Here ends my tale. I hoped you enjoyed it. Many thanks for all the kind reviews and favorites! It's always gratifying to have someone else enjoy my stories as much as I do! Thanks again!

Sincerely,

Your Humble Servant

Nefereu

Chapter 13

Brunella looked around at the utter chaos in the throne room and sighed wearily. The place was a thousand times worse than when Jareth had become ill, just like the rest of the castle. The goblins themselves were completely out of control. Some of them were even sitting on Jareth's throne, for heaven's sake! Frankly, she had given up trying to keep them in line. Even she could only do so much! After being told that Sarah had left, the Goblin King had seemed to snap. He had immediately locked himself in his royal chambers and hadn't come out in a week. Brunella only hoped that what she had brought could shake him out of it. It certainly couldn't make it any worse.

Carefully, she entered Jareth's chambers. The room was dark and Jareth was lying, listless in his bed. Though he was back to normal, he refused to get out of his pajamas, staying in bed all day, sulking.

"Jarrykins, me got something for you." she offered brightly.

"Go away! Whatever it is, I don't want it! And stop calling me Jarrykins!" he snarled.

She sighed again. "You need to get up, Jareth! The goblins going crazy!"

"Let them!" he snarled again.

"What wrong with you? You the King! Your kingdom need you!"

"Blast my kingdom!" Jareth barked. " I'm sick of being King! Let them find another one!"

"Okay; but me just thought you may be interested in Missy Sarah's new book." Brunella said, hoping to tempt him.

For a moment, Jareth quickly sat up, but then he flopped back down.

"I don't care!" he whined.

"You in it." she called softly, hoping to encourage him.

Sitting up once more, he glared menacingly at her.

"Give it to me." He ordered finally.

Gleefully, Brunella handed it to him and rushed to open the curtains to let in some light.

The King's Big Achoo proved to be as entertaining as all of Sarah's other books. In spite of himself, Jareth found himself smiling. In it, Sarah introduced the Goblin King: the mighty Jareth. Unfortunately, the King in the story had a big problem; he had caught a case of the dreaded disease sniffysnufflitis. Jareth laughed as the King in the story sneezed so hard that he blew all the goblins around like a hurricane. As before, Sarah didn't appear. The heroes of this book were her friends, Hoggle, Ludo and Didymus. The three were called on by the cranky king to seek out the fabled Elixir of Chicken, the only known cure for sniffysnufflitis. Brunella appeared as the king's nurse who called him Jarrykins and kept handing him tissues. In the book, it was she who bonked the royal chef and got the goblins back to work. After many adventures, the trio retrieved the elixir, saved the day and were rewarded by the no longer cranky king. Jareth looked at the King in the story. It was unmistakably a portrayal of him and a rather flattering one at that. Jareth was still smiling when he closed the book.

"It good, right?" Brunella announced.

"Yes, it is." Jareth agreed. "But my nose was not that red." he added, feeling the need to find something to complain about.

Brunella snorted in laughter as she secretly grinned. She had him now.

Sighing dramatically, she feigned a bland attitude.

"I just hope she be okay to do another." she stated being deliberately mysterious.

"Why wouldn't she?" Jareth inquired curiously, perking up.

"Oh, it not important." Brunella stalled.

"Brunella!" Jareth warned, rapidly losing patience.

Taking the hint, Brunella told him her news.

"Hoggle say that Toby tell him Missy Sarah really sick. He think she caught your cold."

"Why did Hoggle have to hear it from Toby? Why didn't Sarah tell Hoggle herself?" Jareth said, asking the obvious question.

"Oh, she not talking to anyone; not Hoggle, not her family. She no want to see them either. She sick all by herself." finished Brunella.

The idea of Sarah sick and unattended didn't sit well with Jareth. He knew from experience what a miserable feeling that was. In spite of his anger at her abrupt departure, he felt the need to check on her. He owed her that much.

Standing up, he threw down a globe and instantly, he was the ominous, imposing Goblin King spiked hair and all. Throwing another globe, he vanished.

Brunella shook her head. She was getting far too old for all this conniving.

Sarah lay in her bed, stuffed up, wheezing and feeling miserable. Frankly, it was no more than she deserved. She was an idiot and a fool and she deserved to suffer. Sobbing, she laid her head back on the pillow.

