Chapter 133

"Can I sit and watch?" Avalina asked.

"It will be difficult enough to get him to concentrate without another distraction," the Horned King replied. "I doubt he will concentrate at all."

"Well, I. . .appreciate you trying," Avalina said, smiling happily at him.

The Horned King huffed softly. "It will be pointless and a waste of my time. Invisibles, fetch the goblin."

"Yes Sire."

"You don't know that," Avalina said as she slipped in the door after him, an Invisible shutting it behind her. "He's smarter than you think."

The lich did not deign to reply and set his books down, discarding of the blasted apron and toque as he did so, fighting back a snarl as the objects vanished from sight. The Invisibles would no doubt save them for later.

He couldn't believe he was doing this. The goblin would not learn. He was only doing this to satisfy Avalina's curiosity. After this, it would be over.

"What will you try teaching him first?" She asked.

"Merely some basic arithmetic. To my knowledge he's not clueless with counting. But if he cannot grasp the simplest problem, this little idea of yours ends today."

"Oh. Alright," Avalina said, looking abashed. "Just. . ."

". . .Continue."

"Please be patient with him!" She said in a rush, "He really does try when I show him new things!"

The Horned King gave a faint sigh.

"I. . ."

An Invisible swept in with Creeper tiptoeing behind them, cutting the lich off.

"S-s-sire?" Creeper nearly squeaked, looking petrified.

The Horned King turned to Avalina.

"You are dismissed."

Uncertain, Avalina glanced at Creeper, then back at the Horned King, torn.

"Go," the lich said with a faint dismissive hand gesture, but his tone was not harsh like she expected.

"Yes sir."

Obediently, Avalina left the room, and after some persuasion from the Invisibles, went to the library to wait. She couldn't hear anything outside the door, (it was far too thick) but she worried that the Horned King might lose his temper and hurt the goblin.

"If you can, please don't let him hurt Creeper!" She said to the Invisible that had followed her to the library.

A vague swish of air was her answer.

It must have been nearly two hours later when the Horned King entered the library, looking almost as if he had a headache and was not happy with it.

"Well?" Avalina asked timidly, bracing for the worst. She set her book down that she hadn't been able to concentrate on since she opened and went to meet him.

"Today I realized why I never bothered giving any intellectual orders to that. . .creature in the past," the lich rumbled in his dead monotone.

"Was it that bad?" Avalina asked, downcast.

". . .It is most. . .fascinating. He can count to twenty, which is more than I anticipated, and he can sit still for nearly twenty five seconds at a time without fidgeting. And yet. . ."

The Horned King took a moment before continuing.

"He is convinced to the point of death itself that four plus one equals Moo. How he manages to believe this is baffling. It seems nothing I say or threaten him with will convince him otherwise. How he comes up with this answer is. . .infuriating. But nonetheless. . .intriguing. I hope to study this and eventually find where he got this most unusual answer. . .why are you laughing?"

"I can't help it!" Avalina cried between bouts of mirth. "Moo! Ahahahaha! How did he come up with that?"

The Horned King shook his head slowly at her in resignation.

"I am attempting to teach an unteachable creature for you, and that is all you are capable of noticing? His idiotic answer to a question a child could solve?"

"No!" She gasped after a moment, "I heard everything else too. And I appreciate you doing this. You /are/ going to continue, right?"

The lich sighed.

"I will have to consider this carefully."

Turning, he gestured to her. "Come along. It is time for your own lesson now."

Accompanying him down the hall, she couldn't help laughing even harder as a thought came to mind.

"I wonder what four plus /two/ is?"

"I can't believe it," Avalina panted in awe, looking out over the barren, misting landscape. "It's done. It's finally done."

"Thank goodness," the goblin grumbled. "I'm sick of weeding. Especially in the rain. I hate rain."

"But it's all worth it," Avalina said happily, not caring that her back, shoulders and hands were aching like mad and her soaked clothes were very uncomfortable.

"Thank you, Creeper," she said softly. "I couldn't have done it without you, you know."

"Yeah, yeah," Creeper answered dismissively. "Let's continue this conversation indoors, shall we?"

Avalina laughed and concurred.

