Chapter 134

Teaching the goblin (and not throttling said goblin for his stupidity) was almost as difficult as teaching Avalina was easy. At Avalina's quiet urging the Horned King had grudgingly continued doing the wretched task, but he could not believe he had sunk so low as to do something this completely pointless.

On more than one occasion he had grimly wondered who was more idiotic, himself or the goblin. The goblin would, under ordinary scenarios, be the winner by a landslide. But now. . .the lich had deliberately put himself into this position, and therefore had to accept the consequences, while whole-heartedly regretting he had ever agreed to it in the first place.

He knew why he had agreed to it, of course, and it was this that encouraged him not to kill the goblin and spare everyone the misery.

He had included Avalina in the sessions too, sometimes, telling her that she owed him and would therefore help him, to spare the Invisibles having to dig a goblin-sized grave and replace the classroom door. Laughing, she had accepted, and it eased the Horned King's headache tremendously.

Despite the entire ordeal's problematic nature, the goblin was learning. At the pace of a snail's crawl, but he was learning. The Horned King told Avalina one afternoon he was waiting for the day the goblin's tiny brain would finally give out and free them both from this torment. Avalina had laughed and said she knew he didn't really mean it.

The lich had not bothered to reply, merely shaking his head with a resigned huff.

When the wretched rainclouds had finally departed from his realm after nearly two consecutive weeks, the Horned King was ready for a change in the weather. He had had more than enough of water falling from the sky and keeping him barred inside the castle. He knew Avalina missed his visits to the stable, and he did too, although it would be below him to admit it out loud.

The irony of the matter was that he had neither wanted nor needed to leave the castle before, but now, with nothing else of interest to do, being near the girl was enough to ease the monotony. He found it somewhat odd, (yet believable) he had never taken notice of his extensive time indoors until Avalina began coaxing him out.

Seeing that field of shimmering green grass the first rainless morning had frozen him by his window for several long minutes, until he ordered the Invisibles to erase the illusion before Avalina saw it, telling them this was a poor idea of a joke. The Invisibles (and Avalina's appearance in the courtyard) had convinced the lich it was indeed quite real, and taking a deep breath, he could smell the fresh things growing. The scent alone filled him with a peaceful energy that worked straight to his heart.

The knowledge it was not an illusion had been a bit hard to comprehend at first. The Horned King could not remember anything ever growing in his presence, or anywhere within a few miles radius, at least, but this was obviously real.

Staring down into the courtyard with a thoughtful expression, watching Avalina, he could guess how it had happened.

He watched her work for hours from his window, watching she and the goblin weed and plant and hoe the earth in all directions, but the area around the drawbridge received the most attention, where the ground could be seen clearly from his chambers. She hadn't said a word about it but he knew she was planting it there for him. In her way of reasoning, just because he couldn't touch anything didn't mean he couldn't look at them and watch them bloom.

He had seen nothing but drawings of flowers for centuries. Laying eyes on a real one was something, dare he admit to himself, he was rather looking forward to. It didn't matter if he couldn't go near them, he had the perfect view from here.

The grass and flowerpatches all over his lands grew taller by the day, and he enjoyed the novelty of being able to see more around the castle than dusty, lifeless earth. It was a pleasant change, although he could only watch from a distance.

The only eyesores from here were the stunted, dead trees that dotted his domain like a disease. Before, he had neither noticed nor cared, but now that green things were coating his once barren land, it was impossible /not/ to notice them. Avalina said nothing of the matter, but he knew it troubled her. But there was nothing he could do for her, and the Invisibles had already told him they were restricted to the courtyard.

The morning after the earthquake his suspicions had been confirmed. But even his premeditated thoughts could not prepare him for the sight he received when he looked out his window.

Trees.

The lich arched a brow ridge, before turning away and counting to three, before looking back. Upon seeing the same thing again, the realization of what had just happened hit and he stared out fiercely, examining them from crown to root. (As much as he was allowed from this distance)

They were definitely trees. A forest of them. Complete with meadows of all sizes and paths running through. It was as if the Invisibles had made it, so perfect were the proportions.

