Chapter 66
"And that was when I met the Princess and started music lessons," Avalina finished.
The room was very quiet, and rather dark. The only sound was the snapping of the fire.
Avalina risked a glance over at the Horned King, to see him staring into the fire with an odd look on his face, seemingly deep in thought.
The silence was almost deafening, but there was no hostility in the air, and Avalina realized she was completely relaxed. Something very unusual as of late.
Her eyes drooped slightly as she watched the Horned King for another moment, before staring into the fire as well. She was tired.
The silence flowed by like water, neither of them seeming willing to break it.
A soft rattle of breath indicated the Horned King was about to speak, but Avalina still jumped slightly when he spoke.
"When he threw you the first time, what possessed you to go back out there and get back on him, knowing full well you could be killed?"
Avalina blinked, looking over at the Horned King, who was watching her with an unreadable expression.
"I've asked myself that a lot of times since then, and Momma has too. There was a whole lot of reasons, I guess. The first and foremost one was that I knew I was going to lose him that day, and that prompted me to do something I wouldn't normally do, to keep him from dying. And he knew he'd messed up and he wanted to apologize, so I accepted it and we tried it again. Now that I think about it, I think that if I'd left him and walked away that afternoon, I never would have summoned up the courage to get on a horse ever again. Besides, my dad asked me once, 'What's the first thing you do when a horse bucks you off?' And I asked what, and he said, 'If you don't let him beat ya, you get straight back on.' You've got to show 'em you're tough enough to take anything they throw at you, where you can look the horse in the eye and the horse can call you his equal, and be proud of it. I think that's what happened to me and Mitternacht."
A silence followed, before the Horned King asked another question.
"Why would you risk your life to save something that everyone else thought was unsalvageable? It makes no logical sense."
"I don't know," Avalina answered quietly. "I just. . .I saw something in his eyes that first day, when he was bleeding inside that corral with all those people yelling for his head. He had such a look of despair on him, yet he stood like a warrior. He looked like he'd all but given up on loving someone else ever again. He really loved that knight. I guess I know how it feels to lose somebody you care about that much, and it gave us some common ground."
"And even after he hurt you, you still went back? Why?"
Avalina was silent for a moment, wondering how to reply.
"Because I saw something in him worth trying to save. He was acting off a broken, despairing heart, and the only way he knew how to express it was through anger, and he was just mad at the world for taking his best friend away. All anyone saw in him was a monster. But sometimes all somebody needs is a second chance, even if they don't deserve it. And I guess we were granted ours, him and me both."
This time the silence was longer before the telltale rattle.
"What happened to your father?"
Avalina started. She hadn't expected him to bring that up.
"I. . .I don't know," she answered slowly, trying to keep the sudden prickle of tears back. "He was there, and then he just. . .wasn't."
A pause.
"I see."
Another pause.
"Was he ill?"
"I'm not sure. There wasn't no warning."
Avalina sniffled softly, determined to hold the tears in.
The silence that followed was the longest the entire conversation had had. The only sounds were the snapping of the fire, and Avalina was nearly asleep when the Horned King finally spoke again, jolting her from her dazed state.
"Do you believe there is hope for everything in this world?"
Avalina stared down at the rug, wondering how to answer.
"Well sir," she finally told him softly, "I think everything does, maybe. It depends on whether they take their second chance or not. Mitternacht could have chosen not to let me into his heart at all, and that would have been the end of the story. But he did, and we both got a whole new life because of it. I. . .I guess you could say we fixed each other."
"Hm."
The silence dragged out again, and Avalina was very nearly asleep when the old clock loudly chimed one.
"The hour is late," the Horned King remarked as he rose gracefully from his chair, the movement freezing Avalina's blood as his shadow fell across her.
"I will let you retire."
Slowly, he walked toward the stairs as Avalina rose from her chair as well, stretching slightly.
"I hope I didn't bore you," she told him softly, causing him to turn and look down at her, "It was pretty long."
"You did not," he told her in his monotone voice, "And yes, it was. Next time, we will start earlier."
Avalina gave a tiny smile.
"Yes sir."
And then the shadows swallowed him up.
"Well," The Invisible said wonderingly as Avalina disappeared into her room for the night, "That was all pretty unexpected."
". . .Yeah."
The Invisibles had listened, spellbound, as Avalina had told her tale.
"So, that explains why she can play music."
"And why she has a horse."
"And. . .stuff. Man, that's just like. . .whoa."
". . .Yeah."
". . .eeeeeEEEHHHH!" One Invisible squealed.
