CHAPTER 15

Lying in amongst the soot and ash, and owl feathers, was Jareth's sickle-shaped medallion.

Sarah reached down, picking it up out of the ashes. The cord had burnt off, leaving tattered edges around the top of the crest, but the rest of the necklace was unmarred. It was heavy in her palm and surprisingly warm. Though she guessed, based on plumes of smoke still rising from the debris, that it could be the resultant effect of the fire. She looked up from the dusty object in her hand to see Sevlydi still kicking aside wood and bricks. Like he sensed her stare, he turned to her, eyes travelling down from her face to her outstretched hand. As if in slow motion, his face crumpled in horror and disbelief.

She moved towards him as if in a daze. It was only right that Sevlydi got the medallion. He was the heir, and with Jareth's possible death, he was now the Goblin King. They both met in the middle, Sarah proffering the medallion to the new King.

He shook his head.

"The pearl brought me to it," she spoke, her throat tight. Sevlydi pushed past her as if in a trance. He knelt by the pile of feathers, running his fingers through the soft down. "Is he - "

"I don't know," he responded, hesitation lacing his tone and his demeanour. "He would never leave this behind if he were alive."

Sevlydi had pointed to the amulet still resting in her palm. He conjured a crystal and asked it to reveal Jareth. It remained translucent. He looked up to the skies, before closing his eyes forcefully.

"Use your pearl again," he ordered. Sarah obliged. It hovered in front of her and landed on the medallion in her opposing hand.

Sevlydi let out a sound like a wounded animal. He rose off his knees and started prowling the vicinity.

"Could you try scrying for the two kidnappers?" Sarah asked softly. "He may be with them, and just being blocked by magic like I was."

With yet another crystal, he said Meffod and Yarbro's names. Nothing. The glass remained permeable and vacant.

"Maybe your crystal isn't working?" Sarah remained hopeful. "Try someone else?"

He said Hoggle's name, and Sarah could see the dwarf shaking his head and muttering to himself back in the castle.

"Maybe it is the location," she prompted. "Say my name."

"Lady Sarah," he said, his eyes resting on her with doubt. She could see herself clearly, in his orb. She sighed. "What about your brother and sister?"

"They have anti scrying magic on them," he threw the crystal away with a huff. "Perks of being higher royalty than us."

Sarah didn't like the way he implied 'her' with his 'us.'

"Here, this is yours now," Sarah presented the crescent medallion again.

"No, it isn't," he growled. "I do not want it, and it is not mine."

"But you're the heir apparent," Sarah didn't want the heavy item weighing her down anymore. It was a reminder that Jareth's disappearance had been her fault. Or partly her fault. If she had confronted him, rather than running away, this never would have happened. Jareth had advised Sarah that her safety was a high priority, but if he had never fooled her into accepting he was Terry, then she never would have absconded.

A small voice in the back of her head told her if he never pretended he was Terry, she probably would never have reconnected with him in the first place, remaining enemies until her dying day. She didn't know how that made her feel. She locked those thoughts away, for unpacking at a later time, a time when Jareth's possible death wasn't at the forefront of everything.

"No, I am not the heir," he groaned. "We shall talk about this, but not here, not now. I will port you back while I keep looking for him."

"No, I will help," she stepped away from his proffered glass orb. "Please take this, though."

"I can't," Sevlydi snapped. "I can not touch it."

Sarah found that odd but didn't question him further. He was facing the possible loss of his brother, so didn't want to press his already fragile state. She clutched the medallion, and continued to search the area, though both knew it was hopeless.

"We will find a body if he is dead," she sought reassurances for them both.

"Not when a fae dies," he shook his head, dishevelled blonde hair flying everywhere. "Their spirit passes over, while their body returns to nature."

They proceeded in tortured silence. Sevlydi held back his sorrow while Sarah clutched at her fragmented feelings. It was like gathering bubbles upon the wind with only a knife to try and capture them. She had anger, confusion, grief, worry, and fear all warring for domination. The singular fragility of each feeling meant she held them all at once, or suddenly she would feel nothing at all, consumed by numbness.

