Grasping her wrist firmly, Jareth brushed his lips against her fingertips before pulling her hand away. "Possessive, Sarah? I thought you didn't want to be bedded by me," he purred, dropping her hand. Sarah frowned and rolled her lower lip with her teeth. The whole situation was confusing. She wanted to scream at him and reject him, yet at the same time she wanted to rip the hair off the head of the silly woman who he was betrothed to. In the end, all she could do was shrug. "It's complicated."

He took her arm once again and said, "Come now, let's get this over with." Failing to notice the familiar simmering aura around her.

Jareth led her out from the alcove and she tried to calm herself as they wove through the crowd. Feeling Jareth tense and pause she looked ahead to see a jovial blonde and bearded man wearing deep greens merrily chatting with Oberon. Next to him was a small slip of a woman with cascading blond girls dressed head to toe in blush of spring pink with full pouty lips, simpering obediently next to her father. The fury in her stomach rose up in an eruption of a small chorus of voices.

We do not accept it. We do not accept her. She has no right to the crown of the Goblin Queen. The right is not hers. The voice insisted. It was getting louder in her head as they moved closer.

Sarah failed to notice the people stepping back from her as that same forceful energy took on a red hue and rolled from her figure. Her eyes beginning to blaze gold around the edges.

She spoke in an all-encompassing voice. Sure, ancient words she barely understood but felt deep in her bones. Words she could not control. "I challenge for the Maze's right for endless nights. My blood shall become the sovereign soil of the Labyrinth. So mote it be. I challenge thee." And in a flash of magic a great ring of uncross-able light surrounded her and the shocked maiden.

"Sa..." Jareth began in his haste, then growled. "Duchess mine...what are you doing?!"

In the ethereal and ancient voice of the Labyrinth's will she spoke. "Silence, caretaker. No King has Providence over a contest of succession. We have chosen. We will brook no dispute." And with that Sarah raised her hand and effortlessly formed a crystal, from which sprang a great and wicked whip. Both her and the Labyrinth spoke now.

"Yield, pretender. Or suffer."

Diannara looked around, shocked by the sudden appearance of the light wall and this unknown woman. "What's going on?" She asked in a whiny high-pitched voice.

Titania and Oberon joined their son at the edge of the light wall. His hands were pressed against it as he tried to reach Sarah. "It seems the Labyrinth and its Champion have issued a challenge to Diannara for the right to be Jareth's Queen." Titania explained.

The whole room was silent and slowly gathered around the light wall to watch. Jareth slammed his fists against the wall. "Mother you knew this would happen, didn't you?" He demanded.

"I had no idea the Labyrinth would speak and act through this girl. I simply wanted to see if she felt the same as you my son." His mother responded. "Though as far as entertainment goes, you never disappoint, Jareth." She smirked.

"This isn't a game mother!" He barked. "She could be harmed or even killed!"

Titania grinned evilly. "Which 'she' are you concerned for?"

"You know very well which one I am referring to. There is only one woman in the world I want protected at all cost!" He shouted. "Now stop this!"

"Afraid I can't." Titania answered.

Jareth turned to his father, a panicked look in his eyes. "Father..."

Oberon sighed, "Sorry my boy, not even I can interfere with a challenge for the throne. It's up to Diannara to surrender her claim to the Goblin Throne and end her betrothal to you, or, accept the challenge and fight your Duchess."

Jareth turned back to the two women in the ring of light. Diannara may not look it, but he knew she was an excellent fighter and had killed almost as many men in battle as he had. The betrothal had been her father's idea and Diannara and Jareth had little say in the matter. He truly had no idea if she actually wanted to marry him or not. Unsure of how she would answer the challenge from Sarah, Jareth waited with baited breath to see her response.

Diannara frowned and turned toward Sarah. "You've been gone for years and show up tonight to challenge me? Why?" she demanded, with a wave of her hand a glittering settling around her. "Do you honestly expect anyone to believe you love the Goblin King?"

Diannara raced through the possibilities in her mind as she waited for Sarah's response. On the one hand, she'd never backed down from a challenge before, and her very being balked at the idea of doing so now. On the other hand, she could seize this chance to be done with this farce of a betrothal and perhaps persuade her father to let her choose a suitor. She had a feeling that she was merely playing the foil for the Fates in this game, but she wouldn't be cowed so easily.

