"As I am sure you are all aware," began Jareth, "part of the role of the Goblin King is to take Mortal children who have been wished away and, if the person who made the wish does not complete the Labyrinth in time, turn that child into a Goblin."

"Like you did with Mother and Uncle Toby," said Lewis.

Jareth smiled at his son. "Yes, exactly."

"But you said that was only a game," put in Andreas. "That using the Labyrinth is more of a way to teach the Mortal who makes the wish a lesson about being careful to say what is meant."

"Ah," Jareth waved one finger, "I said that is what it is now. Long ago, before I was even born, that wasn't the case. Until recently, the Fae had a much more prevalent role in the Mortal World. They would walk among the Mortals freely, play tricks, give gifts, that sort of thing. Some would even steal children for whatever reasons they had without giving it a second thought. The previous Goblin Kings fell under that category, having no qualms about taking children on a whim. Nor did they have qualms about turning them into Goblins."

Jareth's family sat there digesting that bit of information for a moment. "Even I didn't know that," Sarah said, her eyes wide.

"It was a long time ago, my love," he said softly, meeting her eyes. "You know I would never have done such a thing." She nodded. Christoph and Katrin exchanged a poignant glance. They, along with their father, were the only ones who knew that their mother still carried a burden of guilt for what she had done all those years ago.

"When did it change? Why did it change?" asked Justin slowly as he looked back and forth at his parents and eldest siblings, feeling the sudden weight that had settled over them. Catching Katrin's eye, he asked her what was going on with a look. She raised an eyebrow and shook her head slightly in response.

"The rules changed shortly before I came to power," answered Jareth. "My father was constantly at me to accept duties as the Heir. But even then, spoiled as I was, I did not want to have that particular 'duty' of increasing the Goblin population. He, as most of his ancestors, took sadistic pleasure in watching Mortals struggle against all odds. That was why the Labyrinth was created. The idea of it being there to give the Mortals a chance was rubbish, a formal loophole to please other members of the High Court should questions arise. But in those days, no one asked questions. The excuse was made that too many other things were going on, which suited the Goblin Kings just fine. In any case, no Mortal ever survived the Labyrinth then.

"So there we were, my father happily destroying lives and myself happily avoiding anything to do with responsibility of any sort. He couldn't understand why I refused to join him, and grew more frustrated and angry as the years passed. I couldn't understand what the issue was, and spent a good deal of time trying to be disinherited. When he realised what I was doing, that was the last straw. I was his son, he was the King, and he would be damned if he would allow me to subvert his will. Thus, he went to the High King and Queen, appealing for their intercession, requesting that they force me to accept my role. They could very well have done exactly as he asked, as their granting his request would put him in debt to them. Had all of this come to pass even a mere fifty years earlier, things might have ended up quite differently.

"As it was, there was something going on that worked highly in my favour. It was about this time that Their Majesties were beginning their push to withdraw almost completely from the Mortal World. The Fae as a people had been withdrawing Underground more and more anyway as hostility and violence toward any of our kind grew. Their Majesties felt it was best to allow the Mortals to forget, allow existence of the Fae to become legend. It would be safer for their people.

"Not everyone was in agreement, of course. My father was rather vocal among those against this decision. He wanted to remain in a position wherein he could still torment and manipulate Mortals. However, his dislike of the plan to withdraw was outweighed by his need for an heir. Unfortunately for him, I was his only option, so he had no choice but to appeal to Their Majesties for assistance. Their Majesties wanted his support, and knew that they could not demand he cease the activity with the Labyrinth. Were they to do so, there was a chance that he would make attempts to usurp their position. After many long discussions, it was agreed that they would convince me to be more 'complacent'. In return, they would continue to allow the Goblin King to steal Mortal children, but only when wished away. My father thought he got the better half of the deal and signed the agreement, not realising that they had put in a stipulation that the children stolen would neither be kept nor turned into Goblins regardless of whether or not the Mortal completed the Labyrinth. Plus, the Mortal would return home as well, wiser for the lesson learnt, but thinking it was all some strange dream.

