Murderous Matrimony(21)

Chase shook his hand. “Nice to meet you, Tim.”

“Wow! I’d like to have your job someday.”

“Maybe you will.” Chase grinned. “I started as a squire too.”

There was no further time for pleasantries. Wanda was making her way to the second story of the viewing building at the far end of the field. Queen Olivia and her court were watching the joust from there.

“She’s going after the queen now,” I told Chase. “We have to do something.”

“I can’t even see her, Jessie. What do you have in mind?”

I saw Sir Marcus leading his horse off the field. “Maybe we can get Wanda’s lover to help out.”

“Okay. Maybe he can distract her. I’ll get the queen and her court out of there.”

We split up, and I ran to talk to Sir Marcus. I wasn’t sure what I could say to convince him to help me. It could be very dangerous for him.

I was surprised he’d stayed on at the Village after Wanda had attacked him last time. He’d probably convinced himself that it wasn’t real, or it was an unusual turn of events. I think that’s what most people do when confronted with something they don’t understand and can’t explain.

“Sir Marcus!” I yelled out. “I must speak with you.”

In this case, the young knight had convinced himself that it was my fault that he’d been attacked the day Wanda had died.

“Stay away from me.” He held his fingers together to create a cross as though he was fending off a vampire.

Marcus was an exceptionally good-looking and charismatic young knight. He’d only been at the Village a few weeks, but it was long enough to cause havoc with several ladies’ hearts.

“Not going to hurt you,” I promised, watching Chase herd the queen’s large court out of the building beside us. “I need your help.”

He pulled out a clove of garlic that was sewn into a knot he wore around his neck. “I’m protected now. Go ahead. Try me.”

“It’s not me you have to worry about. It’s Wanda.”

As if on cue, the blue bane of my life showed up beside us.

“Isn’t this fun?” she laughed wickedly. “I never knew there was such excitement to be had at the joust.”

“Someone is going to get hurt,” I told her. “You’re getting carried away. I know you’re angry because you’re dead. I’m sorry about that. I can’t change the facts, and you can’t make it better by ruining the Village.”

“You’re not paying attention, dearie.” She ruffled Sir Marcus’s blond curls, bringing a fearful yipe from him. “The press loves me. They’re talking about hiring a medium who can talk to me and take my demands. Doesn’t that sound absolutely luscious?”

“Who are you talking to?” Marcus spun around, trying to fend off the unseen hands that caressed him. “Who’s there?”

“It’s me, my love.” Wanda planted a big kiss on his mouth.

He could feel it—bad luck for him.

“Maybe I should take you with me, Marcus, my love. I could use a young lover here. I’m all alone. Wouldn’t you like to lie dead with me?”

“Get it away from me!” Marcus was trying to get rid of Wanda like he was shooing a fly. “Get it off of me.”

“You can’t kill him.” I was firm about that. “The fortune teller told me how to get rid of you. If you hurt him, I’ll do it.”

“I don’t believe you.” Wanda was lifting Marcus off the ground. “You would’ve done it already.”

“The only thing stopping me from passing you off to someone else is feeling bad for the other person. If you hurt someone, I won’t feel like that anymore. Maybe a nice boiler room attendant might be more in your league.”

“You wouldn’t.”

I smiled brilliantly, even though my heart was pounding as Marcus kept moving upward, no matter how hard he tried to squirm away from Wanda’s hold.

“No more Village. No more visitors. No more Shakespeare or Polo’s Pasta.”

Marcus suddenly dropped to the dusty ground at my feet. He appeared to be unhurt, and wasted no time running out of the jousting arena.

“There you go. No need to whine, Jessie.” Wanda’s smile was awful to behold. “Just having a bit of fun. You should learn to relax.”

“Maybe I could if you’d rest in peace somewhere outside the Village.”

Wanda surveyed the viewing stand where Queen Olivia had been. It was empty now. “That was a dirty trick. You distracted me until Livy could get away.”

“Just remember what I said. I’ll pass you off to someone who never sees the light of day, much less the Ren Faire, if you hurt anyone. I’m not kidding, Wanda.”