The Goblin King leant against the white-painted brick wall, idly twirling a crystal with his fingertips. The red wall across from him was obviously supposed to give the room some colour but it only served to give everything a strange pinkish tinge - even Jareth's crystal.

The old theatre had a number of small back rooms like this one that had been half-heartedly converted into additional dressing rooms. The room Jareth was in was hardly big enough to hold any more than the wrack of clothes lined against one wall. As it was, someone had managed to stuff in a faded sofa, a vanity table and an overly large vase overflowing with bright flowers. Jareth looked up at his reflection in the well-lit mirror and tilted his head a little.

He hadn't bothered to change from his Underground attire - only one person was going to see him anyway so it didn't particularly matter. He doubted that the men at the theatre door would have let him in if they had seen him though. Besides the fact that it was against their policy to let strangers into the dressing room of their lead actress, they would have taken one look at him and, at best, dubbed him as a crazed fan playing dress up. Too bad for them that he hadn't actually used the door.

Jareth ran his tongue slowly over his teeth. He had been waiting for half an hour and his impatience was nagging at him to speed things up. He glanced over at the clock hanging over the mirror. The play had finished twenty minutes ago. It shouldn't be long now, he thought. He made the crystal in his fingers vanish and just waited.

Eventually a dark-haired woman opened the door in a large, puffy dress of traditional Elizabethan style. The Goblin King couldn't help but muse to himself that she almost wouldn't have looked out of place if he'd dropped her into an Underground ball. Almost.

At first, she didn't notice Jareth even though the room was small enough for such a thing to be almost impossible. It was only when she looked in the mirror and saw his image reflected beside hers that she realised she wasn't alone. She jumped and stared wide-eyed at Jareth, a hand flying to her chest.

She turned around to face her intruder and whispered, "Who the hell are you?"

"Charming. Is that how you introduce yourself to everyone?"

"It's how I introduce myself to strangers that invite themselves into my dressing room," she replied.

"Who let you in here?"

Jareth raised a brow, but said nothing.

"Are you in the play or something?" she frowned when she received no answer.

If that was the case, she couldn't remember seeing him. Then again, some of the extras were so interchangeable to her that she couldn't be sure. And he was dressed in some sort of costume, though it seemed a little different to her Elizabethan outfit. It occurred to her, then, that he was quite attractive in an unusual sort of way. She almost wouldn't mind finding him in her dressing room if she wasn't married.

The Goblin King just shook his head keeping his eyes trained on her.

"I'm here on behalf of Sarah Williams."

She seemed a little startled for a moment, but Jareth watched as she quickly composed herself. Soon her expression was one of practiced nonchalance.

"Sarah? What about her?"

"As far as I'm aware you haven't spoken for some time, is that correct?"

Linda shrugged and said, "The last I heard she still lives with her father."

Jareth smirked a little. He had removed the spell from her that he'd cast to erase Sarah from living memory. He'd also had to alter memories of her hearing about her ex-husband and his family's deaths. Her lack of concern seemed to imply that it had worked.

"What connection do you have with my daughter?"

Watching her expression carefully, Jareth answered, "I'll shortly be her husband."

Linda burst out laughing. She couldn't help it, the idea of this man being with her daughter was absurd to her.

"Sarah? Married? To you?"

The Goblin King raised a brow and curtly replied, "Yes."

Still amused, Linda started pulling out the pins that held her hair in place.

"She's an immature teenager. What on earth would make you want to marry her?"

"Why wouldn't I want to marry her?"

Linda sneered and said, "Cut the shit. Is it because she's young and easy?"

Jareth's sigh hissed through his teeth. He couldn't help but find that this woman's abrasiveness reminded him of how Sarah could be. Apparently there was some similarity between mother and daughter - even if it was only that they both needed lessons in how to use language appropriately.

"She most certainly is not easy," Jareth answered, mentally recalling how difficult getting to this stage had been.

Easy was no way to describe anything about their relationship.

Linda snorted, "Sure. Like a man your age is interested in Sarah for her brains."

