Chapter 6: Let's See What We Have Here…
"How did you find me?"
"Do you really think I wouldn't know the location of my goblin hidey holes?" Marak's fangs sparkled in what little light was emitted from the bus. "Your escape route was built some time ago in order to house Marak Dragontalon's family while he proposed options during the 1950 negotiations. Since then, no Goblin King has revisited the area. But, whenever the passageway is accessed, a signal is passed onto the current Goblin King closest to the vicinity. It was some time before the old magic indicated to me that you were nosing your way around. All I had to do was sit and wait to catch the cat out of the bag."
"Don't worry, miss, we'll take good care of you." Marak's goblin companion assured her from the driver's seat. Mabrey ignored his remark and fell to her knees. I won't let this happen. They don't have me yet. Even if they have to chain me down, I am not going to give up! Marak, with perfect night vision, studied his goblin Bride's expressions as she stared at the bus's dirty floor.
"Little cat, stand up. You're getting dirty." Mabrey acted like his words did not capture her thoughts. "We have you now, darling, I'm sure there are no other ways of escape. I suggest you brighten up and face your fate bravely." Marak wanted to bite his tongue. He knew that if the situation was reversed, he never would have taken the advice he had just given Mabrey. No, he thought I'd be fighting until my very last breath, until I was to the brink of death. After staring at his reluctant bride, he noted the signs of that same defiance.
"I'm going to college to receive my Bachelor's degree." Mabrey whispered to the floor. "After that, my Master's degree, then my Doctorate's. Then, probably after a large debt, I'm going to receive my PhD." At this, the woman met Marak's eyes with her piercing and unnerving yellow-green orbs. Marak admired her determination.
"But I would be fine with that debt because I would obtain a well paying job and erase my loans completely. I'll fill my house was animals to keep me company, and maybe travel the world as I see fit. I'm going to have a wonderful and happy life, just what my parents wanted for their daughter…and you won't take that away from me!" With that, she stood and sat in the seat closest to Shamus, obviously comforted by his almost human-like appearance.
"I sincerely want to give you that life…" Marak said, but the sound was lost before it even reached Mabrey's ears.
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"Shamus, I have no clue what to do next." Marak grumbled. He was leaning over the driver's seat, burying his face into his black sleeved arms. Shamus spared a shrug, taking a chance to assess his King via the bus's mirror that allowed the drivers to check on his or her passengers. What he saw did not please him.
"Let her rest. The typical span of time it took for previous King's Wives to adjust and maybe actually love their spouses was about…" Shamus paused, trying to recollect what he was taught only last year, "five years. But the fastest ever recorded for a King's Wife to love and produce an heir was one year." Shamus amended once he caught that pained expression Marak always produced when presented with a tricky situation. Marak mumbled something in his native tongue and brought his head up to stare at the back of Shamus's head.
"At least…at least she is befriending with the other humans." Marak was referring to Mabrey's fascination with the human bride who had already given birth. Once the blonde woman woke up, Mabrey shifted towards her, and the two of them began to bond and chat.
"The blonde girl, Dani, she already knows what is in store for her. Luckily, she loves her goblin husband…for now. I feel like Mabrey can freely gossip about big bad Marak."
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"I'll do it, Mabrey, but I'm staying." Dani said. Her brown doe eyes stared adoringly at the bundle that lay slumbering in her arms. Her initial shock at the deformities her daughter possessed had dissipated completely. Now Dani could only admire those deep blue snake eyes and scales.
"Why would you like to stay? Don't you feel like you've been used only to bare children for those goblins?" Mabrey asked. The two women were seated safely and confidentially in the corner of the bus. Mabrey's attention darted to where Marak sagged on his goblin friend's driver seat and then back to Dani to be sure of the Goblin King's attention. Only once Mabrey had caught him studying her. The first couple Mabrey had witnessed were still in the same position, only the male followed his counterpart to the land of sleeping. Dani's husband sat with his arms crossed over his chest, nodding off.
