Time had no meaning here.

It was a legend, a myth, nothing of great importance. Enchanting music, filled with the sweet-, and bitterness of sorrowed love, made her heart ache from loneliness as she desperately tried to navigate her way through the large crowd of masked humanoid creatures. She had been to this ball, and she had worn this gown, once before - many, many years ago in a dream. She found that nothing aside of herself had changed here since then. Sarah had grown only a little taller over the last five years but her slender waist was far more visible now, as was her bosom, and the shape of her face didn't bear the roundness of a child anymore but the angularity of a young woman. Sarah's beauty stood out from the rest of the attendants which drew lots of odd, interested glances at her. It began to make her feel uncomfortable.

They looked at her if she was an amusing plaything and a delicious feast. Even though Sarah could see the impatience in their mocking grins, not one of them dared to approach or touch her. It was a silent rule they had to obey. She wasn't their prey to hunt. After being unable to find an exit from the uncanny ballroom and wandering amidst the eerie beings for quite some time, Sarah paused in the middle of the dance floor for she had caught a quick glimpse of untamed, light-blond hair with blue wisps, from the corner of her green eyes. He was playing hide-and-seek with her. Again.

"You're so frustratingly dramatic," she whispered, hoping he could hear her. And he did.

Sarah knew he was standing behind her as soon as she inhaled the intoxicating scent of sweet osmanthus and pomegranate. She closed her eyes, reflexively bathing her senses in his odour. Images of tranquil, summery afternoons appeared before her inner eyes. The warmth of the sun on her skin was almost palpable and a feeling of pure bliss overran her like a large wave. It was only then, feeling the touch of his gloved hands on her bare shoulders, that she returned from her trance-like state. Shuddering, Sarah tried to escape his touch but he softly tightened his grip around her shoulders and pulled her back against his chest.

The other guests seemed not to care about this odd scenery. And why would they? This was none of their business as they were neither main leads nor had their role any importance aside of adding a certain touch of otherworldliness and danger to the atmosphere. Sarah's stomach drove a rollercoaster and her heart beat frantically when his breath ghosted over her neck and his lips almost touched her skin.

"I know I am," he whispered.

Sarah froze. Goosebumps spread all over her arms. This was a dream, this had to be a dream. He repeatedly mumbled her name in a wistful voice. Even though every part of her body begged her to succumb to his seduction, her mind was too prideful to make it as easy as that for him and therefore forced her to gather all available strength to break away from the grip of this supernatural being.

When she managed to do so and finally stood before him, she faltered. There were many words ghosting through her mind, some of them even touched the tip of her tongue, but Sarah couldn't put them into proper words. There he was. The Goblin King, just as she had remembered him:

Tall, slim with wild tousled hair and blue eyes, one pupil constantly more dilated than the other, dressed in the same attire he had already worn the last time they encountered each other at this ball. His expression was indecipherable at first but the right corner of his mouth slowly lifted into a smugly, wry grin exposing his amusement about the situation, most of all, her reaction. Sarah didn't speak a word but the question, which was busy currently tormenting her mind, burned visibly in her eyes.

"One advantage of growing up is the possibility of being able to fully experience the ardours of bodily love, my dear," he answered her question charmingly as if he had just read her thoughts. He was obviously very pleased with the fact that he seemed to arouse her.

Sarah gritted her teeth and clenched her fists, taking a step back. "In your dreams, Goblin King."

He closed the gap between them. This time she remained on the spot, rebelling against the urge to take another step away from him and hated that she could feel her face grow fevery hot. A small voice inside her begged her to allow herself to be lulled in a false sense of security.

'This is a dream, you can do anything you want without there being any consequences,' it whispered. Sarah almost laughed bitterly about this lie. It would've been easy to believe it and indulge to his invitation. After all, it was only a dream, right? But the past reminded her that nothing was what it seemed with him and there was still the possibility that this could be no ordinary dream but something spun by his magic.

"Sarah…" The way he said her name turned her legs into pudding. She let him place his hand on her waist. With the other he took her hand. One dance couldn't hurt, would it? She expected him to make an arrogant remark about her last sentence but to her great surprise, he didn't. His expression was sincere as he whispered: "I've missed you."

Her heart jumped. "You did?"

'I just doomed myself', she thought.

The Goblin King started moving with her smoothly to the rhythm of the music. "Indeed, I did. May I assume the chance stands that you've missed me, too?" There was a hopeful tone in his voice.

Sarah sighed. "Maybe," she murmured with reddened cheeks,avoiding his eyes. Honestly it wasn't that she had yearned for him but there was always a thought, in the back of her mind, that wondered how he was doing. The Goblin King grinned, exposing his sharpened, white teeth.

"Hear ye, hear ye Sarah Williams missed me," he teased.

She groaned. "I never said I did. I simply admitted that there might be a chance I did," she corrected him.

"That's enough for me. At least for now."

Together they glided over the marble dancefloor, looking like an honourable prince and his princess from a fairytale. Sarah was this close to give up her inner battle against him, at least for the duration of this dance. Her being in his arms felt so unexplainably right and she couldn't help herself but to wonder how their story would've evolved had they met under different circumstances at a different time in her life. Sarah wasn't the person anymore, she had been five years ago. Sure, the vital elements of her character had remained but her view on life and, most importantly, love had changed over time. What if he had changed, too?

She found herself wishing that this encounter wasn't a dream.

"For now?" she was about to ask but suddenly the music died and the Goblin King stopped in his movement.

"What's happening?" Sarah whispered in surprise. He didn't reply, instead planted a kiss on the back of her hand like the noble gentleman, he wasn't. There was a familiar voice calling her name from somewhere far, far away. Sarah didn't want to hear it but it became inevitable to ignore and then she knew, and he saw that she knew, who it was.

"You're waking up," he explained.

The world around them started to shake and swirl. Sarah stumbled into his open arms. The ball guests screamed in terror before vanishing back into a cloud of grey dust. And then it happened: the ballroom broke into million shatters of tiny glass splinters and the ground beneath their feet disappeared into a dark abyss. He kept standing in the air as if it was nothing for him, holding her in his arms. Sarah half-heartedly hoped he would continue to hold her as he had once promised "as the world falls down".

But his eyes darkened and all the affection he had for her seemed to have vanished within a blink. There was a cruel, mocking smile on his lips as he said:

"Oh, poor, poor Sarah. How naïve you are."

Then he let go of her and Sarah fell into the black nothingness beneath her, screaming the air out of her lungs. She fell and fell, admits the glass splinters, like little Alice down the rabbit hole, and the last thing she felt before she woke up was the hurting brokenness of her own heart.