CHAPTER FOUR

Once Upon A Time

"There's every sign that

'Once upon a time'

Is starting here and now…"

-"Angels Arise" from Jim Steinman and Michael Kunze's musical "Dance of the Vampires"

When Sarah thought back on that fateful night, she was never quite sure how their strange little party got from the Guillemin castle to the Goblin Kingdom. It was as though she was enchanted to forget, or perhaps it was just the stress of that evening's events that drove most of the details of the from her mind.

They had maintained their steady walking pace as they left the great hall and the courtyard of the keep, the goblins keeping their steady march until they were out of sight of the castle, making their way through the apple orchard. Then, the goblins broke rank a little bit, acting a little more wild and feral than they had in the great hall.

They picked up the pace as they neared the dark wood, and Sarah experienced her first pangs of doubt. A thought flashed unbidden through her mind. Could she possibly run away from the Goblin King and all of the goblins once they entered the woods? Surely it would not be too hard to lose them in the leafy darkness. She could stay her fate for just a little longer, and make a bit of hell for the Goblin King. Goodness knows she was certainly terrified of her fate.

However, just as Sarah was starting to mentally plan out how she would accomplish such a feat, the Goblin King laid his hand on her shoulder, possessive and corporeal, as though he had been able to read her mind and was reminding her of her decision. Binding, inescapable, eternal. That was the nature of her current state and her state for the foreseeable future. Damn him. Sarah tried to repress a shudder that was a mixture of distaste and fear.

The Goblin King did not speak for most of the journey, save for giving sharp directions to his goblins or warning Sarah that she was about to step into a puddle or whatnot.

She remembered looking surreptitiously up at the Goblin King at one point during their journey, and she could see that he had his jaw clenched in some unreadable emotion. It could not be nerves. The Goblin King was far too old and far too proud to be susceptible to something as trivially human as nerves. Sarah had looked away quickly before she could think on it any further, as the Goblin King had suddenly became aware that she was looking at him.

They arrived in a clearing in the wood after travelling for a long while, and the Goblin King gave the order for a short rest from their tireless march.

The Goblin King studied Sarah for a moment before he reached for her throat. Sarah flinched, but he merely lifted the white satin ribbon from beneath the collar of her gown with a single gloved finger, revealing the dangling iron amulet to his prying eyes.

"Clearly you have been talking to someone who knows their fae lore well." He murmured, his tone inflectionless.

"Yes," said Sarah, a little shakily. Was he angry? Why should he be? She had the right to defend herself. "An old Romani woman gave it to me after she read my future."

"Hmm," replied the Goblin King noncommittally, letting the ribbon slip from the end of his gloved finger. The amulet landed with a small thump on Sarah's collarbone. The Goblin King finally looked away from Sarah, surveying the goblins that were littered around the clearing, wreaking varying degrees of mayhem on anything and everything that they could lay their hands on.

Sarah shivered involuntarily. She suddenly realized that she had forgotten her cloak at home. Well, her old home now. A lump formed in Sarah's throat at the thought. She wrapped her arms around herself, as if trying to keep her emotions controlled by physical force. The Goblin King suddenly draped his heavy black cloak over her shoulders before he walked away just as suddenly to talk to some of his goblins. Sarah stared after him in shock before wrapping the still-warm cloak gratefully around herself. She would certainly hate the Goblin King forever, and being warm made it easier to focus on her hate and to distract her from her fear.

Sarah would always think of the Goblin King as a vile, malevolent force, and no trifling acts of chivalry would persuade her otherwise. No being who had callously inflicted so much pain over countless generations of families could ever be kind or good-hearted.

Sarah was still a little shocked that she had been taken instead of Aubrey. She had always thought that she would be completely spared of the curse's ramifications because up until recently, she was an only child. Sarah consoled herself that this strangely fortunate turn of events had at least spared Aubrey, even if her own freedom had been the price. Ironic, really, that her ancestor had initiated the centuries of Guillemin loss out of a desire for freedom, which had been provided so graciously by the Goblin King, and now Sarah was experiencing the antithesis of this, at the hands of the very same Goblin King. Sarah clutched her amulet. She was extremely grateful that she had it with her. At least Sarah could fight back. She was clever and even brave at times, and she would do her damndest to retaliate against the Goblin King every chance she got.

