Queen Ina was known as the Queen of Beauty in the Planet of Anterian, where the ruler and normal subjects there was a divine being. Only the servants and the lower class were of other lower species, only there to serve and were happy to serve. Everywhere, men worshipped at her feet, wanting to be her lover. It was one of the things she prided in most. She brushed her wavy auburn hair down her smooth light skin, skin without any blemishes or imperfections. Her hazel eyes shone with mystery, and curves on her body were just the right proportions. Nothing made her happier than to be told that she was the most exquisite creature to ever exist.

Imagine her anger when one of her courtiers gossiped about a fey girl who surpassed her in beauty, a lowly fey girl in the Underground. After extracting the information that she needed to find this girl, she executed the courtier.

Sighing at the memory, she called over her son, King Troy, as he was known, since names held power. Only she knew his real name, not even her son knew his own name. This gave her power over him, even though he was the rightful king of Anterian. She was only Queen mother, taking over as regent for her son when her husband died.

3 knocks sounded on her door. Slipping on a robe, she called her son in. "Troy, have you destroyed the girl as I have asked you too? I've been waiting for nearly a whole day for you to tell me how it went. You know I can't have someone more beautiful than me running around, especially a fey of all beings. Only a human would be worse," she grumbled.

Her son shifted around. She turned to look at him. "What? What's wrong?"

He looked at her again, trying to summon courage. "Mother, she hasn't done anything wrong. Isn't it a little extreme to kill or even embarrass her? She doesn't even want to be that beautiful. Cassandra is a nice girl." He blushed a little, thinking of the lovely dance he had with her.

Queen Ina, however, had a very different reaction. She knew exactly what was in his head. "No. You've fallen for her! I cannot believe it!" Her voice rose to a shriek. Before Troy could respond, she silenced him. "That's it. That little bitch has gotten the attention away from me and now she has your attention. Well, it's time to pay the Goblin Kingdom a little visit!"


Sarah may have slept terribly, but she woke up to a beautiful sight. Jareth was holding her from behind, his hands cradling her abdomen, and his face buried in the curve of her neck. She slowly turned around to see her husband's face. Jareth slept soundly, his face void of any worry. She kissed his nose, watching him shift under her touch. Slowly, his mismatched eyes opened and his smile grew. "Good morning, Precious," he cooed.

After a few kisses, Jareth went down to kiss her stomach. "My son," he whispered. "I can't wait to meet him." Sarah smiled and reached down to kiss in his messy hair. "Hopefully he won't inherit your stubbornness," she teased, stroking his cheek. Jareth chuckled. "Well, we already have one child that does that," he grumbled. Sarah could see how worried he was of Cassandra, and it won't be easy to fix.

She patted his hand. "Let's go have breakfast. Maybe she'll be there and you can talk to her then." Sarah tried to cheer him up, but Jareth just looked numb. He wasn't sure if what he said was forgivable, bringing up her beauty when she obviously hated it.

The Goblin King and Queen made way to the dining room, thanking the chef for making such delicious food. To their dismay, their young daughter was nowhere in sight. Jareth called for a servant, a squeaky Goblin named Gerina. "Gerina, could you bring some breakfast to Princess Cassandra's room? Thank you." When the Goblin left, Jareth buried his face in his hands, small tears rolling down his face. Sarah put her arms around him. "Jareth, it's okay. She's just upset, she'll come around." He shook his head and turned to look at Sarah. "Sarah, she and I had a candid conversation yesterday about her beauty and who she was. She actually shared things with me! And then I go and blow it. I'm a pathetic father." He went back to wiping tears.

"Jareth, you did what you thought was best." She laid her hand on his lap, letting him feel that he was not alone. He nodded. "True, what I said last night was right, that Trevor or whatever his name was could harm us. I shouldn't have been so hasty in yelling at her though." Sarah agreed. "Then tell her so, when she's ready to hear it."

