Title: Coming of Age
Summary: Sarah discovers her family's secrets, and must now deal with the aftermath of the Labyrinth, and her family's desire to marry her off now that she's come of age.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Labyrinth. All characters associated with the movie belong to Jim Henson and whoever else has rights to them, and I make no money off of this.
Special thanks: to all my readers, especially those of you who took the time to review. Your words are most appreciated, and I find them very encouraging.
And apologies that this took so long to get out. You'd figure that getting a job would allow one to acquire a decent internet service, but alas... it steals all your time, inspiration, and you are still left without enough money to get an ISP that doesn't suck.

Chapter 5

The Lord of Finnachaidh stared down through the window of his office overlooking the courtyard that led to the Gathering Hall. He stood with his back straight and his hands clasped lightly behind his back. He'd finger combed his hair back away from his blue eyes several times and that was a sign of nerves that he was now consciously refraining from. It was, he decided, an inconvenience, this whole looking out for his grand daughter's wellbeing. He would be happy once she was married and he could wash his hands of the whole mess. He stared down at his people, temporarily ignoring the presence behind him on the other side of his desk. Several children were gathered around playing games with balls and hoops. Old elves sat in the corners playing chess and doubtlessly arguing as the endless old bastards were wont to do. How old did one have to truly be to actually appear to be aged? None of them would speak on it, and Caellum wondered if perhaps it was magick and not age that made them appear so. Women stood about gossiping amongst themselves and keeping a close eye on the children. Caellum couldn't blame them. A number of the little blighters had manipulative tendencies and would provoke the other children into mischief given half a chance.

Finally he turned his head to speak.

"Eláir, gather a small band of your most powerful, find Sarah."

"Milord, do you think it wise…?"

"Is it questioning my judgment you are?" Caellum asked in a silky, dangerous voice of his guard captain. He turned around completely to glare at the young half elf. He had always been one of Caellum's favorite and as such was granted much leeway, but Caellum would brook no arguments in this.

"Never Milord. It's concern I feel for the girl, not doubt of your intent. She's not aware of the ways of this world as yet… It's just, Sarah seems such unpredictable soul."

"Which is exactly why you must find her, and quickly. Jareth is even less predictable than my headstrong heir, and I'd hate to think of how he might react to finding her intruding on his land."

"Do you believe even our most power will be able to find her once the Goblin King has taken her under his snowy wings? Is it your belief we'll get to her before he will, Milord?"

"It's your damndest you'll be trying. You know what to do once you have located her."

"As you will it, Milord."

"Eláir," Caellum turned back to stare down upon the courtyard with unseeing eyes.

"Sir?"

"It's a possibility that you'll be gone for a time. Do give little Alastríonaoibheann a proper farewell before you head out."

Eláir made a choking noise.

"Sir?"

Caellum waved a hand in dismissal, "That will be all."

Eláir's blushing reflection in the glass bowed and slipped hastily through the door of Caellum's office.

Caellum smirked.

A knock sounded on the door mere moments after his guard captain's hurried retreat, pulling him from his thoughts. Caellum sent a thread of magick to tug open the door and then allowed it to sink away into the ringed floor. A servant stood hesitating on the threshold. She had blonde hair, big pink eyes, and a flowing blue dress with pink foxgloves comprising the shoulder straps and neckline. Caellum searched his mind for the girl's name. He knew this was Absynthe's daughter, but…

"Ah, Artemisia, was there something you needed?" he asked kindly.

The girl blushed prettily. She had a bit of a crush upon him and she frequently became nervous in his presence, so he always tried to be nice in the hopes that would put her at ease. It had yet to be a successful ploy as she remained quite jittery around him. Sure and it's certain her shyness made her difficult to remember as the poor little thing hardly spoke. She cleared her throat and cast her pretty pink eyes to the ground.

She mumbled something quietly.

"It's your forgiveness I'll be needing as I didn't quite catch that," Caellum spoke gently. He had to come around his desk and stride toward the door in order to catch her answer the second time around. She cleared her throat and flicked a glance up at him. Her blush deepened and she dropped her eyes back to the ground.

"You've a visitor, Milord," she repeated in her soft voice. Caellum repressed an irritated sigh.

"And what's the name of this visitor of mine?" he tilted his head slightly. He really was going to have to find another section of the castle for the girl to work in; she was a little too easily flustered. He'd have to be remembering to speak to Absynthe about that when he had this whole marriage deal settled.

"Um, it's Lord Conlaoch," she answered in a small voice.

"Sure and it would be him." Caellum closed his eyes. "Alright, little one, see him in, if you would please."

"That won't be necessary," a strong voice floated through the doorway and was quickly followed by the owner of said voice.