The group started on once more, and the deeper they ventured into the forest, the closer the trees grew together, getting so close that at one point that they had to walk in a single-file line, Jareth in the lead, followed by Sarah. Behind Sarah, a long procession of goblins followed, crashing through the undergrowth with gleeful abandon. The Goblin King, of course, walked silently through his domain. Sarah stumbled along, unable to see very clearly in the gloom. Her feet were starting to hurt, and she was getting very tired. Surely it was drawing close the midnight by now. It was hard to tell through the inky blackness of the trees. She cursed the Goblin King. (This was becoming quite a habit of hers.) He did not seem to tire, nor did he appear have any trouble navigating through the woods. Even the cold air of the fall night did not seem to plague him. It was unfair.

Every now and then, Sarah could have sworn that she saw a great, lumbering shape moving dimly in the thicket of trees, silent as a shadow. Whether they were stalking their prey or paying homage to the lord of their wood, Sarah did not know. She just hoped that whatever was out there lurking in the wood would stay hidden away until she had left. Funny how in the past few hours, Sarah had gone from fearing the Goblin King above all of the other horrors in the world, to being thankful that she was traversing through the wood under his protection. Life often dealt strange turns like that.

The Goblin King's cloak was too large for Sarah, and it was dragging on the ground, catching on the thick underbrush. Also, Sarah could have sworn that some of the smaller goblins would hop onto the part of the cloak that was trailing along on the ground every now and again, catching a ride. Every time Sarah swiveled around to check, there was no goblin there. However, she did occasionally catch sight of a goblin dashing deeper into the line of the goblin troop, and every now and then, a shrill giggle met her ears. She let out a huff of quiet exasperation.

And yet, they continued tirelessly on, Sarah growing even more tired with every step they took. Maybe the Goblin King did not intend to take her to his castle, maybe he just wanted to walk around and around in circles through the forest all night until Sarah passed out from sleep deprivation. Then he could just leave her to be a snack for some creature of the forest. Ah yes, that would be nice right about now, thought Sarah sluggishly, tripping on what seemed to be the thousandth tree root in the past half hour. The goblins that followed behind her sniggered at her clumsiness. Sarah did not find it in herself to care. She was too damn tired. It was hard enough to keep her eyes open, let alone trying to scold a bunch of wild goblins in front of their liege. That would probably not go over well, especially in her current state.

Sarah drifted into a sort of daze, as though she was half awake and half asleep. Her brain slowed down to a sluggish trickle of thought, only concentrating on moving her feet and not falling over. She did not bother to look around her, only gazing unseeingly at the Goblin King's armored back. Suddenly, the Goblin King stopped, making Sarah bump forcefully into him. Sarah felt a few goblins bump against her legs. It took Sarah a few groggy moments to realize what had happened. Once it had made it through her brain that she was up close and personal with the Goblin King, Sarah quickly pushed herself away.

The Goblin King glanced over his shoulder at Sarah, a perfectly-arched eyebrow raised in a look akin to surprise.

Sarah muttered a hasty and incomprehensible apology and returned to sulking, her temper building. She was tired from walking what seemed like all damn night. She was tired of being scared. She was angry at the curse. She was angry with the Goblin King for acting on his curse. She was angry at fate for dealing her such a terrible future. She was angry with herself for being so damn noble and self-sacrificing. She was just plain angry.

They were standing in front of a large stone that was reminiscent of a wall, vines and moss growing haphazardly over its surface. The Goblin King swept away some vines and fallen leaves off of the face of the boulder to reveal some carved runes in some archaic language that Sarah could not read. It looked similar to the alphabet that Sarah knew, and yet it was strange and altered into incomprehensibility.