"You clearly don't know much about your daughter. She can be brave and loyal and intelligent when the need arises."

Linda wasn't listening though. She'd turned back to her mirror, still trying to unravel the trickier parts of her hair.

"What a stupid girl, getting married at her age after she saw what a disaster my marriage was. She clearly hasn't grown up since I last saw her."

"Which was when?" Jareth asked, forcing himself to remain calm.

"Three years ago, when she was fifteen. A minor. You know, you might think about going after someone your own age and leaving the silly girl to dream."

"Perhaps you should go and see her then, tell her what a mistake she's making since that's what you seem to believe this is."

Linda looked back at him over her shoulder, a sneer curling her lips.

"Are you kidding me? If she's stupid enough to marry at eighteen then she deserves to feel the consequences."

"So you don't care about what she does?"

She shrugged.

"Why should I? She's too old to need any sort of mothering anyway. She'll make her own mistakes."

Jareth scowled. The woman made no sense. One moment, Sarah was too young, the next, she was too old. He was fairly certain that he now understood why Sarah thought getting Linda to the Underground would cause him such trouble.

"And you don't want to see her? Not in the slightest?"

"Look, it's sweet of you to come here and invite me to your wedding, but I have my own life, and now - obviously - she has hers. She can fail in a blaze of glory of her own. Just tell her I'm busy or something. She must know how much work I have with the play."

Jareth bit his tongue to avoid saying something he'd regret. Linda didn't notice as a crystal appeared in his fingertips and he placed it gently on the table. As soon as it left his hand, she froze. More precisely, time in the room froze and only the Goblin King remained in motion.

In truth, he hadn't planned on this scenario. Sarah had warned him about her mother but he hadn't taken her too seriously. In the Underground, mothers had a deep connection with their children and, while he understood that it could be different Aboveground, he hadn't expected this.

Jareth was fuming. How much he would have loved to slap the sneer from Linda's face. If he was in the Underground he would have, and probably much worse. If he didn't need her he might have done it anyway. But he did need her; and the fact that she didn't want to see Sarah made his life much harder.

It meant that he couldn't legitimately take her to the Underground. She had no wish to see or have anything to do with Sarah. That meant that he had nothing to twist to his advantage, no way to get around the magic between worlds. So the Goblin King had to come up with a different solution to this problem.

He approached Linda's unmoving form and plucked a strand of hair that lay over her shoulder. He picked up a pair of nail scissors from the assortment of beauty products on the vanity table and cut the piece of hair in his fingertips. A crystal swiftly appeared around the snippet of hair, sealing it safely inside.

He couldn't get her into the Underground without breaking any number of rules, so instead of borrowing her, he would have to borrow part of her mind. The Goblin King frowned as he looked at his improvised method of taking Sarah's mother. It was really the only option he had.

With a part of Linda in the Underground, he could transfer her consciousness to them to be present at the wedding, while her body remained where it was. Aboveground, she would sleep when the time came and he would break no rules to achieve what was necessary. He only needed her for the wedding and no longer than that. She would wake as normal afterwards, feeling refreshed, albeit confused. And, just in case anything should try to harm her, Jareth cast a spell around her to keep her safe until after their wedding.

He only needed it to last until he and Sarah were married. Then it didn't matter what happened to the woman. Tebras could have her for all he cared. Jareth concealed the important crystal and returned to his place beside the wall. Brushing a finger over the crystal on the table, it popped just like a bubble and Linda immediately became animated again.

"I see. I will tell Sarah that you're busy with your play... What part is it that you're playing?" Jareth asked, refusing to discuss Sarah any longer.

She looked over as if she couldn't believe he'd asked, as if she couldn't believe he didn't know.

"I, of course, am playing the lead, Katherina Minola."

He nodded and started to leave the room.

"Why am I unsurprised that anyone could cast you as the shrew."

Linda frowned but Jareth was out of the door before she could respond.

"What a rude man," she muttered to herself as she started to remove her costume.