Conlaoch was a large and heavily muscled man. It was obvious that he intended this as an informal visit as he wore a plain blue jerkin threaded with simple gold designs and yellow trousers. There wasn't a sword or piece of armor in sight excepting the bracers on his wrists, Caellum noted with a sense of relief. He let his eyes continue to regard the other man, assessing. Conlaoch was an attractive man who appeared to be about four and twenty years by human standards. He had gleaming gold hair that he rarely covered and crystal blue eyes that danced with amusement. When he wasn't locked in combat he truly was a jovial fellow.

"Thank you Artemisia. You may leave."

The girl curtsied and scurried out of the room. She blushed and glanced shyly at the big golden man on her way out. Another crush in the making is what that was. It was like she creating a collection. Too many more men to fancy and she'd be completely insensible and useless besides. Caellum wanted to bang his head against something hard. Inefficient servants and the man who was supposedly going to marry his granddaughter if she wasn't missing; this was not one of his more relaxing days.

Caellum summoned a smile to his face as he tipped his head up to regard the man who was contracted to marry his Sarah.

"Ah Conlaoch, it's early you are."

"Well, I wanted a chance to meet your lovely Sarah." Large shoulders rolled in a shrug as the warrior gave Caellum an easy smile in return. Caellum turned toward his desk and gestured the man to follow and take a seat in the chair opposite the heavy wood.

"Yes, well… Would you be wanting some wine? I picked some up while I was at the Goblin Kingdom a week or so back."

"Goblin wine?" Conlaoch asked with interest, completely distracted from his thoughts of meeting his blushing bride to be.

##

"Eláir," Alice blinked up at the half elf, "what's the matter?"

It was Alice's day off and she'd been sleeping in. The little brownie had been content that Sarah was safely away before the girl could be forced into a disastrous marriage, for all that Lord Caellum had figured out what they'd done. So it was with much grumbling that she'd pulled on her robe to answer the knocking on her door.

"Our lord has decided to send a party after our wayward Sarah," Eláir announced without preamble.

"Oh no!" Alice slapped a hand over her mouth, suddenly feeling wide awake.

"Aye. And it's me who's expected to be leading the search," he answered.

Alice felt a wave of calmness as she listened to his words. Only partially his magick, she knew the rest was sheer trust in her friend's ability.

"Well that's alright then," she tilted her head to smile up at him. "I know you'll look out for Sarah's best interests."

"As best as I can I'll be doing so," he agreed softly. "But she's entered the Goblin Kingdom, and we might have to be guarding her from the Goblin King."

"But he's so powerful! What if you get hurt?" Calm mood gone, Alice stared up at her beautiful friend in worry. He was powerful, surprisingly so, but to go up against the Goblin King? Even King Oberon would be leery of such an undertaking, and Lord Caellum expected it of her Eláir? She was horrified.

"We're not planning on moving about in the open; mostly we'll be sticking to the waterways. It's less a concern that I'll be hurt than it's a concern that I could be gone for some time."

"Oh," Alice said in a small voice.

"I… There is something I was wanting to speak to you of before I head out."

Eláir hesitated. The brownie flicked her ear when she noticed her friend's uncharacteristic nervousness.

"Is something wrong?" Alice asked when he remained silent.

"No, not… It's difficult for me to be asking is all," he murmured sinking to one knee so that he was on eye level with the brownie.

"What is it?" Alice pulled the lapels of her golden robe tighter together with one fist. All sorts of scenarios raced through her mind. Someone could be sick and he could want her to look out for them. Oh no, what if it was Elainar? Sometimes the human's garbage managed to float down here and get tangled up in the naiads' waters. It made them sick for days afterward. Alice was fond of Elainar, and she hated seeing her get sick.

"Is it your mother? Did her pond get polluted again? Don't worry one bit, I'll look out for her while you're gone!" Alice nodded her head firmly at him to show him how serious she was. She'd make sure that the pond got cleaned good and proper and she would make sure that Elainar had plenty of food from the castle while she was recovering.

"What? No, it's not…"

Apparently giving up on finding the words to express what was bothering him Eláir reached out to cradle the back of her head with one slender hand and pulled her face closer to his. His other hand lifted to stroke her cheek with his thumb. His lips slanted lightly over hers as she let out a tiny gasp. Soothing magick washed over her in a wave of warm pleasure that streamed over every inch of her body, and inside of her into places that made her moan. She trembled beneath his magick, beneath his hands and raised her own hands to brace herself on his shoulders. His tongue flicked out to trace her bottom lip and then as quickly as he had captured her he pulled back.

Alice stared at him, dumbfounded.

"Just take care of yourself while I'm gone. I'll not be here to keep you out of trouble," he didn't meet her eyes as he spoke. He flowed to his feet and he strode down the hall before she ever had a chance to respond.

Alice sank against the doorway to watch his retreating form with luminous eyes. One hand was raised to her mouth, the other braced against her chest where she was certain that her heart was trying to turn into liquid and follow him down the hall. She rested her one of her burning cheeks against the cool wood of the door frame as a huge smile slowly spread over her face.

