Chapter 79

He had watched her out of a window for several minutes, limping the creature into the courtyard, then working over the horse, most notably the animal's left front foot, watching her rest once before picking it back up.

He headed down. He hadn't seen her all day, but something was definitely wrong, and he was curious as to what it might be.

The horse had snorted loudly, alerting her to his presence as he crossed the courtyard.

She had gasped when she saw him, giving him such a frightened look he stopped in his tracks for a moment.

He could feel her terror in the air all around him as she shrank closer to her horse.

He narrowed his eyes at this unexpected turn.

Avalina had not been this afraid of him since before the wolf attack. He had noticed her fear dwindling slowly, yesterday had been the most recent indication of it. What had brought this fresh onslaught of terror on?

Stopping far enough away from them so that the horse would not bolt, he had asked her what was wrong as softly as his monotone voice would permit. Such fear couldn't simply be whipped up. Something had to have happened to make her like this, but what? He had not done anything in many weeks to frighten her outright, had he?

For a moment, he thought she would not answer him, before she choked out her reply and gestured to the horse's foot, a sob wringing itself from her.

That was not what he had meant when he asked, but it would do.

The Horned King looked down, a brow ridge going up faintly.

*That* was a rock. He could see it from here. How in the world the horse had managed to pick up such a big one was something he felt should go in a history book. It was obvious Avalina had fought with it for some time and had failed to remove it, judging by her exhaustion and tear-stained face.

The Horned King studied her for a moment. For some reason, the idea of her crying made him vaguely wish she wouldn't. She had been nothing but smiles only yesterday, and all he felt now was terror and despair coming from her.

This was odd, but not half as odd as the strange feeling in his chest that made him want to ease it, somehow. He didn't know what it was, but he wished she wouldn't cry.

Carefully, he had approached, feeling Avalina's aura wash over him as he did so, and after a few minutes, the horse had nervously allowed him to pick up his foot.

The Horned King had tried to ease it loose, but it was no good. It was jammed in tighter than the stones in the castle walls.

He could yank it out, of course, but it would no doubt injure the horse even further.

Studying it, he realized he would have no choice but to crush it before it could be removed.

Holding the horse's ankle firmly in his left hand, he had wrapped the fingers of his right around the stone as completely as he could, and began to squeeze. His fingers were slim enough that he managed to get one under the stone, but it was a very tight fit and the horse flinched painfully at the action.

The Horned King knew very well what he was capable of. He easily possessed the strength of ten men, if not more, and this was something that he had retained, even as his body had physically began to deteriorate. He had crushed things before that only a mace could rival.

He steadily continued to apply more force on the rock, squeezing so hard his skin paled slightly from the pressure. After a moment, he felt it giving. . .

The sharp crack had startled everyone but him as the stone finally yielded and crumbled in his grip. Easing the horse's foot down, he slowly stepped out of range, freeing Avalina and the horse from his deathly aura, making sure not to leave as quickly as last time.

The girl choked and coughed for a moment before regaining her composure, staring at him in frightened awe.

'You broke it?'

She didn't know what to make of that. He had answered carefully, before turning to leave.

And despite her obvious terror of him, she had thanked him. Thanked him twice, to be exact. And he had heard the sincerity, felt the truth in every syllable.

He had turned back briefly, just enough to see a faint smile on her face.

'You are welcome.'

He had never uttered that phrase in his entire existence. Not that he could remember, at least, and it felt strange coming off his tongue.

So strange. . .but oddly. . .enjoyable.

As he returned to the castle, no one saw the almost pleasant expression on his face.

Avalina had cleaned the rest of the rock fragments out of Mitternacht's hoof before easing him carefully inside the stable.

He was walking a whole lot better now that he wasn't stepping on a fist-sized stone with every step he took, but he was still in a fair amount of pain and after rummaging through the tackroom shelves, she had found enough small iron pieces to suit her need.

There was no ice anywhere at this time of year, so Avalina instead placed the cold steel against the horse's tender sole, which was starting to bruise rather badly.

The metal warmed to the horse's foot temperature quickly, so she was constantly switching them out for a fresh, cold one.

Avalina did this for as long as her aching body could stand, before she finally had to stop.

Filling a sock with a mixture of ground corncob and a few small drops of honey to hold it together, she packed Mitternacht's foot and bound it up. She had never had to treat a stone bruise before, but she had read a little on equine medicine and Mueric had told her a few things.

Mitternacht was moving about in his stall much better after being treated, attacking the feed hungrily.

"Well boy," Avalina laughed, "I'm glad it hasn't messed with your appetite any."

As she brushed him down, she thought about the events the day, talking out loud. Mitternacht enjoyed hearing her talk, and even if he couldn't understand the exact words she said, he could sense the meaning and intentions behind the sounds.

"Mitternacht, I'll be honest, today has not been one of my better ones," she told him as she swept the brush over his muscled back.

"Horrible, horrible night, horrible morning, then you get hurt, on top of the fact that I'm a prisoner of an undead evil skeleton-like overlord with apparent mood swings, a fiendish goblin that may or may not be entirely right in the head living in the castle with me, which is inhabited by creatures that can't even be seen at all, which on second thought may actually be a good thing. . .stranded miles from any other living thing but you, including my family and friends. . .its not like I'm stressed out or anything."

