An Anniversary Truce

Sarah lay on her stomach on the bed, feet kicked up against the wall and the bane of her existence, her Algebra II textbook, open in front of her. As usual where numbers were concerned, she was having trouble. Words she could deal with, but numbers – never. 'Seriously, when is any of this ever going to be useful in my life,' she moaned to herself, letting her head fall into the middle of the page she should have been studying.

Doing algebra homework was definitely anti-climactic considering what today was – the one year anniversary of her conquering the Labyrinth, rescuing her brother and vanquishing the Goblin King; at least she supposed she vanquished him, as she hadn't heard from him since that night and her friends from the Underground never mentioned him when they spoke.

It was really kind of hard to believe that it had been a year already, but there it was in black and white on her calendar. She wasn't completely sure why she wanted to remember this particular anniversary, but somehow, it seemed important not to forget it. Earlier in the evening, Hoggle, Sir Didymus and Ludo had dropped by for a surprise visit to celebrate what they apparently considered to be a red-letter day in Labyrinth and Goblin Kingdom history – the day someone beat the Goblin King at his game. In hearing them talk, she was surprised to find out that they weren't the only ones who were celebrating today, apparently it was now something of a holiday in the Goblin City as well. She wasn't sure how to feel about that and was vaguely puzzled when her first thought upon hearing it was, 'I hope the Goblin King isn't too put out about it.'

Honestly, she couldn't understand why all of a sudden she was concerned about his feelings regarding the whole incident, he was the villain afterall. And she was pretty sure that he had put the whole thing behind him and wasn't wasting any time thinking about her, today or any other day.

Since her defeat of the Labyrinth and by extension the Goblin King, Sarah had tried to find out how the King was doing and if he was angry with her, without actually straight out asking her friends about him. Needless to say, as a result, she didn't know much about how the King was doing, or anything else about the kingdom for that matter, since to get information out of Hoggle required asking the 'right questions' and Sarah wasn't even sure what those were anymore. Didymus was more forthcoming, but tended to get off the topic quickly and end up discussing the quests he did for the crown, and Ludo…well, Ludo didn't know anything about the King, and only seemed to want to talk about his rocks. Despite the distinct lack of information on the subject, it still bothered her that she actually wanted to know if he was angry or hated her. 'It shouldn't matter,' she shrugged, thumping her head rhythmically on her textbook, 'but…for some reason it does.'

"Gah!" Sarah grumbled, raising her head once more and trying to concentrate on her homework. Within seconds she was bored again, slamming her head down on the pages again. "This is impossible. I can't concentrate without thinking about the Underground."

No. If Sarah was honest with herself, it wasn't the Underground that was disturbing her concentration tonight, it was him – the Goblin King. If curiosity killed the cat, then it was going to do some serious damage to Sarah Williams since she couldn't stop wondering if the Goblin King remembered what today was, and whether he was still angry with her.

"I wish…" she muttered into the pages of her book, "I wish…."


In the throne room of the castle beyond the Goblin City, all of the goblins suddenly froze, their keen ears listening to the Lady. She had called them once before and they had not heard from her since that fateful night, yet they never ceased to hope for and wait for her call, all of them – including the Goblin King.

The Goblin King sat up from where he had been lounging across his throne, listening carefully to the voice that haunted his dreams, both sleeping and waking. He sighed wistfully, hearing her tease him for the umpteenth time with the beginning of a wish. It hadn't been intentional, but the Goblin King had indeed fallen for the stubborn, determined, irrepressible girl while she had been running his Labyrinth and as a result, he had given her certain powers, those being the power to have her wishes granted, should she say the right words. The problem was, she had learned her lesson a little too well while in the Labyrinth and although she frequently would begin to make a wish, she always stopped herself before finishing it. She had learned that words have power, and wasn't as willing to wield that power anymore.

The fact that she refused to complete the 'right words' should have made him happy, since that was part of the lesson that the Labyrinth challenge sought to teach each runner, but coming from her, it did nothing but add to the frustration the king felt at her rejection. He was unable to approach her until she made a wish, limited to merely scrying for her in his crystal, or observing her in his owl form and that was not what he wanted.

Damn her beautiful and cruel eyes, but he wanted more than to look at her – far more.

