6. Friends or Foes?

Jareth sat in throne, with growing ire listening the guards excuses of why no one had noticed where did Hoggle, Sir Didymus and Ludo had disappeared to. Both goblins and elves had turned nearly entire castle upside down in search for the fox knight, and so the absence of dwarf and the beast was discovered too. The only thing they did learned was that last the trio was seen on their way out of the castle.

The Goblin king could not fathom, where they had gone to. The most strangest thing was that even his crystals remained empty, refusing to show the trio whereabouts. For one crazy moment, he was almost willing to allow the chance they had went off to Aboveground, but he dismissed this thought as soon as it crossed his mind. First, there was little to none chance at all for them to cross the realms - in order to protect not only his subjects, but people in Above as well, he temporarily closed any available portals, such as mirror in Hoggle's house, that connected two realms, and second, only complete fool would dare to disobey his direct orders. On the other hand, coward as he was, Hoggle had shown a rebel strike he hadn't had before, and it wouldn't be the first time when these three would pick sides with Sarah if they had to choose between her and Jareth.

The city search also did not gave any results, adding to Jareth's puzzlement and annoyance. If Hoggle and Sir Didymus could find the way to hide from sight, where could they hide Ludo? In castle, perhaps, but not in the city, if this was where they had ventured into. His size made it impossible for the beast to remain invisible... and why his crystals still stubbornly refused to show even glimpse of his own subjects?

Dismissing the guards who had delivered the same news of unsuccessful search for the trio, Jareth sunk back in throne, frowning, tapping fingertip against his chin, deep in thoughts, when approaching noise caught his ear. The footsteps...but it was neither common goblin feet slumping or pattering, nor elven boots. The sound was lighter, faster, as if someone was wearing...shoes?

Jareth looked up at the door just in time to see, at first thought, apparition running through the door, coming to stop on the opposite side of pit in middle of floor. Her long, raven hair shone like onyx in torchlight, simple...and slightly messy human clothes unable to hide nicely shaped figure, and when his gaze slid higher up to the vision's face, he was greeted by expressive, slightly widened emerald eyes. The beautiful apparition's full lips curved in genuine smile, growing a little amused at king's obvious astonishment.

Thousand thoughts swirled in Jareth's mind as he stared at her, eyes narrowed as he recognized in this beauty the same girl who once stepped into his Labyrinth and his life, and turned it upside down, and he found himself unable to decide just yet how to react to her sudden appearance in his castle. How it was possible? Did she even knew who he was? Jareth doubted she had broken his enchantment... but hadn't he made the mistake before to underestimate Sarah Williams before? How else to explain the fact she was now standing before him?

And how did she and her friends got through the Labyrinth in first place without being consumed by the fog? That was even more unnerving question to which he had no answer at the given moment.

The doorway looked like thousand-headed dragon with Ludo's head in center, and muffled murmuring and rustling in hallway indicated that many of his subjects were still struggling to somehow squeeze into already overcrowded wall of goblins, fireys and even elves, but Jareth did not even paid them any notice, unable to take his eyes off Sarah, who finally decided to break the general standstill and made a step forward, courtsying before him.

Jareth's face remained stony, lacking any kind of emotions. He sat in throne like rigid monumentum, and slowly the smile faded from Sarah's lips, replaced with concern as she noted some changes in his appearance. When they met the last time, he radiated powerful magic and strength, but now she could not feel it. His eyes, the only part of him that did had some life within, were staring at her, but there was no hint of fury or arrogance. His body was still regal and tense, but lacked the former energy and life.

Sarah broke the eye contact with the frozen king, glancing back at her friends, mouthing 'Is he petrified? Or maybe sick?'.

In next second she heard the voice, its tone clearly indicating that its owner has reached boiling fury temperature.

"You have exactly one chance to explain yourself and what are you doing in my kingdom, less in the castle! Choose your next words wisely, Sarah!" Jareth icily hissed, reminding himself what he had done and how much effort it had taken for him to forget about this girl. He will be damned thousand times over before allowing to make himself vulnerable to her like in the past.