"Love has begun to take seed. But it is immaterial to this conflict. We POSSESS the Goblin King. And none but we shall claim him. Now, CHOOSE."

Another burst of the red magic sprung from the tip of the cracking whip in a lethal punctuation.

Diannara snarled. "I may not want to marry him, but I'll be damned if I'll let some trumped up mortal speak to me like that!" Hissing in a foreign tongue, a flaming sword appeared in her hand and her figure shimmered. Jareth groaned helplessly, seeing Diannara's battle armor appear. It had been forged at the same time of his own and was virtually indestructible by all except dark magics.

"Suffering then." A great billow of black smoke emanated from Sarah and concealed her from sight as in spread across the dueling ring. From the depths at breakneck speed the whip bore right to wrap around the neck of her opponent.

Jareth banged against the wall once more. "Enough!" He yelled. "As keeper of the Labyrinth I demand that you release your hold on Sarah. Let my Champion speak!" He continued banging on the wall. "Her will is as strong as mine! You have no power over her if this is not her wish!" He pleaded with the spirit of the Labyrinth.

Sarah's entire body began to glow red as the whip still wrapped around Dianarra's throat began to pulse as magic surged through it. With jerk of her hand, Sarah pulled Dianarra forward, her sword flying from her hand and leaving the circle. Her armor vanished and as the smoke cleared, both women stood in nothing but plain leather armor. "As our keeper worries for the safety of our Champion we shall level the playing field for her. To make this a fight fair neither shall have heavy armor, weapon, or magic."

The Labyrinth's voice boomed through Sarah. "Our keeper will be allowed to determine our challenge and the time limit. We shall also allow our Champion to speak before the challenge is named."

Sarah's body ceased glowing and she stumbled forward, her hand resting on the wall for support. "Sarah!" Jareth rushed to her, his hand on the wall opposite of hers. "Precious are you alright?"

Shaking her head, Sarah looked around. She was aware of what was going on and recalled hearing a voice in her head asking if she wished to deal with the pretender and if she wanted to claim her throne and King. Sarah hadn't been completely sure what that had meant at the time, but she agreed to it none the less. "I'm fine Jareth." She assured him.

"Sarah, you must abandon this foolish challenge. You are no match for Diannara. The challenge was made by the Labyrinth, you are not required to go through with it." He pleaded with her.

Sarah smiled at his concerned expression. "It's alright Jareth. I agreed to this. The Labyrinth spoke to me first. I didn't know exactly what it had planned, but I agreed to challenge her for the right to be your Queen. Name your terms, Goblin King."

Jareth considered his options carefully. He didn't want to risk Sarah getting hurt, but he wanted to choose something she was skilled in as well.

"I have decided... we shall have a battle of wits to see who is fit to be my queen."

Both women lowered their aggression to stare at him in open shock. Sarah recovered first, straightening her posture and listening very, very carefully.

Diannara blinked. "Wits?"

"Yes," Jareth smirked. "There will be 3 tests you must complete by the end of the night. Your first test is a riddle. When you figure out the answer it will lead you to this crystal." With the flick of his wrist a crystal appeared, and he began juggling it from one had to the other. "This will give you the second challenge which will lead to a second crystal, which will finally lead you to the throne, but only if you complete all three tasks."

"Piece of cake." Dianara smirked.

Sarah laughed at her comment and Jareth smirked. "Something funny, Duchess-mine?"

Sarah managed to compose herself and nodded. "I just hope her luck is as horrible as mine was every time I said that." She grinned.

"Only time will tell Sarah. Now for your riddle..." he tossed the crystal up and it vanished as quickly as it had appeared. "I'm what everybody seeks but no one truly wants to find. Everyone wants to hear me, but none will ever say me. What am I?"

Sarah paced back and forth, considering carefully. "Truth?" She proposed.

Jareth grinned. "Perhaps, but will that lead you somewhere Sarah? You must find the crystal."

Diannara smirked. "Truth is it? Well there's only one place to find truth." Diannara rushed off to the dais that the High King and High Queen sat on when holding court. "None would dare lie before the King and Queen." She stood there, feeling proud of herself, but nothing happened.

Sarah rubbed her chin. "Where do you find truth."

Jareth watched here carefully and could almost see the gears turning in her head. "That's it Precious. You can figure this out." He whispered.

