The Dreadstone King

When searching for a relic, be sure there isn't a ghost attached to it... Reluctance has got nothin' on Allira Maplestaff. She has no interest in participating in the Festival of the Relic, the annual assault on the Dreadstone Tombs to claim the treasure of the Dreadstone King. No one has ever found the relic, won the treasure...or even come back whole. The few who came back alive are tormented shadows of themselves. But to save her grandmothers' farm, she agrees to be the lucky thirteenth warrior to round out the crew.

Josten Ironheart has been dead for over seven decades, but he still detests the annual ritual of sanctioned violence against the residents of the Dreadstone Tombs. He's the Dreadstone King, or at least the ghost of him, and he does his best to drive insane or kill the knights who invade his realm and slaughter his people. When he discovers Allira watching the invaders' horses, he intends to scare her off, but he ends up talking to her...and liking her.

Their friendship continues to grow as the other twelve knights slowly succumb to either their fear or their wounds. But the maniacal leader of the invaders will stop at nothing to claim the relic and the treasure of the Dreadstone Tombs. Josten must protect his home and the woman he loves, but to do that, he must show her his true self. The question is, will Allira be able to see the man beyond the ghost in the skeletal shell?