Little Saint Bride [Death and the Maiden, #1]

Chapter Two: Deathly Dowry

I squeeze it, and after a few shaking moments, he squeezes back.

'This is it,' I whisper, doubting my own bravado.

We step together down the makeshift aisle. No church is in sight, nor temple; there's only the crowds, and the cliff edge, looming ever closer.

No music plays.

Not even the gulls cry.

Silence.

The world turns mute as Mercer and I make our way towards our own sacrifice.

'I don't want them to push me,' I hear him say, and his throat chokes on his words. 'I don't want everyone to see me as a coward.'

I don't need to ask what he means. Within the hour, Mercer will leap from the cliff, and I will follow. If we hesitate, we will be forced over the edge; in previous years, great scenes of distress took place when the time came to jump.

'I don't think they'll be judging you,' I reply, my noise twitching as the wind blows in our direction.

Sea salt carries on the air, cold and wet, the same as the sea roiling in front of me, heartily laughing at how tiny we are. I push the thought from my mind, and carry on.

'They'll be thinking how glad they are that it's not them or their children.'

Save for the crying man, that is. To my right, I hear his cries become more like strangulated sobs, wrenching and unbearable. Mercer's hand trembles uncontrollably.

'Who came up with this madness?' I hear him mutter, no longer afraid of blasphemy. 'And who are these sick bastards that want to watch?'

I shake my head. I don't know who started it, but we have all grown up with the consequences: in that fear of that day, every ten years, when the temple would choose a virgin girl and a young man as her aide, as sacrifices that cost them both of their lives.

Mercer seems like he comes from a well-to-do, loving family. His own appearance gives no indication, as I knew my own is unrecognisably changed, but his father is dressed in an impeccable suit, that he appears to be getting snot all over. When I had ridden past him earlier, my father had been wearing his beloved tee he believed gave him luck at the gambling den.

If I hadn't been about to die, perhaps I would have laughed.

I've been saving my virginity for this reason, this opportunity. When the temple came knocking, I didn't just admit to being the oldest virgin in the kingdom that was a candidate for the Bride. I signed up.

And, together the Bride and her aide will make their way to the Underworld. No longer as living citizens, but as harmony gifts to the God of Death, and ruler of the Underworld.

They told us that one when we were five years old. Nate and I had come home from school wailing that we might be chosen. Back then, our mother had teased us and then pointed out that we were too young; only girls and boys above sixteen could be chosen.

In an ironic twist of fate, Nate has been dead almost as long as the last sacrifice, and now I am choosing to follow that path.

I nearly start stepping backwards again, but it's hard when Mercer is dragging himself so slowly that I'm almost pulling him along. We finally reach the altar, and Mercer is lead away from me to where he says his vows.

I eye him, wondering how he will react. His hands are gripping his plain white tunic. Beneath the layers of fabric around his ankles, I can see heavy weights.

At least they have the mercy to give us a quick death.

His skin looks grey as he answers to each of the ritual questions.