Chapter 78

Avalina did not know when she had fallen asleep again, only that she ached all over and her eyes were swollen from crying so much the night before.

She had never had a nightmare in her life that terrified her as much as the one she had had last night. Never.

She shuddered all over again, still huddled in her position by the headboard, hardly daring to move, as the sky outside slowly began to get lighter.

Avalina could still feel the Cauldron-Born, gripping her with their cold, bony fingers, holding her down. She could still feel the Horned King's grip on her throat, still feel the icy steel of the sword touch her chest. . .she could even remember the sensation of having her hair ripped out.

It had all been so real. . .so very, very real. And that look in the Horned King's eyes. . .

Shivering, she buried herself in the blankets as well as she could.

'I want to go home,' she thought miserably, a few more tears slipping out of her eyes.

'What's so wrong with that?'

For the first time in nearly a month, Avalina was reminded of just who she was a prisoner of.

The Horned King.

That name could freeze the bravest man's heart. The mere sight of him could stop it. He killed without mercy and enjoyed every second of it, as Avalina's nightmare had shown. He truly was a cold, heartless, and thoroughly pitiless monster.

Avalina remembered all too well the burning and killing that had gone on when he waged war against Prydain. A whole city had fallen to him and his men, and although Avalina had never actually seen it, the smoke could be seen for miles on end. The screams of the dying and the wails of the mourning were all that could be heard for a long time afterward. She remembered all too well what had gone on. The terror and despair in the air had been thicker than the smoke.

He was a mass murderer. No, worse than that. He was the wickedest warlord the world had ever came up against. Whole countries had fallen to him, and Prydain may well have fallen along with them, had sheer luck and the Fates not been on the peasant boy's side.

Avalina knew that boy in her dream. She had seen him before, she knew she had, but when and where escaped her. He was so familiar, but her mind was too paralyzed with terror to think straight.

She knew what she had been seeing as well. Eilonwy had described it to her more than enough times. She had been watching the moments when the Horned King had summoned the Cauldron-Born, everyone had been captured and it looked like the Horned King would take over all of Prydain with a deathless army, with nothing to stop him.

Gurgi should have appeared around that time, but she had fallen instead. . .she shook harder at the memory of that sword coming down. . .

The Invisibles tried to coax something down her for breakfast, but she was so nervous it promptly came up again, which lead to them fussing over her for a long time and only leaving her alone when she weakly made it to the stable.

Mitternacht knew something was very wrong, and fussed over her just as much as the Invisibles did. The horse, sensing her need for comfort, stood very still with his head in her lap as she sat in the straw and sobbed like a baby, wishing more than anything she could feel safe again. It didn't matter where.

"Oh, Mitternacht," she cried, "I can't take this! I wish we could run away from here! I wish we were home!"

Hugging Mitternacht close, she drew comfort from her guardian angel, knowing he would protect her from everything he could until his dying breath.

The Horned King had been waiting for Avalina in the music room when the door opened. He had expected to see the girl and to his faint surprise, it was only the Invisibles.

"Sire," one of them said, its grave tone causing the Horned King to stiffen slightly, "I do not think today is a good day for her to play for you."

The Horned King arched a brow ridge, first in surprise, then irritation.

"And pray tell, how so?" He dredged out.

After a moment, they answered.

"Well, it seems that she has apparently suffered an emotional breakdown of some sort. She woke up last night screaming her head off and we do not think she slept at all. She couldn't eat this morning and she was so weak she could barely make it to the stable. She hasn't come out since."

The Horned King pondered all this for at least a minute, his fingers drumming slowly on the chair arm in deep thought.

"We believe she had a nightmare of some sort, Sire," the Invisibles said.

"Like what?" He questioned.

"We do not know what it contained. We were not in the room when she was dreaming. Her screams drew us to her after it had already happened."

'What could have brought this on?' The Horned King thought privately to himself, barely heeding his servants.

'I know nothing of these things, but the reaction is rather. . .unusual for a simple nightmare, to say the least. She seemed to be fine last night before we parted ways.'

On impulse, he rose from his chair.

"Sire, may we inquire where you are going?" One of them asked.

"No."

"I do not think visiting the stable is a good idea, Sire."

"Silence."

Carefully, the Horned King entered the stable, immediately noticing the silence, and eased the door shut behind him.

Cautiously, he approached the stall the horse resided in, not wishing to frighten the animal or Avalina, were she inside.

As he looked over the door, he met a sight he had never seen before.

The horse was lying down, eyeing him rather nastily through that thick forelock, its ears pinned back against its head.

And there, behind the animal, stretched out in the straw, was Avalina.

