Author's note: wow, almost a month since I last updated this? Sorry guys! I know there's nothing worse than a fanfiction that gets abandoned :P I have about 4 more chapters planned for this, with possible one-shot sequels / prequels / crossovers... Possibly... I'll see how it goes

The first place Sarah went was one of the offices. She chuckled to herself as she locked the door behind her. What secrets would she find in his papers? She couldn't wait to find out. She sat down in the chair and got to work. It took a few seconds for the words to become something she could recognize. She blinked her eyes and squinted.

"To Oberon, King of the realm, Ruler of the Fae, Greetings."

Sarah raised an eyebrow.

"It has come to my attention that one of the roads leading to my kingdom has fallen into disrepair. No doubt your majesty would not want any of your citizens to become injured should misfortune befall them due to traveling on a path that did not have the proper upkeep. If your majesty wishes, I shall secure the laborers to remedy this problem, however, funds will be needed in posthaste. The work can begin as soon your majesty sees fit to send the money - "

Sarah put the letter down. That wasn't exactly what she was looking for. She picked up another.

"Dearest Puck, It was a pleasure to receive your letter regarding your current adventures. Surely the next time you are in this realm, I shall have to take you up on your offer of lunch. By any chance have you heard from Loki? The last I heard from him was four years ago, and I worry for him sometimes, as he never had the best judgement about certain things…"

Sarah didn't know what to make of that one. She set it aside.

"To Mother,"

Sarah smirked. This should be good, she thought.

"I apologize for once again not making it to your birthday party. Perhaps one year I will be able to attend. As always, ruling over the goblins keeps me busy. Things here are much the same as they have always been. Last week a dozen of them somehow managed to create a glue-like substance in the kitchen and it took me an hour of magic to clean everything. I hope you are doing well, and when I find the time I shall come to visit. Your son, Jareth"

Sarah hadn't really thought about it before. What were Jareth's parents like? She wondered if they knew what happened to him. She looked around, but couldn't seem to find anything like an address book. She read through a dozen more letters, all of them seeming to be about mundane things. She sighed. If just reading the letters was boring, how boring must it have been to live it? She sincerely hoped her rule would have more interesting things than asking for money to rebuild a road. She decided to look in another room.

The next office room had papers that seemed to be lists of expenses. Until she looked at these, Sarah didn't realize just how many things the goblins could break - expensive things, too. Convinced that that was all this room consisted of, she left. As she walked down the hall, she remembered the handwritten book in the library. She went to look for it. It took her a while, but she found it. She took it with her and sat in the chair. Opening it up to the first page, she started reading.

It was beautiful. Each poem seemed to stand by itself, but they followed a common theme, and it flowed from one to the next. It spoke of friendship, and of love, and how they change like the seasons and bloom like the flowers, vibrant and full, only to wilt and die away, yet coming back stronger the next time. Some of the images the words evoked brought tears to her eyes. Every so often in-between the poems there would be a single line of text, sometimes mentioning an activity, such as "picnic on the mountaintop by the lake" or "visiting the forest, sunlight filters throughout the leaves", but sometimes the single sentences were vague, and seemed to allude to something she didn't understand. She kept reading, page after page. A knock cam at the door, startling her.

"Who's there?"

"Lunch is ready, Queen!" called a goblin.

Lunch already? Sarah had been reading longer than she thought.

She put the book in her bedroom and went downstairs. After lunch she stayed in throne room for a while, practicing conjuring crystals. She wasn't sure if it was just from practicing, or from the pendant, but it seemed to be getting easier. She half listened to the goblins chattering, and let her thoughts float back to the book. He must have written it for Cassandra, she thought. It would make sense - her picture had been in the front cover, and the poems were obviously written to or about someone. But where was she now? Would she find the answer somewhere in the book? He was in love Cassandra, that much was clear. Sarah felt an unwanted twinge of jealousy. If he loved Cassandra, and he did, what did he want with Sarah back then? She thought of it and her cheeks got hot. He probably hadn't meant anything he said to Sarah. She let the crystal she had just conjured crash to the ground and shatter into nothing. So much for being her slave…