Sarah straightened up and turned to face him, her temper flaring up as she opened her mouth to give back twice as much she received, but then Hoggle squirmed out of beneath the blockage at the door, almost crumbling entire goblin wall. He stepped over to the girl and cleared his throat, bowing his head.

"Your majesty," he carefully began, "this is Sarah."

The sound coming from Jareth's mouth was anything but articulate, and by all means, there should have been small, wet puddle with former name and shape of one dwarf as direct result from the look the king gave him.

"I brought her here." Hoggle continued, single-handedly taking responsibility for this sin, covering for Sir Didymus and Ludo - as if that could fool anyone - and Sarah could almost see the sparks flying around Jareth's head in shocked anger, when he coughed out strained 'WHAT?'.

So that answered one question about the trio earlier whereabouts. Jareth cursed himself for not listening his instincts. "I believe you don't have to guess where you're going to spend the remainder of your existence, Hogwart!" He choked out the familiar threat, so familiar and well known it was no longer interesting for the dwarf to even try to guess.

"Your Majesty's Bog of Eternal Stench, as per usual," he grumbled, but the bravado was very poorly masking the actual fear. Surely Jareth would not go through with his threat, not now, with the fog covering the Labyrinth that could turn into most peaceful creature into feracious monster, right...?

"Precisely!" Jareth looked more than ready to prove Hoggle that this was one time when he overstepped every possible boundary, but the dwarf was suddenly blocked from the view, when Sarah stepped around the pit, standing in front of Hoggle, and slowly approached the king, her fierce eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Don't. You. Dare." Her voice was calm. Too calm. Behind her, Hoggle loudly gulped and took a few steps backwards, recognizing this calmness, and if the doorway hadn't been blocked, this would be the moment he would let his inner coward full reign, running as far away as possible. And fast.

Jareth slowly rose from his throne and walked down the steps to come face to face with Sarah, his gaze dark, and the air appeared to vibrate with the magic around him, but she did not even flinched, returning his glare with one of her own, her fists clenched by her sides. The silence once again fell upon the room, no one seemed to even breathe, which was unusual for the goblins, awaiting how this silent staring contest will end, because if looks could kill, by now one of them, if not both, would be on the ground.

"You cannot blame Hoggle for wanting to help! To help you, your highness." Sarah finally broke the silence, her voice quiet, but there was unmistakeble note in her words that clearly passed the message across - 'you want to harm my friends, you have to go through me first'. She clenched fists tighter, ready to use them as extra argument. "I was asked to come here to help, and here I am, whether you like this or not. I was out there and saw what's going on, so don't try to tell me something like everything is alright and I should not break my human brain over it." Sarah began to doubt if talking could actually get through to Jareth's brain - whacking him upside head with frying pan was looking as more tempting and definitely far more effective way how to get his brain to work.

Jareth finally was certain that somehow she had overcame his enchantment, because no one else would dare to speak to him like this. He didn't wasted time, though, pondering what went wrong - right now he had bigger problem to deal with. Deep down he wanted to rejoice the fact she was here again, right here, just within hand's reach, but his pride did not allowed him to do that, instead choosing ire.

"You dare to walk into my kingdom and give orders to the King?" He retorted, his annoyance steming also from the fact that Sarah had came here because of her friends and the rest of his subjects, not because of him. The old jealousy resurfaced, and Jareth felt the need to vent out his anger, and Sarah... was simply in wrong place and wrong time. "What powers do you have, mortal girl? Can you banish this fog and stop it from murdering my subjects you claim to care for so much? As I recall, you did not cared much about them, when you and those so called friend of yours destroyed their homes in your previous visit."

"Listen, you tousled papuas! If you think I'm going to growel at your feet and apologize for doing everything I could to reach the castle and save my brother, think again!" Sarah didn't know where she got such courage from to almost yell back at the Fae king and very powerful at that, knowing he could retaliate with so much as flick of his fingers, but she was no longer easily scared teenager to cower before him. There was no child wished away, no time limit, and if even half of what her friends had told her was true, situation was dire. "I wasn't actually planning to cause any damage, but I did not expected you would send a whole army to stop us! They were shooting at us! I could've get killed, and my friends too. What did you expected me to do?"

