Prologue

Sixty years - it had been sixty years since the night Sarah had defeated the one known as the Goblin King, saved her baby brother, and went home with new life lessons and a pride that couldn't be stolen away. Sixty years, so many dark shrouded years, that Jared found himself parting at the seams.

It hadn't been that he had fallen in love with her - no, of course not. It was the fact that he, a great king, ruler of the land of the underground . . . had been defeated by a fifteen year-old girl. His pride hurt, Jareth had found himself spending years alone with his heart in a hole, his "tail" tucked between his legs.

Of course, during the sixty years in aboveground time after the defeat, Jareth had seen Sarah five times since then. Each time, he could remember clearly.

The first had been right after she returned home, and celebrated her victory with her newfound friends - Jareth noted each and every one of the creatures in the room, making a small note to punish them for their actions later on. The second had been years later, when his heart was deep in the pit of his stomach and he felt the need to see the one person to ever defeat his labyrinth. And during that time - when Sarah was an adult - Jareth had watched her from the window as she sat with a man not much older, with dark hair and light eyes, a smile on his face.

And that was the day Jareth went back to the Goblin City, enraged as he set about wreaking havoc wherever he went. The small houses in which the goblins lived were crumbled, sending each one either to live in the ruins or to find sanctuary in the labyrinth itself.

The third time, Jareth had seen Sarah's first-born child for the first time - a little boy, with her eyes and her nose. He was a lovely little boy, Jareth had to admit, but didn't like that she had long since forgotten about him. It was as if she'd never, ever seen the labyrinth, or remembered defeating it.

Then, the fourth time, he had seen her aged beautifully, with two other little girls - her eldest was now a teenager, the same age she had been when she first met the King. And lastly, the fifth time was the latest - he had been spying on her once more after noticing the labyrinth dilapidated and uncared for anymore. All he had seen was her, surrounded by the future generations she had helped create, and they had all been smiling.

He simply left, and that was it.

With the castle in ruins, the city, the labyrinth . . . things were dark, and gloomful. There was no hope in sight for anyone, and there was a loss of the sense of magic there had once been so long ago. Although it was still there, it was sparsely seen, and sparely known all the same.

In just sixty years - over 6,000 in underground time - the labyrinth had become less great than it had been. That's how everyone who had lived in the labyrinth saw it.

But, that was also before she went searching for answers.