Chapter 46
"Well," the first Invisible huffed irritably.
"That could have gone better."
The Invisibles were discussing what had just happened in the dining hall as they cleaned everything up. The Horned King had vanished, presumably to his his chambers, leaving them to themselves.
"It could have gone worse, though," the third replied cheerfully as it picked out a few pieces of meat and some spoonfuls of various side dishes, putting some for Creeper on a plate. "One of them could have choked!"
"Poor Avalina was about to," the second said. "Our master's skills as a host are considerably lacking."
"I told the Horned King to say something, but he sure didn't try very hard."
"Oh, yeah, I heard," the second snickered to the third.
Mimicking the faked-out sneeze its companion had uttered in the dining hall that had scared Avalina, it did its best impression of a wreeze. (Word+Sneeze=Wreeze)
"Say Something!"
They laughed.
"I can't believe you did that and let Avalina hear you, after we all plainly agreed to what was said in the letter we sent her," the first one said irritably.
"She didn't hear what I said!"
"But she still *heard* you! Are you not getting the point!" The first Invisible ranted.
". . . . .Well, if you want to get technical, then she heard you too, you know," the third one said, a hint of superiority in its voice.
"She did not! I didn't say a word!"
"No, but you banged those spoons around in that blackberry cobbler like it said something mean to you!"
"Yeah, you were so loud, you could be the gongmaster on spoons!" The second one laughed.
"But. . .that's. . .no, I. . .that wasn't. . ."
The fourth laughed as the first struggled with how to answer.
"I think they've got you. . .Dusty."
The other two, barely holding onto themselves anyway, lost it completely, laughing for all they were worth.
"Oh, come on, don't you start!" The first Invisible cried in exasperation.
The fourth let out a very small cackle.
"Sorry. I just couldn't resist."
"They're rubbing off on you."
". . .Hm. . .maybe a little. Isn't it wonderful?"
"No."
"Oh."
After a pause the fourth one changed the subject.
"Avalina couldn't believe it was herself in that mirror. I don't think that child's ever had anything pretty to wear in her life."
"I know," the first replied, its irritation from earlier gone. "Those colors fit her very well. She looked like a princess."
"Ol' Billy-Bob-Joe noticed too," the third Invisible added.
"Da signs, mon," the second said in a deeply reverent tone, "I see dem."
A swish of air suggested the third one had bowed. "Yes, Master!"
". . . .Who?" The fourth asked as the first groaned again.
"Billy-Bob-Joe!" The second answered.
"You see, the two weeks Avalina was in the dungeon and while she was recovering and then when she was gone, we didn't come up with any new names," the third one explained.
"And since we give him a new nickname every week, and since Avalina got thrown in the dungeon till now, its been nearly a month, so we had to make up for lost time and call him three at once for this week. Get it now?"
The two cackled, "BILLY-BOB-JOE!"
The first set its last dish on its trolley with a little more force than necessary, taking in the dents that adorned the thing.
"These trolleys are a disgrace. The entire stock of trolleys we had, all ruined because *you two* couldn't stay out of trouble for a few hours."
"We can't even stay out of trouble for a few minutes, you should have known better than to set your hopes so high in the first place!"
"Also, why in Orion's Belt do we HAVE so many trolleys to begin with? I mean, we're only serving, like," The third Invisible did a quick head count under its breath, before continuing in its normal tone, "Three people? Why?"
"Besides, we didn't *Ruin* them," the second one said, sounding offended. "We *Characterized* them. Now, no two are alike. They've got their individual dents!"
"You two will have individual dents of your own one of these days, and I'm going to laugh."
"I thought we already did."
"Shut up and work!" The first Invisible shouted as it marched out the door, pushing the trolley in front of it. "I've had it with both of you!"
After a pause, the second murmured very quietly, "You think we should warn them that that's the one with the bad wheel?"
". . .Nope. Besides, we set the living room up, didn't we?"
"Yep."
". . .Roll on."
They whisked out the door after the first, leaving their trolleys.
The fourth presence, now alone in the room, calmly began to lay the silverware it held onto its own trolley.
"Three," It said as it laid down three spoons, sounding as dull and monotone as cardboard.
"Two. . ." It laid down two forks, pausing before laying down the knife. . .
"One. . ."
An explosion of noise sounded from the front of the castle, actually making the stones tremble slightly.
A montage of metal wheels hitting stone, yells of encouragement, screams of horror and the crashing tinkle of broken china echoed loudly through the halls for several moments, before a heavy thud vibrated hard through the floor.
Total silence for two seconds.
Whoops of joy and exhilaration reached the fourth Invisible plainly.
"WHOOOO-HOOOOOO!"
"WE DID IT!"
"WE COPIED CREEPER'S STUNT!"
"YE-HAW!"
Before a scream of rage from the first rang out.
"YOU GUYS ARE SO DEAD!"
Screams of laughter and the sound of about sixteen doors slamming was all that could be heard.
Chuckling to itself over the antics of the others, it finished the entire table without a single sour thought.
It was so good to have the pranking duo back to their old selves, even if they did annoy the living daylights out of the other one. And the fourth enjoyed most of their pranks nearly as much as they did.
After leaving all the dishes neatly stacked in the kitchen, it headed to the Horned King's chambers. It was its turn for Boss Duty tonight.
In his chambers, the Horned King was pacing.
He had toyed with her all through dinner, letting her feel the full force of his stare.
The Invisibles had not been much help. One had sneezed right by his face, telling him to talk to her.
Having been bored the past weeks, he delighted in having at least something to do, and he had enjoyed tormenting the girl.
When he had summoned her to come closer to him, it had been for several reasons.
One had been to see how good of a job the Invisibles had done, picking out her dress.
They had done very well.
Another was to see how she was physically after being so long in the dungeon.
She still carried that starved expression, but she had improved.
One he had not thought of until she came closer to him, was her aura. It drifted gently over him, gaining his attention instantly.
His hands had worked slowly in thought, almost as if he could feel it beneath his fingers.
It was nearly strong enough.
He had been in existence for centuries, and he had never ran across anyone with an aura this strong. It radiated off of her like rays off the sun. Something he could not see with his eyes, but he had felt it drift lightly across his hands and face, almost like a caress.
Idly, he put his fingers to his face.
Although he was no longer in her presence, he could still feel it.
And it felt. . .different.
As the Invisible approached the master's chambers, it saw a magnificent poster spread out over the door, with the words
"Beware Of The Billy-Bob and all his cobweb Jo(k)es"
emblazoned proudly across it in bold red letters.
The snickering snort that came out sounded eerily loud in the silence of the room.
Giving the best impression of nonchalance, it knocked twice on the door, before entering.
The Horned King had apparently been deep in thought before it entered, and he looked irritated at being disturbed.
"Yes?" He growled, indicating this was not a good time.
"I hate to interrupt, Sire, but I couldn't help wondering if you've seen the outside of your door lately?"
Boy, boy, those Invisibles. . .class act, aren't they? XD Please review! :D