Face the strange: part one

Update! And a bit faster than last time! I was going to wait until I added a bit more to this one but I realised it was almost ten days since last updating and couldn't let you guys wait any longer! So this is not quite as long as the usual updates, but it's a two-parter because it's going to be a bit involved and then next part shouldn't be too far away.
Far out time moves fast, I have been writing solidly every night since last updating and just don't seem to get anywhere fast enough! (P.S I just booked tickets to go to DAVID BOWIE IS! Awww yeah! It's not being exhibited in my hometown so I have to fly one state over but I turned it into a cheap two-day holiday, totally worth it. Will probably be the closest I'll ever get to anything David ever touched, since I doubt he'll ever tour again.)


There was a time when the goblins feared and respected their old King.

He was a brutal man, not only for the shadows and anger they felt inside him but for the resentment that he felt, for them. Still, King Jareth fed them well. King Jareth played according to the rules. He did this for nearly two centuries.

Until the girl came.

Then King Jareth went soft. He started to cheat. He cheated them, his own subjects. He punished them for doing what came naturally: feeding. They were banished for eating the Halflings. They started to question their fear and respect for him after that.

They started to think about the girl and what it was doing to their once-valued leader. They were filled with outrage as they were stripped of rights and prizes and freedom at every turn. They rebelled against this softening creature, this pale-faced two-legged thing that was powerless against a little human. Even when he did the right thing and offered to stand down they were denied the sight of his rolling head.

Because the girl interrupted. Because the girl tricked King Jareth, leaving him worse than dead: she took his future, the possibilities of his years, his magic, and sent him mortal into the oblivion of the Other Place. The hordes considered all this and came to a conclusion. The girl was more dangerous than any leader they'd ever had, more insidious than the black-haired man who foolishly tried to rule them now.

And so they wanted her for the job.


In her life Mira hadn't been afraid of many things. She'd faced too much from a young age to remain sensitive to danger. Besides that, she'd often found that it wasn't difficult to bend people and creatures to her will. There was always a way to get things done the way she needed them to be.

But she was not that iron-willed Fae now. She put the borrowed face of Sarah Williams to shame, screaming with it the way she did.

The fall itself wasn't frightening; she wasn't worried by the rushing wind and the sickening drop in her stomach. It was the voices. The Elf's damning, justice-seeking words whispered in the back of her mind as if she were handing down a sentence. Memories that weren't hers made her want to weep tears she didn't feel: images of Elves bound and gagged, of green bodies stacked high, of flames and fighting and souls being split and the absolute misery of losing the battle. This is what you've done, what you've upheld and supported for hundreds of years. This is what I fight for. This is why I stain my hands with your blood, Mira El'Maven.

On top of this were the hideous threats of the creatures waiting below.

We will tear and strip and devour, oh the Fae meat at its best, such flavour, such an important one, yum yum yum –

How did they know who she was? There was little time to wonder as an image of that smiling Elf above flashed in her mind, and the agony of her broken promise was renewed a hundredfold. Needles and fire and a surging motion like her brain being ripped out through her mouth. The numbness wore off, filling her with infinite pain.

All this in a heartbeat before she hit the stones and felt bones shatter. Even Fae bodies could be damaged by a fall such as that. The voices were snuffed out; all sound was muted. Mira was nothing more than a vessel of pure torturous suffering, without name or title or memory. She lay that way for a moment, unable to even contemplate moving, before something wet dripped onto her cheek and she dragged her eyes upwards. A slathering beast with crimson eyes and a wide jaw stood drooling over her. She saw death in its expression. Mira closed her eyes against the horrible face, willing herself to die before it could sink its teeth in.

But life was unfair – or very fair, depending on the perspective – and creatures snatched at her from all sides and she felt every second of it.


Sarah wouldn't forget the sound of that scream for as long as she lived.

It made her hair stand on end and her stomach twist into knots; she struggled with the idea that she was going to watch herself die. The Queen hit the stones with a sickening crack and Sarah covered her eyes with a muffled groan. Keel kept murmuring under her breath. Brynn seemed a statue, peering down in silence at the scene below. She wasn't supposed to be here! Not just for the fact that she'd be exposed for her real self soon enough, but because there was no way Sarah would sleep at night after watching the Queen be devoured. Again she thought of the shadows in Jareth's eyes and how they'd come to be there. Well, this was a mark on her soul that she wouldn't allow.

