Sarah ran into the formal front room, frantically looking for her great grandmother's family heirloom. She needed that Bible, and she needed it now. If she didn't get the Goblin King married off, she was sure she'd be in trouble.

"It's not here!" she said to herself. "Why isn't it here?!" Sarah looked up. "The study!" She took the stairs two at a time, racing past her parent's room, and into her father's office.

Sarah knew she wasn't allowed in her father's study without him. He kept a lot of important documents for his job in there, and didn't want anything disturbed. But this was an emergency. She tore through the room, looking for the book. It wasn't on any of the bookshelves. It wasn't in her father's showcase. It wasn't on his desk. Sarah opened the closet, and was stunned as a stack of boxed up legal files tipped over. They crashed to the floor with a loud clatter.

"Sarah?" Karen's voice came from across the hallway. "Was that you?"

"Um," Sarah looked up. "Yes, it was me. I'm ok." She saw the Bible. It was wrapped in plastic, and sitting in one of the boxes that had tipped over. "Why is it in there?" she asked quietly.

Sarah quickly lifted the book, set it on her father's desk, and tore open the plastic wrap. She thumb the book open to the last page, double checking to make sure the marriage contracts were still there. They were. Most of the contracts were filled out. But there were two left. She breathed a sigh of relief, and headed back toward her room. As soon as she stepped out into the hallway, Sarah came face to face with Karen.

"What are you doing in your father's study?" the older woman asked, folding her arms.

"I..."

"And what are you doing with Toby's book?"

"Toby's?!" Sarah objected. "But Grandma promised this book to me."

"Sarah." Karen put her hands on her hips, and her tone told Sarah she was in trouble. "You know you're not allowed in that room, and you certainly aren't allowed to be snooping in your father's closet."

"Snooping!"

"Sarah, let me finish."

The teenager cringed. She knew that phrase. It was Karen's "I'm about to start lecturing you" phrase.

"I don't have time for this." Sarah turned to walk away.

"Sarah Williams!" Karen blocked Sarah's path. "What is it with you tonight? I let you go to the dance. I paid so you could go to the dance! I paid for the fabric you used to make your Halloween costume."

"You did not," Sarah cut it.

"Sarah, don't argue," Karen didn't miss a beat. "I let you use my sewing machine, and my patterns. And without so much as a thank you, you ran off tonight. You didn't even go trick or treating with Toby. Then you're hours late getting home. You irresponsibly miss your ride, go to a friends house without permission in the middle of the night, and get yourself grounded. But you don't stop there."

Sarah grit her teeth. She clenched her book a little tighter.

"It's three o'clock in the morning, Sarah," Karen went on. "Three o' clock in the morning! And I find you snooping in your father's study, going through his closet."

"How did you know I was in the closet?" asked Sarah. "Are you the one who wrapped Grandma's Bible in plastic, and hid it from me, so you could give it to Toby?"

Karen's features chilled. She held out her hand. "Give me the book, Sarah."

"No."

Karen raised her eyebrows. "You've just lost the privilege."

"It's not yours."

"Sarah Williams, you will not talk back to your mother."

"You're not my mother!"

Karen lost it. She pressed her lips together, clenched her jaw, and brought her hand down to smack Sarah's face.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Jareth caught Karen's hand by the wrist inches from hitting Sarah.

"Who... Who are you?" Karen lost all interest in Sarah. The blond woman wrapped in her pink fluffy housecoat could see Jareth's feral contrasting eyes boring through her. It was like facing a wild animal who was in the process of deciding whether or not to eat her, or whether or not to tear her apart. Instinctually sensing the danger, Karen took a step back, taking her hand with her. Jareth let her go.

Please, please don't hurt her, thought Sarah, feeling Jareth's presence right behind her. She trembled.

He glanced away from Karen, and took the book from Sarah, quickly thumbing through the pages.

"They're at the back," Sarah offered.

Jareth paused when he found the marriage contracts. He looked over the documents with a keen eye. "These will do," he pronounced his decree. "We have need of your book," the Goblin King informed Karen, "and need of your signature."