For all she knew, he could be off with Cassandra right now, ditching his duties as king, and sitting on a beach drinking some sort of rum drink. The more she thought about it, a mojito didn't sound too bad right now…

Sarah went to bed early that night. The fire was crackling as always, and as she lay in her bed he decided to keep reading the book of poetry. As they went on, they spoke more of love than anything else. Sarah read them throughout the night, and they seemed to go on forever. Then suddenly, they stopped. She flipped through several blank pages. In between two of the blank pages was a pressed rose. A few pages past that the poems started again. But these poems were different. The other ones had been so full of hope, and these were dark and emotional. The earlier poems radiated affection. The only thing these poems did was leak bitterness. Reading them felt like a punch to the psyche. She suddenly felt more sad than she ever remembered feeling. It was as though in light of these new poems, everything that was written before naive lie. Sarah put the book down without finishing it. She turned over and pulled the blankets around her a little tighter. She felt like she would never be happy again. She took a deep breath and told herself it would be okay. Those were just words, just stories, they didn't have any power over her. She closed her eyes and hoped she would feel better in the morning.

When she woke up, things seemed a little better. She looked over at the book and pushed it away. She decided she would not be reading anymore of it today. She ran her hands through her hair and stood up. Wiseman was coming today, and she had a lot of questions for him.

"Very good, Sarah! I'm quite pleased with your progress with the crystals!"

Sarah managed a small smile.

"Is there something troubling you, dear?" he asked.

"Wiseman, is it possible… I mean, if someone who had magic wrote something on a piece of paper, would those words have power?"

The Wiseman thought about it for a moment. "All words have power, Sarah. Power to affect the people and things around them." he nodded. "Did something happen?" he was concerned for his friend.

"No, not really. I just found these poems, that's all. They were really intense, and they kind of stuck with me, I guess." she shrugged. She didn't really feel like telling him she had been reading through Jareth's personal writings.

"Look what I found!" eager to change the subject, she showed him the pendant.

He nodded happily. "This will help you very much with your magic! You may find some things you can only do when wearing the pendant. There will probably be one thing you can only do with it's help. It's different for everyone - some can read minds only with it on, some can teleport only when wearing it. Why, there's even some who need it to be able to transform! Wear it always - it's important."

The conversation moved on again. They went over some of the skills she already knew, and worked on a few new ones. She was disappointed she still didn't know how to transform, but he assured her it would happen eventually. Towards the end of the lesson Sarah decided it was time to ask what he knew about Jareth.

"There's sill no news of Jareth." she mentioned to him.

"That is unfortunate." he frowned.

"You've known him along time haven't you?"

"Yes, quite a while."

She struggled with choosing the right words. "Was he ever married?"

The Wiseman was silent for a minute.

"No, he never was…" he trailed off.

An uncomfortable silence settled on them.

"Who was Cassandra?"

He gave her a wary look. "How much do you know about her?"

Sarah looked down. "A little… He loved her, didn't he?" she said softly.

The Wiseman sighed. "He did indeed. It's a long tale, but one that has rarely been told. Very few if any of the goblins still remember - it was quite a long time ago. After it all ended, Jareth refused to allow anyone to mention her name. There was one time when a goblin mentioned her name in passing around Jareth. You should have seen him." he shook his head. "It was terrible. No one's exactly sure what became of that goblin, but no one ever saw him again. If Jareth ever found out I told you about it all…"

"I won't tell him." Sarah said quickly.

"Are you sure you want to hear the story?"

She nodded eagerly.

"Very well." he sighed. "Lady Cassandra was a Fae woman. She and Jareth knew each other for a very long time. When Jareth was younger he would go on adventures with his friends. Well, one day one of his friends introduced her to him. She loved mazes and puzzles and playing tricks on got along very well right from the beginning. She began to go along with him and his friends on those adventures, and somewhere along the line, they fell in love." Wiseman smiled as he reminisced. "It was wonderful to see them together. They loved each other so much. He would have done anything for her. They were engaged to be married and even set a date for the wedding. He built the Labyrinth just for her. Everyone who knew them thought they would be together forever." he sighed and frowned. "But, sadly, it wasn't meant to be."