She still didn't seem to understand just what he had been offering her in the end. After she took the leap of faith in his Escher room, she had already won, so when he offered her everything, he meant it. But the stubborn, girl turned him down thinking he was still playing the game according to that silly book. No, if he was truthful with himself, it wasn't because she was stubborn, it was because she was innocent and too young to realize just what he was willing to give her if she would stay with him. Sighing, the king closed his eyes, leaning his head back on the arm of his throne, as once again, Sarah stopped before making a complete wish.

He had tried to forget about her, oh Gods how he had tried. He returned to the High Court with every intention of drowning his frustration in the attentions of the various courtiers who longed to corner him and hopefully take on the Goblin Queen's crown. There were beautiful women aplenty who sought his company, but all he could seem to do is compare them to a 15 year old mortal who rejected him. It was truly infuriating, but one look at those jade eyes of hers, and once again he would give her anything her heart desired, she had but to ask.


Sighing deeply, Sarah heard the scrabble of small feet under her bed. They were back. The goblins.

She first heard them a week after she returned with Toby. It sounded like the claws of a large cat, only Karen wouldn't be caught dead with a cat in the house, so she knew it wasn't an animal. She spent several nights waiting up all night in Toby's room, making sure the Goblin King didn't try to take him again. After a few sleepless nights and extremely tiring days, she gave up on that, since the goblins never seemed to leave her room. Since they seemed content in her room, and didn't seem to bother anything, she decided it was better for all involved to try to befriend them afterall, that had worked to her advantage when conquering the Labyrinth.

So, on a whim one night, she left a plate of cookies on a stool near her closet, leaving the closet door slightly ajar. Sure enough, sometime in the wee hours of the morning, she heard the sound of crunching and low voices. Turning on the light, she saw them, two little goblins, perched on the stool, merrily munching on the cookies. The smaller of the two was rust colored, with large amber eyes and tufts of yellow fur sprouting wildly above its floppy ears, while the larger of the two was pale brown, with a bulbous nose, red eyes, and fluffy white eyebrows. Both were dressed in leather tunics, embossed with what Sarah finally recognized as the Goblin King's amulet. Apparently, he had sent spies.

Over the next few weeks, she continued to feed them cookies periodically, discovering that they were particularly fond of snickerdoodles, and oddly enough, dog biscuits. Through trial and error, she finally got them to talk to her and eventually found out that they were indeed spies, of a sort. The smaller of the two was Squint and the larger was named Bob, which apparently is short for Kate, something that in no way made since, but then again, neither did having goblins living in her closet. They were from the castle, but had come because they heard about 'the girl who ate the peach and forgot everything before beating Kingy' and wanted to see her. Once here, they decided they liked living in her closet under the dirty clothes hamper, far more than their dingy den in the Goblin Castle, so she decided she'd let them stay.

She saw Squint first, peeking over the edge of the bed, his amber eyes twinkling at her in the dim light of her bedroom.

"Evening, Squint. Where have you boys been the last few days?"

"Home Lady. Big holly-daze this week. Celebrating Lady Day," he squeaked, his eyes squinting almost shut as he spoke.

Bob bounced onto her back from the windowsill, making her grunt. Sarah reached behind her, dragging him over her shoulder to where she could see him.

"What have I told you about jumping on me, Bob?" Sarah scolded, trying not to giggle at the colorful streamers that were draped jauntily over Bob's shoulders and around his upside-down colander he wore as a hat.

"Sorry Lady. Bob tired and couldn't jump far."

"Why are you so tired?"

"BIIIIIG party at castle for Lady Day. Goblins very happy. Kingy give us lotsa ale," nodded Bob with a slight hiccup, his words vaguely slurred.

Seeing her chance, she casually asked, "And was the King there?"

Squint shook his head, the pot he wore as a hat sliding over one eye as he spoke, "Naw…Kingy stayed in stair-y room watchin' crystals."

Sighing deeply, Sarah frowned. Lady Day as the goblins called it, was the celebration of her beating the Labyrinth, and apparently the Goblin King allowed the celebration, but did not participate. That could only mean one thing, he was angry with her or worse yet…hated her.

Groaning, Sarah face-planted in her textbook again, "WHY…why does it matter to me if he hates me?" she moaned. He was the villain for pete's sake…she vanquished him…that was it. Game over. The end!

She was pulled out of her reverie by the soft snores of Bob, who had passed out next to her on the bed, a red streamer being sucked into his mouth then expelled forcefully with every breath he took. Gently she picked him up and carried him into the closet, with Squint following close on her heel. Smiling at Squint, she laid Bob in the nest of single socks they had made under her hamper, and covered them both over with a torn concert t-shirt they had dug out of the rag bag by her sewing machine. They may not be the most eloquent of friends, but she now found herself missing them when they returned to the castle for more than a night or two.