In the first weeks of Spring, Avalina managed to finish weeding the entire dead circle that surrounded the Horned King's castle, with Creeper's help, as the seasonal rains swept over the land, helping the two companions by loosening the dead weeds' stubborn roots. And rain, it did. It rained for days without ceasing, a gentle, steady shower that misted over the earth and worked deep into that rock-hard soil. The entire place became a mud hole that Mitternacht detested walking in, but his need to stretch his legs was greater. And he enjoyed standing in this easy rain.

One day the Invisibles dumped a bucket of mud on Creeper as he was walking out of the gwythaint's stable, which eventually led to he and Avalina having a mudfight out in front of the drawbridge that lasted a long time and thoroughly covered both of them. The Horned King took one look out the main door at the bedraggled pair standing on the steps in the rain and forbid them entrance til the Invisibles had sluiced them off.

Afterward, the lich allowed Avalina to squelch through the castle and take a proper bath in her chambers, while the Invisibles followed behind her and mopped up every bit of water she left behind, to prevent the Horned King from stepping in it and roaring bloody murder.

As Creeper had no chamber of his own, the Horned King finally ordered the Invisibles to make him one, (per Avalina's request) so that he, according to the girl, "Wouldn't catch cold out there." Which reminded the undead that Avalina did not need to get sick either and had the Invisibles precaution against this by giving her something warm to drink and warmer clothes to wear for the rest of the day. He knew she wasn't as physically strong as she should be, and he had no intention of her getting ill again.

When the sun finally dared to peep out, it did so between the showers and was fitful. The sun and rain couldn't seem to agree and on a couple occasions Avalina stepped outside to discover that it was raining and sunshiny at the same time, something that confused Creeper no end. And Mitternacht in the stable would lift his head and breathe deeply, snorting softly in anticipation. He could smell the change, feel it in his very bones.

But when the first fit of Spring rains had passed and their grey clouds had slunk away, the sun was warm and cheerful, and after over a fortnight, Avalina slipped out and was able to take in the entire area for the first time in broad daylight, and she gasped aloud at the scene.

A pale, shimmering field of green stretched all the way to the border, before disappearing into the forest.

In awe, Avalina stepped out to the end of the drawbridge and simply stared, feeling as if she could hardly breathe.

Kneeling, she gently brushed the fragile sprouts, (hardly an inch tall) with the ends of her trembling fingers. Sticking up straight as little green spears, they lavishly coated the brown, moist earth, thicker in some places than others, creating almost a green and brown calico pattern.

Every stem seemed to shimmer with raindrops that reflected the sun, and Avalina thought it was the most beautiful thing she had seen in a long, long time. Even the reddish-black clouds that obscured most of the sky above the castle seemed to be thinner, allowing more rain and sun to slip through.

She was almost afraid to step on this lovely carpet, lest her weight crush the life out of the fresh green sprouts. But she would have to exercise Mitternacht later...and he would love this new grass. She would just have to make sure he didn't get too much of it at once.

Examining the ground a bit closer, she spotted tiny pinholes covering the earth, and even as she watched, an earthworm slowly crawled across the soil to disappear inside.

Taking a deep breath of the fresh, clean air, Avalina rose and ran to the castle, unable to contain her joyous laughter. The Horned King would be so surprised!

The grass grew so fast, Avalina was certain she only had to blink and it would shoot up another little bit. In the days following her discovery, she and Mitternacht rejoiced in it, and she had to be careful, making sure her horse did not overdo it. After nearly a year of almost nothing but hay and grain, (save the small bit of grass he had been graced with the previous fall) the stallion was more than ready for something new.

The stems lengthened and toughened, bending underneath their feet instead of breaking, and Avalina set to work planting flower seeds all around the drawbridge, where the Horned King could see them, and then some back at her little garden patch, which she could hardly find now amongst all the green.

While Mitternacht happily grazed the fresh grass, Avalina worked til her hands blistered inside her work gloves, planting flower seeds here and there all over the Horned King's land, praying they would grow.

The only things that did not seem interested in anything the land had to offer were the handful of twisted, stunted trees that stood here and there all around the outskirts of the Horned King's lands. Where everything else was growing almost frantically, as if to make up for all those years they had lost under the Horned King's rule, the trees were dead to the very roots, the lich said, having been deprived of nourishment for too long, and Avalina knew no amount of sun or rain could help them. This saddened her deeply, as she had always had a special liking for trees, and seeing dead, rotting shells of what had used to be...what was /supposed/ to be proud, tall, and strong creations, troubled her.