She snuck a look either side of her – at the Fae stoic and blank, and the Elf trembling with vindictive satisfaction. It wasn't their skin colour or their markings or the monsters below that distanced Sarah from them – it was their total lack of regret. She'd never felt so alone in her life, and being alone with another person's blood on her hands was terrifying.

"Stop them," she murmured suddenly, before the goblins had even touched the Queen. "We have to stop them."

Brynn blinked at her. "Your Majesty?"

Keel shot her a warning look that went ignored.

"I said stop them," she said louder, more desperate than commanding. Below came an awful popping sound followed by a gut-wrenching scream. Not daring to look, Sarah shook Brynn's arm. "Take me down there!" she snapped. "I want this to stop!"

"But –"

"I said now!" she growled, though they remained frustratingly on the platform.

"Your Majesty," Brynn said quietly, looking concerned for the first time since she'd met him. "They have stopped. Look."

He was right. Every single goblin was staring up at her uncertainly. Thousands of eyes glittered expectantly, ears dropped back, tails low. As if they were – were what? Afraid? Steeling herself, Sarah glanced at the Queen. She was still intact, though looking worse for wear being held aloft by a pack of goblins. "They're not listening to me," she insisted. "They can't be. That's impossible."

"Perhaps the Queen of the Fae Domain has more hold over the hordes than we suspected, Ma'am," Brynn muttered without taking his eyes from the beasts.

"I guess so," Sarah muttered idly, losing all grip on pretence. She took a few steps to the left and watched as the eyes followed her silently. She stepped back and they followed again. "Well. Good." Clearing her throat, Sarah raised her voice and tried to imbue it with a strength she didn't quite feel. "Release her," she commanded. "Release the girl. There's been a mistake."

To the surprise of everyone on the platform, the goblins obeyed.

They dropped the Queen gracelessly onto the stones, like dogs being told to drop their chew toys. Unhappy snickers echoed through the City but none of the creatures moved. At a hard look from Sarah, Brynn vanished and appeared on the ground, gathering the broken Queen into his arms before returning to the platform. More titters rang out through the crowd but still no creatures moved a muscle. Unnerved by the silence, Sarah drew her attention to the woman lying at her feet.

She was still vaguely in disguise but details were starting to flicker. The skin turned paler with each ragged breath the unconscious woman took. The hair was starting to lighten. Sarah and Keel knelt by her head, exchanging pointed glances. The Elf was furious with her, sharp-eyed as ever and visibly grinding her teeth. Sarah refused to let herself be intimidated, returning that hard stare. Surely the damage had been done, the lesson learnt, without ripping Mira apart completely? She was scratched and clawed and bruised, blood dripping in a thick trickle from her nose. Her eyes were rimmed with violently blue circles, one arm dislocated and more than a few bones broken. She would have a hard time surviving this, let alone the goblins.

"Why?" Keel whispered, barely loud enough for even Sarah to hear. Her hands were trembling where they rested on her knees.

"I just couldn't," Sarah replied equally as quietly. Then, in a louder voice: "I'm sorry Brynn, I have to –"

"No!" Keel roared suddenly, knocking Sarah flat on her back.

Dazed, she rolled over just in time to see Mira with Keel's knife, the pair of them wrestling for control. Thick blue blood streamed from a wound in Keel's side but she showed no sign of weakness as Elf and Fae became a tangle of limbs. They rolled toward the edge of the platform. Sarah threw herself at them and took hold of Keel's arm but the weight was too much, it was too late – Queen and servant went tumbling over the ledge. Sarah refused to let go, would have let herself be dragged down too if something hadn't wrenched her hand free and pinned her to the stone. With the wind knocked out of her Sarah's scream was no more than a rough gasp as there was another sickening crack below, this time twice as heavy. Peering over the ledge, she just had time to see the Queen rolling off Keel's dead body before she was – and there was no other way to describe it – consumed.

Even stuffing her fingers into her ears didn't block the screams. Flesh was torn as easily as paper, bones crunched and squelched over the chanting of the goblins:

No no no, you don't touch the King Killer, not our King Killer, yum yum we have you now –

Tears streaming down her face, Sarah buried her cheek against the cold stone of the platform and wept. I'm so sorry Keel. I'm so sorry. It was her fault. If she hadn't tried to do the right thing…

"You seem to be one of a kind, Sarah Williams."