Sarah didn't have enough self-awareness at present to determine which emotion was the 'right' one she was supposed to be feeling. It didn't seem correct to mourn for someone who had betrayed her in such a way, yet she couldn't help feeling a sense of loss. She resented him strongly for what he had done, but she hadn't wished him dead. And her desire to see him alive was more robust than just closure, her demand for a battle with him, and to satisfy her curiosity. However, she couldn't explain or justify that desire. Sarah doubted he would be traipsing through the burnt-out remains of the fort, looking for her, if the shoe was on the other foot. Would he?

Sarah saw his face as clear as day in her mind's eye, as he took in her battered state, she saw his determination as he strove to take her place, she saw the pain in his whole being when he kept the portal open for her. His last request had been for her to live her life well. Maybe in his twisted way, he did care about her.

Sevlydi kept shooting her looks. Sarah realised she had never informed him that she knew about Terry. He didn't know the circumstance behind her kidnapping. Would he blame her if he knew? She let out a pained squeak.

"Are you well?" Sevlydi turned to her, momentarily abandoning his search.

"I am such an idiot," she muttered, looking up at him. "In all this, I never even considered the other player."

"I am afraid I don't kn-"

"Stephen," she halted. Her ire made her less prudent than necessary. Who had time to be circumspect when molten glass pierced your insides? "You are Stephen."

Sevlydi's mouth flopped open before he quickly collected himself.

"You knew," he stated simply.

"I did," Sarah pushed her matted, tangled hair behind her shoulders. "Very recently too."

His eyes went wide. "The Pinnsburrs?"

Sarah nodded. "They have a goblin in their employ, potentially the same one that spied on you."

"Do you have a name?"

"No," Sarah rubbed her brow. "They never mentioned a name, just told me that it was part of their torture that a goblin betrayed his King. They wanted me to tell him."

"Why did they want you to tell him?"

"They believed that anything I said and said with glee, would torture him more than if they said it," she pulled her lips into thin lines, exhaling from her nose violently. "For some reason, they assume I have more sway with him than I do. They're two imbeciles."

Sevlydi kicked a piece of smouldering wood with his booted toes. "You are in such denial, little girl."

"Not this again," Sarah ground out. "This pearl does not dictate to me who I am going to marry."

"That pearl brought you to him," he reasoned. "That pearl led him to you."

"So it is a magical tracking device," Sarah scoffed. "Oh, I am convinced. Please, let's find the nearest altar and sign the marriage contract right now."

"Is it indeed the time for sarcasm?" Sevlydi bit, his features displayed every ounce of grief he must have been feeling. "If you had asked that pearl to show you anyone else, it would not have worked. It only works between the two of you."

Sarah had the decency to look ashamed. She couldn't marry a ghost anyway. "Sorry," she muttered. "Sarcasm, or not, how could I marry someone who deceived me like that?"

Sevlydi just grunted. They started moving again, shifting wood and scanning the treeline for any clue.

"If it makes any difference to you," he said as they arrived at the boundary of the fort. "And it probably won't, but I did try very hard to persuade him to stop stringing you along."

"Oh no," Sarah flushed. "There was no stringing to be had. I am not and was not interested, but the matter still stands, that he pretended to be my friend under false pretences."

"He had his reasons, Sarah," Sevlydi turned around to face her. "Some of them are more justified than the others, but I can assure you that none of the reasons was to hurt you."

"You're telling me the Goblin King didn't wish to seek revenge against me?" Sarah quirked a brow in disbelief.

"He did not," Sevlydi countered. "You have little reason to esteem me either, but he trusted you with my biggest secret. And I know my brother. I know that he has a strange way of showing that he cares, but I know when he does. And sharing that piece of knowledge with you, was his way of bringing you into the fold."

