Thanks for all the reviews :)

HAL: Ouch, you're right, that does sound like Lestat, though it must be 15 years since I read the books. Amazing the sentences that just stick in your mind...

Nekochan: Nope, his age is never mentioned in the movie. The 1.300 years are from the later manga cartoon, which of course isn't the real Labyrinth, since it contains no trace of Henson or Bowie...

Kaytori: Whaddayu mean 'poor state'? :) The fire was lit and the bed was made since the last time anyone slept in it, nothing was broken, there were no mess from the goblins in the corners... What poor state? :D And, as you will see in this chapter, his plans does not include her staying in that room anyway...

Sarah held her breath and waited, but he just stood there, smiling cruelly. Her brain processed all the information in the story he had just told, and then she drew the conclusion.

"I'm going to be transformed, when I've been here for 13 hours," she whispered, not quite believing it. "Will you offer to let me go before then? Can you cure my intolerance, so I can eat mortal food again?"

"No, Sarah, I'm afraid even I cannot do that. If I send you back, you will starve to death. But if you want me to, I can help you to keep your memories and not become a Guardian – but instead become… like me."

His voice was confident and smug and he certainly didn't sound like he lamented not being able to send her back. But what did he mean – become like him? She couldn't say a word, but just looked at him and waited.

"It is very simple," he continued and two crystal balls appeared out of thin air, on in each of his hands. He held up the one in his left hand and it shimmered and glowed. "Either I stand back and let the transformation happen as always and then you become a random creature in my Labyrinth forgetting all about being Sarah…" He threw the ball to the ground with a casual flip of his wrist, and it exploded in mists that swirled and showed a multitude of creatures – dwarves, birds, a mermaid, a fiery and others she couldn't identify, before the smoke evaporated.

"Or…" he held up the other ball, "I grant you the use of the necklace I wore, so the fall instead gives you longevity and magic, so you become like me, remembering everything. And you will stay here at the Castle with me forever as my consort." He threw the other ball, and from the mists rose an image of a slender young woman with shimmering hair and a small crown, suddenly turning into an owl and disappearing.

"Your consort?" Sarah recoiled and stared at him in disbelief. "You want to... marry me? Why would you do that?"

He narrowed his eyes and smiled bleakly. "Sarah, 357 years is a very long time to have only goblins for company. They are not very good conversationalists, and to be frank, I'm bored out of my mind. You have intrigued me from the moment I met you and I think you should be able to handle the Labyrinth well. There are so very few that are able to defeat the Labyrinth, you know – it's been more than four decades since the last one before you."

His eyes became darker and glittered dangerously, as he gestured with his whip to a silver clock that suddenly materialized out of nowhere. The clock's hands showed the time to be close to 10 o'clock. "There is not much time left, as you can see. 3 hours, Sarah, before the Labyrinth claims you, so you have to think fast. And I must have at least an hour to prepare the ritual before."

Sarah wanted to ask a million questions, but she couldn't utter a word, she just looked at the ground before her, where the crystal shards glittered in the dim light, and she felt as shattered as them. After watching her a moment, the Goblin King clapped his hands sharply, and immediately at door to the throne room opened. Sarah turned and watched as a female goblin in black robes and a black cape quickly entered.

"Your Majesty called?"

"Lunch. Now!" The goblin bowed and scurried out of the room again, and it took only a few seconds, before they came hurrying back together with more goblins carrying a table and a chair. They placed the table, so the king's throne would serve as the second chair, and then started setting everything up.

Sarah looked on, feeling numb and overwhelmed. She had imagined many things she might be asked to do in the Underground and even the possibility of not being allowed to stay in the Labyrinth, but becoming a magical creature and married to the Goblin King had been very low on her list of likely situations. So those were her choices – married to him or being turned into something unknown and losing her identity? The more she thought about it, she realised that there was actually very little to consider – how could she ever consent to losing her identity and being turned into some creature? A mermaid might be nice, but what if she became a worm or a goblin or a bag lady, like the ones she had met – living from day to day and being ruled by Jareth, never knowing anything else and forgetting all about Toby and defeating the Labyrinth? No, she couldn't do that. But marriage?

"Jareth", she attempted, trying to buy time, "why a marriage? Isn't that kind of pointless – we are, or will be, the only two people here, so who would marry us or witness it? I can keep you company if you like, but I'm not ready for marriage. Please, I'm only 18."

He raised an eyebrow. "Sarah, in my days, that was a perfectly normal age to get married. I was raised in a very religious home with a parson for a father. I might be hundreds of years away from that childhood, but I could never have you living here as my partner and share my quarters without offering you marriage – even if we have to make do with an improvised ritual."

"So I was right earlier," she said weakly, "you are just looking for someone to warm your bed!"

He took two fast strides towards her and cornered her against the wall, and his nearness forced her to look up at him as he towered dangerously over her. His lazy smile returned, as he lifted a hand and slowly set the whip against her thigh and let it travel caressingly up her body, grazing her entire left side and finally settling against her chin. Sarah flushed and pressed herself closer to the wall, but held his gaze with her last ounce of defiance.

"Sarah, don't be crude," he said softly. "It's not like that, I'm just predicting the inevitable. I'm being generous with you, am I not? I'm giving you a choice!"

"Some choice!" she replied and shook her head, "your bed or forgetting who I am! You know I can't choose to forget."

"I was hoping you would say that – it would be a shame to forget, wouldn't it? I need you, Sarah, and my previous offer still stands…" The whip slipped behind her ear and neck, tickling uncomfortably and unsettling. "Fear me, love me, do as I say…"

She reached up and slapped it away, but that just made him smile wider and take another step closer to her, so they were almost touching. She could feel the heat of his body against hers, and the sudden realization of how tall and overpowering he was made her shiver in fear, just as he apparently craved. Very deliberately, he cupped her chin with the other hand and then leaned down so she could feel his warm breath on her lips. She squeezed her eyes together, waiting for the inevitable kiss, but instead she felt him trace her chin and jaw line with his breath, and she stood perfectly still, not daring to move in order not to provoke him.

"…and you will be my slave," she had to whisper, finishing the quote. "But it is not generous, Jareth. You were never generous – you just played by your own rules."

"Well…," he replied curtly and she felt a hand grip her hair and pull slightly on it to tip her head up. "My kingdom – my rules."

And then his lips found hers.