The Bone Valley by Candace Robinson

Author:Candace Robinson [Robinson, Candace]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Gothic Romance Books, Dark Fantasy Romance Books, Portal Fantasy Books, Skeleton Romance Books, multiple point of view fantasy books
Publisher: Midnight Tide Publishing
Published: 2021-10-12T22:00:00+00:00

SEVENTEEN

NAHLI

Nahli finished perusing the closet and hesitantly moved to stare at herself. An oval mirror hung on the wall, reflecting her anxious skeleton. Why was she feeling nervous? It was only Anton, but the idea of dancing with him, touching him, felt extremely intimate.

Unless he didn’t mean slow dancing. He could mean the kind that involves laughing and clapping, while being happily inebriated. Except she wouldn’t be tipsy, and there would be no one around to clap, unless he meant for Roka to do the clapping for them. She shook her head at her mirror image, urging herself to stop overthinking everything.

Her skeletal reflection didn’t frighten her, yet she missed the rest of herself. But the thought of Anton possibly looking at her as if she were something more than bones tickled straight to her marrow. If only there was color in the Bone Valley, then she could try and highlight her cheekbones with rouge to take away from him staring at her teeth. The chipped tooth of her lower canine stood out now, more prominent than ever.

Enough with the mirror. Prying herself away, she turned to face the clothing lying on top of the mattress. One was similar to the dress she’d worn when she had first woken in the Bone Valley. The other was the pair of trousers she’d had on earlier.

Nahli decided to go bold. When she was with Zikri, there had been no friendly dances. Even growing up together as close friends, it was always composed of her following him everywhere and doing what he wanted to do. Whether it was watching his swordplay, drinking with his friends, or running his bow across his fiddle. Never did he ask her to practice swords with him when his friends were around or to drink some of his wine, nor had he taught her to create music on the fiddle. The realization had struck her after he left that she should have known how selfish he’d always been.

Anton hadn’t told her what to wear tonight—as Zikri would have—he’d left it up to her. And tonight, she wanted the dress. Nahli peered down at the white silk, embroidered with black roses along the bottom. Taking the smooth material in her arms, she slid it over her head. The sleeves fell right below her elbows, dark lace peeking out along the edges. Black thorns with vines were stitched across the waist, and the neckline displayed part of her upper rib cage.

As tedious as it was, she managed to clasp the buttons lining the back and tie the sash at the sides into a bow behind her.

Nahli peered down at her toes and wiggled them in delight before pulling the strap from her hair to loosen it. She hadn’t worn her hair down in so long, usually only when bathing. The white hair was strikingly different compared to her naturally dark strands, but the texture felt the same—straight and thick, though slight waves remained from the braid.

She secured a black ribbon with a silver pendant tightly at her neck and gazed into the mirror one last time.

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