She had known that he would agree, she had felt his triumph in her very core, and known what he would do.

Already she was crawling to her family upon hands and knees, a mantra chanting from her mouth, "Forgive me, forgive me."

The pain on her grandfather's face was too much; the sight of Toby wrenched her breath from her throat – this goodbye was to be steeled in pain, in loss.

"I love you." Her voice was a sob as she kissed her brother goodbye. She would never see him again, never to hear his stories, never again to see him grow up. A glance to his face, and she truly knew what it was to experience sorrow. Her betrayal was locked within the depths of his eyes – her meager offering was unworthy. Silently, she prayed for his forgiveness…and despaired. She knew it would never come.

For this sacrilege, she would see to it that the Goblin King would suffer. Her pain…..would be nothing compared to his.

Bated breath stopped short within her lungs as Sarah looked to the grandfather she loved so much.

"I love you." Her grandfather's voice mingled with her own. She could only give him what she had given Toby – her love. She could give no more.

Every fiber of her being loved her family, cherished them unlike anything else in life. This, her grandfather had always understood, had treasured. There would be only one thing he could give her to stand against the fae. He prayed it would be enough.

With one kiss, he said goodbye to his only granddaughter.

A shift of his weight placed the edge of his shoe against Toby's leg – the connection would be enough. With one kiss to her forehead, he granted her far more power than she had known existed. He granted her his power, his strength, his knowledge - it was all he could give her against the power of the Goblin King.

"Gods….please……help protect her."

Tears. Blood. Magic. It coursed through her veins, her body aflame. She cried out against the white marble as her body shattered in response to the power. Never before had she taken in such power – her blood sang pleasurable agony.

She reeled upon the blood smeared across the floor and could hear her heartbeat, precisely matched to those she so dearly loved. For a few precious moments, the three could breathe the other's breath; see through each other's eyes.

She looked to her family. Her beautiful family.

The Goblin King raised his hand.

"I love you!" Her cry, broken, echoed against the chamber walls.

They were gone.

They had been sent to the Aboveground, back to the world that waited for them. Back to a world that could no longer claim her. Her deal had been made, at the cost of her family, at the cost of her life... Sarah wallowed in the grief, drowning in the pain.

The hurt….was indescribable. All she had thought about warring was now erroneous, superfluous. She had been wrong. What he had done….unforgivable. Her beautiful family….the only persons she treasured – gone.

Sarah Williams was now truly alone.

She attempted to stumble to her feet. To find her blades. To exact her revenge.

Futile – she could no longer command her body to work, only making it to her knees. Sarah feared, despaired. The curse on her lips stopped abruptly as her breath came short.

Gabriel stood silent as he waited for the command of his King, while the Guard…….the Guard laughed. The intertwined voices were warping the air around her, causing her stomach to roll as slowly, she began to lose consciousness from the loss of blood.

The Goblin King stood, remote, as he watched her sway upon his marble floor.

With the slightest stir of his fingertips…the laughing stopped.

Sarah's last conscious understanding was his command to his broken and bleeding Guard, who had managed to rally around their King – barely. Only the Goblin King, Gabriel and the strongest of the Guard had managed to ride the power that Sarah had dispersed. The weakest found themselves on their knees.

The Guard would carry the scars of Sarah's blades through Time, She had made sure that they would never forget who they had tried to best, who they had tried to kill. Only Sarah's eyes gave way to her smile. She had made sure they would remember their failure. It would be forever embedded upon their skin, upon their pride.

His voice…his beautiful voice…was no longer stained with fury. His voice was remote to Sarah – only vaguely could she still comprehend. "Take her to the holding cells – I am finished here." The Guard moved to take her, confine her to her prison. Her own personal Hell.

The black haze shadowed her vision, her mind. No longer could Sarah see, no longer could Sarah feel. The magic would not come to her call, her body no longer responded.

"Gods….please….." Her plea… Sarah no longer knew what she pleaded for.

She reached her hand out, for what – she didn't know, and attempted to fight against the encroaching Dark.

She failed.

The Goblin King's footsteps upon the white marble were a distant sound as Sarah slumped to the white floor, unconscious.