"Oh, no! I love my husband, no matter what he kept from me. So what if he's different? My whole life I've been running away from normal, and it only makes sense that a goblin husband is what I get!" Dani then added, "Plus, I have to make sure that Sasha leads a wonderful life." She gestured to the baby girl who turned on her side and uttered something in baby talk to Mabrey. Mabrey weakly smiled at the child, her heart swelling with conflicting emotions.
"That's fine then. Thank you so much for helping me. I don't want to be confined to those caves you said you'd be living in. I want to be free! I've planned my life ever since…since a couple of years ago, so I can't let that go."
"Being a King's Wife wouldn't be what you think it is, Mabrey. I'm sure it's not as bad as it seems…" Dani ceased her interventions when Mabrey slowly shook her head.
"Thank you for helping me Dani, but I have to do this." Mabrey giggled and then said, "And it will get under Marak's skin, so this makes me even more determined to go through with this!" Dani couldn't help but follow suit in Mabrey's laugh.
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All was quiet on the bus save for the occasional bump in the crumbling highway. The human women were asleep while the goblin males either had their attention on the women or, in Shamus's case, on the darkly lit road. By the looks of the landscape, the bus was now crossing into Missouri. Flat smooth land filled with varying crops of corn and soybeans were replaced with rolling hilling that were split in two in order to have them passable by automobiles.
Mabrey's ears popped from constantly trudging up narrow hillside pathways only to speed down a twisted dirt road. Her stomach rumbled, despite the meager rations of bread and cheese that was given out and ingested a couple minutes before. Newly formed ice on the roads did not help her racing heart, either. Sometimes, she wondered if the bus could even survive this trip. It's almost time for the plan. Mabrey constantly thought in order to keep herself from going completely mad.
Dani had told her that the goblins were nocturnal. They were creatures who did not fare well with the sun. Some goblins, the ones who have been breed with human lineage multiple times, were lucky enough to squint during the day. Dani also gave Mabrey one important piece of information during her ramblings; Marak was completely unable to see in the light. All of the fragments of gossip provided Mabrey with enough will power to do what she had to do next.
Dawn was soon approaching.
Mabrey nonchalantly glanced up in a way Dani would recognize. The blonde girl nodded slightly and wailed.
"S-stop the bus! Stop it! My sides…they're about to burst!" Tears poured down Dani's cheeks, and her face steadily turned pale. She stood when Shamus obeyed the woman's plea, but her legs were shaking so much, she collapsed. Her goblin husband fell to his knees, careful not to harm the child, to check on his wife.
"I need to be outside! I think t-this might be aftereffects of…m-my birth!" That got the men going. Mabrey wondered why Dani never thought to take professional acting. The woman was a genius.
"Gresh, you stay with your child." Marak told the worried husband. The man stared at his troubled wife, and weakly nodded. "Come, Dani. I'll take you outside."
"Oh, Dani!" Mabrey chimed in, almost taken in by the scene enough to forget what to do next. "May I see if she's all right?" Mabrey asked Marak, making sure not to capture his line of vision. She knew her yellow green eyes would give everything away. Marak seemed taken aback from her directness, and in the moment's weakness agreed.
"Yes, you may. Help me take her for fresh air." Dani was duly brought to the bitter weather outside. Mabrey was glad that she kept her coat on, but regretted the loss of her backpack. She had to convince both Marak and Shamus that she was concerned, not geared for escape, so the filled item had to stay on the bus seat. Luckily, Mabrey thought ahead and crammed her pockets with necessities.
"Please, help steady me." Dani pled with Marak, whom bent to the woman's will and held on to her shaking shoulders. Mabrey was safely staring at the seen, her heart flip flopping in an unknown emotion, waiting for the moment she would be free. He turned his back. Mabrey saw the flash of Dani's eyes before Marak covered Mabrey's view. And then Mabrey turned and bolted.
Author's Note: Thank you for the comments! I'm glad people are enjoying my naughty Marak and his girl problems. Until next time, you'll have to make due with this cliff hanger. XD