Jareth wanted to snap back that she was never in any actual danger and his goblins had clear orders to not actually aim at them, even though he did had to admit, aiming was not their strong side and accidents could happen, but once again his pride prevented him from saying any of it. She painted him as villain back then, and kept sticking to that opinion even now. Then why he should try and prove her wrong? Seething, Jareth strode across the throne hall to stop at the window, briefly staring outside at the city to collect his thoughts and decide on best course of action. One nasty part of him itched to throw her out this very window...or perhaps throw himself? Another option - send her along with her damn friend Hoggle to Bog - was dismissed quickly, because Sarah looked ready and willing to blow that place up with all following consequences.

He gave a quick glance to the door way where the goblins and the rest of his subjects were looking at him, their faces shining in hope he hadn't seen for very long time. Now, that was real problem. If he will throw Sarah out and back to Aboveground, he will have potential mutinity on his hands. If he will allow her to stay with or without warm welcome, she might throw him out soon.

"Out of here! NOW!" He barked at them suddenly, and the whole multi-headed wall crumbled, vanishing like morning dew, save for Sarah's friends who remained on place, ready to jump in her defense. "I see that there's only one option left." Jareth marched over to Sarah, and before she could say a word, he grabbed her by wrist in iron grip and transported them from the throne room to the stairs maze.

"Whoa!" Sarah stumbled back as soon as he let her go as soon as they materialized on one of stone platforms, stepping away as if her direct presence was something very unpleasant to him. She herself not happy to have privacy with Jareth, and even less about being zapped from one place to another in flash. "Next time give some warning, would you?"

Jareth ignored her, standing with his back turned to her, arms crossed, staring across the stairs. "How much did your... friends... told you?"

"All they knew. About this other king, Trials, what happened recently... " Sarah's voice trailed off, and she only shrugged even though he couldn't see it. "They did not really explained just what I can do to help, though. And either way - they did asked me to come, but in the end it was my decision and mine alone, so if you want to blame someone, blame me, not them. Hoggle was very adamant that you'd be furious, but it was my choice to return."

"You knew I won't give you warm welcome, yet you chose to come back?" Jareth cast a quick look at her, frowning. This girl never ceased to surprise him with unexpected actions and thinking.

"Why shouldn't I? I'm not afraid of you." Sarah tried to sound nonchalant, but it was not so easy anymore, when Jareth turned completely, facing her and made a couple of steps closer, not yet invading her private space, but coming dangerously close to it, and she swallowed, struggling to hold her ground.

"Oh, but you should, my dear Sarah." The feral grin spread on Jareth's face, watching her poorly hidden discomfort with satisfaction. He leaned close enough to force her to back away, until she hit the wall, unable to move any further, then just as abruptly he was gone from her view, standing several steps away, once again looking pensively into nothingness. "It's all because of some old Fae seer who made prophecy many centuries ago. Some of fireys brought it up recently, your friends overheard it, and decided it speaks of you."

"A prophecy... what does it say? And...do you think?" Sarah had to clear her throat to find her voice after his unexpected closeness which made her palms sweat and heartbeat race up.

"Seers have made many similar prophecies in past, and not all have came true. Future is not written in stone, Sarah." Jareth couldn't lie, but he swiftly evaded giving straight answer. "I've always been very sceptic toward such ancient blabbering. However, Lucan might think different, if he's aware of existence of this prophecy. It was made some time after his initial imprisonment, but now..."

Recalling what happened both in her room and later at the Labyrinth gates, Sarah already knew the answer. "Sir Didymus mentioned that... since no one else beat the Labyrinth... that I was its Champion of sorts...?"

"Champion of the Labyrinth?" Jareth laughed, giving her mocking stare. "You're indeed the same spoiled girl that you've always been, always thinking so high about yourself. That is nonsense. You were a mere child, easy to enchant and fool with few tricks. You fell for every trap I set for you. Pure luck, a little help from your friends, but most of all, my generousity helped you to solve the Labyrinth. I could stop you so easily, long before you'd reach the oubliette! You were just a new amusement in my mundane life, nothing more."

