The Goblin Bride (Beneath Sands Book 1) Emma Hamm (best books under 200 pages .txt) 📖

“Fish.” He answered quietly, stooping low to look over her shoulder at the lights. Every breath pressed his chest against her back but she did not seem to mind. He would move when she asked him to.

“They don’t look like fish.” She said, reaching out a hand but stopping just before she touched the water.

“You can touch.” He said with a half smile. She was so brave his human, wanting to be involved in everything in their world. No matter how much she said she wanted to go home, he could see that she was fascinated by their world.

Her finger dipped into the water, swirling slightly as the school of fish swam up to stare at the new arrival to their world. They seemed intrigued by the movement for a moment, before scattering back into the long fronds at the deepest part of the pool.

“So this is where you came when you were little.”

He reached his hand out to join hers. His long black claw dipped into the water, a well known feature to the tiny fish that made this place their home. They were quick this time to nip at the hard nail.

“I still come here.” He said quietly. “It is peaceful.”

Jane was rather shocked. She never would have guessed that the hard warrior she had come to know would appreciate a quiet place such as this. “So this is… what? Your home away from home?”

“Sometimes.” She watched as his head bobbed in that strange laugh that his kind seemed to have. “It is safe.”

They quieted, both enjoying a moment where they could stare into the water and not have to speak to anyone. He was right that there was a certain amount of peace here. A certain amount of safety without prying eyes or thoughts that someone might be coming to visit. It was an oasis away from the bustling life of the goblin world. She had never expected to be gifted with something so wonderful. Something so profound.

“Ruric, I have to go home.” Her words were quiet. They were said more to the water than to him, a final plea to send her back where she belonged.

He dragged a claw across her cheekbone, catching a strand of hair and gently placing it back where it belonged.

“You are needed here.” He did not know how to make her understand. They needed her. Not just to give them the hybrid they were so desperately hoping for but because she brought about change with her every breath.

“I am needed in my home too.” Jane was stuck. This place was becoming more fascinating each day that passed. She was trusting him more with every soft touch and gentle encouragement. But that did not mean that she would be able to stay here. She had obligations, people who were waiting for her.

That seemed to silence him for a bit, his head dropping down as he looked back at the water. He obviously wanted to argue with her, to tell her she was wrong, but once again he did not. Jane could not manage to tell him how grateful she was that for once, he did not push it.

“I have never seen so much water.” She said quietly, fingers drawing patterns on the top in bright streaks of color. “Where I come from, we hoard water as the most precious thing. It only falls from the sky once or twice a year. But when it does the entire town comes out to dance in it.”

A smile crossed her face at the memories. “Sometimes the sun will come out just at the tail end of the rain. When that happens we can see a rainbow stretching far into the sky. It’s the closest I can say I have seen to the colors here.”

And so it began. She started to talk to him. She told him stories about how she grew up and what life was like Above. She held him enraptured with her voice, even as she sat up and began to gesture with those broad hands. Every detail was painted in his mind, of the yellow sands the color of her hair and the bright scorching sun. He felt as though he knew the people she spoke of, the laughter in her voice when she described her siblings.

He did not know how long she talked, but he laughed with her as she told stories of the most wondrous things. She had lived a life far different from his, yet he could see the similarities. The need of a child to be loved and to seek out adventures. They had been very similar as they aged.

When she seemed to slow in her storytelling, he picked up where she had ended. In his slow, halting manner, he told her what life was like for children in the caves. He spoke of fishing and hunting, of smearing algae onto another child and sending them off into the caves to find them. He spoke of laughter and of heartbreak, of a boy sent away from a mother to live with other males in a different tribe.

By the end of his tales, Ruric noticed a significant improvement as he spoke. It was the first time he had said so many words in her language in one sitting.

It felt right to sit and tell stories with her like this. To make her laugh and to see her eyes sparkle as he explained how the goblins lived. He hoped he had made her understand that they were not animals, that they were simply creatures who were very similar to her. That they were children that grew into honorable men.

By the end of his stories, he could see exhaustion starting to take it’s toll on her. Her eyelids were growing heavy, and she was becoming slower at correcting his words. Eventually he stopped speaking, watching her with his bottomless eyes before standing up.

She blinked up at him, her eyes trying to