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

With him by her side, she was not afraid to sleep in the utter dark of the caves.

Once he asked her why she prefered to have the lights on and she found that her answer shocked him.

“It is never this dark Above.”

“What?” He rolled in the hammock to look down at her, shock reflected on his face. “Is not darkness the same everywhere?”

“There is always light, Above. When the sun goes down, the moons come up. Even when the moons cannot be seen, the stars are bright enough to light the way. I have never seen darkness as though I was blind.”

He leaned back down, his arms automatically pulling her to wrap around him. “What are your moons like?”

“We call them the Sisters of the Night.” She said quietly. “They are like the sun, but silver and much softer. I think perhaps you could be outside when they are out, but they might still be too bright for you.”

“They cannot be seen sometimes?”

“Every few years they line up so that the earth’s shadow falls on them. It is rare though. I’ve only seen it twice.”

He shook his head. “Your world is strange.”

“You think yours is not?”

“My words makes sense. Yours seems very confusing.”

She laughed. “Ruric, your world is confusing to me. This place is very different and none of it makes sense! You grew up here, of course you think it’s not confusing.”

“The goblins make sense.” He brushed his hand over her cheek and jaw. “If you would open your mind and stop thinking in the human way, you would see that.”

She shook her head against his chest, rolling her eyes. “Then let’s sleep in the dark tonight you silly man. It feels as though it is death to me.”

He took one of their blankets and threw it over the globe that had lit up the room. Engulfed in darkness, she had to swallow hard to quell the panic.

“It is not death.” His warm voice sent shivers down her spine. “It is the warmth of a mother’s womb and the loving embrace of a dear friend. Sleep well, Jane. I am here.”

He most certainly was. Curled in his arms she found that the darkness was not that bad. She couldn’t see anything, but she could hear very well. The steady sound of his breathing lulled her into sleep.

It was a better sleep than she was used to here. Without the light to distract her, she slept deeply and without dreams. She only woke when he stretched beside her, his hands roaming as they tended to do. It was good to know that goblin and human men tended to be the same when they woke up.

From then on they slept without the light of the globes. She slept well unless there was news of her siblings. Then she tended to dream.

There was news twice more from one of the humans they sent above. The young man was sweet and unassuming, the perfect person to ask questions without being asked them in return. He was quick on his feet and had a memory that reminded Jane of her brother Luther.

Unfortunately there was never much news. They had left the mining down, their transport had returned home safely, all passengers had disembarked. There was nothing else that he could find the third time he returned.

The shrug from the other human had made Jane weak kneed. Her life had become a series of pleasure and wonder, with moments of hope and disappointment as she waited for the news of her family.

She wanted them to send a human to the City, surely they could find some more information about her siblings there. Yet Micah always told them no. He said the City was far too dangerous a place for a human that had accepted the goblin way of life. The officials would find them and then they would all be in danger of being found.

In her head she knew he was right. Jane understood the dangers of sending anyone up there. She didn’t want the goblins to have to fight a war, nor did she want them to have to come out of hiding simply because she was telling them to find out information.

Luther and Willow were safe and happy in the City. That was what everyone was promised when they were sent there. Surely that was the truth. A life of splendor and knowledge was all that she could have asked for. In the end, Luther had given them a better life than Jane ever could have provided. That was good and it should have made her happy.

But part of Jane wanted them to be happy with her. It tore at her heart that they did not know she was alive. It made her want to scream and tear at her hair that they did not have the ability to contact her, to tell her what it was like. She had taken up the role of mother for both of them. To know that now they did not need her was a blow to her ego.

The night that the man came home with no information, Ruric held her as she cried. It was the helpless sort of crying that could not be controlled or stopped.

He tried to ask her what was wrong, though he knew what it was. He had seen the pale wash of her face when he had not returned with the slave. He had seen the way she reached out slowly for the wall when he told her there was nothing that the man could do to find out more information.

Perhaps he should have waited to tell her that they would not be sending him Above again. He knew how important it was that she keep some kind of connection with the people that she loved. But there was nothing that he could do. Truth had always been the strength of their relationship.

Instead he had gathered her into his arms, his heart breaking as he heard the sound