by Emma Hamm
“Can I not hear some of what you say?”
He seemed to avert his eyes from her but made that affirmative grumble. So she couldn’t hear some of what they said. That certainly posed a problem.
“How does Micah converse with you then?”
He pointed at his ear and shrugged. “Metal.”
“He has metal in his head?”
“No. Ear.”
He had a hearing aid. Jane had heard of those before. People in the city lived considerably longer than those that worked outside the mines. They aged to a point where their hearing sometimes became poor and there was supposedly a technology that could be placed inside the ear so that these people could hear once more. Jane had never seen it before, but rumors travelled very quickly through Silnarra.
Surprising really. She hadn’t thought any of the rumors were true.
“Oh.” She muttered, looking down at the fish and wondering where she was going to do with this information. She couldn’t learn how to speak their language, she couldn’t even hear some of what they were saying. At least he was being forthcoming with her questions.
“What was the ceremony Micah mentioned, Ruric?”
This time he ignored her, his head dropping back down to the carving in his lap. Obviously he wasn’t any more inclined to answer that question than he had before.
The silence between them grew, until she begrudgingly said, “Thank you for answering my questions.”
He looked up and nodded at her.
“What would you like me to do with the rest of this?”
A clawed hand was raised towards her and it only seemed natural to pass him the fish. What seemed unnatural was that he started to eat what she had left over. Of course she hadn’t expected him to let it go to waste, they wouldn’t have done that Above either. However, this seemed different than him finishing off what was left.
“Ruric?”
He looked back at her. If he had been human she would have expected a raised eyebrow in question. Instead it just seemed as though he was waiting.
“Were you waiting for me to finish eating?” She asked quietly.
He nodded.
“Why?”
Another piece of the fish was slid in between those deadly teeth.
“Female.”
“Yes I understand that I’m female Ruric. That doesn’t explain why you waited until I was finished until you started eating.”
“Protect.”
She had to stop for a moment, closing her eyes and taking a few slow breaths in through her nose. This had to be the most frustrating conversation anyone in existence had ever had.
“I understand you protect me. That also does not answer my question.”
She slowly opened her eyes, knowing that looking at those giant black eyes would only make her more angry. She couldn’t help but feel as though they were insipid pools that didn’t understand a word she was saying.
He was looking at her. She found herself unnerved at how she couldn’t tell if he was looking at her or beyond her.
“Female first. Protect. Provide.”
In short, he was saying that their species took care of the women first. She was stunned to silence. Above they did not do that. Everyone broke their backs, but the women were the ones that always seemed to be on the sidelines. They couldn’t work, so they took care of everyone else. It was expected. It was what they did.
Now he was taking that away from her. Jane was suddenly floundering and had no idea what was expected from her. If she was not meant to take care of anyone, then what was she supposed to do? Sit and stare at the wall?
Instead she stared at him, her brows raised high and fists clenched at her sides. There was nothing she could say to that.
He seemed to sense that, turning back towards her for a moment.
“Sleep. Jane.”
A shiver slid up her spine, as though something cold and wet had touched her. It was with that feeling that she picked up a globe and rushed back into the room with the hammock. It took a little longer than she was proud of, but she managed to get herself into it safely. The globed was tucked underneath her chin once more as she fell asleep.
They seemed to settle into a routine after that. He would wake her up at whatever time it was and together they would go to the bath. She started to take her time there, enjoying the water as it lapped at her sides and the heat that reminded her of home.
Every day she would tell him to take her back. Every day she would order, not ask, because it was important that he know she wasn’t happy. She wasn’t going to stay down here without a fight. Jane needed to go home. Her siblings likely thought she was dead and she had no way of knowing how long she had been down here. Without the sun, there was simply no way for her to tell time.
He put some kind of strange algae on her back every time she got out of the bath. He would then bring her back to eat. Every now and then he would bring her something to do. Pieces of reeds could be woven into patterns. Necklaces that needed to be fixed. She had a feeling he was bringing her objects that were meant to keep her busy. Whatever it was, Jane was slowly losing her mind here in the darkness.
She needed to do something. Her legs itched to move. Her arms ached to lift. Her entire body wanted to do something productive and instead she was pampered and treated as though she was made of glass. She could see Ruric getting frustrated at points. His jaw would clench, the muscle jumping when she became too loud.
What else was she supposed to do? He expected her to sleep more than anything else. Just yesterday she had spent an entire hour shaking the globe back and forth to watch the swirls of light. And she knew it had been an hour because she had counted every second that passed.
Now she was back in the pool and she knew exactly what was going to happen next. She was going to waste time here until she had to get out. He would treat her delicately, wipe her wound, bring her back to the cave, and once again she would go mad with boredom in the dark.
Perhaps she had already lost her mind.
“Ruric. I have to go home. Now.”
