slowly, taking in her form in his clothes with obvious appreciation. Finally he met her eyes, smirking at her flushed face.

She still refused to speak. He decided to try again.

"Hello, my queen." His rich velvety tones rolled the last word over his tongue like a particularly decadent chocolate.

That made her bristle. "I may be the queen, per our deal, but I'm not your queen." She corrected him quickly, fists balling up at her sides. "Nice of you to finally come back."

Jareth didn't seem bothered in the least by this, his insufferable grin still plastered on his face as his eyes raked over her again.

"So, did you enjoy your little vacation? Where did you go? The Underworld? Mordor, perhaps?" Sarah asked with as much snark as she was able to summon given the state of her nerves. She was somewhat surprised that she was really getting away with speaking to him like this, she had half expected him to act all domineering and controlling, swooping in and raining despair and misery on them all. She had been dreading his return as much as she had been anticipating it, slowly driving herself mad wondering what would happen when he returned.

"I went to Soho, actually." The Goblin King said indifferently.

Sarah blinked in surprise, not sure what to say.

He rolled his eyes. "What, did you expect that I would have a membership at the Cinematic Villain's Resort and Spa?" He said sarcastically.

Sarah suddenly had a disturbing mental image of the Joker getting a pedicure.

She shook her head, trying to focus. "Excuse me, it is time for me to hold court." She sidestepped him and entered the throne room, needing to be in a situation she had some control over. Immediately swamped with dozens of goblins all speaking at once, Sarah managed to get them to speak one at a time, pointedly ignoring the Goblin King's presence behind her as he watched her silently from the doorway. She heard complaints and offences from the goblins, taking action where necessary and verbally smoothing over issues that didn't require royal intervention (It is entirely up to the owner's discretion whether or not chickens should be allowed at the dinner table). Mostly though, the goblins wanted to know if they could be granted a reprieve from the new drinking law to celebrate 'Kingy's comeback'. Sarah agreed, she didn't plan on being around for it anyway.

As she finished and dismissed them, she glanced back to see how he was taking all of this. Rather than looking irate as she had expected, he looked like he could care less, which only served to confuse her more.

Inwardly, the Goblin King was thrilled. He had been expecting to find her hidden away in some far corner of the castle, blockading herself from his unruly and mischievous subjects, miserable and waiting anxiously for him to return and save her. Instead, she had somehow wrangled a bit of control over the goblins and established some semblance of order, not an easy feat. Not only that, but the goblins were relatively clean, and had even been sober (thought they didn't look the least bit happy about it) and the castle looked better than it had in decades. No matter how much she denied it, she was born to be a queen, he thought. To be his queen. His silent ardor was disrupted as he noticed something far less pleasing.

"What have you done to my throne?" His lips curled up over sharp teeth in disgust as he took in the spectacle before him. The once-intimidating bone and rock throne now sported several plush pillows and a lilac throw. He noted in veiled horror that there appeared to be a plastic cup holder attached to one of the curved ends of the bone backrest and several flower pots on the steps.

"It was horribly uncomfortable. I can't understand how you manage to sit on that thing without any cushion." She said lightly.

Jareth glowered at her. "It's masculine." He hissed indignantly. "Or, at least it was."

Sarah shrugged. "If you wanted masculine, you should have kidnapped a man." she said sternly. She decided not to bring up his make-up and glitter, for the time being.

Jareth stared at her for a moment, dumbfounded and secretly admiring her audacity.

Sarah cleared her throat. Time to cut to the chase. "It's been a month. I am ready to go home now." She said.

"After we dine." Jareth's face was unreadable, eyes shining with something unidentifiable.

"You said you would take me back whenever I asked. You said if you didn't keep your word-" She started fiercely.

"And I will. Consider it a personal request." Jareth said. He turned his head abruptly, keeping his features carefree and pretending to be very interested in the wall as he waited for her answer.

Sarah glared suspiciously, observing him closely for any sign of trickery, but the Goblin King wouldn't meet her eyes and his body language gave nothing away.

Well, I suppose it wouldn't do any harm. Heads of State should at least be able to dine civilly together. And maybe he will tell me about my friends….

Having made up her mind, she tried for a bit of humor to lighten the mood. "As long as there aren't any oranges."

Jareth gave her a strange look, then turned and walked off down the hall without a word.

