Thank you all for the support! 3 Slowly but surely, things will begin to unfold =)

Sarah stood before the door. Her hands clasped each other with a white-knuckled grip and her heart felt like it was beating in her throat. She extended a hand and quickly withdrew it. Her courage was failing her.

She reached out, opened the door, and threw herself over the threshold without looking back.

She was standing in the hallway, unscathed. She hadn't been turned into a toad or thrust back onto the bed. She was free!

"Free to roam about the castle…" she added in her thoughts, inwardly mimicking Jareth's English accent.

She laughed out loud and threw her hands in the air as she gave a twirl and bolted down the hallway.

She was so happy, she almost ran into Berta—and her breakfast.

"Beggin' your pardon, miss!" cried Berta. "I should watch where I'm going."

"It's alright, Berta, the fault is mine. Might I take breakfast in a receiving room? I'm allowed out now, and the king's away for a few days—and I've seen enough of that room to last me a lifetime.

Berta cocked her head. "It's alright, I suppose. His Majesty said you would be out and about. Jus' follow me."

Berta turned on her heal and plowed forward as if trekking through the wild.

Sarah giggled at the fastidiousness of the goblin, but followed without questioning.

Berta took the first left, then another left, then another left.

"Berta, won't this—" started Sarah.

They should have gone in a circle, but the hallway in which they found themselves was high and lined with sconces shaped like owls. Supported on the owls' backs were glowing orbs that provided light. Instead of doors, the hallway contained simple archways; Berta turned sharply into the third one on the right. Sarah entered into a room uncharacteristically bright for the Goblin keep. It had large windows and light blue tapestries that were hung in orderly rows.

Instead of cushioned pits, there were several light blue settees and a stage at the end of the hall.

The emptiness was unsettling. But, Sarah could not deny that it was a beautiful room.

"Berta, what's the stage used for?"

"Plays. Music. Parodies and Travesties mostly," she grunted.

Sarah smiled. She hoped she would get the chance to see some theatre here.

She sat on the nearest settee and ate her porridge. She had to consciously stop herself from eating too fast; she just wanted to get out.

She practically slammed the empty bowl down next to her.

"Thanks, Berta!" she said dashing from the room.

Berta said something from behind Sarah, but she was already in and down the hallway. She hoped it was just a "you're welcome" and goodbye.

Sarah practically skipped. She didn't recognize her surroundings, but she didn't care. She just wanted to wander.

It wasn't long before she recognized the hallway in which she found herself.

"The golden ballroom…" she thought to herself.

She was getting her bearings.

"It would actually be nice if the goblins were here. I'd like them to know I'm not the enemy anymore; I'd like to be their friend."

She strolled through the ballroom, taking a good look at the numerous tapestries that hung nearly ceiling to floor. As opposed to the decorative tapestries in the "blue theater" where she had taken breakfast (I've got to start learning the names of these places, she thought), the enormous tapestries here depicted scenes.

A Fae couple standing over the Labyrinth, two groups of Fae facing each other with the Labyrinth and the, apparently, Crystal City in the background, Fae riding Perytons, a group of Fae children, what appeared to be a King and Queen, a battlefield of all manner of creatures and the Ice Giants…

"This one's different," Sarah noticed. The tapestry with the Perytons looked newer than the others. The gold was brighter, and the chord that hung the tapestry on a large spike was less tattered and worn.

"It must've been replaced…" Sarah thought. "Or a new scene chosen. But what happened that they would want to hide—even before the war…?"

She wondered these things but was not curious. She ran her fingers along the tassels that lined the bottom of the tapestries. It seemed every royal family had a tapestry. There were several scenes of the ten year council and pictures of the Goblins always at the feet of the Fae. Sarah stopped when she came to the tapestry she had been anticipating: a small, slight child with different color eyes and wild hair stared back at her.

The boy was unmistakably Jareth. His arrogant gaze and cool smirk were captured well in the stitching. The two adults behind him must be…

"His parents," Sarah said out loud.

The wild mane of hair shared by his uncle was also shared by his father.

His mother had soft features with a heart-shaped face and dimpled chin. The softness and simplicity of her characteristics made her lovely rather than plain, and the barely perceptible smile with which she was depicted made her even more beautiful. Jareth's father had sharp features and grinned brazenly. Contrary to his wife, his cheekbones were two sharp lines above taught cheeks and a pointed chin.

Jareth didn't look much like his mother at all. Maybe around his mouth and chin, but he was distinctly his father's child.

Sarah could hardly believe Jareth had ever been a child. Or rather, she could hardly believe he had ever been as innocent as a child. Maybe he hadn't been. Maybe, even as a child, he had been dark.

Sarah looked over the tapestries once more before wandering back into the hallway.

"I wonder if I remember how to find the throne room…" she thought to herself.

"C'mon, feet!" she said out loud.

She found a staircase and went down, down, down.

"I've gotta be somewhere close to the ground level," she thought.

She looked left. She looked right.

"I wish I knew where I was going," Sarah grumbled.

Suddenly, the urge to go left tugged at her stomach. Sure enough, she rounded a corner to see a familiar, bleak hallway.

"Aha!" she cried out loud. "I knew I was getting close."

Of course, the faint, far-off sound of clattering metal and crowing chickens would've also told her she was on the right path.

