Cassandra sat in her bedchamber, wearing her nightgown and combing her long, nut-brown hair. She envied Jareth his hair; light gold, thick and luxurious. Oh, there was nothing wrong with her hair; she just preferred Jareth's.

She thought back to the events of the day. The meeting with their father wasn't anything special; he had just wanted to spend sometime with his children, she supposed. It hadn't been exciting, or anything. And then he wanted to speak to Jareth alone, of course; soon to be Lord Jareth, the heir to their father's estate and all that…

Cassandra got up off her bed and wandered over to the mirror at the far end of her room, shivering as her feet touched the cold stone floor with every step. When she got to the mirror, she curled her feet under her as she adjusted her self on the stool in front of the vanity. She gazed into the mirror at her reflection. Apart from her envy of her brother's beautiful hair, she liked everything about herself; in fact, she considered herself quite beautiful. So that may peg her as a vain girl… so what? She had to admit that she had the loveliest eyes, all green, clear, and sparkling.

That was one thing she definitely did NOT envy her brother: his eyes. For some reason quite unknown to her, her brother's eyes had grown to be mismatched; the right was blue, and the left was brown. If you hadn't grown up around them, the eyes could be quite disconcerting when you first experienced contact with them. Especially due to her brother's intense gaze. Most girls Jareth had met had been for than a little troubled the first time they'd noticed.

Cassandra sighed. She pitied her brother sometimes; one of the girls who'd been troubled at first by the eyes was a girl who Jareth had unfortunately decided he fancied: Lavinia, one of the daughters of another nobleman who frequently discussed business with her father.

Cassandra frowned a bit at the thought of Lavinia. She had never gotten on well with the girl. Darkly beautiful, and of an age with Jareth, Lavinia thought very highly of herself. She looked down on Cassandra and Jareth, as sadly love struck as the latter was. With that major flaw, Cassandra was sure Jareth had been netted by Lavinia's unearthly good looks. Not entirely uncommon among boys around Jareth's age when circumstances involved Lavinia. The girl also had a liking for pretty little baubles and such. That fact, coupled with her brother's being so smitten, gave Cassandra a shrewd idea where her ribbons and ring had gone. Hopefully, with Jareth's promise to "keep those goblins out of her room", no more of her things would end up as tokens of undying love to Lavinia. Hopefully.

Sighed again, Cassandra looked into her own eyes, admiring their color and clarity. She couldn't fall asleep, so why not do this? In fact… she knew exactly which of her necklaces would go with her eyes; it was her favorite pendant, worn only on special occasions. And she decided this strange, newfound insomnia was such an occasion.

She got up, with a shiver for the cold stones beneath her feet, and made her way to the other side of the bedchamber, where she kept a jewelry box next to her bed, on a small dresser.

The jewelry box had been a present from Jareth, which was ironic, as he now seemed to be stealing it's present contents. It was made of dark wood, and inlaid with mother-of-pearl in a pattern of Jareth's own design. It most closely resembled a spearhead, only more abstract, and with a circle containing a twisted pattern, in the center of the spearhead. She loved the design; it would always remind her of Jareth.

She lifted the lid, smiling to see all her little treasures within. Organization was overrated; they were all lovingly tossed in a miniature heap at the bottom of the box.

She gently started to separate them. She hadn't remembered them being quite this jumbled, who honestly remembered exactly what state their jewelry had been in last they saw it?

She removed piece by piece the glittering, shining contents of her treasure chest, carefully setting each piece by the box on the dresser next to the box. When she got to the last one, her hands froze.

It wasn't there. Her favorite necklace, her beautiful emerald pendant, clear and green, like her eyes… it wasn't in the box!

She checked again. And a third time. Nothing. The necklace was gone. And she had just remembered: Lavinia had a certain affinity for emeralds.

In that moment of revelation, she did what no ladylike, proper daughter of a lord would do; she screamed. She lashed out with her hand at the jewelry box, sending it crashing to the floor. She didn't notice that she's broken the lid; the beautiful inlay of mother-of-pearl had fallen out, and lay scattered in several pieces on the floor, but Cassandra was too busy dashing out of her room to see it.

No one was awake; it was very late. She flew down the halls until she found Jareth's chambers. Not bothering to knock, she burst inside. The young lordling was sprawled on his back on the bed, wearing nothing but his breeches. He looked so peaceful. The fact only served to fuel his sister's anger.

"All right, where it is!" she screamed, walloping him with one of his own pillows.

Jareth yelled something incomprehensible, and quickly jumped off his bed and scrambled to his feet.

"Cass!" he yelled, jumping as she threw a pillow at him. He hurriedly blinked sleep from his eyes. "What…!"

"Don't you give me that!" Cassandra screamed at him. "You took it! I know you did! Have you already given it to her, then? Have you!"

"Cass, what ARE you going on about!" bellowed Jareth, his still sleep-dazed eyes turning to look of plain confusion.

"My necklace!" howled Cassandra, and angry tear escaping her eye. "The emerald pendant! Lavinia likes emeralds, doesn't she? Oh yes…!"

Jareth had finally woken up at this point, and the sleep was gone from his eyes.

"I guess your goblin friends took that as well?" he asked cruelly. Oh yes; he could be cruel.

"Goblins!" Cassandra screamed. "Goblins! I with the goblins would come and take you away! Right now!"

And with that, she turned and fled the room, like a tornado of rage.

Jareth gazed after her, and for a moment, felt extremely guilty. The next moment, however, there was a burst of pain at the back of his head, and his world faded to a warm, velvety black, as small, rough hands grabbed him and started to drag him away…

The next morning, the handsome young lordling Jareth, and his strange, mismatched eyes, weren't seen anywhere in the manor. In fact, they never were, ever again.

A/N: thanx to the reviewers! and a special thanks to Gackt, for lending quite inspirational music. XD