She moved a step over to brush over his haunches and muscular hindquarters.

"He terrifies me, Mitternacht, more than anything or anyone I've ever heard, seen or even read about. Every last inch of him screams wicked, evil, horrid things, and I am thoroughly convinced he is nothing but just that. A heartless, soulless monster, right to the very core. He's killed so many thousands of people, burned so many countries to the ground, not leaving anything living behind, looking for the Black Cauldron. His army destroyed everything they came across, mirroring their leader's monstrous, merciless nature. Prydain was next on his list, and he was only moments from conquering it as well, had that boy and his group not stopped him right in the nick of time."

She trembled suddenly at the thought of all of Prydain infiltrated with Cauldron-Born, killing everything and everyone without even a pause, being the soulless creatures they were, while the Horned King looked on.

"Hey," she said to herself.

"That was the same boy in my dream last night. But what was his name? Oh, that frustrates me so much!"

She knew his name, she knew she did, but it dangled right out of her mind's reach, flitting away when she tried to focus on it.

Grudgingly, she let it go, determining that she would remember it later when she wasn't even thinking about it.

Her thoughts returned to the Horned King.

"At least, I *was* thoroughly convinced. He's all of that, and more, and yet. . ."

An exasperated sigh escaped her.

"I'm so confused, Mitternacht," Avalina told him as she began to brush out his tail.

"And I really shouldn't be. For land's sakes, he's a monster! The division between good and evil here should be painfully obvious. But. . .that day. . .he put himself in danger to save me from the wolves."

A new shudder went through her at that horrible memory.

"I was a literal inch from death. That's how far away that wolf's teeth were from my throat when the Horned King appeared out of nowhere and threw it away like a child would a rag doll. He pulled that log off me. . .and he fought for me. He didn't let them touch me, not once."

Avalina went around to his other side, making sure she had not missed any tangles in the horse's thick tail.

"And he likes music very much, from what I can gather. He said he liked everything I played. And he meant it too. I could tell."

She blushed faintly at the memory.

"And you tolerate him," she said to the horse, beginning to work on his other shoulder and side.

"And that's something anyone would be honored by, in my opinion. You choose your circle more carefully than most people."

The horse twitched an ear as if to agree with her.

"And he's told me so much about so many different things. Dragons, gwythaints, other supposedly mythical creatures. . .and a whole bunch of other topics. And then he asked me questions about horses. We've had so many good conversations the past few weeks, and during them, I forgot to be afraid. And he gave me the library, and permission to work around on his land. . .he introduced me to the gwythaint, gave me a tour of the castle. And he asked me what certain feelings meant. That was. . .odd. Can he not feel?"

Avalina furrowed her brow in puzzlement.

"I wonder. . .I'm not sure whether he can or not. Everytime I'm around him, his presence is always terrifying. But sometimes, under that, that immovable wall of stony composure he hides his emotions behind . . .I can sense the deepest loneliness coming from him I've ever sensed coming from anyone in my life, and the heaviest, darkest type of despair. It is so heavy, and the very worst type. I do not know how he stands it. And such a dragging, aching weariness. He is so weary. But these sensations, they don't feel. . .quite right. They feel more like a twisted version of the real thing. Its frightening, but I can't help but pity him when I sense them. At least a little. And. . .a part of me wishes I could make him happy. Somehow."

Starting on Mitternacht's mane, she kept puzzling to herself.

"He obviously must care about me, at least a little. Why else would he save my life? Or give me the library? Or let me roam about the castle and his lands at will, instead of keeping me confined to the dungeon all the time? And he clearly didn't want to ruin my relationship with you," she told Mitternacht, "And he refused to come see the little things that's growing on his land because he knew he would kill them if he got close."

Carefully, she worked around to Mitternacht's forelock, removing his halter so she could brush his face. The horse closed his eyes contentedly.

"And he helped us, today. I don't know what I would have done if he hadn't came out."

Avalina's brow furrowed again as she gently brushed her horse's face.

"Maybe he's not quite the monster everyone thinks he is anymore. Perhaps he's more than just a bloodthirsty, soulless creature. My past couple of months and last several weeks here are certainly hinting at that. His presence isn't as numbing to me as it was when I first arrived. But I could simply be getting used to it, although I don't see how."

Sighing, she absently scratched behind her horse's ears, knowing how much he enjoyed it.

"Great Orion, there's people that would murder me outright for thinking such things, but I can't help it. Ever since the wolf attack he's been. . .different, somehow. I can't explain it, but I know he has. A part of me wants to believe that so badly, that he isn't a completely heartless animal like everyone says, but another part of me says that its no use because he's sank so low there can be no turning back."

The memory of the Cauldron-Born plunging the blade into her chest made her stiffen in terror, before relaxing as Mitternacht lifted his head to nuzzle her face.

"That dream was an event that has already happened," she told her horse, trying to suppress her fear.

"It's in the past, and nothing can change that. But I will see what the Horned King does in the future, and base my opinion of him off of that. It could be possible he is not what everyone else seems to think he is. What do you think of that, Mitternacht?"

The horse blew softly in her hair.

"I'm guessing you approve. Ok then. I'm going to base my opinion off how he treats me and what *I* think, not what everyone else thinks and believes. We'll see how things go from here."

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