The strange abyss that they were in had morphed into a room and the pitch-blackness had become sparsely lit darkness. The few lights that had appeared always seemed to be just out of reach, beyond the magical barrier that ended the strange room. There were beds and a table - small comforts in the situation they'd been left in.

They didn't know how long they'd been there, they only knew that they'd been fed at seemingly planned, but uncalculatable intervals. But that wasn't what Hoggle, Ludo, Didymus and Ambrosius were thinking about. All they could focus on was what Jareth was doing to Sarah. They could only imagine the horrible things that he could be doing to her after the last time they had seen her.

He'd obviously managed to convince her that something bad would happen if she left with them. Something had made her turn them down and they could only fear for what he had convinced her to do now. She hadn't come looking for them either, which meant that he'd probably fed her some lies about where they were.

"I wonder how Sarah is," Didymus muttered.

Hoggle shrugged and replied, "Don't think we'll ever find out. We could be 'ere forever..."

Ludo slumped down on one of the beds and let out a loud sigh.

"No Sawah... No rocks," Ludo said.

The fact that he couldn't even call to his rocks in this prison was a depressing thought for Ludo and, were it not for Didymus, it would have been much worse.

"Cheer up, old boy. Don't be disheartened by what Hoggle says, we'll be out of here eventually."

Ludo turned to his brother and asked, "Sawah get us out?"

Didymus faltered.

"Well... It's possible... If that scoundrel hasn't done anything to her, I'm sure she will come to our rescue."

Hoggle snorted glumly, "I wouldn' hold yer breath. I bet Jareth's got us hidden in some hole miles away from Sarah."

"Sarah found her brother in the Labyrinth," Didymus observed.

"That was different. She 'ad our help, and Jareth's a snake that wouldn' make the same mistakes again."

"Oh, really?" the Goblin King's voice appeared from the darkness.

The group looked around trying to find where it came from, but they saw nothing. They hadn't heard had that voice in the longest time.

"Jareth!" Hoggle said.

"Come out of the darkness, you -" Didymus started, but stopped as soon as the Goblin King appeared in front of them.

Ambrosius ran under the bed and, shaking, peered out from behind Ludo's legs.

"I'm quite sure that you don't want to finish that sentence," Jareth said in a low voice.

"Let us out of here!"

"Where's Sarah? Is she okay?"

Jareth let out a sigh of frustration.

"If you would let me speak," he said stiffly, waiting for the group to stop yelling at him.

"I've come because I have reconsidered your position here."

They stared at him.

"You've taken punishment - although I have been lenient for the sake of your friendship with Sarah."

"Yer letting us go?" Hoggle said with a disbelieving frown.

"No. I cannot do that."

"What? Why not?"

"The situation has progressed and become more complicated. You're all in danger. Sarah has agreed to be my wife -"

"She wouldn' do tha'! What did you say to 'er to make 'er think she 'ad to?" Hoggle growled.

Jareth's brows rose.

"She agreed to it of her own free will and it will ensure her safety. It's the only way to protect her."

"Protect from what?" Ludo asked.

"The King of the Darklands will not stop hunting her and he plans to do any number of horrifying things to her. I can do far more to help with her as my wife and she knows that."

Hoggle glared at the Goblin King, trying to decipher any deception. Surely that couldn't be right. As far as he was aware, the Goblin King was too selfish to do anything like that - even when it came to Sarah.

"So why can't you let us go?" Didymus asked.

Jareth frowned.

"Tebras has already murdered Sarah's family, don't think for a second that he wouldn't go after you too."

"But -"

"I have to protect you for her sake so you will be staying here. Your punishment will end, but your protection will begin now."

"You can't just keep us here!" Didymus shouted.

"I can and will; but it will be less of a prison. I will alter this space to appear as a recreation of your homes. You will be comfortable and better fed. Perhaps I will even let Sarah visit you, but you will stay here."

"Or you could let us go."

"You will cause her more pain if you die, which you most certainly will do if I set you free."

"Jareth!"

