Cold- Everything was cold.
His kingdom, this throne room, his heart, even the small crystal ball in his hand; it all felt the same. This world is one of impenetrable darkness, for it is the realm of the goblins. From the beginning of time, it has thrived in its' own way, adapting to whatever situations it was challenged with.
It is a bleak place. There are no flowers and very little sunshine. The only thing remarkable about the Goblin Kingdom is its large labyrinth. Rumor goes that only the king knows how to pass through it successfully. Though there is a story told by some of the older goblins that a girl once defeated the Goblin King and found her way through it, but few know if this is actually true.
In the middle of the Labyrinth stands a tall castle. Usually bustling with excitement, today it was unnaturally silent. On this day every year, the Goblin King sent everyone away from his castle. No one knew what he did all day by himself, nor were they too keen on angering him by asking. So, the goblins went home and spent time with their families and enjoyed the day off without too many questions.
At this particular moment, the Goblin King was draped across his throne, muttering under his breath with one hand covering his eyes, the other fidgeting with a crystal ball. Suddenly, he sat up and in a sudden burst of rage threw the ball against the opposite stone wall.
"Curses!" he cried, throwing his head into his hands.
Sitting this way for a few minutes, he slowly lifted up his head.
"I can't do this anymore." He said softly. "I promised myself years ago I wouldn't. She deserves to be free, but I…."
He ran his hands through his white hair in frustration. A look of determination came over his face.
"No, I promised myself I would let her go. As much as I want to, I cannot interfere in her life again…." He conjured another crystal ball. "But a quick look won't hurt anything, will it?"
Muttering a spell, the Goblin King rolled the crystal in his palm. Immediately, an image started to appear inside its' clear center.
Inside, a girl of 22 with long black hair was pitching a baseball to a little boy who looked to be about 8 or 9. His sandy blond hair kept falling into his eyes when he was trying to concentrate on hitting the ball. After a couple of misses, the bat and ball collided and sent the baseball flying over the girl's head.
"Hurray Toby!" the girl cried, hand shielding her eyes as she watched it land on the other end of the field. "A few more of those and we'll have you ready for Little League in no time!"
She turned back to the boy, emerald green eyes glistening with an excitement so contagious, the Goblin King smiled in response.
"Really, Sarah?" the little boy asked. "Do you really think I can do it?"
"Of course you can, Toby. With the right amount of talent, and a lot of practice, you can do anything." Sarah stated matter-of-factly, walking over to him and patting his head in a motherly way.
"I wish you were here more often, Sarah. Dad won't help me practice and it's kinda hard to do it by myself." Toby said, looking up at his sister wistfully.
Sarah sighed. "I wish I could be here more often too buddy, but you know how your mom feels about me coming around too much."
"Aw, I don't care what she thinks. All she ever cares about is her next party anyway." He said sulkily, kicking a rock at his feet.
She knelt down next to him, brushing his hair out of his eyes once again. "Now Toby, you know you can't say that about her. She DOES care about you, just in her own way."
"I suppose so" he said. "How long are they gonna let you stay this time?"
"Hopefully a week or two," Sarah smiled, winking to cheer him up. "If I play my cards right!"
Toby giggled. "I'll help! I'll even eat all my vegetables and make my bed!"
"Whoa now!" Sarah teased, "Don't go crazy! They might just let me stay a month!"
"Yaaaaaay!" Toby cried, throwing his arms around her neck and hanging on tightly. "Then you'd never have to leave me again. Never ever!"
Sarah squeezed him back tightly. "If only that would happen," she sighed wistfully. Her eyes shut tightly, as if trying to capture this moment as store it away somewhere for a rainy day. Eventually, she looked up and realized how late it was.
"Goodness, Toby! We'd better run for it or we're going to be late!"
Grabbing the bat and the ball, the two rushed out of the field towards home and the Goblin King watched until they were out of sight.
As the scene in the crystal dimmed, the king realized that his face was wet. His eyes searched the ceiling for some sign of a leak, but could find nothing that seemed to be the cause. The king knew he had been engrossed in the crystal, but surely he would have felt something dripping onto him! As he put the crystal into his pocket, he realized something. The wetness hadn't come from the ceiling, but from him!
