Chapter 58
Avalina gripped the rails as she saw the biggest horse she had ever seen in her life fighting a group of men inside the enclosure.
She could only stare.
He was huge, and black, and seemed to fill half the pen. Kicked up dust and a few men occupied the rest. They were trying to subdue him, but to no avail. He continued to rear and plunge about, fighting with all his strength.
He sported at least four loops around his head and neck, each one attached to a different rope, and each rope attached to three different men, who were apparently trying to hold him still.
It wasn't working. The massive animal dragged them all around as if they weighed nothing, snorting and biting. All the men were shouting, and Avalina covered her ears at the foul language.
Her eyes grew wide in horror as she saw one man lift a whip in his hand. He was going to hurt him!
She opened her mouth to yell at him to stop, but dust promptly swept down her throat and choked her.
Unable to do anything, she could only watch, tears flowing from her eyes, as the whip came down over the horse's black coat. Again and again.
The horse had had more than enough. Wrenching his head around, he grabbed one of the ropes in his teeth and snapped it clean in half, before leaping high in the air, every leg going in a different direction. His mane and tail rose up to rest in midair as his legs came back under him in flawless ease, the ropes floating in the air as well as he descended into the dust cloud again.
The scream of one of the men was heard, before one came flying out and hit the rails of the pen opposite of Avalina. He crawled through just in time before the horse's head snaked out of nowhere and snapped shut less than an inch from the man's legs as he scrambled over the fence. Another crawled out and hobbled swiftly to the other side of the pen and climbed over.
The whip cracked several more times, earning a shrill whinny from the horse, before all the men quit and ran for the rails in every direction.
The entire crowd backed up, Avalina with them, as they came clambering over the rails as fast as they could go, before the massive black animal stepped out of the dust cloud and stared condescendingly down at them, his eyes wild in hate as he took them all in.
Avalina felt the creature's eyes on her, although they were mostly hidden under that thick black forelock. They glimmered slightly in malice as the animal held the crowd temporarily frozen.
"Men, its no use," a voice came from the crowd said. "There's just too much savage in him."
Everyone turned to who was speaking, and Avalina took the man in.
He was possibly the handsomest man she had ever seen, but for some reason she felt instantly afraid of him. He did not wear the dusty, sweat-stained clothes of the other men, but was rather welldressed and gave off an air of faint superiority that Avalina did not like.
The crowd hummed in excitement or outrage as the man spoke again.
"Bring the lance."
'Lance? What for?' Avalina thought, puzzled. 'How will a lance help?'
When she saw the man carrying a long wooden lance toward the pen, the sight of the massive spearhead on the end glinting in the sun, it clicked.
'He's gonna kill him!' She thought in horror as he leaped effortlessly over the fence.
The horse, immediately seeing the weapon, took his battle stance across from the man.
For a moment, neither of them moved as they tried to stare each other down.
Avalina pushed her way through the crowd to the front again as the man walked toward the horse.
The horse raised his head and laced back his ears, backing around in the opposite direction, eyes never leaving the lance or the one that bore it, watching every move.
The man drew his arm back, and with a grunt, threw the massive thing.
Avalina gasped as the horse ducked his head right at the last second, the lance going over his ears to embed into the ground at an angle.
Avalina swore she heard the horse give a snort of triumph as he sprang at the man, who ran screaming from the pen. Just as he got out, however, the lance came out of nowhere and raked down the horse's side.
The horse screamed and whirled around, nothing but a storm of black, to lay infuriated eyes on the other man who had thrown it, before charging him as well.
Blood fell onto the dusty earth as the other man ducked out of the arena, out of the horse's reach, just as the lance came out of nowhere and nicked the horse's hip.
Roaring in rage, the horse turned and charged the welldressed man again, who was well out of the pen by this time, just as the other threw the lance again.
"Stop it!" Avalina cried, unable to keep silent any longer, "You're hurting him!"
This drew everyone's attention, much against Avalina's will, but she was too upset about the horse to be very embarrassed.
"Get lost, kid!" The welldressed man said harshly, before doing a double take. "What is SHE doing here? Somebody, get rid of her, this isn't no place for street urchins."
"I'm not a street urchin!" Avalina shouted angrily at the man. "I'm a girl and you're mean!"
This caused a torrent of laughter from everyone in the crowd, promptly making Avalina flush, but she figured that while she had the floor she might as well use it.
"How could you be so cruel to that horse?" She shouted. "Its a living creature too!"
