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Disclaimer: I don't own The Hollow Kingdom. The genius is Clare B. Dunkle.
Melanie's PoV
My next few days in this hell hole went by without anything unnatural. I stayed in the small room I woke up in, morning, noon, and night; although I didn't know when any of those times were. In the morning the Goblin King would march in with some food, always accompanied by his mother, and would sit with me while I eat. He would talk during this time, about his Kingdom and things like that. I never paid attention much. Just ate slowly and concentrated on my hands.
In the noon he would bring more food and another hideous little woman goblin to make sure I was all healed up. Somehow she was even more ugly then the Goblin King, with squat little blue eyes, green skin, and little dog ears and a muzzle. At least the Goblin King looked like an ugly human.
In the night before I would sleep he would bring more food, this time by himself. He would talk as always, chatting to himself about everything. He seemed content to keep up the one sided conversations with himself. But after two days he finally got me to talk after mentioning letting me leave.
My head snapped up and I dropped the small piece of bread he had brought. "You'll let me go!?" I muttered, my voice hoarse from not being used for two days. He raised an oddly angled eyebrow and pursed his grey lips.
"This room, yes." He said, and my heart dropped out of my chest. I felt the hope simmer away and tears start to come again. "I'm sorry, little elf. I can't let you leave. We still have months until the wedding and I don't even know if I can allow you to go outside then." He sighed, watching me with those eyes.
"Why don't you just marry me now? Get it over with." I snapped, throwing the food down and shoving it away. He sighed, running those ugly fingers through his silky hair.
"My father isn't dead yet. I can't be king until he's passed. And even then we'll have to wait three months." He said simply, but I heard a small tinge of sadness. This thing actually cared about his father? No, he probably wanted nothing more then to rule sooner.
"Then why did you have to take me now?" I hissed, blinking back the tears. I didn't want him to see me cry again. I wasn't going to be weak anymore."Why couldn't you have given me more time up there?" I muttered, wrapping my arms around my knees.
I heard him sigh and lean back in his chair. "What else were you going to do up there, Melanie?" He said, tilting his head and watching me. "Go and party some more? Fake your way through those awful dinners you hate so much that you're grandmother made you stay at? Were you going to keep up with that cage your parents kept you in?" He gave a sad smile, those eyes boring into me. "Besides, if we hadn't taken you here, you would have died in that cold. That's the favor's humanity did you up there."
I sucked in a breath, flinching at the God awful truth. He was right of course. I was caged in up there, by my parents, my grandmother. I could almost see the way these next few months here in England would have played out. Stay with my grandmother's harsh insults all day before I snuck out to party with my new "friends." Then I would get home and do the same thing. That is, if he hadn't left me in the cold to die.
"I'm caged in here." I pointed out, trying to make any kind of argument. Even if it was hopeless.
"To an extent." He said, shrugging. "But Melanie, Goblin's aren't monsters. They won't hurt you, they won't try to force you to be someone your not. When you're the King's Wife, they'll want to be like you. The woman will dress like you do, they'll wear the jewelry you do. The men will try to please you. They'll bring you anything you ask from up there." He leaned forward during this little speech, looking almost desperate. Like he wanted me to come around to him. I couldn't see why it would matter. He was going to force me to do all these things down here anyway. "They'll try to make you happy. Just like I will."
I gave a bitter laugh, turning to glare at him. "How are you any better then my parents. You're going to force me to be you're wife, something I don't want to be. My parents were trying to do the same thing. And then you're going to force me to put on a happy face for your people, like my parents did at parties or when I was with other people they were trying to impress. And what about getting that heir of your's?" I snapped, leaning forward myself. All the hate was pouring from me now. I wanted him to see what he was doing. "When were married, you'll force me to get on my knees too. You'll make me do all that again-"
He grabbed my face then, his strong, clawed hands forcing me to stare up at him. I'd done it again. Made him angry. I didn't flinch though, I just stared up at him with defiance. "I will never make you do that, Melanie." He growled, that deep voice radiating through me. His thumb gently grazed my cheek and I wondered why he was being so gentle. Trying to prove to me he wasn't going to do what I was accusing him of. He was only trying to throw me off. "I won't make you do that for me." He said, his hands sliding down my face and down my arms until he held both my hands. "Why do you think I took you down here now?" He whispered softly. "Most Goblin Kings take there brides when it is their reign and then make them marry them the night they capture them. I brought you down here early so you when we married you would be fine by then. Maybe even trust me a bit."
He sighed, closing his eyes and letting my hands go as he stood up. I felt frozen. He thought he was doing me a favor. He was trying to say he was... being kind. I didn't understand. None of it would fit together to make sense. "I will be kind to you, Melanie." He said softly, staring down at me with a look of... caring. He gently brushed back my black hair, those cold fingers brushing my cheek again. "I will prove to you that I care." And he pressed another soft kiss to my forehead before leaving me utterly... confused.
He didn't come the next day, but his mother, Luna did as usual. She didn't bring food this time though. Instead she gave me a small smile, laying down a bundle on the end of my bed. "Blackeyes thinks you should come visit the other brides today. You can get dressed and then I'll take you to meet them." She explained, her voice light and cheery. Other brides. More captured woman trapped down here. I wasn't sure that was what I wanted to see. It would be my future shoved in front of me.
But it meant getting out of this small, boring room. Maybe I could even devise a plan to leave. If I looked around this place a bit I could find a way out. I immediately jumped up and grabbed for the clothes. Luna turned away, giving me my privacy as I changed. The clothes were simple jeans and a plain black tee-shirt.