At home or in the forest, in every season save winter, Avalina had always been able to hear the rustling of the leaves overhead, whenever there was the faintest of a breeze. It was as if the trees would speak to her, and each other, and although she could never understand them, she liked to imagine that she could tell what they /meant/. They shielded her when the sun got too hot for her tender skin, and made her feel secure from any possible prying eyes. She could hear their song, even when the breezes fell still, but here, the trees around the castle were as stark and silent as the grave, and left the place open and unguarded. The handful of birds that had begun to timidly come and peck at the earth around the border had no leafy trees to hide in, and so departed to the forests of Prydain when they tired. With no birds or trees to make any sound, (and the grass too short to be heard) it felt too quiet, and gave off a vaguely forbidding air. Avalina was used to this, after so long of hearing it, but it seemed somewhat out of place, now that the grass was coming in.

Absently stroking the rough, rotten bark of one such stunted tree one pretty afternoon, Avalina couldn't help but notice how easily the bark and wood crumbled under her touch. It was all just so dead. . .it shouldn't be like this. They should be alive and growing and strong like their forest brethren.

"It isn't fair to you," she said softly, brushing at the bark. "I miss your song. I never get to hear it anymore. But even if you don't sing, you should wake up, you know. You don't know what all you're missing. Everything's growing! And it's raining and the sun's shining! The Horned King says it's never done this before around his dwellings. It's safe to wake up now, so won't you? Please?"

There was no reply.

Sadly, Avalina turned away, and was glad she did, for she spotted Creeper coming toward her across the field, and she didn't want him to hear her talking to herself. And she didn't want anyone to think she was being discontented, she wasn't. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Fates knew she wasn't. All this grass covering the earth and the tiny sprigs of the seeds she'd planted determinedly pushing up through the soil were more than she could have ever hoped for. But she felt a faint pain in her heart, seeing those dead trees standing there. She had felt the same pain whenever she looked around at all the dead grass before, in the Spring and Summer, when things should be alive. It had never bothered her in the cold months.

Another week passed. The flowerstems were as tall as the grass, with bulbs in various stages of cracking open at the ends that signaled their fast approaching blooms. It seemed to Avalina that the flowers were growing far faster than they ever had at home, but as she had none from home to compare them with, she couldn't be sure.

Mitternacht enjoyed the green things and pleasant weather as much as she. He was happier than she had seen him in a long time. She herself felt stronger and all around better than she could ever remember feeling. Being unaccustomed to it, it felt strange, but euphoric. And today she had seen the first tiny flower by the drawbridge finally open up and reveal the brilliant blue interior.

The Invisibles had given her a flowerbed full of Forget-Me-Nots.

That night, Avalina was jolted bolt upright from sleep by rumbling crashes sounding outside and the castle itself shaking so badly she fell out of bed with a thump, striking her head against the corner of her bedtable. The latter earned her a sharp stab of pain and a surprised cry escaped her.

Shakily getting to her feet, she could feel something sticky slipping down her face, and sense the Invisibles in the room racing around, trying to keep everything from falling over and smashing. They had lain the wardrobe down on the floor already, and it felt like one was trying to hold up the mirror and dresser.

'What's going on?' Avalina thought in panic. 'What's happening?'

Gripping her windowsill for balance, she stared out into the darkness, trying to see what was causing this, but the thick cloud cover that hung perpetually above the castle blocked out any moon or stars that might have shed light on the matter.

'I have to find the Horned King!' She thought. 'Maybe he knows.'

Crossing the room had never been such a hazard. It felt like an earthquake, but much, much louder. It sounded like massive bones being snapped in half, over and over again. It cracked and screeched and popped so loudly she would have covered her ears, had she not been occupied with trying to maintain her balance. How could something outside be so loud? No sound ever penetrated the thick stone walls, leaving the castle in stifling silence.

Easing out into the hall, a particularly bad tremor shook Avalina promptly off her feet and she fell right into the Horned King, who caught and balanced her. His swift appearance (and the fact that his eyes were red) startled her at first, before she realized he must have came to check on her. Her chamber was the only room in this hall.