Her fingers were knotted into that long black mane, her head resting on the horse's folded front legs, sound asleep. Her body was pressed against the horse's back closely.

The horse fixed the Horned King with a nasty glare, loosing a soft sound almost like a growl through his nose.

The Horned King realized that the horse had not risen when he entered because his rider could be hurt if he moved. The horse's loyalty was astounding. Most horses would have risen at the slightest provocation, but this one hadn't bothered to rise, even with an undead in the stable.

The trust the two of them had in each other was unbelievable, the Horned King mused. Avalina trusted the horse not to hurt her, and the horse had trusted her enough to go near him that day.

The lich did not speak or move, remembering the last time he had spoken in the animal's presence. If the horse moved at all right now the girl could get hurt.

He stared at Avalina for a long time, taking in her face, her exhaustion obvious even as she slept. She looked even worse than the Invisibles had told him she did.

'Very well,' he thought.

'No music today.'

Dully, he left, making sure not to frighten the horse.

Avalina was woken by Mitternacht nuzzling her face, earning a smile from her before she had even opened her eyes.

Sitting up, she stretched as the horse rose himself and shook, throwing hay everywhere.

"Hey!" She yawned, covering her face with her arms, "Do that on your own time!"

Chuckling at his antics, she stood up as he pawed the hay once.

"Do you want to go riding?"

A short rear was her answer.

A roll of parchment sat on top of the stable door. Her insides shaking, Avalina opened it.

After a moment, she heaved a sigh of relief.

"Well boy, there isn't any music today," she told him gratefully. "Which is good because I don't think I could even play a simple one."

Her nightmare surfaced briefly and she shuddered, before reaching for his bridle.

"Let's get some fresh air."

The Horned King did not realize just how much he looked forward to the hourly session until he found himself missing it.

He realized now that it had been the highlight of his days, and without it he felt. . .different. And not in a pleasant way.

He had watched Avalina ride her horse out a few hours ago, no doubt to exercise the animal and check the little green things she had told him of last night.

He was shaken from his depressing thoughts when he happened to look out the window and see Avalina coming back, feeling his chest twitch suddenly.

Something was wrong.

She was walking.

"Come on, boy, we're almost there," she panted, pulling his bridle again.

"Come on."

Mitternacht obeyed, despite the pain he was in, and hobbled forward another step.

"Good boy!" She encouraged him, "I can see the stable now!"

The horse groaned and came forward again, the sound breaking Avalina's heart.

"I'm so sorry, boy," she told him sympathetically as he hobbled forward onto the drawbridge.

"Let's just get to the stable and I'll get it out."

'I hope.'

It took forever, but at last he was standing in the courtyard, groundtied, while Avalina was bent over, his leg between her knees, digging around inside his hoof.

"I promise, boy, I'll get it out," she panted. "Its just being really stubborn."

'How can this happen to me?' She thought, almost ready to cry again.

'This just isn't my day.'

She had been trotting him around in the dust, cooling him down after several hours of brisk exercise, when he had suddenly jerked in pain and she had limped him to a stop.

A stone the size of her entire fist was lodged firmly in between the wall of his hoof and his tender frog, so tightly that she could not get it out with her hands alone.

So she had ended up walking him all the way back to the stable, flinching along with the horse every time he was forced to put his weight on his throbbing foot. The stone held his hoof a good two inches off the ground, further adding to his discomfort.

Now, her back aching with the strain of it, she carefully niggled and worried at the massive rock lodged hard inside his hoof with her hoofpick, praying she would be able to remove it. If she couldn't, Mitternacht would be in a whole lot of trouble.

Panting, she eased his foot down, before carefully raising up.

The world spun for a moment and she held Mitternacht's shoulder for balance, before sitting on the stone bench and wiping her sweaty face with her sleeve.

"I'm sorry," she gasped to him, "But I need a break."

Weakly, she leaned back on the bench, closing her eyes for a moment in the warm sun, wishing she didn't have to be so weak, whether it be physically or emotionally.

After a minute, she started again, prying and prodding, trying to be careful. Mitternacht flinched when she dug a little too hard.

"I'm sorry, Mitternacht," she said, rubbing his side and feeling him nuzzle her back in return.

"Believe me, I'm not trying to hurt you."

Twenty minutes later, Avalina was nearly in tears again. The stupid rock wouldn't budge, and her back was killing her. Mitternacht was a good horse, he wasn't the type to lean on you while you held his leg up, but the weight of his leg alone, her frustration, and the lack of sleep from the night before was taking its toll.

She was trying so hard to be easy, but she was hurting him without meaning to, and like a soldier he stood there and took it, which made her feel worse at her own incompetence.

