The Goblin Bride (Beneath Sands Book 1) by Emma Hamm (good short books TXT) 📕

not raise, her muscles did not quiver. What little fight she had been clinging to was finally gone.

As cold as it sounded, this was the moment that Ruric had been waiting and hoping for.

His hand traveled down the length of her cheek and neck. She had been so strong and stubborn for so long, he had been afraid that she was never going to accept her fate. It was an admirable quality, one that he shared with her. But perhaps now she would be willing to see his world the way it really was.

“Come with me.”

She didn’t really have a choice, did she? Jane didn’t have a choice in anything down here. His hand stayed on the back of her neck until they reached the precarious edge of the cliff. Even after nearly two weeks, she had not gotten used to it.

In the moment when she expected him to turn in towards their cave, he ushered her forward. They had never traveled this way before. The globe he had gathered lit her way enough so that she wasn’t going to fall.

She tried to pay attention, but after so many turns, Jane had no idea where they were. It could have taken hours for them to walk where he wanted her to go. She wasn’t certain without the sun passing her by. How she missed the sun.

Ruric in contrast was slowly getting more and more nervous. If she knew about the ceremony than she was ready to find out more about his kind. No longer did he want to treat her as a pampered pet. It was time for her to understand why it was so crucial to his kind that she be here. It was not their first choice. None of them wanted to dilute the blood they had. None of them even knew if a hybrid was an option. They simply had no choice in the matter now.

Finally they rounded a corner and Jane could finally see how the goblins really lived.

Reed ladders strung across great chasms connected goblin homes from side to side. They were lit by small globes that were held above them by taller reeds, looping across so it was easy to see. There were goblins walking on them, carrying large baskets on their heads and hips. The ladders were swaying with the slightest breeze. Strung across the ladders were the strips of fabric they used as clothing, all of the light silk pieces fluttering in vibrant colors.

He did not know what she was seeing. To him, this had and always would be home.

“We were not living in your home were we?” She asked quietly.

“No.” He said in answer, gesturing with an arm as he stopped before a ladder. “This is home.”

And what a home it was. A few goblins noticed him, trilling their greeting and pausing to stare with widened eyes at Jane. To her they must have seemed even stranger as their large eyes glinted in the light of her globe.

“Why?”

He didn’t have an answer for that right now. She would learn soon enough that they could not trust her around the young ones. Not without knowing that she wouldn’t hurt the rest of them. Their people were not all warriors, in fact most of them were artisans. They were too delicate, and too few of them, to take that risk with a human walking into their midst.

“Let me show you.” He said, placing a hand on the small of her back and forcing her to take that first step onto the ropes. He did not think she would like it. They were hanging between two cliffs that went down so far even his eyes could not see the bottom. But she would need to get used to it. This was how they lived.

Slowly they made their way across the bridge. She alternated between clutching onto his arm and holding onto the rope railing. He now knew how foolish he was for thinking that humans did not have claws. Her hands made perfectly good ones as she clutched onto him for balance.

As he finally got her to the other side, he glanced down at his forearm and the half moons that had been gouged into it. Perhaps she had a little more fight in her than he gave her credit for.

“Are we going to your real home now? Why?” She was out of breath, her eyes still wide with fear and adrenaline. He recognized the look. Many of his men had appeared the same after their first raid on humans. They made foolish decisions when they looked like that. But at least she was more aware than she had been just a few moments ago.

“No.” He shook his head, walking towards a cave opening that was covered by a thin silk sheet. He paused for a moment before the door, seeming to take in a deep breath before he looked back at her. “Remember. Quiet.”

Jane had no idea what he was talking about. She tried to be as quiet as possible whenever she was with him. His ears were very sensitive, and though she wanted to scream and shout and make all the noises that she enjoyed, Jane tried to be very quiet around him.

He nodded, then pulled the cloth back and gestured for her to step inside.

She had assumed that they would be walking into a similar cave to the one they had been living in. She was very much mistaken.

Everything in this cave was vibrant. The light was no where near what she would have considered normal, but there were certainly a considerable amount more crystals. Along with the globes, the jagged arches she had seen before on their thrones seemed to grow naturally in this place. The ones here set off warm yellow glows that made it easier for her to see.

The walls were covered with those cloths that she had come to appreciate so much. Each one seemed to be dyed so that streaks of color would splatter along their