Shaking his head in disgust, he wiped at his eyes with his sleeve.
"I broke my record." He muttered. "Seven years to the day without a single tear, yet one glimpse of her and I'm blubbering like a baby! … She wasn't even as pretty as I had remembered. Her hair? Too black. Her lips? Too thin. Her eyes? … My God, those eyes …" he paused, regaining some of his composure. "Hardly even worth remembering."
Lies. Always lies. He knew it, but that was the only way to keep his sanity. In truth, she was more beautiful now than she had been, if that was truly possible. To the Goblin King, she had been the epitome of beauty, even at age 15.
For a day, she had been his world. Ever since then, he could not shake her hold on his heart. At this point, she had been with him so long that he didn't even wish to. The brilliance of her mind had astonished him. How could he forget the way she had conquered his labyrinth with such ease? And what would a day be like without the memory of her smile?
Worthless. Empty. Incomplete.
That's how he felt now. She was like a ray of sunshine that had momentarily flitted across a previously dark path. Warm for a moment, the darkness would always crave to be warm again. To cast off the dark and be surrounded by the light.
The king sighed.
But it was not to be. She had left him. Spurned him and vanished away. Back to the world he knew she hated, where she was scorned and taken advantage of. And for what? The love of that little boy.
Sarah would give up everything for Toby. Already had, actually. For even though the Goblin King hadn't allowed himself to see her, he had still kept track of her life.
Toby had been right in his earlier summarization of his mother. She was a selfish and jealous woman, obsessed with social standing and her image. She eventually turned out to be the evil stepmother Sarah had always thought of her as.
On her eighteenth birthday, her step-mother had declared that she was old enough to be living on her own and should be gone by the end of the day. Sarah had packed up what few belongings she had and went to live with some friends for a little while. After working several jobs for a few years, she was able to scrape together enough money to get an Associate's degree in business technology.
Now she worked as an underpaid, overworked secretary at one of the local businesses. She hadn't tried to move away because she wanted to remain close to Toby, seeing as she was the closest thing to a mother he had. Sarah's life was by no means easy. Concentrating on daily survival, her childhood dreams of being on the stage, wearing fancy clothes, and finding love had long since faded to dust in the corner of her mind.
Remorse hit the Goblin King hard, for it was ultimately his fault she had lost sight of those beautiful dreams. Though he had to admit, losing them had ultimately been good for the slightly spoiled girl he remembered. Her trials had given her a strong sense of responsibility and induced a fierce loyalty in her heart.
"… everything I've done, I've done for you…" his song was a soft as a whisper, his eyes closed tightly. "Your eyes can be so cruel, just as I can be so cruel…. Though I do believe in you. Yes, I do believe in you…"
His eyes opened and he gazed around the dark, empty room.
"… live without your sunlight… Love without your heartbeat… I- I can't live within you."
He stood up from his throne, his voice growing in intensity.
"… I can't live within you…."
Striding purposefully over to one of the windows looking out on his kingdom, he stared intently at his Labyrinth. A look of fierce determination settled on his face.
"I may not be able to live within you, but that doesn't mean I should live without you.
Greth! GRETH!" the king shouted until a small goblin came rushing into the throne room.
"Your majesty?" The bespeckled and slightly hunched over goblin asked. "Is everything alright? You expressly wished to be alone…"
"In know what I said!" snapped the king. "I have since changed my mind. Have the dwarf, Higgle, be brought to be within the hour."
"You mean Hoggle, your majesty?" the goblin said tremulously
"Isn't that what I said? Now get to it. The sooner he is here, the better."
"B-But your majesty, why should a lowly dwarf be brought to the castle? Has he displeased you in some way?"
The Goblin King turned from the window, his light blond hair looking almost white in the light of the setting sun, his ice blue eyes shining like the hottest part of a flame. He stared down his nose at the quaking goblin.
"He is to be brought here because I request his input on a matter of great importance to me." he bit out roughly. "Is that understood?"
"Y-yes your majesty. Right away sire." The little goblin all but ran for the door in his effort to escape the king's wrath.
As the door closed, the Goblin King turned once again to the window, but all he could see was a pair of sparkling emerald eyes.