Chapter 59
Avalina was entranced by all the horses. There were so many! Lined wall to wall, in every color imaginable, she stared and stared at them, drinking everything about them in. Their appearances, their scent, everything. She went up to every single one and got to rub most of their muzzles when they stuck them over the door, sniffing her over to search for treats or out of curiosity.
She didn't even hear the older man, Meuric, grumbling behind her as she bounced from stall to stall, trying to peek over the high tops of the half doors. She knew better than to move swiftly and not let the animals know she was there, so she made sure to speak to them as she came up to the stalls, gently holding out her hand for them to sniff before she started petting them.
"Are they knight's horses?"
She asked the man eagerly as she gently rubbed the face of a noble looking bay.
"Some of 'em," he replied gruffly.
"Do they have names? What are their names?"
"I don't know, they may not have any." The answer was curt but Avalina scarcely noticed. She turned to him in surprise.
"How come they don't have names? They have to have names!"
"I didn't say they Didn't have names, kid. I said that if they had any, I don't know 'em."
"Oh."
Avalina peered over the top of another door, but she could barely see the paler colored horse's back over the wood. It didn't come when she clucked softly.
"Is this one shy?"
A snort came from Meuric.
"Nah. Just a stubborn git."
Avalina stared at him, her little mouth turning down in disapproval.
"You shouldn't say things like that, mister. You'll hurt her feelings."
Another snort came from the man.
"Horses ain't got feelin's, kid, and they can't understand people."
"Can so!"
Another humph of contempt.
"Kids, think they know everythin'."
Avalina turned back to the stall, trying to peek over. Clucking again, she softly told the horse where Meuric wouldn't hear, "Its ok, I know you have feelin's, just like everyone else. Its ok if you don't want to come out, but I really want to see you. Could you please come over?"
Avalina clucked again, making a gentle tapping noise with her fingers on the door, and this time she saw the horse's head and ears come into sight over the wood.
Cautiously, the horse came closer, before leerily leaning down to sniff the girl's hands, acting as if the slightest wrong move would frighten her away. Avalina smiled happily and murmured something unintelligible as the mare let her scratch her neck, leaning into her touch.
Avalina didn't see the older man watching in surprise from the other side of the hall.
"Say, kid. . .how'd you do that?"
Avalina turned, oblivious to what Mueric had saw.
"Do what?"
"How'd you get 'er to come over?"
Avalina frowned slightly in concentration as she rubbed the mare forehead, who was leaning into the touch like it was the first bit of attention she had gotten in a while.
"I asked her to, mister. That's all."
The man scratched his head, a puzzled expression on his face.
"And how'd you know it was a mare? You couldn't see anything."
"I'm not sure," Avalina replied truthfully. "She just felt like a she."
By now the trainer was looking even more confused and shook his head.
"That horse never comes up to anyone of 'er own accord, not even her rider. And she hates her head bein' messed with, and there you are, lovin' all up on her."
Avalina looked down at the mare, who's head was buried happily in her arms.
"Maybe her head hurts?" She asked innocently. "When my head hurts Momma always puts a cold cloth on it. Which is funny because if my legs hurt, she puts on a hot one."
At this, the man huffed in irritation, before his eyes grew thoughtful, looking at the mare.
"Head hurts, huh?"
Slowly he came over. The mare raised her head up warily, eyeing him with distrust.
"Easy, girl," he told her gently, holding out a hand for her to smell. "I ain't up to anythin'."
Rubbing his hand down her neck, he rubbed back up to her face and carefully cued her to raise her head up some more. Instantly the mare's eyes rolled in unease, and she tried to back up, but the kid's fingers were still in her mane and held her there, despite the fact she could easily drag the girl right over the stall door.
The horse did not move as Mueric slowly rubbed up under her chin, and then behind her ears, before going down her cheek. . .
The horse immediately flinched.
The man turned from gruff to concerned in an instant.
"Easy, girl," he soothed as he slid her halter on that hung by the door and let himself into the stall, "What's wrong?"
The mare immediately pulled her head away from him, eyeing him distrustfully, her ears going back and forth like little speckled flags.
After a few minutes of soothing, he got her head down and, after tying her, gently pulled her mouth open.
A soft swearword followed and Avalina's eyes grew huge at what she was seeing.