She didn’t know why this time was different, but it was. Jane was done with this game that he was playing. Home was where her family was. She had to go.
“No.”
“I have to go. Ruric, I’m not doing this anymore. If you won’t take me home, I’ll find someone that will.”
He didn’t seem to care. Nor did he move from his usual post on a ledge in the shadows. The soft snick of carving never faltered.
“Ruric. I can’t do this anymore. My family needs me. I have to go!”
“No. You will stay.”
He had gotten significantly better at her language. Continual practice had him easing into short sentences. She corrected him often and he didn’t seem to mind. It was all information that was useful to him in the long run.
“I’m not!”
The shout echoed in the bath, and for once he stilled.
“Quiet.”
“I will not be quiet! I want to go home!”
She didn’t know how to explain it any clearer. Yet he wasn’t responding to her. He shook his head as though trying to get the sound out of his ears, but he returned to carving without a word.
At least she could see him now. It took very little begging for her to convince him to carry those globes with them wherever they went so she could see. Now he left them in the places that they frequented and made his rounds to shake them awake every time they entered a new cave.
“Ruric.” She pleaded.
“Jane.” It was a warning, a tone she had never heard before.
“I’m done with this foolishness, Ruric. Take me home.”
“No.” He stood this time, turning to go.
She couldn’t stand it anymore. He couldn’t simply turn away from her because he didn’t agree with her.
“You cannot say no!” She shouted.
It didn’t take much to scoop up one of the rocks on the edge of th
e pool. It took even less to launch it at his back.
She had never had very good aim. Her brother had tried to teach her time and time again. But for some reason, Jane had never been able to hit anything. When others could hit a post from yards away, she had trouble hitting the side of a tent while standing right next to it.
This toss rang true. It veered wider and lower than she had aimed. She had hoped to hit him solidly on his thick skull. Instead, she grazed the top of his shoulder. The stone was sharp enough to leave a welt and hard enough to sting.
Ruric paused, his big body shuddering for a moment before he was turning on his heel and launching himself at her.
The grace in his body was something to be admired. He was like one of those desert cats that stalked their prey in the sands. Muscles bunched over shoulders and thighs as he moved. He was so fluid that he could have been made of liquid himself. All she could think was that the creature moving towards her was filled with power and grace. It was a fanciful thought, especially when she was stumbling backwards until her spine pressed hard against the edge of the pool.
He loomed above her, eyes blacker than she had ever seen before. His chest rose and expanded above her, nearly pressing against her as he caged her between his strong arms.
His head and all those sharp teeth came down, blunted nose traveling along the length of her neck. She recognized the reaction. The deep inhale, the slight shudder that travelled down his spine. He was smelling her, tasting the air for fear.
She knew how to react. It was the same thing she would do for a feral dog. Running from them or instigating their anger in any way could cause them to lose control. They would revert entirely to a beast.
She could feel the rumble from his chest against her own. It rocked through her, the growl the only thing she could hear over the sound of her own heartbeat.
Once again his nose trailed up her throat, arms shaking beside her until she realized just how close to the edge he was. Perhaps, after the long time that he had been taking care of her, he had been holding back as well.
It seemed unusual to her. He had been so powerful in the tunnel when she first saw him. A force of wild nature that she could never have thought tamed. In her dreams, she still felt his hand wrapped around her braid as he tossed her against the rocks. The side of him she had lived with for a week was contrasting almost too much to the warrior she had seen before.
This was what she had expected. The beast that was held tightly bound underneath an exterior of strength and power.
She held very still as his lips parted and those teeth were held against her ear.
“No.”
The word was barely recognizable. It vibrated through his throat with a hint of that strange language the goblins spoke it.
She was not fool enough to fight against him. Not like this. She stayed as still as she dared, her fists pressed hard against his sternum. If he wanted to press forward she could not stop him.
He did not though. As always he held himself tightly in check. His arms shook with force as he held himself still.
“I have to go home.” She whispered quietly, knowing he would hear her. This time she saw the shudder that quaked the muscles of his shoulders.
“You cannot.”
He could not let her go. Ruric knew that well. He had tried desperately to keep her comfortable. Everything that had been in his to take, she had been given. Food, water, shelter, warm baths every day. He chased the others from gawking at her because he knew she was uncomfortable with even his stares.
He went against all training, every thought, and understanding that he had known. Still she refused to be happy. The others teased him mercilessly, claiming that he was faulty. Incapable of pleasing a female. It couldn’t be that hard and yet he was failing. He, the bravest of them all!
She refused to listen to him. She refused to see reason. She was as stubborn and hard headed as the worst goblin he had ever met in his life. And through the entire ordeal she had made more and more demands of him. Had he not brought the lights for her? Had he not healed her at every chance that he could?
He treated her as though she was made of the finest crystal and the thanks he got was silence and a stone thrown at him. His shoulder still smarted where the pebble had connected with his flesh.
