by Emma Hamm
It felt as though her very world was turning upside down.
The trills stopped after a time and Jane assumed that this meant that the female was done speaking. The others seemed to look to her to understand what they needed to do next. Like some kind of leader, she gestured with her hand towards the humans.
The first goblin stepped forward, shoving the human he was guarding so hard that the man fell to his knees before the strange gathering of creatures in bright colors. Even from where she stood, Jane could see that he was shaking.
The warbles started again, the deep thrumming within their throats starting to wear on her ears. She did not like it that they were speaking and she had no manner of knowing what they were saying. Jane didn’t even know whether they spoke the same way. Humans tended to vocalize upwards at the end of a question or soften when they speaking quietly and kindly. These creatures were nothing like her species. Perhaps they didn’t speak in the same way either.
On the dais before her, one of the goblin males nodded towards the man. If she could read their faces at all she might have suggested that he looked bored. But she couldn’t tell. She didn’t understand what they were doing. Why were they bringing miners down into these depths? What was the point of keeping them alive?
Obviously, for Jane and Simon, this would have been punishment. They had killed. That she could understand. But this wasn’t punishment for the others. They had done nothing wrong.
Each man was shoved before the gathering of goblins. Forced onto their knees, some would find the courage to look at the goblins, others would keep their eyes on the ground. The warbles and trills would start again and eventually one of the goblins would gesture with their hand.
Jane assumed that perhaps this meant that they were being spoken for. A kind of slavery perhaps, or food if they were truly unlucky. Every now and then she saw a flash of pointed teeth and she shivered. To be eaten alive by something such as that… The thought was unimaginable.
Eventually it was her turn, and unlike the others Jane had been watching and observing. She knew when it was her time to step forward, she had been counting underneath her breath for the past ten minutes waiting for her future to come barreling towards her.
She stepped forward on her own, the goblin behind her catching air as he reached forward to shove. She kept her gaze on the goblins though she did sink to her knees as the others had. Foolish was something Jane had never been called before in her life. There was a reason every human so far had knelt before these creatures.
But she could not lower her eyes. The sight of the female goblin in her dress of many colors was captivating in a way that the stone she had seen in her tunnel could never be. She was so lovely in such an unearthly way that Jane didn’t want to stop looking at her. If she was going to go to her death, then she wanted to do so looking into the eyes of the creature that would order it.
CHAPTER FIVE
“VERY FORWARD THIS one.”
Their queen was aged now. Her spine was bent so firmly that she would never walk straight again. Yet her strength could not be denied. She had ruled for a very long time, and someday she would give the throne up to another. But that day would take quite a long time to come.
Ruric leaned forward slightly, his throat vibrating as he answered her. “Milia, I do not believe he recognizes me.”
Long ago Ruric had won the right to call their queen by name. He was of her bloodline, but there were quite a few that were of her bloodline by now. Countless hours had been devoted to the creature resting delicately on the crystal throne before him. It was why he was the one who had guided her onto the highest peak in their kingdom. It was why he also knew how tired she was becoming.
The queen ran a claw over her lip, eyes narrowed at the man who knelt before her. She was correct in saying that he was forward. None of the other humans had willingly dropped to their knees before her. He could not remember a human that would have done so. They all had too much pride and arrogance to feel comfortable lowering themselves before something they had long ago declared as monsters.
“This one is different.”
“It is the same.” He rumbled from his post at her right shoulder. “He was with the other that killed Shusar’s son.”
“Perhaps. But was this one responsible for it?” Her head cocked to the side, eyes wide as she watched the human. He recognized that look of interest. She was planning something.
“I do not believe so, there was no blood on it.”
“If there was no blood, why say you that it is the same?”
The question baffled him. “They are all the same, my queen. They kill. They destroy. They conquer.”
“Yes that is what we teach isn’t it.” He caught the ghost of a smile on her lips before she continued to speak. “But this one is different.”
Ruric could feel himself becoming frustrated with her. He could not show it. He would not embarrass himself in front of the rest of the court. The members before him already disliked his familiarity with the queen.
Their court system was hardly functional at best and they knew how Ruric felt about them. He had trained his entire life for strength and power. The goblins that sat before him enjoyed the beauty and value of things more than how things were made. Ruric stood out among them like a sore thumb.
Wrapped in leather, wearing his customary furred shoulder pieces and weaponry, Ruric looked far more the part of the barbarian than the creatures next to him. He disdained them for the foolish way that they forced what they wanted to occur. He disliked the way they frequently attempted to strong arm the queen into doing things she had already refused to do. Milia was a good queen, but she was aging.
Far too quickly for his liking.
“As I said before, my queen. None are different.”
This time he did see the smile, the flash of sharp teeth as she tilted her head towards him. “Ruric, you have much to learn youngling.”
