Author's note:
I wish to thank my readers for their patience and apologize for the delay -- chapter 2 was a long time coming. I expect this will be the second of three chapters. If you're someone who likes to wait for the whole story to be posted before reading, chapter 3 will hopefully be out before the end of the month. All characters in this story are consenting adults. Feedback is always welcome and very much appreciated. Another sincere 'thank you' to the esteemed author Karaline for her insightful editing job.
*****
Ree could hear Edward coming, crunching through the sparse undergrowth, drawing nearer to her tree that overlooked the riverbank. His pace was slow, tentative. It was early evening and the light was just beginning to fade. He called her name frequently. Ree did not answer, instead climbing even higher into the upper reaches of the tree. Goblins were light and wiry and could climb very well.
Edward had been calling to her for much of the day, calling her to come back to the house; he wanted to talk to her.
But she did not want to talk to him, or to see him. Even thinking about him made the inside of her chest hurt. He had not liked their mating. He had become angry and shouted at her, told her to leave. She did not know the Human Rules for mating -- it had been her first time -- and Edward had not taught her. It wasn't fair.
When Edward paused at the base of her tree she caught his scent. He was good-smelling, but it made her hurt more to smell him and she climbed up to a higher branch in hopes of escaping the scent and the painful memories it brought.
Unfortunately the thinner branch shook as she climbed and it dropped a seed, which bounced off a few branches on the way down and landed at his feet. He looked up.
"Ree? Freida thought you might be here. Come down. I want to talk to you."
It was hard to resist his words. Master had told her to listen closely to Edward and obey him. But Ree did not climb down. She had decided to wait for Master to return, even if it meant being disobedient. She remained still and silent. Many times, that was enough to keep her out of trouble.
There was a long silence, then he sighed.
"I'm very sorry I shouted at you. I won't yell at you again, I promise. Please come down."
"I will wait for Master. Master does not yell. Master teaches me what I need to know," she said, shifting her feet to find a more comfortable purchase on the limb.
"My uncle won't be back for three months. You can't live in a tree for that long. Come down from there."
"Goblins can live in many places."
She could see a grin break across his face, then he became serious again.
"But what will you eat?"
"Goblins can eat many things." To prove her point, she ripped a handful of leaves off a nearby twig and stuffed them into her mouth. They didn't taste good, but then she wasn't very hungry anyway. Thoughts of Edward made her lose her appetite.
"It will be cold at night, and wet. And you have no clothes," his smile had returned.
She had fled the house naked that morning.
"I will sleep in the barn with Freida. Goblins do not need human clothes."
"Okay, enough of this. If you don't come down, I'm coming up to get you," he said. His words sounded like a threat, but his voice didn't seem angry, and his smile was getting bigger and showing many teeth.
"Humans can not climb trees. Humans are too big and heavy." She didn't know this for certain, but somehow it was hard to imagine a human doing such a thing. There was probably a Human Rule forbidding it.
"I climbed trees every day as a child. I'll have you out of that tree in moments." He removed his overcoat, then rubbed his hands together.
Ree glanced upwards into the highest branches. She didn't want to climb up to where the branches were too thin. She decided to wait where she was. Besides, she was very curious to see a human climbing a tree. Master had never done such a thing.
He started well; the first few branches were thick and sturdy and low to the ground. He paused and looked up, probably planning where to go next. He took the next three steps very slowly, being very careful in his placement of hands and feet. He hesitated again. His face looked a little bit scared, but he still smiled up at her.
"You should go back to the ground. Humans are too big to climb trees," she said.
"Will you come down?"
"Only when Master returns."
"Then I'm coming up to get you."
A moment later his foot slipped and he grabbed desperately for a dead branch that was too brittle to support his weight. It snapped off and Edward fell, hitting several branches on the way to the ground. He yelled loudly and she could see his face twisted in agony. He struggled to stand but soon gave up and lay back on the ground, breathing heavily.
"Ree, I need help. I can't stand."
She quickly climbed down until she could get an unobstructed view of him. His teeth were clenched and his face was pale. If he was hurt then she should help him, but how?
"Humans should not climb trees," she said.
"Okay! You were right. Now help me," he said through clenched teeth.
"What should I do?"
He lay still for a few moments as he considered. "Get Freida. She can help me get back to the house. Then go into town and get the physician and bring him to the house. Can you do that?"
