The Winner's Prize

Explanation

Sarah was given a room in the castle almost the same size as the one back in the Goblin Kingdom. She had a canopy bed, and a silver vanity in the corner. She sat at it often and pictured herself back at home. But that was never going to happen......

She brushed the thought away, and paced the bedroom. She had been waiting all day in there by herself, and not one person had come to speak with her. She was getting a little annoyed, and very bored. She wished her friends were here from the Labyrinth, so they could play, and be silly together.

Sarah's train of thought suddenly stopped. Could she play anymore? She knew it had only been a few weeks, but, for some reason, she felt.......different. Like she was......grown up. She brushed that thought off as well, and continued to pace.

It wasn't until sundown that she heard a knock on the door.

"Come in." She called.

I guard peeked his head in, then came in all the way. "His majesty would like you to join him, and the queen for dinner."

I nod. "I will be there. Just a moment."

He ducked out into the hallway, and Sarah ran to her vanity to run the brush through her hair, and check to see if her clothes looked ok. She had on a rather beautiful, yet casual dress on, that made her look far older than she felt.

When she joined the guard in the hallway, and he lead her to the kings quarters. When they walked in, Sarah almost gasped at the giant table in the middle of the room. It was a beautiful red wood, with a shiny gloss over it. Sarah absolutely loved it.

"Come in. Be seated, we are about to eat." The King said calmly.

Sarah notices a woman in the chair next to him. She was beautiful. She had long, strawberry blonde hair, with green eyes, and rosy lips. She had freckles on her face, but they complimented her. Sarah felt underdressed when she saw what they were wearing, but decided to not really care.

"You must be the queen." Sarah said to her, as she sat down at the end of the table, opposite of the king.

"Please, call me Ounani." She said gently, her beautiful voice ringing through the room.

"Nice to meet Ounani, I'm Sarah." She waved at her from across the room, but then instantly felt stupid for doing it.

Ounani only smiled.

"So," The king began. "I have brought you here, not only to have dinner with you, but to explain a few things."

Sarah nodded, understanding.

He cleared his throat, but before he could begin again, our food arrived. It was a delicious red meat, with salad, and a white wine. Sarah dug in right away, simply because she was starving.

When the servants left, Sarah motioned towards the king. "You were saying, your majesty."

He seemed to have momentarily forgotten, and shook his head slightly. "Yes, right. Well, first, you need to know Sarah that everything I said about Jareth in the court room was true. Jareth did murder our father. That is why he was exiled."

"How?" Sarah asked.

"When we were children, only about fifty years old, Jareth and I were both doing lessons with different teachers in different parts of the castle one day. I was doing piano, and Jareth was fencing. Our father would often come visit us during these lessons, and this one time, he chose to visit Jareth."

He paused, his eyes growing sad. "The king did not return for many hours, and we all began to wonder. Finally, a guard found him in Jareth's fencing room. The teacher, and the king were both lying on the floor with blood covering their bodies. Jareth was standing over them with a bloodied sword, and a blank look on his face."

A chill ran down Sarah's spine.

"The court wanted Jareth dead, but I pleaded for his life."

"Why did you do that?" Sarah asked curiously.

"Because he's my brother, and I love him." Something flashed across the kings face, something Sarah barely caught. Something dark that shadowed his face, as his eyes hazed over with something that made Sarah's skin crawl. But just as soon as she saw it, it was gone.

Sarah shook her head, trying to catch herself after that.

"The court took my plea into account, and decided to banish him. And that is why he is king of the Labyrinth." The king finished.

Sarah took it all in, forgetting the food on the table.

"What about his........what about me........and the.......thing he did? You said something about me deciding something." Sarah said, changing the subject.

He nodded. "Yes. You can choose to do anything you would like, and the council can do nothing about it."

Sarah cringed. "I don't want to hurt him, I........." Sarah looked away, feeling indifferent. Could she really punish Jareth?

The king leaned forward, lowering his voice. "Jareth is my brother, and like I said, I love him......but my brother has done crimes that are unforgivable, Sarah."

Sarah looked up at him.

"It is up to you to decide. Will you let him get away with what he has done, so he can continue doing more wrong things? Or will you end this?" He challenged.

Ounani spoke for the first time, and shocked Sarah with her words.

"Jareth is a monster, Sarah. You have to stop him."

                                    ***

Sorry guys, that's all I've got. I'm having a bit of writers block. And of course, you all know how life is. Hope you guys like it, thanks for reading! Don't forget to vote, and comment!

-KKS_dreamer_18