He kissed her! Eláir kissed her!

##

"Owww! Crap!"

Sarah turned her hands over to examine the raw scrapes that were starting to bleed. The knees of her jeans were stained, the left one turning red. She rather suspected that the knees the rough denim covered didn't look any better than her hands. In fact she could feel a trickle of blood sneaking its way down her calf even now. How she'd managed to skin her knees so bad without ripping her jeans was a complete mystery to her.

"Stupid trees," she muttered viciously.

Sarah was certain she could be perfectly content never to see another tree in her life after she was clear of this stretch. For all that they were pretty to look at from several hundred feet above, the tree roots made a difficult terrain to traverse. She kept tripping over twisted knots of wood and having to catch herself. At this point she'd be grateful to land in some nice tightly packed dirt. The landing would be rough but at least there would be no bark to slam into. She felt like she could even take a few jagged rocks with the dirt if it meant she wouldn't trip over anymore roots, or have to keep her balance as she walked across branches that spanned yet more mist that thankfully hid what she suspected would be a nasty drop. Finally, after an eternity of twining limbs of black and brown she found herself at the edge of a stretch of green. Land! She held her arms out and hurried as quickly as she safely could toward the inviting sight of grass. Finally she would be away from the demon tree that kept trying to kill her. As soon as her foot cleared the tapering limb she happily flung herself to the soft ground. Then she jerked upright and stared at the ground in horror.

It was singing!

She could feel vibrations running through her feet and up through her chest until her heart began to beat in time with the music in sympathy. Blades of grass beat together in a rolling rhythm of a doumbek played for a dancer to whirl to. Water slid against rocks like a bow over the strings of a violin, souring high notes that reached for the heavens. The air whistled through the air in a reedy fluttering song that could shame any pan pipes with its complexity. The sun stretched warming fingers toward her and played a tinkling tune over her skin as though she were the keys of a piano. It was like standing in the middle of an orchestra pit club, or a club, with the music blaring and pulsing through every inch of your body. Except this music wasn't in her ears, it was in her head, in her very bones. It was in the land itself, and the land was elated that she was back.

She hopped up onto the tree root at her back. As her feet left the soft blades of grass she felt a fading wail thrum through her. She staggered, nearly losing her balance at the sensation of grief that had just rocked her heart. It wasn't just the land that ached at the loss of connection; it was something inside her that reached toward the land every bit as much as the land reached for her. It was… her magic, she realized with a start. Her magic was begging her to return to the land, to return to the music.

"Well, my grandfather did say that my magic would seek out a source of power and that it would try to bind itself to the land," Sarah muttered. It looked like once again the decision was beyond her. Closing her eyes she stepped back off the limb, allowing herself to be enveloped in the soaring music that rocked through her soul. She swayed in time with the sounds that swelled around her, deeper and deeper into the music she sank, as more sounds added to the first sounds she'd felt; twittering birds, fish flying through the air and splashing back into the water they had jumped out of, peaches growing on trees, and feet thundering over the land. Each creature, every single thing had a sound that swirled together inside her self.

Sarah found herself running forward, without even opening her eyes. There was no need to open her eyes. The land loved her, it would never let her come to harm. As she flitted over the land the music would soften and then grow overwhelming as she passed through different areas. She hadn't even realized that she'd been feeling poorly until she realized how wonderful she felt with the magic singing in her veins. She kept running until she found a place where the music swelled and stopped to begin spinning around, laughing aloud as she felt the music twining with her magic, and she felt herself growing strong, strong. She continued to dance and twirl with joy. Spinning and spinning, until smack!

Sarah felt her butt hit the ground with a soft thump, but she felt no real pain as the ground had softened and the grass thickened to protect her. Her head jerked up to glare at the obstacle she had collided with and she found her eyes traveling over dark boots and gray pants tightly molded to strong legs. Her heart began to sink as her eyes rose up over a suspiciously familiar brown leather jacket with trailing cape, but she boldly continued until she found herself staring into mismatched eyes of blue and gold framed by spikes of soft platinum hair. The land around them began laughing with smug pleasure. Its two favorite people in the world were gathered on its soil. The girl shook her head to try and keep from being distracted from the almost thoughts that threaded through the quietly humming music.

"Well hello Sarah."

"You!" she gasped. She was quite certain she looked ridiculous as she sat there gaping up at the gorgeous Goblin King, but she couldn't convince her limbs to move. He tilted his head to regard her with a wicked smirk.

"Me!" he mocked.

"What are you doing here?!" Sarah sputtered.

"I'm afraid that one of the risks of trespassing is running into the owner of the land that you are trespassing upon. Tell me Precious, whatever brought you to grace my humble kingdom with your raucous presence?"