A/N: Wow.

That's my response to all you guys who reviewed. Just...wow. I am so extremely encouraged, humbled, and excited by the response left by all you amazing people! Truly. It makes me want to finish strong on this story so you can all thoroughly enjoy it in its entirety. If you guys as readers aren't enjoying it, then why would I share it? So I'm so excited that you lovely folks are on board ;)

Yep. That's all I have to say. Oh...and this has some, um, lovely parts that we all look forward to...heh. From this point on, the story will have a lot of creative license by me because it's going to grow and move away from the smaller realm of the movie. In an exciting way of course!

Thanks to all who reviewed:, mearra, TheWordMasterOfFiction, CompleteBookworm 2, Kaytori, SpyGirl1969, Elisabeth Sinclaire, The Queen of Water, DreamTea, and Guest (:D).

Chapter Twelve: I'll Place the Sky Within Your Eyes

...

...

A few days after Mary and Sarah's conversation, a strange thing happened.

As if he could sense Sarah's change of heart—which she suspected was possible—the Goblin King sought her first before she could find him.

She had begun wearing the dresses hung in her armoire more than the jeans the longer she stayed. At first she'd avoided them out of stubbornness and suspicion, but eventually she looked at them with longing and felt the fine fabric between her fingertips. It would be a shame to leave them unworn, of course. The one she pulled out that day was a pale coral with cream and gold flowers embroidered along the neckline, the sleeves, and the hem. A golden girdle wrapped around the waist. When she had it on and it fit her slender frame perfectly, she turned around in the mirror and sighed. She was trying not to get caught up in gifts and being treated like a princess, but it was very difficult when everything was what she'd always wanted.

In fact, the gowns and casual dresses were so fine that it was surprising there wasn't a casket of jewels too. She wouldn't have worn them though, and maybe that's why the king decided to tamper the lavish gifts down at least a little. That in itself was slightly surprising after the seduction he'd tried to pull in the dream masquerade with all the fancy gowns, jewels, crystal chandeliers, and offers of anything she ever wanted.

Just let me rule you, and you can have everything that you want.

"Oh no!" she gasped as she looked in the mirror. "I've given him power over me again by asking for something! What have I done?" Her fingers touched the smooth fabric formed to her figure till her lower waist even as the constant internal struggle within her began afresh. It'd been calm for so long.

She collapsed on the stool sitting at the vanity and rested her head in her hands. "Oh, what to do?"

The door opened in its casual manner. Her head jerked up. Only two people walked into her room without asking permission, but she settled when she rationed that it must be Mary to actually use the door.

"Mary, I'm glad you're here. There's something I wanted to—" Her lips pressed together when the Goblin King stepped inside instead of the wiry old maid.

"Well, I'm certainly not Mary," he said with that infernal curl to his lips as though so much of what she did or said amused him. Or as if he knew so much more that was going on. "But hopefully that isn't too much of a disappointment."

"I'm not sure," she murmured. She boldly searched his face for a long space of silence that he was content to maintain. The defined features that once had beguiled her still held the same powerful draw.

"Come with me," he said.

It broke the stillness that had entwined around them until the rest of the world fell away, as though wandering into a dream where no one else walked and they had no pretences to hide behind. No masks. Just like...

"Come," he repeated a little more firmly.

That rich, crisp voice drew her off the stool towards him. It still felt as if they were somewhere beyond reality where no one else could intervene. No matter how I try to run, I'm always drawn back to him. Maybe I wanted him to have power over me again...

He led her down familiar halls towards the courtyard where the large tower reached up into the sky. They did not walk side-by-side but with the king one step ahead of her on the right. When they passed into the courtyard and kept going, Sarah glanced up at the spire towering over them in apprehension. What was he planning?

Sure enough, he brought them up the small steps to the door.

"I thought you didn't want me in here?" she said before he opened it.

He looked down at her. "At first, that is true. But now I'd like to show you something." His blue eyes took in the expression creasing concern in the corners of her eyes. "Still suspicious, Sarah? I was hoping for at least a little more trust than before."

