"What's that?" asked a curious little voice.
"It's a crystal, nothing more," replied a smooth baritone.
As Sarah climbed her way into the Goblin King's lap he quickly readjusted from his lounging position to accompany her, but the crystal he was toying with never once paused its fluid motion in his hand.
The pair were quiet for a moment. Sarah watched, enthralled, as Jareth danced the crystal over his fingers and under his palm. He glanced at her with mild curiosity, wondering what his little Sarah was expecting to happen.
"I want a crystal," she predictably declared.
"Say your right words," Jareth commanded haughtily.
"Please may I have a crystal?" she amended.
"Let me think… No." Jareth responded casually. With a flick of his wrist, the crystal he had been toying with popped like a bubble.
"What?!" Little Sarah quickly turned to face the King. Her usually kind eyes were alight with indignant rage. "But I said 'please'!"
"And I said 'no'," Jareth responded casually, raising a single sculpted brow.
"But I want one!" she screeched, scrambling off his lap and pounding her little fists into the bed.
Jareth's lip twitched down in displeasure. He did not care to see Sarah act in such a way. "That's too bad, my dear. One, crystals are not to be given out willy-nilly to anyone and everyone. Two, they are much too powerful for one so young. Therefore, no. You may not have one."
He had expected more whining and crying from the now seven year old in his lap. What he got instead surprised him.
Sarah's angry eyes suddenly turned despondent. The tension in her shoulders vanished and she scooted closer until her knees brushed against his leg. She folded her tiny hands together as if in prayer and inhaled deeply before she opened her mouth.
And proceeded to give him the best butter-me-up of his immortal life.
She prattled on and onabout how nice he was, how they were the best of friends, how he had always been there for her when she needed him. She complimented him endlessly and he sat back and listened to her with unwavering amusement.
Oh, but that wasn't all.
"And I've been such a good girl," she started. Cocking his head, he listened now as she listed all of her accomplishments and good deeds. From tidying her room to cleaning the messes they made after playing, one would think she was a saint for all she had done.
"So I promise that if you just give me one crystal I will never ever ask for anything ever again. I will always be the nicest and bestest girl ever," she finally concluded.
Jareth waited a moment to make sure she had truly finished her appeal. Slowly, his lips turned up into a crooked grin. "My, my. You can certainly plead your case. Can't you, Sarah mine?"
The little girl's eyes sparked alive again and she began to bounce with excitement. "So you'll give me a crystal?" she asked in a voice bubbling with enthusiasm.
Jareth threw his head back and laughed heartily. "Oh Sarah…" Looking back to her, he wore the fondest expression.
"The answer is still no."
It was that day that the King of the Goblins learned that little human girls could hit very hard.