People moved back giving Noah space as he hauled both of us away from the bar. I glanced at his side profile. His emerald eyes flared wild and the muscle in his jaw ticked. He looked formidable. Even our intoxicated schoolmates had enough sense to not come his way right now.
I'd be honest I was a little scared too, even though I knew he'd never hurt me. Or maybe I just didn't like seeing him angry or upset.
I was expecting Noah to lead us out of the house, but to my surprise we went up the winding staircase in the living room. It seemed no one was allowed upstairs because the hallways were empty here.
My legs moved fast trying to keep pace with his long strides. "I seriously hope you don't make the habit of angrily dragging me out of parties to lone rooms," I said, not liking the tense silence between us.
Noah's grip on my arms tightened but he didn't say anything. Perhaps, it wasn't right time for the humor.
We stopped at the large double wooden doors. It had intricate designs engraved on its dark surface, strange shapes and creatures, giving it a gothic look. A fist sized alloy carved into some old looking man's face with beard hung on top. When Noah opened the door, the face split in half. We stepped inside the dark room.
"Where did you bri-"
My words got swallowed as his lips crashed against mine. The heavy doors were shut behind me and I was pinned against them. There was an urgency with the way he kissed me, pouring out his anger and frustration. His lips were demanding, taking it all without asking.
It took all of my will to push him away. "Wait, I have questions."
"Please, I need this," he pleaded, his green eyes shining against the darkness. The rage in them was yet to dim. His hold around me hardened. "I'm seconds away from going back there and pummeling my douchebag future king."
"King?" I whispered.
He squeezed my waist. "Shh, I'll answer everything," he said impatiently before diving back into my mouth.
Noah sucked and nibbled on my swollen lips, leaving me a red hot moaning mess. He was dominating and assertive. He pulled away from my lips to drop wet kisses along my jaw. He moved down to my neck and bit at the tender skin. I whimpered and in reply received a pleased growl. I craned my neck into submission, and that was all the encouragement he needed before his lips, tongue and teeth went wild.
By the time he was finally done with me, I knew I was sporting multiple new colorful hickeys. His iron grip on me loosened and he dropped gentle kisses all over the bruises as a thank you. I was flushed and panting like I had run a marathon. Had it not for him supporting me, I would've slumped down on my wobbly knees.
"Am I going to be your punching bag every time you get angry?" I said.
"Kissing bag," he corrected, "and I didn't see you complaining a second ago."
"I don't like it when you're angry," I mumbled.
He pulled me into his chest. "You know, I'd never hurt you, right?" There was a strain in his voice like it pained him that I'd even think about him hurting me.
"I know," I reassured him, "don't stop yourself from feeling things in my behalf. Get angry and we'll kiss it away."
His chest vibrated against my cheek as he chuckled.
We hugged each other for who knew how long, my soft plump body squished against his hard one. I felt content being in his arms.
"You're hiding things from me," I stated, finally leaving the comfort of his warm chest.
Noah sighed as he let go of me.
He flicked on the lights and the rows of bookshelves greeted me. We were in a library. A large library, probably double the size of my entire house, and it housed hundred thousands of books, if not more. Yellow light from the multiple lamps in corners shone against the shiny teak flooring, giving it a look of library that you'd see in fantasy movies. There was a study table at the end with its own personalized lamp. The room was a wet dream of any book lover.
"What are we doing here?" I asked, my eyes raking the magnificent place. "Won't the twins get mad that we're in their personal library without permission?"
"They won't," he replied, "we aren't really that concerned of our materialistic things in this world. Besides Elijah would want you here." He started walking toward the shelves on left and I followed. "I wasn't exactly hiding things from you Giselle. Just giving you time before dropping more of my bullshit on you. There are still lot of things you don't know about me."
"Then tell me," I urged, "I'm not some fragile doll who you'll have to coddle."
"You're not fragile Martin, our situation is."
"It has to do with something with me being a human."
"A part of it, yes. But that's not all." He sighed. "Sometimes I wonder if I did the right thing giving into our bond and roping you in all this. It's not fair to you. And like a selfish bastard I am, I can't even let you go now."
