Lee held on tightly to Loryian as they continued to ride through the dark forest. She shivered as the cold and dampness finally started to get to her. Loryian reached at his chin and untied the long cape that he was wearing.

"Here, wrap this about you. I won't have you catching your death out here." He told her.

Lee frowned. "What about you?"

Loryian smiled at her concern. "I'll be just fine. Now go on. Wrap it around you."

Lee took the cape off his shoulders and wrapped it tightly around herself. It warded off the cold some, but she still found herself shivering. She leaned closer to Loryian seeking not only warmth but comfort.

"We've been out here for hours. We're never going to find her." Lee let out hopelessly.

"You give up faith too easily. Look there." Loryian pointed to a clearing that they had ridden to.

Lee squinted her eyes in the darkness trying to make out what she was seeing. Some relief flooded her when she saw the familiar walls of the Labyrinth looming in the distance ahead.

"You see, we are almost to Jareth's Kingdom." Loryian smiled. "And I have a feeling that we will find Sarah there."

"What makes you say that?"

"Just a hunch." He grinned. "Besides, too many bad things have happened tonight, something good has to happen now."

Lee chuckled and held Loryian tightly as he nudged the horses forward.

* * *

Delphina was still holding Jareth when the door to the Goblin King's chamber slowly creaked open. Jareth pulled away from the woman that held him and offered him comfort.

"How is Sarah?" He asked immediately.

Galyon sighed. "She was roughed up very badly. Most of the bruises were minor and they have already begun to fade. The larger and more painful bruises may take a day or even two to fade. I've dulled the pain for her and by morning only a few of the bruises will bother her."

"What of her left side? She was favoring it." Jareth asked impatiently.

"Yes and for good reason." Galyon told Jareth. "3 broken ribs and one of them had managed to lodge itself into her lung. If you had not called for the Lady Delphina when you had, the mortal would not be alive right now." Jareth let out a shuddering breath at that thought. "Using my magic I've managed to fuss the ribs back into place. I've started to attend to the puncture in her lung, but I will need to see her again tomorrow. Her breathing should return to normal though at times she may find it hard to catch her breath. I've done all that I can for now."

"Thank you Galyon." Jareth said softly. "Would you both stay the night? I will have rooms prepared." He asked them.

"That is a kind offer. We shall stay as long as we are able." Delphina smiled and reached to squeeze Jareth's shoulder. "Go on and see her." It was obvious to her that Jareth was just itching to get back to the mortal.

Jareth nodded. "I am in debt to both of you."

Delphina shook her head. "Nonsense." She watched Jareth create a crystal.

"The goblins will prepare your rooms and will lead you to them."

"Thank you. Now go on, I'm sure she is waiting for you." Jareth nodded and disappeared into the room without a second thought.

He was surprised to find Sarah standing by the window when he entered the room. Her injuries had been serious, yet there she was standing by the window gazing out into the night as if nothing had happened.

"If Galyon knew that you were out of this bed, he would have my head for allowing it to go on for another moment." He joked.

Sarah turned at the sound of his voice. "I needed the fresh air."

Jareth noticed that she seemed lost and upset. He didn't waste anytime moving to her side. He reached for her and she collapsed against him. "What is it?" He asked tenderly. He stroked her hair and ran his gloved hands along her arms.

She began to sob and it tore at Jareth's heart. Sarah had always been so strong. "Oh, Jareth." She sobbed. "If Lee hadn't saved me.." She buried her face into his shoulder unable to finish the sentence.

"He'll pay for what he did to you, I will see to that." Jareth told her. His fist clenched at his side at the thought of Dartaynian. He forced himself to rein in his anger.

"God, Jareth. I had never been so frightened in all of my life. He.he just kept hitting me and he wouldn't stop. The more I struggled the more he hit me.He was going do it too,..he was going to..but Lee." She broke down again.

Jareth frowned. He stepped away slowly begging her to look at him. "He was going to do what, Sarah? Why did he hit you?" Suddenly he remembered their kiss and how Dartaynian had seen it all. "Did he do this because of me?"

Sarah's eyes were not focused on anything in particular as she allowed herself to think back to earlier that same night. A night that had gone so horribly wrong and then had turned right when she had kissed Jareth. But then things had gone so wrong again. "He told me that I would repair the damage."

Jareth didn't reply. He just allowed her to remember what had happened and hoped that she would tell him.

Sarah shivered as she remembered Dartaynian's words. 'You will repair the damage and trouble you have caused me tonight. You will pleasure me and I will take great pride in stealing your mortal innocence.'

Tears fell from her hazel eyes as she squeezed them shut. She could still remember the feel of his body against hers as he pushed her roughly down to the bed. She had not thought of it then, but his body had reacted to being so close to hers. Tears continued to fall as she remembered what she had not even realized at the time. He had been ready and waiting to take her, she had felt him grow hard against her stomach. The only thing that had kept her safe from him had been their clothes. He'd been so rough with her, beating her as she struggled, all the while driving his hips against her. She cried out at the memory startling herself as well as Jareth. In a hurried stream of words she let it out.

