A/N: Yet another fragment...enjoy!
Power Play
"Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered," she begins, invoking words older than the earth itself, powers that have existed since the universe was born. "I have fought my way here, to the castle beyond the Goblin City, to take back the child that you have stolen–"
"Sarah," he implores, begging her not to do this. "Look at what I'm offering you!" His eyes speak the words he cannot say, the words he wishes to say, the words that for survival's sake he must say. He cannot live without her. He cannot even live within her. But these words he cannot say, because she has to figure them out for herself. He is bound by her words, but she is not. And so he hopes she is looking, because thus far his other hints have been ignored.
"For my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom as great," 'you have no power over me.' The remaining words echo in her head, each one falling to rest like a lead weight in her stomach. This is it. This is where she says the words that will make her choice. The king, or the baby. She can't have them both. She sees his eyes, and her decision trembles. She thinks of Toby, and it openly wobbles. "And my kingdom as great – Damn! I can never remember that line!"
She is stalling, she knows. These words have been embedded in her mind for as long as she can remember. She just needs to choose: the king or the baby…there's really no competition, she knows. Her decision has fallen, tumbling end over end, as a coin. It has landed, and so she says the words that will end this. "I give you every power over me."
Her words complete the spell, and he flicks his wrist. Just like that, his arms are around her. He holds a crystal in front of her face, and looking into it, she sees Toby, sitting back in his crib Aboveground. Grinning, she looks up into his face.
"I chose." She says simply. Nothing more is needed. Sealing the deal with a heart-stopping, breath-missing kiss, the King and his Queen transport out of the broken Escher room. From the beginning, they knew she would loose the baby. But what she has won was worth the loss.