Returning to her bed she flopped down on her back, her head hanging over the edge of the bed and hoisted her legs up, balancing them on the wall, her favorite position for thinking. And there she stayed, the arm of her flowing linen shirt draped over her eyes, thinking about the Goblin King and feeling….regret.

Shutting her eyes, she felt a tear slide down her cheek and the words slipped out before she could stop them….

"I wish I knew if he hated me."


The usual din in the throne room stopped once more as Sarah began her wish, every goblin turned to watch their king as the Lady yet again, taunted him with the promise of a wish that would break the spell that banished him from her presence. When she finally completed the wish, after a year of waiting for her to do so, none of the goblins knew what to do about it. If it had been a child wished away, that they knew how to cope with, but this…this was different. Some goblins yelped and vanished, randomly picking a place to go, with several ending up in the bog of eternal stench. Others tried to run in several directions at once, and only succeeded in tripping over their feet and each other. The Goblin King on the other hand, knew exactly what to do.

As the Champion of the Labyrinth, he was honor-bound to grant any of her wishes. The fact that her wish directly concerned him made that even easier. The hard part was figuring out how to approach her. He wanted her trust, but their past interaction made gaining that trust tricky. Not only that, while he knew from her friends, the hobgoblin gardener, the fox knight and the yeti, that she often thought of him and agonized over how he felt about what had transpired between them, he was unsure whether she still saw him as the villain. This presented a problem because he always wanted to grant her dreams and meet her expectations, even if that meant playing the villain to her heroine – as much as it galled him to have to do so. The last time they met, he knew she expected the villain thanks to that silly book, but this time…this time he was without a script, but then again, so was she.

The Goblin King formed a perfectly clear crystal, Sarah's image filtering in and filling it as if with inner light. Balancing it upon his fingertips, he expertly flipped it into the air and disappeared as the crystal vanished, with a faint pop.

Sarah lay on her bed and sighed. She said the words, her first wish in exactly a year. As soon as the words slipped out, she gasped, holding her breath as she waited to see if anything would happen. No thunder. No lightening. No wind. No beating wings. No glitter. No Goblin King.

With a heavy sigh, she grabbed her pillow and held it over her face, screaming into the buttery soft cotton of the pale green pillowcase.

"Really, what was I expecting?" she moaned. "The Goblin King to show up in all his glittery glory just because I made a wish? Damnit…grow up Sarah," she grumbled at herself.

Having materialized silently in her bedroom, the Goblin King leaned against her vanity, a slow smile creeping over his angular features at her comment. In looking at her as she lay sprawled on her bed, he wondered if she had consciously decided to wear the same outfit she wore in his Labyrinth, on this, the anniversary of her victory.

"Glittery glory? I rather like that," he purred, his clipped accent reaching into Sarah's chest and plucking at her heart like a harp string.

The Goblin King smiled, his mismatched eyes shining in amusement, as he watched her open and close her mouth several times as if she was going to speak, then thought better of it.

"Sarah dearest, you really must remove the pillow. The world would be a poorer place, should you to suffocate under there," he continued, a bemused smirk teasing the corners of his mouth as he watched her holding her breath.

"This is just a dream…a very real sounding dream….but a dream nonetheless," Sarah muttered to herself from beneath the pillow. "Goblin Kings do not randomly poof into people's bedrooms. Particularly when they haven't been summoned to take a child."

A low chuckle teased her ears as he leaned over, his face nearing the pillow over her face.

"First of all, I assure you that I am very real. Secondly, there is only one Goblin King – me. And you are right, I do not randomly 'poof' into people's rooms as you so eloquently put it. This particular instance is anything but random, as you are not just anyone. And lastly, while you have not wished your brother away to me this time, you did indeed summon me."

Letting her digest his words, he stood, perching against the edge of her vanity once more, while taking a moment to look around her room. It was the same as it was when he watched her celebration party after she and Toby were returned home, but at the same time, there were subtle differences. Gone were the stuffed animals and dolls that she had kept with such care. No more were the walls covered with posters of plays. The room looked similar, but something was missing – her childhood. This saddened him, as one of the things that drew him to her was her innocence and belief.

