Chapter 124

The snowball splatted hard against the stable wall behind her, only urging her to run faster. Another whizzed right by her face and she shrieked in laughter, hiding behind a stack of barrels and throwing her own frosty missile.

Creeper ducked to avoid it and threw another, but it splatted harmlessly off the barrel, right as the girl leapt up behind her defense and tossed another one that skimmed off his shoulder and nicked his ear.

Growling something unintelligible, he threw another one, but the human was already hiding behind the barrel again and the shot was wasted.

Gathering one in each hand, he simply charged.

Avalina screeched and fled as fast as she could across the courtyard, fighting to keep running through the deep, heavy snow that came up to her knees. The goblin had the total advantage here, being light enough to run over the top, while Avalina sank in the drifts.

Mitternacht galloped toward them across the courtyard, kicking up a snowstorm all of his own. Creeper screeched in terror as the massive black beast plowed between him and his quarry, before loosing a whinny of joy and pawing up snow, just as Addie swooped down over all of them and playfully grabbed at Mitternacht's mane, before taking off again.

They had been playing together wildly all morning, and loving every minute of it. It had snowed last night, and was still falling steadily in lacy curtains, but nobody cared. They were all having too much fun. It was very cold, but not so cold that the gwythaint could not be bothered to leave her warm stable. (Avalina privately thought all the excitement outside had something to do with it as well) Her belly had swollen so much she had some faint trouble flying, but Creeper said a little exercise wouldn't hurt her, as long as she didn't overdo it.

Avalina didn't even remember how it got started. She had teased Creeper about his torn cape, he had chucked a snowball at her, (Or had it been the other way around?) and then she had let Mitternacht out to play, and then Addie had made her appearance...(or had she shown up first?) It was all a haze, and didn't matter now. All that mattered was that they were having fun.

Addie screeched playfully and dive-bombed Avalina, who screamed and tried to dodge. The gwythaint nicked her just enough to throw her face first into the snow, before Mitternacht charged between them, covering for Avalina as she got up and threw a snowball at Creeper.

It hit him right in the face.

His surprised snarl made her laugh, and she stumbled around the corner of the stable to hide for a moment.

Closing her eyes, she leaned back against the building, panting hard, trying to get her breath back. They had been playing for hours and she was exhausted. After many days, she had finally regained the strength she had lost, but she would inevitably tire before anyone else. She had been running solely on adrenaline for a long time now.

Opening her eyes wearily, she peeked through her snow-covered lashes to glance up at the castle. It looked even grimmer than usual, (if that was possible) amongst all the falling snow.

Narrowing her eyes, she concentrated on the window, realizing she had felt the sensation of being watched for some time but hadn't bothered to acknowledge it, and fancied she saw the horned silhouette of the lich behind the thick, shadowed glass the Invisibles had installed, staring down into the courtyard.

Her heart ached dully, remembering their conversation this morning.

"Sir, it's snowing! Don't you want to come out and play? It's beautiful outside! It's like a fairy land!"

She had sensed his faint amusement, his faint longing, his hardly perceivable wistfulness, although he gave no outward signs of any of them.

"I cannot, child. Although quite harmless out of doors, being shrouded in snow would not be a pleasant sensation upon returning to the castle."

She knew he spoke of it melting in the heat and burning him, and she had trembled at the thought as he continued.

"Now run along and enjoy yourself. It will not last forever."

She had hesitated still, torn between the promise of fun outside and the reluctance to leave him all alone. Sensing her distress, he had softly added encouragement.

"Do not wait for something that cannot come."

She had felt his heart ache, so faint and yet so poignant, but she had obeyed him and slipped out the door, determined to have enough fun for both of them. And she had, for several hours.

'Besides,' she thought to herself, 'He's the Horned King. I doubt a snowball fight would hold any interest for him anyway. But if that's so, then 'why did he enjoy the leaf fight so much?'

Avalina smiled softly to herself, remembering that wonderful day.

She was shaken from her line of thought when a snowball splatted her full in the face and Creeper's yelling, Mitternacht's snorts and Addie's cries filled her ears.

Shrieking in surprise, she wiped the snow from her eyes and tried to glare at Creeper, but her thoughts were too preoccupied.

Creeper held off the snowball he had been about to throw, seeing something off.

"What is it?" He rasped, and Avalina looked back up at the window, feeling her heart sink slightly when she realized he wasn't there anymore.

"Was he there?" Creeper asked, and Avalina would have been deaf to miss the fear in his voice, and it made her heart hurt more.

"Yes," she said softly, rubbing Mitternacht's muzzle.

The sobering feeling that settled down upon everyone left them in no mood to play anymore and made them realize how tired they all really were. Unanimously, they went their separate ways to care for their mounts after some muttered explanations.

Avalina slid on the dry clothes the Invisibles provided her with a soft word of thanks, feeling the air swish around her cheerfully in reply.

After checking the music room, the library and the throne room, Avalina asked them to take her to him, and after some hesitation, they led her along the seemingly endless halls and into a section of the castle Avalina seldom went, and her throat tightened as she found herself at the base of the staircase leading to the Horned King's chamber.