"So what," she sniffed, blinking away tears. "That just means I'm alone."

"It means you are unique. And possibly important enough to save us all, yourself included."

She realised who she was talking to. Sitting up, she found Brynn kneeling beside her with a strange expression. He must have been the one to stop her falling over the edge, yet his face betrayed a complicated mix of anger and curiosity. Sarah had no room left for fear. Not after everything that had happened. "Why did you save me?" she asked blankly. "Your Queen's dead because of me."

He seemed to struggle visibly for a moment. Where was the stoicism of earlier? "Yes, she is. And I would have let you fall, had I not thought it a pointless action."

"What do you mean?"

"There's something about you that the goblins are responding to. I don't think they'd have harmed you, had you fallen."

Sarah raised a sceptical brow, but at his expression she made herself look down – at the goblin eyes staring up, waiting, still uncertain. Staring at her. "Why me?"

"I've been wondering that same thing since you first came to the Domain." Brynn's thoughtful grey eyes looked around at the creatures below. His brow was crinkled with several unnameable emotions. "I'm a man of logic and practicality, yet all I can conclude is that it was in the Fates' Design for you to enter our world. You've always shown the potential to be something more than human, Miss Williams. And now, that's what you've become."

"How am I any more than what I am?" Sarah asked in confusion. "I'm sick of all this mystic crap. Explain to me why the hell those creatures are looking at me like I'm God."

"They were saying King Killer," Brynn muttered, almost more to himself than her. "Not King Kill Her." He turned back to Sarah. "But I am their King and you haven't killed me."

"And I don't plan on it," she replied wryly. "I have enough blood on my hands." Shuddering, she drew her arms around herself. The wind was starting to pick up.

"Talk to them," Brynn ordered suddenly, rising to his feet. "Ask them about Jareth El'Maven."

There was no point asking why. The Fae had an expression that said he expected to obeyed, after all the shit she'd put him through. Gathering herself, Sarah stood and faced the hordes again. Before she could stop herself she glanced at the spot where Mira and Keel had been. There was nothing but something dark staining the stones. Feeling sick she lifted her gaze. "Your previous King," she said in a loud voice. "Tell me about your previous King."

They blinked. Tails lashed and claws scraped together in anxiousness. There were no terrible voices.

"Jareth El'Maven!" Sarah shouted impatiently, tired beyond all reason. "Tell me what you remember about Jareth El'Maven!"

Punished he was punished and tricked and stolen – King Killer took his years left him no Light – sent to Other Place worse than dying yes better we did rip him up drip that blood –

"Enough!" she yelled, skin crawling at the sound of them. Silence fell once more. "Who's the King Killer?"

You Your Majesty King Killer you took his Light took his years left for dead better to –

She stopped listening. They'd just called her Majesty. Bewildered, she turned to Brynn, who seemed to have understood something.

"They think you destroyed Jareth," he revealed slowly. "The day of the ceremony. They think Jareth's transference was you –"

"What, sucking out his soul? Stealing all his powers?"

"To that effect, yes."

"So they think I'm head honcho now?"

"It explains why I haven't felt connected to them," Brynn muttered. Oddly enough, he didn't sound resentful. "I thought they were crying out for your blood, but they were resisting me because they want you as Goblin King."

"Queen," Sarah corrected vaguely. Wheels were spinning, ideas forming. "What exactly happened when Jareth…did whatever he did to me?"

"It's impossible to say," he answered. "Transference has never taken place between human and Fae before."

"Well what's the usual process?"

"You speak so casually about something you don't understand," he said testily. "Giving your years to another person is not a course of action taken on a whim. We aren't large in numbers. Deciding that the life of one person is more important than the greater purpose of our existence…" he shook his head as if in disbelief that such a decision could even be made. "It's a kind of devotion so uncommon in my world that the word transference fell out of public knowledge centuries ago."

Devotion. Sarah thought of Jareth, of him murmuring into her ear so fervently, holding her so carefully while she bled in his arms. The pain wasn't quite the only thing she could remember. His words had seemed so strong. "Jareth made that decision," she said. "What does that mean?"

"Between two Fae, it means the transferring of one's immortality to another. If I were to give my years to my brother, for example, I would sacrifice the longevity of my existence and bestow it upon him. I'd become mortal."

"What kind of thing would make you do that?"