'He deserves a rider that can actually help him when he's hurting, not make it worse,' she thought, the tears finally coming.

'I've failed him. I don't deserve to have him.'

With her blurry vision she couldn't see, and the hoofpick slipped, raking painfully down her hand and earning a soft cry of pain from her.

Carefully setting his foot down again, she watched dully as blood seeped out of the wound.

'Why? Why me?'

She was about to truly break down when the horse snorted loudly, the sound popping in the courtyard and making Avalina jump.

Tearfully, she looked up at him, before following his gaze across the courtyard and feeling her blood turn to ice.

The Horned King was slowly approaching them.

Her soft gasp made the lich pause for the briefest of moments, before he continued moving, albeit slower than before if that were possible.

'That light in his eyes. . .the Cauldron-Born. . .the sword. . .'

Shivering, she shrank to Mitternacht, who, feeling her fear, laced his ears back at the lich.

Stopping a good twenty feet from them, the Horned King spoke.

"Is something wrong?"

Avalina froze. That was the very last thing she would ever. . .ever. . .expect him to say.

She didn't know why she answered. She was terrified of him. But something in his voice. . .or maybe the way he'd said it. . .made her want to tell him. Tell him what the problem was.

He hadn't ordered or demanded she tell him, but. . .he had asked. Like someone who genuinely wanted to help.

Trembling, she nodded, gesturing at Mitternacht's foot.

"He's got a stone in his hoof and I can't get it out. He's hurting and I'm not strong enough."

Her voice broke as a sob worked its way out, much to her shame. She hated crying in front of people! Especially him.

"May I approach?"

She wanted to tell him no. She wanted to stay as far away from him as possible. But Mitternacht was in pain. . .Shivering, against her better judgement, she nodded and held the horse's bridle to keep him still.

Slowly, he came, the horse staring at him narrowly, as if to say, "One wrong move, and you're going down."

"What are you gonna do?" She asked timidly as he slowly came into range. His aura nearly gagged her but she forced herself to stay still as the horse shifted nervously.

"Try to get it out. Hold him still."

At the sound of his voice, Mitternacht's ears came forward, before he hobbled back a step, unsure of where this was going.

"A-are you sure th-this is a good idea?" Avalina asked nervously.

The Horned King looked over at her.

"Do you have a better one?"

Frightened, Avalina shook her head, turning back to the horse.

"Its ok, boy," Avalina whispered to him, desperately trying to believe it herself.

'Please, don't let me be lying!'

"It's ok. Please behave."

Slowly, the lich came up, holding his hand out, palm down, for Mitternacht to sniff, before he cautiously placed it on the animal's neck.

Mitternacht shivered like a hummingbird's wings as his eyes showed the white around the edges, but he obeyed Avalina and kept still.

Slowly, the Horned King ran his hand down the horse's front leg, only to have the animal yank away and shy around to the other side of the girl.

"Steady, Mitternacht!" Avalina told him soothingly, forgetting that her back was now to the lich.

"Its alright."

'The sword. . .'

She shivered faintly.

'I hope.'

Carefully, the lich approached again, going through the same motions, before sliding his hand down the horse's leg.

Amazingly, the horse yielded to his silent command this time and allowed the Horned King to lift his foot.

With his back to her, Avalina couldn't see what he was doing, but he was working. . .she bit her tongue to keep from telling him to be careful. He probably would not appreciate it.

A sharp crack made she and the horse both jump, before the Horned King released the horse's leg and stepped away, pieces of the stone crumbling between his fingers.

"You'll have to get the rest," he dredged out as he slowly stepped out of range, his aura leaving the air around Avalina enough where she could breathe easier. She coughed as the fresh air entered her lungs and the horse snorted hard, as if to get rid of it as well.

Avalina stared, wide-eyed, at the pieces of stone that fell to the courtyard, then at Mitternacht's foot, which was now standing firmly on the ground, before looking back up at him.

"You. . .you broke it?" She whispered, half in fright, the other in awe as she looked down at his hand.

The Horned King raised his hand, glancing at it, before looking back up at her.

"Yes."

"You're. . .rather strong," she said softly, her surprise showing in the syllables.

The Horned King gave a short nod.

"Yes."

Turning, he began to walk back toward the castle.

Remembering her manners, Avalina called after him.

"Thank you!"

Realizing how sincerely grateful she was, she repeated it, hoping he would understand how much the act had meant to her.

"Thank you so much."

The Horned King stopped, turning his head slightly to look over his shoulder at her, enough where she could barely make out his cheekbone.

Turning away, he stood there a moment, before he replied.

"You are. . .welcome."

And then he was gone.

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