Read Online The Robe of Skulls by Vivian French - Free Book Online Page B

princes. That is why you are here for the Royal Engagement Celebration.
Two:
you have plans for these princes. In the words of your green-faced servant: ‘Prince.
Zap!
Frog.’
Three
”— and here Foyce was hoping that her beautiful mask of a face gave no sign that she was guessing —“as your disguise is distinctly unoriginal, it follows that you are short of cash, so you are intending to use those frogs in order to bargain for a large reward. Gold.” She laughed again. “I’m very fond of gold myself.”
    “You may be right,” Lady Lamorna said, “or you may not. Tell me your secret.”
    Foyce twirled a ringlet and swung her dainty foot. “My mother was a werewolf. In Gorebreath, Dreghorn, and all the kingdoms of the Northern Plains, such an inheritance is punished with banishment. That is why my beloved father took me to live in Fracture. But now my time has come, dear Lady Lamorna. I can smell your excitement. Tell me the rest of your plan!”
    Lady Lamorna made up her mind. She took a deep breath and leaned forward. “Listen,” she said.

Marcus swung himself out of the saddle. The pony was hot and panting, and Marcus took time to walk him to and fro to cool him.
    “Good boy,” he said, “you did really well!” Then, leaving Glee to crop the long green grass in Dreghorn churchyard, he slipped into the doorway of the tall church tower and began to climb the steep stone steps. Up and up he climbed, the darkness only occasionally broken by a narrow shaft of light from a slitted window. Marcus tried hard not to think about what might be hiding in the gloom; it wasn’t so much the darkness he minded as the thought that he could be trapped at the top of a solid stone spiral staircase. He breathed a sigh of relief as he came out onto the dusty balcony where the bells were hung. Gritting his teeth, he headed for the wooden ladder that led to a small door that led to the top of the tower.
    Once Marcus was outside in the sunshine, all his fears fell away. He hurried to the edge and, as he had hoped, found he had a perfect view of the Royal Gardens. Anxiously he scanned the crowds and almost immediately saw Arry walking hand in hand with Princess Nina-Rose, while his parents beamed benevolently from behind.
    “Phew,” Marcus sighed. “So
that’s
all right!”
    “You reckon, kiddo? Keep watching. Look out for a dame with a great big basket!”
    Marcus jumped, his heart flip-flopping so wildly in his chest that he couldn’t speak.
    “Keep your hair on,” said the small squeaky voice. “And keep your peepers open. Action’s just about to start, if you ask me. Which you ain’t, but you should.”
    Marcus, having looked in all directions but the right one, finally found the owner of the voice crouched in the shadow of the weather vane. “Are you . . . are you a
bat
?” he asked in disbelieving tones.
    “Sure am, kiddo. Not usually out in this weather. Can’t see too good, so you keep looking.” The bat waved a scaly wing. “D’you see the dame yet?”
    Marcus obediently went back to the tower wall. “What sort of dame?”
    A horrible thought leaped into his head. “You don’t mean the tall one with whiskers? The one with the troll?”
    “Nah — they wouldn’t let her in.” The bat chuckled. “She was outside the gates last I saw. Spitting mad. And the troll was all over the place — head one side of the road, body the other.”
    Marcus squinted into the sunlight, but the gates were too far away for him to make out anything very clearly. “So who am I looking for, then?”
    “Told ya. Big basket.”
    “I can see lots of people with baskets,” Marcus reported. “They’re giving out ribbons and biscuits and flowers and stuff.”
    “Blond,” the bat said. “Skippy. Big blue eyes.”
    “Oh!” Marcus suddenly leaned so far forward he was in danger of falling over. “You mean the pretty one?
Wow!
She’s amazing! I always thought all girls looked the same, but she’s fantastic!