"In truth? Nothing. My brother's an idiot. But for the sake of argument, if he were seriously injured without hope of recovery, I might see fit to prolong his life. He would gain my potential years, which is more than a few centuries."

Sarah felt sick. She examined her hands. Strange how it didn't feel like her whole existence had been tampered with. "So…I'm immortal now?"

The goblins began to stir restlessly. "They're growing impatient," Brynn muttered, watching them carefully. Then, to her: "Nobody knows what you are, Miss Williams. There's no precedent for you." He paused, eyes flashing. "Nor should there be."

Chittering broke out below them.

"Just wait, will you?!" Sarah shouted without thinking, and the creatures stilled again. "So you can't explain to me why I'm having weird flashbacks of what looks like bits of Jareth's future?"

"His future?" Brynn frowned. "What are you –?"

A voice interrupted him. At first Sarah thought it was the goblins, but Brynn's face had taken on that suddenly blank look that she knew well by now.

I wish the goblins would come and take you away right now!

That was not from her memory. That was a boy's voice, a young boy, with possibly a European accent. "Did you hear that?" she asked Brynn, who regarded her with surprise.

"Did you?" he asked in an oddly quiet voice.

"Yeah, it was sort of echoing and faded like background noise but –"

"And so it is, then." He looked –well – resigned.

"What?" Sarah demanded. "What now?"

"You've heard the wish, Sarah Williams. So as a responsible Goblin Queen, you must answer the call."

That information sunk like a brick, yet she refused to accept it. "I'm not the Goblin Queen."

Shrieks and clicks and sinuous bone-like voices filled the air: King Killer, King Killer, time to go, time to deliver, prizes and testing and flesh flesh flesh –

"Oh god." Now she really was going to be sick. Clutching her stomach, Sarah took a deep breath and met Brynn's annoyingly calm face with a pleading look. "I'm not their Queen!" she insisted. "I can't do this!"

"I would go but there's no point. They've chosen you, Miss Williams. Your Majesty. You have to answer the call."

"But –"

"If you won't accept it as your duty, then think of it as your penance."

"Penance for what?"

"For the murder of my Queen."

As ever, she couldn't resist the temptation to flare up like a trapped animal. "So that's how you're going to play it, huh? You act all cool like it doesn't bother you that you've been rejected, but somehow you're more than happy to throw me into the freaking deep end and watch me drown?"

"Don't presume to understand me, Sarah," Brynn bit out sharply. "I'm not petty. I'm curious to see how you'll handle the situation."

"Oh great, that's so much better," she growled. "Well tough luck. I'm not doing it."

I wish the goblins would come and take you away right now!

"Is that getting louder or is it just me?"

"It sounds quiet to me," the Fae answered, pointedly glancing down at the goblins below. They were practically stomping their feet with impatience. "You need to make a decision."

"I don't have any powers!" she protested. "How am I supposed to do whatever you guys do? I can't throw crystal balls around or walk upside down or –"

"That never seemed to stop you before."

I WISH THE GOBLINS WOULD COME AND –

"Fuck, this kid doesn't let up does he?" Sarah rubbed at her temples. "I don't want to play the bad guy!"

"Then don't. But you must play somehow."

He was loving this, she thought bitterly. It was the perfect way to get revenge, sending her off to fumble through a King's duties like a stupid novice. He probably hoped she'd die somehow in the process.

Play the game, the game the game, play with us King Killer –

"All right! Fine! I'll play the stupid game!" Sarah shouted, pulled apart by different streams of pressure: goblin demands and the wishes of a boy and the insistent look on Brynn's face. She'd run this fucking Labyrinth into the ground. "But I'm changing the rules."


It felt as if he'd been away on some awful holiday.

Only he had no memory of being away and felt, instead of well-rested, like he'd been thrown against a brick wall a few times and told to run laps. More than that, Wick – as well as the others – were sick with worry. If he'd been unSevered then that meant the Queen was dead. If the Queen was dead, why hadn't Sarah called for him like they'd planned? She was meant to call as soon as it happened because the disguises would fail and she'd be found out. He was meant to go and take her back to the Above, where she was safe from the fallout. But they hadn't heard so much as a whisper for help and they were starting to fret. Wick himself was thinking fondly of Sarah's irritating mantras of old and wished she would start one up that very minute. He'd give anything to be annoyed by her again.

