by Emma Hamm
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
THE GOBLIN BRIDE
Emma Hamm
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Copyright © 2015 Emma Hamm
All rights reserved.
I never thought I would ever complete a book. I likely never would have without the never ending support and love from my parents. Thank you Mom for the hours upon hours of editing. Thank you Dad for being a well of creativity and support. Much love to my family and friends, here’s to book number two.
CHAPTER ONE
MEN STRUGGLED OUT of the mouth of the mine. Dirt smeared their faces and the helmets on their heads sagged as they were incapable of keeping them lifted. Work in the mines had always been hard, but the further they dug the more work it seemed to be. It was dangerous for anyone going Below.
It would have been easier but for the rumors of creatures underneath the earth and stone. At some point a few years ago, they had broken the seal on whatever lock had kept those beasts at bay. Miners went missing frequently with nothing but their helmets left behind to let the others know that they were gone. Some said that these men merely slipped. It was far too easy to fall into one of the crevices that seemed to have no end. Others firmly believed in the tales that somewhere in those depths were creatures that feasted upon human flesh.
They called the creatures goblins. In the years since the rumors had started, these creatures had become the horror stories of the children in the mining town of Silnarra. “The Goblins will get you,” became the threat that parents used to keep their children well behaved. No one knew what they looked like, some said they appeared to be the stuff of nightmares. However, most would agree that their eyes were black as night and their claws could rend flesh from the bone.
Work always had to continue. The mine was the only thing that kept Silnarra alive. There were no other sources of income in this cursed encampment. Those that were born here rarely left, and those that struggled to better themselves frequently found their eyes turning back towards the black caverns. Men struggled to find coin to feed their families in this world and the mine held promises of riches that kept them returning week after week.
The mine had certainly never made a rich man, but it kept people alive. Anything of value could be sold to the more privileged. People who lived in the City preferred to live in luxury. The gemstones within the mine were precious to those who had the money to buy them. It was because of this desire that the mine held fortune within it. “Just a few weeks in the mines, and you’ll strike it rich.” That was the fable on the lips of every man that walked into the pitch black.
These stones were given to the Company. Every man worked for a nameless, faceless entity that paid them. No one in the mines knew that the funds paid to families were only a fraction of the price that these stones could be sold for. There were always rumors of a more precious stone but in reality nothing was ever going to be worth the high price promised.
Find a gemstone and suddenly you were looking at a life of leisure. Of course, it all depended on the value of the rock. Until they were able to find a gemstone, the men were given a weekly stipend that was just barely enough to keep a family alive. No one wanted to pay the poor sods any more than they needed to.
It had been nearly a year since anyone had found a stone here. The Silnarra mine had once been the most prosperous mine the Company owned. Now, the gems were simply gone. The families that had found them all were either moved to a better place or the City, and no one had heard from them again. The dream of all the poor in Silnarra was to follow in their footsteps.
“Next please.”
The words echoed in the ears of every person that needed to pick up a paycheck. Next please, keep going, move your feet! It was in this line, hearing those words every few seconds, that Jane Penderghast found herself. She had been waiting for three hours already, her feet twitching as she tried to keep herself patient.
The Penderghasts were known around these parts. Survivors, the lot of them. The eldest daughter, Jane, had a spine of steel and a hard look about her that made others nervous. The next child, Luther, kept to himself thankfully. But he thought himself too high to work in the mines, struggling as he tried to get himself into one of the Universities in the City. Little Willow was the youngest and a known pickpocket. The best of them all was their poor father, a man who had worked in the mine for nearly ten years hoping to strike it rich. He was a good man who did his best to keep his family happy. Unfortunately, it was nearly impossible to do so.
Well, he had been the best. Their father had met his inevitable end in the mines just two weeks prior. A cave in, all the men said. They had tried to get him out but the stones had fallen too fast. He supposedly found a gemstone. They all heard his shout. He had been trying to extract it, and as such hadn’t managed to get away from the rockslide fast enough. The rumble could be heard above ground, but they hadn’t been able to sound the alarm fast enough.
“Next please.”
The man behind the counter had a hawkish nose that he stared down whenever a new person walked up to the protective glass. She imagined that she caught an eye roll when he saw her. Jane did not have to imagine the heaving sigh of his shoulders however. Oh, she knew he didn’t like her, but Jane could not bring herself to care.
“Miss Penderghast. I see you have returned.”
“Aye I have. And I don’t plan on leaving until you give me my father’s last paycheck.” This was the seventh day in a row that she had waited in line for four hours, sat herself down in front of this same man, and argued until she was blue in the face. If he wasn’t exhausted of her by now, Jane was going to have to resort to drastic measures.