"Yeah, because a stupid pearl told him to."

"No, that stupid pearl told him who he was to marry," he countered. "It didn't tell him who to care for, and trust me, I am surprised as you are that my brother cares about anyone but himself."

"He cares about you," Sarah rejoined.

"It's not the same," he moved past her, back the way they came.

"I should have seen the duplicity as soon as you gave me the peaches," Sarah said, without turning to face him. Instead, she looked over the mist-covered forest that rolled over the foothills below and above where they stood. Both became lost in their silent reflections.

"Allegedly, the earth-father and the sky-mother were lovers entwined so close that their children separated them," Sevlydi said from behind her after their perusal of the horizon was coming to a natural end. "The mist is said to be the tears of the earth-mother as she mourns for her lover- the sky father."

"That is truly quite poignant," Sarah commented, watching the dawn light smote the mist.

"If it turns out that Jareth is dead, will you mourn him?" Sevlydi asked. Sarah's jaw clenched, her eyes hardened, but her heart raced.

"I am unsure," Sarah chose honesty for her answer. "My feelings are more twisted than his Labyrinth."

The tranquillity that followed made Sarah uncertain as to whether Sevlydi was still there.

Eventually, he spoke, his voice thick. "We should return to the castle."

The wailing was indefinable. It was high-pitched, yet, simultaneously thunderous and grave. Sevlydi informed Sarah that it was a mourning-wail. The Goblins had lost their King. Sarah questioned if it was proof-positive that he wouldn't return if the goblins had sensed Jareth's disappearance.

Sevlydi couldn't answer. His moods oscillated from despair to anger to hope, and back again. The Prince sat draped in a chair next to the throne, with his hands over his face. There was an open bottle of wine by his feet. Hoggle shuffled around muttering with Sir Didymus chipping in with words of hope. Sarah was dubious that there was any hope, especially if the goblins mourned.

"It could be a summons to return him home, rather than a lament," Liam Sprigget supplied. They were still staying in the castle. Most of the children were with Helena in their rooms. "My grandfather mentioned something about this when he used to work at the castle. It isn't the first time King Jareth has gone missing. He said that the King was incredibly angry one day, with a questor that had abused a baby so badly. He flew off in a rage, got caught in a storm and didn't return for a few days."

Shortly after this minute piece of hope, everyone made their way to their separate suites. Sarah took a hot bath, to wash away all the traces of her kidnapping. As she lay in the soothing water, her tears began to fall. For all the jumble of feelings, hearing the goblin's lament was the stirring poignancy adept enough to give her release. She remembered that Jareth shared her last bath, imprinting upon her how quickly everything had changed.

The water was almost cold before she climbed out, drained of all her tears. Gilo had left her a sleeping draught, so she took that before she curled up in her bed.

Sarah awoke, instantly aware that it was late afternoon. She crawled out of bed, desperately needing to urinate. Since the morning, the lament, while decreased in volume, could still be heard echoing around the City. Jareth hadn't turned up while she had been asleep, then. Sadness and guilt filled her up to capacity anew. She thought that perhaps it was just the guilt, but the longer she sat with the feelings, the more she felt genuine sorrow at his loss. She had been sitting on the lavatory for a solid ten minutes before Sarah was conscious that she was again crying. Everything was a mess, causing her to flit from one emotion to the next.

"Bastarding bastard," she muttered through her tears.

Sarah turned the tap on full blast, and let the water run as she stared into the swirling abyss of the plughole, waiting as her tears joined the whirlpool. She didn't want Jareth to be dead. Now that the numbness and shock of last night had worn off to leave only raw pain behind, she could centre a bit better on her separate feelings, rather than the mire of them all.