The Goblin King removed a glove and placed a bare, pale hand on the runes and said a few, clearly accented lines of some old language, presumably the same language that was written on the stone. The stone then started to gleam in the darkness, a pale, silvery light emitting from the engraved words. Suddenly, Sarah heard what sounded like a low rumble that seemed to be coming from the large stone in front of them. The Goblin King took a few steps back and a doorway appeared in the rock, quite large enough for a person to pass through. The Goblin King then stepped through the hole in the stone as though nothing strange or magical had happened.

She hesitated before passing through the doorway in the rock. Some of the goblins behind her got impatient and pushed at her knees to make her move or just walked around her and through the passage way. This was it, the point of no return. Up until now she could have conceivably run away from the Goblin King and escaped fate for just a bit longer. This was clearly some gate between the two worlds; Sarah's world, and the Goblin King's world. The world of the familiar and the world of the unfamiliar. The world of normalcy and the world of magic.

Sarah tried to tell herself that it would be an adventure, and that it would not be so bad as the stories made it out to be. Unfortunately, lying did not work half so well if you were trying to lie to yourself.

Sarah took a deep breath and stepped through the passage and into a clearing, where sat a glossy black carriage drawn by a pair of stately and handsome hippogriffs. Sarah was taken aback at seeing yet more magical beings. She would have to get used to the strange and unusual especially since she was going to be the Goblin…no, Sarah would not think of that. Not yet. There was still a bit of hope left that Sarah would be able to convince the Goblin King otherwise or be able to trick him in some manner. Just enough hope to hold on to.

Sarah looked around the clearing and realized that it was not just a clearing, but rather the beginning of a path or a road, just wide enough for the carriage to pass between the shadowy foliage. Sarah stepped out onto the road and looked up, glad that she could clearly see the stars instead of more dark leaves. Sarah jumped as she heard the rumbling sound from a few moments earlier and watched mutely as the doorway in the boulder disappeared, her escape route closing behind her. Her heart gave a little twinge as she thought of her family who now lay on the other side of that impenetrable door. What were they doing right now? Were they thinking of her? A small part of Sarah hoped that they were. A quiet sob escaped from her throat, and she clapped a hand over her mouth. She must not show weakness. It was what the Goblin King expected, and she would not give him the satisfaction of knowing that he had gotten to her. She drew in a deep, steadying breath and calmed herself. She was incredibly tired and this made her quite prone to emotional swings. She had to remember that she was in the presence of the Goblin King, and she needed control of her full facilities when it came to the likes of him. She was already in a terrible situation; she did not need to make it worse by making the fae king angry.

The Goblin King ignored Sarah's distress and waved his hand dismissively at his goblin horde and said something quietly in some foreign tongue, and the goblins suddenly dispersed, melting away into the underbrush as quietly as shadows, quite a contrast to their boisterous, noisy movements from earlier.

The Goblin King watched wordlessly as his minions scampered away into the dark, save for one brutish creature, which hopped up onto the driver's seat up on top of the carriage, and picked up the reigns. The Goblin King watched the goblin dispassionately and tugged his leather glove absentmindedly back onto his hand. He trod purposefully over to the carriage, and patted one of the hippogriffs, stoking its long white feathers. The Goblin King then turned and beckoned to Sarah as he wordlessly opened the door to the carriage.

Sarah stood stock still, not moving from where she stood. It took her a few moments to realize what exactly was going on, and then she glared at the Goblin King and folded her arms defiantly.

The Goblin King rolled his eyes. Leaving the door to the carriage hanging open, he began to stride over to where Sarah stood, intending to just pick her up and stick her in the carriage and be done with her rebellious nonsense. It was late and though he did not seem it, he was excruciatingly tired.

A flicker of alarm lit Sarah's eyes as the Goblin King approached, and she unfolded her arms and took a few steps back. The Goblin King stopped a few steps in front of her and folded his arms. He could be just as stubborn as she. She had no idea what she was dealing with. He was fae! He was older than she could comprehend, and he would exist long past the time when the forest grew into extinction and the stones of her old home crumbled into dust. Who was she to deny a king?