Only a few hours after returning from the Goblin castle, Sarah knew she had made a terrible mistake by leaving. Frankly, the reason was very simple. She had panicked. The revelations that morning coupled with Jareth's wonderfully powerful kiss had left Sarah reeling. Then, before she could sort herself out, she had discovered Jareth's magic was back. That had pushed her over the edge. When Jareth had been ill, it had been easy to deal with him. But the idea of Jareth at full power and full potency had scared Sarah witless. Like the coward she was, she had bolted for home.

Not knowing what else to do, she had thrown herself into her work. She simply couldn't summon the nerve or courage to go back. So, she'd worked herself into exhaustion for hours on end, getting her book published in record time. The publisher had been thrilled with the unscheduled book and got it out immediately. Unluckily, Sarah's mild smoke inhalation had rapidly evolved into a nasty case of bronchitis. To make matters worse, it turned out when she kicked Jareth's door she had broken three toes! Her whole foot was now taped up. Sarah looked at her sketchpad wistfully, only to put it down again. Almost instantly, tears began to fall. Sobbing into her pillow, Sarah cried herself to sleep.

Jareth entered Sarah bedroom and immediately noticed she was asleep. He almost turned around and left, but a faint wheeze caught his keen hearing and he paused. Looking closer, he soon noticed the dark smudges under Sarah's eyes. She truly was sick. A quick touch of her forehead revealed she was quite warm; too warm in fact.

At Jareth's touch, Sarah shivered and tried to snuggle down more, still deeply asleep. Jareth's magical eyesight saw the sketch pad lying next to her even in the darkened room and he picked it up. To his great surprise, he immediately recognized the face. It was him! Quickly, he turned the pages. On each one, his own face greeted him. In a variety of poses and places, Sarah had drawn Jareth in loving detail. But it was the last few drawings that struck Jareth the most. In all of them, he and Sarah were kissing.

Suddenly, Jareth smiled his usual smugly arrogant Goblin king smile. He summoned a globe and tossed it down.

Sarah woke up and immediately realized she wasn't in her own room. Mystified, she looked up and was taken aback to see the Goblin King sitting next to her on his throne. Strangely, it was in his bedroom and so was she. In fact, she was in his bed!

"Good morning, Sarah." Jareth said brightly." I hope you rested well."

"What is this?" she croaked hoarsely.

"The beginning of your treatment, Sarah." he replied, using her own words back at her. "I believe the first thing on the agenda is a bath. Brunella, if you please."

"You got it, Jarrykins… I mean your majesty." she corrected, much to Jareth's amusement.

Sarah started to protest, but Jareth cut her off.

" Hush!" he ordered in mock ferocity.

"Come along, Missy Sarah." Brunella advised. "This for your own good.

However, instead of being stripped and scrubbed, Sarah was treated to a long leisurely soak in a steamy tub full of pungent herbs. By the time she got out, she was feeling much better. Instead of a nightgown, Brunella offered Sarah an oversized black silk pajama top that looked suspiciously familiar. Within a short time, she was back in bed, tucked under the covers. Sarah started to speak, but again Jareth cut her off.

"Time for your medicine!" he ordered, offering Sarah a cup.

She hesitated for a moment, but then drank it down. Almost instantly, she began to feel vastly improved. Even her toes stopped hurting!

"That stuff is great!" Sarah remarked, marveling at its effects." Where was it when you were sick?"

Jareth gave Sarah a scowl that indicated his feelings on that particular question. "Don't ask."

He had already given the castle healer a severe tongue lashing for cowardly neglecting him while he had been ill. He had threatened to bury her UNDER the Bog of Eternal Stench if she couldn't concoct something to make Sarah better instantly! Luckily, she had succeeded.

As Jareth continued giving orders to various goblins, Sarah suddenly remembered the past two weeks and immediately began to tear up. Alarmed, the Goblin King rushed to her side.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" she sobbed. "I am more of a chicken than all the goblins put together! You kissed me and it was so wonderful and then I panicked…Umph!"

Jareth cut off Sarah's babbling with a firm but gentle kiss.

"Hush!" he ordered again, this time in a voice full of tenderness. Resting his forehead lightly against hers, he whispered. "It doesn't matter. No more recriminations, my love! The past is over and done."

"Careful." she sniffed." You might catch my cold."

"I'll send Hoggle for some Elixir of Chicken if I do." He joked lightly, handing her a tissue.

Sarah mouth dropped open in shock. He'd read her book?!!

