Chapter 72
Shshshshshshshshsh. . . .
The sound of a thousand soft whisperings and hundreds of nature's little drums all beating their own individual tempo without the slightest one out of line, was what gently stirred Avalina from her deep sleep.
Pom-pat-pitta-pat-pom!
Barely awake, she lay there with her eyes closed, listening to Nature's lullaby as the gentle rain shower fell down in a soothing rhythm.
'I love rain,' she thought sleepily.
'Things always feel better after a good rain.'
Titta-tat-splash-splat-splish!
Avalina could all too well remember the last time it had rained. It had been the night she'd been stranded here at the castle.
It wasn't the best recollection of rain to have.
Yesterday when she'd been exercising Mitternacht, it had been impossible not to notice how thirsty the ground was, how the rock hard earth cried out for relief underneath that flat blanket of dead grass.
This was exactly what everything needed. A good, steady shower that wasn't too hard. Without water, nothing could ever hope to survive. Except maybe the Horned King, that is.
Her muddled, sleepy thoughts took another tack.
'How long have I been here?'
She opened her eyes a little more, yawning as she stretched to face the day, trying to remember.
'If the Invisibles' little scratch calendar is anything to go by,' she thought, wiping the sleep from her eyes as she looked over to the corner of her room, 'I've been here for. . .two months.'
Her eyes snapping completely open, she leapt out of bed and hurried to the other corner of the room to look at the post closer, counting up the marks that had been cut into it.
She counted once, twice, and then again for good measure, and came up with the same number every time. It was eight weeks on the dot today.
Two months she'd been here.
Weakly, she sat down in her chair, hardly able to comprehend it.
'Two months,' she thought numbly, staring into the fire in the hearth.
'Eight weeks. I've been here eight weeks.'
Avalina didn't understand how time could fly, and yet seem to crawl along so slowly at the same time.
It may as well have been only a few days ago that she'd been blown in by a thunderstorm here. Might as well have been a year since the wolf attack. And certainly a century since she'd been home.
Fighting down a sudden impulse to cry, she walked to the window and looked outside.
She had been leaving it open at night for several nights now. The breeze, although eerie, was pleasant, and the roof extended far enough out from above that the rain didn't drip inside and soak the floor. Of course, if the wind started blowing really hard she would have to close it, but until then. . .
The entire world looked dreary this morning. Everything was covered in sheets and shades of watery grey that blurred everything together if you didn't bother to really look.
The courtyard below looked the dreariest. The vast belt of dead grass that stretched for miles outside the moat looked slightly less so.
The lake was a dull grey today instead of the normal blue-ish color, but the only thing that stood out at all was the rolling forested hills of Prydain that rose up outside the Horned King's realm. They looked so *green!* Avalina couldn't keep from smiling, feeling happier as she looked at them.
At home, she and Mitternacht loved to gallop through the forest in almost any kind of weather. Each type had its own charm and beauty.
Her mother had never liked her riding in the rain, and at first, Avalina hadn't liked it either. But the horse had, so she had suffered with it for his sake. And then she realized that she rather liked it too. From then on, that was the only time she liked being out in the rain and getting soaked.
What a marvelous day it would be to ride, if only she could go to those rolling hills. . .but she could not. She was a prisoner inside this castle full of Death, and she could never, ever leave. She could only watch.
After breakfast, she went to the stable to care for Mitternacht, trying to stay cheerful, but the depressing thoughts of this morning and the grey sky didn't help her effort much.
"You know, boy," she told Mitternacht as she brushed him down, "I think I'll play that one song for the Horned King today about rain. It fits the atmosphere rather well. What do you think?"
The horse looked around at her to nuzzle her hands for treats, before pointedly staring over at his saddle and stamping a hoof.
"I'm sorry boy," she told him softly as she scratched behind his ears, "But we can't go riding today. The mud outside's probably several inches deep, and we wouldn't have a whole lot of time. I'm due at the music room in an hour and I need to stay mostly clean."
Mitternacht groaned in contentment as she rubbed his ears, bobbing his head back and forth without a care in the world.
"I'm telling you, Mitternacht," Avalina told him, "I envy you very much sometimes. You're easier to please than nearly every person I know. And you're a great listener."
The horse flicked his ears back to listen to her as she brushed out his tail.
"Last night was the best time I've had since I've been here, Mitternacht. Other than being with you, of course. Normally I have this big, twisting knot in my stomach every single second I'm around the Horned King, and I have trouble doing anything cause I'm so scared I might do something to make him angry. But last night, we actually had a genuine conversation, and I forgot to be afraid of him for a little while."
Avalina grabbed another handful of that wavy, shining mass and starting on it.
"He knows so much about so many different things. I wonder if he would teach me if I asked him. The problem is, I'm too afraid to ask him to do something like that. He might get angry or say I'm not worth his time."
Avalina swept the brush over the shining haunches in smooth strokes, going down his back legs as she did so.
"Sometimes when I sing for him, I can sense his loneliness. His despair. And they are so heavy. He hides everything behind that emotionless wall of stone, but the music coaxes his feelings out just barely enough for me to sense them. And I wish. . .I wish I could make them go away, somehow. I hate seeing people upset."
The horse switched his tail as she worked around to his mane.
"I mean, I know I should hate him for everything he's done too, but I'm having a lot of trouble doing that, ever since he saved my life. And last night. . .for a while, it was actually like I was speaking to a person, instead of a. . .monster."
The horse snorted and buried his nose in her arms, making her laugh suddenly.