"Invisibles," he demanded to the servants in the room with him, watching Avalina run out and disappear beneath the leaves, "Is this your doing?"

"Weeell," one Invisible drew out slowly, the grin in its voice obvious, "We might've helped /just/ a smidge."

The Horned King stared very hard out the window for another moment, before turning to the air to his left.

"Helped?"

"Yes and no," the first replied. "You may have noticed that things seem to be growing up around your castle, a phenomenon never heard of before. . ."

"Get on with it."

"Well, your Prickliness," a second presence snipped, "As you know, she wished for trees, and they came. We simply gave them an overnight push."

"You told me you were bound to the courtyard," the Horned King faintly snarled.

"We are. But just /because/ we are doesn't mean we can't give Creeper some Magic Treedust For Enhanced Growth and have him fly Addie all over the place shaking the bag upside down in the middle of the night."

Snickers followed, before they finished.

"But as with everything else, she had to want them first before they could appear."

The Horned King was silent for a long while, hardly able to believe his eyes as he stared out at what had been a barren wasteland hardly a few weeks past.

He had known Avalina's aura was nothing but Life, and extraordinarily strong, but seeing it in action was something he was certain he was the only one to witness on such a scale. He almost felt honored at the notion. He doubted she realized she possessed such an ability, but it was something the likes of which the lich had never seen in all his existence. Nor had he expected it to override his own aura of Death and Decay (which killed off anything within a very large radius) and urge things to start sprouting up, despite the fact that he was here, in the castle.

He knew he wouldn't be able to leave the courtyard anymore, lest everything she worked so hard on withered away, but he was pleased she would be able to enjoy it. He had cared nothing for such things in the past, but since her arrival he had begun to think about it a little more and wonder how it happened.

It looked like it had been made specifically for her, right down to the straight and curving accents of the paths, both broad and narrow, that cut their way through the trees.

The trees didn't grow as thickly as the forest trees. It looked more like large clusters of them in amongst larger stretches of meadow.

"Why has her aura's power not made itself known before now?" He questioned the Invisibles. "Certainly her. . .relatives would have noticed this."

He stiffened at having to mention her family but the Invisibles did not seem to notice.

"We're not certain," they replied. "However, a plausible theory is that her. . .particular ability, for lack of a better term, was never needed in Prydain. Everything there grows by itself, you see. But, here, around the castle...around you, if you will. . .things needed some help."

The lich did not reply, pondering silently on what they had told him, watching Avalina running back to the castle, no doubt to tell him how wonderful this was. His features softened upon seeing her.

Wonderful, indeed.

"It's a boy!?" Avalina exclaimed, feeling so happy she felt she'd break into a little dance of joy any moment. "Oh, that's amazing!"

"Yes, and thank the Fates for that," Creeper grumbled. "The last thing I need is another female running around here and getting on my ner-YEEOOOW!"

Addie, playing with her little one, had sidestepped rather firmly onto the goblin's foot in a move that may or may not have been intentional, a little chirr rising in her throat and giving Avalina almost a conspirator's wink, which did nothing to still Avalina's laughter.

"ADDIE!" Creeper howled. "GET OFF MAH FOOT, YE ILL-MANNERED MONGREL!"

Addie gave a noise that sounded like a gwythaint's version of a cackle before Avalina nudged her aside, Addie blowing playfully in the girl's hair and making her laugh even harder.

"Are you alright, Creeper?" Avalina asked around her laughter.

"NO!" Creeper shouted, hopping about on one foot and blowing on the one Addie had stepped on, "I am not! Great Fates, Addie, what was that for?!"

The gwythaint rustled her wings and chirred softly as Avalina gently rubbed her face and neck, ignoring the goblin.

"Maybe she doesn't like you talking that way about us females," Avalina suggested, giggling. "I don't even know why you think another one would be a bad thing. Everyone's a boy here except me and Addie. Are you saying we're too much?"

Creeper eased his throbbing foot to the ground and hobbled around a few steps, hissing something under his breath Avalina was grateful wasn't any louder.