Jareth held his wife's hand. He wasn't sure what he would do without his Sarah. She really kept him grounded, just as he helped her. They really were a perfect pair. "I have an idea," said Sarah. "Let's have a private lunch today, and we can tell Cassie of the new baby, and maybe in a few months we can announce it to the kingdom!" Jareth's eyes lit up. "Why Precious, that's the best idea." He planted a kiss on Sarah's lips.

"KINGYYY AND QUEENIEEEEE!" The little Goblin, Gerina, came running back. Both monarchs whipped their heads to the commotion. Gerina was still carrying the plate of food that Jareth had given her. "The princess! She's not in her room! Can't find her!" The little Goblin sat down, out of breath.

Jareth stood up so quickly that his chair fell. Sarah immediately tried to use her Mirror to find where her daughter was, and Jareth tried to produce a crystal to scan for her. Normally, they wouldn't use their mediums to look at her, for privacy's sake, but they used it for occasions such as this.

They almost gave up looking around the Labyrinth until Jareth found her face. "Sarah, she's in one of the more oubliettes!" He groaned. His daughter should know better than to go into places that she's never been, for the Labyrinth could still be dangerous.

Sarah sighed. "Jareth, I think I should take this." He reluctantly nodded, knowing that his princess wouldn't want to see him. "Let me know if you have trouble," he mumbled. Sarah gave him a comforting kiss, and walked into her mirror to see her daughter.


Cassandra was all alone, cold, and miserable. She wanted to get away from her parents as much as she could, and she just got into the oubliette without a way of escaping. To keep herself warm, she created a small fire to envelope around her body, making her body the only light source in the dark room.

Though she was powerful in magic, she wasn't THAT powerful. Only the monarchs could get out of a place like this. This oubliette was not the same one that her mother had been stuck in. This was a more powerful one that her father had created to keep anyone he needed inside. She only hoped that her parents would let her out. At the same time, she had no idea if she even wanted to leave.

Part of her knew that Jareth was right, she shouldn't have let her emotions get to her head and forget about the safety of the Kingdom. At the same time, Troy was the first man to actually show interest in who she was instead of her beauty.

A mirror materialized, and the Queen of Goblins stepped through. Sarah's eyes widened when she saw Cassandra's body wrapped in flames. It always unnerved her, and she made her daughter promise to not do it in her presence. The first time she did it, she was a child and Jareth doused her with water but even that didn't work. Somehow, fire just didn't harm the young girl.

Cassandra pretended to not notice her mother, but Sarah knew her daughter better than that. The Goblin Queen sat next to the princess, sighing. "I think you know what I'm going to say, Cassie."

Cassandra nodded. "Yeah. I know I shouldn't have left, but I really needed to be alone and didn't want anyone coming in my room." She hugged her legs even tighter to her body. Sarah wanted to put her hand on Cassandra's shoulder, but she didn't want to get burned by the fire.

"That's not all," said Sarah. She thought carefully about how to proceed. "Your father shouldn't have lost his temper, that's for sure. However, he did have a good reason for being angry." Cassandra scoffed, but Sarah pushed on.

"Do you know why the former High Queen even retired?"

Cassandra was confused. What did the former High Queen have anything to do with her? "No, Mom. What happened?" She had always thought that she retired because she wanted to. Was there more to the story?

Sarah sat with her legs crossed, shifting to a more comfortable position. "Cassie, the jiangshi that your father mentioned, they were a result of the High Queen's emotions blinding her." Cassandra finally looked up to see her mother, eyes wide. She had heard the story of how her parents beat the jiangshi, but only very little details. Goblins had told her part of the story, and when she asked Jareth about it, he'd only tell a little and dismiss it. It was one of the topics that he liked to use as an example of his and Sarah's power, and yet, he hated talking about them in great detail. His eyes always were filled with fear at the mention of them. Cassandra didn't want to ask him again. Seeing his fearful eyes made her scared.

