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CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
My mouth dropped open.“What the hell are you doing?”
He turned his head slightly to me and gave me a wink. That did little to assuage my fright as the bones rattled. The sound was so loud I felt my eardrums were going to burst. I clapped my hands over my head and watched in terror as more of the skeletons slid out of their not-so-final resting places.
Two dozen wanted my hand in marriage. One of the eager bridegrooms shambled toward us and stretched out his bony hand for me. I shrank back and Will stepped between the bones and me. “Who among you are most worthy for this very worthy maiden’s hand in marriage?”
“I am!” one among them called out as he stepped forward. He wore the tattered remains of a cloak lined with gold inlaid. “Nobody was as noble as my house!”
“Nor as stupid,” another skeleton chimed in as he moved to the front. He wore a huge golden and jewel-embellished necklace around his neckbones. “I am more worthy for nobody made as much gold in his lifetime as I.”
“Only by swindling,” a third skeleton spoke up as he joined the others at the top of the ticket. “No one was as great in bravery as I.”
“Bravery is easy when you have an army supplied by my money at your back,” the second one snapped.
“And no nation can stand without its oldest houses!” the first one added. The other two turned their empty eye sockets on the last speaker who snapped his jaws at them. “Do not give me such uncouth looks! I speak the truth!”
“Gentlemen!” Will interrupted as he raised his hands. “We shall have a game and the winner will claim this most precious bride for his own!”
I tried to drill holes in the back of Will’s head. “What are you doing?” I hissed.
“What sort of game?” one of the three asked him.
Will gestured to me. “We shall see which one of you is the most intact. That man will surely be the most fitting for her flesh-covered hand.”
The audience members nodded their heads and rattled their bones in approval. The three wrinkled their noses or would have if they still had any. The brave one folded his arms over his ribcage and nodded. “Very well. I agree to this challenge.”
“I, too, will show my stability!” the moneyed one proclaimed.
The old family drooped a little. “That sounds like work. . .”
“Then stand back and allow the men to capture this fine bride,” Sir Bravery snapped at him before he turned his empty sockets on me. “Now, fair maiden, pick the task and you shall see me fulfill it!”
I looked up at Will with bewildered eyes. “You shall chase her through the Grimton! Starting now!”
Will spun around and grabbed my hand. He tugged me back the way we came and I stumbled along behind him. I glanced over my shoulder and watched the three give chase, but they weren’t the only ones. Half the company decided to join the game and race after us.
Our feet pounded down the narrow winding tunnels of the dusty Grimton. The bone-rattling at our backs was almost deafening. We retraced our steps but we rounded a corner and found our way blocked by a dozen more animated skeletons and ghoulish citizens. Their empty eye sockets had one target: me.
Will skidded to a stop and his eyes darted over the area. They fell on a side path which he tugged me down. I stumbled along behind him with the air quickly being sapped from my lungs. My feet tripped over the many bones and rocks that littered the area and cobwebs clawed at my face and hair.
“What. . .are you. . .doing?” I wheezed out as we turned a sharp right corner.
Will drew me against the wall where we both plastered our backs against the cool stone. “Trying to get us back to the church.”
My heart skipped a beat. “Didn’t you plan for this?”
He peeked his head around the corner as he gave his reply. “I had not expected so many to be so lively as to give chase. The other brides only attracted a handful, at most.”
A bitter snort escaped me as I cupped half my face in one hand. “My one chance to be popular and it’s with a bunch of dead guys.”
Will’s brow crashed down and he turned to face me where he grasped my upper arms. “Can you navigate these halls?”
My mouth dropped open. “Navigate-of course not! I don’t know anything about this place!”
“I will tell you where to go, but I won’t leave you alone if you’re not sure of your bearings,” he told me.
There was something in his voice that squeezed my heart. “What. . .aren’t you coming with me?”