She nodded, then swung out of the tree and started in the direction of Freida's barn.
"And Ree...put some clothes on before you go into town, okay?"
She nodded again. Humans thought it was very important not to be naked. She hurried in search of the ogress.
**
"Young Master is hurt!" Ree cried as she burst into the barn.
Freida was spooning soup into her mouth from an enormous pot that Ree could have bathed in comfortably.
"What happened?" Freida asked, dropping the huge spoon.
Ree told the ogress about the incident at the tree, although not the events leading up to it. She didn't want to talk about the mating and Edward yelling at her -- it hurt too much inside.
"...and then he fell out of the tree and he can't stand up," she finished.
Freida chuckled. "You bested Master and now you have bested Young Master. You are very clever!"
Ree considered the giant's words. She'd only bested Master by hiding under a bed, and Young Master by hiding in a tree. Those didn't seem like very clever plans but she didn't want to argue with her friend. It was best not to argue with a hungry ogress.
"Young Master asks if you can help him get back to the house," she said.
Freida growled, then reluctantly set the soup aside. "I will help."
Ree turned to lead Freida to the site of the accident.
"Wait," the ogress said, and an edge in her tone made Ree freeze.
"What?"
Freida put her face close to Ree's and inhaled through her nose. "You smell of goblin blood. What happened?"
Ree didn't want to re-live the awful events of the past day, but couldn't deny her friend's words. Ogres had keen senses of smell; they were almost equal to goblins in that regard. Seeing no other option, Ree decided to share the story. She wandered over to sit on the log that Freida used as a bench.
"Edward mated me last night."
"Was he violent to you?" Freida's tone turned low and dangerous and her massive hands clenched into fists, each larger than Ree's head.
"No. I was willing. He did not have to be violent. But his male parts were too big and made me bleed."
Freida nodded her understanding. "Your parts are very small. Maybe you should not mate with him."
"After the mating he was very angry and yelled at me and told me to leave. That is why I was hiding in the tree. I will not go back to the house until Master returns. Master does not yell at me."
Freida rested a heavy hand on Ree's shoulder. "You can stay here with me. You can milk the cows and goats. They do not like when I milk them."
Ree didn't want to imagine what it would feel like to be milked by an ogre!
"We should go. Young Master will be unhappy if we wait too long," Ree said, then slid off the log. She and Freida went to collect Edward.
****
Ree watched from the bedroom doorway as the physician bound and wrapped Edward's legs. She didn't like the physician; he had said many unkind things to her on the way to treat Young Master. Even his smell was unpleasant. She hoped he would leave soon.
Finally she showed him to the door and he left, calling her 'filthy creature' one more time before pushing past her on the way out. Humans were bad. Even Edward was bad. Master was the only one who was kind and did not yell.
She went to her chambers in the cellar and grabbed her wool sleeping blanket -- she would need it in case Freida's barn was cold in the night. She would stay there until Master returned.
"Ree? Would you please come here?"
She looked up the stairs towards Edward's room. She did not want to go up. But Master had said she should obey Young Master. And he was injured so he might need some help.
"Ree?" he called again.
She sighed and climbed the stairs. She stood in the doorway of his bedroom, unwilling to enter. Edward was in the same place the physician had left him, slouched in bed against a pile of pillows with his bandaged legs stretched out in front of him.
Ree gave an abrupt curtsy; her heart wasn't in it. Besides, it was tricky to do one while holding a blanket. "What do you wish, Edward?"
"I wanted to say how sorry I am for yelling at you this morning. I promise I won't do it again. No more yelling."
"You were angry about the mating. I did it wrong. But it was my first time and you didn't tell me the right way," she said, and suddenly the inside of her chest started hurting terribly, like before. The pain made her eyes watery and she cleared them with the back of her wrist. "Master always tells me what I need to know, but you did not tell me. You only became angry at me."
"What? No, no. Ree, I wasn't angry at you."
"You were angry. You yelled and told me to leave."
"I was angry at myself, not at you."
Ree frowned. Humans got angry at themselves? Why would they do that? They were strange creatures indeed!
"You...were not angry at me?"
"No. I saw all the blood and was angry at myself for hurting you. It was wrong and I felt horrible for doing it."
Ree took a few moments to consider his words.
"I do not like it when Young Master yells," she said at last. "Master does not yell."
"I know. I promise not to yell anymore, okay?"
