Chapter 23
The silence rang against her eardrums like a gong, snapping her instantly from sleep.
Avalina's eyes came open to stare at the wall, her heart thumping a little harder than necessary against her chest.
Something was off.
Something was different.
Quickly sitting up in bed, she gave her room a bleary-eyed once-over. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
The fire had banked down during the night, but although it was nearly out, Avalina didn't exactly feel cold.
And then she realized the problem.
There was no noise.
Remembering the deafness she had temporarily acquired a couple nights ago, she frantically put her hands up near her ears and snapped her fingers a few times, panicking that she may have lost her hearing again while she slept.
The utter relief when she realized nothing was wrong with her ears was staggering, but it still seemed too quiet.
Yawning, Avalina climbed out of bed and walked the five steps to the thick wooden door-like item that kept the elements from blasting through the single window the room possessed.
Flipping the latch, she pushed the window open. . .
And realized the reason for the absurd silence.
It was no longer storming. It wasn't even raining anymore. And the air smelled cleaner, fresher, like it always did after a rain. Avalina breathed deeply, feeling more awake.
Stretching, she looked down over the sill, taking in everything for the first time.
The courtyard. . .or what little of it she could see from this angle. . .was rather empty. Around the left corner she could see the stables and a few smaller buildings. In front of her the drawbridge was closed, with a massive moat stretching out all around the castle.
Farther out to her left, beyond the moat, she could see a massive lake that seemed to stretch for miles. She could barely see the trees on the opposite bank from here. They were so far away they looked like little bushes.
Her eyes widened as she took in the land beyond the moat, that stretched likewise around the castle.
A wide strip of brown was all she could see for miles. Not a single sprig of green was to be seen in that stretch. Like a pestilence had rained down from the sky and struck anything in its way. Skeleton trees here and there were the only thing that wasn't beaten to the ground, which was no doubt mud now after the heavy storm. Their long, twisting branched looked bare and defenseless without their cover of green, as they stood like undead soldiers in the strip of wasteland.
Avalina puzzled at this.
'Why does nothing grow here?' She thought. 'Being right by a lake, it should be just as green as everything else.'
Several miles back, Avalina saw the lush, rolling hills and forests stretching up into cliffs, leading her eye back to something familiar. It was all so green, and a thin mist barely clung to it all. Her heart jumped joyfully as she took it all in, before realizing something else.
There was no sun.
Dark, moody looking clouds covered the sky above the castle and its wasteland, but Avalina noticed where the brown ended, so did the shadow. Sunlight was trying to come out over the lush forests beyond, trying to burn off the light fog.
But there was no sunlight here.
'I know this place,' she thought, furrowing her brow as she turned her head to look at the lake again.
'This is the old lake castle. I remember now! Eilonwy said this castle was King Rhitta's, two hundred years ago. She said it had fallen into disrepair, and no one has used it since, except. . .'
Avalina gasped out loud.
'This is the castle the Horned King took over when he was trying to conquer Prydain!'
Her stomach twisted so violently she had to grip the window tightly to keep from falling to the floor.
'Oh, gods!'
Now it made sense. That barren wasteland stretching out before her was dead for a very good reason. No growing things, no sun. . .
Avalina shook as she tried to keep her legs from giving out on her.
'Calm down, calm down!' She told herself frantically.
'The Horned King is dead. Taran killed him. Eilonwy told me so, she was there for the whole thing, she saw it herself. The Horned King is gone, he can't hurt anyone anymore.'
'Oh really?' Her mind thought. 'And just who runs this castle now, anyway?'
She was suddenly back inside the throne room where she had spoken to him last night.
*'Concentrating in the gloom, her narrowed eyes made out a couple of odd-looking shapes above where she guessed his head would be, before her moment of clarity was gone.
They had looked almost like. . .horns.'*
Avalina felt like she was going to be sick from terror.
'I have to get out of here. Now! The Horned King is Not dead, he's alive! I knew this place felt evil!'