Sarah felt each of his words cutting deep, maybe even more so than anything she had failed with in Aboveground, but she lifted her chin up, squared her shoulders and remained calm, determined to not give him satisfaction to see how his words affected her. And yet... despite his words, a tiny inner voice persistingly reminded her of the way he looked at her in the end, the words he said... no, even Jareth could not pretend that well. He was Fae, he could not lie so blatantly in her face. And the same voice told her that he does not believe himself in what he said just seconds ago.

"Very well. If that's what you think, perhaps there's really no need for me to be here, and I can go back home." She made sure her voice was not shaking as she spoke.

"Ah, but you see, Sarah, once mortal steps into my realm, they don't really have much options to leave, not by their own will. Saying your right words won't help you this time." Jareth walked toward her again with feline grace. "And it just so happens you picked very bad time for visiting. Even though I would much prefer to see the last of you in this very second, at the present time I am forced to preserve my powers to maintain the city protected from the danger outside of gates. So I'm afraid you're here for very long time, precious." He smirked, watching the disappointment and unease in her face. "Besides, your presence might do some good after all. The goblins have taken some liking towards you, and fates only know, they need some lift of spirits. It doesn't mean I have changed my mind about letting your friends off the hook for disobeying my orders." He added.

A hiss of annoyance broke through his clenched teeth, seeing the flames of anger once again bursting back to life in Sarah's eyes. What was the deal with her and that dwarf? Such best friends, as if there was no one better for her to pick. He looked away again, unwanted memories and feelings reared their head, and the words broke out across his lips, wanting to hurt her, to insult her as much as he could to give her taste of small fraction of how she made him feel. "I should never even give you chance to run the Labyrinth. You brought nothing but trouble to this kingdom. And for what? If you were stupid enough to wish your brother away, I should've let you suffer his loss..."

He should not had to say that, but Jareth realized it second too late, when all the pent up emotions between them exploded at last, resulting in Sarah's perfectly aimed punch right against left royal cheek, catching Jareth by surprise and forcing him to stagger backwards, his cheek quickly sporting red, sore spot.

"Say that again, and so help me, I'll punch you again! I made a mistake! Childish, stupid mistake, but at least I did everything I could to make it right and fix it which is something you can't understand, even less do it yourself!" She was pale in fury, forgetting that she was face to face with Goblin King who possess magic and can use it against her at any moment. "I used to think you were villain because I needed you to be one, but now I can see that it's simply who you are! So why don't you kindly walk straight to hell, Goblin King?" She pushed hand into jacket's pocket, wrapping fingers around the crystal ball, in pure instinct wishing to be anywhere... anywhere but here... wishing to be with her friends...

Jareth was left, blinking when unmistakably familiar sense of magic momentarily tugged at his senses, and in next moment Sarah vanished on a spot. Still trying to wrap his mind around what just happened, he slowly lifted hand to rub the sore cheek.

She punched him. She really did punched him?

He didn't know what he had expected from this meeting with Sarah, but physical fight against his persona in his own castle was definitely not among the possibilities he had considered. I should be careful, or else this pretty fury will drag me head first to the Bog of Eternal Stench, he thought with grim humor, slowly making his way back to the throne hall, where, much to his dismay, one of Sarah's friends waited for him.

"I'm surprised you haven't run off to hold your dear Sarah by hand." Jareth grimaced, not even looking at Sir Didymus, pacing back and forth, thinking what to do with the girl. "Why did you even bothered to fill her head with this prophecy nonsense? She should've stayed in Above where she would be safe from all this madness."

"Your highness, if I may... " Sir Didymus cleared his throat, bowing before the king. "As much as I hate to be the bearer of bad news, 'tis was no longer safe for our fair maiden to stay Above. The king of Yorgs... he knows of prophecy already, and hath attempted to take the lady twice."

"What?" Jareth spun around sharply, his mismatched eyes staring the knight down, eyebrow raised expectantly, prodding him to explain further. He listened Sir Didymus story of everything that occured when they got to Sarah's house in Above, finding two impostors of themselves, but it was the part of grawes attacking them at the very gate of Labyrinth, their leader clearly demanding to give them the girl. After some more interrogation, Jareth finally learned how they had traveled back and forth between realms and passed through the Labyrinth unscatched. "I should've made sure the goblins returned the crystals." He murmured, now understanding how Sarah managed to vanish in front of his eyes just moments ago.