"I'm sorry," she laughed as she kissed his forehead, "Have I told you that you're my guardian angel lately?"
The horse gave a rumbling whinny in his throat and blew softly against her stomach as she continued to brush out his mane.
"You're welcome."
Avalina entered the music room feeling happier than she ever had when the Horned King was waiting for her on the other side of a door.
She studied his face as he turned away from the window to acknowledge her presence, before gracefully sitting down in the chair.
"Hello, sir," she said timidly, her stomach beginning to twist up in that old fear again.
He seemed a bit surprised that she would speak to him voluntarily, but after a moment, his dull monotone answered.
"Hello, Avalina."
Too nervous to really say anything else, she sat at the piano and began to play. She had managed to learn a few new songs this week, and she hoped he would like them.
The lich listened as the notes and her voice flowed together smoothly. If he had been anyone else, he fancied he may have become light enough to flit about the room like a fairy, but he was not anyone else. He was the Horned King. Regardless, the music eased some of the weight in his chest, if only for a little while.
As the hour drew to a close, Avalina turned around to look nervously at him.
"I thought this one fitted today really well," she said timidly. "I-I hope you like it."
"I like everything you play."
The words had escaped before he could stop himself. He stiffened slightly in irritation at himself, before she smiled at him, blushing furiously, and turned back to the piano and lightly tapping a key, waiting a moment before tapping another.
The Horned King had noticed that for the past few weeks or so, her music had became more light-hearted in tone, more cheerful. She still played some that were rather melancholy, but all around she seemed a little happier.
For some reason this faintly pleased him.
The two notes she was hitting got faster, before the song opened up and a few more keys voiced themselves, and Avalina's high, cheerful voice lightly sang out into the room.
"Drip drip drop little April shower
Beating a tune as you fall all around
Drip drip drop little April shower
What can compare with your beautiful sound?
Beautiful sound
Beautiful sound!
Drip drop, drip drop!"
The steady shower outside lent the perfect backnoise to the song, and Avalina's voice danced all about like a joyful bird. The Horned King didn't think he had ever heard her do a song this cheerful before.
"Drip drip drop when the sky is cloudy
Your pretty music'll brighten the day
Drip drip drop when the sky is cloudy
You come along with a song right away
Come with your beautiful music!"
The Horned King closed his eyes for a moment to let the song wash over him, accented by the rain outside.
"Drip drip drop little April shower
Beating a tune as you fall all around
Drip drip drop little April shower
What can compare with your beautiful sound?"
Avalina's fingers danced over the keys, and she couldn't stop grinning as she went into the next verse. This one was the fastest for her to do, and the most challenging to sing, but she loved it regardless.
"Drip drip drop When the sky is cloudy
You come along (Come along)
With a pretty little song
Drip drip drop When the sky is cloudy
You come along (Come along)
With a pretty little song!"
Here was the hardest part, and Avalina took a deep breath and prayed her voice wouldn't break.
"Gay little roundelay! (Gay little roundelay!)
Song of the rainy day! (Song of the rainy day!)
How I love to hear you patter
Pretty little pitter patter!
Helter skelter, when you pelter
Troubles always seem to scatter!"
After going into the first verse again, Avalina paid more attention to the keys she was hitting. The next part was an instrumental, meaning that if just one note was off, there would be nothing to hide it.
The Horned King listened as the song went from bouncing and happy to dark and slightly sinister at the drop of a hat. By the rolls of notes coming out of the. . .piano. . .the "April Shower" the song spoke of had morphed into a windy thunderstorm.
Right on cue, the wind and rain outside picked up, the howling outside matching the thunderous tones coming from the instrument.
It built to a staggering crescendo over the course of nearly two minutes, and the Horned King was held spellbound for every second of it.
Finally, the wind died outside, and in turn the music sank down into a delicate tinkling of little notes, sounding very much like the patter of raindrops after the storm had exhausted itself, before Avalina softly finished the song.
"Drip drip drop little April shower
Beating a tune as you fall all around
Drip drip drop little April shower
What can compare with your beautiful sound?
Beautiful sound. . . . ."
After the song had finished, the only sound was the falling rain outside as Avalina turned around on the bench, watching him.
The Horned King was silent for such a long moment she wondered if he had forgotten she was there, before he finally turned her way.
"That was. . .cheerful."
Avalina's heart fell.
"You didn't like it, sir?"
The Horned King looked at her again for a moment, realizing she had misconstrued his words.
"I enjoyed it very much," he replied. "All of it."
Avalina's eyes lit up in relief as he rose from his seat, before they dimmed a little in uncertainty as he crossed the room to her. He tried not to notice how she stiffened when he approached.
"I do not believe the Invisibles have given you a tour of the castle yet?" He questioned.
"No sir," Avalina said softly, her hands gripping the sides of the bench. "B-but I never asked them," she said hurriedly, not wanting them to get in trouble.
"Would you like one?"
Avalina smiled timidly, but nonetheless enthusiastically up at him as she stood.
"Oh, yes please!"
"Then come."
She eagerly followed the lich out, keeping out of his aura but thanks to the wide hall, still able to walk alongside him.
"Is it true that all castles have balconies or is that just something in fairytales?"
The sound of the two talking gradually faded as they disappeared down the hall.
Everything goes to Lloyd Alexander and Disney. I own my OC's and the story.
Just for fun, can anyone guess what the song was I used in this chapter? XD Take a guess in the review section and I'll answer either at the end of the next chapter or the one after, depends on how many people participate XD.