Stumbling over to the bed, she began to shakily pull her clothes on. The logical side of her mind kept telling her she was panicking unnecessarily, but her common sense told her otherwise.
'How? How?!' Her mind screamed.
'It shouldn't be possible! He was Dead! Taran killed him! And Eilonwy doesn't lie!'
Nearly falling more than once, she yanked on her boots.
'I don't care what Eilonwy said or what logic says. He's back, and I have to warn Prydain! I know where I am now, I can find my own way back!'
Grabbing her saddlebags she was out the door, not bothering to touch the breakfast sitting on her little table.
Nearly crashing through the stable door, she hurried over to Mitternacht's stall. As he poked his head over the door she blew out a sigh of relief, grateful he was alright.
Tossing her saddlebags over the hitching rail she grabbed her bridle and went to Mitternacht.
"I'm so sorry, boy," she told him as she quickly unbolted his door and came inside.
"I know you want your breakfast but you're going to have to wait until we get back. . .what's this?"
Something was hanging slightly out of the horse's mouth, held tightly in his teeth.
"Come on, boy, let me see what it is."
Mitternacht was not keen on letting go of his prize, whatever it was, and Avalina had to gently urge him to open his mouth and drop it.
Finally, the horse complied, blowing mucus all over her clothes as he did so.
"Mitternacht!" Avalina snapped, heavily annoyed.
The horse snorted in equine laughter and nuzzled her shoulder.
Grumbling, she wiped the front of her shirt off with a handful of loose hay as she examined the object her horse clearly prized, rubbing her horse's muzzle to let him know she wasn't angry anymore.
It appeared to be a piece of cloth of some sort, the kind most cloaks and capes were made of. Not heavy, but durable. It was dark blue, about eight inches long and three inches wide. With all the hanging threads and jagged edges, it looked like it had been torn violently off the bottom of someone's cloak.
At least, that's what it appeared to be. Mitternacht had drooled it into a sopping, shapeless mass, preventing any completely accurate assumption.
Looking up from it, Avalina saw her horse prancing lightly around the spacious stall, acting like he'd been named a hero.
"What have you been up to, boy? Did someone come in here last night?"
She tried to ignore the chill that crept up her spine at the thought.
The horse snorted and pawed the straw, before tossing his head and coming back to sniff the fabric Avalina held.
"I'm guessing that's a yes and you scared him off?"
Chuckling at the mental image of the poor soul that would dare mess with Mitternacht, she lay the cloth down on the top of the wall and slid her horse's bridle on.
"Ok, boy, we'll take it, whatever it is. I swear, you pick the oddest trophies. . ."
The horse was ready in ten minutes. A new record.
Avalina was just tying the saddlebags in place when the stable door at the end of the hall came open.
Just as it had before, a breeze kicked a rolling piece of parchment over to where she stood.
Feeling an unpleasant knot in her stomach, she picked it up.
The Master will see you.
Feeling the knot tighten considerably, Avalina took his reins in her shaking hands and led her horse to the door.
This was not a good idea. It was a terrible idea. Every part of her screamed no to this, but she had no choice. She would have had to ask the master to lower the drawbridge anyway.
As she loosely looped the reins over the hitching post by the door, the horse moved his body around where he blocked the exit.
Snorting, he pawed once and tossed his head in his version of a "No!" As if to say, "Your not going back in there! Let's go home!"
Shivering slightly, Avalina rubbed his neck.
"I have to go in, boy. One more time. I have to lower the drawbridge so we can get out of here. I'll be back, ok?"
With effort, she managed to pry him away from the entrance. He clearly didn't want her to go back in there, and it chilled the girl.
When he blocked her a third time she had no choice but to tightly tie him to the post. His antics were scaring her and the faster she got this over with the better.
Rubbing his face gently, she kissed his muzzle before heading back into the castle.
Mitternacht whinnied loudly from the stable, the worry evident in every syllable.
Avalina's heart raced as she stepped inside the castle, the doors once more opening without her having to touch them. As Mitternacht's whinny rang threw the air she felt quite chilled.
'Does he know something I don't?'