Whether he liked this or not, now it was clear that Sarah had no choice but to stay here. Perhaps she did not know the details of the prophecy, but he could not allow Lucan to get his hands on her. She indeed was the only one who managed to reach the center of Labyrinth, and that alone made her alluring target to Lucan, and giving his history with mortals... as much as Jareth wished to have payback for her cruel rejection, he was not entirely heartless to allow her suffer in his brother's hands, knowing all too well that she would not survive that. In his castle, she was safe from everything, except himself.

"Find her and... take her to Queen chambers. It's the only room vacant in the castle and right next to my own chambers, so I can keep eye on her. I'd rather not have her reside with goblins. I don't need anyone else joining her supporters ranks." He finally gave the order to the knight who bowed and rushed away to deliver king's words to the girl.

Jareth looked after him with pensive look. What did these three had in Sarah's eyes that he didn't had? He wondered if he would throw them in dungeons, would that prompt her to pay more attention to him? Perhaps it would, only not in the way he would prefer... He let out a sigh. Once again, Sarah Williams had forced herself into his life to turn it upside down. She was going to either save him or curse him, and Jareth had no clue which path she would choose.


Sarah let her bag handle slip out of her fingers upon entering the room in which, by Sir Didymus words, the king had arranged for her to stay. Her mouth slightly dropped, seeing the rich interior. In one side stood a canopy bed, large enough to accommodate two people, with silk and satin sheets, soft pillows and warm blankets. On opposite side, a fireplace with already blazing flames inside warmed the room, further on she found mahogany desk and pair of chairs, vanity table, and another larger armchair was positioned near the fire, but large glass door on one side led out to balcony.

Checking the wardrobe, Sarah found it filled with the most beautiful gowns she had ever seen, fit to be worn by queen, and another door led to the bathroom with round marble tub in center, variety of scented bath oils and perfumes, and soft towels hanging at the wall. The lanterns lit up as by magic as soon as she opened the door, and as she closed them, she caught the glimpse of lights going out as well. With a smile, she turned around and walked over to bed, sitting on its edge, testing if mattress really was so soft as it looked like, and was not disappointed.

She felt surprised Jareth had given her this room. After punching the King in face, she was fairly sure she will spend the night in broom closet or worse, in dungeons, yet this time he indeed had been generous. Sarah sighed and rubbed her stiff neck, once again letting her gaze sweep over the place that was to be her home for next two weeks. She hoped it won't last longer than that, because otherwise her family would seriously get worried to not receive any news from her, and she doubted she could find a phone in Underground to give them call.

She thought about what Jareth had told her, and felt her heart painfully clenching in her chest, unwilling to admit his words hurt her more than she let it show. Was it only a game all the time? His final offer, almost desperate plea for her to stay... if it was just for fun, then why... Sarah doubted he had attended some acting classes to achieve so natural and believable performance skills. Then again, he wasn't even human to begin with. What did she even know about the Goblin King? She had only spent here ten hours and encountered him briefly, it was nowhere near long enough to know him.

A quiet knock disturbed her thoughts, and Sarah looked up to see the door creaking open, Hoggle's head poking in.

"Sarah?" He hesitantly asked, then, encouraged by her smile, pushed the door more open to walk in and approached her, pulling something out of his bag which seemed to bottomless, considering that he managed to fit inside several crystals which by all means should not fit in this little bag. "I brought this from yer home... maybe yous don't even wanna it, but... "

Sarah took the item and unwrapped the cloth it was in, revealing the small statuette of Goblin King. She didn't know why of all the things Hoggle picked this particular one, but she didn't wanted to disappoint her friend, and only smiled, placing it on nightstand next to bed.

"This king at least doesn't talk and gives no lectures." She tried to joke, but laughter stuck in throat, refusing to come out. "Thank you, Hoggle." She added, smiling sadly at her friend.

"I'm sorry about how the rat's treatin' yous." Hoggle shook his head in dismay. "Me knew he's gonna be in ire, but 'tis was worse than we thought."