Sarah couldn't explain why Jareth's possible death upset her. She'd lost Terry twice now. Some of her grief (and most of her anger), was connected to that loss. However, a part of her was wretched that she had lost Jareth too. He had been such a large part of her childhood and shaping her adolescence. It didn't feel real that he was dead. Was it healthy to mourn for the loss of her nemesis? Perhaps a small part had come to care for Jareth, and that part felt the brunt of his lies all the more. Of course, there was no chance now for closure or forgiveness.

As Sarah left the bathroom, her eyes flicked to the pearl and the medallion that sat beside the bed. She pocketed both in her skirt. She wanted them near to her, though she couldn't understand why, when she denied either having any power over her will.

Not a soul occupied the dining room, so Sarah progressed to the kitchen. She wasn't hungry, but she needed to keep her strength up. Sevlydi was in there, slumped over the wooden table. Sarah didn't know if he was conscious so crept in, whispering to a nearby goblin for some bread and cheese.

"Your Majesty, you are awake," slurred Sevlydi. Sarah twirled around expecting Jareth to be the one he was speaking to, and her heart rate reflected this supposition. The room remained devoid of the Goblin King.

"You are dreaming," Sarah suggested, as she tried to bring her heart rate back down.

"No, I assure you, I am not," he looked directly at her, unwavering in his bloodshot stare. "You are The Goblin Queen."

Sarah just laughed.

"No, I am telling the truth," he said, taking a swig of his wine. "In place of Jareth, you have been selected as the new Queen."

"I have not," Sarah slammed her hands onto her hips. "You're drunk."

"You picked up his pendant," he reminded her, his red, swollen eyes shimmering as they stared her down. "Only the eligible heir can find and touch the medallion."

"Oh, but you can't expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart threw a sword at you," Sarah quoted derisively. Sevlydi frowned as he took another sip of wine. "To clarify, I can't rule the Kingdom simply because I touched a pendant. It's not 'The Sword in the Stone or 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail.'"

"No, but that is the way it is," Sevlydi released his frown with a sigh.

"Well, fuck that," Sarah yelled. "I don't want it."

"That's too bad," Sevlydi straightened in his seat. "It's yours. Your Kingdom is as great."

Sarah laughed contemptuously. There was no way she was Queen, just because she picked up his locket. All her nerves seemed to hone into its weight in her pocket.

"Does this mean, he is truly dead?" Sarah locked eyes with him in shared disbelief.

"No," he tapped his lips. A gesture so similar to Jareth's that her insides cringed. "His pendant is enchanted to ensure the safety of his throne in the event of his death. At any time, the charm can release the magic. He doesn't need to be dead to have selected an heir. The pendant just has to 'think' Jareth is dead. No-one can touch the pendant unless they are the rightful monarch."

Sarah recalled briefly touching his pendant when they danced, or rather when Jareth danced with her, at the Twilight Festival. She had felt the hum of magic run through her fingers then. Sarah ached to point this out but thought better of it. Corroborating Sevlydi's fantasy any further, was not high on her priority list.

At the memory of their dance, she recollected Jareth's apology towards her. Her brows drew into a frown. Fae, she had learnt from reading the books in her library, do not express regret. Yet, Jareth had. Was it another lie? 'Terry' had comforted her after that dance. Had it been regret then, driving his comforting actions? He had called himself a fool, via his proxy. She had sought solace in Terry's arms, and he had given it. Had Jareth meant his actions more as Terry than as Jareth. It ached to think of these things when all she ended up with was more questions than answers.

"Why me?" she asked after gathering enough wit.

"You were his choice of Queen, why wouldn't you be his choice of the heir?"

"Why are you just telling me this now?"

"You were in no state to learn of this last night or this morning," he swirled his wine around his nearly empty cup. "I felt like you should sleep before you learn about your new role."

"That's kind of you,"

"We're not all cruel beasts, Sarah,"

"My role, that I haven't accepted, however," she contradicted his earlier statement. "Is only temporary. I don't think Jareth is dead."

"How so?"