"Okay then," Sarah said.

She stared after him for a minute, bewildered. Had she offended him? Or did he expect her to run off after him like some adoring puppy? Well, if so, he was out of luck-

Her inner diatribe was disrupted as the world began to move without warning. She threw out her arms for balance as the room began spinning around her, round and round, faster and faster until it was a yellowish blur. She felt a scream catch in her throat as she began falling, no, now it was more like drifting, downwards, gently. The room changed and became clearly defined again, she landed on a chair in a room she had not yet seen. She sat before a small table on a stone balcony overlooking the Labyrinth. She realized that she was in one of the towers she had not yet been able to get into during her explorations. She was torn away from her observations as her chair was suddenly scooted in.

She looked over her shoulder, just barely catching Jareth's eye as he straightened and walked around to sit opposite her at the small round table. He waved a hand and goblins bearing food and drink rushed in from small hidden panels in the walls of the room the balcony was attached to, rushing back out as soon as the table had been set. Jareth raised his glass in a silent toast to her and started in on his food, not sparing her another glance.

She stared, not sure how to proceed. Did the Underworld have any particular etiquette? Sarah guessed not, judging by the way the Goblin King was eating.

"See something you like, love?" Jareth asked, looking up from his plate with a devilish smirk, clearly mistaking the reason for her attentiveness.

Sarah grimaced and looked away. She saw him shake his head and grin out of the corner of her eye as she turned her attention back to the food.

"I was wondering," She started tentatively.

"Yes?" He glanced at her, raising an eyebrow.

"I haven't been able to find my friends, none of the goblins even know who I am talking about-"

"What friends?" He asked, his gaze fixed on his wine, swirling it before taking a long drink and refusing to meet her eyes.

Sarah narrowed her eyes. What was he playing at? Still, best to try to play nice, she supposed. "Hoggle, the dwarf? Giant, furry orange monster named Ludo? Sir Didymus, the fox knight that guarded the bog? Surely you remember them, they did help me defeat you."

Oh well, playing nice is underrated.

Jareth said nothing for a while, contemplating his nearly empty plate.

"That is not something I will tell you tonight. Another time, yes, but not now." He said.

Sarah immediately bristled. "If you've harmed them-"

Jareth shot her an irritated look. "Don't look at me like that. I've done nothing to them. I swear." He put his hand on his heart in a dramatic mockery of an oath, turning his attention to the remains of his dinner, stabbing the last few bites with his fork as if they had insulted his fashion choices.

Sarah got the clear impression that he wouldn't give her any more than that, not right now, anyway. His mood had darkened rapidly, and she didn't want to push him too far. "What kind of meat is this?" She asked, studying the strange dish.

"It's probably best if you think of it as chicken." He replied around a mouthful of food.

Sarah placed her fork back on the plate, suddenly not hungry anymore. She took a sip of her wine and studied the Goblin King furtively from the corner of her eyes. What was the point to all of this? Why was he being half-way decent? Surely it was just a tactic to get her to let her guard down. She stopped herself. What did she care? Soon she would be home, and all of this would be behind her.

Until the next time he swoops in to bring you back.

She pushed this unwelcome thought from her mind, angrily suppressing the slight thrill she felt at it and downing the rest of her wine before standing up abruptly. The Goblin King stood as well, and, sensing that things were about to get unpleasant again, took the initiative to walk over to her and place his gloved hands on her cheeks.

Sarah froze.

Oh god he's going to kiss me. What do I do? What do I do!

"If you need anything, you have only to call on me, precious thing. Don't keep me waiting too long." He spoke the last bit as a warning, eyes blazing into hers.

And with that, he placed two fingers on her forehead and sent her back to her apartment.

Author's notes:

The Live Journal prompt for this month was not compatible with this story, but I figured I should churn out a chapter rather than waiting for the next one, considering that people are actually reading this. Hope you liked.

My inspiration this time was 2008 zinfandel port from Trader Joe's. I like to occasionally have a drink in the evening, which is also when I usually have time to write. Combining the two seems to produce interesting results. I think I'll continue the trend with the rest of this story, it's fun.

Don't know if you noticed, but Jareth poked a bit at the fourth wall there. Goblin King does what he wants.

Also, the pineapple vines were originally from Pika la Cynique's GND comic (you rock, Pika!). If you've read it, you'll know what they mean.