There were a few hissing laughs of those on the court as she held her hand out towards him. Ruric was far from a youngling, though the queen would likely always see him as a goblin child stumbling around her.
Gritting his teeth until he nearly punctured his tongue, he held onto her hand and helped her balance herself. He was, however, shocked when she started towards the human.
Every goblin on the peak tensed as she got closer. If the human made one wrong move, it would be killed instantly. They could not afford to lose their queen, nor did they care about the small life of a human. The goblin behind the man had already drawn his blade. Ruric could smell the fear dripping out of the humans pores from where he stood.
The queen made her way slowly to the creature kneeling on the ground, the smile still on her face as she got to the man. Ruric didn’t understand the smile. Humans did not appreciate the rare facial expression upon goblins. They thought it was frightening. And to these creatures whose teeth were so dull they could hardly rip through bread, he was not surprised that they would be intimidated. The thought did not make him pity them.
One black claw hooked underneath the man’s chin, tilting it to the side so that she could see his face more clearly.
“This one is different.”
“You have said that already my queen.” He said softly, bowing lower when she looked at him with disdain in her eyes. “I merely acknowledge your words.”
“You acknowledge Ruric, but you do not listen.”
Her nail tapped the man on the chin, then reached behind him to pull the long blonde braid around his shoulder.
“This one is female.”
There was a ripple through the goblins, each one leaning forward just slightly as they scrutinized the creature before them a little more intensely. Even Ruric was holding his breath as he looked at the man who was not a man. Surely they would have recognized a female when they had one in their grasp. Yet he could not be certain that they would.
For centuries the goblins had watched their female population diminish. Every generation ha
d produced less and less females until his generation there had only been a small handful that had been produced. They were on the cusp of being wiped out by their own small genetic pool. There simply wasn’t enough of them, even though there were other tribes of goblins underneath the ground.
Females were spread out between the tribes evenly so that there was a larger chance of genetic differences. That had been the plan for years. Unfortunately, it hadn’t been enough. By the calculations of their doctors there were only a few more years left before every goblin that was born would be male. It was a bleak existence for them, and the slow dying out of a race that had been here far longer than the humans.
It was why Ruric could believe that they had not seen a female in their midst. Many of the goblins here had never seen a female other than their queen. She was aged, different from many goblins he had seen in his lifetime.
And this was a female human. They were as unknown to his kind as the land they lived upon. He had not thought twice that all the other men had short cropped hair. Nor had he noticed it when the braid had fallen out of the hat. Most of the goblin men wore their hair long. It was their females that traditionally cropped their hair short to expose the long length of their neck.
“Female?”
The words came from one of the court members behind them. Ruric’s shoulders tensed at the sound. Dumar was one of the few goblins that Ruric despised. Since early on in their life the two had been at odds. One meant for importance and responsibility, and the other meant for nothing more than war. He knew how devious Dumar was and he knew how dark the creatures thoughts were.
It made him nervous that he was showing interest in the female. He wanted to turn back towards the man, to give him a glare that would warn him to keep his tongue quiet for the time being. But he was still looking over the woman before him.
As though a different light had been shone upon her, he was starting to notice the differences that his queen had mentioned. She was softer in the face than the other men, though he had originally guessed that was due to her age. Her neck was slimmer and longer, her hands more delicate. How were they to know what kind of precious thing they had brought down into their depths.
“Perhaps she could be used to our advantage then, my queen.” Dumar slowly rose. The other goblin was much taller than he first appeared. All those pretty robes obscured him from view.
“We have never been given the opportunity to discover if humans are genetically compatible with our kind.” Dumar certainly wasn’t pulling any punches as he voiced his thoughts. “This could be our chance to explore other options. I’m certain the other tribes would approve.”
Ruric hated the silky tone of the other goblin’s voice. Unlike his own, it was melodic in quality. The rises and falls of soft trills were pleasing to the ear, entrancing sometimes even. Ruric in comparison was far too harsh. His guttural tones could never be considered musical, nor could they be considered soft. Other goblins had even compared him to humans in the way that his voice made their ears twitch.
“For once I do agree with you.” The queen regarded the female closely, blinking slowly as if trying to gather all the information she could about the woman.
For Ruric this was all confusing. Females were something none of them had any experience with other than the queen herself. To give such a prized gift to one of the court members would be to bestow a large favor upon the person. It would be the same as naming a successor in the eyes of the other goblins.
The queen gently stroked a claw along the line of the human woman’s cheekbone. To their culture it was a soft touch, one that should have soothed and calmed. Yet as he watched, the eyes of the woman drifted shut as her shoulders started to shake. He could smell her fear and yet still she remained stubbornly upright. Her bravery was honorable as she faced something surely out of her nightmares.
“Ruric?”
“Yes my queen.” She had startled him away from looking at the female again, so fascinated was he by her strength and pride.