"Your Majesty!"

"There's nothing I can do," he said in a blank voice.

Then he vanished, leaving Sarah's friends to think about what was happening as the environment started to change around them, morphing into things that they knew. Little did they know that Jareth's plan was about more than just keeping them safe.

He'd been thinking about how long they had been there. Of course, he had made sure that they had been fed regularly, but it was still a prison and he was still punishing them for trying to take Sarah from him. But the Goblin King knew that he had to think about what would happen if he ever could free them.

He was sure that Sarah would demand it once Tebras had been dealt with and he could hardly deny her that without her hating him again. She would eventually need them too, they were closest thing she had to a family any more. Jareth knew that as soon as they were free however, they would try to turn Sarah away from him. And she would believe their stories of his cruelty and imprisonment. It would push him back to square one with her.

He couldn't have that. So he decided to change things for her friends. He would make them more comfortable and he would convince them that he was justified in what he had done to them. Then they couldn't hurt his relationship with Sarah. They wouldn't even try.

Sarah sat where Conn had left her, in her and Jareth's rooms. After what had happened with Nessa, Conn had decided that she needed to stay alone for a while. He was in no mood to talk or teach her anything either. So he had picked up a couple of books from a room beside the library and left them with her. Telling her to read them, he made her promise to stay put before he left.

Sarah sighed to herself as she tapped the hard cover of one of the books. She couldn't help but wonder if she was ever going to get through a day in the Underground without something horrible happening or someone being profoundly hostile for no apparent reason.

She opened the book in her hands and started reading. As it turned out, this book was all about the geography and the infrastructure of the Underground. She should have guessed really. At the front, she came across a small map that she kept flipping back to whenever she encountered somewhere new.

It was a little hard to translate what she'd seen on the map Conn had showed her to the one in the book however. She could already see a few differences from the one Conn had shown her. This map didn't move and hadn't since it was made and, if what Conn had said about the Underground constantly shifting was true, then it was probably a little inaccurate. Magic, she thought, did make learning quite difficult.

"It's nice to see you're taking this seriously," the Goblin King commented.

A little startled, Sarah looked behind her to find Jareth peering over her shoulder at the book in her hands.

"Well I don't really have much of a choice."

His head tilted to the side a little.

"Well, while marrying you is a certainty, causing an international incident doesn't have to be."

The Goblin King chuckled to himself slightly. He was little surprised at how pleasant her mood was regarding the future. He didn't question though, he didn't want to ruin it.

"Very true."

"When did you get back?" she asked.

"Just," he replied.

"From where?"

"I'll tell you later. How is your studying going?"

She shrugged, a little unsatisfied at his dodging her question, and answered, "So-so. The Underground's kind of huge."

"Yes, it is. Has Conn been helping you?"

At that Sarah faltered a little, looking down for a moment.

"What's wrong?" Jareth frowned.

"He was helping me... We were in the library and he was showing me the big map in there and Nessa came in..."

"Nessa," he said through gritted teeth.

"It's always Nessa."

"Um, yeah... She seemed quite annoyed about the conversation she'd had with you... and then she and Conn had some... less than friendly words with each other."

Jareth shook his head. Conn should have known better than to talk with her. He should have known that Nessa would be on the war path. They were silent for a moment and Sarah nibbled at the inside of her cheek.

"So... something a little strange happened that I wanted to ask you about... Conn wouldn't tell me..."

"He usually knows best," the Goblin King replied slowly.

"I don't think this is quite the same. It seemed more personal... Nessa called Conn something."

"Oh?"

"I think it was... Fimus, or something."

Jareth scowled as soon as the word left her lips.

"I just wanted to know what it meant."

He said nothing for a moment, but eventually replied, "It was the name he was given in the Darklands. It is essentially a slave name and one that causes him great pain."

Sarah instantly felt bad that she'd tried to ask Conn when they left the library. She wanted to apologise to him for it but thought better of it. It'd probably be better if she never mentioned it again.

"Nessa never should have said that," Jareth muttered.

