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The Gift
Not every gift is freely given.
Sah’dren has been imprisoned in his own home for years, isolated and forced into a life of abuse. And Mother’s birthday gift to him is just another means of control. He can’t let the injured slave suffer the same way he does, even if the elf wants nothing to do with him.
Alone, they are divided, but perhaps together they can give each other the greatest gift of freedom.
This short story is set in the goblin continent of Hanenea'a, 60 years before the events of The Goblin Twins and before the abolition of slavery by the goblins. You do not have to have read The Goblin Twins to understand this story. It has a Happy For Now ending with no cliffhanger.
This story was part of the MM Class of 22/23 Short Story Giveaway. Nothing has been changed or lengthened from the original release.
Content Off-page prostitution and sexual abuse, graphic violence, emotional and physical abuse by a parent
Sah’dren has been imprisoned in his own home for years, isolated and forced into a life of abuse. And Mother’s birthday gift to him is just another means of control. He can’t let the injured slave suffer the same way he does, even if the elf wants nothing to do with him.
Alone, they are divided, but perhaps together they can give each other the greatest gift of freedom.
This short story is set in the goblin continent of Hanenea'a, 60 years before the events of The Goblin Twins and before the abolition of slavery by the goblins. You do not have to have read The Goblin Twins to understand this story. It has a Happy For Now ending with no cliffhanger.
This story was part of the MM Class of 22/23 Short Story Giveaway. Nothing has been changed or lengthened from the original release.
Content Off-page prostitution and sexual abuse, graphic violence, emotional and physical abuse by a parent
62 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 5, 2023
2 people are currently reading
51 people want to read
About the author
Kit Barrie
18 books75 followersKit Barrie (she/her) was raised by pirates in a traveling carnival where she learned how to fly and to weave fantasy into reality. She identifies as chaotic bisexual, with good intentions and questionable methods. She lives in an utterly unfantastical state in the Midwestern United States with some food goblins who might just be cats gobblin’ food.
Please visit www.kitbarrie.com for more information on Kit’s writing or to sign up for her fantastical newsletter!
Please visit www.kitbarrie.com for more information on Kit’s writing or to sign up for her fantastical newsletter!
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 6, 2023
Excellent little prequel to apparently lovely series. Slavery seems to be the central theme, so I'm curious.
September 3, 2023
I am glad that Isol has taken care of the fate of Sah'dren's mother. That woman deserved that and more.
December 14, 2025
DNF: I'm sorry, but no. There can be no 'Romance' without consent, and consent is impossible between an enslave person and the one who enslaves them, regardless of any technicalities about them being a surprise Birthday gift or what have you. So no matter how hard the author works to portray the protagonist a good guy who is a prisoner himself and a victim of CSA at the hands of his evil mother's 'Clients,' this is still a "Hot Elf Twink Slave" fantasy with extra window dressing. Just as the Count of Monte Cristo sailing off into the sunset with a slave girl was 'Romantic' for the kind of people who were obsessed with, yet morally repulsed by, and thus fetishized the entire concept of Harems in the Muslim world.
On top of which, the attempt to absolve the protagonist of responsibility and paint him as any kind of 'Saviour' by painting his sex-worker mother as a cruel enslaver who would pimp out her own son to other sadists is as absurd as it is obscene. Because even 'IF' you believe that there is no such thing as consensual sex-work since all sex-work is exploitation in and of itself, that would make her as much of a victim as the protagonist. But in their desperate need to depict their "Hot Elf Twink Slave Chained To The Bed" fantasy as anything other than exploitation, Kit Barrie goes to the same lengths as the Gospel authors did when they portrayed Pontius Pilate as another helpless victim; forced to act by the ravenous, Jewish mob who took full responsibility for Christ's crucifixion.
On top of which, the attempt to absolve the protagonist of responsibility and paint him as any kind of 'Saviour' by painting his sex-worker mother as a cruel enslaver who would pimp out her own son to other sadists is as absurd as it is obscene. Because even 'IF' you believe that there is no such thing as consensual sex-work since all sex-work is exploitation in and of itself, that would make her as much of a victim as the protagonist. But in their desperate need to depict their "Hot Elf Twink Slave Chained To The Bed" fantasy as anything other than exploitation, Kit Barrie goes to the same lengths as the Gospel authors did when they portrayed Pontius Pilate as another helpless victim; forced to act by the ravenous, Jewish mob who took full responsibility for Christ's crucifixion.
September 20, 2023
The Gift - Emotional
‘Isol traced his fingers over the sheets. “Would… would you stay with me?” he asked softly. “When?” Sah’dren asked. “Now,” Isol said, lifting his eyes to meet Sah’dren’s. “I’m not used to being alone.” That made his heart twinge. Isol had probably had friends, or at least other people he cared about, in the mines. He had not spent his life alone like Sah’dren had. “You want me to stay with you?” “Yes.” Sah’dren smiled softly at him. “Then I will.”
Kit Barrie places us in a world where a cruel Goblin mother takes advantage of her sons and creates pain and suffering and psychological dependence. That is until an Elf slave is purchased and a bit of the outside world proves to one son that he, himself, is being used as a slave.
A sad journey for two young men but freedom is within reach, just like their feelings for each other.
‘Isol traced his fingers over the sheets. “Would… would you stay with me?” he asked softly. “When?” Sah’dren asked. “Now,” Isol said, lifting his eyes to meet Sah’dren’s. “I’m not used to being alone.” That made his heart twinge. Isol had probably had friends, or at least other people he cared about, in the mines. He had not spent his life alone like Sah’dren had. “You want me to stay with you?” “Yes.” Sah’dren smiled softly at him. “Then I will.”
Kit Barrie places us in a world where a cruel Goblin mother takes advantage of her sons and creates pain and suffering and psychological dependence. That is until an Elf slave is purchased and a bit of the outside world proves to one son that he, himself, is being used as a slave.
A sad journey for two young men but freedom is within reach, just like their feelings for each other.
November 27, 2025
I was going to take a shot every time I read "he said softly" but I would've ended up in the ER. This needs some serious editing.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews