Thank you for all the kind comments and reviews! I treasure your feedback! I hope you enjoy this chapter - it is a long one! It may be a week before I can post again thanks to the demands of real life, but I promise this story will not be abandoned!

It was morning in the Castle Beyond the Goblin City, and the Goblin King was pacing restlessly up and down the cold grey stone floor of his throne room. His black cape fanned out behind him as he stalked past the rays of light pouring in through the tall, narrow windows. Flashes of glitter and black and white feathers swirled in his wake like as dust motes floated through the sunlight. Around him, goblins laughed, and squabbled, and jumped, and danced. One week had passed since Sarah had left the Labyrinth, and life had returned to normal for his mischievous subjects. "Not so for myself," Jareth thought. He was annoyed – annoyed, with everyone around him, but mostly with himself.

When he had finally wearily retired to his chamber after speaking with Sir Didymus that fateful night Jareth had found himself nearly too irritated to sleep. He knew that the old fox meant well, but Jareth was proud and private, and couldn't bear anyone prying into his secret thoughts. The gentle and cautious tone Sir Didymus had taken had put Jareth more on guard than a direct confrontation would have done. The Goblin King knew how to intimidate and command. When in conflict he could overrule or deflect with ease. He did not like insinuations. He loathed anything that could be considered pity (even if it was actually compassion). And he did not know (nor did he want to know) how to talk about his feelings, especially with one of his subjects. And especially if those feelings were about Sarah.

For a long while Jareth had sat on the edge of the window seat in his chambers, gazing out over the Labyrinth and into the starry night sky. Jareth loved the night. With his owl-like eyes he could see just as well in the dark as in the light, and the night brought a peace and quiet that he seldom enjoyed during his daytime existence as monarch over a land of goblins, misfits, and outcasts of all kinds. In the rare stillness of the previous evening, however, his thoughts had turned again and again back to Sarah.
"Damn her innocent eyes," he muttered to the silence.

He remembered the first time he had seen her. He had managed to get away from court on a beautiful afternoon and was enjoying the thrill of the wind in his wings as he soared over the Aboveground. Most of his kind (what few that remained) avoided the Above, but he and some others still regularly journeyed there, observing the humans who moved so quickly and their world that changed so fast, their mortal lifespans driving them to make the most of each day.

Jareth had no such impetus. He was content to spend the afternoon in his owl form, silently gazing out over the figures coming and going below him from his perch in the old oak in the park. He didn't know why he kept returning to the same small park, but something about the vibrant green grass, the sparkling water, and the old languid willows drew him back again and again. He had long since seen the rest of the world. Now he mostly returned to his own favorite places when he ventured Above.

On that afternoon eight years ago the sun shining through the leaves of the oak tree had created dappled patterns on the ground below and a gentle breeze had stirred the reeds that grew on the shore of the shining lake. Jareth had flown to a sturdy branch high up in the tree and changed back to his humanoid form, stretching his lithe body down the branch and leaning back against the tree trunk. He was well-concealed by more than just the leaves and branches, for his magic kept him from being seen when he was Above if he so wished. He was lost in thought when he heard the laughter of three small children as they ran through the grass nearby. They stopped in the shade of his oak tree and the King languidly inclined his head to glance down upon them. One child was a little boy with red curls, freckles, and dimples. Another child was tan with golden hair hanging in a braid down her back. But the third child had pale skin, dark, shining hair, and big green eyes. All three children looked to be about seven or eight years old, and they rested beneath the oak tree, catching their breath after running across the green grass.

"Okay, time to play hide-and-seek!" the little boy announced. "Sarah, you count and Jane and I will hide."

"But Tommy, you said we could play make-believe next, after tag!" the dark-haired girl cried.

The boy rolled his eyes. "Come on, Sarah, no one wants to play that anymore. We're too old for that stuff," he said, puffing out his little chest. Jareth suppressed a snicker at the boy's bravado and leaned down a little closer, interested in the little display of conflict emerging below him.

"But you guys promised," Sarah objected. "We never get to play what I want to play. It's not fair!" she cried out.

"Hide and seek is way more fun though, Sarah. Jane, you don't want to play any kiddie make-believe stuff, do you?" Tommy asked the girl with the long braid.

Jane just shrugged her narrow shoulders and blinked her big blue eyes. Tommy was her big brother and she usually just played whatever game Tommy chose.

"Jane, don't listen to him! If we play make-believe, you can be….you can be the fairy princess!" Sarah exclaimed. "And Tommy, you could be the brave knight, protecting the princess from the goblin army!"

At the girl's mention of goblins Jareth's pointed ears perked up. Fewer and fewer human children used their imaginations much at all, and even when they did, goblins were rarely the subject of any modern child's make-believe.

Tommy just rolled his eyes again. "Sarah, you know that none of that stuff is real, right? There aren't any goblins or fairies. There aren't even really any princesses anymore."