The crowd promptly got quiet, turning towards the man in front of Avalina. She saw his eyes darken.
"You shouldn't talk about things you know nothing of!" He snarled at her, making her back up as he approached.
A hand gripped Avalina's shoulder and she jumped in terror, trying to leap forward, but the grip held tight.
Turning her head up, she saw the roughest looking man she had ever seen.
His face was lined and leathery, his gray hair was pulled back in a small ponytail and a hard line was his mouth. His eyes however, were pale blue and bitter, although not necessarily unkind.
"Leave the girl be, Arwel, before I order You taken out," he bit out, pulling Avalina closer to him in a protective gesture.
The welldressed man, who Avalina assumed was Arwel, sneered openly.
"You couldn't take out straw on a good day, old man."
"Ye watch yer mouth, young 'un, or I'll punch it in for ya."
Avalina, although intimidated by this man, tugged his sleeve.
"Please don't let them kill him, mister!" She said, tears building up again. "Please?"
The older man pulled her to the side and knelt down to eye level with her, keeping a firm hand on her shoulder.
"Kid, you don't understand all the trouble that horse has put us through," he told her. "Ain't ye ever heard of Marwolaeth, or Diafol Ceffyl?"
Avalina shook her head. "No, what's that?"
"Ah, o' course ye wouldn't," he groaned. "Ye ain't from around here. It means Death, or Devil Horse, kid, and you're lookin' at him," he told her, gesturing toward the pen.
"That thing's a man killer if I ever saw one. He can't be tamed or touched, let alone ridden. He's hurt so many people I've lost count. He nearly killed three."
Avalina stared over at the horse in the arena, standing in the center, his head up, watching for any that would dare to challenge him.
"If ya'll weren't so mean to him, mister, he wouldn't do that," she told him accusingly, glaring.
The man sighed.
"We weren't at first, kid. That horse got nothin' but the best o' treatment from his rider."
"What happened?"
"The rider was a knight, kid, and he died. The horse's been unmanageable ever since. We've tried every method there is, but nothin's worked, and if the horse won't accept another rider, it would be merciful to put the thing out of his misery. He's sufferin' somethin' terrible."
Avalina slowly turned from the man and walked up to the corral, watching the animal.
Now that the men weren't harassing him, the hatred she had felt in the air wasn't so strong, and underneath she could feel such a deep undercurrent of pain that she felt herself tear up again.
For a moment, the animal turned to her, and slowly flicked his ears forward, the first time they had not been pinned back flat, until the old man came up beside her. The horse promptly laced back his ears again and stamped a warning.
In a flash Avalina had turned back to the man. "You can't let them kill him! Please!"
"Kid, I ain't got no authority over that."
"Autho-what?"
"It means I can't do nothin'."
"There's gotta be somebody that can!"
"Somebody who can what?" A new voice spoke up.
Everyone turned to see who the speaker was, and instantly the mood changed from dark to reverent.
"Good afternoon, King Gwydion," the older man by Avalina said.
"I was just explanin' to the kid here why you ordered the horse destroyed."
"You *ordered* it?" Avalina asked in shock.
"Shut up, kid!" The older man said harshly. "Yer speakin' to royalty!"
Stunned and embarrassed, Avalina stammered out a terrified apology, but the king held his hand up.
"Take the horse to the stables," he said firmly, "We'll deal with it later."
Turning back to Avalina, he said, "Now, what are you doing here, all by yourself, miss?"
It was then that Avalina remembered her current situation and her mother.
After explaining everything, the king nodded once.
"Well, I'm not letting you just stay out here by yourself. Do you like horses?"
Avalina nodded eagerly. "Yes, Your Majesty, but I've never been close to one or anything."
The king nodded, a faint smile on his lips.
"Meuric, take her to the stable to see the horses. The guards will be ordered to watch for her mother when she arrives."
The elderly man, who was obviously Meuric, looked faintly disgusted at the idea, but he did not dare refuse the king.
"Aye, sir," he said with a bow, "It will be done," before taking Avalina's arm and steering her in the direction of the stable.
"Now look kid, you do exactly as I say," he told her irritably, before grumbling to himself, "Of all the stupidest jobs, I get stuck with babysitting."
Avalina bit her tongue and did not say a word.
Marwolaeth and Diafol Ceffyl really do mean Death and Devil Horse in Welsh. Just throwin' that out there. . .Don't forget to review! XD