"No helping her Jareth." Titania warned.

"Would dream of it mother, she would never let me hear the end of it if I did." He chuckled.

Oberon leaned over to whisper in his son's ear. "Is it really fair to hide it in the Hall of Truth when only the royal family knows about it?"

The comment was unheard by others. But Jareth suspected it wasn't when Sarah snapped her fingers in revaluation. "Down." She murmured to herself before running off to the nearest staircase she saw.

If I was truth in any form, at the heart of a Fae society. I would be hidden the deepest and safest part of the keep.

Sarah wove her way through the depths of the catacombs beneath the splendor of the festivities. Winding her way through the endless passageways she kept thinking, "Where would I be? Where would I be?" Remembering the switch and baits of the Labyrinth guided her, connected her with how a maze thinks, feels, and protects it's quarry. Where would I be? Where would I be?

THERE.

A perfectly normal looking wall. But with one extra wall sconce as opposed to the opposite wall. Inspecting it closely, she could make out a wafer-thin seam in the endless sea of cobblestones. Picking up the sconce to get a better look the wall shifted silently under her eyes inward. Just enough to push through.

Just barely squeezing through, the torch was her only light as the door slid shut behind her. She walked straight on into the gloom. Some distance within, she came across a large basin with a highly reflective liquid inside. She tested the viscosity between her perceptive fingers. Oil.

She lowered the flame to the vat where it sprung into life. Then crawling along an elaborately flammable irrigation system.

"Very National Treasure." she joked to the shadows as she pressed on into the gaining light.

It was like a family exhibit. Paintings large and small, both grand and domestic covered every inch of the walls. Thousands of them. Each depicting a moment caught in time with the royal family. Oberon and Titania meeting, the births of their children, great gains, and great loss. Time passing among them with every step she took. Young Jareth with a toy, then a sword, then a crown, and then...in tears. Doubled over in anguish surrounded by shattered walls, the clock striking 13. Beneath it floated a crystal. It seemed to say, "This is my truth. A truth no one else knows. Please accept me." She reached out gingerly with a single finger and lovingly grasped the orb.

Something within Sarah shifted as she made her way out of the alcove. The last scene had been more than familiar, it was ingrained into her memory as well. How had she not seen it, not understood? Tears sprinkled onto her cheeks. What choice had she had in that moment in any case?

"Now is not the time for regret," came the Labyrinth's voice inside her head. "You must discover the next riddle." Sarah nodded and wiped the moisture from her eyes. Now, how was this supposed to work?

Something else from her memory stirred. "Turn it this way..." Her voice trailed off as she peered into the crystal, rotating it as she did so.

The crystal began to glow as the bobbed it from one side of her hand to the other a low humming building all the while. Soon there was a *pop!* And the crystal vanished while Jareth's voice surrounded her.

"Well done, precious. Now for the second riddle to find it again. 'I am sister to both the sapling and the shroud. Often harsh, but also proud. What am I?' Hurry, Duchess Mine. The night is waning fast."

"Oh no. Oh damn. What the hell. Think Sarah think. Ok, sapling and shroud have no literal connection so great a riddle with a metaphor. Fantastic. So, sapling. The very young. Shroud, maybe the very old near death? Sister to the very young and the very old." A dusty memory from her college mythology class lit up in her mind and her eyes. "The maiden, the mother, and the crone! 'Often harsh but also proud' oh my gosh it's totally his Mother! I got to get back upstairs." Sarah sprinted back the way she came, smiling manically all the way, having way more fun then she would ever dare admit.

As Sarah raced to the second crystal, Diannara was still pacing before the thrones, certain she had figured out the answer. "There is no other truth." She grumbled.

Titania sighed as she watched the poor girl. She thanked the gods that her son had stepped in and made this a test of brains not brawn. She looked around the room, surprised by how many were still there. Apparently, they all wanted to see who would complete Jareth's challenge.

"I know the answer!" They all looked as they saw Sarah rush into the room. Titania was certain she was coming for the second crystal. "It's the mother." Sarah said once she stood before the High Queen.

"No, the answer is truth stupid girl." Diannara spat.

"Silence Diannara." Oberon commanded. "The Duchess is on the second riddle."

Diannara and everyone else stared at Sarah with wide eyes and mouth's open. "Tell us your solution to my son's riddle." Titania commanded in a soft voice.

