those stairs are also not working for me.
Perhaps I wasn't clear about what I have/haven't done...
Here's the chronology of what happened:
First I came up the east stairs into the deserted storeroom
Killed the Queen
Escaped down the west stairs (the ones you're talking about)
Messed around on the intermediate level some
Found my way back to the lowest level
Talked to the King and the Sprite
Decided I needed to explore the top a bit more
Went up the western stairs (the eastern ones were blocked going up), the same way I just came down
Now I'm on the top level, but can't go down either set of stairs (because of in-game message telling me there's sounds of fighting), and can't go out the front door b/c the portcullis is down.
Any ideas? Or am I permanently locked in Goagh-Nar?