"He said I wasn't allowed," she whispered, a slight quiver running through her at what he might do if she disobeyed him.

"I can't go up there."

The Invisibles swished about her in a manner than plainly said, "You have before! You might as well do it again."

"He wasn't up there then!" She whispered, a little bit frightened.

The scrap of parchment appeared in front of her.

You thought he was.

Avalina struggled with herself for several minutes as the Invisibles nagged at her. She did not want to be on the receiving end of his wrath again, but the image of him standing there, alone in the window, finally became too much and she inched slowly up the steps til she stood at his door.

Too afraid to knock, she stood there a long moment, feeling his aura seeping through the door, until the Invisibles' parchment appeared in the air.

You want us to knock?

Avalina frantically shook her head, remembering the last time, and summoning all her courage, lightly tapped the wood twice as she heard sounds like muffled snickers in the air.

'If he gets angry, they're not going to hear the end of it from me.'

There was no response from the other side, and at the Invisibles' urging, she timidly eased the door open very slowly, trembling anew at the blast of icy air that chilled her to the bone.

He stood there by his window, (which was wide open) staring down, out into the falling snow that covered everything in layer upon layer of blinding white. He was completely motionless, and Avalina could not help but wonder for a moment if he had frozen.

Raising his head slightly as he sensed her presence, he slowly turned to her, hands clasped behind his back, and Avalina trembled even more than she already was.

"You are not playing?" He dredged out, and Avalina fancied she heard the heavy note in his voice more than per usual.

"No," she admitted, coming closer. Sensing his silent question, she finished, "I wanted to spend time with you."

She felt his aura thicken around her as she neared the window, and she couldn't help the little smile that tugged at the edges of her mouth as she looked up at him.

His aura was still questioning, but the lich said nothing more, merely nodding as she approached and looked out with him into the blinding winter-land.

Avalina could never get over just how *white* everything was when it snowed. It was everywhere, and it always shocked her upon seeing so much white at once. Everything looked so clean and smooth and cold. . .as far as the eye could see, it was nothing but white, white, white. Encasing all around them. Barring her in as much as it invited her out.

Glancing up at the Horned King, she could sense his heavy feelings, and she realized with a mild start that although it would not seem this way to anyone else, seeing him staring out into the white abyss made her suddenly understand.

This castle was his dwelling. His lair, if she could call it that. His domain, his territory, and he ruled it, but in reality he was as much of a prisoner here as she. He could leave, she was certain, but where would he go?

Nowhere. He could go nowhere. This was the only place he could stay and be left alone, and safe from the damp outside elements. No one would dare to even come close to this place, even after his thought-to-be demise. But he had the wretched Cauldron down in the bowels of the castle, and it spoke to him. Urging him to do bad things. . .Avalina shivered, not wanting to think about it anymore, and looked back outside, the falling snowflakes soothing her.

Avalina's breath came as clouds in the freezing room that dissipated almost instantly, and she smiled to herself, breathing softly, regulating the amount of fog that came in little puffs, and then doing a long one, watching it roll into the air and then vanish. After a long moment, she discreetly glanced up at the Horned King, wondering what he was looking at out there, but the question halted on her lips.

All the colors in the room (themselves included) were startling in the background of white, but something that caught her attention more was his face. At first, she could not decide what was missing, until her breath clouded in front of her eyes again.

His breath could not be seen in the cold. Not like hers. She could see that he was breathing, by the faint rising and falling of his chest, but there was no more evidence of it as there should have been. Avalina puzzled on it for a few moments, before she remembered.

'He's undead,' she remembered sadly, looking down.

'Not really dead, not really alive. Only things that are truly alive can do that.'

She remembered how he felt neither warm nor cold to the touch, but rather seemed to adapt to the current room temperature. She had never realized how irreplaceable this simple ability was until now, to see your breath on a cold day. Avalina couldn't imagine not having it. She had always had it, and her heart ached at the thought of all he was missing, not even able to enjoy the tiniest little things in life anymore.

'He said so himself, he's not really living,' she thought miserably, 'Just existing.'

Now, she tried to stem the clouds that issued from her, wondering if it bothered him, but no matter how softly she tried to ease her breaths out, she could still see the fog.

Growing short of breath at the effort she had no choice but to breathe normally again, shivering violently at the cold in the room.

"Come," the lich finally said, seeming to come back to himself, "You are freezing."

Exiting, the rest of the drafty castle seemed very warm in comparison to the chill of the Horned King's chambers, and Avalina rubbed her arms as she descended the steps behind him.

The Horned King had been in his chambers, his thoughts as deep and scattered as the snowbanks down below him, when he had sensed her aura enter. It lightly pulled him from his preoccupied, somewhat melancholy state and danced through the room like a flurry of snowflakes itself, mirroring the human that carried it.