"Occasionally," he groaned.

"Is it broken?" Avalina asked anxiously.

"No," Creeper puffed, "Just badly bruised. Thanks a lot, you infernal winged. . ."

"Creeper," Avalina softly reprimanded.

Creeper glared at her but did not reply, instead sitting down in the straw.

"So," he said after a moment, "We name it what we picked?"

"Yes!" Avalina exclaimed happily. "Let's go tell the Horned King!"

Creeper stiffened for a moment, before replying.

"/You/ go tell him. I'm staying right here."

"Alright," Avalina said, a bit downcast, giving Addie a kiss on the muzzle and the little one a scratch behind the tiny horn bumps under the hide before departing.

After the stable door shut, Creeper glared at Addie, still cradling his injured limb. "You did that on purpose."

Addie pushed her muzzle into his arms, wanting to be petted, and the baby pranced over, sniffing the goblin curiously.

Sighing, Creeper complied with both, noticing the little one's halter he had braided was getting a bit tight. He would have to make a new one soon to fit the creature's growing head. At least til he learned how to lead and fly properly with a rider.

"Well, boy," Creeper said to little one, laboriously getting to his feet, "I can't tell you how glad I am to have finally gotten you a name. Now I don't have to listen to list after list of them and their meanings. So, I hope you like it, cause you're stuck with it, cause trying to get the human to change it'll be impossible."

Easing himself around, Creeper slipped the baby's halter off. "Seems only fair she's the one that speaks it to ya first, seein' as it was her idea to start with. So you'll have to wait til she gets back."

"The young one is a male?"

"Yes, and guess what we're naming him?" Avalina exclaimed, nearly dancing in place by the lich.

The Horned King gave a vague growl of amusement in his chest. "I haven't the faintest clue. Suppose you tell me before you explode?"

"We're naming him Gethin!" Avalina said, bouncing up and down. "What do you think? Creeper helped me pick it out!"

The lich pondered this for a moment before speaking it.

"Gethin," he said slowly, feeling the word. "Knowing you, it has a meaning. Would you care to enlighten me?"

"Oh, sure," Avalina replied, blushing, "It means 'dark,' or 'dusky.' We picked it cause he looks like he's gonna be really black when he grows up."

"Most gwythaints /are/ black," the Horned King commented. "They lighten as they age. You see how much paler Addie is than her offspring."

"I know," Avalina said, "But Gethin looks like he's going to be really, /really/ black."

After a moment, she asked him, disappointed, "You don't like it?"

"I believe his designation fits him quite nicely," the lich replied. "Did you intend for it to sound noble and intimidating?"

"Sort of," she admitted, a laugh stealing at the edges of her mouth. "It did?"

"Yes."

Avalina smiled, her happiness showing in every movement. "Do you want to come see him?"

The Horned King gracefully offered her his arm, a gesture she had come to love.

"It would be a pleasure."

Avalina happily accepted.

"Addie smashed Creeper's foot earlier," she chirped after a minute.

The randomness of the statement took the lich by surprise for a moment.

". . .She did?"

"Yes," Avalina laughed. "Right after Creeper said there were too many girls around. I don't think she appreciated that very much."

The lich raised a brow ridge. "There is only you and the gwythaint about."

"Apparently he doesn't want another one," Avalina snickered.

The Horned King took a moment before replying. "It seems that Creeper has yet to learn how to behave around females of any species. Insulting a female to their face is generally not the best way to behave amongst said females. Or survive."

Avalina giggled and agreed, before laughing again a moment later as something else sprang to mind.

When her friend arched a brow ridge at her, inviting her to explain, she struggled with whether or not to tell him. Certain subjects were rather rocky to traverse and she really didn't want to spoil his good mood, but she couldn't very well tell him 'nothing.'

"Um. . ." She began nervously, watching him for any negative sign, "You remember Princess Eilonwy, right?"

The lich nodded after a moment.

"Well, one day I was. . .helping she and Taran do some work," Avalina said haltingly, seeing how he stiffened at the boy's name, and she stopped abruptly, her spine stiffening in fear.