Sarah walked towards the noise. The grumbling and shrieking grew louder as did the clanging and banging. The hair on the back of Sarah's neck stood up. The goblins hadn't seemed very scary in her imagination, but she remembered the battle. Sure, they were incompetent—if they couldn't take down and single girl and her three friends with a Gatling gun and an army, she didn't think they posed much of a threat—but, the first time she had met Jareth, they had tormented her and played their part in his games; they were the stuff of children's nightmares.

"And I'm not a child anymore," Sarah thought out loud.

How would they react to seeing her?

The thought that she might not be welcome entered her mind too late as she crossed the threshold into the throne room.

For the first time in Goblin history, the goblins gave their undivided attention to someone.

The sudden, deafening silence was louder than the commotion had been. Even the chicken, half plucked and dangling by the neck from a green, scaly fist, had stopped it's crowing to observe Sarah. Jaws were agape. Eyes were wide and unblinking.

"Isn't that…" began the reptilian goblin holding the poor chicken.

The furry goblin who had materialized from the snake-scarf Jareth had thrown in Toby's nursery took a few steps forward.

"That's her alright. Humans all look the same, but I know that's her," he said, collapsing onto his bum; that was a lot of words for a goblin.

You could've heard a pin drop.

Then all hell broke loose.

The walls shook as cackling shrieks erupted from the throat of every goblin present. The laughter was ear-splitting and unholy. Sarah covered her ears, unsure whether to run away or stay put. The Goblins were jumping…for joy? In victory? Sarah didn't really know why they were going mad. They were smiling toothy grins and swinging from the banners behind the throne. Those with claws climbed the walls and those without tried anyway. Bat wings took flight and tails whipped around. They cheered and cheered, embracing each other and the chickens.

As quickly as it began, it died down. Soon the goblins were picking wax out of their ears, staring at a wall blankly, or drinking themselves into oblivion again, seemingly forgetting that Sarah was there.

A goblin with green skin and gray hair did a double take.

"Lady Sarah!" he said, his big red eyes wide in shock. "Still here!" He grabbed his companion with identical gray hair and dark green skin; while his cheeks were plump and his nose was round as a button, the second goblin was wrinkly and had a nose as pointed as a spear.

They each grabbed her by a hand and pulled her into the room. A couple goblins raised their mugs in salutation and some clapped, but they all were back to toddling around and chattering.

"We're so glad you're back," he said. "Maybe the king will kick you instead of us."

Sarah opened her mouth to say something.

"And you can kick us instead of him!" cajoled the pointy-nosed one. The two little beasts chortled and snorted.

"You like getting kicked?" she asked in disbelief.

"Of course. It's hard work working for the king. We've gotta play sometime and somehows."

Sarah thought she might have to re-teach them the definition of "play."

"You can sit in his throne, Lady. He won't mind," said the round-faced one. They were pushing her into the chair before she could even protest.

Her back stiffened as she waited for some sort of booby trap to be set off; she could tell by the cleanliness of the throne that it was something the goblins could not touch. But, it remained spotless out of obedience from the goblins rather than a trap, for nothing happened. Sarah relaxed.

"I'm Yog," said the round-faced goblin. "He's Dazha."

"Pleased to meet you," Sarah said extending a hand to them. They both stared at it.

Sarah figured propriety was not in their nature and patted them each on the head. Their faces twisted into grimaces which Sarah supposed were meant to be smiles.

Her heart began to beat slower and her teeth unclenched; so, the goblins were happy to see her. They weren't going to start a war.

"Or eat me…" Sarah added in her thoughts, noticing that the scaly goblin had resumed plucking the live, protesting chicken.

Now what?

Yog and Dazha were staring at her expectantly.

"Why was everyone so happy to see me?" she asked tentatively.

"Cuz," started Yog. "You're important. To him. You make him happy."

Sarah felt tears stinging her eyes.

"Is that so?" she asked with an amused smile, trying not to betray her emotions. Goblins we're dastardly and naughty, but they were also innocent, in a way. Like children who don't know any better—Sarah supposed some of them were still children. In their innocence Sarah knew there was truth.

"And, we love when his majesty brings us something new!" cried Dazha throwing his arms in the air.

Sarah giggled and wiped welling tears from her eyes before they fell.

Yog toddled up to her leg, sat on her foot, and wrapped his arms around her calf. Dazha followed suit. Sarah laughed out loud, and other goblins quickly noticed her merriment. They all ran towards her.

"Dance, dance!" they cried. Sarah rose and walked around, dragging her legs with the weight of the goblins hanging onto her. Soon a lizard-like goblin was wrapped around her right arm and a bird-like goblin was wrapped around her left. Sarah couldn't see what was swinging from her hair, but it was a small goblin not unlike a bat. She couldn't contain herself and laughed until her stomach ached. She waded around the room, swinging her arms left and right. Two goblins with snouts like cows and not much smaller than her began to drum together on what looked like bongos and pots and pans. The drumming goblin with thick, black fur began to drone a bassline, and the other, whose skin was furless and wrinkly, chanted along in strange harmony. The rhythm and chanting grew louder and louder as the goblins sang "dance dance dance" in melodies all their own. They jumped around and danced, they tossed each other in the air. The merriment filled Sarah with the first sense of real joy she had felt since her arrival. Yog and Dazha released themselves from her legs and hopped about with the other singing Goblins.

"Maybe life in the castle isn't all bad…" Sarah thought.