Sarah took another step back, balking at the dark look that had clouded the Goblin King's face. She gathered up the remaining scraps of her valor and continued to glower at him insolently. She would not give in easily, not if it meant that she would give the Goblin King back just a little of the aggravation he had caused countless generations of her family.

"Where are we going?" she finally asked, folding her arms once more, mimicking his pose.

The Goblin King sighed exasperatedly and massaged his brow. His head was beginning to hurt. Perhaps it was a mistake to take this girl. A young baby would be far easier to manage than she was at this moment. Far less talking, at least. He wondered vaguely for a moment if he could go back to the Guillemin castle and demand the babe instead. No, this scheme was larger than he, and he could not change it now. Too much depended upon it.

"To my kingdom, where else? Now come." He answered tersely and swung his arm back, gesturing to the waiting carriage.

"But, did we not just pass into your kingdom? Through that door in the stone, I mean." Sarah was stalling. She desperately did not want to be stuck in that small carriage with the Goblin King for any length of time. She did not know if her courage would hold out for that long.

"No, we did not. That is merely a deterrent for humans from passing this far into the wood. My kingdom is still a few hours' journey from here. Is that everything you would like to know? Satisfied?"

A testy edge crept into the Goblin King's voice, and he began to drum his gloved fingers on his arm, clearly impatient for Sarah to obey. For the first time that night, the Goblin King looked weary.

Sarah smiled inwardly for a few moments, reveling in the fact that she had gotten under the Goblin King's skin. Ha! En grade, Goblin King!

"And may I remind you that if you do not wish to keep your end of the bargain, I shall be no longer contractually obligated to keep mine, ergo everything and everyone you know and love will be subject to my wrath, et cetera, et cetera and et cetera."

And touché. Damn.

Sarah's delight dissipated as quickly as it had appeared.

"Damn you," muttered Sarah bitterly, stalking past the Goblin King, who seemed to have found the snide smile that Sarah had lost. She made her way across the clearing towards the carriage, hesitating for a split second as one of the hippogriffs began to snort and paw at the ground, before throwing back her shoulders and moving onward. She clambered into the carriage and sat petulantly down on one of the cushioned seats, staring out the window, trying her best to ignore the Goblin King as he also entered the carriage, far more gracefully than Sarah, calling for the goblin driver to go. Instead of sitting on the seat opposite hers, he sat next to Sarah as the carriage lurched into motion, making her jump with surprise. She scowled at him balefully for a moment, before awkwardly standing up and turning to sit on the other seat. She did not dare to look at him as she sat down, instead electing to resume her study of the woods that were now moving past her outside the window.

The Goblin King began to howl with laughter. He leaned back in his seat and clutched his stomach at the force of his gaiety. It took a long while for his merriment to subside, but it eventually did, and he studied Sarah with an odd look akin to delight, as though he were seeing her clearly for the first time. He had only known her for a few hours, after all. Sarah decided to amend her former statement, deciding that, perhaps it was not pride, but maybe grudging admiration. It would not do to look favorably upon your new acquisition's unruly rebellion to your every action. That would not be a move befitting the king of the goblins.

"Are you going to continually oppose me until the end of time?" queried the Goblin King snarkily, extending his arm over the back of the seat he was regally perched upon. "If you are, please be so courteous as to inform me immediately, as I am afraid I shall get rather tired of it before too long and I will need to know so I can make arrangements. Perhaps I could trade you for another, quieter, less recalcitrant girl. One who would be less of a hassle to break in, perchance? It would not do to have a disobedient Goblin Queen." He smiled, and revealed his sharp teeth.

"I am afraid that I will always oppose you, no matter what, your highness." Replied Sarah regally, gathering her pride around her like an ermine mantle. "You should have done your research before you picked me. Not a very smart move on your part. I have no qualms about stymieing your every wish or desire."

