Excerpt: Transposition

He hasn't been the same since the girl left. The girl who ate the peach and forgot everything, that's what the goblins called her then, and that's what they call her now, even though it's been years...even though it wasn't really true for all that long.

I still don't know what was so different about her. It's not as if she was the first challenger, nor was she the prettiest, or even the most clever. But there was something about her that even the mighty Goblin King could not resist.

It amazed me that she couldn't see what was in his face, in his eyes during their final confrontation. The Escher room in pieces around them, and his eyes, his *eyes* at that moment when he faced her, holding out the crystal that might as well have been his heart.

But she couldn't see it, so she said the words, and in doing so, sealed his fate and hardened his heart. She still hasn't realized that she's sentenced herself to the same thing: dead eyes, a jaded smile, and brittle, colorless dreams. Except for Toby, her life hasn't seemed like it's worth living for a long time, though she can't put her finger on why.

Sarah gave up her dreams of acting, and she's gone just about as far from that as anyone could. She's an office rat, working in some iron-filled downtown high rise, just another faceless employee, but that's the way she likes it. No one knows when she last said the words 'I wish.' In fact, I don't think even the *word* 'wish' is part of her vocabulary anymore.

As for him, oh, he was in a fine temper for a long time after she left. And, you have to understand, we're immortal, so for us to say something lasted a long time, think in terms of years. Ten of them, in point of fact, which might seem laughable, considering that immortality thing, but ten long years of moping and short temper and a constant stream of goblins headed for the Bog, well, it certainly *seemed* like forever. (The one or two who've been clumsy enough to get wet in the Bog have been invited to stay elsewhere...but that's a topic for another time.)

Things have improved somewhat--he's not as prone to fits of temper, but he's nowhere near the man he used to be, back when he thought that they'd be together. It's like she took a piece of him with her, and left some of herself here, and now, neither of them are whole, and both of them are miserable.

It was Toby's idea that we try to do something to help them. He's got this crazy idea that they're meant to be together, and since they can't find their way, we need to be there to guide them. We've talked about it a lot, and it seems like an impossible task--if there are two more stubborn people, in either realm, they've never been found. She still doesn't even know that Toby's found the Underground at all, and I don't envy him that conversation, or the argument, when he finally does break the news.

No matter, that's not important anyway. What is important is the plan...