It didn't help that he was settling into emotions. They were jagged at the edges inside him, whirling and falling like leaves caught in the wind. It was like trying to fit into an old uniform that had shrunk. One feeling in particular was gnawing at him even more than worry, yet he couldn't quite name it. A cloud blocking out the sun, that's what it felt like. A shadow passing over both of his souls. When he took a moment to concentrate on the feeling, the goblins were startled to find tears well in his eyes.

"I cannot bear this a moment longer," said Didymus as he paced the length of the room in anxious bursts of energy. "Why hast the Lady not entreated us to intervene?"

"Cos she ain't gonna entreat nobody," Hoggle said grumpily. Nervousness tended to show as aggression with the dwarf-goblin. "Yer know full bloody well she weren't never gonna risk callin' us to the Palace." He sniffed. "She's too good for her own good, that one."

"It's not right," Wick said, jumping to his feet again. It was impossible to settle in one place. "We shouldn't be waiting around; we should be –"

"My thoughts exactly good Sir! Let us ride into battle and storm the Palace gates at once!"

"We ain't stormin' nothin'!" Hoggle shouted, his gravelly voice a strange contrast to the high squeak of Didymus. "If we go chargin' in there without knowin' what's what, we could do more than good!"

"I suspect you are simply frightened, Sir Hoggle," Didymus replied in an uncommonly irritated voice. "But it does not do a creature's honour any favours to hide in bedrooms when there are maidens in distress."

"If we went anywhere for Sarah, Hoggle'd be first in line, yer tiny rat," the dwarf-goblin seethed indignantly. "But if we go runnin' in there and she's fine, we might be the ones to reveal her to the Fae folk. An' then her blood is on our hands, an' I ain't havin' that."

"He's right," Wick said, flicking through a book he'd found on the bed. It was wonderfully old and well-read, and filled him with pangs of longing for his friend. "Which is why I should go in. Alone."

"Yer what?"

"Good Sir!"

"Elf save Sawah?"

"Yes Ludo," Wick replied with a nervous smile. "I'm going to see if she's all right."

"Not on yer own, yer ain't," said Hoggle, moving as if to block Wick's access to the vanity mirror. "We wait for the call, like yer fiery cousin said so, or we go together."

"You just said it yourself that we can't all go running through the Palace!" Wick lay the book down carefully on the bed and faced them all determinedly. "I'm the only one who knows my way around and who can hear Sarah if she calls me. Brave as you all are this isn't about courage. This is about stealth and precaution, and to be honest –" he spread his hands before him, encompassing them all, "Not one of you is the least bit inconspicuous."

Ludo, who was kind and never took offence, said nothing in protest. Didymus opened his mouth to say something, seemed to register his own manic nervous energy and full-body quivering, and closed it again. Hoggle was quite used to admitting his flaws and didn't bat an eye.

Instead, they threatened him.

"If yer get her into trouble, yer gonna wish you'd been Severed all over again," Hoggle grumbled.

"If my Lady comes to any harm while in your care, Sir Wick, I shall be most unhappy about having to berate you rather nastily."

"Wick be careful," Ludo stressed, shifting onto his enormous feet.

"Duly noted," the Elf said with a respectful flick of his hand at them. Before they could change their minds he leapt into action, climbing up onto the vanity desk and peering into the mirror. "Give me an hour. If I'm not back, feel free to come searching for me. If only just so you can carry out your threats."

He stepped through without hearing their replies.

The Palace was in pandemonium. Elves rushed by with determined faces, eager to serve, to search and carry messages back and forth. Fae royals stalked the halls with broad steps, talking in hurried whispers amongst one another. He spotted one or two Council members and ducked his head, catching snippets of conversation as they raced by.

"– could she have gone? You know, her son has been banished Above, perhaps she changed her…?"

"I don't believe it possible that she's left the Palace, she was in so much…"

So they'd noticed the Queen was missing, then. It made his job a little easier in one respect, able to rush through the halls as if he'd been sent on a job. On the other hand, it meant that if Sarah was anywhere in the Palace she'd be hiding fairly well.

A shadow appeared over his shoulder and a hand settled on it.

"I need assistance, Elf," said a sharp-faced Fae with crimson markings and long dark hair. His appearance seemed vaguely familiar to Wick, who carefully smoothed his face into one of blank subservience. The Fae drew him into a corner and lowered his voice, though it remained authoritative and direct. "You will go the Dust Bowl. You will seek out Lina El'Maven, heir to the Domain Throne, and inform her she's to return to the Palace with you. Tell her to wait in the Council Chambers until Brynn Fel Vaden contacts her. Have you got that?"