"I don't put much stock in your pearl theory," she waved her hand in dismissal. "I am not someone waiting around for my Prince Charming to sweep me off my feet with the romantic notion of destiny. However, that pearl is warm to touch. It feels reassuring, and call me crazy, but if he is dead, I think it would be cold."

Sevlydi looked up with hope in his eyes.

"I don't mean to get your hopes up," she admitted, chewing her lip. "The King's medallion is still warm to the touch, too. At first, I thought it was from the fire, but not after all this time."

"We can only hope that something detained him," he swallowed, and closed his eyes, relief lightening up his features. "In the interim, you are the Queen Regent."

"Why can't you do it?"

"Jareth would have known I didn't want the job, never have," Sevlydi gulped down the last of his wine. "He was aware of the affinity his people have for you. He often spoke of it."

Sarah rolled his eyes. "You mean, how resentful he was that I befriended his subjects?"

"Maybe at first," he licked his wine-stained lips. "He may not show it, but he cares for those ugly creatures. He would want their government to be in the very best of hands."

"I am sure you -"

"No," he growled. "Your empathy and determination drew his creatures to you. It will be you they want."

Sarah flopped down in her chair with a huff. "I don't know how to rule."

"Neither did Jareth," Sevlydi refilled his glass, tracking a goblin scuttling across the wooden floor, placing Sarah's snack in front of her. "He had to learn, as will you."

Sarah shoved cheese in her mouth with a grunt.

"And if - when he returns, then you are at least better situated to take your place as his wife."

Sarah's face went bright red, as she choked on her mouthful of cheese. Sevlydi's face remained impassive, as she sprayed globs of chewed cheese across the table. Once she cleared the obstruction and gulped down copious amounts of water, she levelled a stare in his direction.

"I think not," she answered simply.

"You seemed ultimately more happy at the prospect that he wasn't dead," he raised his brows as he tasted his wine.

"I don't want him dead, because I don't want to be Queen," she countered.

"Your constant denial is getting boring."

"Even if he hadn't tricked me, I could only marry someone for love," she rubbed her watery eyes with the backs of her hands.

"Did you love your husband?"

"Not in the end," she admitted.

"So why is love a factor in a successful marriage?"

"Because love encompasses respect, intimacy, compassion, trust, and all those other pivotal aspects that make a marriage work," Sarah argued. "And we can all agree that I could not possibly trust Ja - him after he pretended to be someone he is not."

"I would counter that Jareth was more himself as Terry than he has ever been as the Goblin King," he sipped his wine with a smirk. "He wears his title like you wear your denial."

Sarah scoffed. "There is no denial. If there is no trust, there can be no respect and certainly no intimacy, so there can be no love."

"You find him attractive and have enjoyed his company?"

"Truthfully, yes," she revealed. "But that could be true of any number of my past boyfriends. It's not a solid foundation for marriage."

"But could you not build your trust?"

"With that philandering fae? You're kidding, right?"

Sevlydi shook his head and muttered into his wine glass.

"Why are you so desperate to see me married to your brother?" Sarah snapped. "I thought you would have hated the idea."

"I wish my brother to be happy."

"And us bickering all the time gives you a reason to believe I would make him happy?" Sarah laughed bitterly.

"Yes."

She threw a look of disbelief his way before she resumed eating her bread and cheese.

"Have you heard of Briyash?"

Sarah glanced up, nodding slowly.

"He has given me plenty of reasons for you to marry Jareth," he explained. "I can't say what they are, but suffice to say that you, him, your Kingdom, your friends and even your family would benefit from your nuptials."

"My family?" Sarah shook her head. "I have no-"

'Your brother, Queen Sarah," he reminded her before standing up. "Tobias Williams."

"How would Toby benefit?" Sarah implored, ignoring the honorific he had used.

"I have already said too much," Sevlydi exited with a swish of his cloak and a slightly tipsy gait.