Finally, she moved, gingerly pulling the pillow from her face, but staying as she was on the bed, her head still hanging over the edge, letting her chocolate colored hair trail along the floor. Pushing the pillow away from her, she squeezed her eyes tight shut. Sarah took a big breath and let it out slowly, saying, "It is okay, because when I open my eyes, he won't be here because I am alone and dreaming."

Summoning all the courage she could muster, she cracked her eyes and finally saw him, or at least his lower half. Yes, the first thing she saw of the Goblin King, a year after defeating his Labyrinth was muscular legs swathed in black leather boots that ended below the knee and tight black breeches – her head being at the level of his groin due to her position.

He laughed, following her gaze as she blushed, shutting her eyes tightly once more. She was enchanting when she was flustered, he decided. He watched as her legs slid down the wall, falling heavily on her bed, before she curled herself into a ball, turning to press her back against the wall, while pulling her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. She shook her head as she leaned against her knees. Finally, she raised her head to look at him, her emerald eyes wide.

His white blonde hair was as wispy as she remembered, the top layers dancing as if on a breeze. Over his chest he wore a flowing white shirt with full sleeves, open to the waist to reveal the golden amulet she remembered seeing him wear the last time she saw him. Peering further up at him, she saw him smiling at her, sharp teeth peeking from between thin lips, set in an aristocratic face. The Goblin King, in the flesh, was standing in her bedroom.

"You're him aren't you? You're the Goblin King…" she whispered, suffering an embarrassing moment of déjà vu.

He laughed, the sound a low rumble that made her shiver, not understanding why.

"Why ask when you already know the answer, Sarah? After all, we have been introduced. A year ago in fact. That said, having beaten my Labyrinth, I think you, of all people, have earned the right to call me Jareth."

Sarah stretched out her legs, considering him. Last year, during their meetings in the Labyrinth she had not had the courage to have a close look at him, so she took her time. He was tall and slender, with a muscular frame. She had no idea how old he was as his features seemed ageless. She was a little unnerved by the way he was looking at her, and felt somewhat embarrassed by her own dress, being her most comfortable pair of jeans, the same linen shirt she had worn in the Labyrinth and a jade colored brocade vest.

Jareth watched her intently, trying to judge how she was taking his presence. She nibbled her lower lip, before brushing a strand of hair over her ear and smiled hesitantly at him – the first genuine smile she had ever given him. That seemed to be a good sign.

"Toby isn't even home and I wouldn't wish him away to you even if he were, so you aren't here for him, Goblin King?" she said quietly, but firmly, locking him in place with a defiant gaze.

"True, but I already told you I wasn't here for him, and the name is Jareth," came his amused reply.

Sarah frowned slightly, the thought of calling him by name seemed too foreign to her.

"Your Majesty," she offered hesitantly.

"No," he replied more firmly, finding her hesitancy charming and in keeping with her innocence. "You are not one of my subjects. You are the Champion of the Labyrinth. For you, it is Jareth."

"I'm not going to go back to the Labyrinth…J-J-Jareth," Sarah continued, struggling to force her mouth to obey and say his name, a look of fear crossing her eyes.

Jareth inclined his head, looking at the young woman before him, somewhat perplexed. He had expected many questions, but not anticipated her fear at the idea of returning to the Underground. Then it struck him, she was worried that he would not invite her to return, but force her to.

"Sarah," he began, the sound of her name rolling of his tongue making her gasp softly, "As the Champion the Labyrinth, I can only take you Underground with your willing consent."

Pursing her lips, she looked at him, then at the floor. He could see she was wrestling with something.

"So, you aren't here to kidnap me for revenge?" she asked innocently.

Jareth bit back a chuckle, before deciding to have some fun with her question.

She watched him rise, standing in the middle of her room, an otherworldly breeze fluttering through the small room, as the musical hum of magic that always followed him, increased. Sarah gasped when she saw him change, from the flowing casual clothing he had appeared in, into dark black armor. Her mouth parted in shock as she saw him clearly, his hands on his hips, body now encased in heavily embossed, black leather armor. His very presence screamed at her, an air of authority and menace seeping from him as he surveyed her with narrowed eyes. Seeing him like this, she shivered, flashing back to when she first saw him, standing like this in her parent's bedroom. Her heart raced as she looked at him, holding her breath.

"Sarah," he said, his voice cold with a deeper timbre than before, "I have already answered that in the negative. Do not ask me to repeat myself. Do you really want me to be the villain, so you can cower before me?"

