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

others found infectious. It was good to see such happiness in the caves again.

They quickly settled into a new kind of rhythm. Every morning they would get up together, go to the bathing caves and take their time. Some mornings they headed back down to Ruric’s secret cave. They would bring food with them and waste the days away talking about what they wanted out of life, teasing each other for strange expectations.

Jane had always wanted a family of her own, she made that clear to him. She wanted a daughter with blonde hair and a strong attitude that would follow in her mother’s footsteps. She wanted a son who was strong and confident, but smart like her brother was.

He admitted that there had never been a time when he had thought he would have children. To think like that was daunting.

“I never considered that I would be a father someday.” He admitted to her as they lay curled on top of the moss together.

Her back was nestled against his front, pressed against his heart and held firmly by his hand that was splayed across her stomach.

“You’ll be a good father I think.” She said quietly as her fingers traced the lines of his.

“How can you be sure?”

“You’re very kind and you have a soft touch.” That was important as far as she was concerned. A man with a heavy hand would become a father with a heavy hand. She had seen that kind of life before and she didn’t want that for her own. “Those things make for a good parent.”

“Is that so?” He seemed surprised. “I think I would like a child, though it has been many years since I have seen a young one.”

“What do you mean?” She laughed.

“There are not many children anymore.”

“You brought me to see some Ruric, surely you all have seen children.”

“Those are from other tribes.” He said, running his claws along her ribs to tickle her. “They were never here as… what is that you call small ones?”

“Babies.”

“Babies?” He shook his head. “That is a strange word.”

“Well what would be the translation for what you call them? Young ones?”

“Yes.”

“That is a strange thing to call them.”

“It is what they are!” He responded, exasperated at her teasing.

“Well…” There was nothing she could say to that. Laughter bubbled up in her chest until she let it fly free. “You’re right I suppose.”

“Of course I’m right.” He replied. “You humans have such strange customs and words.”

“Are you saying humans aren’t usually right?”

“I’m glad you agree.”

The cave rung with her laughter as she tried to convince him that wasn’t what she had said. But somehow, the strong warrior had lowered himself enough to tease her. He would have thought this beneath him before her. Laughter was not important enough to work hard to hear.

Her laughter sounded like the chime of bells to him. The most beautiful music that goblins could ever create would never sound as lovely as the sound of her. He could die happy knowing that he had heard the musical call of her happiness.

On the days that they were not in the cave, he took her through their home. There was much she had yet to learn, and now that they were feeling some sort of happiness, he wanted her to love it as much as he did.

They scaled the high walls of the caves, disappearing into the small nooks and crannies that were created naturally and not by goblin hand. Together they squeezed through the smallest openings they could, sometimes getting stuck in the small crevices.

In the beginning she was terrified of it all. Claustrophobia would set in and he would have to talk her out of the small space that he had coaxed her into.

The more she was exposed to it though, the better she became. Within the span of a week she was the one pointing out other small spaces they could be exploring.

He had never thought she would do anything else. His Jane was a brave soul. She would always rise to a challenge, particularly if it was something that she could not do. All he had to do was say she was incapable of doing something. It was more difficult to get her to wander new caves. Jane was still nervous about cave ins now that she had seen one in person.

She had argued until he explained to her the truth of the matter. The tunnel that had caved in was goblin made. It was carved out of stone until it had grown angry with them. Forcing stone to be that thin always raised a chance of it caving in and the goblins had known that when they first dug that mine.

Where they were going was created by the earth itself. These tunnels had been here for centuries and were not moving anytime soon. They were safer than any goblin made tunnel because of that.

She was quick to believe him and even quicker to launch herself into learning their ways. Together they discovered small bits and pieces of the earth that perhaps no other eyes had seen before.

Gemstones ran like veins through the stone walls in some of the caverns they found. She was stunned by their beauty and haunted by the thought that humans would kill every last goblin to get these. But in the end, she turned back to him and was pleased to find that she found Ruric much more interesting than the stones.

Throughout it all, he was with her every moment and she did not tire of his presence. It seemed the two of them had a lot of catching up to do. There were so many things they did not know about each other or about the other’s world.

She asked him question upon question about goblin customs and how they were to behave. He asked her many questions about the human’s machinery and how their lives were. Both were so fascinated by the other that they frequently stayed up far too late asking