Using her brother against her was low. Incredibly tempting, but discourteous. Could she put her selfish feelings aside to guarantee her brother's rescue, if that was what Sevlydi was implying? She would do anything for him. She had already proven that once before. But marry Jareth? She didn't understand how marriage to the Goblin King would affect anyone but the two of them.

Sarah sighed and rested her forehead on the tabletop. She cursed Jareth for leaving her in this position. As a teenager, she had often fantasised that the Goblin King would marry her and she would become Queen. He was more than just her imaginary friend-cum-villain. That had all changed when she learnt he was real and not the romantic, dashing figure of her daydreams. It was another lesson in being careful about what you wished for because even if that wish was before her Labyrinth run, it looked like it still had come true.

She banged her head lightly on the table.

"Stupid girl," she told herself, hating the fact she had ever touched that necklace. Had Jareth plotted to make her Queen as part of his revenge? Despite Sevlydi's assurances that he wasn't seeking revenge, it sure felt like it.

"Queenie," came a little voice from beside her. Sarah glanced up to see Cricket perched on the stool beside her. "They are waiting for you in the courtyard. Cricket takes you."

"Who is they, Cricket?"

"Goblins," he tugged on her sleeve. "They are waiting to meet their Queenie."

"I am not -" Sarah saw the look in the goblin's face, and stopped. "I will come and meet them."

Sarah followed the quite speedy goblin through the maze of stairs and corridors to a central courtyard. Goblins lined the cobblestone yard in their dozens. Expectancy marked every face staring up at her. Cricket led her to a slightly elevated stone platform, adorned around each edge with violently coloured blooms of flowers. The walls, equally lined with conical hedges and planter boxes of stone and crystal. She had never seen this area before, but it was beautiful. She wished she had the faculties to appreciate it properly.

Now that Sarah was there, she had no idea what to do. She faced Cricket for assistance. He just cleared his throat, waved his skinny arms and shouted out "Queenie".

The goblins all roared with cheers and bowed low to her. Sarah flushed with surprise but stood her ground.

A rather large, bulbous-nosed goblin, Sarah believed was called Heft, cleared the way through the swollen crowd to stand in front of her. "You wear the shiny moon around your neck. The maze and all of us choose you to be our Queenie."

Sarah's hand instinctively went to the necklace in her pocket. Cricket started tugging on her arm until she brought it out of hiding. In a flash, three goblins scurried up her body and tied the pendant around her neck. Sarah didn't think to question how the medallion now had a cord. Heft nodded and marched back into the swarm of his peers.

"Queenie," came another chorus of cheers, as the goblins jumped off her shoulders.

The raucous continued, only ceasing when a solitary cry was heard above the masses: "Queenie will find Kingy."

"I can only hope," Sarah muttered under her breath. She already felt a headache coming on, and she had only been Queen Regent for less than an hour. The voice silenced the crowd. The goblins all nodding in unison, before they started slowly repeating the phrase.

"We will do our very best to find the King," Sarah declared to thunderous applause.

"We love Queenie," yelled out a voice. "Kingy love Queenie."

Sarah scowled in the direction of that statement before she clapped her hands once. "Keep your hopes up. Scour the Labyrinth for any sign of him. Bring me back your King."

And with that, she turned tail and marched back into the castle. When she was out of everyone's sight, she collapsed against a wall, sliding down until she squatted above the ground.

"See, it wasn't that hard to take up the mantle of the Goblin Queen," Sevlydi squatted opposite her, slightly smirking as she looked up to face him.

"I did what I had to," Sarah rubbed her temples.

"Yes," Sevlydi canted his head. "I think you find that a lot of what makes you hate my brother, was also done because he had to."

"Yes, of course," Sarah mimicked his pose but added a scornful look to her features. "He just had to pretend to be Terry. He absolutely could not have avoided tricking me into becoming his friend, or revealing personal stuff about myself."

"Would you have ever openly trusted Jareth if he had tried to woo you as himself?"

"No, but- ."