He was almost talking to himself now.

"She always has to cross the line. I will be very happy when my sister leaves the Goblin Kingdom."

Sarah shrugged and said, "No offense, but me, too."

Jareth's lips curled up a little.

"Only three more days."

Sarah took a deep breath. The fact that it was only three days until their wedding made her extremely nervous. She knew she had to do it, but she was still finding it hard to imagine being married - especially to Jareth. So she settled with just nodding.

"Then we'll only have Tebras to deal with," she added, watching as the smile slipped from Jareth's face.

When they sat down at the dinner table, Sarah took a seat on Jareth's right like she'd been told she should. She made a conscious effort to try not to slouch and was mindful of keeping her elbows off of the table. The way she saw it, sooner or later, she had to start trying to put into practise what Conn had taught her.

Jareth, meanwhile, was watching how she sat and couldn't help but feel somewhat pleased with her effort - even if it meant that she was a little distracted. He leant back in his chair, watching as she concerned herself with how upright she ought to sit. Sarah looked over at him and frowned at his posture. Why am I bothering if he's just going to sit like that, she thought.

"We will be dining a little differently tonight," Jareth said.

Sarah blinked.

"Differently? Why do I get the feeling that differently is not a good thing?"

The Goblin King chuckled.

"It could be a good thing..."

Sarah narrowed her eyes. It couldn't be good for her that he seemed so amused.

"We will be eating some very particular dishes, favourites of the Summer Fae, in fact."

Sarah wasn't really surprised that he wanted her to try food from a different kingdom; Conn had told her that she would have a mock testing at some point in the future. She had no idea who the Summer Fae were though. Conn hadn't mentioned them when they went over the map, although he hadn't exactly had the chance before Nessa had interrupted them.

"Who are the Summer Fae?" she asked.

"They are a Kingdom situated close to the Darklands. Potential allies," he added.

"But they're not already allies?" she queried.

He tapped a finger on the table and replied, "The Goblin Kingdom is on good terms with them at this current point in time and Tebras is most definitely not."

"Oh."

"It's very important that we ally with them against Tebras if..."

As he trailed off Sarah finished the sentence for him, "If I don't want to end up dead... Right. So why do they hate Tebras?"

"Besides the obvious reasons to hate Tebras, The Summer Fae and the Darklands are natural enemies. Everything they believe in makes them a juxtaposition to the other; and, quite simply, he antagonises them. If we can convince them that now is the time to act against Tebras, it puts us in a much better position."

"If we can convince them?"

Jareth smiled a little.

"We will be visiting the Summer Court shortly after our wedding. They will hold the great honour of the first kingdom in the Underground to be introduced to the Goblin Queen."

Sarah stared.

"You're not serious, are you?"

"Deadly serious."

"You want me to meet these Fae... and I have to make a good impression..."

He placed a hand over hers. It was comforting anyway, but he also knew that their bond and his touch would soothe her further.

"You'll be fine. Conn will tell you all that you need to know. For now, we'll try to prepare your taste buds first."

The first dish was one that she recognised for the most part. A plate of fruits. Among a few that she recognised, there was an unusual fruit that looked vaguely like a purple kiwi. It didn't taste like one, as Sarah discovered when she tried it. She made a note to beware the bitter tang that followed its overly-sweet taste.

The next dish Jareth had arranged to be brought out was rather different. A bowl of vegetables covered in a thick red sauce. Sarah couldn't help but wish that Jareth would give her some sort of warning before she started eating these things as it turned out this was far spicier than she was accustomed to. So much so that she started to sweat a little. Jareth smirked at the sight.

"What is it?" she asked, knowing that she probably would particularly like the answer.

"Nothing," he said, "I just like seeing you flushed and sweating."

She stared at him. How she wished he hadn't said that, even though she knew how often he had seen her like that because of his doing. She also wished that she was better at resisting him so that she could wipe the smirk off of his face.

