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

and his voice is considerably deeper than mine.” Jane had a rather loud booming laugh when she was truly amused. That a chuckle had seemed to fascinate them made her worried for when she truly laughed.

One of the boys moved. She had been watching him out of the corner of her eye as he inched ever so slowly towards her. This time his hand reached out slowly. One claw touched the big toe of her foot that had been bared when she sat down.

It twitched in response. His touch was so light that it tickled. She was surprised that one of them had been so forward with her. There were many places to touch her first. Why he had chosen a toe of all places she would not understand. It was the smallest of the boys so perhaps he felt as though he had more of a chance to get away with something than the others. If goblins worked in the same way that human children did.

She craned her neck to look at him, biting her lip when she saw he had already held out his foot to compare to hers. In contrast, the green tinged skin and long black nails would indeed look odd.

“Have they never seen a human before?” She asked Ruric as she pushed herself backwards so that she was seated next to the boy. She arranged her skirts so that her feet were completely bare.

“No. They are not safe. Not enough children.”

Her toes wiggled, and it appeared that every goblin in the room was once again staring at another new part of the human that was odd for them. Even the other goblin that seemed to be the caretaker was blinking wide eyed as she moved her toes.

The rising chatter had her looking at Ruric for an explanation. “They are surprised. Very…” He leaned forward to tap the back of a claw against one of her toenails. “Dull.”

“Blunt is the word you’re looking for.” She corrected. One of the boys scooted forward to put his feet next to her. He tumbled backward with more of the deep throated laughs before another boy came forward to take his place.

“It appears that I am this morning’s entertainment.” She said quietly.

“You are very different. They have never seen.” The boys had moved onto her hands which she held up for them to play with as they laughed and gestured to each other.

“I’m not sure they remember I am alive.” She was amused though. It was good to see such happiness, even if it wasn’t from a human.

“They are the last.”

The words were somber given the whoops that the boys were giving. Jane leaned around one of the boys, one hand placed on his spine to hold him in place as she looked at Ruric.

“The last?”

“No more. Last of our tribe.”

It gave her pause. “How can they be the last?”

He shook his head. “No more females. Others in other tribes. None left here.”

One of the boys grew disinterested in Jane, clambering back over to Ruric. Of course this was what Micah had meant. These were good, decent, creatures that had children and lives. They had families that were trying to grow but simply couldn’t anymore. It didn’t escape her notice that there were no females in this gaggle of children.

And they were kind. The boys had been very gentle with her even though she could see scrapes on Ruric. It was sad that they were slowly dying out. It was horrible that the boys in front of her were likely the last of their kind. The only generation that would never see a female version of themselves.

But she still could not see how she should carry the burden of helping them. Species died out. She was not capable of saving every last one of them, nor was she capable of being the person that they wanted her to be. Luther and Willow were waiting for her. She knew they were. How could she leave them waiting?

“Ruric,” She said quietly, her brows furrowed in sadness.

“Quiet.” He raised a hand. “No words. Just thoughts.”

So he didn’t want her to say anything. He wanted her to think about what she was seeing here. A part of her wanted to ignore all of it. She wanted to think of her brother and sister and all the bright children Above. She tried to think of Simon’s face when he had hit the ground next to her.

But the longer she was here, the more she saw these people for what they were. Gentle and kind, they protected their world only when forced to. As much as she had thought Simon an honorable man, she also could see that he had killed one of their own. For these goblins every life was precious now. They were dying and without someone to help them they could very well disappear in less than a hundred years.

It wasn’t her job. It shouldn’t be on her shoulders to give them a solution to this tragedy. One of the goblin boys plunked himself down on her thighs, looking up at her with deep furrows between his eyes.

Slowly he raised his hands, tracing clawed fingers over her cheekbones and jaw. To him she was a different, strange creature that he had never seen before but trusted. It was the opposite for her. He might be young but she saw the sharp teeth and claws as pieces that made him dangerous. It was hard to believe herself so weak.

“He is young.”

She looked towards Ruric, careful not to move her face too much.

“What?” She asked, trying not to move her lips too much since it seemed that the boy in her lap zeroed in on that movement rather quickly. He moved too fast for her comfort. His claws scraping along her skin without breaking through.

If the goblins could look amused, somehow he managed to do it. “He likes your words.”

“He doesn’t understand me.” She said, dodging the claws that suddenly grabbed at her face.

“Your lips