How was he supposed to ignore a demand like that? He didn't have time for this! Sarah could be found by the wrong person any second! "Sir, I apologise, but I am laden with the duties of another noble –"

"Not anymore," Fel Vaden cut in sharply. "The Goblin King overrides the commands of any other in the Palace." He seemed to pause awkwardly at that, as if making sure no others had heard. Then he conjured a mirror for Wick to step into. "Now go. Immediately."

With the Fae watching, Wick had no choice. Squirming with unease, he tried to keep a neutral expression as he walked forward through the gateway, into the arid waste of the Dust Bowl.


Luka meant things when he said them.

He was a careful boy, a precise and measured speaker. You had to be when you barely got a word in edgewise between your three sisters. When people finally listened, you had to be ready. You couldn't waste a single word. He was smart – smarter than his sisters and most of his classmates, which was where the trouble came in. Eleven year olds didn't seem to like a boy who could read faster, spell better, answer questions more quickly. Their way of dealing with him was to push him to the side.

The girl guiltiest of this was Eva Neese, the one Luka had wished away.

She was a bully. She kicked and punched and stole his backpack and crammed him into the garbage bins once a week. She made his life unbearable, which was why he'd wished her away, but that didn't mean he wasn't afraid.

In fact, sitting alone on the park bench, he was terrified.

Wind battered the trees around him and hissed like snakes through the overgrown grass. Thick clouds dark as a stormy night rolled in and blocked out the sun. Luka huddled into his school jacket and trembled as eyes appeared in the bushes surrounding him. The park wasn't empty but other kids had fled as soon as that awful lightning stuck three times across the sky. Now it was just Luka and his careful words and the goblins. He thought they were saying things. Scary things. Nasty things.

"Don't be scared," came a gentle voice, yet Luka jumped out of his skin.

There was a woman sitting next to him who hadn't been there before. She had red-rimmed eyes and a slightly sniffy nose but an encouraging smile. Crawling to the end of the bench he pushed back his lanky fringe and stared wide eyed at her. He glanced suspiciously at the faded black shorts and well-worn navy top, chunky shoes: not the kind of thing you'd wear for the start of winter in Hamburg.

"You weren't there before," he sniffed.

"Nope," she answered distantly. Her accent reminded him on the people on television. The sky seemed to flicker with lightning in time to her measured blinks up at it. "Looks like a big storm coming. Shouldn't you head home?"

"I'm waiting," he answered, wrapping his arms around shaking knees. "I've made a wish. Now I have to wait."

"For the Goblin King?"

He narrowed his eyes at her, untrusting. "How did you know?"

Casually the woman flicked her dark hair away from where it hung down her shoulder. Beneath it, hanging on a cord around her neck, was a polished silver pendant with a gold circle in the middle. It was just as they described it in the book. Suspicious eyes grew wide in awe and surprise.

"You're the Goblin King?"

"No," she answered firmly, following through with a complicated series of shrugs and eye rolls. "Well, yes. Well, the Queen, actually. Apparently." There was a definite look of unhappiness on her face at that.

Luka examined her clothes again, the chipped fingernails and worried, normal-looking eyes. "You don't look like it."

"It's only my first day. And hopefully my last too."

Luka took a breath, unsure of what to say to that. He clenched his little fists and licked his lips nervously. "So have you taken Eva Neese for me?"

The Goblin Queen stared beyond him at the eyes and snouts and teeth glistening in the bushes, just out of sight. Following her gaze Luka found himself inching closer to her, where it felt safer.

"I suppose they have," she said, clearly annoyed by the thought. She leant back against the bench and studied him. "Why did you wish her away?"

"She bullies me," he told her plainly. "I don't want her to bully me anymore."

"So you want me to turn her into a goblin? Seems a bit harsh, don't you think?"

"I don't think so," Luka replied stubbornly. "It's no worse than what she's done to me all year."

The monsters around them started to chitter and growl impatiently and they both jumped.

"You're their boss," Luka reminded her quietly.

"Right. I am," she replied with a tight smile. Then in a louder voice, directed at the bushes: "Shut it! You will sit there and wait until your Queen is good and ready!"