Karen was starting to come back to herself. "Signature?" she asked. She frowned. Who was this strange man in her house?

Obviously a friend of Sarah's, she thought to herself. After everything else Sarah had done tonight, had she had this man in her room? Robert would be furious.

"Yes," answered the Goblin King. "We mean to make use of one of your marriage contracts immediately." The Monarch turned, heading toward the formal front room. "Come," he ordered.

xxxxx

"According to your contract, we have need of two witnesses," explained the Goblin King as Karen and Sarah followed him toward the formal parlor. "I expect one is for the bride and one is for the groom," he added to make things go smoothly.

They stopped just outside the double doors to the large decorative room reserved only for Karen's special guests. Sarah remembered sitting with her mother in that room. She remembered board games and puzzles, stories and play dates. But the room wasn't hers anymore. Nothing was hers. It all belonged to Karen... Karen and Toby. Sarah looked at her grandmother's book in Jareth's hands.

It's only a book, she thought to herself. It was just like her teddy bear, Sir Lancelot. It's just junk. If Karen stole it from her and gave it to her brother, it was... Sarah couldn't tell herself it was ok. That piece of junk, that old book, there was too much emotion attached to it. She couldn't let it go... at least not yet. But Sarah could let go of the formal parlor. It didn't even look like the room she'd shared with her mother. Karen had seen to that.

"I still don't know who you are," Karen objected. She pulled her housecoat tighter around her body. "Or what you were doing in my daughter's bedroom." She was fishing for information now. Karen didn't know if the costumed man had been in her daughter's bedroom or not. She didn't know what he was doing in her house. But she was determined to find out.

Jareth brought one hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose. He shook his head. Sarah's stepmother needed to be dealt with. She was causing too much interference. But the Goblin King couldn't just send her to an oubliette. He needed her cooperation. Besides, taking a mortal without consent from a protected house was nearly impossible. Even with the magic mirror, it would be an unwise drain on his magic.

"What the hell is this?!" Karen demanded when they entered her formal front parlor. The room was decorated with flowing sheer and sparkling fabrics. Soft tiny Christmas-like lights sparkled all over the ceiling. And the furniture had been rearranged to make room for at least fifty people. Goblins appearing as humans stood on one side of the room. They were dressed in all kinds of finery resembling the dresses and suits Sarah had seen in the ballroom. Uhtrix stood in the center of the room, still in peasant clothes. One of the formally dressed men stepped forward, while the others bowed and curtsied.

"Your Majesty," he kept his voice low. "Zox has broken through the main gate, and fighting has broken out in the Goblin City. Your Highness, we fear for the castle."

Sarah heard him, but Karen did not.

"Sarah, what is going on?" Karen demanded. "You do not have permission to have friends over. You certainly don't have permission for a costume party. You're grounded. Remember?"

"Karen, please. This is important."

"If it was so important, you should have obeyed the rules."

"Stop treating me like a child," Sarah objected. "I'm not a kid anymore."

"Alright everyone," Karen announced. "I think it's best if you..."

"Mrs. Williams," Jareth cut her off. He produced a crystal behind his back.

Sarah saw the motion. Her eyes widened. But before she had the chance to beg for Karen's life, the King brought his hand forward.

"I think this should do to compensate you for the use of your home and any assistance we may require with our wedding."

In his hand was the largest stack of hundred dollar bills Sarah had ever seen. Her mouth dropped open.

"Are we agreed?" he added.

"Y... y... yes." Karen could hardly speak.

"Good." He dropped the money into the woman's open hands, binding her by her word. The King turned back to the formally dressed messenger. "Hide the treasures in the Escher room," he told him. "Arm all who are left. I don't care their station. Call on the brownies if need be. If they make it past the castle gates, release the gremlins."

The goblin taking orders froze. For one brief moment terror flashed across his eyes. The room was filled with murmurs and whispers. Gremlins. That was a last resort.