"It's alright. It's not your fault." Sarah put comforting hand on dwarf's shoulder. "You wanted to do what's best for everyone. You're my friend, and friends help each other. You asked my help, and here I am. As for Jareth... "

"He's not so bad, ye know. Bad temper and all, but he's good king. Perhaps ye just needs to give time, gets to know 'im." The dwarf awkwardly shuffled his foot against the floor.

"Maybe. No promises, though." Sarah leaned forward and hugged the dwarf, then stood up and decided it was time to try and catch some sleep. And bath. First bath, then sleep. "It was long day. I'll clean myself up and take some nap. But don't hesitate to wake me up, if mister Royal Tight Pants needs some shake up."

"Ye betcha." Hoggle chuckled. He still couldn't believe Sarah had went after Jareth's head and lived to tell the tale. She never spoke to them about what happened five years ago, when she went to confront Jareth alone, but the dwarf had noticed some changes in king, and the rumor among goblins spread faster than fairypox. It did not took long for entire castle whispering that the king had some tender feelings toward the girl. Now that he was thinking about it, putting all pieces together, it made some sense.

Watching the girl fishing out of bag oversized shirt, Hoggle took his cue to leave, bidding her good night, walking out of room and closing door behind himself just when Sarah vanished behind the bathroom door. He was long gone, when she emerged several minutes later, drying her hair in towel, tossing her clothes into basket near the bathroom door, and strode over to the balcony door to let in some fresh air, cold as it was.

Turning away from balcony, Sarah discarded the towel, sat down at vanity table and began to brush her still damp hair, wearing nothing but shirt that reached down to mid-thighs. She made sure to untangle every messy knot, until her hair smoothly fell over her shoulders and back. Finished, she decided to leave the balcony open, the room was warm enough, and walked over to bed, crawling beneath the covers, staring at the Goblin King's figurine. "Good night, Jareth." She murmured, closing her eyes and letting the sleep finally claim her.

Sarah never saw the barn owl that perched on balcony railing, watching her sleep. He heard her words, and it stirred something forgotten inside him. Something he tried to suppress and ignore for very long time. In sleep, she looked so peaceful and vulnerable, the opposite of how fierce she was when awake, and Jareth was tempted to enter the room and join her - but it could earn him another sore cheek, and he didn't wanted to give her any more reasons to think of him as villain. What am I going to do with you, Sarah, he thought, sighing inwardly before taking off in flight, leaving her to sleep in peace.


Lucan sat in his throne and listened the latest report from Agnes with growing amusement. While initially inclined to severely punish each and every grawe that returned empty handed, he settled on giving example for the others by punishing their leader. What remained of him, now hung in main courtyard for everyone to see what happens when his orders are not fulfilled. Earmins were nowhere to be seen, afraid they might be next simply because they breathed too loud in king's presence, but as soon as Lucan received the summon through the mirror, his former anger turned into astonishment, and then full blown laughter.

"So... he was not pleased at all?" He asked for umpteenth time in slight disbelief.

"No, your majesty, not at all. He was mad like devil himself!" The junklady cackled. "The girly was inch from being tossed into the Bog of Stench. But she was mad at king too! Spoke to him like he's insolent child. They hate each other heartily. If not those ragged friends of her, she'd be back Above already."

"Excellent!" The king of Yorgs smiled, slapping hand on his thigh. "Keep watching them, and let me know of everything. You can go."

The junklady bowed head, and the mirror went dark. Lucan rubbed his chin, deep in thoughts. If only there was a way how to lure the girl out of castle, or kidnap her... oh, he would make sure she would side with him, one way or another, and Lucan could be very persuasive, if he wanted to. Mortals were so easy to break and bend their will, all he needed was to find their weak spot. Everyone had their weakness, Lucan had no doubt this girl was no different.

But Jareth's castle was protected by powerful magic, and neither of his servants could get through it. The Labyrinth gates were guarded, so was the city, and even if he would get together each and every grawe... no, they would still be outnumbered, unless...

Yes, that was the only solution. Lucan clapped hands, then whistled loudly to summon Salmon and give him very important task. It was time to take more serious measures.