The noises died down. The Goblin Queen nodded self-satisfactorily. "Still can't believe they're listening to me," she murmured. "Look kid, I've got a brother about your age." There was a pause in her train of thought, a frown and a crinkling of her eyes. "Well, I used to." She cleared her throat. "So I know you boys say things all the time that you don't really mean."

"But I did mean it."

"Uh-huh. The problem is, what's said is said, as a friend of mine would say. I can't do anything about that."

"I don't want you to do anything," Luka grumbled. "She's gone and that's it."

"But you don't understand what you've done. Not really." She leaned in, as if to whisper, and Luka found himself stretching forward to catch the words. "See, the way it used to go when I was younger, was that you either took your dreams from the old Goblin King and let the person go to the goblins, or you ran his Labyrinth and won the person back. But these days it's different. One: I can't give you any dreams, and two: you don't want to run the maze. Trust me. It's full of really scary stuff. Like, adult scary. Stuff that would make Batman curl up and cry."

"I don't want dreams and I don't want to run the maze," Luka told her fervently. "You can just have her."

The Goblin Queen wasn't what he'd been expecting. Where he thought she'd be frightening and tough, she was gentle and soft. He'd imagined cold eyes and a big cape and lots of spikes – but she looked like any other grown-up. And what was more, she looked sad. "What's your name?" she asked him.

He told her.

"Well, Luka, I need you to understand something. It's not nice, what I have to say, but you need to know so that you can do the right thing. Okay?"

It wasn't every day that grown-ups spoke to him that way. Usually they were just glad when he picked up a book and stopped pestering them with facts about the world. He found himself nodding quite seriously, eager to hear what strange information she wanted to share with him.

"You know how I said that things have changed for you, with the dreams and the maze? Well, they've changed for the person you wished away too. See, my goblins aren't very nice. They used to be smaller, and a bit silly and annoying and mean when they got carried away. But now…" she lowered her voice, so that he had to strain to hear. "There's only really mean ones left. Goblins that will hurt poor Eva. And there's not much I can do to stop them."

The way she said hurt made his skin crawl. But that was what Eva had done to him, hadn't it? Hurt him? Was it the same thing?

"But I can tell you're a smart kid, Luka. You're a good kid. And I bet you didn't know that would happen to Eva when you wished her away."

He shook his head, unable to speak.

"And I know it's hard to think about, but don't you think Eva's parents would be really sad without their daughter? Imagine if you disappeared. Wouldn't your mum and dad be upset?"

"Yes," Luka said quietly.

"Whatever she's done isn't worth being hurt by goblins, is it? You could just talk to her. Hey, I could have a chat with her, if you like, about all this bullying stuff."

Luka thought about this. It took him a little while but the Queen didn't seem to mind. The wind softened around them, waiting, and she yelled at the monsters again when they became impatient. All in all, Luka mostly wanted to scare Eva. She was a vicious, nasty girl with something against him, and he thought that short of sending her away forever, a good fright would be enough. Sneaking glances at the goblins, he imagined how scared she must be now. He was only sitting on a bench near them and his knees were shaking; what would he do if he was surrounded by them in the Underground?

"What do you think?" the Goblin Queen asked him quietly.

"I think she's probably been scared enough now," he answered. "And I don't think I'd want to stay Underground forever, if I was her."

Her face broke out in a proud smile; she patted him on the shoulder. "Good thinking! I agree! So let's do something about it!"

The bushes rustled dangerously. "What do we do?" Luka asked nervously.

"To be honest? I have no idea. But!" she exclaimed at his frantic look, "I do know I have to play fair for my side so these guys in the shadows don't feel cheated."

"But you're the Queen. Can't you do whatever you want?"

"Not really. It's a two-way street with the hordes, I'm learning. It's more about respect than control."

"What kind of Kingdom is that?"

She was getting to her feet and climbing up onto the bench, standing tall with hands on her hips. "A pretty decent one, actually. If I can just tweak a few things." Luka winced as she raised her voice suddenly. "Listen up everyone! We need to work on a few things! I'm changing the way we all play this game, have you got that?"

The bushes rustled really dangerously. Cries like teeth scraping bone filled the air.

No new game no new game King Killer play the same play the same –

The voices made his skin crawl. Luka found himself suddenly backed right up against the Goblin Queen's legs in an effort to seek reassurance that he wouldn't be ripped to shreds. They sounded so angry.

