"Are you enjoying my labyrinth?" a voice echoed.
Sarah spun quickly in a circle, glancing about the lavish ballroom full of costumed Fae, dancing and gossiping though every inch of the room.
"Sarah…" the voice echoed again.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the faint glimmer of his cloak, and then it disappeared.
She walked quickly through the crowd of dancing Fae, and up the stairs. A hand suddenly touched her shoulder, and she gasped.
" SARAH!" another voice shouted, interrupting her. The extravagant ballroom, and the people in it disappeared with a whispy sound.
Sarah woke with a start and looked at the clock.
10 am… ugh. she thought.
"Sarah!" her stepmother called. "Get. Up. Now!" she said barging into Sarah's room uninvited.
Sarah looked up at her stepmother, and groggily questioned her. "What?"
"Sarah, it is 10 am. Your father and I are going out. I assume you don't have any plans, because you would have told me if you did. Can you watch Toby while we're gone?" her fantastically rude stepmother practically ordered.
"How would you know if I have plans or not? You never even ask me!" Sarah shouted at her. " You know… you really shouldn't assume things!"
" Well I see you have no problem with it.." her stepmother clearly wasn't about to fight with her about it. "We'll be back around nine" she said, and slammed Sarah's bedroom door on the way out.
Ugh, this again.. When is this horrid woman going to learn to ask? I suppose, I'll call for Hoggle pretty soon…..
She dragged herself out of bed and went to her vanity. Opening the wooden box atop the vanity, she pulled out a small red book, opening it and placing it onto the vanity in front of her mirror.
Sarah gathered a pair of jeans and various other clothing items from her dresser and walked to the bathroom. She closed the door quietly, so she wouldn't wake Toby, knowing he would be taking a nap right about now. She turned the silver knobs in the shower, and closed the curtain, letting the water heat up as she discarded her dirty clothes into the dirty clothes bin next to the sink.
Steam swirled around her in the shower and a good amount of it escaped and filled the rest of the bathroom after she finished taking her shower and turned the knobs to shut the water off. She got dressed and opened the door, letting the steam out into the hallway, and walked back to her room.
She sat in front of her vanity, and brushed her hair. Just as she put the brush down, she heard a strange tapping noise coming from her window. She got up and opened the window, and an owl flew to the doorway and quickly transformed into a tall man. "Hello Sarah" the Goblin King said, bringing his hand down to his abdomen and leaning forward into a graceful bow then standing back up straight.
"Hello Jareth" Sarah greeted the Goblin King, as she closed the window and then returned to her seat in front of the mirror. "To what do I owe this visit?" she asked, wondering why he was there. She had already beaten his labyrinth and won both her and Toby's return home with no trouble whatsoever, and no sign of the Goblin King for weeks.
"I have a gift for you, Sarah" He drawled, pulling a large box out of what seemed like thin air. He opened the box to reveal several large crystals, and Sarah's name engraved on the interior of the box along with a rather peculiar set of letters written in Goblin.
"Crystals? For what?" Sarah asked curiously, glancing at the box then back at him.
"They're just crystals, nothing more. They can be used for whatever you wish, my dear Sarah. They're just crystals, and nothing more" The Goblin King explained and set the box in front of her ,onto her vanity, closing the lid.
" What did that say?" she questioned curiously about the Goblin script, raising her eyebrow.
The Goblin King opened the lid of the box once again, and looked at the goblin script written inside of the box above the intricate pyramid of crystals. He smiled to himself, silently wondering how the goblins at the castle knew what he was thinking of when they put this together for him to give to Sarah. The goblins at the castle absolutely adored Sarah, and they did anything the king asked, especially if it was for Sarah. They often forgot that she could not read goblin though, but Jareth could so he would be able to tell her what it says, that is if he felt like it. He knew that if he did not translate it for her, she would eventually get frustrated trying to figure it out and just called for one of the goblins, most likely Hoggle. He looked carefully at the script, thinking of how he should word this.
" It says: To Lady Sarah, who will be forever be our Goblin Queen. These crystals hold infinite wishes, and also hold the power to bring you to the castle, if you so wish. Use them well." The Goblin King said, and looked back up at her for some variation of a response, hoping she wasn't angry with him.
Sarah suddenly felt her face getting warm, and knew she was blushing. " Th.. Thank you." she stuttered, completely taken aback that the goblins loved her that much, and also that Jareth had even thought of her so highly.
A sudden noise of a baby crying broke the silence, and Sarah got up from her seat and started toward the door.
"What is that infernal noise?" Jareth questioned.
" Toby's awake.. " Sarah answered, walking down the hall quickly with Jareth at her heels. She walked through the door and Toby sat up with his arms in the air. Sarah went to the side of the wooden crib and picked Toby up, slightly moving around as she held him. The Goblin King watched, being careful to stay quiet, unsure if Toby could see him. After a few minutes, Toby quieted.
" How did you do that?" Jareth asked, wondering how Sarah got the baby to stop screaming his little head off.
" Do what? I just picked him up and moved." She said, with a quizzical expression on her face, still holding Toby. She turned and walked back down the hall to her bedroom, sitting Toby on her bed, propping him up with a few pillows. She grabbed her teddy bear, Lancelot, and set it down in front of Toby, watching him pick it up and fall asleep.
" Sarah, dearest, I have another gift for you," The Goblin King said, pulling another box out of his pocket, this one smaller than the first, seeming to match his cloak. He handed it to her, and watched to see her reaction.
