Here it is, the final chapter. Hope you have enjoyed my story, and thank you again for all your reviews and 'likes'. If you have the time to write a few lines, I would appreciate any final comments to the story as a whole in order to write even better in my next story :-) The only thing I will not change is the frequent use of cliff-hangers - I just looove cliffies ;-)

I do have a sequel in mind with a finished story line and the working title "An Unexpected Heir", but don't stay up to wait for it - I will not publish a single line, before I've written at least 2/3 of it, so I know that I will be able to complete it. And since it'll be another +50K word story, it'll probably be at least a few months before you hear from me again...

Bye for now

Alyssa

Two years later…

"What a day!" Jareth, King of the Goblins and very tired husband fell back on the bed and closed his eyes. Sarah removed her cape and sat next to him, admiring the way his fancy new outfit in dark red velvet emphasized his slim hips and broad chest. The shirt had long white sleeves with golden trimming and was wide open in front to emphasize the King's Pendant, and he had made a few bright golden highlights in his white hair to match.

"You did great," Sarah smiled and let a hand rest on his thigh. "You looked very regal!"

He stretched and drew her down next to him. "Do you like that?" he asked in a suggestive voice, and she laughed and gave him a quick kiss.

"Yes… Your Majesty. Very much."

They had just returned from the throne room where Jareth had held his very first official court session.

It had all started a few months after their wedding, where Hoggle had approached them with a suggestion of building a new house in the Goblin City. After the marriage, he had stayed less and less at the castle, and when she pressed him, he had admitted that the main reason for his constant presence before was in order to watch over her and protect her from Jareth, should she need it. But even he could see that the royal couple were very happy together, so instead he had taken up residence in a borrowed house in the city close to the Castle, where she visited him often.

This new house, he had explained, would be bigger than all the others in the village, with large doors and a high ceiling, because it would not only be for him, but used as a gathering place for guardians. He had shyly shown them a big sign he had made; it was brightly painted and in the shape of a teapot clearly proclaiming: "Hoggle's residence and tea house – all Guardians welcome". Jareth had had such a fit of laughter that Sarah had thrown him out of the room, but she herself was intrigued and knew exactly what Hoggle was trying to do. It was one of the ideas that they had shared in the beginning in order to break Jareth's isolation and extend the circle of friendly faces around them and have more Guardians in the city.

The house was built and the sign hung in front of it - Sarah had questioned the need for it to begin with, as she didn't really expect many of the guardians to be literate, but it had turned out that a surprisingly large number of them actually were – perhaps an ability they had carried over from their human days. Inside the building, a large kitchen was connected to a sitting room with benches in various sizes, and soon after, no matter when Sarah would stop by, one or more creatures from the Labyrinth would be there, quietly talking with Hoggle or each other, or simply resting and enjoying some of Hoggle's tea or cakes. It wasn't as such an inn or restaurant, as he never charged them anything – it had just become the place for guardians to stop by whenever they were in the area in order to hear news from the kingdom and possible meet Queen Sarah. She actively stopped by several times a week, as she was happy to meet them as well and hear tales from the Labyrinth, and the stream of visitors had slowly grown, as the rumour of the King's bride and Hoggle's hospitality spread across the Labyrinth. Sarah made sure he received adequate supplies to be able to serve everyone, and she and Hoggle were planning to eventually expand the house to include guest rooms and perhaps a small library and scribe room, where the tales could be written down and preserved for the future.

As an unexpected side-effect, some of the visitors dared to venture to the Castle to ask the Goblin King for favours and advice, and since this had never happened before, he had been at a loss for what to do with them. In the beginning, he had seen them individually and whenever they stopped by, but this had disrupted his day and made him tense, so after discussing for days, they had ended up deciding to schedule regular court sessions instead. He had made a few permanent changes to the throne room to make it look more imposing (and tidy), but also more accessible, and Sarah had talked to Hoggle and put up a sign at his place to make sure it was widely known.

Today had been the very first session, and it had actually gone very well, much better than they had feared. Both he and Sarah had been present in the throne room and received the visitors one by one, and the goblins had behaved and not made too much noise.

"You'll be busy tomorrow," Sarah commented and drew out the list she had made. "You have to visit the raft-maze, the old forest, the lakes and the cliff-maze in order to fix all of the things they presented before you today."

Jareth smiled and stroked her hair in a distracting manner. "I like being busy. Will you come with me?"

"Of course," she nodded. "Always."

"Sarah, what would I do without you?" His tone was suddenly serious. "Just look at the changes you've made. They actually talked to me today, shared their concerns with me and trusted me to do something about it. It's not just "Yes, Your Majesty" and "No, Your Majesty" anymore."

"And you're not bored anymore," Sarah added, remembering his frustrations when she came.

He shook his head. "Not only that, but everyone around seems happier."

"I think you have just become not only the King of the Goblins, Jareth, you have become King of the Labyrinth."

"I like that," he mused and took the list out of her hand, throwing it carelessly on the floor and pinned her under him. "Do you know when I became that, then?"

She loved the feeling of his weight on her and made no effort to get away; there was nowhere else she would rather be than right here, encompassed by him and feeling safe, warm and loved.

"I became that," he continued without waiting for her answer, "when I married the Queen of the Labyrinth."

"Then king and queen it is," she smiled and reached up to stroke his eyebrows and temples like she knew he liked. "But I don't really care – as long as you are happy."

"Happy ever after," he joked and leaned down to kiss her. "Let me show you how happy I am."

And as twilight approaching slowly darkened the room, he proceeded to do just that.