Thirteen long hours later, exhaustion, hunger, and insecurity had done their worst. Linda was dirty, tired, sore, starving – and triumphant. The castle doors lay open before her.

Her feet made barely any sound against the stone stairs as she climbed up to the door and ran through, feeling victory in every step. Once she got home, what a story she'd have to tell Robert! And Sarah – well, wouldn't she just thrill to be part of a fairy tale like this?

She ran through the empty throne room, only wondering for a split second where its inhabitants might be. A door stood open across the room, and she ran straight through it and up the staircase behind it, not pausing to think of what manner of trap might lie in wait. Her heart pounded in her throat, every one of her senses alert to the time pressing against her. If she was too late...

As if in answer to her unspoken fear, her steps slowed as though she were running through treacle. Somewhere behind her, a clock chimed.

No, no, no, no, no!

Ahead of her, the spiral staircase she was climbing began to crumble, She turned around, to see the steps behind her falling away as well. A few seconds later, the cracks met beneath her feet, and Linda fell through darkness.

Her fall was arrested by something, she couldn't say what, beneath her feet. Surface in the purely geometric sense. A sound of wings, a shower of sparkles, and he stood before her again. The Goblin King, magnificent, and terrifying in his magnificence. Linda suddenly felt as though she hadn't stopped falling, after all.

"Through dangers untold -" she began, but he held up a gloved hand, one finger raised. She fell silent again. Somewhere in the darkness, the clock continued to chime.

'It's too late, Linda," he said, and his casually brutal tone made her want to scream. "Your time is up. The child is mine."

"Sarah," Linda snapped. "Her name is Sarah."

The Goblin King smirked. "It doesn't matter now. She belongs to me."

"No."

He raised one eyebrow, gave her a look of condescension. "There are rules, Linda. It would be...unfair for you to break them now."

She could have spat in his face. Taking a deep breath, she stepped forwards toward the Goblin King and prepared to do what was either the bravest or stupidest thing she'd ever do. "No. Spare my daughter. Take me instead."

Both of his eyebrows shot up at this statement, but that was the only sign of surprise he showed. "Are you sure? It's not too late to turn back, you know."

Linda stopped, swallowing the blind agreement that had been on the tip of her tongue. It makes a good story, yes, but you won't be around to tell it. Don't go through with this. Let him keep –

And she came abruptly back to her senses. "I'm sure."

"Tell me, then, why should I accept your offer?" he asked, face like a thunderstorm.

Because she has her whole life ahead of her. Because I'm her mother, and I ought to put her first, at least this once. Because I can survive, can take care of myself. Because she's just a baby. Because she's my daughter. But what she said was, "Because if you don't, you may never know if she'd be beautiful or not."

His thunderstorm frown morphed into one of confusion.

"'He would keep it for ever and ever, and turn it into a goblin'. There are rules, you know. You can't just break them."

He stalked towards her, beginning to circle her. Linda turned to keep him within her line of sight, and found herself twirling on the spot. "Actually, I can. That's what you've done, offering me this trade, isn't it?"

"No. That fits into the story." Linda was becoming slightly dizzy.

"Story? You still think this is a story? You, who defeated my Labyrinth? You, who saw it all unroll before you? You , who lived through it – you think this is a story?" He laughed. 'This is life, Linda. And the difference between life and stories is that life isn't fair, and it doesn't always make sense."

I'm trying to be noble and self-sacrificing, you stupid - Linda bit back a rant, and instead said, "I would give you myself, instead of my daughter. Surely that's fair."

He merely looked at her with those mismatched eyes, and once again she felt she was falling. "you refused my gift. I wonder why you seem to think I'll take your offer."

Blinding clarity flashed through Linda's mind. "I'll take your...gift if you will release Sarah. Just let her go, and I'll do whatever you want."

He grinned lopsidedly, mirthless and condemning. "That sounds slightly more appealing. But whatever will your husband think?"

There was only one possible answer in Linda's mind. "He'll wait for me. He'll be devastated, but he'll know I'm coming back."

The Goblin King's smile grew wider. "You're quite sure."

"Yes."

"All right, then, I accept." A flick of his wrist, and the crystal appeared, flying off the tips of his fingers and through the empty air between them. Linda caught it without thinking. It felt cold and smooth and unpleasantly like polished bone.

"And my daughter?" she queried.

He waved a hand dismissively. "Safe and sound at home, sleeping like a baby. She won't remember anything of her time here."

Linda nodded, feeling slightly numb, as though this were a nightmare she couldn't quite wake up from.

"Now." He gestured to the crystal clutched tightly in her hands. "Look into it."

Linda obliged, holding the ball up to her eye and peering through it. "All I see is you. Upside down."

He sounded suddenly most impatient as he instructed her, "Not through it, into it."

Linda lowered the crystal from her eye, apprehensive. She looked down into it until vertigo threatened to overwhelm her.

"Deeper." His tone was commanding, and Linda obeyed without questioning.

She fell, head over heels, toward a point of light that she hadn't noticed before. As she drew closer, she slowly became aware of music, emanating from that tiny dot of light.

And as she fell into that light, she realised that she was wearing an enormous, sparkling gown.

AN: Might not be quite up to snuff. I sincerely apologise if that is the case. Writer's block is probably a curse or something.