There was a tortoise in Sarah's dorm room, and unfortunately she knew (almost) exactly why.
It had been an okay day so far—she'd passed her exams with reasonably floaty colors. She'd finally gotten the glitter out of her carpet after the most recent goblin visit. There was a distinct lack of owl feathers on her windowsill when she woke up. So of course the universe decided that should all go to pot and dumped Madame Tortille, knower of all things past and seer of all things future, time traveler extraordinaire on Sarah's bed.
(She was very, very thankful that Robin, her roommate, was out for the day.)
"Madam Tortille," she said. Her voice was not the picture of enthusiasm, but her statistics class tended to suck that out of her. "What a pleasant surprise." She braced herself for something dreadful and added, "To what do I owe your delightful presence?"
As most Undergrounders knew, Madam Tortille could be very temperamental and the more time you spent flattering her, the less time you spent talking to her. She slooooowly turned her head towards Sarah and gave her a smile. "Dear child," she said. Then she paused. She always paused frightfully long over her commas. "It is wonderful to see you." She paused even longer over her periods. "I'm afraid I'm only here for a short visit." During this pause Sarah had enough time to put down her bag, shrug out of her coat, and crack open the window to let in a breeze. "His Majesty the King of the Goblins sent me with an invitation to his Hallow's Eve Ball."
Of course, Madame Tortille had Sarah at "His Majesty." There weren't very many majesties who would do anything for Sarah, let alone take such an interest in her as to send Madame Tortille to the Aboveground. She waited, perhaps a bit impatiently, for Madame Tortille to retrieve the envelope she had tucked away in her shell and accepted it gratefully.
"Thank you very much, Madame Tortille," Sarah said. She held the envelope close to her chest and bowed at the waist, as she was wearing jeans and she'd never been able to perform a proper curtsy. Madame Tortille seemed satisfied and bowed her head in return. "And thank you again for gracing my dorm room with your presence. It's been marvelous to see you again."
Madame Tortille chuckled and might have possibly blushed, but she nodded her head and said a graceful goodbye before she disappeared with a pop and a shower of glitter. Sarah glared at the glitter pile balefully. She'd just gotten it out of the carpet. With a sigh, she laid the invitation down to gather her comforter up and over towards the window. She'd just shaken most of it off when behind her someone cleared their throat.
"Are you not even going to look at it?" said Jareth.
Sarah startled and almost dropped her comforter out the window. She spun, clutching it with one hand and placing the other over her racing heart. "Jareth, don't do that," she said sharply. When she saw that his gaze was still flicking between her and the invitation she rolled her eyes. "I'll get to it in just a second, I'm trying to shake out all the glitter."
"Why bother?" he asked, taking a seat on her unmade bed and inspecting his fingernails—which, by happenstance, were covered by his gloves. "It'll only get glittery again anyway when those damnable goblins come back. I'm sure I heard them discussing another visit tonight. Something about helping you pick out something to wear to my Hallows Eve Ball."
"I bother because glitter is very uncomfortable to sleep on. One would think you'd know from experience," she said. She finally hauled the comforter back into the room and left it in a heap on her bed, as Jareth was blocking her way. She put her hands on her hips. "What's with the invitation, anyway? I've never needed one before."
He gave her a wolfish smile. "I've never presented you to the court as my affianced before." He reached his hands out to her and she sighed before she slid her own into his grasp. He pulled her closer. "Now, are you coming or not? I have it on the best authority that the king has requested your presence personally."
She pursed her lips. "Depends. Do I have to solve the Labyrinth to get there?" she asked.
His answering smile made her regret the remark immediately.