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It had been seven days since Jareth had returned to the castle with Sarah.  Xaven and Areyne left him to watch over his unconscious chosen most of the time, and he had not left her side.  Areyne brought the anguish-ridden king his meals and wine, but neither was ever touched.  He talked with her occasionally, reminiscing on their brief time together in the Underground and lamenting how much time he has lost with her, just as Areyne had lost so much time with Xaven.  The pain of seeing her with Stark was still so close to the surface, but Jareth knew he had to face those demons, or be consumed by them. 

Areyne brought him his evening meal on the seventh day, and sat beside him.  He just kept staring at Sarah, as if she would awaken any moment.  He didn’t speak for many minutes, just stared at her, lying so pale and small against his giant bed frame, her dark hair creating a deep halo against her white face and pillows.  With more remorse than she had ever heard, and with a voice no louder than a whisper, Jareth spoke.  “I failed her, Areyne.  I failed her in so many ways.  I have done nothing but bring her pain and scar her.  How will she love me after this?”

“She will.  You must have faith in that, Jareth.  She loved you when she came here as a child.  She loved you through the lost memories.  She will love you through….”

“Through my failure.”  There was a long pause.  “Areyne, I need to speak with Xaven.  I need to know what happened while she was with him.”  Areyne stared long and hard at Jareth. She knew that this would be hard for him, that he would have to fight to overcome it.

“I will ask him to come.” Areyne stood and crossed to the door.  She stopped before she reached it and turned around, “Should you need anything…..” and she was gone.  Moments later, Xaven appeared at the door.  He knocked quietly and walked in.  Hesitantly, Jareth stood from his chair at Sarah’s beside and motioned for Xaven to take a seat with him in front of the fire.  The two looked at one another, both solomn for a long time.  Jareth trusted the fae from the reading that Areyne had gone through and from the way he had helped Sarah in their confrontation against Stark and was thrilled that his dear friend had found her love.  Yes, he was truly happy for her, and pained at his own love who lay motionless, locked in a magic-levied coma.

Jareth moved uncomfortably in his chair.  “I don’t know where to begin.”  Feeling vulnerable did not come easy to the Goblin King and this was the first time in his long life that he had ever felt completely without control.  Even when Sarah had been taken, Jareth knew he would get her back, or die trying.  But now, she was locked away in sleep, and Jareth was at a loss on how to help her.

“She loves you. She will return to you.” The Darken Fae’s voice was confident and strong.

Jareth narrowed his eyes and stared and the black skinned fae before him. “How can you be so sure?”

The ice blue eyes of the ebony skinned man did not leave Jareth’s mismatched ones.  “You are all she talked of when we were imprisoned together.  You kept her alive, gave her hope.”

Jareth took a long deep breath and braced himself for the question he knew he needed to ask, “I want you to tell me everything that happened, from the moment you saw her.”

“My Lord, it is at Areyne’s request that we remain here to answer to any needs you may have.  But are you sure that you want to know?”

“I need to.  I need to know if she will ever awaken from this or if I failed her.”

Xaven related the events of his and Sarah’s imprisonment.  Whenever he mentioned that Stark had touched her, Jareth’s anger grew.  He knew the Goblin King loved the woman who lay on the bed, and it was for her sake that Xaven was honest with Jareth.  To his knowledge, Stark had beaten her, grabbed her, kissed her, threatened her physically and sexually, but had never raped her.  He related how Sarah had passed out and when she had awakened, seemed to posses abilities that were innate only to Fae, not to humans, how she had freed his magic and constructed the plan to free both of them from the shield.

“She was originally going to use her magic to defeat Stark, but she was not sure of the limits of her new abilities.  That is when I told her of the Promethus orb and how she alone would be able to destroy the shield.”

“I don’t understand, how?  She is…” Jareth shook his head in confusion.  “I don’t even know what she is.  Her mother was Fae, her father is human, but she never showed signs of magic.  I assumed that any  abilities were latent and she would eventually show signs of slight ability.  But never anything like she demonstrated when she took Stark’s darkness or when she transformed the manor house…….It just doesn’t make sense.”

Xaven began to explain “She absorbed Stark’s darkness, and the majik from the bracers he placed on me.  But I believe she used that power and the power from the orb to transform the manor house.  The Promethius Orb was created centuries ago by a Fae who fell in love with a mortal.  He created the orb so that only a mortal woman could touch it, that any other would be unable to handle it and any fae who touched it would become trapped inside of it.  So powerful was the protective power of the item, that only it could destroy itself.  Perhaps it was his insurance, that if you were able to enter and decided to touch the orb thinking to render it useless, you would become trapped inside of it.  Years passed and the mortal woman aged and died and the Orb was lost to time.  No Fae bothered to look for it for obvious reasons.  Stark must have stumbled upon it at some point and used some mortal to bring it to his manor.  Because Sarah still has ties to her humanity, she was able to touch it and to thus to destroy it.  I mentally passed the information on to her and she had the courage and strength to carry though.”  He could tell by the expression on Jareth’s face that he was more confused and hurt than ever.

