The Goblin Warrior (Beneath Sands Book 2) by Emma Hamm (100 books to read txt) 📕

was nearly choking her, and yet she would remain. The life inside of her was enough of an incentive for her to attempt to give others the same thing.

If only she could figure out how. She was a simple woman with no schooling in her background. How was she supposed to fix this?

Her response to Frank was after much thought.

“People who followed me here to die.”

“And that’s where you’re wrong.” He said quietly as he took hold of her hand and pulled her towards the others. His hands were surprisingly strong for someone who was so thin.

She was dragged towards one of the women, and Frank had her bend down so that they were on the same level.

“Julie, could you show Jane what you brought in your pack please?”

Julie was only too happy. She opened her back and showed Jane packs of seeds and small green sprouts that were held together by burlap.

“I brought a small garden with me.” She said with a grin. “My boy, Roger, brought enough dirt for these to grow in. We weren’t all that sure if there would be a good place to plant things.”

Jane blinked at her, confused and elated at the same time.

“You brought food?”

“Of course! Couldn’t start a new home without bringing a way for us to stay alive.” The fine lines around Julie’s eyes crinkled in mirth.

“I hadn’t expected…” How hadn’t she known? Jane should have noticed that the two had stayed in other people’s tents. Or should should have been able to expect that these people would have been smart enough to bring what they needed.

Frank looked over at the others and nodded to a man who was watching them closely. Said man instantly stood and walked over to them with his pack gently held against his chest.

“Thought you might want to see these.” The man said as he opened the flap and held out the pack for her to look at.

Inside were fuzzy bodies that instantly looked up at her and started chirping. They were piled high on each other, but Jane estimated that there were at least twenty babies in that pack.

“Chickens.” She said in a stunned tone.

“They’ll grow up quick and they eat anything.” The man explained before closing the pack and wandering back to his spot.

Frank placed a hand on Jane’s knee and smiled at her. “We’ve got carpenters, architects, and doctors with us. We’ll be able to set up camp wherever we are can keep ourselves alive from here.”

“But the sandcats-”

“And we have a couple guards as well. Weapons were plenty in the City. We took a few of those as well.”

She was floored. These people didn’t need her help after all. Perhaps they had never needed anything but an opportunity to disappear from their home that they had so clearly hated. She was happy for them, but there was also a part of her that was disappointed.

Jane wasn’t the person they had needed after all. She couldn’t help them because they didn’t need help. They were going to be just fine on her own.

“Then why didn’t you say something before hand?”

“We were saving our breath.” Frank said with a laugh.

“So you don’t need anything from me?”

“We like you.” Frank was quick to reassure her. “And you have helped us in so many ways. We’d love to have you stay with us and provide as much information about the goblins as possible. You know more than any of us.”

Jane cocked an eyebrow at him. “Are you trying to tell me that if I left, you would be alright?”

“Yes.” He at least had the decency to blush.

“Ah.”

“It’s not that we don’t want you here. Don’t take this the wrong way please, but I couldn’t help but overhear what you and Ruric were saying. You need to do what is right in this situation. If you want to return home, with the baby on the way, you should.”

“You still need to have some sort of alliance with the goblins.”

“We would like to, yes. But we understand that may take some time.”

“You need water.”

“We’ll be alright. We remember how to get to the place where we got water last time.”

“You’ll get lost in the sands.”

“You forget that some of us grew up here.” Frank said with another laugh. “We will be fine, Jane.”

She wasn’t certain how to feel about that. But Jane knew that her choice had just been made for her. She would return Underground with the goblins and do what she could there. The alliance between humans and goblins was of utmost importance now.

“Alright.” She said with a nod. “I guess I’m going then.”

He smiled at her, and she could tell that there was a little pity in that gaze. To lose so much responsibility was difficult for Jane to relinquish. She had no way of knowing that these people would be alright while she was gone.

There was a part of her that knew they would be just fine.

She stood and dusted off her knees. Her goodbyes would need to be made quickly as Jane hated to say goodbye to her family once more. She assured both Luther and Willow that she should return, though she did not miss the looks they sent in Ruric’s direction.

Neither of her siblings trusted the goblin entirely. All they knew was that he was the one who had kept her from them long ago. They liked him well enough. He seemed to be kind to Jane and was obviously infatuated with her. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to try to keep her all to himself.

Willow in particular seemed to be having an issue with letting Jane go. But she was held back by her brother and the sharp words he whispered in her ear. Jane was coming back this time. She had to.

Still, Willow didn’t take her eyes off of the goblins and Jane until they had all disappeared into the dark crevice.

She glanced over her shoulder to meet the watchful gaze of her brother.

“I don’t like it.”