Straightening, he quickly resumed his Goblin King persona. "Now." he pronounced loudly. "Where is that blasted chef?"

Jareth resumed ordering the Goblins around, but Sarah didn't miss the rather tender look he aimed in her direction. The fact that he had read her book had her senses reeling; when he addressed her as his "love", it had sent her heart into overdrive. With thundering clarity, Sarah had a realization that struck her like a lightening bolt. This was how Jareth showed his affection! By taking care of the people he cared about! Frankly, it was something she had begun to suspect after the fire. Jareth hadn't rested until he had made sure everyone, she and the goblins, were safe and had been looked after. While he might be arrogant and a bit overbearing at times, he genuinely cared for his goblins. He just didn't tell them.

As he was giving orders, Jareth began to hum a hauntingly familiar tune that Sarah quickly recognized. It was the song he had sung to her in the ballroom! In that moment, Sarah knew that Jareth cared deeply for her as well. Though he might not write her sonnets, or declare his love on bended knee, he would show her his affection in other ways, if she paid attention. Suddenly, she couldn't stop herself from blurting out.

"I love you, Jareth!"

"Really?" Jareth replied casually." Glad to hear it. We'll discuss that... later." he emphasized. He might have appeared casual to anyone else, but Sarah didn't miss the way his eyes lit up and almost seemed to glitter at her profession of love.

"You know what would really make me feel better, Jareth," Sarah continued getting into the spirit of things. "A little music. Sing to me, again? Please?"

Jareth's face lit with obvious pleasure and this time his eyes did glitter.

"Absolutely, dear Sarah!" He promised. "Right after breakfast!"

The chef soon bustled in with a tray for Sarah and Jareth sat back down, watching her eat in obvious pleasure. "You needn't worry about anything. I have it all arranged." he went on as she continued eating. "There's a suite just down the hall with lots of light for your work and Hoggle can take care of getting you things…"

That made Sarah pause, spoon in midair.

"Get my things? What for?" she asked, her brows furrowed in confusion.

"You moving to the castle, of course." Jareth announced in a tone that normally brooked no argument.

"I never agreed to that!" she snapped, her temper rising.

"I didn't ask your opinion!" Jareth replied irritably, his own temper rising.

"Now! Just a minute…" Sarah began angrily, shoving aside her food as Jareth stood and headed over to her.

Wisely, Brunella hustled all the other goblins out the minute the shouting started and departed with them, shutting the door firmly behind her as she left. She'd learned her lesson last time. She wasn't opening the doors again no matter what she heard!

With a sigh of relief, Brunella headed back to her old chamber here in the castle. She had moved back in only a few days ago. It was what she had wanted most for all these years since her retirement. Ths castle was her home and always would be. Things between the King and Missy Sarah had turned out better that she could have possibly hoped for. Of course, heaven only knew what they would say if they found out that it was she who had given the Goblin King his cold in the first place! She might only be his nanny, but she hadn't spent centuries raising the Goblin King without learning a little magic. She had gotten the idea one day after talking to Hoggle. He had told Brunella about Sarah's wish. As she had hoped, Sarah had returned to the Goblin kingdom and things had progressed from there. Brunella had hated to do it, but Jareth wasn't getting any younger and she wanted grandchildren. Little did she know just how well she would succeed!

Five years later...

Brunella dashed in to where Queen Sarah was sitting.

"Did you tell him?' Brunella asked eagerly.

"Yes, I did." Sarah pronounced slowly.

"Well? What he say?" Brunella demanded impatiently.

"Not much." Sarah sighed heavily. He just kissed me and then dashed off to make a royal announcement about the news.

"That's it?!!" Brunella snapped.

"Weelll, not exactly." Sarah stalled. "You see, Brunella, Jareth was so excited about the news that he didn't really wait until I finished."

Brunella's eyes widened as the impact of what Sarah said sank in.

"You mean he doesn't know you going to have triplets??!!" she replied in shock.

"Or that my old doctor says that the sonogram shows they're all girls." Sarah sighed heavily. After hearing the news from he castle healer, Sarah had wanted a second opinion.

"Aren't you going to tell him?" Brunella inquired.

"Not right now, Brunella." Queen Sarah replied, smiling to herself. "All in good time. After all, I have to have a little fun." she observed, giving her a conspiratorial wink.

Brunella laughed. Three daughters! Poor Jarrykins didn't know what he was in for!