“I can’t give ya anything, and ya know that very well.”
Her hand slammed down on the lip of the glass panel he stood behind. “Everyone else gets the last paycheck! Why didn’t my family?”
“Because your father’s death was unavoidable. It was not the Company’s fault, therefore he gets no pay check. Next please!”
It had been the same story since the first time that she came here. “We can do nothing for you, next please.” If she heard those words one more time, she was going to reach through that glass panel and break his beak against it.
“Oh come now, Ethan, give the girl her pay.”
“Her father just died, you old bird! Give her the money.”
Voices raised from behind her. The men that were waiting to see if they could get into the mine just one more time came to her aid. There were enough strong men behind her to get the bird man nervous. She watched his adam’s apple bounce as he leaned to the side to see the gathering number of people. He wasn’t going to have an easy time of it if he didn’t pay her. These people were already angry enough at
him.
He took the glasses off of his hawk like nose, rubbed two thin fingers against his beady little eyes, before placing the spectacles back on the bridge. “Alright, fine. The payment due.”
She watched as he counted out only a few coins and slid them towards her. “This isn’t how much my father was paid.”
“You take what you can, girl. Don’t push it. Next please!”
She was already getting shoved to the side. The crowd had done what they could; she had gotten her money. The rest of them knew what it was like to have nothing in their pockets. Jane now had more than half of the people here. Clutching the coins to her chest, she skirted the crowds of people waiting in line and headed back towards town.
Silnarra was a cursed place to live. There wasn’t enough water here for anything to grow. Even the people had to import any liquids hoping that they would have enough for their family to drink. Food was enough to worry about, but they needed to make sure that everyone was hydrated as well. The men in the mine got first choice of course. Those that were making the City money had to be taken care of before the rest.
Makeshift tents littered the grounds around the mine. All were placed a hundred paces from the gaping maw of darkness. A “safe” distance in case the mine collapsed for good. It wasn’t the only vein they were trying to bleed dry, but this one was the most prosperous.
Dirt covered children snuck past her, sunken eyes looking out from faces that were far too thin. No one was plump here. They certainly didn’t look like the beady eyed little man that counted out the change for them to try and live on. The few days when it rained, everyone came rushing out of their tents to clean. People stripped to their underwear and did not care that there were others who were watching.
Jane would forever be haunted by the visions of their ribs and the hollows between hipbones.
The place the Penderghasts called home was nothing more than a tent. Dried animal skins stretched over twigs kept them safe from the sun. It was sweltering inside but it was big enough for a few pallets to sleep upon and a table. Their father had spent so much money on that damn slab of wood, but he insisted that they have a place to eat and sit as a family. It took up more room than they could afford, but they were the only family for miles that had a table in their ugly tent.
She pushed aside the flap, finally unclenching her fingers from the leather pouch that held their coin.
“Didja get the money?”
“Did you.” She automatically corrected the way her little sister said the words. Blonde like the rest of the family, Willow had the capability of being a beautiful woman when she finally grew up. Nearly nine years old, she had the wisdom of a young woman twice her age and the tongue of one as well. Jane watched as her sister perched on the table and emptied the bag so that she could start counting the coins.
“And yes, I did.” Running her fingers through the fine blonde hair of her sister, she walked past to fold her coat gently next to the pallet she slept upon.
“I assume he gave you trouble.”
Jane looked up to see Luther pushing the flap of the tent aside. Her brother was the tallest of them all. He stretched so high that his head touched the top of the tent. He tried to avoid being inside if he could, but it gave him a good chance to study. Jane was so proud of him. He worked hard so that he could have the chance to enroll in the University. In just a few weeks he would be taking the test that would decide the rest of their lives.
“He gives everyone trouble.” She dusted her knees off, cursing the sand floor. Those in the City didn’t live like this. Rumor had it that their floors were made out of stone and wood. If she ever saw the likeness of that in her life, Jane would consider herself lucky.
Her siblings were everything to her. As the oldest at twenty-six, she was the one that was supposed to take care of them now. Jane was still figuring out how she was going to do that. Their mother had died a few years back. Dust storms were hard upon the lungs and hers had finally given out. Now with the loss of their father, Jane was more than a little lost.
“He screwed you good.”
The childish voice made her start, looking over at her sister with wide eyes. “What did you say young lady?” Like a snake, her hand whipped out to snatch her sister’s ear and twisted.
“Ouch! Uncle! Uncle!”
But of course, as soon as she let go, her sister was scampering away and swearing again. “He screwed you good, Janey! That’s half of what Da got paid and not nearly enough to keep us alive for a week!”