"As far as I was concerned, this wasn't much better. When crowned, I would still have to deal with the bother of these children who were wished away. However, my father was livid. He felt he had been tricked, which in truth he probably was. There is speculation that he was secretly plotting against Their Majesties in revenge, but no proof has been revealed to that effect. In any case, whatever revenge he had in mind was put to rest when he was killed in that 'Great Battle'. So there I was, reluctant King of the Goblins. And at the time, the story of the Goblin King was a popular one used to scare younger children, though I do not know how many Mortals truly believed it. Unfortunately, whether or not they did believe it did not matter. If they said 'I wish', they said 'I wish'. So, there was still quite the flow of Mortal children being sent Underground. I believe Their Majesties knew this would happen during my father's reign, but thought that when I came to power I would simply command the Goblins to not take any more children and the Fae could finally disappear.

"They never had dealt closely with Goblins before, however. Goblins are quite dense. They mean well enough, and are oh so willing to please, but lack the ability to wrap their little brains around the idea that they did not have to take every child that was wished away casually. It isn't as though they are magically bound to do so. I finally convinced them to do so only when they heard The Words. Eventually, as science and technology advanced and magic was 'proven' to not exist, the story of the Goblin King pretty much died out for a few hundred years. That is, of course, until some idiot during the time known as the English Regency Era heard of the story and published it. Though it did not have The Words as such, when the Goblins heard it being read aloud, they would whisper The Words in the ears of those who wanted to hear them. I did what I could to eradicate any written copy of the story that could be found. It was a challenge, but not entirely difficult. And it worked, for the most part. Any copies that leaked through were not read aloud by those who wanted to wish children away, and those copies were soon lost as well. I had a few blissful centuries of peace, and Their Majesties did not have to worry about the constant flow of Mortals into the Underground that could reveal the Fae's secret existence. Well, until Sarah wished away Toby, but that was--"

"Absolutely necessary?" Katrin interjected with a smirk.

Jareth glared at his daughter good-naturedly. "I was going to say an extenuating circumstance."

"Wow..." Lewis seemed fascinated. "So Mortal children were really turned into Goblins?"

"Yes, Lewis."

"And now they run a bank?"

Jareth chuckled. "Yes."

"Wow... So Mother wa--"

"Wait, wait, wait." Christoph held up his hand to stop the conversation in a gesture that Katrin amusedly found to be very similar to their father's. "I understand that the Mortal children are now Goblins. But as Katrin said earlier, how could Goblins possibly run a bank? Especially since they couldn't, how did you put it, 'wrap their little brains around the idea that they did not have to take every child'?"

"Ah ha... You are assuming exactly what every other Fae has assumed for hundreds of years, and possibly what the Mortals who have seen the Goblins here have assumed as well."

Christoph waved his arms in a huge shrug. "And that is?"

Katrin's eyes widened. "Oh... I get it now."

"Get what?" asked Christoph.

"That's amazing..."

"What is?"

"And now they are almost independent..."

"Who?!?" Katrin didn't answer as she was staring intently at the teapot again. Jareth quirked an eyebrow and looked at Sarah. She seemed to have relaxed a bit and grinned back at him. Christoph looked back and forth at his parents and sister. "You people drive me crazy."

"Now you know how I've felt the past few days," Andreas muttered.

Christoph snorted. "Hello... Earth to Katrin." She looked at him. "What do you get? What is so amazing? Who is independent?" He turned to his father. "Dad, what is she talking about?"

Katrin rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Chris. It isn't that difficult. The Mortal children were turned into Goblins in form only. They retained their intelligence and, I would guess, their personalities. Now they're off in some other Realm of the Mortal World running some bank. Right Dad?"

"That is putting it very simply, but essentially, yes."

A resounding, "Ohhhh..." came from Christoph, Andreas, and Justin. After a moment, everyone burst out laughing. When they all calmed down, Sarah stood up. Everyone turned to her.

"Now it is time for Michael's nap. You too, Lewis."

"Aw, Mom..."

"No arguments. Come along." She ushered him out the door before her then looked over her shoulder. "There is one thing you have yet to explain to them, dear," she said softly. "The Magical Realm." With that, she left the room and four pairs of eyes turned back to Jareth.

"Ah yes." He leaned back in his chair again. "Lewis is still too young to hear about all the details of this yet. One never knows what he will say to anyone, but I can trust that you all will be discreet. Although, if things play out in a certain way, that might not matter much any more. Of course, technically I am not supposed to tell any of you yet either." He paused to pour himself another cup of tea, brow furrowed as he stirred in the milk and sugar. His children exchanged glances, but waited patiently for him to continue.