"What's happening?" She shouted, trying to be heard above the din. The only torch lit was several paces behind her, masking almost everything in shadow, save those burning embers above her head.

"I am not certain," he growled, also trying to be heard above the racket. "If it is those worthless Invisibles. . ."

She felt his chest vibrate with a deep snarl following his sentence.

"I don't think it's them!" She shouted. "They're trying to keep things from breaking!"

The lich turned in the darkness, moving her with him.

"Perhaps," he rumbled. "But if it is an earthquake, we must go outdoors, should the ceiling give."

Holding onto each other, they managed to make it through the castle without falling. Avalina nearly did more than once, but the Horned King held her firmly against him, preventing it.

Staggering out into the courtyard, the noise was ten times worse than inside and Avalina pressed her free hand against her ear and tried to cover the other one against the Horned King. The noise hurt! And the shaking, if anything, was also worse.

They stood there for what seemed like hours, trying not to fall and hoping it would stop soon. Avalina could hear nothing but the incessant racket and could make out nothing in the darkness, but evidently the Horned King could, by the way he turned his head this way and that. Shouting to ask what he was seeing took too much effort, however.

Finally, after what seemed like an age, the earth's shuddering finally stopped, and the horridly loud noises with it. In relief, Avalina carefully uncovered her ears, feeling somewhat numb.

"Is it over?"

"It would seem so. The need to shout is past."

"Oh. Sorry. What was that?"

A long silence followed before he answered.

"Morning will confirm my suspicions. But it is late, and you should be asleep."

She was about to ask him what his suspicions were, before he faintly tightened his grip on her and took a rumbling breath, blowing it out faintly.

"You are injured."

"What?" Avalina asked, momentarily confused, before remembering.

"Oh! I, um. . .fell out of bed and hit the corner of the table," she explained sheepishly, blushing in embarrassment in the darkness. "But it's fine."

Carefully reaching up, she felt the area tenderly with her fingers and flinched.

"Your actions suggest otherwise."

"It's ok, really," she insisted. "Don't worry, it's not bleeding anymore."

In truth, she wasn't sure. Her head was throbbing, and a good deal of it was stemming from where she had hit it. But it didn't hurt even half as bad as the concussion she had gotten once before. Compared to that, it almost didn't hurt at all.

The Horned King gave a soft noise in his chest, before he turned and guided her inside. An Invisible opened the door for them.

"Torch." He ordered, a moment before one flickered to life on the wall in front of them.

Avalina turned away from the light and down for a long moment before her eyes adjusted and she slowly cracked them, only to gasp in shock.

The entire left side of her white nightgown was dark red. The top looked like solid red material, and drops of it generously dotted the nightgown's skirt all the way to the floor, and she could feel the dried crust of blood against the left side of her face when she moved. And now she realized what that faint smell had been that she hadn't been able to get out of her nose. She had smelled blood many times before, but with everything else going on she hadn't been thinking.

"Oh." She whispered faintly, suddenly feeling rather dizzy.

'That's mine?' She thought in a daze. 'All of that's mine?'

"Invisibles," the Horned King said tonelessly as Avalina nearly fell against him.

Despite her dizziness, she still blushed fiercely in embarrassment and gave a small squeak of protest when he picked her up and carried her up the steps to her chambers.

"I can walk!" She protested thinly.

"In your state it will take all night," he answered. "And neither of us have time for that."

Embarrassed, Avalina fell silent.

"The way you act, one would think you had never seen blood before," he commented.

Avalina flushed harder.

"Of course I have!" She defended herself. "I. . .I just didn't think there'd be so much of it," she stammered softly. "It didn't feel like that much."

"Head wounds often bleed profusely, no matter how minuscule," the Horned King replied, "You haven't lost as much as it seems. I have observed that white makes stains seem larger."

Setting her down outside her door, he said, suddenly looking faintly uncomfortable, "After the Invisibles will tend that, sleep."

"No, I think I shall stay up all night and laugh at the Invisibles' antics instead," she said, grinning and cocking a playful brow.

After a moment the lich realized she was teasing and rumbled softly in his chest, his faint amusement obvious, "I will see you in the morning."

Avalina laughed softly. "Goodnight, sir!"

". . .Goodnight."