She watched as Willow crossed her arms over her thin chest and raised an eyebrow. The girl was right of course. She was just a child, but she was right. For a moment Jane regretted teaching her little sister how to count that high.
Willow didn’t need to know how to count anyways. As a woman, she was good for nothing other than breeding. That’s how it was in Silnarra. The men worked, the women cooked and made more children to work in the mine when they grew.
It was a short life for the lot of them, but it was the life that they were given.
The coins on the table glinted. So few of them. It made Jane’s chest clench knowing that there was little she could do to keep her family alive. They would have to do something. There was always the option of selling herself to a few of the men around here, but she had seen how little those women got paid. Men would pay for sex. They enjoyed the pleasures of a woman’s body. But in a town like this, no one could spare much of anything.
Hands clawing through her hair, she tore at a few knots while looking at her siblings. She was supposed to be the big sister. She was supposed to know what to do in these situations. It was her role to pick up the pieces that their parents had left and make something out of them.
She lowered herself onto the bench at the table and stared down at the coins. “I don’t know what to do.”
There, now it was said. Now the entire family would know that there was something wrong. Her siblings would now know what situation they were in so that Jane didn’t have to keep lying to them. They weren’t okay. And if they didn’t figure something out together, they might never be okay again.
“Janey.” Luther’s voice came from her side, his hand stroking down the length of her blonde hair that they all shared. “We’ll figure something out.”
“You could always sell yerself, I reckon.”
Her little sister was going to be the end of her. Slowly Jane’s head turned to glare at the youngest in their family. “You aren’t supposed to know what that even means. Besides, I wouldn’t get enough money to keep us eating for a day.”
She wasn’t exactly the type of woman that men forked out money for. Jane took after their father. A large and burly man, he had made everyone laugh with his hearty chuckle and red cheeks. Jane was far too tall for a woman, possessed dirty blonde hair that was always tangled in a long braid that swung to the bottom of her ribs. With a square jaw and heavy slashes of brows on her face, she was masculine if one was being kind. Broad shouldered and lean of hip, she was capable of working along side the best of the men.
In contrast, both Willow and Luther took after their mother. She had been a thin woman, curved in all the right places. Lithe and graceful, there had never been a man who could say no to her. Somehow their father had managed to capture her attentions and they had set about making as many children as they could. It was too bad that such beauty had been ruined by the hard life of the mines.
“I’ll go to work. They’ll be wanting to replace those they lost in the cave in.” Luther declared firmly.
“Over my dead body!” Janey stood, looking him in the eye as so few could. “I’ll figure something out. You keep your head in those books of yours. You’re going to that University, Luther. You’re getting yourself and Willow out of here.”
It was suddenly too much for her. The pressure ached in her chest, making it hard to breathe in the already stifling tent. Fists clenched, she muttered, “Watch over our sister.” An
d with so few words, she left.
There was nowhere private in Silnarra. The land was peppered with tents of those that were trying to survive. The only way to get a chance to think alone was to walk. People didn’t stop those that were walking because surely they had a purpose. No one was going to be walking in this god forsaken heat without a good reason to be.
No one but Jane.
Arms crossed firmly, she clenched her fists until little half moons were embedded in her palms. There had to be something that she could do. Money was needed, at least for just a couple weeks. She had no doubt that Luther would be accepted into the University. He had been studying for years and knew the books like the back of his hand. Even better, he was a charity case. Those in the City always liked to take in a few students from the mining towns. It made them appear amiable when they were the exact opposite.
Willow and Jane could follow him to the City. They would put them up in houses so that Luther wouldn’t go through “culture shock” as they liked to call it. Likely they would be sent to be maids for those that needed it. But neither of the girls were strangers to hard work. They would get down on their knees and scrub dirt into diamonds for the City folk if they would give them food, water, and a roof over their heads.
Two weeks. They needed to survive for two weeks. She picked her way past a dog that was tied up outside a tent, its low growl making her shiver.
Selling her body was always an option, but it was one that she didn’t put any faith in. If she could get someone to buy her for a night that would be a miracle. Let alone getting them to offer her a price that would keep both Luther and Willow alive. It simply wasn’t an option, no matter how easy it might sound. If there had been a few stones found recently she might have stood a chance. But no one had managed to find one of those fire opals for months now. There was no money in this town to be spending on frivolous things. Whores included.
Some thought that the mine was drying up. Logic said that it couldn’t be. Not yet. The mine was newly opened and so many people had flocked here with the promise that it would offer untold riches. For the first few months it had. There had been enough money here to have water flowing for all the people.