"Such a pity," murmured the Goblin King, still looking at Sarah, with a wicked gleam in his eyes.

Sarah and the Goblin King both fell silent, Sarah returned to staring resolutely out the curtained window of the carriage, while the Goblin King continued to stare unwaveringly at Sarah.

Sarah tried to ignore the Goblin King, but it seemed as though he were trying on purpose to annoy her. At least he was not trying to frighten her. It seemed as though it was sometimes easier to be brave when you were angry. Or rather, it was easier to be intractable.

"What do you want?" asked Sarah, unnerved enough by the Goblin King's gaze that she broke the tense silence.

The Goblin King gave a low chuckle. "Oh, all the delicious answers I could give," he mused, half to himself.

Something in Sarah snapped. She was tired, she was angry, and she had been through quite enough to be getting along with, Goblin King or no Goblin King. A counter-attack sprung into Sarah's mind, and before she could properly think of the consequences or of the kind of reaction such a maneuver would elicit from the Goblin King, Sarah quickly removed the Goblin King's cloak from her shoulders, balled it up and threw it as forcefully as she could at his smug face. Of course, he caught it easily before it could do so much as ruffle his hair. He laughed again, tossing the cloak aside.

"Why couldn't you have just left me alone!" cried Sarah, her fatigue bringing on an acute onset of extreme emotion.

"Oh, because this is so thrilling," replied the Goblin King lazily, crossing his legs with a regal, easy grace, "Sitting around in a drafty old castle and ordering about goblins gets to be quite repetitive after a few centuries, even punctuated with the years when I get to steal a child. They blend into one another. I will most certainly not forget this theft, oh no. I was afraid that you were going to come along quietly, but no, you did not disappoint. I have a feeling life will never be dull with you around, Sarah."

Sarah balled up her fists. It was nigh impossible to kill a fae if you were a human, was it not? It was as the Goblin King said: "Such a pity." She felt quite murderous at that moment.

"What?" asked the Goblin King, clearly still amused by this turn of events, "No pithy response? No valiant speech from our heroine? I am disappointed. I would not have thought that you would have run out of words so soon."

"I have plenty of words, Goblin King," said Sarah testily, staring determinedly out of the window at the blackness beyond, "I just too damn tired to string them all together to form a coherent sentence. It is not worth it right now. I will not waste my energy on entertaining you tonight. It is not as though I will never have another chance to spar verbally with you. We can go at this until the end of time, if you like. I would have no qualms about that."

"Wonderful," replied the Goblin King enthusiastically, leaning forward in his seat. "I look forward to an eternity with you, my dear. It shall alleviate the boredom oh so nicely."

He moved so swiftly and smoothly that Sarah did not quite realize that he had moved to sit next to her once more until he had lazily draped his arm over the back of the seat, his fingertips lightly brushing her shoulder. Sarah nearly jumped out of her skin in surprise, and was about to smack him or move to the other seat again, when a thought flashed into her mind. She quickly reached up and untied the white ribbon around her neck, on which hung the iron amulet that Baba Tshilaba had given her ages ago when she had read Sarah's future. She thrust it towards the Goblin King, who recoiled instinctively.

"Get back!" she growled, white ribbon gasped tightly in her fist, the iron amulet swinging wildly beneath it from its sudden movement and the rocking of the carriage.

"I do not think that you should wish to threaten me in such a way, Sarah," said the Goblin King coldly, backing away slowly into the other seat once more. "It is most unwise."

Suddenly, the hairs on the back of Sarah's neck stood to attention as the crackle of magic filled the small carriage. Sarah plowed on, heedless to the danger that she had suddenly wrought, ignoring the murderous look that had settled on the Goblin King's visage.

