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

If he held her a little longer than necessary, Ruric did not think she minded. She seemed to drink in his heat, her blunted hands curling underneath her chin for a moment as she breathed in his scent. He could believe she was completely relaxed in his arms.

Again, it was a start.

All good things ended too quickly. She pulled away from him with the towel tucked firmly underneath her arms and stepped to the side. She had not yet insisted upon learning to dress herself. The intricate knots and loops that his people used were baffling to her. Once she learned how to do this, Ruric feared she would withdraw from him completely.

“I have news.” He said quietly as he wrapped the first translucent piece of fabric around her waist firmly.

She froze at his words. Her wide eyes found his as he knelt before her and he found himself rising at the panic he recognized there.

“What?” She asked quietly, almost as though she was too frightened to hear the words come from his mouth.

He didn’t want to tell her. Ruric realized that he didn’t want to remind her of the world she had come from. It was too dangerous to do that. If she could forget where she had come from, to no longer have ties to the sand and the sun, he could show her how wonderful his world was.

“One of our humans returned.” The time with her had improved his skills in speaking her language. The more he spoke with her the less he stuttered. Now he could string together full sentences without having to stop and think. Their conversations were much easier now.

She stepped away from him for a moment, her brows pulled together in that way that screamed of her nerves and worry.

He could not resist the desire to soothe her. He stepped forward, back into the space she had put between them so he could place his thumb on those lines. Smoothing his finger upwards, he frowned in concentration until the lines once again disappeared.

“The human we sent Above, he came back.”

It was the only connection the goblins had Above. It was too dangerous for them to move out of their caves and go out onto the sands. They could not afford for the humans to know what was underneath them. But there were enough humans here that were loyal to them, that had spent their lives here and eventually fell in love with Below just as much as the goblins. These were the people that were rewarded for going Above.

They trusted a few of the humans even though they were considered slaves. The ones in the mines were nothing more than animals, but there were a few that proven themselves worthy. Most of the humans did not want to return Above. Life there was hard for them there. Below was much easier. In return for their loyalty and silence, the goblins gave them a better life than they could have dreamed of.

His hands found her waist in an attempt to offer her comfort. “He found information about your family.”

He had never seen her look so pale. Jane had always seemed red to him. Vibrant and full of life, she blushed and burned like the fires they used in only a few places in the caves. She was like the sun from where she came. A mass of fire, light, and brilliance that he could barely touch.

“Tell me.”

Except now. Now she was like his world. Pale and shivering, she looked far more goblin now than she ever had before.

“Sit.” He said quietly, guiding her to a stone and placing her feet firmly into the glowing moss so that they would be warm. The lights glowed between her toes, so different from his own. He wrapped the cloth they used as a towel around her once more.

“Your family is safe.” Her shoulders slumped in relief at his words. “I do not understand some of the words.”

He shrugged apologetically, not knowing how to explain to her that some of what the messenger had said had baffled all of them. Micah had reacted strangely to them, but the rest of the council did not understand the meaning or importance of what the human had brought back.

“He said your family had gone to the City. Officials had come to escort them. It was said that your brother was straight with pride and your sister had her face washed.” He shook his head. “I do not understand why that was an important detail, but I was told to tell you that detail in particular.”

He watched as her shoulders started to shake. He did not know what that meant. He ducked his head lower, trying to peer through the curtain of wet hair that hung in front of her.

“It is a good thing, yes?”

She looked up at him, and he was relieved to see a smile on her face. There were tears tracking down the smooth globes of her cheeks, but at least she was still smiling. It was uncomfortable for goblins to look at that expression. Her blunt teeth unnerved him likely the same as his sharp ones unnerved her.

“Yes it is a very good thing.” She said with a watery voice. “They’re okay. I was so worried that they…”

He knew what she meant. He would have worried the same for any of his siblings if they had not been sent to other tribes. What she had was rare for a goblin. They considered themselves family to all goblins, but were not related by blood to many of them. Family was a word that was interchangeable with goblin.

“It is good that your sister washed her face?” It was the oddity he had to ask.

“Yes, yes it is.” She sniffed hard. “I’m glad Luther made her presentable. The City is a very different place from our home. He needs to prove that they are worthy of the position.”

Ruric still did