"Can we go now?" I asked as Luna turned, giving me a somewhat surprised look. She gave a nod, her face slightly curious now. I tried to muster a smile, but I couldn't even manage. After all these years of acting for my mother, I guess the will had just filtered out down here.
I followed her out the door, leaving that room behind us. We were in a small hall with the same lanterns that gave the little light I had in my room. I followed Luna down the hall, past several other rooms. I studied everything I could carefully. That was until I caught sight of more Goblins.
There was so many different types of ugly that it overwhelmed me entirely. Some were more animal then human, with animal fur or eyes or feet. Others didn't look like anything I'd ever seen before, with large lumpy heads, bizarre eyes and bodies. I wanted to puke and pass out at the same time. I didn't know how Luna could smile at the different creatures so convincingly. I couldn't even concentrate on my surroundings enough, so I just stared straight at the back of Luna's head, trying not to look at those ugly things anymore.
After a while we reached a small suite looking place. Luna stopped before a door, knocking and stepping back to smile at me. The door whipped open suddenly and a small girl stood before us. I gasped at the sight of her, those snake eyes in the middle of a small, heartbreakingly beautiful face. She was an odd mixture of the Goblin ugly and Luna's elf beauty. She smiled at me though, blinking those odd eyes. "Mommy! Auntie Luna is here!" She cried, moving toward Luna with a smile. Luna picked her up, holding her close as she entered the quarters. I followed, regretting this more and more.
Another elf woman stepped out, just as beautiful as Luna. She had bright, beautiful blonde curls tied up with several ribbons, sparkling dark blue eyes and a gentle smile. She gave Luna a nod before turning to look me over. "Melanie, this is Anu." Luna said, nodding toward the woman. Anu smiled at me, nodding her head.
"Is this the girl Blackeyes is gonna marry?"
I whipped around to find another girl sitting off to the side, watching the both of us. She clearly wasn't elf like Luna and Anu. She was definitely human, but still beautiful in her own way. She gave me a small smile, watching me with warm, brown eyes. She had long red hair that curled at the ends and pale skin with freckles sprinkled across her nose. Her hands were cupped around her pregnant belly. She couldn't be more then 17 years old. "I'm Rosaleen." She said, giving me a warm smile. She stood up, extending her freckled hand. I took it, oddly comforted to have another human around. The disturbing mixture of inhuman beauty and inhuman ugliness was getting old.
"Melanie." I muttered, folding my arms close to me.
"It's nice to finally meet you, Melanie." Anu said. Her voice was as melodic and beautiful as Luna's. "You can have a seat wherever." Anu smiled, nodding her head toward the chairs Rosaleen was sitting at. I nodded gratefully, taking a seat across from where Rosaleen had planted herself.
"You all... you were all forced down here too?" I mumbled, glancing between Anu and Rosaleen.
"Yes. I was one of the brides that was stolen in some of the raids." Anu explained as the little snake-eyed girl ran into her lap. "It's not so bad after a while." Anu shrugged, gently running her fingers through the little girls hair. "You get used to the Goblins. And they're all very kind."
"A lot more interesting too." Rosaleen pipped up with a smile. "They can do magic and things. Anu and them don't find it as impressive because elves can do magic too, but I've always loved it." She explained. "Karn, my husband, he always does magic for me."
"You actually like it here?" I asked, watching Rosaleen carefully. I wasn't sure why her opinion of the Goblin's meant more to me. Maybe it was because of our shared humanity.
"It's better then in the human world." Rosaleen said matter of factly. She smoothed out her shirt, staring down at her belly for a moment. "Human's weren't so nice to me. My mother left when I wasn't even old enough to walk and my father was a drunk." She looked back up at me for a moment, a sad smile on her face. "Karn's the best thing that's ever happened to me. He's my best friend and I love him."
Love a Goblin? I couldn't even fathom caring about those ugly, beastly creatures. Especially Blackeyes. I couldn't imagine it.
"You don't understand it now." Anu said gently, almost like she was reading my mind. "But after you get over the aversion to them you will. Goblin's are good people."
"How are they possibly good if they kidnap people?" I breathed. I was starting to think I was surrounded by insane people. The captors and their brainwashed wives. This was all insane. How could Blackeyes think this would help? Did he think because I saw a couple happy brides I would be fine? That I would change my mind about everything?
"It's just the way things are done here." Rosaleen said, waving her hand as if it was nothing. "Goblin King's can't have children with other Goblins and the higher family men can have children with other woman too. The king always has brides brought down to strengthen the higher families."
"So it doesn't bother you that you're only here to have children?" I snapped, glaring at her. She was human, but she was a traitor. How could she not see what was right before her face?
"That's not all." Rosaleen said, looking slightly offended as she lay a hand on her stomach.
"Sweetheart," Anu interrupted, looking slightly distressed. "The Goblin's care about more then getting a baby from the brides. Blackeyes truly cares about you, as Karn does for Rosaleen and Marak cares for Luna."
I shook my head, standing. I didn't want to listen to this insanity anymore. "This is insane." I hissed, glaring at Rosaleen and Anu. "You're all insane if you think these people are good!"
"Maybe you weren't ready for this." Luna whispered gently, standing up too.
I just stared at the ground, to furious to care anymore. Luna said her goodbyes before exiting. I followed her out.
I was stuck here, surrounded by insane monsters. I didn't have anyone on my side. I was completely alone, surrounded by a sea of crazy.
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