"HA!" Sarah laughed, high and mercilessly. She was drunk on her own tenuously held power. "I think I do, Goblin King, I really do. I have the power now and I am not afraid of exploiting it! Too long have you terrorized my family and me! I have spent the past twenty years of my life fearing you and your curse. Not knowing how or when you would come was probably the worst part, apart from when you actually deigned to show up. The uncertainty of it all, you have no idea… I am sure you expected a girl who was frightened of you who would be easy to bend to your every whim, but you picked the wrong girl. I have foreknowledge into my future. I have been apprised of you and your weaknesses. I can fight back."

She thrust the iron towards the Goblin King once more, intending to try to incapacitate him and then escape from the carriage. Would that work, could she make her way through the wood, gain allies, bring the Goblin King down with the assistance with his very own subjects? It only had to touch his bare skin…

The Goblin King closed his gloved fingers around her wrist in a vice like grasp, forcing it and the amulet she held away from his person. He let out a hiss of anger and they grappled clumsily for a moment in the small carriage, Sarah trying in vain to overpower the Goblin King. Wrenching her wrist away from his grasp also proved to be futile. The Goblin King, tired from the evening's events and perhaps, a little nervous of the wildly swinging piece of cold iron, decided to bring their scuffle to an end. He forced Sarah backwards and pinned her to her seat, her wrists still trapped in his were now effectively immobilized against the wall of the carriage, the amulet still dangling from one of Sarah's clenched fists.

"Do not ever try that again," ordered the Goblin King, forcing the words out from behind clenched teeth. "I have indulged your little temper tantrums up until now, but no longer. Do not be so petty as to think that you could possibly overpower me."

The Goblin King stared at her angrily for a moment, but then his expression smoothly changed to devilish pleasure as the air crackled with magic. It felt like something was slithering over her immobilized wrists, and Sarah looked at them panicked, but there was nothing there other than the Goblin King's hands. She looked with wide eyes at the Goblin King, who was still smirking at her, his grin growing as he took in her panicked look. He gracefully let go of her wrists and settled back into his seat. Sarah attempted to regain control of her wrists, but she was unable to. She tugged at them in vain, fear and frustration mingling into a wild frenzy. Her mind buzzed with a thousand thoughts, quite a few of them in terrified condemnation of magic, the fae, and curses.

"I am glad that see that you have given up this charade of politeness, Goblin King. I am not a guest, but a prisoner, and what does a prisoner deserve other than to be restrained." Sarah said in an attempt at bravado, her voice a little higher than she would have liked. She was still unnerved by the display of magic, as insignificantly small as it was. Any magic at all was to be treated with extreme caution, trepidation, and a healthy dose of fear.

"You and I both, my dear. I think we see each other clearly now for the first time. How refreshing it is, not to have to play games and pretend at playing nice. I am glad that we were able to clarify how we each stand in our little arrangement," drawled the Goblin King,

Sarah snorted. "How splendid," she replied scathingly, fear making way for anger, "Now if you would please, release me at once. I think we can both see that you have demonstrated quite enough magic to be getting along with." The carriage went over a bump in the road, and the satin ribbon that she held clenched in an immobilized fist slipped and fell into her lap. Sarah winced as the jerky movement of the carriage wrenched her shoulders. "Any time now would be lovely," said Sarah as she cringed, trying to adjust in her seat so she would not be jostled so badly the next time the carriage went over a lump on the path.

The Goblin King made a splendid show of mock contemplation.

"I think not."

"Bastard." Sarah hissed, giving the Goblin King a deadly glare that would have made any other mere mortal quail helplessly in his boots.

"Yes, yes," said the Goblin King dismissively, ignoring Sarah's furious duress. "I am sure we all know how you feel about me. No need to get tetchy. You must allow me to enjoy my moment of triumph, my dear. It is not every day that I steal myself a Goblin Queen instead of a child, and it is especially momentous that this future Goblin Queen of mine is so feisty. It has been so very long since someone has dared to talk back to me so." He seemed lost in thought for a moment, but then he began to speak once more. "We are well matched, you and I, save for the inalienable fact that I am far more powerful than you, seeing as I am fae and you are not. You would do well to remember that in the future. It will make this so much easier, and I should think that you will find yourself at the receiving end of my anger far less often than if you continually try to overpower me."

