The Taming of the Goblin King

Chapter 1

Sarah had frowned and thought about her answer. In the end, she had to be truthful.

"Yes, I guess I do." she had replied simply.

"Then find a way, Sarah, if there's even a chance you'll find happiness with him." Elizabeth had encouraged. "Don't make the same mistake I did, Sarah. It's too late for me, but not for you."

Sarah broke out of her reverie and decided it was time to stop crying; time to get on with the business of living.

In the Goblin kingdom, King Jareth was still in his usual foul mood. Ever since Sarah had rejected him, the Goblin King had been difficult to live with. Over the centuries, there had been many who had come and challenged his Labyrinth. Kings, paupers, men, women, people of every kind and every walk of life had attempted his challenge. Some won; some lost. But in the whole history of the Labyrinth, King Jareth had only made the offer of himself to one person; Sarah. She had done what no one in the entire history of the Labyrinth had done. A slip of a girl had rejected him, the Great Goblin King and one of the greatest and most powerful fey to ever live. He would have loved nothing more than to get her back in his power and then he would show her.

He had looked in on Sarah from time to time, happy in her little art school. At first, he had gotten an occasional report on Sarah from Hoggle. Of course, the King would never have admitted that he actually looked forward to hearing about Sarah. In time, however, she seemed to stop calling Hoggle and all of her friends. The goblin king took out his frustrations at not hearing more news from Hoggle by banished him to a remote outpost in a far corner of the goblin kingdom. As time went on, he became angrier at Sarah and began to resent her.

One day as he sat, watching her in a globe, he made a promise of his own.

"Be careful, little Sarah. Watch your tongue," he warned. "If you ever wish yourself back to my kingdom, no matter the circumstances, I will grant it. Then, you will be in my power and I'll show you what it means to reject the Goblin King."

He grinned wickedly at the thought.

Sarah sat on her bed all alone and sighed. Mildred, her mother's maid had left at last. The apartment was now quiet. As Sarah looked at her mother's photo, she remembered her mother's advice about love and her feelings for the goblin king. However, finding a way was easier said than done. Sarah hadn't spoken to her friends from the Goblin kingdom in almost three years since she came to live with her mother. She genuinely regretted neglecting them, but with her mother's illness, there just never seemed enough time. She doubted they would come now considering that she hadn't spoken to them in three years.

Sarah spoke aloud to her mother's photo. It was in the locket her mother had given Sarah shortly before her death.

"I wish I had my chance, Mom," she mused. "I wish I could find a way back to the goblin kingdom or at least to Hoggle. He might not help, but it would be a place to start."

Sarah gasped as the room spun. Suddenly, she found herself on the ground surrounded by towering, wrinkled creatures that looked as bewildered as she was. They snorted and grunted to each other for several seconds as Sarah looked around. She was in the middle of a ramshackle ruin that vaguely resembled an old fort of some kind. As she started to rise, one of the smelly creatures grabbed her roughly and began dragging her across the courtyard.

"Hey, let go!" she cried. "That hurts!"

Sarah was shoved unceremoniously into a dank, dark cell and shackled to the wall by her wrist. She winced as the rusty metal cut into her flesh. As her eyes adjusted to the dark, she began to make out several other forms in the cell that she recognized as goblins also chained to the wall. A low moan drew her attention to a limp, battered form on the floor near her. As she got closer, she was horrified to see it was her old friend.