"That's all he wanted, Your Majesty," he tapped his knee impatiently. "He just wanted to know you and get you to know him without his responsibilities and your shared past. He hurt you, yes, but he never intended to betray you. His intentions were honourable, even if the repercussions weren't. He never used any of what he learnt against you."

"Even so- ."

"You could spend the rest of your life looking for reasons to hate him, and you will always find them," he continued. "Why can't you care for the person with the crown, as you cared for the same person without one?"

"Because our choices shape us," she snapped. "Our history, our roles, they all constitute who we are. We can't just strip them off and pretend like the rest doesn't exist."

"Yet, you have the luxury of presenting who you are, without having to don a mask," he retorted, snidely. "Tell me, and don't lie, because I saw the contrast myself. Did you not act differently around Terry than you ever did around Jareth?"

"Yes," Sarah gestured with disbelief. "Because of our past and because of who he was. It might not seem like a big deal to you, but in my world tricking people like this is dishonest and a breach of trust."

Sevlydi just raised his brows and tipped his head back against the stone wall.

"And not to mention the fact that I made myself vulnerable to someone who I had grown to trust, who wasn't even real."

Sevlydi pushed up off the ground. "I hope you don't lose something bigger, in your quest to maintain your pride. When Jareth returns, at least hear him out before you decide to neuter him."

Sarah placed her head back in her knees.

Two weeks passed. Sarah used her pearl, and Sevlydi, his crystals, to find Jareth, but nothing ever changed. However, she was soon distracted by her new role. No-one could suppose that she had accepted the position, but with the goblins looking to her for guidance, it fell naturally to her to provide it. Daunted at first, it became instinctual in a matter of hours. Admittedly, the senior goblins managed most of the day-to-day tasks, and the concerns brought to her were not notable. It did offer a reasonable diversion for her.

Sarah outfitted herself for the role. Currently, Sarah donned a dusky underdress, with a black calfskin-vest with a high collar, and a black and silver cloak fastened with clasps in the configuration of talons. Sarah equipped herself with black knee-high boots and matching buttery-soft leather gloves. The garments had appeared in Sarah's wardrobe soon after she had discovered she was obliged to be the Queen Regent. All her farm clothes had disappeared into the ether, so like her role, she had little choice but to dress in Goblin Queen attire.

Peggy had struggled with seeing Sarah dressed up, bursting into tears whenever she entered a room where the Spriggets were. The other children either teased her good-naturedly or ignored her as they always had. Tessa and Lewis, however, were in awe of her. They were both convinced that she was the Sarah of their stories, which she neither confirmed nor denied. Sir Didymus dedicated himself with chaperoning the family through the castle grounds, so they rarely infringed on her royal duties.

Sarah thought about Hilary a fair bit. Hoggle had tried to contact her, but each time Hilary either wasn't there, or the portal wouldn't open. It was very frustrating. She had asked if there was a way she could see Toby and Sevyldi had drunkenly slurred at her about the rules of magic and his protection. He wouldn't clarify what marriage to Jareth would mean for Toby.

Navas and the Goblin Kingdom exchanged a fair bit of correspondence between them. Heft or Sevlydi, in his increasingly rare moments of sobriety, took responsibility for replying to their letters. As far as Sarah knew, they were not happy that she was the Queen Regent. They demanded action on finding Jareth and wanted one of their Lords to stand in his stead. Sevlydi was aware enough to tell them to fuck off. Sarah found herself not even pleading the Prince to let someone take her place. She didn't dwell on that oddity for long.

The Spriggets left to return to the farm, but not before Helena told her that she knew her aura was more potent than that of a familiar. Sarah cursed that catsuit for all eternity. Her trio of friends disbanded, with Hoggle staying in the castle to assist her, Ludo went to comb the local caves for clues, while Sir Didymus left on a mission with a troop of goblins further afield in search of their king.

Hoggle seemed as grumpy as usual.

"I'd have thought you would be happy at the prospect that the "Rat" was missing," Sarah asked as they patrolled the castle battlements together.