“It just makes no sense.  She would not have been able to absorb the dark majik if she had been human, but she would not have been able to destroy the orb if she were Fae………..and the amount of magic she possessed, it was incredible, more than I have ever been witness to.”  A long moment passed, and Jareth stared into the fire, the guilt of his love’s pain over taking him.  “I never should have brought her here.”  Jareth never took his eyes from the fire, and fought the emotions that were about to over come him.  “Xaven, thank you for honesty, I know relating these events could not have been easy.  Would you tell Areyne that I need to speak with her?”

“Of course, my Lord.”  Xaven stood, Jareth remained seated.  “If there is anything at all I can do, or my people can do for you and yours, you will let me know?”

Jareth’s eyes never left the fire.  He did not respond, only nodded, and Xaven took that as his cue to leave the Goblin King to his thoughts, however destitute. 

Jareth stood and walked back to the bed where Sarah lay, so small and fragile upon his bed.  He took her hand is his and noticed the blackened ring upon her finger.  He gently took it off and with a word, it was no more.  He replaced it with the band he had crafted for her so long ago, a simple ring with the insignia of his kingdom etched cleanly in to the front.  He gently slipped it on to her finger and brushed her lips with his, hoping that she would awaken.  But this was not a fairytale, and she did not.  He sighed, knowing that the coma was being fed by the magic in the air, and not knowing if she would awaken, not knowing if her magic would prove the stronger.  A tear fell from his green eye as he knew what he must do.

“Jareth?” Jareth did not turn to the sound of his friend’s voice.  Areyne walked up behind him and rested her hand upon his shoulder, “You must stop blaming yourself.  There is nothing you could have done.”

“I’m taking her back.” Jareth said, his voice flat, and barely more than a whisper.

“Jareth, no.  You can’t, she will remember.  We aren’t even sure if she is Fae, how can you take her back?  She loves you and you love her and…..”

Jareth stood and faced Areyne, his eyes silencing her.  She knew the pain those eyes held, knew it well.  “I am taking her Aboveground.  I will cast the same spell upon her that I did years ago and I will make sure to suppress any magic along with those memories.  I will take her to her father’s home and make her familiy believe that she was in an accident.  Outside of the Underground, she should awaken.”  Areyne’s face held a mixture of anger and grief.  He was banishing his Chosen and she knew he would never love again.  She knew that if Sarah left, his world would fall apart.  “Don’t look at me like that Areyne, I have made my decision.”

“Did you call me in here just to tell me you were sentencing yourself and that woman you love to a life of loneliness and sorrow?  Do you want me to feel sorry for you, Jareth?”  Areyne was angry but her voice was soft and there were tears in her eyes.  “I lived for years believing the man I had chosen was dead because of my actions.  How can you turn her away?”

“How will she ever forgive me?”  The grief in his voice caused the tears on Areyne’s face to fall.

“You are my dearest friend, Jareth.”  Areyne’s voice was quiet but began to build in intensity as she continued, “I love you as I would my own flesh and blood, we are bound as close as family and I say this because I love you.”  Meeting his cold stare, she spit her next sentence, praying the harshness of her words would awaken him from his self-pity, “You are a coward.”  Areyne stepped back unconsciously when Jareth’s eyes narrowed.  Her resolve would not be shaken though and she continued, “You would rather send her away than take the tiniest risk that she would see you as you see yourself, as a failure.  She will not see you that way, she loves you.  Do you not have enough faith in her to…………..

“ENOUGH!”  Jareth spat, “Get out now.  In fact, why don’t you just leave!   You don’t understand and will never understand!”  Jareth advanced on Areyen, and she shrunk back, his voice now dripped loathing as he stared at her.  “Leave the Labyrinth.  I banish you and yours.  You are no longer welcome here.” Jareth turned on his heel and returned to Sarah’s side.  He was angry, hurt, and shocked that his friend had turned on him, more shocked that she was right.  Areyne turned and stepped out the door, closing it gently behind her, she knew he would be angry with her, but she had not expected him to ask her to leave.  She would give him space and hope that in time, he would realize that Sarah loved him and realize that she had only meant to help.  She would not abandom him to his sorrow and emptiness, but only he could make the decision to return to her and return to Sarah.  She turned and laid her forhead on the door she had just closed “Be with him, Sarah.  Bring him back to us.”  Areyne walked slowly down the hall, tears falling from her eyes, staining her cheeks and gown.

Inside the darkened, Jareth stared at his sleeping Chosen.  “I never should have brought you here.  I am so sorry, my Angel.  I will take you home now, my love, and never again will you feel the pain of this place.  I love you, Sarah.”  And they were gone.