Turning to her, he felt his chest warm a little, despite his heavy thoughts, taking in her wild, windblown hair as her aura washed soothingly over him, bright and gentle as the snowfall itself. Her face glowed from the cold and her eyes were sparkling, if a little uncertain at coming uninvited. He might have been thoroughly irritated at her disobeying him and coming here if he had not been secretly grateful for her presence. The Cauldron had been whispering to him all morning, tormenting him ceaselessly, but it had instantly fallen silent when she entered the room, and his mind had relaxed a great deal now that he was no longer fighting off those wretched voices.

His first thought was that something might be wrong for her to leave the game she was so obviously enjoying and come to his chambers. He might still have reprimanded her severely for coming here, had her soft words had not drifted sincerely against his ears and stayed him.

"I wanted to spend time with you."

And that little smile she had given him...he felt his sluggish lifeforce quicken by the slightest bit in his veins, and for the first time today, felt almost...happy.

Watching her play with the fog her breath created, he felt his heart lighten at her antics, while simultaneously sinking ever so slightly when he realized he could not remember the last time he had seen his own breath. If he bothered to guess, he would have suspected it had been nearly a thousand years since or longer. But he did not remember, and so he could not know.

Seeing the girl shivering, he was reminded that mortals were sensitive to things he was not, and moved the conversation to the bottom of the steps outside his chamber, where he answered her unspoken question.

"I cannot feel, as you do," he explained.

"The cold does not trouble me."

Avalina nodded slowly, and after a moment the Horned King continued.

"What is it that you wish to do?" He questioned her, realizing regretfully that despite the library and the piano, there was really not much to do in the castle. When Avalina was absent (which seemed to be less these days) he would find himself aimlessly roaming the halls, headed nowhere in particular but all the same staying away from the dungeon level if at all possible.

"I'm not certain," she admitted.

"What do you want to do?"

The lich thought about this for a moment, surprised to find himself drawing a blank. Any time he spent with her was enjoyed, if she was happy.

"It matters little to me, child," he dredged out, somewhat uncomfortably.

"Well," she said slowly, a slightly mischievous look in her eyes, "I have been thinking."

"Yes?" He asked, suddenly feeling vaguely apprehensive for no reason as she continued, a smirk stealing across her face as she did so.

"What would you do if I called you Mr. Green?"

His brow ridges rose in shocked disbelief, hardly able to believe what he had heard.

The Invisibles called him everything, whether he wanted to or not, but her? The Invisibles had influenced her somehow. He remembered her saying she would think of a name for him, but this? He expected more from her.

He stared down at her almost angrily, a stern reply was on his tongue, before he saw the impish, although slightly uncertain look she was giving him, grinning like mad, and then he understood.

He could not help the faint growl of amusement in his chest as he leaned over her, giving only one word.

"Run."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Avalina cried in desperation as she twisted helplessly in his grip, gasping from the long chase.

"I didn't mean it!"

"I only believe you are sorry because of what you will receive in return," he rumbled, adding, "And yes, you meant every word."

Avalina shrieked as he playfully ran his claws down her ribs.

"No!" She gasped, trying to keep her laughter contained.

"Please, no!"

She felt that deep, dark chuckle vibrate out of his chest that made her hair stand up, right before the sensation tripled in intensity. She screeched in helpless laughter and struggled uncontrollably in his grip, begging unintelligibly for him to cease. Which naturally, he ignored.

Avalina had lost all sense of time when the Horned King finally stopped and lowered her gently to the floor.

Gasping, she kept her eyes shut as she struggled for breath, her sides still tingling from the sensation. The cool stone felt good to her hot skin, but she was too busy trying to catch her breath to worry about much else.

Slowly, her breathing returned more or less to normal, and when she found the strength to crack open her eyes, she saw the Horned King looking down at her with a completely amused expression.

"That's. . .not. . .funny," she rasped, weakly glaring up at him.

"Not in the. . .slightest."

The lich chuckled and extended a hand to help her up.

"It amused me quite thoroughly."

Avalina accepted his offer and he pulled her up like she weighed nothing.

"You weren't. . .on the. . .receiving end."

She staggered slightly upon standing and might have fallen if the lich had not steadied her.

"You are exhausted," he rumbled, and there was a hint of concern in his eyes.

"I'm ok," Avalina rasped, trying to keep her knees from knocking.

"Or I would be. . .if you hadn't insisted. . .on that."

She tried to glare at him but it turned into a grin when she saw his own faint smirk.

"I do believe the most rewarding part of this game is the end of it," the Horned King dredged out, looking down at her with the most thoroughly amused expression she had ever seen him wear.

"That's the. . .only part. . .you like," Avalina gasped.

"Then, pray tell," the lich responded, bending down slightly, "What is the part you like best?"

"Heh," Avalina panted sarcastically.

"I'll. . .get back to you on. . . that."

The soft rumble of amusement that answered her was music to her ears.

Y'all can consider this one an early New Year's gift. I'm so sorry I took so long to update, things have been busy in RL:(

To all the reviewers, thank you all so much. I laughed and smiled at them alternately. Lol I got a new reviewer too! And one of my besties and editor's has finally made an account on here! (I knew she'd cave. Bahahahaha!) Hope everyone has an epical New Year! I know I sure plan on having one! Lol