"Well?"

The Kings question brought the frozen goblin back to life. He and most of the other goblins in the room raced up the stairs toward the mirror in Sarah's room, leaving behind only Uhtrix, several of the King's personal guard, and a little old man trying to make his way toward the stairs.

"Birdbrain, stay," the King ordered.

The little old man grumbled, turned back around, and slowly made his way back toward Uhtrix. "Sometimes the way forward...," he muttered to himself.

"Sarah, come." Jareth waved his hand toward Uhtrix. "Time is short."

She followed him over to the coffee table next to the King's intended. Jareth flipped open the book, and signed his name on the page. He held the book open for his servant, and pointed at where he should sign. The young man signed with an "X." Then he turned the book toward the old man.

"Sign here," Jareth pointed.

The old man took his time. His hand was shaking as he wrote. And the Goblin King was quickly losing his patience.

"Sarah." The King set the book down on the coffee table in front of her when the old man finally finished. He handed her the antique looking feather pen he'd been using.

She knelt, and placed the pen on one of the witness lines.

"Wait, Precious." The King spoke up.

She paused.

Jareth knelt on one knee opposite of her. "Don't sign it."

The whole world seemed to move. Sarah could tell the King was trying to use magic in the room. It was like the room was trying to move, but something was holding it in place.

"You're making a mistake. Come away with me instead," he offered in a low voice. "I'll give you... Anything. You. Want." Jareth held Sarah's gaze.

Her breath caught. And before the King had the chance to use any magic on her. Sarah quickly signed her name, keeping her eyes on him the whole time. He frowned.

The King's guards frowned too. "The Sarah has won again," whispered one guard to the other. "She resisted his magic."

"The King will be calling on us then," another whispered back.

"Quiet," responded the third. "He won't be in a good mood."

All the King's guards stiffened at the thought. Even if the King had them forcibly capture The Sarah, his mood would be foul for days. Jareth didn't like to lose.

"That's not going to work," Sarah's stepmother spoke up, bringing everyone's attention to her. "I'm just saying," she explained. "You have to be eighteen or older to sign as a witness. And Sarah's not old enough."

"Really?" Jareth didn't look amused. He lifted the book. "I suppose we need another signature then." He took several steps over to Karen, lifted the book for her to see, and pointed to where he wanted her to sign.

Karen read over the contract. Her eyes widened. She looked up at the king. "You're not serious."

"I assure you, I am."

"Trust me. Nothing would make me happier," answered Karen. A small smirk lifted one side of her smile. "But I won't put myself in that kind of situation," she finished.

Sarah stood up. "Please just sign it," she asked her stepmother, half stamping her foot.

"No," she told Jarreth.

"Karen." Jareth spoke her name. "I warn you. Do not think you can break a bargain with me." He was referring to the money he'd paid or for the use of her home and any other assistance he might require with his wedding. As far as Jareth was concerned, Karen had no choice.

She was shocked. "That's it. I'm calling the police."

Jareth stepped in her way. "You'll sign that document or I'll keep you in this room until you do." His tone sounded like it had when he'd threatened Hoggle into giving Sarah the peach.

Karen looked up at the menacing creature in front of her. She took the offered pen, and signed the book.

"It will be annulled within a day," Karen pronounced.

"We will see," the king responded. Jareth stepped aside, and Karen ran from the room. He turned to look at Sarah. She took a step back when he moved forward. The Goblin King threatening her stepmother had scared her.

The Goblin King laid the book on the coffee table. He was still frowning.

"Now what?" whispered one of the goblin guards.

"He could use magic to move the signatures," offered another.

"Won't work," responded a third. "That would negate the contract."

"Then he has to best her at a word game," explained a fourth guard.

Jareth waved his hand over the Bible. "Bind me by my word, I seal my contract within."

Sarah's eyes widened. She stared at her grandmother's book as it sputtered and twinkled, throwing the king's glitter off it's pages and back into the air.

When the last of the magic faded away, Jareth smiled.

