The Goblin Bride (Beneath Sands Book 1)

the girl now, if you please.”
The strange warbling trill of the goblin woke her.
Jane sat up, her hair in disarray and her eyes dry. She had no idea where she was or what was happening, until she shifted the globe in her lap and it tumbled onto the floor with rattling clink.
The light within it burst to life, illuminating the cave around her. Then she remembered. Goblins, caves, Simon. The strange butterfly like woman that had haunted her dreams as she slept. Life had taken an even stranger turn than living in a desert and working in a mine. She wasn’t sure how much more she could take until her mind snapped like a string pulled taut.
“Really, Ruric this is ridiculous. I’m only going to help her. Move aside!”
Another grunt made her realize that the large goblin named Ruric wasn’t letting whoever was speaking in. If there was someone that was speaking her language that could also talk to goblins, she wanted to meet them immediately.
Getting out of the hammock wasn’t going to be easy. As the two men muttered at each other, she tried to slide a leg over the edge and place it on the ground. All she succeeded in doing was making the hammock swing violently until she was dumped onto the ground with a shout.
The ground came towards her faster than she expected and she wheezed to get more air into her lungs. It was her own foolish struggling that had transplanted her onto the ground. The pain in her chest could only be blamed on herself. Though she desperately wanted to complain, the hammock had been comfortable to sleep in. She just needed to learn how to get in and out without breaking a rib in the process.
The cave echoed with the sound of running feet as both men came crashing towards her. She was lifted from the ground by her shoulders and placed gently back in the hammock.
Jane was surprised at the gentility the goblin could show. His claws hardly even grazed her even with the speed he had lifted her. His strong arms had left a lingering warmth upon her body. She hadn’t realized she was so cold until he had touched her.
“Are you alright, my dear?”
Jane blinked in the darkness, trying to make out the forms that were around her while she struggled, yet again, to get out of the hammock.
“I’m fine.” She grunted. “Why did he put me back in here?”
A firm hand was planted on her sternum, holding her in place. The clawed tips made it very clear who was holding her. Jane stilled immediately as her heart sped up in fear. “Safe.”
She was starting to think he didn’t understand her language as well as he thought he did. “Safe in the hammock? Did you not see what just happened, Goblin? I am safer if I get up.”
He didn’t budge.
“Whoever you are, please tell him to let me up. I want to get up.”
There was a slight warble from the voice she did not know and an answering rumble from the goblin who was holding her. His arms were bands of steel around her. Slowly panic started to set in. Perhaps she was going to be eaten after all.
“Ruric. Let me up.” She said firmly.
That seemed to do it, though his hand slid from her chest a little too slowly for her liking. This time he cupped her elbow, steadying her as she placed her feet onto the floor.
“Thank you.” She muttered, dusting herself off. “Who are you?”
There was another person in here. She just couldn’t see them. It was unnerving to say the least.
“Here, perhaps this will help.” She watched as a globe was shaken in front of her, the strings of lights within it glowing brightly until the entire globe was lit up. It was as dim as the others, but it did cast the two men in front of her with a soft blue light. The goblin was as startling as ever. Those pitch black eyes sending shivers down her spine. The other man was intriguing though. Gray hair and spectacles, he had the wrinkled face of a man who had seen many years of happiness.
He nodded towards her, holding his hand out. “My name is Micah.”
“Micah. My name is Jane.” She shook his hand with a suspicious look. “I’ll ask one more time, who are you?”
Ruric crossed his arms over his broad chest, the movement making her take a step further away from him. He seemed to get larger every time that she saw him.
“I am an unofficial linguistic here Below. I wanted to come and welcome you myself. There aren’t many of us who speak the language of Above and it is always reassuring to have something that is familiar. I’m certain that you are curious as to why you are here and what is happening.”
“Somehow I doubt you’re going to explain what is happening to me entirely.” She muttered. Once again Ruric shifted, his bulk making her skitter sideways until she realized that he was picking up the globe she had dropped. Jane took it from his hands much the same way as she had the first time. A quick snatch to ensure he could not grab onto her.
“I will tell you as much as I can.” Micah paused, looking at her for a moment before adding, “If you shake it-”
“Yes I know if I shake it, it will glow.” She snapped back, frustrated at herself and this new situation. But she shook the globe anyways, perhaps a little too forcefully.
“My goodness.” At his gasp, she looked up at him. Somehow she doubted that it was her stunning beauty that had him staring at her with his mouth hanging open.
“What?”
“You’re covered in blood!”
Well of course she was. She hadn’t had a bath since she had been dragged down here. After getting her head bashed against the wall, dragged through tunnels, and who knows what else, she wasn’t surprised she didn’t look her best. The