She turned her head away. He hesitated only a moment more. The door opened and they walked into a bare room with a ceiling much lower than all the vaulted ones of the rest of the castle. It was of the same solid, sandy rock. A winding stairway curved up along the edges of the tower and up those large steps they went at a steady pace kept by his long legs. He didn't hurry, though, so she could keep up.

For the last three weeks the tower had drawn her curiosity, but each time she tried the door, it was locked. Clearly she hadn't been allowed inside, and yet here he was taking her straight in and up to its higher quarters. The mysteriousness of it all was tantalising.

Each step was closer to discovering another secret. Any of the doubt or dread she felt before they passed through the door now waned and completely disappeared under the light that was her wondrous anticipation.

In some small way, she really did trust the Goblin King. Her fear that she would be locked up here at the top suddenly seemed rather silly. He wouldn't do that to her.

The spiralling stairs were walled in and not very broad across so that even two people couldn't walk abreast. A window let in some light here and there but otherwise everything was sparse. At last a door came into sight around the corner up at the very top. Her excitement flared. Only a minute more and she'd know what was hidden away high in the castle.

The king paused and glanced over his shoulder at her, an arched brow and sloped nose all she could see. But his eyes. His mismatched eyes were very intent. A shudder ran down to her toes.

With one of his long elegant hands he unlatched the dark green door laid with brass and pushed it in. He stepped aside while beckoning her inside with a grim smile on his lips, and it turned out he hadn't exactly left much room to squeeze by. She brushed past so close that she caught a scent of something uniquely him—like a cool moonlit night, leather, and another faint fragrance she couldn't explain—and felt some of his pale hair catch in her dark strands. Another shiver rippled through her.

Then her attention was completely occupied by the vaulted chamber that opened up before them.

It was circular just as the tower was shaped, about thirty feet across, and lined with three windows on two different sides that reached almost to the ceiling. One could look out over the land, but here the very heavens were the beautiful vista sweeping out across the open windows in pale blue with a few wisps of cloud. A large table rested in the middle of the room on a thick black rug touched with silver scroll patterns, and on the table were maps and charts of the stars, brass instruments, and some crystal weights that held the parchment down. Shelves lined the far curved wall full of leather-bound books and other assortments of objects set between them on display. Some looked like small figures, others of some crystal or gem-like substance, and a few artefacts from this fantastical world that she didn't recognise.

However, all this was secondary to what lay above.

Over the domed ceiling was painted the night sky in midnight shades of blue, purple, and black with stars sprinkled across as diamonds set within sable velvet. In fact, if Sarah wasn't mistaken, the stars did indeed look more than paint but as diamonds or white crystals placed high above in the dome to shine down upon this fascinating chamber.

Sarah glided forward with her neck craned back to gaze in wonder at the painted dome. The sun sent beams of light through the windows that flickered on the crystalline stars. This place surpassed her speculations by leaps and bounds.

"I see that you like it," the king said in a tone softer than he usually used. His eyes followed her every movement and breath.

"Like it? It's...it's amazing! No, not amazing. It's glorious! I wasn't expecting something so beautiful." She finally lowered her head as she meandered around the room. A large brass telescope perched before one of the middle windows, and she bent to look through it. "All of this...this is just wonderful. Here I thought the King of the Goblins just sat on his throne bullying goblins all day."

She laughed a little, then realised it wasn't something she exactly wanted to say out loud. She took a quick glance in his direction and caught that amused expression that often adorned his face.

"There are a great many things you don't know."

Her heart hesitated for a few beats. What was that supposed to mean? Well, she admitted freely to knowing little about the man and also admitted to wanting to know more. A lot more. He wove his riddles and suggestions around her like a mist that she couldn't see through very well, but it made her feel extremely ignorant because she knew the answers were staring her in the face. He was staring her in the face. In fact, it wasn't so much 'what' as 'why.' There was no hiding what he wanted seven years ago, but did he still want her? After what she did to him? She didn't think it was possible.

And yet...everything he was doing, he seemed to be doing it for her. Again.