If it had been any of his men, Ruric would have challenged them. He would have ended the argument with a fight that would have left the both of them sore in the morning. They would have parted amiably with the issue resolved. Goblins enjoyed using physical fighting as a way to settle arguments. Their teeth and claws were put to good use in many a situation.
But with her, there was nothing he could do. He could only glower and exert a patience he did not feel until eventually there was nothing left for him to draw upon.
Or at least so he had thought. His arms shook around her to keep himself away from her. She was so small compared to him, so delicate that he could have crushed her if he tried. Yet she stood strong beneath him. If he moved forward she refused to move back. A warrior in every regard.
It was why he did not kill her then.
It was why he found himself dragging his nose along the length of her neck and inhaling her sweet scent that he had found on everything that he owned. His bed, his clothing, even the crystals that lit his cave held the scent of her. Warm and flavored like the flowers that only bloomed once a year deep in the depths of the caves, she smelled like what he imagined the sun was like.
“Ruric.”
Both of them started at the sound, another voice ringing loudly in the cave.
His head turned slowly over his shoulder, dark eyes reflecting the light the old man carried. Hunched as he was, he looked very much like a beast curled over its prey. Teeth bared, chest still heaving, it was only natural for Micah to be concerned for her well being.
But the beast would remained locked in its cage for now. Growling low in his throat, Ruric reached over her head to slide the cloth closer to the edge before he wrapped it around her shoulders.
Jane had but a moment to realize that even in his anger, his hands were as gentle as ever before. He reached underneath the water to anchor his hands on her waist, fingers nearly touching as he lifted her out of the water and set her on the edge of the pool. She was no small woman, yet he made her feel small.
The towel was situated around her waist before he turned to leave. He said nothing as he stalked out of the bathing cave, leaving puddles in his wake.
CHAPTER EIGHT
HER EYES LINGERED upon the mouth of the cave as she wondered how far Ruric had gone. No matter how much she did not want to be here, Jane knew how unfair it was of her to treat him like that. He had been thoughtful and caring. She simply could not stop thinking of him as anything other than a kind jailor. And in the end, did a kind jailor deserve any better treatment than an unkind one?
“My dear?”
Her head snapped towards the man standing in the corner, having forgotten that he was there.
“Micah. It is good to see you.”
She tucked wet strands of hair behind her ear. She had never unbraided her hair to wash it before this place. However, it had not escaped Jane’s notice that Ruric watched it avidly whenever she allowed it to swing free. Perhaps it was her way of tormenting him just as much as he was tormenting her.
“How are you doing, Jane?”
“I have been trying to inform that brute that I need to go home.”
“Have you now?” He asked wryly, moving into the bathing chamber to settle on the other side of the pool.
“I cannot stay here, Micah. I have a family Above. They need me to take care of them.”
He finished gingerly setting himself down on the stone. She watched as he let out a soft sigh and hiked up the robe he wore to rest his feet and calves in the water.
“I did not know you were married. You do not wear a ring.”
“I’m not married. I’m talking about my brother
and sister. Our parents are… No longer with us.”
“Ah.” He said quietly, smiling at her. “Your siblings will do just fine without you.”
Jane was speechless for a moment, staring at him with her mouth gaping open.
“I don’t need to sit here listening to this. I need to go home. If one of you won’t help me then I will find my own way out.” She started to stand, fully planning on going somewhere that would hopefully lead her out of this abyss.
“Sit back down, Jane. There is much we have to talk about. Or did you not want to hear about the ceremony? I have heard you have been asking about it.”
It was enough to peak her interest. Logically she knew that the likelihood of finding a way out was zero to none. She couldn’t even see without the globes they had provided her with. She did not even know how long they actually lasted.
As she slowly sank back down, he nodded at her.
“I thought perhaps you would be curious.”
“I want to know about the ceremony, Micah. Then I am leaving.” She recognized a man gearing up to tell her a story. Jane did not have the patience for it.
“The ceremony is… well a binding of sorts. It ties Ruric to you as protector and provider.”
Jane narrowed her eyes at him. “Sounds a lot like marriage.”
“In a way…” He wasn’t meeting her eyes at that, considering whether he should tell her the entire truth before he sighed. “Goblins have a different way of thinking than we do. Females have all the control here. You are not required to spend any time with Ruric and you can choose at any time to leave. He is bound to you until he dies after this.”
“That seems a little much,” she said quietly. “I’m not marrying anyone, Micah. I need to go home.”
“I cannot stop you from feeling that way. But Jane, you have to understand this world. These creatures are special. I would do anything within my power to help them prosper.”
She lowered her voice. “Better than our own kind, Micah?”
It was a harsh question. She knew that she was asking him to say he liked goblins more than his own species. This had to be a pet project for him. In the end, Micah was human. His loyalties lay Above.