"You don't know that," Sarah said angrily, stamping her little foot. "And there are so princesses. And fairies. And goblins! My mom tells me the best stories about them! And she's been in lots of plays about them!" she exclaimed.

"Sarah, that's all just kid stuff," Tommy said, wrinkling his nose. "Besides, who wants to believe in goblins anyway? They're creepy."

For a second Jareth felt offended by the boy's offhand remark, but then he realized it was pretty much true. His goblins were creepy, especially if you hadn't gotten to know them. They were also silly, stupid, loyal, funny, easily amused, and unfortunately flammable (though nearly indestructible) with a special magic of their own.

"Creepy is all part of the charm," Jareth murmured to himself. He had not exactly chosen the rule of the Goblin Kingdom, but he had grown to care for it over the long, long years of his reign. Of course, there were days when Jareth wanted to throw himself out the tower window, or fling every single one of his subjects into the Bog of Eternal Stench, but his kingdom was great, and the Labyrinth was renowned throughout the Underground. Besides, he knew the goblins needed him. They lacked any real ability to plan for the future or to defend themselves against any kind of organized force, and that made them vulnerable without a ruler to protect them and their lands.

"Well, I like them," Sarah said, facing Tommy with her little hands on her hips. "And I believe they're real!"

"She likes goblins?" Jareth thought incredulously, his blue eyes widening in surprise. He wondered what sorts of goblin stories her mother had been telling her. He knew that she was telling the truth, too - to a magical creature such as himself, Sarah's belief radiated off of her like a golden glow.

"Well, I don't believe in them," Tommy said firmly. "Sarah, if you're not going to play hide-and-seek we don't have enough people. We might as well just go play at home. I got a new video game last week anyway. Come on, Jane," Tommy replied, grabbing his sister by the hand and dragging her away. Jane shrugged back at Sarah over her shoulder but didn't resist.

"Fine then! I don't need you to play with me anyway!" Sarah called out, crossing her arms over her chest. She watched them leave with a sparkle in her eye, but once they were out of sight she slumped against the tree trunk and slid down it until she was sitting on the ground, her baby blue dress covered with dirt.

Jareth found the little brunette totally charming in her childish way. He admired her spirit, and was amused by the way she had tossed her little head back to glare defiantly at her companions. But he recognized all too well the look of loneliness in her downcast eyes. She curled up into a little ball against the tree trunk, crossing her legs and resting her chin against one tight little fist. With his better-than-human sight Jareth could see hot tears forming in Sarah's green eyes.

"That's alright, little one," he whispered to himself. "Don't let them tell you what to believe." Inexplicably, he felt compelled to comfort the human girl.

Jareth did something next that he wondered about for years. Before he even really thought about it, he formed a crystal in his palm and gently blew on it. It dissolved into a fine golden glitter that the breeze carried down to Sarah, sprinkling into her hair and onto her shoulders. It was gone in an instant before she could even notice it, but the spell had already done its work. The golden glitter had placed her under the protection of the King and had given her certain powers.

Suddenly, a woman's voice called out and a lovely woman around thirty years old came into view. Jareth knew instantly that it was the girl's mother, for they shared the same bright eyes and dark hair.

"Sarah!" she called. The girl hurriedly wiped her eyes and stood up, dusting off her dress.

"Here I am, Mommy," Sarah called back to her. She started to run over to her mother, but she suddenly stopped and looked back behind her up into the old oak tree.

Of course, there was nothing there.

Sarah turned back and ran to her mother, grabbing her hand. Jareth watched silently as the two walked out of the park. He hesitated for a moment, but swiftly changed back into his owl form, and followed them as they walked back toward the beautiful old white Victorian home where they lived. Just like his favorite perch in the park, there was a stately old oak tree right next to the home. Jareth perched on it and peered in the closest window. Sure enough, it was a little girl's room, full of toys and books and dress-up clothes and pretty things. As Jareth watched, Sarah ran inside the room squealing with glee, her mother chasing her up onto the bed. Sarah grabbed up a stuffed bear in her arms, while her mother captured her in her own arms, until they all collapsed into a laughing heap on the bed.

Feeling as though he had lingered too long, Jareth took wing and headed back to the Underground with lightness in his heart that he hadn't felt in a long time. Of course, that day he never noticed the little red book on Sarah's nightstand.

Jareth's reverie was interrupted by a shaggy grey goblin tugging on his pants. "Your Majesty?" asked the goblin, trying to get Jareth's attention.

Jareth sighed. "Yes, Squeak, what is it?"

"The dwarf is here," Squeak squeaked. "He wants to see you,"

"The dwarf?!" Jareth exclaimed, surprised. He thought that Hedgewart would surely lay low for weeks after his little adventure with Sarah. Looking up, he saw Hoggle standing in the doorway of the throne room, trying his best not to look terrified.

"Well then," Jareth drawled, his gloved hands on his narrow hips. "Do come in."