"You know what this means!?"
"Here we go," The first one grumbled.
"ProgrEEEEEESS!
"ProgrEEEEEESS!"
"Alright, you've made your point!" The first Invisible snapped. "Now shut up!"
Snickers followed.
"In your dreams, maybe."
"CAN you even dream?"
"Yeah, can you?"
"Huh-huh-huh?"
"Huh-huh-huh?"
"Only when you two aren't around."
"Soooo, basically, that means never."
"So sad. . ."
"But true. . ."
The fourth Invisible carefully exited Avalina's chambers.
"I've got her comfortable for tonight," it said softly. "I think she was asleep before her head even hit the pillow."
". . .How did she do it this afternoon? How? It makes no sense. That horse could have killed her, and yet. . ."
"He did what she asked of him."
"Since when does any living creature willingly approach the Horned King like that?"
"Since this evening, I guess. Boy, did you see his face? He looked awestruck."
"When that horse bolted I was so scared for her. I thought it was over for sure.
"But it wasn't! She steered that horse back like a boss!"
"And then, this evening, did you notice?"
"Oh yeah! They were talking to each other almost like normal people!"
"It was great!"
"It was Awesome! He really enjoyed listening to her. I think how she and Mitternacht met was amazing! I really liked that part about how a name defines someone. Its really true!"
"Yeah, and the part that good things always follow bad things."
The third Invisible gasped.
"Hey, guys, did you catch this?"
"Catch what?"
"Catch what?"
"Ok, ok, listen," it said excitedly.
"Avalina got lost in the crowd the day she found Mitternacht, right?"
"Yeah. . ."
"And she got lost in the forest the night she found the castle, right?"
". . .Whoa, that's deep. . ."
"Listen, it gets better. Judging by Avalina's story, her father died around the same time Spike did the first time!"
". . . .Ok, now that's just creepy."
"Mitternacht hurt Avalina first before he let her in, and the Horned King's already hurt her! He's just a little harder to crack than the horse!"
"You sound happier about people being in pain than is probably healthy," the first remarked dryly.
"Shush!" The second said wildly, before turning back to the third. "What else? Tell me!"
"She was given a limited time to train the horse. The master has a limited time here. The horse enjoyed her singing and so does he."
By now, all the other Invisibles were silent, listening in awe.
"Everybody thought it couldn't be done with the horse, and nobody, including us, think it can really be done here. Don't you see?"
"Its a SIIIIIIIGN!"
"Its a SIIIIIIIGN!"
"It IS ironic, isn't it?" The fourth asked the first.
"So many parallels to Mitternacht's story and the master's."
"Its almost weird."
". . . .Almost?" The third spluttered.
"AlMost? Yo, its a sign!"
"But that's almost got me convinced this thing might turn out alright after all," the first replied, ignoring the third.
"If she could tame Mitternacht. . ."
The fourth finished for it.
"You think she could tame the master, too?"
"That's just corny," the second sniffed.
"But so appropriate," the third grinned.
"No, its not corny," The first answered.
"The way you worded it sure is."
"Well, let's hear you do it."
"If she could change Mitternacht, she could change the master too. Now, doesn't that sound so much better?"
". . .You changed one word."
"And it made all the difference, didn't it?"
"I don't get it. It means the same exact thing."
". . .Nevermind."
"On another note, has Creeper got drunk again?"
"No, and we should all plan to keep it that way. He's just lucky the master didn't catch him at it."
"I agree, but come on! I wanna see it too-hoo-hoo!" The third Invisible whined, hitting the floor for emphasis.
"Can't we lock him in the gwythaint's stable like you did last time and watch?" The second begged.
"No," the first growled. "The gwythaint was driven nearly insane by Creeper's intoxicated warbling."
"Now THAT would be hilarious! Ha!"
"What, the gwythaint singing the Grinch?"
The two exploded into laughter as the first moaned again.
"On the other hand, I do believe I'll take a shot. Who's with me?"
Silence.
The slamming of the door was the only noise to be heard, right before they all started bellowing at something random.
"Well, that's one way to get rid of 'em," the first Invisible grinned to itself.
"Too bad it'll only work once."
The door flew open violently and a mountain of multi-colored paper crashed in, filling the room.
"GAAAH!" The first Invisible shouted. "No, No No, no, NOOOOOOOO! YOU IDIOTS!"
The cackling laughter of the others as they took off down the hall was deafening.
"Bye-bye, Dusty Rainbow!"
Boy, it feels good to be back in the present! XD Leave a review!