Hope you like this story as it is my first Laby fanfic. Please read& review. I'm not sure it really needs an M-rating, but not being American, I don't know exactly when a story goes from T to M, so better safe than sorry.

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Jareth and Sarah stood staring at each other for the longest time, before he moved towards her with slow deliberate steps. She tried to back away, but there was nowhere to run.

"Please," she whispered, really scared now, "It can't be true. It's been too long – can't we just forget it?"

"What is said is said. But the alternative is still open, if you think that is a better solution." Jareth expression became bored and he gestured towards the door to the hallway. "I'm sure little Toby will make an excellent addition to my goblin army."

Toby! Her beloved little brother – she couldn't let that man take him away again.

"No, I'm sorry; of course I'll keep my vow and come with you."

Jareth lifted his hand and suddenly four crystal orbs were spinning in his hand. He sent them flying and three of them gently floated out through the closed door to the hallway as if they had no substance. The fourth hovered in the air in the bedroom and then burst into silver showers that scattered all over the place. Before her very eyes, all Sarah's personal things vanished and the room changed into a plain unused guestroom.

"My books!" she cried and looked around. "What did you do!"

"I have wiped out all the memories of you in this house. When they wake up, your family will not remember that you have ever existed." Jareth surveyed his work with expert eyes. "Believe me, it is for the best."

"But my clothes? What will I wear? What will happen to me?" Sarah felt herself shaking; she couldn't believe what he had just done.

"You will be with me," he said, and suddenly they were no longer in her house, but at the edge of the Labyrinth overlooking the entrance and the castle far beyond. It was as late a night as the one they had left above, and a huge silvery moon lit up the sky and illuminated the Labyrinth in blue and grey shades. Here and there fires and torches could be seen inside the maze, and the entrance was lit by two large kettles burning with fire. Everything was silent and looked deserted, but at the palace in the middle, lights shone in all the windows.

"I can't believe it!" Sarah whispered. "I'm back!"

"Yes, and this time for good. You should know that I always win, Sarah!" The Goblin King laughed cruelly. She suddenly forgot her fears and felt the anger rise in her.

"Why?" she cried and turned to look at him. "What will you do to me, now that you have me?"

His eyes narrowed and a slow sensual smile spread across his face as he let his gaze travel up and down her body. She suddenly realised she had nothing but a thin nightgown on, and she fought the urge to cover herself with her hands, feeling he could see right through it.

"You have certainly grown," he commented, but took of his cape and handed it to her, as if he could sense her need for a more modest attire. She hesitated and thought of refusing it, but then again, what would be the point? As she wrapped it around her shoulders, it enveloped her in the warmth and smell of him, making her slightly dizzy.

"Do you see my Labyrinth, Sarah?" he asked and gestured towards it with his gloved hand. "I have been the ruler of this Labyrinth for more than six hundred of your years. Six hundred years of answering calls from mortals to take away their children. Six hundred years of collecting babies and teasing the few that actually took up the challenge and tried to defeat the Labyrinth. Oh, don't feel bad, Sarah, no one has ever succeeded in defeating it, and you were the one who actually came closest of all to do it."

"How old are you then?" she asked, trying to think back six hundred years. That would be the 15th century, haunted by the plague, superstition, and religious doctrines, but also on the verge of renaissance and enlightenment. And he had been here since then?

"Hmm… I lost count, but I think around twelve hundred years by now. I'm part Fae, and though not immortal then, my lineage age very slowly. I was very young when I took over from my father. Anyway, your offer to stay instead of Toby took me quite by surprise back then, and I really had no idea what to do with you then. But I didn't really need Toby then, I had no Faes waiting for a child, and the thought of having you here instead…"

"Wait a minute! What is this about waiting for a child?"

Jareth raised an eyebrow. "You don't really think the goblins or I would be fit to take care of a small child, do you?" he said with scorn in his voice. "I give the babies to Fae families, where they are adopted and can be happy and safe."

"But you just threatened to turn Toby into a goblin!"

"Why, sure, he's old enough to be one now," the Goblin King replied calmly. "The Labyrinth only changes children old enough to take reasonable care of themselves, children who can walk and talk and think for themselves. Turned into goblins, they forget their past, but are allowed to stay like children forever, as in Neverland. I feed them, clothe them, give them simple chores and teach them games to play. They love being goblins."

"I don't believe it!" Sarah glared at him in disgust. "You sound as if you are proud of turning sweet little children into mindless, filthy, ugly goblins!"

"And who are you, my dear, to judge my goblins?" he replied icily. "There was never any future for those kids; most of them had never known a day's happiness in their lives, before they came here! Many were on the brink of starvation or had been abused in every possible sense of the word, crippling them in mind and body, and who from your own world would adopt such a child? Making them forget their past is a blessing, and they do not think they are ugly or stupid, as you obviously do!"

Sarah started to reply, but was cut short by Jareth. "They love me," he hissed with passion in his voice. "I saved them, and they love me and would die for me, because I protect them and care for them. I care!"

Suddenly Sarah didn't know what to say. Was he right? Was what he offered them here not far better that the existence they might have had in her own world?

"But about you, Sarah," Jareth continued, and his smile became sly and devilish. "After careful considerations, I have made completely different plans for you. The reason Faes adopt your mortal children are because so few grown mortals are ever taken Underground. The pathways down here are few and far apart. As immortals, Faes cannot have children on their own, but only secure offspring by adopting them or consorting with a mortal. My bloodline has too much Fae in it by now, and I need a mortal to beget an heir to the Goblin Throne. And of all the mortals I've ever encountered, you are by far the most interesting."

Sarah couldn't say a word, but stared at him in chock, as he continued smoothly: "Don't worry, it will be all formal and proper – by the next full moon, I will make you my wife and Queen of the Goblins!"