The doors opened at their approach.
"Not to be too melodramatic," he said with a smile, "but, welcome to the hall of the Goblin Kings. Here is the history of my people."
Inside were rows upon on rows of what appeared to be huge frozen goblins. The first ones were largest and most hideous, which almost discouraged her from moving closer for a better look. But she found it fascinating so she moved closer to the first one. He stood at least 8ft tall. His skin was the color of slimy mud, and it looked to have a pebbled texture. His eyes were black and seemed to pierce hers with anger. His mouth was open showing double rows of huge fangs. His hands and feet were tipped in long black claws.
"Ah" she heard from behind her. "That is…" he said something that sounded like he was gargling with glass wrapped in bobbed wire. "He was the one who defeated all comers to become the first Goblin King. His reign was short and bloody. Next to him is his son…" Another unpronounceable noise signifying a name, "he wasn't quite as homicidal as his father, and he did have a brain. He was the one who managed to gather all the goblin tribes under his banner. While still a cruel bastard, he did manage to carve us out a kingdom in the most inhospitable land in the realms."
He took her by the arm and escorted her past several terrifyingly large and hideously posed Goblin Kings.
"Nothing really remarkable about the next few kings except they did manage to keep a very violent and brutal people cowed enough to rule them." He stopped her in front of a comparatively short statute. This one stood only about 6 ½ ft tall. His features were not quite as course as the others, and he seemed to have an intelligence and cunning in his face that was quite scary.
"Now this fellow, he is the reason for the goblin wars. Rumor has it his mother was a kidnapped fairy, raped by his father repeatedly and tortured daily until she gave birth to this little bundle of psychotic joy." She turned away from the statue to face him as he spoke bluntly of the skeletons in his family tree. Ignoring her startled look he continued, "As you can probably guess, being the smallest goblin in all the goblin lands at the time made him very… competitive."
Finally regaining the use of her tongue she held up a hand. "Wait, wait… a fairy? They are like 6 inches tall tops and these guys are HUGE! How could that even be possible?" She frowned trying to figure out the logistics of how that had worked.
He gave her a wicked smile slightly bemused at her casual acceptance of the atrocious acts of his forefathers. "Stolen magic of course," He answered. "Goblins didn't have much magic then, so they raided everyone else and stole what they could. Now to return to the history this fellow decided that he was going to have the largest kingdom in the realms. Goblins are practically indestructible so you can imagine the havoc they caused before the rest of the kingdoms rose up together and drove them back." He took her arm again leading her past several other kings. "Now the other kings were not very happy with the goblins, and frankly they were terrified of them. Here was a creature that was extremely tough and violent- A creature that could survive nearly anything and with an appetite for everything. So they decided to wipe them from history forever. The war went on for centuries devastating nearly everything in the underground."
He brought her to another king and stopped again. "Now this is Untal. He was a lot smarter than the other goblins. He probably got that from all the unwilling 'war brides' in the blood line."
She looked up at the statue. This one was only 6ft tall. His skin was mud brown and his hair resembled matted straw. His eyes were deep set and a muddy green but they held a knowledge that had her stomach clenching. The smirk on his face spoke of things whispered in the dark. He definitely wasn't handsome. In fact he was rather ugly, but there was something about him…that made here want to do unspeakable things in the dark with him.
"Yes, he was rather…appealing to the females he ran across." An amused voice behind her caused her to jump and turn away from the statue her face flaming. "He had sex appeal enough to entice any woman to his bed. Family legend has it that no woman could be in the same room with him for extended periods of time or they would strip and throw themselves at him. He chose her as his bride," he gestured to the statue beside Untal, "family stories state that while his sex appeal never dimmed, women never again felt the need to throw themselves on him."
She looked and beside Untal was a female fey of incomparable beauty. Her hair was spun moonbeams, and her eyes were as golden as any ore ever mined from the earth and filled with laughter. Her mouth was quirked up in an appealing grin and her whole being radiated joy.
