Chapter 13

The Horned King stared down at the girl over the balcony railing, well hidden by the shadows. He was so completely still he might have passed for a statue, but his mind was a raging storm of emotion and thoughts that couldn't even string together to form a grammatically complete sentence. He kept hearing the thoughts he had processed over the past few weeks, the words he had said, mingled together with the voices of his Invisible Servants as they argued with him. He knew he had to kill this girl, or all of Prydain would know of his return, but the words his Invisible Servants had told him over the last couple weeks kept him immobile.

'The human must die,' He snarled silently at the voices in his head.

'You must earn someone's love. . .' The Invisibles nearly sang to him.

'I am heartless and therefore hopeless. . .'

'Or suffer for all time. . .'

'. . .This task is impossible. . .'

'. . .Are you willing to try?'

'. . .I will still have my pride. . .'

'. . .This is your only chance. . .'

'. . .perhaps if I possessed any hope. . .'

'. . .Don't let it pass you by. . .'

'. . .But false hope is nothing but lies. . .'

'. . .You hold your own Fate in your hands. . .'

'. . .I cannot feel anyhow. . .'

'. . .Could be a new beginning. . .'

'. . .I am a monster, not a man. . .'

'. . .No other soul has ever been freed from the Cauldron, til now. . .'

'. . .Its now or leave it to chance. . .'

'. . .Your hold your own Fate in this period of Grace. . .'

'. . .If I don't at least try. . .'

'. . .Then you will have doomed yourself and your soul for all time. . .'

The Horned King slowly massaged his temples with his right hand to try and ease the pounding headache that had suddenly sprang up. What was wrong with him? He had never felt this torn between decisions. Never. He had never second-guessed himself before. He was the most ruthless warlord the world had ever seen. He killed without mercy and enjoyed it. His minions wiped out everything in their path. Men, women, children, all. He had once possessed a fierce, single-minded drive that nothing could stand against or hinder. He knew exactly what to do, had to do to achieve his goals, and he did it. Nothing would get in his way of ultimate power. World domination. He had fought, strategized, planned, calculated, and plotted with utmost care and ruthless cunning for years, all the while dealing with a large group. . .he refused to call them an "army". . .of dimwitted goons constantly dragging him down that were too lazy to run, too cowardly to fight and had the intellectual capabilities of an empty wooden pail.

Now that he thought about it, the pail was probably smarter. It could roll with the punches, at least.

So where was that one-track drive now, that was the secret to all of his success before?

At the moment, he had no answer to that.

His indecision rendering his feet immobile, he kept staring at the girl in front of the fire, noticing even from this distance she could barely stay on her feet. She looked ready to drop from exhaustion any second, and barely conscious. He doubted she would even know he was behind her till his hand was around that pretty little neck.

His mood brightened at the prospect of maiming something other than the Creeper, but was immediately dampened by a flashback of himself inside the Cauldron. He jumped in fright as the fire licked at him, the laughter resounding. . .He put his hands over his face to block the horrifying memories out.

Trembling slightly he composed himself, temporarily making a decision.

He would let the human live.

For now.

When the girl had lost feeling in her freezing fingers again she had been forced to turn away from the staircase and back toward the fire again to warm her arms and face, the heat relieving her pounding head somewhat. She felt so exposed here. . .her legs wobbled again in exhaustion and she nearly cried out as she tensed her muscles to keep her knees from buckling under her weight. She was so tired. . .she stared blankly at the fire through half lidded eyes, watching the flames dance over the wood in the fireplace. The soft snapping, crackling and occasional "Poof!" coupled with the flurry of sparks as it caved in on itself was nothing short of a soothing lullaby. The flames kept dancing in a sort of disjointed waltz, over the wood and across her vision, luring her to stare deeper, coaxing her eyes to close completely. With a massive effort she resisted its warm, reassuring pull, but she knew she couldn't hold it off much longer. She was so tired. . .

Somehow in her haze, she suddenly realized that her numbed and dull senses had been sending her signals for quite some time now, alerting her that something in the room had changed. Her consciousness protested angrily at being disturbed *again* but she heavily pulled it to the surface of her mind, feeling over the area to see what was new. She jolted awake a little more as she realized a presence in the room. And not just any presence.

This one was different from all the others she had sensed so far. The others had been either benign or chaotic, not even giving her much of a second glance. Although she couldn't see them, she knew when she was being watched and she had sensed the others had not been that horribly interested.

This one was very different. She felt the darkest aura around this presence she had ever felt in her young life. It was darker than a moonless night when thunderheads covered every inch of the sky. That pitch kind of darkness your nightmares usually end in right before you jerk awake in terror.

It was darker than that.

Much, much darker.

And it terrified her out of her mind.

Adrenaline pumping through her veins, her eyes widened in fear as she kept her gaze on the fire. She had never felt anything so frightening. Her terror compounded as her senses gave her the next realization.

It was *watching* her.

The hair on the back of her neck stood up as she began to shake uncontrollably.

What felt like an eternity passed as she fought to keep from fleeing from the room and leaving to go sleep in the barn tonight, but terror kept her rooted to the spot. Sudden movement might be enough to anger it, and she knew her legs wouldn't even get her halfway to the door.

She couldn't take the tension anymore. Turning around and looking at the half-shadowed staircase, which was littered with silverware and broken china, her voice wavered shakily out of her mouth.

"Hello?"

The Horned King got his third surprise of the evening when he heard the girl's voice waver through the air and drift against his eardrums.

"Hello?"

It echoed slightly off the stone walls and came back to replay, making her sound just as pitiful as she looked. He had not expected her to speak, or even sense him. Even while exhausted, this human seemed more perceptive than most. Not that it would help her any.

'Hello? Hello? Hello?'

The silence afterward seemed stuffy and thick, and the Horned King noticed her shaking increase. He gave a silent nod of approval. This would work to his advantage.