"You're right, I'm just writhing here trying to free myself from you and run back to Jason," I deadpanned and received a bratty scowl from my companion, "Noah, let me be the judge of what's fair or unfair to me. Just give me your honesty."
Noah stopped in front of a corner-most shelf and took out a large book lying horizontally at the bottom rack. Despite its rusty appearance, it looked well-kept with its stylishly engraved leather cover. The same old man's face that I had seen at the library door was carved on it, bordered by a pentagon, sort of like a sigil flag. "I'll give you my honesty then."
We walked to the study table where he dropped the book. He pulled out chair and gestured me to sit on it. I looked at him before opening the book. I jerked back immediately. If not for Noah standing behind me, I would fall on my back.
"What the..." I gasped.
On the front page of book was the drawn picture of a very familiar old man growing some sort of orb from his palm. He had a stick for support in the other hand. Vaguely shaped spirits surrounded him, or correctly, revolved around him. No, they literally revolved around him as the orb literally grew in size before shrinking back and repeating the process.
The picture was moving, like a video of couple of seconds playing on the loop. Except it wasn't on some gadget, but on the sheet of yellow worn-out paper.
"I didn't think you'd be so jumpy. Should've alerted you before hand," said Noah, amused.
"This is some Harry Potter stuff," I said, gaping at the picture. I shook my head. "Next thing I know you guys are talking to snakes... Oh wait, you already do talk to animals, and control them."
"Thousands of goblins roam your world. It's not a surprise when some of our ways trickled down to here as fantasy," he said, "as for the animals, we can't talk to them. There's a language barrier, and even then they're not sentient enough for us. We just learn their emotions and then manipulate them. We can't do that with higher sentient beings like spirits, other goblins and, of course, humans."
"Is J.K. Rowling-"
"I just gave you something that'll reveal further secrets of me and my world, and you're more concerned about Harry Potter," Noah scolded me.
"Just an innocent curiosity," I mumbled before turning my attention back to the book. Next thing I wanted to know why they kept this book in so open, especially when any human from downstairs could stumble upon it. But then I realized they must've had some magic trick up their sleeves to not only guard the book but whole library.
My fingers tentatively brushed against the moving picture. I felt the rough surface of paper against my skin. "Who is this man?" I asked. "I saw him at the door too."
"Guardian Elsora," Noah answered, "he's believed to be the founder of our kingdom."
"So your kingdom is named after him, Elsora," I said. Noah had mentioned before about the kingdom he lived in back at the Realm. He resided at the capital of Kingdom Elsora, Wrausall. Arendell, whose outskirts Gabriel and I had entered, was one of the important cities too, because of the Edge that connected them to human world.
"Elsora is revered as the guardian of our kingdom," Noah continued. "In old times, spirits and goblins regarded each other as enemies, each side villainizing the other for their differences and using them as excuse to wage never-ending wars. It was the battle of egos, two intelligent kinds trying to subdue the other.
"It is believed Elsora united us and laid the foundation of the kingdom. He didn't rule it himself, but helped in building it. He had a vision and he spent his whole life to fulfill it. He did something impossible for a goblin: gaining the trust and loyalty of spirits. He is worshiped alike by them too. This picture captures when the spirits invited him to join them for the birth of their new ones. It shows huge honor and trust. A spirit drew it for us because no other goblin has ever witnessed that to this date."
"He sounds like a great soul," I said.
"Spirits and goblins still have their differences but because of him we at least co-exist peacefully now. This is a quality unique to Kingdom of Elsora. It makes us prosper when one half of our population is not fighting the other. Some other goblin kingdoms tried to unite with their spirits too. But they failed. The animosity between the two kinds run deep. Only this old man had managed to bring us together. We are the envy of other kingdoms."
"It seems you guys aren't much different from humans," I commented, "we have skin colors, nationalities, ethnicities and whatnot. You have hierarchies, kingdoms, and spirits."
"I wish I could refute you on that," Noah agreed, his fingers gently tugging at my curls from behind, "no matter our abilities, we goblins are just as pesky as you humans."
After casting another glance at Guardian Elsora, I turned the page, eager to learn more about the Realm of Magic.
*******
You can read two chapters ahead on inkitt. Link is in bio.