The Goblin Bride (Beneath Sands Book 1)

by Emma Hamm

  They were not careful anymore. That had been tossed to the wind when the collapse had started once again. She could feel the rumbles beneath her feet still. If they didn’t get him out in time, it was likely that all five of the goblins would lose their lives.

  An arm wrapped firmly around her waist, the dirt smudged hand seeming foreign and unwanted.

  “No!” She said, struggling against the pull as a goblin tried to tug her away from the cave in with the others. The goblins knew that they needed to be a safe distance away. There was no way for them to guess how far the cave in would reach.

  They moved the injured as the others struggled to help Ruric. She was one of the last to remain waiting. She was one of the few that had been caught staring at the others. It might be the last time she saw him.

  The day had been long, her body had been taxed. Perhaps if she had not been working so hard she might have been able to get away from the goblin who pulled her away. She might have thought to elbow him in the ribs or fall into a dead weight. Instead, Jane merely slumped in his arms.

  They all gathered together a safe distance away. A horde of goblins and one human woman all staring back towards the dark mouth of the tunnel. They could hear the lingering rumbles from where they stood. The deep booms seemed as though the cave itself was groaning. Every now and then she would flinch at the sound.

  One of the goblins placed his hand against her spine, his comforting touch much needed. Those that could still stand remained. They would wait until the final crumble and hope that their brothers survived. They all knew that wall was going to collapse. There was no stopping the earth from swallowing whole what they had carved.

  If either human or goblin knew a God, it was prayers that were whispered in the dark.

  Finally it came. The great crashing clang of stone grinding against stone. The sudden whoosh of air that blew dirt and shards of rock across the small gathering that waited. When Jane opened her eyes, coughing through her palm to look once more, she could not see. The air was filled with particles of dust that burned her lungs.

  They all held their breath as the dust around them glittered in the light of the globes. Their coughing was the only sound that came from the tunnel and she wished that she had their ears. If only she could listen a little harder then maybe, just maybe, she could hear the movement of feet.

  She needed to hear them moving. She wanted him to be alive.

  Jane was stunned as she realized the truth. Ruric had become more than just her captor. He was a good friend, a confidante that did not judge or think less of her for her opinions. He was kind and giving. She realized that he cared for her. That she cared for him. Somehow he had become important to her as the darkness had slowly brightened around her.

  The moment in the cave made everything very clear to her. She had thought him boring. He was so soft that she had thought him to be passive. She knew now her folly. He was not a passive man, nor was he a soft one. He had changed himself for her, altered the way he fundamentally was because he thought that was what she wanted.

  He did not know her as well as he thought.

  She wanted to tell him this, the creature who had become a man in her eyes. She wanted to make it clear that he was no longer an animal to her. That she was thankful for all that he had done even though she had been kidnapped from her home. It was not his fault she missed her siblings. It was not his fault that the goblins had captured her.

  It was not his fault she had been blind to see what bloomed between them.

  Regrets seemed to pile up in her life. Not saying goodbye to her mother the day she died. Using extra of their money to buy extra food for Luther’s birthday so her father had to go into the mine to work that day. And now she could add her regret with Ruric to that list.

  There was a tiny space in her breast that she had not noticed before. An empty place that had been waiting for something to fill it. As the moments dragged on further and further, that space grew. Tearing open in ragged strips so that it nearly consumed her. Until all that was left was a hollow place where her heart used to be.

  Out of the dust, she heard a cough. A few of the goblins lurched forward to race towards the sound but she found that her feet wouldn’t move. She stood alone. The fog swirled around her as the goblins propped themselves up underneath the ones that had survived.

  She counted them as they passed her. One, two, three. None of them with the broad shoulders and severe expression she was searching for. It was cruel that she could not be pleased to see them alive. They had tried to save him. They had risked their lives and that was more than she could have done.

  And yet she still would have traded them all for a mere moment with him.

  The mist turned her around until she did not know which way the goblins were coming from. She stilled when she heard her name.

  “Jane.”

  The soft sound was a thunderclap against her heart. She knew that voice. She knew it deep within her soul even though she had only been here for a month.

  He walked through the mist, dragging the last goblin with him as the two of them held each other up. They were both bleeding and smudged with dirt. But they were both alive.

  Jane had never felt like this before. Both elated and dumbstruck she watched them move forward. She watched as the goblin he was helping fell into the arms of others, clearly wounded. Ruric took a moment to make certain the other goblin was still alive before he turned to limp towards her.

  His great bulk was hindered by his wounds. She could see the great tears in his flesh, the blood that oozed out of them. A few wounds were stopped by the heavy press of dirt and stone.

  “You should not be here.” He raised a hand to point at her. If he had not been having a difficult time remaining upright, the gesture might have been intimidating.

  She bit her lip to keep herself from smiling, shook her head at him slowly. “I think I’m where I’m supposed to be.”