"What happens next?" asked Uhtrix to no one in particular. "I mean," Uhtrix looked at Jareth with something akin to dread. "Are we married now?"

Jareth laughed.

Sarah smiled at the goblin, trying to reassure him. "Well," she told Uhtrix in her story telling voice. "Now the groom may kiss the bride. And everyone can go home." She glanced down the hallway Karen had gone. "Preferably before the police arrive," she added, wondering how she was going to get out of this one.

Jareth laughed again.

"Why is he happy?" asked one of the guards.

"As you wish, Sarah." In two quick strides Jareth stood before her.

She took a step back. "I didn't wi..." Before she had a chance to counter his words, before she could say she hadn't wished for anything, the King of Tricks moved in closer, leaned down, and gave her a quick kiss on the lips, cutting off her words.

"Hmph!" Sarah shrieked. Her eyes widened in shock. She tried to step away, but all the strength in her legs disappeared. Jareth's arm wrapped around her, holding her up. Sarah froze. She didn't know what to do. She'd never felt anything like this. She'd never been kissed. Yes, she may have imagined being kissed. If she had to admit it, she'd imagined kissing the Goblin King a time or two... or okay, maybe more. But this was real. She was being kissed by the most dangerous creature she'd ever come across. And it was indescribable.

She felt thrills of tingles running up and down or body. She had goosebumps, and trembles. But she felled warm and safe. She felt protected, covered, relaxed. She felt a warmth coming from Jarreth which had nothing to do with temperature. It felt like... emotion. It felt like magic, true magic. If the Labyrinth champion was being honest with herself, she would have loved to stay like this for eternity. It finally felt like she was enough, like she was home. Was this some kind of trick?

The Goblin King let one hand slide down to her hip, and brought his other arm up to wrap around her upper back. The moment the kiss was made Jareth felt the connection. He'd access to a good amount of Sarah's energy. He kissed Sarah for all he was worth, tasting her magic as he did. Oh, she was powerful. He drank her in, relishing the sensation of having her so close, relishing her scent, her flavor, relishing her power. It was like coming up from drowning, and finally breathing in clean air. He'd wanted Sarah before she had his magic. Now, he never wanted to stop, but Sarah pushed him away. Her hands were shaking.

"What are you doing?!" she asked him. Her voice sounded weak. "You're...You're supposed to kiss the bride." She pointed to Uhtrix. "Not me." She hoped it was a mistake. She hoped she hadn't fallen into a goblin trap. As much as Jareth had tempted her in the ballroom, and at the end of her trip through his Labyrinth, she knew all his attempts had been tricks. And she knew getting stuck in the goblin realm was the last thing she wanted. She had plans for her life.

Jareth took a step back, grinning like the cat who got the cream. He picked up the Bible, and handed it to Sarah. She looked down at the paper she'd signed. There was a smudged line moving from where a witness should sign up to where the bride was supposed to sign. Her name was scrawled where the bride's name should be. She was the bride. She was the bride?!

"You said I may kiss the bride," stated the Goblin King. That had given him permission. And permission had given him access to her magic. He'd taken as much as he could as fast as he could. It still wasn't enough. But it was a good start. "I tried to warn you. I said you were making a mistake," Jareth told her. "But you were adamant in what you were doing." He smirked, tipping his head to the side. "I'm truly flattered you would give yourself to me."

Sarah's breath caught.

He'd used his magic to move the book after she'd placed the pen, but before she'd signed. Then he'd warned her she was making a mistake. But she hadn't listened. She hadn't double checked. She'd simply signed while not taking her eyes off of him. Sarah looked down at where Karen had signed. She finally understood. Karen had seen Sarah's name as the bride. And she'd signed permission for her stepdaughter to marry. Karen wasn't a witness at all. She was a consenting parent, giving permission for Sarah to marry the Goblin King. Everything was completely legal. Just as the sound of police sirens touched Sarah's ears, the formal parlor faded away, replaced by the cold stones of the goblin castle.