Labyrinth 2- Return of The Queen

Chapter 12

"Awesome!" Gloria yelled, leaving her chair slightly. Lottie and Hoggle seemed in a permanent state of shock. Sarah just sat in her chair watching Jareth with a million thoughts running through her head.

'Why was he letting them train?'

'What had changed?'

'Had anyone said anything?"

'Did he finally trust them?'

'Why did he look so sad?'

The last one seemed stuck in her mind as Jareth refused to look anywhere but the window.

"You will be trained by my second in command, it is best you go into your rooms and look for appropriate clothing." Jareth spoke excusing them from the room. Everyone left but Sarah who got up and walked towards the window. She was already wearing light trousers and shirt so she thought it seemed appropriate for the activity. They stayed in silence for a moment until Sarah spoke.

"Why the change of heart?"

Jareth got up out of his seat to stand next to her. They looked out the window to see a section of the Labyrinth. Sarah noticed how close they were when Jareth took her hand and held it in his gently. She turned to look at the king who had a sad smile on his face, his breath slow and steady compared to her fast paced heart.

"I can't lose you, if anything were to happen to you... I couldn't...This is the only way I know you will be safe." He turned to face her, brushing a stray piece of hair away from her face. They were so close Sarah swore she could hear his heart beating just as fast as hers. "Your so beautiful." He whispered, taking hold of the other hand and intertwined his fingers with hers. She looked down slightly but a small frown crossed her face.

"Why don't you trust that I will be alright?" Jareth's face hardened slightly, but became soft once again.

"I don't trust myself to keep you safe."

He leaned in slightly, his eyes trained on hers. Sarah's heart almost came out of her chest and her stomach was full of every butterfly known to exist. She put a hand on Jareth's shoulder and leaned in slightly, her face full of hesitation. A knock on the door pulled them out of their trance and Jareth cursed under his breath. Sarah let go of Jareth and took several steps back.

"I-I-I should go." Sarah mumbled and ran out of the throne room to bump into the girls.

"You ready?" Gloria asked, obviously pumped for the training. Lottie paused for a minute to study Sarah's face.

"Are you okay?" Sarah didn't know the answer to that question so she answered with best possible answer.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Okay, let's go!" Gloria said running towards one of the doors.

"How do you know where to go?" Sarah asked, running after Gloria.

"One of the goblins came to our room and told us, as you seemed... Busy?" She finished with a small twinkle in her eye.

-----------------2 hours later-------------

"I am going to kill Jareth." Gloria wheezed after the 5th lap of the training field.

"Come on its not that bad..."

"Another two laps of the field ladies." Drake yelled from the middle of the field. Drake was like Jareth, a fae. So he had a human appearance but he had some small magic ability, which wasn't very much compared to Jareth's.

"Okay, I'm going to kill him."

"I thought I had first dibs!" Lottie exclaimed. Sarah laughed, but it sounded more like a cough and set off to do the next two laps. She waved at Hoggle and Sir Dydimus who were practising hand to hand combat.

'I suppose they are more experienced.' Sarah thought as she wheezed her way around the track.

An hour later and the girls were practising using basic weapons against each other. Sarah swung her sword over her head to be met with a clash of Lottie's knife. Sarah pulled back her sword but jumped out of the way of Lottie's knife that almost hit her stomach. Sarah looked up to see the Goblin King standing next to Drake. They were in deep conversation but Sarah stopped for a moment to look at them, well, more specifically at Jareth. She noticed how his eyes seemed more sharp and focused and small crinkles appeared when his brow was furrowed. A small cut on her arm caught her attention again as she yelped at the small scratch. Although the blades were enchanted, they could still wound an enemy.

"Pay attention!" Drake chided. Sarah blushed and returned to her defensive stance.

"She is good, although a little distracted sometimes." Drake told Jareth, watching Sarah swipe at Lottie again.

"Yes, I just hope that she never has to fight." Jareth mumbled. Drake looked at Jareth, "You cannot protect her from everything."