  There was but a moment for Ruric to look surprised before she was gently folding herself into his arms. He had planned to yell at her, to angrily explain that she was never to endanger herself. Not for him. The sight of her had sent cold chills throughout his entire body to know that she had been helping clear out the cave in. She could have been killed with one wrong move. He would never have been able to live with himself if that had happened while he still had air in his lungs.

  But her hands slid along his chest, curving around his spine as though he was made of the finest crystal. In that moment, he felt as though he was capable of shattering.

  The air wheezed out of his lungs. His head dropped slowly to rest against her shoulder. For now he would let her take his weight knowing that she was safe and he was alive. That for a little longer they were together, even if that meant very little to the world they lived in.

  “I thought you were dead,” she whispered. Her lips pressed against the skin of his shoulder, uncaring that it was dirtied by blood.

  His throat vibrated, head nodding in reply. “I was certain of it.”

  The words made her heart clench. “I am glad you are not.”

  A few goblins had remained behind, waiting to see whether or not Ruric needed help on the long climb back to his home. They would remember this sight before them very clearly.

  A human and a goblin embraced by the swirling dust and rubble of a cave in, illuminated by the blue glow of the globes. They held each other as though they were both delicate things that could barely be touched. One as though made of thin crystal and the other made of moth wings.

  It was the first time anyone had ever seen the two of them touching. Never before had this odd couple shown affection in front of others, save perhaps a few passing glances. But in this moment, it was clear that when one breathed out the other breathed in.

  Ruric lifted his head and nodded to the other goblins. They disappeared into the fog quickly, their footsteps soon incapable of being heard.

  It was then that he
pulled back from her, enough to hold a shaking hand up to her face. He loved to cup her jaw, to hold her against his palm. The fragile bone fit against him perfectly.

  “You are a brave, foolish human.” He said quietly.

  “Yes, I am.”

  “You should not work in the mines with them. It is not any place for a woman.”

  “Funny, that’s what the human men told me too.” She smiled at him, her own hand raising to rest against his. “I managed just fine along side them.”

  He shook his head at her. “I want you safe, not working in the mines.”

  “Well you’re lucky that I was here. I got all of you out didn’t I?”

  Slowly, his head inclined to the side. It was a slight admission that she had been a help, and that was all that she could ask for.

  Her head dropped down to touch against his collarbone, her breathing finally even and heart calm. She should step back from him. She should start dragging him to whatever it was that they considered a healer and demand that he be checked over.

  But her fingers desperately needed to feel his warmth. Her hands needed to know that he was still alive. Her arms had to hold him, to feel every breath he took. It was likely that her heart also needed to feel the beat of his own against her breast. Everything thump was an answering call to her own.

  “I am alive and well.” His voice vibrated against the top of her head. She could hear the sound of amusement in it, as well as something she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

  A shuddering sigh was her answer, a slow nod against his skin lingering until she could manage to pull herself away from him. She didn’t know what had gotten into her. It wasn’t like Jane to worry or be nervous. Even when her little sister had broken her arm, Jane had been a steady rock as they set the bone back in place.

  She didn’t know what it was about this man that called to her. All she knew was that hollow space that had grown so large in his absence was now full once more. She had an ocean inside of her that only thrived when he was near.

  “You need to see a healer.”

  Instead of moving to do as she said, he stepped forward once more. One thick thumb smoothed the lines between her eyes, the other catching a few of the tears on her cheeks that she hadn’t noticed had fallen.

  He said nothing, of which she was appreciative. Jane was not a woman that liked to have others see her cry. Ruric had already seen her do so more than she wanted to admit. But somehow crying in front of him was not so much of a dishonor as it would have been for others. He made her feel safe enough to cry and strong enough to not fear them.

  “Let us go to the healer.” He murmured slowly, those large eyes searching hers for something that she did not know or understand.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  THE HEALER BANDAGED him well. Jane hovered over his shoulder the entire time. If anyone was going to approve the healer’s work, it would be her. Thankfully most of his injuries would heal quickly. Ruric complained much more than she expected during the entire process. For such a stoic man, he did not like to be poked and prodded.

  He translated for her as the healer spoke, though there were a few times that he gave her one word answers after the goblin had been speaking for a long amount of time.

  She was coming to realize that she had stopped thinking of Ruric as a goblin. Though he was the same as the rest of them, she had set him apart in her mind as though he was something more. Or perhaps something else. The others still unnerved her with their murky eyes and long toothed smiles. But with him, she found she could make eye contact without flinching.

  The connection between them was something she was willing to foster. Strange how quickly things could change. He had almost died, the grave face of the healer told her that it was likely others had.

