Chapter 47

Avalina, trembling from relief, exhaustion, and then fresh fear, walked carefully to her room.

All the torches had been lit already, and she could sense no servants nearby.

Being all alone for once in a very large castle was faintly unnerving, but she had other things in mind.

'All the previous horses that stayed here for too long went mad.'

Avalina was terrified for Mitternacht. Terrified he might go mad as well.

'What have I done?' She thought, close to tears. 'I can't turn him loose, he'd never leave me. . .but he can't stay here, can he? He'll go mad if he stays.'

Shivering, Avalina closed her door and began to carefully get out of the dress and into her nightgown, nearly in tears.

'I can't lose him, I just can't. Not Mitternacht. I've already lost everything else.'

Feeling something damp on her face, she wiped her cheek to realize she really was crying.

Hurriedly getting out of the dress so she wouldn't get tear stains on it, she carefully hung it up in her wardrobe and pulled open the window.

It was nothing but blackness. No light of any type to make out anything, nothing was visible. Nothing. She may as well have been staring at a thick black piece of cloth over the window instead of the night. When she looked up at the sky, it was the same as looking down into the pitch. Nothing.

And there was no noise, just as Avalina had expected, but it still felt terrible.

No crickets, no other insects, no birds, no beasts. . .nothing but dead silence.

There was a soft breeze that whistled softly against the stone and slipped into the room, cooling her off and chilling her slightly.

She stood by the window for a time, straining to hear anything, see anything, but there was nothing.

The still chilled her. It reminded her of how truly alone she was, with not even the insects about.

Shivering in fear, she abandoned her idea of leaving her window open and bolted it tightly instead, although if something wanted in, there wouldn't be much she could do about it.

Huddling under the covers, all of the pain, the stress, the fear, and the total, overwhelming despair came free, and she sobbed softly into her pillow, wishing with all her might she was anywhere but here.

She would never see her family again. Her friends. Nothing familiar would she ever again lay eyes on. The sun, the flowers, the forest and all its wonders. . .nothing. And she might possibly lose Mitternacht as well.

She was doomed to stay here for the rest of her life. . .however long that would be. Locked in a castle with a monster straight from Hell, responsible for wiping out nearly whole countries before he decided to hit Prydain next.

Who knew what he would do to her.

Avalina curled up under the blanket and cried, feeling as if her heart was breaking into a thousand tiny pieces.

The next morning, Avalina had woken up early, after a nearly sleepless night. The Invisibles had served her breakfast in her room, and she had stayed in the stable for several hours afterward, watching Mitternacht for the slightest signs of what the Horned King had told her about.

The Invisibles had ushered her inside at some point to eat dinner in her room, before leaving a note saying that she could explore if she wished.

The first part of her screamed absolutely not.

She didn't want even the slightest possibility of running into the Horned King again. She shook at the mere thought of him.

For the longest time she paced her room in thought, before stepping out into the hall, shaking like a leaf.

If she was going to stay here the rest of her life, she might as well get acquainted with the place. She would probably see him far more than she wanted at any rate.

Walking slowly down the halls, she noticed that all of them were lit, enabling her to take any path she wanted. Glancing down each one, it was impossible to tell where they each went, so Avalina randomly made her selection and started walking.

The stone stretched on in front of her, endlessly. There were rooms sometimes off to the sides, and she would visit them. They were clean, but they looked just as abandoned as the rest of the place.

There were all types of rooms. The lack of any telltale pieces of furniture made it a bit hard to tell what they had been originally, but there were tables, chairs in a few, the usual.

She saw no beds at all. The only one she had seen in the entire castle was in her own room.

As she kept walking, observing, she slowly began to lose her initial fright, becoming too enamored with exploring to really worry about meeting anyone.

She took another flight of stairs that led her to the next floor, and after wandering the halls and rooms, pushed open yet another door. . .

And stopped dead.

For there, in the center of the room, was the most beautiful piano Avalina had ever seen.

Approaching, she took in the rich mahogany wood, the brilliant ivory keys. . .reverently she brushed it with her fingers. It was like something from a dream! Not to mention it was the last possible thing she had expected to find in this place.

She itched to play it, but fear of being heard overrode her want. She hadn't seen the Horned King yet today, and she wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible.

But yet. . .

She stared longingly at the row of keys that seemed to wink at her. It had been so long since she had played anything. . .her heart ached at how long it had been.

Being poor, her family did not own such a thing. Music was considered frivolous and impractical, especially when food on the table mattered so much more.

But when Avalina had visited the royal castle per request (Eilonwy had wanted her to come) she had learned to read those odd little marks on those lined papers the rich people called sheet music. And by extension, she had learned to play a few instruments and the piano was one of them.

And she loved it with a passion that could only be overruled by spending time with Mitternacht. Music had instantly become her favorite hobby along with reading.

Brushing the keys again, she accidently brought her finger down on one a little too hard, making the note gong through the room like a bell.

Avalina jumped, yanking her finger off the key. The note stopped.

Trembling, she listened anxiously for any noise, any sign that someone else was within hearing range.

When nothing happened after several moments, she pushed the key again, holding it this time, letting it gong out majestically in the silence before slowly fading out.

Tiptoeing to the door, she checked down both sides, making sure no one was coming, before pulling the door shut.

Walking back over, she carefully sat down on the bench and held her trembling fingers over the keys, pausing for a moment, before placing them in the correct positions and loosing a handful of dancing notes into the silent air.

They rang out clearly, echoing softly off the old walls.

'Alright, one song,' she decided.

'One.'

Avalina had no sheet music, but she didn't need any for this song. It had been the very first she had learned to play. One her mother had used to sing to her when she was very little.

It took several minutes for her to get her fingers to move properly without slipping, but after she relaxed, her fingers found the keys without even trying, and she softly began to sing along with it. It was a slow song, but powerful.

"I love the part, in Fairy Tales

That's very near the end

When all the kingdom cheers for their new queen."

Her fingers tumbled out the melody like water from a spring as she closed her eyes to concentrate.

"And all is well, and all is good,

And everyone belongs,

And happily they're ever-after-ing."

As the next verse came, Avalina raised her voice to match the swell in the music.

"But when I enter, the kingdom of dreams

And face the promise, of all I can be,"

Here, her voice lowered again as she went into the next line.

"Will they see me as,

A heroine?

Tell me, will, they let, me in?"

As her fingers slowly tapped the keys, Avalina almost mournfully sang the last line.

"Won't,

some,

one,

let me,

In?"

The soft, high note of her voice faded slipped out of existence as the music dissipated and slowly faded, leaving nothing but the echoes in the old walls.

Sighing, she looked down, contented that she had remembered at least half of the song, only to feel an icy prickle on her skin.

'Someone's in here!'

Raising her head quickly, she looked toward the door, only to gasp in fright and jump up from the bench as she saw the Horned King standing in the doorway.

Nothing belongs to me except this story and my OC's. Everything else belongs to Disney and Lloyd Alexander. The song is from a truly beautiful movie I love very much, Rigoletto. The song is Let Me In.