Lying in bed after the Invisibles had given her a new nightgown and cleaned the small cut, (which needed no bandage) she stiffened at the thought of the earthquake ravaging the countryside and land around the castle she had worked so hard on, and she couldn't help the fear that welled up at what she might find the next morning. Earthquakes destroyed everything they touched.

Surprisingly, she slept well, and could have slept longer, save for the Invisible tugging at the corner of her blanket the next morning, urging her to get up.

Yawning, she stood on her tiptoes and stretched in the square of sunlight from her open window, before remembering what had happened the night before and fearfully peeked out the hole in the stone.

A gasp that was very nearly a shriek followed, before she yanked on her nightrobe and shot from the room, not even bothering with her boots.

The Invisibles chased her down the steps and out into the courtyard, waving her footwear in protest, where they were forced to stop as she ran over the drawbridge.

Braking to a stop at the end, she took in the scene like she couldn't believe her eyes.

Massive trees had sprouted up literally overnight. Huge ones. And not just where the sparse dead ones had been. They were everywhere in thick clusters, leaving open areas in between and a generous blank band around the moat, however.

Completely breathless in a torrent of different emotions, Avalina slowly stepped out under them, staring around in an awestruck daze.

As tall as any other trees in Prydain, many of them stretched so tall and straight above her head she fancied they could touch the sky if they went any higher. Many of them held no branches, except near the top, and several were easily thicker than she was tall at the base.

Others sported good, thick limbs that were perfect for climbing, the trunks varying anywhere from one to six feet wide, and the variety was as diverse as Prydain's own forests. There were maples, ash, cedars, pine, aspens, beech, birch. . .it would be impossible to list them all.

Walking out, she realized that while they were as thick as the forest beyond the border, it was as if they had grown according to her very whim. There were good, broad paths crisscrossing everywhere through them, more than wide enough for three galloping horses abreast of each other. More than enough room to race Mitternacht through. And many clearings, varying in size, filled the places where no trees were, making meadows of waving grasses and budding Spring flowers.

Staring through the trees, she could hardly make out from this distance where the borders met. It may as well not even been there.

"Oh, Fates, she whispered, sinking to her knees, "It's. . .beautiful."

There were no real words to express the emotions that filled her.

"How did this happen?" She whispered to herself, "How?"

Thinking back, she could recall nothing over the past few days that might have brought this on. Except. . .

"This is unbelievable!" She cried softly. "There has to be a better reason!"

But if there was, it didn't seem she'd be getting one today.

She recognized the tree a few feet in front of her. It was one that had been dead before. Only. . .now. . .

It was alive. Still twisted, and stunted, but alive. And budding. A dogwood.

'So that's what the Horned King thought it was,' she realized, 'The trees! But how? How did he know?'

Feeling as if she would burst if she didn't say something, she looked up at the treetops, hearing their leaves brush and rustle against one another, beginning their song, as the breeze slipped gracefully through.

"Oh, thank you!" She cried aloud, although she knew not to who. "Thank you so much!"

She didn't realize she was crying in joy til the soft breeze caressed her face, alerting her to the moisture there.

Brushing it away, she slowly got up and headed back to to the castle. The Horned King probably knew about this already, but she would tell him anyway, because if she didn't tell somebody she felt she'd explode.

A laugh of pure joy escaped her as she leaped high in the air and took off running, a delirious whoop echoing softly in the trees.

Well...this chapter did not listen to me very well...I had the "script" written out entirely differently and a couple things weren't even supposed to happen til a few chapters down the line, BUT I guess the characters had other ideas. -_- I have to admit though, they /were/ pretty good, and I am happy with how it turned out...I just hope some of the content didn't go all out in left field and just destroy everything for y'all. XD

To all my readers and reviewers: Thank you from the bottom of my heart. =) It means an awful lot. =D I passed 13,000 views on this story last week! *parties*

Oh, and one more thing. One of my best friends, Crescent Moon Dancer, has a humorous Star Trek story I would dearly love if y'all read and reviewed. (If you're familiar with Star Trek, that is. XD) She would l love it too, because for some reason, she's getting hatemail. And that just won't do. She and her writing both is too epic for hatemail. So both of us would thank you a thousand times if you'd slip over there and R&R on it before I blast all her haters to kingdom come with the Kitchen Cannon 3000. Lol I promise, you'll be laughing your head off reading it. I know I was! Thank you all in advance! =D