The inside of the mare's lips and tongue were cut up in several places, red and raw and angry. It looked pretty bad. Mueric swore again as he let the mare close her mouth and rubbed her neck in a soothing gesture.
Walking out of the stall, he looked pretty mad, and Avalina shrank from him at first.
"What's wrong with her, mister Mueric?"
She tagged after him as he walked down the long hall and into the equally massive tackroom that ran alongside the rows of stalls, searching.
"What're ya looking for?"
The man paused as he came to a rack of equipment that sported the same number as the mare's stall door.
Picking up the bridle, he eyed the bit on it carefully, before swearing again.
"I shoulda known days ago," he muttered, "When she wasn't cleanin' up 'er feed like normal."
Holding it down to her level, he asked, "Do you know what the problem is?"
"I don't know anything about horses or their. . .um. . .tack."
Boy, was she glad she got the right word.
The man turned it so she could see better and pulled it apart so the bit was stretched out to its full length.
"Well, now you can start learnin'. What doesn't look right to ya?"
Avalina studied the leather and metal item in front of her, something off about the bit catching her eye.
It looked. . .funny. It was something she definitely wouldn't want in *her* mouth.
The metal piece that went in the horse's mouth had sharp little jags of metal running the length of it, hardly the size of an underdeveloped corn kernel. Looking closer around the edges, she could see where someone hadn't cleaned it properly, and there was traces of old bloodstains around the crevices in the metal.
"It looks painful," she said, her eyes round. "Did somebody do this on purpose?"
"You bet they did, kid," Mueric said, his eyes cold and hard. Slinging the bridle over his shoulder, he walked back out into the barn.
"What're you gonna do?"
"Have a little chat with the stable manager. Stay here, I'll be back shortly."
He was gone before she could even get a word in.
Going back to the mare, who was still tied in her stall, Avalina tried to comfort her as best she could.
"Don't you worry now, mister Mueric's gonna take care of you," she told the horse kindly as the mare laid her head in Avalina's arms, all too eager to simply be loved.
"I don't think he likes people very much, but he won't let anyone hurt you anymore, I'm sure of it."
A screaming whinny and a crash made them both jump. The mare threw her head up and snorted hard, listening. Avalina froze as well.
After several moments when nothing happened, Avalina tiptoed to the stall door and peeked out. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary going on, but she decided that she would have a drink from the pump right outside the stable anyway.
"I'll be back," she promised the mare, before slipping out.
After her drink, she realized there was another stable right beside this one.
'Mueric said to stay here,' she thought to herself. 'I'm not going anywhere, just to the next stable. One building over, he'll be able to find me easy.'
Nobody in the busy courtyard noticed her as she unlatched the massive door, and when a huge effort, pushed it open just enough for her tiny frame to fit through, before slipping inside.
She could not get in shut no matter how hard she shoved, so it was left about six inches ajar.
Looking around, she couldn't see why it was shut anyway. This stable looked abandoned. There were no horses in the stalls or anywhere.
'Its awful empty for a royal stable,' she thought. 'I know the king owns way more horses than the ones I saw in the other stable, and that was huge!'
Walking slowly down the hall, she suddenly realized she was hearing something soft and rhythmic. Pausing, she listened.
'Its only my breathing,' she thought, feeling a little foolish.
She wondered how quiet this building would be if she held her breath.
Taking a deep one, she held it and listened to the silence. . .
But it wasn't silent. She could still hear something.
'I'm not the one breathing,' she realized in surprise. 'There's somebody else in here with me!'
Her heart suddenly beating faster, she whipped around as a thick rustle of straw was heard, right as a massive black head appeared out of the stall right across from her. Ropes covered its head, blood trickled from a place near its left eye and savage eyes glinted at her under its wild, unkempt mane.
The animal's nostrils flared, the insides looking blood red as they snorted out a fine spurt of dust, staring straight at her.
In this dim lighting it looked like smoke and fire.
Avalina gasped as she took all this in, unintentionally backing up a step, only to stop as her back hit one of the many closed stall doors.
It all happened in an instant, but she knew immediately who he was.
'Marwolaeth!'
Review! XD Also, anybody reading this that hasn't checked out the video tribute to this fanfiction, seriously do so! Its awesome! XD Just go to Youtube and type in Horned King and Avalina, it'll be right at the top! ^_^ Since most of ya'll seem so dead set on not reviewing, you can watch the video instead lol!