  And when they were finally allowed to go back to Ruric’s cave, she sighed with relief. They were released from the clutches of worry once they were back in his home. The familiar walls and warm colored tapestries soothed the muscles in her spine. It was an odd thing to make her calmer but she was finding that this place was starting to feel like home.

  “You should rest.” She said quietly, her worried eyes looking over him.

  He nodded, heading towards the back of the cave where she slept.

  “I don’t mind if you want my bed, that’s fine.” Her words echoed.

  “It is my bed.” She heard his voice echo through the cave, startling her into looking up and wondering how he had managed to hide that from her.

  “It’s yours?”

  Jane was quick to follow him deeper into the cave as he wandered away from her. By the time she had caught up, he was already seating himself on the edge of the hammock, swinging slightly with a balance she was slowly starting to master.

  “Why did you let me sleep here, if this was yours Ruric?” She asked when he did not respond to her initial question.

  He shrugged. “You needed sleep.”

  “Well you need sleep now. You rest here, I’ll sleep where ever you have been sleeping.” She paused. “Which is…”

  Instead of answering her, he remained quiet and opened his arms.

  It was a request that she would never have considered a few days ago. The hammock simply wasn’t big enough for the two of them. She would have to press against him in a way that was too close. It wasn’t what a friend would do.

  Now she felt too raw to deny him. She wanted to know that he was safe. Sleeping near him would give her the opportunity to hear his heart was beating against her for the rest of the night. Besides, nothing would happen between them. A hammock wasn’t exactly the best place for that sort of thing.

  She placed her hand in his, allowing him to guide her as he lay back in the hammock and took her with him. She had thought it would have been an awkward movement. The uncontrollable swinging of the hammock had been a war she had waged since arriving here. But he leaned back with ease, one of his legs drifting over the side to toe the ground and set them at an easy swing.

  He tucked her into his side. They fit surprisingly well despite the large difference in size. He took up a lot of the space and she was hardly the soft kind of pillow men usually liked. But his claws traced circles upon her skin and the wide stretch of his chest made for a comfortable resting place.

  Silence stretched between them. She could feel the weight of it upon her as though it were a living thing. There was much to be said between them, and yet neither of them wished to start speaking.

  “Ruric?” She asked quietly, unsure of herself and their situation.

  The rumbling sound was his own acknowledgement, though she knew he was listening. The weight of silence pressed down upon her until she had to break it with something, anything.

  “If there are no female goblins, what do the males do? I mean, for companionship.”

  A chuckle made her shift up and down as he thought on how to answer her question. “Many seek comfort with other males. It is not unheard of. No creature likes to be alone.”

  She blushed, knowing what he meant and finding herself foolish for asking it. “Of course, I should have guessed that.”

  Once again silence bubbled between them, though this time there was a question lingering in the air that they both were not sure they wanted to explore.

  “Did you-?”

  She let it linger, not saying the entire sentence but knowing he would understand her meaning.

  Her head bobbed as he shrugged. “I have spent my life training to protect. There has been little time for anything else. There have been a few but nothing that lasted.”

  “Right.” She said, biting her lip to keep from smiling. “Though you don’t seem exactly inexperienced.”

  For a moment, Jane wondered if he would understand the word. Micah had likely never taught him that one, there wouldn’t be a reason for Ruric to use it.

  “I am compared to many.” His words were weighted with exhaustion, but he didn’t seem to want to sle
ep. “For many years now my purpose was to serve and protect our Queen. It has been a long time since there was anyone in my cave.”

  The words were quiet in the air, yet they seemed to crackle around her. He hadn’t been with anyone in a long time, that was intriguing. Why would someone like him not have anyone here? Other goblins had seemed to live with each other. She had seen many of them entering the mouths of caves with others.

  Why then had Ruric chosen to remain alone? This cave was certainly big enough for more. She couldn’t fathom why he wouldn’t have at least had another body to make it feel more like a home.

  She had grown up in a tent full of people. Even when their parents had passed away, there had always been friends of Luther or Willow that lit up their tent with bright bubbling laughter. The thought of living by herself had always terrified her. Silence was something she had never learned to be comfortable with. Silence brought with it the insecurities of not being good enough or filling the shoes of her parents.

  “You have been alone?” She hadn’t meant for her voice to sound like that. The pitying tone would likely be an insult to him more than a kindness.

  Once more he surprised her though. He chuckled, laying a hand firmly against his ribs as he did so. “It is not so bad to be alone. I preferred it as a child.”

  “I didn’t.” She said, carefully laying a hand flat against his chest. “I hated being alone. There was always people around and when there weren’t that usually meant something was wrong.”

  “I cannot imagine having that many people.” He said quietly. “It must be very different, Above.”

  “Yes it is.” She said quietly, not wanting to make him uncomfortable but knowing that it needed to be said. “I loved it there. The sun on my face and the sand beneath my toes is all I have known for my entire life. It is difficult to think I will never feel that again.”