"How kind of you to inform me of this," replied Sarah in a sickly sweet voice that half-heartedly attempted to honey coat the malice that lay beneath her words, "I should have known that I was to act like the damsel in distress, how silly of me to think otherwise. Now will you release me?"

"All in good time, love. Patience is a virtue that must be learned as it seems you are sadly lacking it."

The Goblin King thought for a moment before languidly leaning forward to scoop up the necklace that had fallen into Sarah's lap, careful not to touch the cold iron. Though his hands were gloved, the Goblin King could not pretend that he was not a bit wary of the metal. There were too many stories of those unlucky fae who had been subdued or even overcome by the thrice-damned influence of cold hard iron, and more than a few painful and uneasy memories of his own encounters with the substance.

"Lean forward," said the Goblin King, holding out the necklace carefully by the ends of the white satin ribbon.

Sarah looked at him with more than a little distrust in her features.

"For goodness' sake, you act like I'm going to choke you or something," intoned the Goblin exasperatedly, throwing one hand up into the air in annoyance.

"Well," replied Sarah offhandedly, "You are the Goblin King, after all. You have made it perfectly clear that I am to fear and loathe you."

The Goblin King snorted, and gave her a level stare. Sarah sighed and leaned forward slightly.

The Goblin King brushed Sarah's hair aside, the sensation sending a chill shiver down her spine. Sarah made a face. The Goblin King tied the white ribbon without comment, but did not back away once he was done.

He began to speak in a low voice, and the sound of magic crackled in the air once more, making Sarah tense up in anticipation of some new horror that was going to be inflicted upon her.

However, the Goblin King did not seem to be paying attention to her, not directly anyways, for his gaze had settled on the iron amulet that lay in the hollow of her throat. Sarah felt the amulet grow warm for a moment, before it returned rapidly to its heavy coolness once more.

A small smile lifted the corners of the Goblin King's face as the magic flowed from his being, and he caught Sarah's eyes and gave her the barest suggestion of a wink.

The Goblin King then tapped the iron amulet experimentally with the tip of one finger, the slightest bit of trepidation in his action. When nothing happened, he pulled one of his leather gloves off to try with his bare hand. He hesitated a fraction of an inch from the amulet before giving it a swift touch. His grin grew wider, and he placed his bare finger on the amulet once more, this time holding it there for several seconds. He let out a sharp bark of laughter.

Damn him. Thought Sarah, a little panicked. Her only good defense against the Goblin King was effectively neutralized. Why had Baba Tshilaba not warned her that the Goblin King could do that, or had she not known? Either way, this was indeed quite a bad turn of events for Sarah. Damn, damn, damn.

"I have never tried that before," mused the Goblin King jovially, still enamored with his success, "Now what else was I going to do? Oh yes…"

The Goblin King then turned his attention to Sarah's hands, and Sarah suddenly felt that invisible force that had been immobilizing her slither once more off of her wrists, freeing them. The Goblin King nodded once to Sarah and sat back in his seat. As he sat, still glowing from the outcome of his efforts, he flexed his bare fingers, looking at them with a pleased expression before tugging his leather glove on once more.

The Goblin King and Sarah lapsed into an uneasy silence. The air around them still thrummed with the aftereffects of the Goblin King's anger and magic. They remained quiet for a long time, both looking away from the other, Sarah in a show of determined strength of will, and the Goblin King because of his own mental contemplation of his newest magical feat. The carriage rocked gently around them as it propelled them through the dark night to the Goblin Kingdom.

Sarah yawned. After a few more moments she yawned again. She could hardly contain them, try though she might to hide them. Her yawns did not go unnoticed. The Goblin King looked at her sharply, expecting yet another fight.

"Would you like the cloak back? I may be a bastard and a home wrecker and all that, but I would never dream of denying a young lady of her beauty sleep." There were still traces of his magnificently expansive anger beneath his carefully chosen words.