"Continue." He said, his voice sounding a bit harsher than before.

"And he, uh. . .asked her what a girl knew about repairing rooftops. We were doing a thatch-roof, you see. . .and she, um. . .said that they'd both do a small equal section, and see who's was better and got done first. They asked me to be the judge, cause I was always repairing roofs at home and knew what it was supposed to look like."

After a moment the lich nodded, and encouraged, Avalina continued, noticing he had relaxed a bit.

"Well, Eilonwy finished first, and hers was the best, and Taran hammered his fingers several times and then lost his balance and fell off the roof into a pile of hay."

Here Avalina laughed again. "But unfortunately, his trousers caught on a nail and was left hanging on the rafters, ripped almost in half! I can't imagine he'd ever been so embarrassed. Eilonwy and I laughed so hard, we almost fell off the roof too!"

When no reply or acknowledgement came from the Horned King, Avalina bit her lip and looked down, mentally kicking herself for bringing it up.

'I shouldn't have said anything,' she thought angrily, blinking away the fearful prickling at the corners of her eyes.

Her blood jumped when the lich suddenly gave a dark, soft chuckle that sent chills racing through her.

"That is something I would vastly enjoy observing."

Avalina relaxed and giggled, as relieved as she was happy that he had appreciated her story and was not angered by it.

"Tell me," the Horned King rumbled as they neared the entrance chamber, "Do you know any more?"

Avalina walked lightly through the grass, delighting in the faint swishing noise it made as she did so, and stared all around like she was seeing everything for the first time. Mitternacht was hardly a dozen steps away, his head buried in the grass.

This was so wonderful! The miles of dead, lifeless country around the Horned King's land had been transformed into something that looked like it had been made by fairies. (or the Invisibles) All of it was so /green!/ She couldn't believe how green it was. After so long of living in dust and being forced to breathe it too, being surrounded by brown, dying things, it was a striking contrast. The air was cleaner, clearer, sweeter. Everything dead was gone, replaced with Life everywhere she looked.

Kneeling down in the grass, she happily watched a ground beetle crawl up a long grass stem almost level with her nose, taking in its rich blue coloring, as it crawled back down and went on its way.

The breeze ruffled the grass and Avalina's hair lightly, and she sighed, wishing she could make the Horned King as happy as she felt at this moment.

Sitting underneath one of the grand trees, she cared for one of her many flower patches, making sure they were alright. All different types and colors, they were almost blinding in their beauty.

A variety of birdsong could be heard overhead and Avalina looked up, seeing them flit from limb to limb, and then down, seeing a good many on the ground near her, pecking about contentedly. Sparrows, jays, and wrens, among many others. They did not even seem disturbed at her presence, hopping about close enough for her to reach out and touch. Not that she ever tried, of course. She didn't want to frighten them away, especially not after they were just beginning to come.

After a moment, Avalina carefully selected some of her biggest mum blossoms...orange, white and a light mauve pink, and made a small bouquet, tying the stems together with a loose hair from Mitternacht's mane. Just because the Horned King couldn't come see her garden, (which had grown to fill his entire land almost overnight) there was no reason she couldn't take some to him. The flowers bordering the drawbridge were breathtaking, and she spent more time on them than any other patch to ensure he was able to enjoy them to the maximum, but maybe seeing some up close would be alright, as long as she was quick about it. He said that nothing could grow on his lands, but things had been doing just that for several weeks now.

Entering the castle, she headed straight to his chambers, guessing he would be there, and a soft, rumbling "Enter" answered her tap. Checking the flowers, they seemed to be alright, and she took a breath as the Invisibles opened the door.

"Sir?" She smiled as he turned from the window to greet her, "I brought you some flowers."

The Horned King stiffened instantly, raising a hand immediately in front of him in a defensive gesture, right as she pulled them from behind her back for him to see.

"No!" He snarled.

An odd sensation in her fingers caused Avalina to look down, and she gasped.

The blooms were turning black from the outside rim in, shriveling and drying instantaneously, the petals curling up and disintegrating into black fragments that sifted to the floor like dust.