Sarah gave another sigh, and continued her story. "High Queen Raina had a sister who was able to control the dead. She was also blood thirsty, murdering many children." Sarah choked out, trying to not gag at the thought of her stepmother. "Her name was Kara, and her crimes were so grievous that she was brought to the Court of Monarchs." The Court of Monarchs was reserved only for the highest of crimes. Sarah brushed some dirt off her clothes. "Your father had just been crowned King. In fact, he had finished conquering the Labyrinth not long before that trial. The High Queen went easy on Kara, only providing the option of going to the Above, stripped of her magic and whether she would be able to come back or not.

"Your father was upset. He saw that Kara could continue to hurt people Above. He suggested that she be executed, locked up, or at least be permanently supervised. Many saw your father as foolish for speaking up against her when he was only 18, and a brand new king of a realm where no one has been a monarch before. From being young and peer pressure, he continued to keep his mouth shut and went with the flow. The High Queen and him would always be at odds from then on." Sarah paused to look at her daughter. Cassandra was listening intently, and couldn't believe it. She had no idea that the story would get worse.

"There's something I haven't told you." Sarah took a deep breath. "Kara was my stepmother."

If Cassandra wasn't on the floor, she would've fallen down for sure. Her mother's stepmother was a cannibal and a murderer? She had heard about Karen and Lisa. They abused Sarah, but she didn't know they did THIS. She looked into Sarah's eyes and asked one question.

"How?"

Sarah looked down, not wanting to talk any more, but she had to since she started. Cassandra seemed to understand. Snapping her fingers, she made a small fire ball and set it floating so that they would be kept warm and to have some light. She stopped the fire surrounding her to hold her mother's hand.

Sarah had more confidence. She smiled, knowing that she and Jareth raised their daughter well. After gathering her thoughts, she pushed onward. "Kara was sent Above, changed her name to Karen, and married my father. Before she went Above, however, she made sure that when she got magic back, she'd go back to the Underground and have an army of jiangshi. And she did. She almost killed your father and I a few times. No one was able to help us, for the High Queen sealed any and all entrances.

"Cassie, it was the most terrifying thing I've ever witnessed. Surprisingly, no one died, probably because your father was good at setting up protections. Many were injured though. Seeing Kara desecrate graves of goblins that Jareth worked so hard to protect, it made him feel like a failure and it broke his heart. He loves his subjects, you know this." At this, Cassandra nodded.

"Bottom line is, he's upset because the High Queen let herself be blind to reason and logic from her emotions, and it almost cost not just us, but the entire Underground's future. You must understand that it's not easy for him. He loves you, and he regrets what he said. I ask you to apologize to him and for him to say the same to you, please?" Sarah begged her princess.

Cassandra hugged her mother, sobbing. "Oh Mom, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to ruin everything! I'm so sorry..."

She still had feelings and still thought that Troy was a good man, but she knew she wasn't careful, it was true. Sarah stroked her hair and hushed her. "It's alright, don't worry. Chin up, my love." She pulled Cassandra back to look at her. "Your father and I've decided to put off seeing the kingdom and we'll have a private lunch for some news that we want to tell you." She kissed the young girl's nose. Every week, Sarah and Jareth would go around the kingdom to see what needed to be done, only opting out when big events happened. Sometimes, they'd bring Cassandra as well if her studies wouldn't be interrupted.

Cassandra smiled at this, but she was still nervous to see her father. Sarah stood up, and offered her hand. Cassandra took it. Mother and daughter, Queen and Princess walked into the mirror together, hand in hand.

Jareth saw his wife and daughter at lunch. It hurt him to see Cassandra look at him nervously, but he ran towards her and hugged her tightly. When did she get so tall, he wondered. It was just yesterday that he would have to crouch to catch her as she ran into his arms.

"Dad I, I understand now. I'm sorry." She looked at her feet, ashamed. Jareth put his arm around her. "Sweet Pea, don't you worry. I'm glad you understand, and I'm sorry for overreacting." He looked up at Sarah, giving her a thankful look. He couldn't have done it without her help.

"Let's have lunch," the Queen announced. "It's going to be a quiet and nice one, but I'm excited to tell you the news." All three fey were beaming.

Unfortunately, they had no idea that by the end of the lunch, their world would be turned upside down.