The next course consisted of a meat that Sarah couldn't identify, and she dared not ask what it was, covered in a sugary, lemon sauce. Another was a milky sort of liquid with the viscosity of a thick soup, followed by a bowl of cold ice-like cubes that tasted of strawberries.

When Jareth informed her that there was more to come, Sarah let out a long sigh. She had started to feel full after the third course. She never usually ate that much and the quantity was getting to her. Jareth had been watching her carefully and noticed as she started to get uncomfortable. He told her it was something that she would have to watch.

"Never eat a plateful, just enough to give the appearance that the food has been enjoyed enough. Even if that's a lie."

"Does everyone do that?"

"For the most part," he shrugged.

"Seems a little silly to me," Sarah muttered.

"Seems like you could just cut the portion sizes, or better yet, the amount of courses. A lot less would go to waste..."

"True, but that would go against a lot of traditions - and one thing you will learn about the Underground is that there a lot of traditions."

"Right," she said quietly, "traditions..."

Their plates were cleared with a wave of Jareth's hand, as they hand been all night.

"So... this morning you promised to tell me about the preparations you were doing... for, um, you know..."

He raised a brow and replied, "Our wedding."

"Yeah, that..."

Jareth paused for a moment. He was almost reluctant to tell her how he'd spent his day Aboveground. He had expected to like her mother somewhat more than he had. As it was, he couldn't stand the woman.

Eventually he gave in to her questioning stare and said, "I went to find your mother."

Sarah blinked and paused.

"M-my mother?"

He nodded.

"Remember, I told you about a representative from each bloodline being necessary in a Fae wedding?"

She nodded slowly.

"And remember how you were doubtful that I could get a hold of your mother?"

She nodded again.

"Well, I went to collect her."

Sarah blinked. Her mother; her mother, was in the Underground with her? She didn't know what to think. It had been so long since Sarah had seen her mother that she was sure that she didn't care about her any more. If Jareth had convinced her to come, she had no idea how.

"She's in the Underground?"

The Goblin King eyed the slightly hopeful expression on her face with caution.

"How did you convince her to come here?"

"I didn't. It turns out you were right about her being hard to get hold of."

"Oh..."

Jareth watched as the hope slipped out of her expression. I should have known she didn't want to see me... Sarah thought quickly.

"She's almost as difficult as you with none of the redeeming qualities, you know."

Sarah's lips twitched a little, as if she appreciated his attempt at making her feel better.

"Instead, I have taken a piece of her consciousness. It will be present during our wedding, so she will cause no disruption to our plans."

Sarah nodded lightly.

"So did she... really just not want to see me then?" she asked quietly.

Jareth wanted to spare his future wife's feelings as much as possible, aware as he was that he had not always done so in the past.

"Linda Williams is a very selfish woman, preoccupied with her career and only what family is directly close to her. She does not deserve to see you, she does not even deserve to want to see you."

"So, no then."

Sarah couldn't hide her disappointment. She didn't even know why she was disappointed. Sure, her mother had stopped getting in touch, but she'd hoped that there had been a good reason. Apparently there wasn't. She sighed. Surely it said something about the state of her worth that the Goblin King who indulged in kidnapping and rape wanted her more than her own mother.

Jareth leant forward and reached across the table. He tilted her chin up so that she had to look at him.

"She is not worth your pain. Many things are, but she is not one of them."

Author's Note: I'm a horrible person. My updating is just awful. I've had computer/lead issues, after finishing uni I quit my job and did two volunteer internship/jobs at the same time, then lots of temp work ('cus gaining experience is just that fun). The biggest thing that's kept me away is that I did get a job as a Sub Editor (I'm better at checking other people's work than my own, promise) and have moved across the country for it. So my whole life has sort of changed (aka I have to actually be a grown up) and I've not quite figured it all out yet. I'm still trying though, even if I'm far later at updating than I can justify. :/ (Also, sorry for telling you my life story, I feel the need to at least explain my absence).

I also want to specifically apologise to Aisha Grey, who I have kept waiting far longer than I meant to. Sorry :(

Kit xx