"No thank you," replied Sarah stiffly, gathering her pride around herself as a mantle instead. "I have no plans of sleeping, especially in your presence. I have heard far too many stories about the fae, and now I have stumbled into a fairy tale story of my own."

"I am hurt," said the Goblin King, placing a hand lightly over his heart, "Do you not trust me?" A wicked light gleamed in his eyes.

"I regret to inform you that I do not trust you, nor, I am afraid to say, will I ever trust you. You had better get used to your hurt feelings, Goblin King. I will show you just the same about of pity that you have shown me, and that is to say: absolutely none at all."

"Very well," said the Goblin King, a little of the humor draining from his voice as he spoke, "You would do well to remember this moment for future reference. However much it may pain you to do so, there may come a time when you ask me to show pity, and I will take this predilection of yours into account. You had best learn now that not everything is as it seems to be in my kingdom. Human logic will not be beneficial to you here."

"I have already asked for your pity once this night, your highness, and you decided to refuse my request. I have no doubts that you will always refuse me thusly." Sarah said coolly, feeling a second wind of energy coming on from her emotions. That or she was growing steadily more delusional and she just thought that she was saying clever things. They had better get to the Goblin Kingdom soon, or else Sarah would dig herself even deeper into the Goblin King's bad graces. Perhaps she should stop while she was ahead before she said something that she would regret later. Perhaps she should have done that a long time ago.

The Goblin King merely let out a frustrated sigh at her audacious statement, crossed his arms, and looked resolutely out his window, away from Sarah. This seemed to be a recurring theme in their carriage ride.

Ha! Sarah reveled in her successful battle to silence the Goblin King. I can parry your every verbal thrust with ease! Nothing more to say, milord? No scathing comments or lightly veiled threats? What a pity. Now you see I am just as clever as you. I refuse to be cast as the damsel in distress in opposition to your dastardly villain. You have taken me away from everything and everyone I know and love, and that makes me stronger than you know. This hereditary curse will stop with me, make no mistake. Once you are through with me, Goblin King, you will be battered, broken, and beaten. My will is as strong as yours. I will bring you and your kingdom down from the inside, just you wait and see, I shall do it.

Sarah sat, thinking happily of all the ways she could make the Goblin King regret every thing he had ever done to her family, making plan after plan of how she was going to accomplish such a feat.

Soon, however, her thoughts began to drift off into incoherence, as she was lulled into a trance by the steady rocking of the carriage. Once or twice, Sarah caught herself closing her eyes, but jerked them open when she realized what she was doing. She must not sleep. She did not trust the Goblin King.

She could not quite explain it, but it felt as though she were being lured into sleep by some incorporeal force, and she vaguely wondered if this was the Goblin King's doing. Of course it must be, who else would or could accomplish such a thing. Sarah tried to stir herself into alertness, but it did not work, in fact, it seemed to make her lethargy worsen. She blinked a few times, and slowly raised one leaden arm to rub at her eyes.

The Goblin King began to hum quietly then, carefully averting his eyes from Sarah's accusing looks. Sarah shook her head, as though she was trying to shake the sound from her ears. She blinked more slowly, her eyelids growing heavier with fatigue.

Sarah knew she had lost the battle when the Goblin King's humming turned into a low song, the air growing thick with the scent of magic once more. Sarah sighed heavily, trying to concede herself to defeat.

The last thing Sarah remembered was peeking her eyes open to look blearily at the Goblin King, who had reached across to drape his cloak over her once more. The heavy warmth felt nice. Damn you, Goblin King, Sarah thought, her mind hazy with the effects of the magic. Sarah instinctively clutched the cloak closer and let her eyes drift shut once more, her mind slowing to a low buzz as she succumbed to a deep, dreamless sleep.

AN: Nice long chapter for all you lovely readers! Happy reading!

Disclaimer: Labyrinth and its characters do not belong to me. Quotes from the movie belong to Henson, Froud, and Lucas. Quotes from the book belong to A.C.H. Smith.