"Um….no?" she replied meekly, pulling her legs back up against her chest defensively as she looked at the imposing figure of the Goblin King. Sarah paused a moment, then added, "You mean you have a choice how to appear?"

Relaxing, he let his form revert back to the more casual clothing he had originally appeared in and settled once more on her vanity. Jareth smiled gently at her as she followed his lead, relaxing her posture again and stretching out her legs.

"Yes Sarah, I do. The last time you summoned me, you were expecting the villainous Goblin King, so you got him. This time however, the words you used to summon me were unclear as to what you were expecting, hence, you get…well… what I would hope is a less threatening Goblin King."

At this Sarah did something completely unexpected; something which threw him entirely. She giggled. Not just giggled, but collapsed onto her bed in a fit of laughter. Sarah rolled on her bed, hugging her sides as her face grew red. Jareth frowned, not sure that he appreciated her laughing at what he was sure was his expense.

"And just what is so funny, Sarah?" he snapped, his tone growing suddenly icy as his eyes flared sharply at her.

Seeing his features turn dark, Sarah's laughter abruptly stopped, as if someone had turned off the sound in the room. He saw her visibly flinch away from him and sighed. He didn't mean to frighten her again. This whole thing was not going in any way, as he thought or hoped it would.

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty…it was just the thought of a kinder, gentler Goblin King just seemed so…well…funny," she whispered, feeling suddenly very small and insignificant under his stern gaze, and now feeling that the idea that set her laughing in the first place, was in fact, not very funny at all.

Jareth chuckled, smiling at her once more, his voice soft and soothing as he spoke to her, "I can see the humor in that Sarah, and yes, I chose to appear as the 'kinder, gentler Goblin King' as you put it."

"So, um…why exactly are you here, anyway?" she asked, idly shutting her textbook and fiddling with her notebook.

"You summoned me. Or more precisely, you made a wish that concerned me directly, so here I am."

Jareth knew this was not the complete truth, since he would have granted any wish she made. However only wishes that involved him directly required his presence, and he didn't feel she needed to know that all of her wishes would be granted – not that he expected she would abuse the power, but he wasn't sure she was ready yet to understand why this power had been granted to her in the first place.

"But I didn't wish for you," she replied, shaking her head and trying to remember what she said.

Jareth pulled out her desk chair and sat on it, crossing his lean legs as he watched her struggle to remember what she had wished for.

"Quite simply, Sarah, you wanted to know if I was angry with you. I think the answer to that should be apparent by now."

Sarah knitted her eyebrows, thinking about what she had said before he had appeared. Yes, she had wished to know if he was angry. Judging from the fact that he was here, hadn't tried to spirit her away or hurt her in anyway, she could safely assume that he wasn't angry with her.

"So, you aren't angry then," she said, her chin jutting out a bit as she considered this bit of information. "Um…so why did you send goblins to spy on me then?"

It was Jareth's turn to look puzzled.

"Spies," he asked, a frown creeping across his face. "You mean Squint and Bob, as you call them?"

Sarah nodded, gesturing toward the door of her closet as Squint and Bob poked their heads around the door, giving their King a pair of toothy grins, Squint now wearing an old single, argyle sock on his head in place of his usual cooking pot helmet.

Seeing the two small goblins grinning and waving at him, Jareth pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation, before smiling at Sarah.

"I have not sent spies, Sarah. However since you returned Aboveground after defeating the Labyrinth, it seemed prudent to make sure you were protected. So, I sent some goblins to watch over you. Unfortunately, Squint and Bob, are not them."

She looked from the small goblins, to their King and back again.

"Um….so why are they here then and where are the others?"

"Well," he replied, his voice edged with frustration as he looked at the little goblins in Sarah's closet, "The others are good at their job. What good is a protection squad if they are seen, Sarah?"

Sarah considered this and nodded. It made sense actually.

Jareth paused, then continued, "Squint and Bob were not part of the protection detail, but they apparently wanted to visit you and liked it here. They came back with tales of single socks, late night cookies, and a comfy bed in your closet…"

Sarah scowled, holding up her hand and effectively silencing him.

"Wait…you mean they were reporting back to you? Isn't that a form of spying?" she griped, her emerald eyes snapping angrily at him.

Jareth paused, pretending to adjust his black leather gloves as he considered how to answer her. No, things were definitely not going as well as he had hoped or dreamt that they would.

