His hot breath on her cheek made her jump, and half scared, half relieved that he had come, Sarah turned to face the Goblin King. He was dressed completely in black leather, just like last time, and looked just as she remembered. Tall, haughty with white blond unruly hair and mismatched eyes, that met hers in an amused glance. But his presence in her room was overwhelming and she realized she had forgotten how intimidating he could really be.
"I can't believe it," the Goblin King continued smugly and walked around her, letting his eyes glide up and down her body. "What has it been – two years? Three years? Did you finally miss me so much, you had to see me again?"
"I think you know why I called you, don't you?" Sarah tried to keep her voice steady. "Why did you arrest him?"
"Arrest who?" Jareth's voice was calm and even. "Oh, your little friend, Higgle?"
"It's HOGGLE," she spat and felt her anger return. "He hadn't done anything, you know that!"
"I tend to disagree," he replied and frowned at her. "You don't look well, Sarah. I know mortal women fancy being thin, but this is definitely too much, what have you done to yourself?"
Sarah looked at him in disbelief. "What have I done? You mean, what have YOU done? You know why you gave me that peach!"
He nodded, conjuring a crystal, which he placed in the air, leaving it hanging without any visible means of support, and inside it, she could see a ballroom and dancers.
"Yes, the peach let you surrender to your dreams. You chose to shatter those dreams. That's all there was to it – why do you bring that up now? Did you regret it and starved yourself while longing after me?" he mocked with a grin, and Sarah realised with a sinking feeling that he might not even have known what he had done to her – how he had ruined her life afterwards. She looked away from the crystal and met his gaze, willing herself to remain calm.
"I am a mortal and I ate fairy food. You gave me fairy food." Only one other person knew her story and it was almost a relief to be able to put it into words again. "I can no longer eat the food of this world, only food from the Underground."
The Goblin King was silent for a moment, and then he raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "Are you telling me, you haven't eaten in three years, Sarah? Even I know that is not possible for humans!"
She sighed impatiently. "No, of course I've eaten. For the last three years, Hoggle… remember? …have smuggled food up from the Underground for me. I have been eating in secret in my room, all kinds of fairy food, sometimes getting enough, other times having to stretch the supply for days, when you sent him away on errands. But since my return from the Underground, that is all I have been able to eat."
She thought back to the very first morning after the journey to the Underground. She had tried to get breakfast from the fridge, but everything tasted spoiled and horrible, even though it looked good. The only thing she could keep down was plain tap water, everything with the least bit of flavour was sickening. She had gone to school, deciding to eat there instead, but it was the same – even food that her class mates ate with pleasure, tasted foul and she had been really confused and worried. Her stepmother had been furious with her at dinner for wasting good food – they had ordered pizzas, and even that favourite food had smelled and tasted all wrong, so Sarah had not been able to eat anything, although she was absolutely famished by then.
The second day went the same, and by night she was so faint she almost couldn't get up the stairs to her bedroom. She had called for Hoggle via the mirror and he had come instantly, very worried at her pale drawn face and dull eyes. She explained the situation, and though neither of them thought it would help, he pulled out an apple from his backpack and offered it to her. Never had anything tasted so good, and she had eaten even the core just to get something in her stomach. Hoggle had gone back for more, and after she had finally finished eating, they had discussed the situation in earnest, Sarah resting on her bed and Hoggle on the floor beside her. They came to the only conclusion they could, drawing on old folklore and mythology: Having eaten in the Underground, even a single bite, Sarah belonged to the Underground and could not return in full.
For three years now, she had tried at least once a week to eat human food, but to no avail. Only the things Hoggle brought her from below did her system tolerate, and even though he came as often as he could, the food from the underground spoiled very quickly in the Above and except for a few things like fruit could not be stored, so Sarah had had very little to eat in that time. She had lost a lot of weight, even so much that people had frowned upon it and commented on whether she was anorectic, but by bringing Underground food down from her room and eating in front of other people, she managed to avoid her father's suggestion of going to a doctor. Her biggest nightmare was that Toby would find her stock and eat something, so he got inflicted, too, so she kept it in the backpack on her top shelf, well hidden away from being detected by anyone.
"But now Hoggle is arrested," she continued and gestured towards the broken vanity table. "Not only is he innocent, but unless you release him, I will starve to death. That is why I called you, Jareth."
The Goblin King stood quite still, contemplating the situation, while he took back the crystal from the air and twirled it between his fingers. His expression was unreadable, and Sarah wondered what he was thinking and what he would do.
"I didn't know," he said finally, his voice carefully neutral. "When I gave you the peach… I didn't know this would happen. So now the dwarf can help you no longer, and it looks like even what he did was not enough. You are really thin – he can't have fed you enough anyway."
"Yes," Sarah said, equally calm, desperately trying to hide from him how nervous and afraid she was. What if he wouldn't release Hoggle? "I… please help me, Jareth. You are my last resort, my only hope."
"I think," he said after a pause, "that you have finally managed to render me speechless, my dear Sarah. I shall have to think about this and what we can do, but this is neither the time nor the place to discuss it. You wished yourself away to me, and I will be generous and take you. Come." He smirked and held out a gloved hand towards her.
"But… can't you just release Hoggle?" Sarah stammered and took a step back. "We can go on as before – he will bring me food…"
"Sarah, what is said is said – you know that," he scolded her gently, "and you said the words. Even though you just meant to call me here to save Hoggle, you belong to me now."
Sarah paled and took another step backwards, but at the same time she knew he was right. And she had used those words, because she had wanted to be sure he would come. So trembling, she took a deep breath and nodded. He crossed the distance between them and placed his hand on her shoulder and then her room disappeared and she knew they were going back – back to the Underground.