"Sister to both the sapling and the shroud. Often harsh, but also proud." Sarah smiled as she recited the riddle. "The sapling is the maiden, the shroud is the crone, the sister to both is the mother. He means you majesty, often harsh but also proud, his mother."

Grinning proudly, Titania held out the second crystal. "Clever girl. No wonder you were able to beat my son."

Sarah carefully took the crystal from the High Queen and turned this way and that in her hand as she had with the first. Soon it vanished, and Jareth's voice echoed in the room. "Congratulations Precious, you've solved the second riddle. Now for the final test. 'Everyone asks for me, but most truly do not want me. I can be good or bad, right or wrong, and oftentimes hard to say. What am I?' Hurry, time is short."

Sarah thought over the newest riddle. "Everyone asks for me..." she repeated the riddle several times. "Honesty perhaps..."

Titania cocked her head to the side as she listened to Sarah try to work it out. She herself wasn't completely sure of the answer to Jareth's riddle, but knew he surely had a reason for it. She knew what Sarah would have seen in the Hall of truths and then he had lead his Champion back to his mother, surely it was all deliberate.

Sarah was having similar thoughts are she pondered the challenge. 'The first one took me to the Hall with all the portraits. I saw the result of my run. I left him in tears... then he lead me to his mother... his mother invited me here tonight. He said she probably wanted him to make me his Queen and produce an heir, but he was already betrothed so why bring me into it? Unless..." Sarah looked around. "Majesty where is Jareth?"

Titania looked around. "I'm not certain. He was here a moment ago."

Sarah rushed around frantically. She was sure she knew the solution. Jareth wanted the very thing that the riddle was, an answer, but to what question?

Jareth watched her from the shadows of the balcony. From the determined look on her face he was sure she had solved the last challenge. Summoning a crystal, he blew on it and let it float to her.

Stopping in her tracks when she saw the bubble, Sarah ran after it, following it to the balcony. Rushing out the open door, she found the Goblin King sitting on the railing, waiting for her. "Hello Precious." He grinned.

"Jareth..." she let out a sigh upon seeing him. She knew now what it was he wanted. He wanted an answer to his original proposal. "I solved your riddle." She smirked as she walked over to him.

"Did you?" He grinned. "Well let's hear your solution."

Sarah stood in front of him and gazed into his eyes. "The riddle is talking about an answer. Everyone wants one when the ask a question, but they may not want to hear it. It can be good or bad, right or wrong and is often hard to say. I have an answer for you, Jareth."

"To what question, Precious?" He asked as he wrapped her arms around her waist.

"To the question that started all of this on the strike of 13. To the question your mother tried to answer for you tonight. An answer my heart knew before my mind did."

Trials untold and hardships unnumbered. Taking his face gently in both her hands she pressed a hard and possessive kiss on his lips before softly saying,

"Yes, I will stay with you."

"Sarah..." he smiled before covering her lips with his. Sarah returned the kiss with equal passion. When they finally separated for air, Jareth smirked. "Say your right words, Precious."

Chuckling, Sarah nodded. She intended to say her right words clearly so there would be no mistake. "I wish to stay in the Underground with you, my Goblin King. For I do love you, I fear you as my equal, and I vow to do as you say, within reason." She grinned and caressed his cheek. "And I believe we both are slaves to love and I couldn't be happier."

Sweeping her into his arms, Jareth swung her in the air as he spun around joyously. "Oh, Precious thing, you have no idea how thrilled I am with your answer." Setting her down, he kissed her cheek. "Come, let's tell everyone you have won my challenge and claimed your King."

They scurried back down to the ballroom, pausing every now and then to steal passion in the darkness. And as they came to the entrance Sarah could just barely make out the break of dawn through the Palace windows. Taking his hand, she looked up at her new husband to be.

"New beginnings, right?"

Jareth squeezed her hand and smiled brightly. "To new beginnings." And then together, they both took the first step through the door and into the future.
*****************************

The authors thank all those who read and enjoy!

Authors:

AvalonBane
bluepixy13
breejah0923
Hachimanskitsune
JediAvenger
Lady-Lannie-Queen-of-Goblins
Millie Foxglove
PaintedGlass(AO3),
Sarah198026(wattpad)
SheyrinaLabyrinthianDragon

Written March 10-14 2018.