Disclaimer: I don't own it. Damn it.

We must not look at Goblin men,

We must not buy their fruits:

Who knows what soil they fed

Their hungry thirsty roots?

The Goblin Market - Christina Rossetti, 1862

We all know that peach was meant to distract Sarah from her goal, but what if it had been two-fold? What if it had been meant to tie her to the Underground in the event that she bested the Labyrinth?

Goblin Fruits

Prologue

"Won't you change your mind, Love?"

It was a plea, desperate and sad and she rolled onto her side, turning her back on him. "I'm not an idiot." She was dreaming again. It was the only part of her life that he could invade.

There was a quick indrawn breath and then he was angry all over again. "I never said that you were; but you are acting it, aren't you? I can help you, save you, and you refuse me, Sarah!" A frustrated snarl punctuated his rant. "Gods, you are dying, Sarah, let me help you!"

Sarah snorted. "And whose fault is that?"

She could feel him draw back as if she had slapped him. For a moment she felt guilty for her harsh words.

"Are you so willing to prove a point that you'd die for it?" he demanded.

She refused to answer him; they've been having this particular argument for the past few weeks and she was so tired. Even in this place of her own making, in her dreams, she was bone weary.

"Then you condemn us," he whispered. "And you leave me no choice."

Sarah stiffened. She didn't like the sound of that. It smacked of trickery and bending rules that shouldn't be bent. "You never had a choice, Goblin King," she said tiredly.

"No," he agreed. He touched her then, softly, a gloved hand running down her arm to her hand, where he tangled his long fingers in her limp digits. She didn't have the energy to pull away, so she scowled at the never ending green landscape in front of her. "No, I suppose not, but I will not let you die, Precious." His thumb rubbed soft circles on her wrist.

She sighed softly. "It's not your decision."

"Soon, I believe that it will not be your decision either," he said just as softly, his hand squeezing hers gently, and then his presence faded.

Sarah rolled onto her back, flinging the hand he had been caressing over her eyes and ripping up the grass with the other. "Damn him."

A/N: So what do you think?