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

move strange.” He leaned forward though, catching onto the boy’s hand. He seemed to scold him for a moment before letting go once again.

She looked at the boy in her lap, wondering when she had started seeing them as people. The ghost of Luther’s expressions were in this boy. In the way he cocked his head as he tried to figure out a puzzle. As well as in the way he seemed to smile instantly at every new thing that she did. It didn’t matter that he had a mouth full of fangs. He was just a boy.

“Well then. The more I talk, the more familiar you will get with me.” She scooped her hands under his bottom, arranging him so that he could sit and look at her as the other boys watched her avidly. “Would you mind translating, Ruric?”

It was in this moment that Ruric realize exactly how lucky he was. She had fallen apart in his arms just an hour ago. He had then forced her to walk when she didn’t want to. Opened her eyes to the truth of the goblin world, and forced her to see the last generation that would survive.

He had been unkind and harsh. Yet she was here with these children asking him to translate stories.

How was he supposed to tame this woman? She had the spine of a warrior and the heart of a mother. It was a blessing in disguise to a man who had fought his entire life. He had brought many a human here to be enslaved. The humans deep within the ground worked their gardens, gathered the silk from the worms, fished along side the goblins.

They were not treated as she was. They were nothing more than beasts of burden that would work for them. He had never questioned that way of thinking. Yet this woman somehow managed to make him wonder. If she was like this, was it possible that the others were as well? Or was it perhaps that their males were not like the females?

The goblin behind him shifted, remarking quietly, “She has a way with the younglings.”

Ruric paused in his translation for a moment, holding up a hand for her to continue since the goblin children weren’t listening to him anyway. They were too fascinated by the way she spoke.

“She is. They seem to like her.”

“Yes they do. I think they are fascinated by her oddities.”

Ruric chuckled. “Are we all not fascinated by the same thing? She is very strange to us.”

The other goblin hummed underneath his breath, watching the human just as avidly as the others.

“Strange is not always a bad thing.” He said quietly.

Ruric had to agree. Strange sometimes brought about good changes and he could only hope that was what to expect from this. He couldn’t afford to not have that hope. There were others that were skeptical but he would do his best to remain confident and happy.

It was the least he could do.

By the time she finished with her story, Ruric was ready to go. He was quick to jump to his feet as the boys shuffled away from her.

“Come.”

Once more he was back to the one word orders, finding it difficult to switch to her language after he had been translating into his for so long. He was tired and his brain was already aching. Ruric might have a fairly good handle on the way the humans spoke but that did not mean that he was fluent.

Her small hand slid into his, not hesitating this time as she let him pull her to her feet.

“They are very sweet.” She said quietly, smiling and waving at the boys as they laughed at her blunted teeth.

“Yes.”

“This does not change anything, you know.” Her voice was sad this time, quieter than even before. He watched her eyes slide towards him, those awkward orbs were so hard to understand. “I’m sorry, Ruric. I know why you did this but… It doesn’t change how I feel.”

He hadn’t thought it would. He had hoped of course that it might make her think a little bit more. But he was aware of her stubbornness. After two weeks, Ruric knew this trait of hers as well as his own. It was good for her to understand that there were others here. That she wasn’t needed for him or even for the creatures she had seen so far. She was needed for these children that would never know what a female of their species even looked like.

Hopefully she would figure that out before she hated him too much.

CHAPTER NINE

HE LED HER away once more, winding through precarious ladders as her stomach rose to her throat. The ladders did not feel safe. Surely they could have build something sturdier. A bridge across the tops of these cliffs would have been stronger than rope that could snap at any minute.

Ruric seemed as confident as ever. He remained in front of her, leading her across so many ladders that she was once again lost. How far did these caves extend? How deep was this chasm that she could not see the bottom of it?

The darkness seemed to stretch so far in front of her here.

When her legs had just started to tremble with exhaustion, he finally stopped in front of one of the openings. The flap was held open for her and Jane was quick to tumble through it.

The inside was much the same as the other she had recently been in. Somehow it still managed to have the flavor of poor decorating style of men. Soft colored tapestries covered the walls, revealed as he shook the globes throughout the room and bathed it in light.

“So this is your home?” She asked wearily.

He glanced over his shoulder and nodded at her.

“It’s nicer than the one we were in.”

“Yes.” His voice vibrated with that strange laugh she was slowly getting used to.

She didn’t have the strength to speak