"He may be a rat," Hoggle agreed. "But he is less of a rat than those bigger rats who raised him."

Sarah wanted to agree with him, but as Queen, she felt diplomacy was crucial. She just sighed and carried on walking across the battlements. She had buried most of her emotions deep down, the past two days. Twinges of guilt, sadness or whatever feelings were the reaction du jour, would strike throughout the day, but Sarah bottled them back up. She had to centre all her being on the role of the Queen. Nighttime brought a multitude of thoughts and feelings she had ignored during the waking hours. No-one had given up hope, except Sevlydi who had taken to drinking heavily 26 hours a day.

"I didn't think you would be in a hurry to get him back neither," Hoggle muttered.

"I didn't choose to be Queen Regent," Sarah sighed. "He needs to be found so that I can be relieved of my duties."

"If you say so," Hoggle kicked a stone across the path they were taking. It hit a goblin who shrieked excitedly before running off yapping.

"Hoggle, I have no wish to be Queen."

"You do a better job than the rat," Hoggle scowled.

"It's been two weeks," Sarah laughed. "I don't know what I am doing. It has all been instinctual, thus far. This necklace is probably dictating how to rule, rather than any natural talent. Besides, I have all the King's goblins taking care of things."

"You are still kinder than he is," he argued, thrusting his hands into his pockets.

"Maybe I won't be, if I have to rule for centuries as he has," Sarah came to a sudden realisation. "Perhaps, the role changes you, so give it a few hundred years, and I may be as cruel as he."

Sarah realised the allure Jareth may have felt in pretending to be Terry, the more she walked in his footsteps. She was desperate to once again be 'Sarah' without the role and responsibilities of royalty. And she had only lived it for a fortnight. Sarah couldn't blame him for escaping his chains and experiencing anonymity. But why did he have to do it with her?

Hoggle just grumbled and kicked a few more stones. Hoggle spent most of his life a self-induced hermit. Sarah didn't expect him to understand the craving and the longing to find a cure for loneliness. Or the way complex beings, push and hurt others when they are hurting. Sarah's empathy and her understanding of her teenage loneliness had ensured she forgave Hoggle each time he betrayed her. If you haven't experienced loneliness, could you feel empathetic for other souls trapped as she had been once?

Conceivably, Sarah could extend her empathy towards Jareth if Sevlydi was accurate in the purity of the King's motivations. Two weeks as Queen had given her a taste of his life, and in the end, they weren't too different from one another. Sarah had wished her brother away when the responsibilities became too much. Her cure for loneliness had been to escape into her dreams. How was Jareth any different if he tried to escape into his fantasy?

Sarah savoured the authoritative note her boots gave her and the way her cloak whipped around her as she trekked the stone walls. She could see why Jareth made questionable but fitting fashion choices.

Hoggle excused himself to run an errand, and Sarah was left by herself in the dying light atop the castle parapets. She paused to overlook the Labyrinth, breathing in the crisp jasmine-scented twilight air. Her fingers traced the outline of the horned medallion, its warmth comforting to her.

"Where are you, Jareth?" she asked the breeze and the full moon, one hand on his medallion, while the other clutched the pearl in her pocket. "You're out there somewhere. Come back to me."

Sarah was suddenly struck by a bolt of inspiration while still clasping her two prized pieces of jewellery. "I wish the Goblin King - Jareth - would come home, right now."

A flash of white caught Sarah's eye in the sky above the Labyrinth.

A/N: So we're back into lockdown and that means my children are no longer at their Early Childhood Centre so I won't be updating for a while in all likelihood. Got to prioritise my health and my children. Scary times, yet again. :( We found out tonight it is for at least another 12 days as there is only one active cluster at this point. Fingers crossed we beat it like we did last time.

Thank you, readers. I appreciate you all coming on this slow burn with me. Two steps forward, three steps back but we will get there. Eventually.