Everything I've done, I've done for you.

So he had made his choice. Yet again he left the other half up to her. What was her choice? Would she refuse him a second time? Or had things changed since she was fifteen?

Oh things had certainly changed, but was it enough to make such a weighty decision? He seemed to have made it in so little time and with such certainty. She didn't have that certainty. She couldn't create that kind of certainty in such short time. Time. She needed time. Was he willing to give that as well along with all his other gifts?

Jareth glanced over his shoulder at Sarah Williams once more before opening the door to the Chamber of the Stars. This place was his sanctuary. It was where he came to be utterly alone. No one else had ever stepped foot in it.

Until now.

Anticipation glittered in her eyes, and he sensed some of it transfer to him as he took a final breath prior to revealing another part of himself to her. This was a giant leap that made him highly uncomfortable; but he risked it because not long ago he sensed her dreams shifting.

He was capable of perceiving the dreams and wishes of mortals, but hers were fainter ever since she uttered the accursed words that loosed them from each other. And yet they were there if he concentrated enough, especially the more time that passed with her in the Underground.

And that was enough to persuade him to take another step deeper in.

The door creaked as he stepped through and motioned for her to follow, but he purposely gave her little space to pass by just for another chance to be close. It drove him mad, but it was worth it. She swept past near enough her shoulder brushed across the front of his shirt and leather vest with a lock of her rich dark hair catching with his.

If only she knew how much he'd given himself to her and desired to drink of her deeply. He was a Fay and did not give his heart lightly or to different women over time. It was her. Only her.

Then he saw the amazement etched into her delicate features: her lips parted in awe, her eyes widened to take in every detail, and her neck tilted back to gaze up at the domed ceiling painted with dark shades of night behind a smattering of stars. He allowed himself a genuine smile as he watched her waltz around the room drinking in all its beauty and intrigue. Sarah was like the rarest of gems with hundreds of facets to reflect light and beauty, and another of those facets he admired was her habit of searching out whatever was beautiful in the world around her. Once upon a time she'd declared many things 'not fair,' but the years had taught her to think differently and find the good of circumstances.

"I see that you like it," he said.

"Like it? It's...it's amazing! No, not amazing. It's glorious! I wasn't expecting something so beautiful." She lowered her head as she meandered around the room and stopped to look through his large brass telescope. "All of this...this is just wonderful. Here I thought the King of the Goblins just sat on his throne bullying goblins all day."

She laughed a little, then stopped abruptly as if realising the jest might not take well.

"There are a great many things you don't know," said Jareth. That one comment of hers alone made him glad he'd chosen to bring her here. She was realising little by little that he was not who she assumed. Did she realise what was most important though? He'd do anything for her. If only she would just let him.

Sarah gazed at him a long time. She finally turned away to inspect the room further, but that thoughtful spark glinted in her gaze as she wandered deep in thought.

"My bringing you here was for a purpose," he said after a while letting her think. "It was closed off to you and others for a time, but now you may come here whenever you wish."

"Really?"

The way her face brightened when she was excited never failed to send shafts of light into the dark places of his heart. He was shadow: she was light. How could he ever hold such a creature?

"Yes. But! No one else is permitted which includes your...friends."

She nodded. "Are you sure? This seems...sort of sacred. I feel like I'm intruding on something important."

"Sarah, my dear, you are never an intrusion." His slow smirk had its desired effect as she looked away with faintly coloured cheeks. "Read the books, study the charts, or write to your heart's content. I know you've been somewhat bored, so this ought to help keep you busy."

And I desired to share this special place with you, he said only in his thoughts.

"So this is where you lock yourself away where no one can find you," she said as she perused the books on the shelves. "I didn't realise you had such an interesting hobby."

"Hobby?" he said with distaste. "A terrible choice of word. The stars and the heavens are a study of mine to which I've dedicated much of my life—which is long indeed."

He swirled a few crystals around in his hand as was habit. The smooth surfaces, the glinting reflection, the feel of his magic; all familiar and comforting.