"Mystial, the first real Goblin Queen, and more importantly the beginning of the end to the war, but that was later. First Untal knew he had to save his people and the entire world know as the Underground Realms. He walked deep into the goblin lands until he reached the center. Then he began to pray to all the gods of the realms. Not just the goblins gods, but every god and goddess he had even heard of. His answer was a seed of magic. He took that magic and nourished it with his own blood and planted it where he stood. He knew that it would take a long time for this seed to bear fruit so he went back to his people to help defend against all the armies arrayed against them. However every dark of the moon he would send a vial of his blood with a trusted goblin back to pour over the seed. He also ordered the goblin to put some of his or her blood on the seed as well. His thought was that this magic wasn't just for him, it was for all goblins. Soon the chosen goblin was carrying a pack full of vials of blood from every goblin that could donate to the cause."
He took her arm again and began a slow stroll down the row of kings. "That seed eventually became the labyrinth. Untal pulled his goblins into the labyrinth and try as they might, no army could get at them. So a siege was set. The goblins were safe, but they were trapped. The first night Untal spent in the labyrinth, he made a discovery. The labyrinth was a living being and in return for its protection, it had a few demands. The first and foremost demand was that the Goblin Kings henceforth accept all outcast and unwanted creatures into their rule, no matter what species or race, which really wasn't much of a demand since goblins don't have the same racial purity issues of some of the other beings here. The second demand was that Untal begin peace talks with the High King. The other demands came later; one being that the Labyrinth would choose the mate of the king and would choose which of the royal offspring would rule next."
As they walked passed the rows of king and now queens, she noticed the queen was not always a goblin female. There were females of every race depicted. She also noticed that while the kings became more and more pleasing to look at, they all retained some of the sex appeal of Untal. Some had a stronger dose of it than others. They finally stopped at the last king in the room. She turned and found herself gazing into the miss-matched eyes of Jareth. Quite life like with the same knowing smirk of his forefather Untal. As she looked, a soft sound caused her to look to the side. A shower of glitter was falling from nowhere and slowly coalesced into a form that she recognized as the one she saw in the mirror every day.
She gasped and turned back to the real Jareth.
"So you see Sarah, you were chosen not just by me but by the entire labyrinth to rule by my side." He gave her his best smirk as he drew her into his arms. "It really isn't fair that you are so unprepared for your wedding day." There was a moment of vertigo and she found herself standing beside Jareth in a white gown draped in diamonds and a weight on her head that she removed and discovered was a crown. They were standing in a large room filled with beings of every description. In front of her was an older fey female dressed in gold and white robes smiling gently at her. Sarah was so off balanced that she just gaped back.
Next to Jareth was Sir Didymus, Ludo, and Hoggle, all in finery and flowers.
Beautiful music swelled and a soft light filled the room. The older female stepped forward and wrapped a scarf around Sarah and Jareth's joined hands then looked deep into Sarah's eyes and spoke in a singsong voice.
"Chosen by the Labyrinth, loved by the King, adored by the subjects. Sarah Williams we welcome you as our Queen forevermore."
She then turned to Jareth.
"King of Labyrinth, Ruler of the land of Goblins, Beloved of Sarah Williams, Jareth we give you your Queen forevermore."
She took their hands and turned them to the crowd.
"People of the Labyrinth, Outcast and unwanted, You are accepted and loved by your rulers forevermore."
Sarah was nearly deafened by the roar that rose up from the crowd in approval. She had been speechless throughout the short ceremony, unable to get her brain to form a coherent thought much less come up with the words needed to stop the madness.
She finally got her brain to work and opened her mouth to put an end to this charade when Jareth swept her into his arms and thoroughly kissed every trace of thought back out of her head.
"Later precious, tell me later, we have a celebration to attend." He murmured in her ear. He turned and led her through the crowd to a balcony that overlooked the Labyrinth and an even larger cheering crowd.
Sarah realized the sound she thought was just noise was actually thousands of voices all chanting "Long live the Goblin King and Queen" Yet underneath it all she heard another voice…or maybe heard wasn't the right word…maybe felt was closer.
"Welcome Sarah, Queen of the Goblins." She gasped and listened harder to this voice. "Know that his love it true, and has been since the day he first saw you. Never doubt that you hold in your hands the heart of a King."