"Spying wasn't the intent, Sarah. However, in order to make sure you were safe, they did need to return to me and let me know how you were. As the Champion of the Labyrinth, I now have a vested interest in both your safety and happiness. Squint and Bob seemed happy here with you, and from all accounts, you seemed happy to have them here. So I gave them leave to continue staying here, so long as it didn't interfere with their duties to me in the castle."

"Oh…."Sarah replied. "I see. And yes, I actually like having them around. They are good company."

Jareth looked at Sarah intently. He knew from the reports of his goblins, that she did not have many friends and rarely spent time outside of school with those she did have. That was one of the primary reasons that he had encouraged Squint and Bob to continue living in her closet. He wanted her to be happy and she did seem to enjoy their company.

Suddenly Sarah blushed and looked at him angrily, "Hang on a second! You have goblins watching me? All the time?"

Confused, Jareth nodded, "I thought we had already established that, Sarah."

"When I'm in the bath?" she squeaked, outraged at the very idea.

"No, no, no…of course not!" Jareth countered.

"I don't know if I should believe you," Sarah pouted, a frown setting her jaw.

"Why not?"

"Because you are channeling your own false alarms," she replied, a small smile shining in her green eyes.

Rolling his eyes, Jareth chuckled at her comment. He was in some ways, amazed at how much of her time in the Labyrinth she did remember.

"My goblins have instructions not to invade your bathroom or watch while you are dressing. Their primary function is to either protect you, or provide some friendly company for you. I would never dream of sending you a bunch of goblin peeping-toms," Jareth explained, leaving out the fact that if he wanted to know she was safe in the bath, he had his own methods of doing so that had nothing to do with goblins, but that bit of information would be sure to enrage Sarah. Yes, best not to let her in on some of the more 'useful' aspects of his crystals…at least not yet.

Standing, Jareth held out his hand to her, smiling tenderly at Sarah as she looked up at him, confusion flitting through her eyes. For a moment, he thought she would shrink from him, until she squared her shoulders and delicately placed her hand in his, allowing him to pull her from the bed to stand with him in the middle of her room.

"So what now," she asked, her voice suddenly feeling fuzzy as she forced her vocal cords to produce sound. Being so near him and feeling him holding her hand was threatening to short-circuit her brain, his presence was an overwhelming combination of power, authority, and something she couldn't quite name, but it made her stomach flutter just like riding the big roller coasters at Cedar Point.

Jareth gently lifted her hand to his mouth, softly caressing it with his lips, his eyes locked on hers. He relished the way her breathing slowed, as she held her breath, while seeing her heart beating frantically just underneath the thin skin at the base of her neck.

"Now, dearest, I must leave you to return to your homework. I trust that having had your primary question regarding my anger toward you answered, you will now be able to concentrate on your homework?"

'Bloody unlikely,' she thought, fighting back the gasp that threatened to creep past her lips as he looked into her eyes.

"Oh," she whispered, clearing her throat which had threatened to close on her before continuing, "You're leaving."

With a sly smirk, he smiled at her, his pale eyes glinting mischeviously.

"Do I detect the delicate air of disappointment, Sarah? Surely you are ready to be rid of me now that your question has been answered."

"I…um…well," Sarah stammered, a faint crimson blush creeping from her neck to her hairline.

Sarah gasped softly as he leaned forward, his lips lightly brushing against her forehead, before he stood back once more, looking at her with a quiet smile.

"Fret not, dearest. This will not be the last you will see of me. It is part of my duty to protect and see to the welfare of the Labyrinth's Champion….my Champion," he purred silkily.

With a flourish of his hand, he produced a clear crystal, laying atop a deep purple velvet pouch. Holding the crystal and pouch out toward her, he smiled encouragingly.

"In the meantime, here is a small gift of something all students can use more of – time. Merely hold it in your right hand and say 'time again' and you will gain the two hours I took from you in the Labyrinth. Perhaps the extra time will help you with your studies, Sarah."

He watched her hesitate briefly, before picking up the crystal and sliding it carefully into the pouch.

Nodding, he turned toward the window, her face falling as she watched him walk away, a small sigh escaping her lips. She felt as if she was losing something, something important.

Turning, he peered at her over his shoulder, his pale eyes serious as his voice softened, "And remember dearest, should you need me, for any reason at all, all you have to do is call."

With that, the Goblin King vanished in a haze of glitter….a faint voice whispering in the night, "Glittery glory, indeed."