"How long...Oh never mind."

His sharp canines showed as he grinned. "You would ask how long those years have been?"

"Oh no, I won't. I don't think that would be a good idea."

"And why ever not? Don't you want to know how old I am?"

"Well...yes, but...it's not appropriate. You don't need to answer that. In fact, you shouldn't."

He began moving about the room in slow pacing that wound its way closer to her without first appearing that way. "Afraid, Sarah? Afraid of some answers you might find?"

She refused to look at him and fiddled with a black feather quill she'd picked up from the table. It twirled in her hand like the crystals did in his. "Maybe. It doesn't matter how old you are because you're immortal. Mary said you were one of the Fey."

"Did she?"

"It's true, isn't it?"

He merely nodded.

"So you're going to live forever," Sarah said in a soft voice.

Ah, so that is what she's thinking of, he thought. Why would an immortal take interest in a mortal who couldn't possibly live as long? Foolish girl, always dredging up obstacles that don't matter.

"My kind can be killed," he said out loud, yet that was all he would say because explaining would lead to another topic he longed to avoid a while yet. She couldn't know about the condition of their hearts.

"Fiachna," she said with a heated voice. The quill stopped in her hand. "Does he want to kill you?"

"That isn't his main goal but he would not bear any guilt or regret if he did. More than that, he wishes to inflict pain and suffering while I still live so it lingers with me."

She winced. "What did you do to him?"

"Ha! You assume it's my fault."

"Well, if he hates you so much, I assume it means you did something to him."

"Jealousy is a very powerful emotion, Sarah," he said. "But we will not speak of him."

"Why not? He's the pink elephant in the room that everyone wants to avoid!"

What? That phrase was definitely unfamiliar to him, and he quirked a brow at her in question. What had pink elephants to do with anything?

She smiled—a lovely sight to his starving eyes—and leaned against the edge of the large table. "Sorry, an expression from my world apparently. I mean that he's a topic you're avoiding and almost pretending isn't a threat."

"So you assume," he said as the crystals slowed in his hand and lifted up into the air till there was only one. "I have not been idle and that is all you need to know."

Sarah's eyes followed the two floating crystals, and she hastily backed away. Jareth laughed at her nervousness and waved his hand in the air. They disappeared with a slight burst of light.

"Don't worry, I won't be trying to entice you in anymore dreams," he said. He moved to the other side of the table opposite where she stood and spread his palms on the cool surface. His eyes danced. "Were I to try that route again, it certainly wouldn't be in a dream."

The shock registered over every inch of her rigid frame and gaping green eyes.

A loud pound on the door below echoed up the stairs into the Chamber of the Stars. Jareth cursed the creature who dared disturb them as he whirled around and transported himself instantly to the bottom where he flung open the door.

Hoggle stood there trembling in his boots and tugging at his cap. Jareth almost loosed an angry tirade on the miserable dwarf when he noticed an elegant letter in Hoggle's hand. Rarely did he ever receive messages or parcels of any kind here in the Goblin Kingdom.

"What is it?" he demanded.

Hoggle jutted out his hand to offer the letter. "Your Majesty, I was at the gates gettin' rid of them fairies when a bird flew right in and dropped out of the sky. It gave this to me and waited till I went off to come to the castle. Must be important."

"Well of course it is, Hegwort."

"Hoggle."

Jareth speculated what the contents were and had fairly solid suspicions, particularly when he saw the golden seal, before he even read it. He broke the seal and unfolded the message. Inside was a thin parchment decorated with elegant script, a sheen of glitter, and framed with intricate designs of gold and silver.

It was exactly as he suspected.

Sarah had followed him the normal way each step at a time down the stairs all the way to the bottom and sounded a little out of breath when she asked what it was.

"I have received an invitation to the Midsummer's Eve celebration of the Sidhe Court."

NOTE: Oo...a fancy celebration in the future? Hm, perhaps ;)

Please do review and let me know what you think so far! Like I said, I'll love you forever...and ever...Buuut even if you don't drop me a message, I still appreciate you reading my story!