"He was gonna rape me."

Jareth drew a shuddering breath, his heart seemed to stop beating in his chest, his breathing seemed to cease and time stood still for one horribly long moment. Sarah's words kept echoing in his mind. 'He was gonna rape me'

When Jareth finally realized that time had begun to pass, he found that Sarah was shaking in his arms. He reached for her and pulled her to him, rocking her. Grief flowed through him and raw anger fought to gain the upper hand. Lee's words from long ago surfaced in his mind. 'Did you know that she's a virgin?' It made Jareth even angrier that Dart had tried to take Sarah when she was still innocent, still untouched.

He continued to rock Sarah in his arms. He soothed her with soft words and kissed her hair. They stayed like this for a long time.

Time continued to pass and it felt as if it were passing slower than normal. Sarah had stopped sobbing so loudly and hiccupped as she tried to control herself. Jareth kissed her hair again and when she looked up at him with red, puffy eyes, he leaned down and kissed her forehead. Sarah closed her eyes at the touch. Jareth was always so gentle with her. She felt his hands at her side, moving up and down, trying to soothe her. She felt him kiss her forehead again and she didn't protest when he kissed her nose, her cheeks and finally her lips.

She thought back to the kisses they had shared earlier that night. Jareth had kissed her with such passion and she had returned it. She was brought back to the present as she felt Jareth kiss her lips softly, gently. She responded to him slowly and she felt him pull her closer. Instinctively her hands wove themselves into his silky golden hair.

His kisses grew more passionate, more forceful. He pulled her closer to him and Sarah continued to respond. They grew closer still and Sarah felt something solid touch her stomach. She froze.

Jareth was kissing her neck, placing open mouthed kisses along her soft skin. She felt him move his hips closer to hers. She could feel him against her. He had grown hard and ready for what he thought was to come. Her flimsy nightgown and his tights barely hid a thing. The contact should have sent her senses reeling, but instead it sent fear spiraling through her.

She gasped and pushed Jareth away harshly. She'd caught him off guard and had pushed him so hard that he had to take a few steps backward to steady himself. Sarah pulled away from him and sought what comfort she could find by backing against the cold stone walls. She was trembling, but not with pleasure..with absolute fear.

Jareth saw the fear in her eyes and it made any pleasure he'd savored moments before vanish in a span of a single heartbeat. Jareth didn't know what frightened her until he glanced down at himself. He knew damn well what had frightened her and he wanted to kick himself. Hadn't she just told him that she'd been nearly raped? He'd gone too far when he'd had tried to soothe her. His body had gone way too far.

"Sarah, I didn't mean to." The words tumbled forth before he could stop them.

Sarah didn't look frightened anymore, she looked angry. "Funny, those words sound familiar." But there was no humor in her tone. There was only coldness, ice coldness.

"Sarah." He tried again and he took a shaky step toward her.

She backed away along the wall. "Don't Sarah me!" She told him angrily. "I thought that you were different! But you're no different than David, or John." Her eyes slanted and Jareth felt his blood run cold at the sight of her expression. "You're no different than Dartaynian!" She cried out.

He tried to block out the pain that those words caused him and he failed as his pain fell forth in the form of his voice. "Sarah, I would never have gone through with it. I would have realized what was happening.I would never have pushed you to do anything you didn't want to."

The sight of him standing there aroused wasn't changing her opinions. "That's the biggest load of bull shit I've ever heard." Jareth frowned at the use of such words. Sarah rarely swore. "I can't believe I actually let myself feel something for you! You disgust me!"

"Sarah.." he warned quietly. If she said she hated him, if she admitted that she didn't love him, she would cripple him without even knowing it.

"How could I ever feel anything for you! You've kept things from me! You didn't try to discourage me from seeing Dartaynian when you knew what he was like! You didn't even have the decency to tell me the rules of a courtship! Then you tried to seduce me when I was hurt and upset! What kind of a man are you?" She took a shuddering breath as all of these realizations came tumbling forth. Tears gathered in her eyes but she bit her lip and refused to let them fall. She didn't care that Jareth looked as if he was going to drop to his knees in anguish right there in front of her. He had hurt her and she desperately wanted to hurt him in return.

She gazed at him coldly. Through the eyes of the woman who was once his enemy. "Get out of my sight. I can't bear to look at you. I'll be going home tomorrow morning." She looked away from him, as pain filled her. Not only emotional pain, but physical pain. The room was quiet except for the curtains which made soft sounds as the fabric brushed the stone walls in the wind. After a few moments she glanced up to realize that Jareth had gone without a further word.

She couldn't hold back the tears any longer and she collapsed against the wall. She punched the wall in sudden anger, not caring that she had shredded a layer of skin off her knuckles. She fell to her knees and buried her face into her hands. Her side was hurting again and as she began to sob she found that she couldn't breathe. She thought that she was going to die and for the second time this night, she wished it would happen.

Finally catching her breath, she sank to the cold floor and cried until no more tears would fall.