Sarah closed her very old and warn copy of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and looked over her audience.

"Awww, that's ridiculous," grumbled Hoggle. "How could he have directed the horse if he was headless?"

"Maybe he didst rideth with a divine eye," said Sir Didymus sagely.

Ludo just shook his head with a groan.

Sarah grinned as she set the book on her desk. "It's just a spooky story, guys. Those often involve spirits from another realm."

As if on cue, strange sounds began emitting from her closet, drawing their attention. Sarah's heart pounded so hard it was deafening as her eyes fixed on her closet door.

Their screams filled the room when a flowy white figure popped out. They all stared for a long, wide-eyed moment before the sound the being made became oddly familiar.

Sarah frowned as she noticed how similar it looked to something covered in a small sheet. She peered closer. Not a sheet. Her poet's shirt. She reached forward and grabbed it, removing the creature's disguise.

Argh, the goblin, grinned broadly at her.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Sarah cried. "You scared us all half to death! Have you been in there this whole time?"

He nodded cheefully.

"Well, that's more than enough for me," griped Hoggle. "If I wanted to deal with goblins, I'd have stayed in the city."

"Thank you for the story, fair maiden, but I shall retire as well," said Sir Didymus as he rose from her floor. He gave a bow before following Hoggle to the mirror.

"Ludo tired," said Ludo with a yawn, falling in line behind them.

"Well, it was nice seeing you guys. Thanks for letting me rehearse with you. Maybe we'll do something less spooky next time."

They all muttered their agreements, then departed through the mirror.

Argh trotted over to the mirror and looked at Sarah. "Was it a firey?"

Sarah blinked. "What?"

"They can remove their heads and still see," he added.

She blinked again. "Something like that, I'm sure," she said, surprised by the goblin's thoughtfully constructed input.

Argh grinned and stepped through the mirror.

Sarah let out a deep breath and went to the kitchen to put on a kettle for tea and stared at it as she zoned out, thinking about how silly it had been for her to be scared. She must've read that story a thousand times and it had never gotten to her before. Of course, she'd never a goblin accompanying it with jump scares before, either.

"Argh," she grumbled. She knew he hadn't meant anything by it. Still, his intrusion had certainly enhanced the mood of the story.

"A politician?" she heard behind her and nearly leapt out of her skin. She spun around to find the Goblin King lounging against her refrigerator.

"Don't sneak up on me like that!" she yelled.

He examined the tips of his gloved fingers, as if her words had had no effect on him whatsoever.

"And yes, a politician," she confirmed. "Or a law student," she added.

"I must say, I feel bad for anyone governed or defended by that sod," he remarked.

The tea kettle began to whistle and Sarah turned off the stove. "I hate to say it, but I don't think that's too far off."

He frowned. "Well, I could see it if he was born into the position, but you all vote for your rulers, do you not? How could the majority of a population be senseless enough to put someone like him in charge?"

She snorted as she poured water into her mug. "You'd be surprised." She set the kettle down and turned to face him with her arms crossed over her chest. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

He shrugged. "Am I not welcome to story time rehearsal with all the rest?" he asked coolly.

She bit her lip. "I suppose you are. I just didn't expect to see you."

"We are not enemies," he stated.

"No," she said slowly. "I guess not. It's been five years, though."

He tugged at his gloves, his gaze intent on his hands. "I had hoped you would call. I did not wish to intrude."

"Like tonight?" Sarah regretted the words the moment they escaped her lips.

The Goblin King's eyes met hers.

"I'm sorry, that didn't come out right."

"Yes, well," he began, returning his attention to his gloves. "Now that you are no longer going through the complexities of adapting to new physical and emotional developments, and are no longer residing with your family, I presumed you might call to me as you have the others. Then it came to mind that your uncertainties may be the same as mine."

She nodded slowly. "So you decided to make the first move."

"Well, one of us had to if anything was to come of it," he replied, pushing away from the refrigerator, his eyes abandoning his gloves and moving to her. "You had five years to extend the proverbial olive branch. I decided it was up to me."

She thought for a moment. "I suppose it was just a game, when you think about it."

A smirk crossed his face and he folded his arms in front of him. "With high stakes. But yes, there are no hard feelings for your winning. And, though we were rivals, I like to think it may have been the start of something better."

Her eyes were drawn to the floor as she chewed on her lip in thought. "I suppose no harm was done."

He barked out a laugh. "I ensured it."

She looked up and raised an eyebrow at that.

He threw his hands up, clearly intending to give off an air of nonchalance, but the tension in his posture gave him away.

"Of course there were dangers, but that was merely to make it more challenging. I never would have allowed any real harm to come to you."

Sarah pursed her lips in thought, then looked back up at him. "Tea?" she finally asked.

"That sounds delightful," he responded.

"Stupid goblin," grumbled Hoggle.

"I do not believe it was his intent to frighten us so," Sir Didymus responded.

"Yeah," Ludo agreed.

"Hmph," Hoggle grunted.

They walked a few more minutes before they heard a strange sound behind them.

"What is that?" Hoggle asked, trying to sound curious, but unable to keep the fear out of his voice.

"Surely nothing," Sir Didymus responded. "'Tis likely the wind."

What he likely intended to be a reassuring statement sounded more like a question to Hoggle. And he didn't miss the quiver in his voice.

"Ludo scared."

"Heeee-he-he-heeee!" rang out behind them.

All three of them began to sprint.

"I thought it was just a story!" Hoggle screamed.

"To every story, Sir Hoggle, is an element of reality!"

Ludo let out a long bellow as they all sped up.

"Heee-he-he-heeeeeeeee!"

Hoggle's foot caught on a root and he felt his body come in contact with the ground.

"Sir Hoggle!" he heard from just ahead of him.

He felt a strong hand pull him against a soft body and, through his haze, saw Ludo's feet below him.

Suddenly, an orange face was staring up at him.

"Heee-he-he-heeeeee!" it screamed.

Hoggle's and Sir Didymus' screams were drowned out by Ludo's howl.

"Haaaaaa-ha-ha-haaaaa!"

Hoggle took another look at the orange face. It was complete with a beak, pointed ears, and wild eyes. "Oh, go away!" Hoggle yelled, his heart in his throat.

A firey acting as a horse carried the body of another firey over to collect his discarded head.

"Ha! They fell for that!" the horse firey laughed as the other one reattached his head.

"So easy to fool," the rider firey replied. "I think I found a new hobby!"

Hoggle, Sir Didymus, and Ludo were all speechless as they watched the firies retreat into the woods.

"Never again!" Hoggle yelled as he stepped into Sarah's living room.

Sarah and the Goblin King looked at him over the rims of their mugs, surprised.

"I support thy new career at the library, fair maiden, but I must concur with Sir Hoggle. That story you told nearly did us in."

Ludo nodded.

"It was just a story," Sarah replied in disbelief.

"Those firies are enough trouble without you giving them any ideas." Hoggle's tone was sharp.

Sarah and the Goblin King looked at one another.

"Apparently I was not the only one intruding on story time," the Goblin King said with a smirk.