"Who is your Queen?!" she roared in a fairly impressive tone, quieting the creatures into a dull murmur, if not total silence. "Don't forget what I did to Jareth El'Maven! I can do that to any one of you without batting an eye!"

The bushes sulked.

"That's better! Now listen. I've seen the way this whole Goblin-Labyrinth-Ruler thing works and I'm changing it. And do you know who I'm changing it for? You. I'm going to help you." She patted the top of Luka's head without taking her eyes off the creatures emerging from the shadows. Long noses, hooked beaks, horns, spikes, things with split tongues and red eyes came crawling and slithering and shuffling out of their hiding places. Luka wanted to scream but he thought hard about it and decided it wouldn't be a good idea. Besides, they seemed to be listening very carefully to what the Queen had to say. "I want to give you your freedom back, but I need to be able to trust you with it."

Trust trust yes let us climb the Walls tear down the Walls so much space to move and –

"No," she cut in firmly. "You're not tearing down anything. That City is still part of your home, and it's a good place to keep anyone who doesn't follow my rules!"

Rules! Rules! No new rules!

"Will you hear me out first?" she growled. The mob of terrifying beasts laid their ears flat and swished their tails in silence. "Thankyou. I know you're all frustrated. I know you're sick of being cooped up in the City. What did you have before everything with the King happened? You had the Castle! And you had access to the Labyrinth! Well, I'll grant you these things again, the freedom to come and go –" she had to raise her voice over the sudden din – "If you obey my rules! The rules I'm putting in place to protect you!"

Need no protection no protection goblins fight goblins eat goblins kill –

"Oh really?" she asked with a raised brow. "So the whole thing about me sucking out the King's soul and immortality and casting him away into oblivion…that doesn't worry you? Because you know I'm human, right? As human as all those people you've been feasting on for months?"

This didn't seem like a good thing to point out to them, Luka thought. Wouldn't they just see that the Queen was as weak as any other person?

Humans have no Light no magic no strength, Kill Killer different, King Killer has Light –

"I didn't when I first came here two years ago and changed your King's life," she replied casually. "I didn't have any Light or magic when I got inside his head and manipulated him into ignoring all your traditions." An idea seemed to come from nowhere and she hurriedly plucked at the pendant around her neck, holding it up for the blinking creatures to see. "This was his, do you remember? And now it's mine. I don't need magic or spells or voodoo to change a mind, or a world, or a goblin game. Humans are capable of incredible power and strength. And every time you've killed one of them they've marked it down and remembered it." She swished her hair back dramatically, pendant gleaming in a sudden ray of light through the clouds. "I'm just one human and I've turned your whole Domain on its head. Imagine what thousands of them could do in revenge?"

The goblins thought about this. They took their time, just the way Luka did. Looks were shared among the creatures as if they were having a silent talk with each other. He glanced up at the Queen and was amazed at how confident she looked, though he could feel her legs trembling against his back and see her hands shaking. The bone-like voices spoke up again, more quietly.

What new rules?

"You aren't allowed to lay a single claw on anything but your own kind. No Fae, no humans, no half-goblins, no fairies or dwarves. If I hear about you even looking at any of them sideways, the Fates help you. I will not be happy."

The goblins didn't look very happy about this either.

The Queen noticed this and continued on. "Do you know where humans come from originally? From the place I sent Jareth to. It's a reality far more dangerous than the one we stand in now. There are creatures there that would eat you in one bite, or not even notice that they had stepped on you with their huge feet. They would do to you what you do to humans. But – and this is where I'm respecting you guys – I won't send you there if you just follow my rules. Got that? I…"

What on Earth could possess a Goblin Queen so quickly?

That's what it had to be, Luka reasoned, certain that some demon had just taken over her mind. The woman trailed off mid-sentence and her face fell slack, eyes staring off into the distance. She didn't seem to feel it when he tugged at her shorts, or murmured worriedly if she was all right. It was a daydreaming sort of expression, he thought, one that she didn't seem to be able to snap out of. Luka stood on the bench in front of the Queen and waved his hands in front of her face to no response.

At least, not from the Queen. Behind him came a soft chorus of sharp breaths. Luka broke out in a cold sweat, filled with the urge to scream more than he ever had in his life. He would gladly face Eva Neese on her most awful day rather than turn around at that moment. But he had to, just had to, and found himself facing a pack of goblins no longer interested in their Queen.

And for once, though he thought about it hard, Luka had absolutely nothing to say.