Staring into the musty pages of the expansive book before her, Sarah found herself lost. All of her life she had known she was destined for greater things than her part time job and studying the wars of greedy men in a dusty classroom. But this? Never in her wildest dreams could she have imagined her stepmother would wish her away into the world of her fantasy. Never could she have imagined she would find herself presented with one of the most important magical jobs in existence. Had this really been what Sarah was created to do?

So lost in the silence of her inner most thoughts and the turning of heavy pages, she barely registered the Queen Mother's graceful departure or the ticking away of time. She nestled herself into the surprisingly comfortable chair and poured over the pages in the thick book. With every turn of page she found herself further lost I the magic of the Underground, in the wonder of the world in which she felt most at home. Fantasy and fiction had been her calling, from rainy nights curled up with a good book to her roleplaying games in the park with Merlin. It was as if Oriel had created the Book of Ages knowing one day she would be born to take over its creation.

"You like it then?"

His voice startled her out of a particularly vivid depiction of the romance that released the greatest sins from Pandora's box. Still, even Pandora's mythical beauty dulled in comparison to that of the Goblin King. Gently she closed the heavy cover of the book, the smell of must and old paper flooding her senses as she desperately attempted to center herself back in the now. She said nothing.

"The Underground is not the place you chose to perceive it as, Sarah. Your last journey among us had been meant to terrify you, but magic takes many forms and most are astonishingly beautiful." Jareth explained, his arms crossed over his broad chest as he appraised her with a sense of uncertainty about him. "The Author is a breed of creature all his or her own. You will keep your more human characteristics with all the magic and training of the Fae. You will be able to commune between this world and the Aboveground without fear for your life. You will be unique and able to make your own choices."

Sarah blinked back her own uncertainty, keeping quiet as she mulled over the choices placed before her. Toby would come to live in the Underground, she would be granted the opportunity to preform one of the most important tasks to the survival of both the human race and the magical beings that she ha grown so fond of... There had to be a catch.

Without saying a word, Sarah began to move. Her movements were fluid and graceful as she seemed to dance around the Goblin King, moving towards the hallways she had followed the Queen Mother down. She wasn't sure where she was going or why she seemed to be running away from him, but in that moment all Sarah wanted was fresh air. She wanted to see the sun, or the Undergrounds version of it at least. She wanted to breathe and center herself and figure out which of the emotions flooding through he were real and which were her insecurities attempting to suffocate her.

She could hear his footfalls behind her as he followed in silence. He didn't reach out to stop her or speak to interrupt her thoughts. He merely followed her as she made her desperate escape. Would she ever understand him? Would she ever understand why he behaved the way he did or why he did the things he did? One moment Jareth was a monster, the next he was offering her the world on a silver platter. Where did the separation occur? Who was he really?

Or better yet, who was she?

Opening a heavy door at the end of the hall, Sarah was relieved to find herself standing on a precipice. All that stood between her and hurtling to her death hundreds of meters below was a small rock wall. Gently she placed her hands upon its edge, breathing in the height and the fear and the fresh crisp taste of the air. In and out she breathed, deep exaggerated breaths that seemed to fill her to her very core. She knew she had to look insane, like something had snapped within her but for all she knew, something really had. Everything she knew would be ripped away from her in less than three hours. She would either return to the Aboveground and die, or be banished to the Underground forever.

Sarah's fingers curled, her nails digging into the tough stone beneath her fingertips. Everything bubbled, everything that she had been trying to ignore surfaced like a monster rearing its ugly head. Her hands clenched, her head fell back and Sarah released a feral scream. The sound echoed in the silence that surrounded them causing the Goblin King to jump slightly. Whatever he had been expecting out of the girl, it had not been this.

Sarah screamed, again and again she released the horrible sound into the silence, scattering birds and small lizards as they sought to escape her pain. Just when Jareth thought he could stand no more, her body waivered. Left she tilted and right, swaying slightly as if the breeze had caught her before Sarah toppled forward against the wall.

She held herself up against the wall, her entire frame sagging against the weight of the last couple of hours. In truth, Jareth couldn't help but notice how pitiful she looked, nor could he ignore his desperate desire to lift her spirits.

"I must look so childish to you." She finally whispered amid a breathy laugh.

Jareth said nothing, he merely stood against the wall with his arms crossed over his broad chest.

"You offer me everything I could ever want, everything that would make me happy in adjusting to life in the Underground... and I run away and pout like a child." She whispered, her head hung in shame.

"I would hardly say child." Jareth spoke his voice firm. "You are simply acting as anyone would when all of their choices had been stripped away from them. But Sarah, you must remember you are a child in the eyes of the Underground. As grown as you feel in the human world, as adult as we are trying to treat you here, you are still a wished away."

Sarah scoffed, the sound low and guttural as it echoed from the back of her throat. She knew what he was saying was true, but it felt more like a parent chastising their child. Her father had given her the because I'm the adult and you are the child speech one too many times in her life. "Why give me all of this responsibility if you view me as a child?"

Softening slightly, Jareth dropped his arms to his side. He wanted so badly to cross the distance between them and to explain the reality of her situation to her. He wanted her to know how he really saw her, what he really thought of the wonderful girl who he had watched drift to sleep every night for the last two years... but there were rules and he had his own obligations. "My mother and I have faith in you, Sarah. A faith we hope you'll find in yourself, as well."

She seemed to slump further before a new and renewed vigor raced through her. Straightening back to her full height, Sarah turned to face the Goblin King. Relief washed through him as he watched her motions, the look on her strong features mirroring that which had captivated her when she reclaimed her baby brother. This was the Sarah he had fallen for, this was the girl who had so captivated his thoughts. Not the weak and deflated shell of a girl he had been stuck with for the last couple of hours.

Maybe this was what she had needed, the final push to make her what she had always been, forged in fire and raised as steel. Sarah was a fighter and she would make the best of the lot she had been given in life.

"I want to be the author," she spoke, her voice strong. "On one condition."

"You're hardly in a place to be making demands," Jareth smirked, relieved to have the strong willed girl back in his presence once again.

"On one condition." she repeated, as if demanding him to argue her on this point.

His smirk only deepened as he motioned for her to proceed with her demands.

"I want a window."

Jareth's brow furrowed. "A window?"

Sarah nodded. "That room is too dark to read."

Jareth laughed. Freely and without care in a way he had not laughed since he was a child. It was boisterous and infectious and continued as the bell tolled.

Author's Notes:

To all of my beautifully brilliant readers; I owe you the biggest apology in the world! There has been so much going on in my life over the last couple of months that, honestly, these stories and their updates became the least of my worries. I totaled my car and started a new job and got a new boyfriend. Most of my distraction has been that last part and I'm not even ashamed to admit it. Hes gorgeous.

Anyway! I do have some good news. My new job is computer based and I have permission from my managers to write during my downtime, which means hopefully your updates will become more frequent now.

I do hope you're still with me and enjoy the last couple of chapters because, honestly, there are only a few left!

All my love; Kaasuten