Jareth patrolled the banquet hall, supervising and directing a hodgepodge of goblins as they prepared for dinner, bickering and decorating with fancy dishes and ornate trimmings. A long, polished black wood banquet table stretched along the hall, covered with a gold tablecloth and set with glass plates. At the end of the hall there was a glowing fire in a stone fireplace. Narrow windows sent streams of moonlight into the hall and showed sprinkles of stars.

It looks magnificent, he thought approvingly. He watched as a group of goblins clambered on top of each other to spread a runner on the table.

"It's gonna rip!" one cried.

"Shut up! I've got it!" another replied.

"Hurry up, I'm getting flat!" A third goblin, who was crouched under the other two, broke in.

And won't Elora look wonderful with them, beautifying my palace- in more ways than one- and waiting on me? She'll be head servant, of course- she's far more sophisticated than this riffraff.

And yet, something wasn't right. The castle was sparkling, Elora was here, everything was in place… but it wasn't enough.

It seems such a waste, Elora among these… hooligans. She's better than that. She has style. She's a queen. She deserves a prince.

Or a king.

A king? That is more suitable. Elora, Goblin Queen. Much better than Elora the lowly servant. Such unparalleled beauty would look most fetching on my arm.

Then it is settled. I shall make Elora my wife.

"So, Hiffa, what's it like living in the Labyrinth?" Elora asked as her lady-in-waiting bustled about trying to clean her already spotless room.

"Oh, it's just life, I suppose, my lady," Hiffa said.

"Well, do you enjoy it?" Elora pressed.

"It's nice working in the palace," Hiffa said. "It's not hard, and it's better than working out in the villages."

"How is it working for Jareth?" Elora asked.

"Well, my lady… he's my king, after all. I shouldn't say anything against him.

But you didn't leap to say anything nice, Elora thought.

"What does he do for discipline?" She asked.

"Jareth is very fair," Hiffa said brightly. "He never executes his goblins. Mostly he puts the bad ones in the oubliettes for a few years. The worst that can happen is he dips you in the Bog of Eternal Stench. Then he just lets you go, since nobody wants you after that anyway."

Oh, that sounds very fair, Elora thought.

"But you don't have to worry about that anyway," Hiffa said. "You're the guest of honor. There are plenty of nice parts of the Labyrinth. I can show you all around the castle, and even the villages if you want. If you really want I can show you the bog, but I really hope you don't want to."

"No, that's all right," Elora laughed. "Let's just start with the castle."

"Wonderful!" Hiffa said. She took a pocketwatch out of her skirt. "But you should probably eat first. You must be starved."

"Oh, I suppose you're right," Elora said. She opened the dresser and looked at her gowns.

Hiffa gasped in delight and admired them from across the room.

Elora smiled.

"Which one should I wear?" She asked.

Twenty minutes later, on Hiffa's insistence, Elora had tried on every one of her gowns (her maids had insisted that she bring far more than she could ever wear in a week). She had also tried on a few of them twice so that Hiffa could compare them and fuss over them. She finally settled on a pale rose silk gown with faint silver embroidery on the edges and a row of pearl beads down the back, which Hiffa helpfully buttoned. Then Elora opened her jewelry box and the entire process began again. Finally, Elora was decorated with a gold chain with a single pearl, a triple-strand pearl bracelet, and a bright blue sapphire ring. Elora questioned the logic of the last choice, but Hiffa was steadfast and insisted that it was the prettiest ring and Elora just couldn't argue with that.

"Am I ready?" She asked, and twirled slowly.

"You look beautiful, my lady," Hiffa said. "Jareth won't know what to say."

"I'm not sure that's possible," Elora said with a smile.