“You have dedicated your life to my protection. I think it fitting now to release you from those shackles.”
He nearly fell to his knees. To be released from a duty that had been his meaning of life since he was born, was the ultimate disgrace. That she would do it now, in front of the rest of the court, meant that she wanted it to be public. He had no idea what he had done to deserve such treatment, but he nearly howled as she said the words. It was as good as a death sentence in this world. The others would hunt him down and he would not fight them. He could already hear the excited clacking of Dumar’s teeth.
“You will protect her now.” She let go of the woman and turned back towards the throne. “If we must mix blood to preserve our kind, then it is a risk I am willing to take. I entrust that you are capable of fulfilling this duty as honorably as you have your last?”
She always had enjoyed her games. The queen never liked life to be boring, and for her the years always seemed to go by slower and slower. Courtly intrigue had diminished as the females left for other courts. Males bowed to her whim whenever she wished for anything.
The only way she could entertain herself was to do things like this.
Ruric could see the sparkle in her black eyes as she looked at him. She knew he had thought she was throwing him out, only to raise him up to the highest level he could be offered without becoming part of the court.
“If that is what you wish, I would be honored to take on the responsibility.”
He bowed before her, hand fisted over his chest.
On her knees before them, she realized quickly how much she was at a disadvantage. The female had pressed that curved black claw against her cheek, reminding her firmly that Jane was not in a world she knew anything about. Those teeth had glinted in the dim lights around them, bared in what seemed like a macabre grimace. Her heart pounded loudly, nearly painful as it rocked inside her chest.
But then, just when she was certain she was going to die, the creature had turned away from her. She had stepped back and started once more that trilling sound that was both beautiful and terrifying.
Jane had tried very hard to keep her spine straight. She had too much pride to be on her knees before them without showing some kind of strength. It was foolhardy perhaps, but she wasn’t going to go to her death like the others.
As the butterfly like creature moved away from her, Jane could not hold onto the edges of her tattered strength anymore. Her body curved. Her shoulders slumped until her hands were pressed against the floor in front of her. Shudders fluttered through her every few seconds though she tried very hard to control her breathing. Never in her life had she assumed that death would come in a garb of so many colors and with a voice that sounded like singing.
There were so many ways for her to die in Silnarra. Starvation, thirst, someone killing her over a dispute in the sands. Then she had lied and started working in the mines, knowing full well that she could follow in her father’s footsteps and be crushed under the weight of stone. If she was lucky, she would have followed Luther to the City and ended her life on the stones of the City’s floor. At least then she would have had the knowledge that her brother and sister were safe and happy.
Now what would her siblings do? Would they leave as she had asked them to? That bird man at the glass wall was hardly going to give them the money she had worked for. They had no way to prove that they were related to her in any way. Jane had lied about who she was to get in and had left no ties to the Penderghasts for fear of being caught. Now that could backfire on her family.
Jane had failed their parents. It would have been a blessing to be torn to shreds by these creatures but she could not force herself to be brave in this instance. The thought of those curved black claws raking through skin would have made the bravest of men quake.
Surely it was not a terrible thing that she was admitting to such weakness.
There were a few more words said, and she could only call
them words now that she understood it was a language. Still she remained folded as she was, her braid falling over one shoulder to touch the ground next to her hands.
So entranced was she that the other humans were shuffled away and out of the cave without her notice. Her breathing was steady and even, though it was clear that her mind had vacated her body for the time being.
Soon the rest of the goblins had left too, walking back down the peak and disappearing. Jane would remained crouched as she was with her hands pressed hard against the stone in front of her. The pricks of pain reminded her that she was alive. And if she was alive, that meant she had to show at least a little bit of strength. It was what she was raised to do. Dignity, even in the darkest of times, could change many things.
Eventually she raised her head and looked around herself in shock. She quickly realized that she had been left alone on the flat peak.
There was a stillness that was left behind. The ghostly imprints of footsteps and too bright colors could be seen behind her eyes. Colors that she had only seen in the wake of the sun. She had been blinded by the beauty of those creatures, as well as by the oddity of them. Now that they were gone it felt almost like a dream.
It would be so much easier if this had all been a dream. Perhaps soon she would see the bright lights of the helmets she had become accustomed to. Simon would likely slap her back harder than ever before just because she got lost in the tunnels, but would remind her that there was natural gas here that caused hallucinations. She could regale him with her stories of goblins that seemed like butterflies who spoke in ringing tones of beauty.
He would laugh her for such fanciful thoughts. Then remind her that a man didn’t talk like that, and wink at her with his cheeks bright red with laughter. She should have noticed long before that he knew she was lying to all of them. He had given her enough hints.
She came back into herself with a firmness that startled her. Dreaming of the beauty of these creatures was shoved to the side as she realized that she was completely and utterly alone. The darkness was all around her and without one of those blue lights they had been carrying, she was blind.