Sarah opened the box, revealing a glittering silver necklace with an insignia that appeared to be related to the kingdom in some way. She carefully took it out of the box, examining it closely. Jareth gently slid it out of her hand and clasped it around her neck. Walking back to his previous spot in front of her, he watched a smile form on her face.
" It's charmed, Sarah. As long as you wear that, you can do magic. I gave you some of my power. You should only to small things right now until you get used to it, or it may kill you. Be very careful, when I'm not here. I beg you." The Goblin King drawled, and walked back to the window, and took his leave in the form of an owl.
Sarah touched the necklace, ever so lightly, as if it were made of glass, and smiled.
" So he wants me to be his queen.. And rule the kingdom by his side…" Sarah trailed off, having figured it out. She picked the small red book up off of her vanity, and began to read it.
" Fear me. Love me. Do as I say, and I shall be your slave" She smiled as she read his words, carefully thinking about this lovely situation.
She wanted to find out what she could do with her new power. She thought of her snack cabinet in her kitchen, and reached into the air and pulled a cookie out of thin air. She gasped and stared at it, wondering if it was real.
"That is very real, Lady Sarah. You got yourself a cookie from your cupboard with magic. Well done." a goblin said.
Sarah looked at the little goblin, with a questioning look on her face. The goblin noticed the insignia on the necklace and recognized her as the queen, even though she wasn't the queen yet.
" Oh forgive me. My name is Biltux, m'lady." he said with a bow.
"Hello, Biltux… erm,, you may get up now.." She said to the goblin. Biltux stood back up and climbed up her vanity and sat next to the box. "Would you like to take a trip to the castle, Lady Sarah? The child can come with us, if you like.." Biltux said, looking at the insignia again and wondering why she was not at the castle right now, but thought against asking her.
"Sure…" she trailed off and got up to get some of her things put together in a backpack. She had just put the red book into her backpack, when Biltux wandered his way over to her. " No no, Lady Sarah. Let me do it for you. " he said and gathered some of her other things, and Toby's things, and neatly put them in, picking the bag up. The bag disappeared instantly. " Now, then. We should be off, m'lady." Biltux said. Sarah went over and picked Toby up off the bed, keeping Lancelot with him. Toby had fallen asleep while Jareth was there. Biltux grasped Sarah's wrist and they disappeared into thin air, reappearing in the castle outside the throne room. " Gimme the child, I'll take 'im to your room and put 'im in bed" Biltux said. Sarah carefully handed Toby to Biltux and entered the throne room.
Jareth rose from his throne and walked to Sarah, taking her hand and kissing her knuckles.
"Welcome." he drawled. " I trust you've made a decision, since you're staying for a while?" he asked, talking about the goblin script he read to her earlier. Acknowledging his question, she nodded. "You have decided to be my queen and rule the kingdom with me forever?" he asked, as if he needed more clarification. She nodded once more, and her box of crystals appeared at her feet, she'd wished them there knowing she would still be able to use them. Impressed that she had already figured out how to use the magic that he had given her, Jareth smiled and looked at the box , then back at her.
" I see you've figured out how to use your magic without being taught. Well done, my darling Sarah" he said, a grin forming on his face. " Tell me, what else have you learned?" he asked curiously. "Have you learned to charm food to yourself?" he asked.
" Yes, I have." Sarah confirmed.
" Very good, my dear." Jareth said, noticing that she would like to explore the castle so she wouldn't manage to get lost in her new home. " You may explore the castle, if you wish. If you get lost, just call."
She nodded and walked out of the room, roaming the castle.
Wow, it's even more beautiful inside. Ooooh! Look at that portrait.. And that one! she thought walking through a very nicely decorated hallway.
"Lady Sarah!" a girl's voice called..
"Yes?" she answered looking down and seeing a young girl appearing to be part Fae. She knelt down to the girls height, knowing it could be a little intimidating for someone to be taller. "and who may you be?"
The little girl looked at her wondering why she looked so plain, asking herself why the queen looked so human.
" My name is Camilia, Lady Sarah. I'm half Fae just like Jareth" she said, a childlike smile on her face.
" Is that so, Camilia? Why are you wandering the castle by yourself?" Sarah asked, actually curious as to why this little Fae was out wandering around the vast castle on her own.
" Mhm. Jareth is my big brother, and he lets me walk around as much as I want. As long as I'm careful and don't get myself hurt" She went on. " Jareth talks about you lots, and everyone's been talking about you being the Queen now and they says you are gonna stay here forevers and evers. I thinks its about time someone else is here but goblins all the times. They're not very fun, always moving things and going to places I'm not allowed to go to without Jareth or Millie, but Millie is kinda boring too. Millie is the goblin nanny. Oh! I almost forgots! I has to take you to your room and get more appropriate clothes for you.." she said and latched onto Sarah's arm, dragging her down the hall to a large ornate purple door. Camilia pushed the door open and went to the closet and pulled out an extravagant dress that was strapless, purple, and billowed to the floor with little ruffles and sparkles on it and handed it to Sarah and covered her eyes childishly and walked out to the hall.
Sarah slipped the lovely dress on and put on matching shoes. As she walked back out to the hall, the lovely shoes clicked.
" That looks Pretty!" Camilia shouted. " But we gotta do your hair, 'mere" she latched onto Sarah's arm again and pulled her back into the room, and to the vanity that looked identical to Sarah's vanity at home. Sarah sat in front of it in the chair, and let Camilia do whatever it is she was doing to her hair. She looked into the mirror when Camilia was finished, her hair was lightly curled with a few small flowers, making her look like she was a bit Fae herself. She giggled softly. "Thank you Camilia, that looks really pretty"