Avalina shrieked in horror and dropped the flowers, which were nothing but a black, crumbling ash before they hit the stone.

The Horned King was by her in an instant as she jumped away from the black spot on the floor, her momentum hitting her back against the wall hard.

He almost touched her, but stopped right at the last moment, sure that she would want no such thing after seeing what had just happened.

However, after a moment of staring, horrorstricken, at the little ash pile on the floor, Avalina promptly burst into terrified tears and gripped the front of the Horned King's robe tight.

After a startled moment, he recovered and carefully held her to him, a faint head gesture all the encouragement the Invisibles needed to vanish what he was certain had once been very colorful flowers.

His first sensation was anger. At her, and himself. If she hadn't brought them in here...what had she been thinking?! He had told her before nothing could survive in his presence! Why hadn't she listened? But if he had reacted more quickly, this wouldn't have happened...and he knew why she had brought them in. She wanted him to be able to see them too, the way she could. And that was something that just wasn't possible.

The next was faint guilt and regret. He regretted she had seen that. It had been an accident, but still...he supposed other people would not have had such a reaction to it, but Avalina was not "other people." She was Avalina, and her heart was too bright for something like him. And he felt faint guilt that he could not enjoy the things she loved so much and be a friend that she could share them with.

She deserved better.

It was many, many minutes before her sobs had died down enough where she could speak, but she was still crying so much he could barely understand her.

"I'm sorry!" She choked out. "I'm so sorry!"

The Horned King gave a deep, heavy sigh, feeling the pain and fear and embarrassment that enshrouded her as she hid her face in his chest.

"I didn't mean to...I just thought that since everything outside was g-growing..."

"I told you nothing can survive near me," he told her as gently as his harsh voice would allow. "All that is living outside my castle only exists for you. And you alone."

Avalina tearfully looked up at him, and his heart ached.

"But I wanted you to be able to see it too!"

"I know. But I cannot."

"I'm sorry I made you feel bad," she sobbed, "I didn't mean to!"

"It was not you," the Horned King dredged softly, realizing she had sensed his own discouraged feelings as she hid again. "Not you."

After another few moments, he gently pulled her back from him and lightly placed a finger under her chin, turning her face up so she would look at him, forever mindful of the long claws he sported and curling them towards himself, rather than her.

"I find your flowers by the drawbridge to be exceptionally pleasing to observe, and your determination that I may enjoy them...gratifies me...exceedingly."

Avalina sniffed. "Really?"

The Horned King nodded, and gently brushed a stray tear away with his thumb, careful of his claws. "Yes."

"I...I just wish I could do more...for you..."

"Child, you have already done more for me than you can possibly comprehend."

Seeing her brighten faintly at this, he smiled slightly, making her give a tiny smile as well.

"I'm...glad I can make you happy," she sniffed softly. "Except, you know, for /now/, of course..."

The Horned King suddenly smirked as a thought came to mind.

"You can make it up to me by telling me how that boy /ever/ keeps his pants on."

Avalina laughed, an earnest laugh, and the lich chuckled faintly. "And while we are at it, perhaps we can have the Invisibles be-glitter the goblin again."

Avalina laughed harder. "I like that plan! Hey, maybe we can have them put confection on him too!"

"I believe you mean, 'Confetti,'" the Horned King corrected her. "But yes, that will be most. . .enlightening."

Giggling, an impish look on her face, Avalina added, "And sequins. We can't forget the sequins."

"Or this thing the Invisibles call 'Bedazzling.'"

"Or ribbons!"

Here, they both chuckled, grinning at each other like conspirators, before Avalina thought of something.

"We'll have to find him first though."

The Invisibles in the room made themselves heard, cackling like maniacs before they spoke.

"We will inform the goblin he has three minutes to hide and say his prayers."

Thank you guys a billion times over for the reviews! And Olmo, thank you so much for yours! I'm so happy this story was worthy of your first review! And to everyone else, thank you too! Your reviews encourage me to keep going. =) Oh, hope y'all like the baby gwythaint's name! It's pronounced Geh-thin. XD