"The existence of the Magical Realm of the Mortal World is one of the High Court's best kept secrets. Apparently, those who belong to this Realm do a fair job of keeping themselves secret from the rest of the Mortals as well. I am not entirely certain how or when it came into being, but at some point along the line, some Mortals came to possess certain powers. Some are strong, others are not, and the powers can lie in various 'types'. Their way of life is very different from the Mortals we are most familiar with. The foremost difference is that these Mortals are as dependent on their magic as the other Mortals are dependent on their science and technology. I have a feeling this is the reason they are secret even among their own kind. Such powers would be just as feared and hated as ours would be.

"In this Realm, the existence of magical beings is accepted, to a point. Dragons, dwarves, giants, imps, gnomes. All sorts. Except, oddly, for the Fae. This is due to our withdrawal from the Mortal World. Their Majesties deemed it should be a complete withdrawal. We exist in legend, in dreams. For those of the Magical Realm, we existed in history. And even that existence is questioned. In turn, the Magical Realm is not spoken of among the Fae. Its existence has become legend among those of our people who know anything about it, if anything at all. There are still some members of the High Court who survived the 'Great Battle' who know it does, in fact, exist. But there is an unspoken agreement to not make a production of the Magical Realm. Some of these Mortals are very powerful, indeed. But they are still only Mortals, and as such could be taken advantage of by the more dark and sinister members of our kind. Or possibly destroyed by those Fae who are less powerful and, subsequently, more afraid.

"The only reason I know about it is because of my Goblins. Or, rather, my other kind of Goblins. As Goblins, they are my subjects. But even before my time, they did not fit in with the other Goblins in this Kingdom. They were too intelligent, for they are like humans in that respect as you suggested, Katrin. But in becoming Goblins, they were changed not just in appearance. They became cruel, harsh, and hard. It is rumours of what these Goblins have done that prompts people to avoid crossing Goblins in general. Those who have come in contact with the Goblins here see them as being too incompetent to be capable of much on their own. But those rumours, those stories of Goblin cruelty still resonate, and it is seen better to err on the side of caution for they assume the orders must have come from somewhere. However, we were left with two kinds of Goblins: those we know and love, begrudgingly at times, and those who are as intelligent as we but rumoured to be guilty of terrifying cruelty. The previous Goblin Kings would use them in the Labyrinth to torment the Mortals lost there. I put a stop to that, but I then had a dilemma of what to do with them. Their rumoured cruelty prevented them from being accepted in other Kingdoms so, though they were intelligent enough, they were not suitable for being used for diplomats. I was at something of a loss. Then someone, somewhere, suggested that they be sent to the Magical Realm. To make a long story short, this different kind of Goblin adapted an institution begun by normal Mortals for the Magical Realm: the bank.

"It ended up being the perfect solution. The Goblins are quite the pragmatic moneylenders. Known as Gringotts, the main building is located in a Magical part of London. Gringotts stores the riches of the Mortals of the Magical Realm. It also works as a sort of business itself. They have people who hunt up treasure, and deal with investments and interest and all that sort of thing. As the Goblin King, I get a cut, though I do not need it. As it is, I prefer to refer to it as 'rent' instead."

"Rent? Why?" asked Justin.

"Because of the way they have set up their Vault System. The Mortals believe the Vaults are deep in the ground under London. In truth, the Vaults are deep Underground."

"Oh, that complicates things a bit," Christoph said.

"Indeed. And since Gringotts was established before the Fae 'disappeared' completely, Their Majesties decided that it was senseless to stop it since it gave the other kind of Goblins a place and a purpose. So Gringotts continued to stand and do business. They have been on their own for quite a long time now. I receive a copy of all the records annually, though I am not sure why I need them, as well as regular correspondence regarding current events. There are the odd situations that I need to be kept aware of, but the Goblins take care of everything themselves. After everything was set up, they haven't needed my direct assistance in anything."

"Until now," Katrin said.

"Yes, until now," Jareth repeated. "And tomorrow morning, their delegation will arrive."

"What are they going to ask for?" Andreas asked.

"That I do not know. And I wish I did." Silence fell over the room as they each fell into their own thoughts.