Dullahan

7 - Middle Ground - 6

Ness didn't say anything for a while, tending to Ardghal in silence. Eldred watched, gradually working up the courage to approach the horse again. He kept his eyes firmly fixed on the grey flank in front of him, pointedly trying to ignore Ness's lack of head.

"How did you know Alma didn't just want to know my nickname?" he asked eventually, running a hand over the short silky fur.

"It is impolite to ask for a name that is not offered. Besides, no one in this Court would make such a request innocently." There was bitterness to Ness's words, and Eldred added another point to his mental list of reasons why Ness didn't like the Court.

"Do you know my name? Or is politeness why you didn't ask?" he asked, suddenly curious.

"I did not know your name," she admitted after a moment, "Your mother was well versed in many of the rules of Fae, and was careful never to speak it in my presence."

He was taken aback at the mention of his mother- Ness had seemed reluctant to say much about her in their journey to this point. "My mum didn't like you," he said, remembering how insistent she had been that Eldred leave the house that morning before everything had happened. "Or... she didn't trust you..." he continued, unease rearing its ugly head once more.

Ness gave a small shrug- one Eldred could hear, thanks to her armour. "She did not. I did not know her well. We only knew of one another because we both knew your father. Since his-" she hesitated, Eldred feeling a prickle as she glanced at him, "since his passing, we have had no reason to be anything more than acquaintances. There were benefits to her remaining in contact with me- I was a connection to Telthame, which..." she trailed off. "... And I had made a promise to your father that I would look out for you."

Something nudged at the back of Eldred's mind- something that had bothered him the day before, something had been pushed to the corners of his thoughts with everything else that had occurred. "What's a halfling?"

He didn't have to look at Ness to know she had stiffened, her hands stopping mid-brush, the subtle sounds of her armour shifting silenced. It took her so long to respond, Eldred started to doubt that she'd heard his question in the first place. "A... halfling... is a person born with mixed blood."

Eldred considered this. "Why did the King call me a halfling? Why did Gildas keep calling me a mongrel? I'm not a dog."

This time, the pause was longer. "Gildas... was being rude," she started, "He is not fond of me, as I am not fond of him." Eldred waited for her to say more, but the dullahan continued quietly brushing down Ardghal.

This struck him as odd- despite how cryptic Ness often was, he couldn't remember her outright refusing to answer one of his questions, or at the very least trying to avoid the subject so blatantly. "Is it because I'm not a fae like everyone else?" he tried.

Her answer came quicker, "It is because you are different to us, yes," she said. "There... is much to our society that is difficult to explain all at once, and much of it has explanations that I simply cannot give, because I do not know them myself."

Frustration pricked at him. "Why don't you answer things simply? You keep talking in riddles."

His flare of annoyance cooled at the sensation of her attention focused on him, a hint of warning in her tone that this was not a topic he should pursue further. "There are things that it is best you do not know- at least not yet. You are young, and as I have said, there is much in this world that is terrifying and dangerous. If I do not tell you something, understand that it is because I do not think it is something you want to know, or something that you should know at this moment."

"Was Alma terrifying and dangerous?" he asked, watching her from the corner of his eye.

"What she was trying to do is something that should terrify you, yes." Her voice was lowered, as though she was wary of someone listening in to their conversation. "In time, I hope you will understand why I was not overreacting, despite what the others in this stable seemed to think. I made an oath that I would keep you safe- there are consequences to breaking such promises."

Ness didn't offer any further explanations, and Eldred definitely did not understand how drawing a sword and threatening to kill someone was not overreacting. He understood even less about the promise or oath Ness kept talking about, turning to ask about it. He faltered when he saw her ragged neck, losing his nerve, quickly turning back to the relative safety of the silky fur of Ardghal's flank.

"Sorry," Ness said abruptly, "I- I was too preoccupied to remember my helmet," she continued, reaching up toward her neck. "I will retrieve it."

He kept his mouth shut this time, continuing to stare in front of him as he heard her receding footsteps down the length of the stables. She returned shortly, helmet once more strapped atop her neck. They spent the rest of their time there in near silence, Ness finishing up her care of Ardghal, Eldred passing her tools or equipment when asked.

They left the stables shortly after, stepping back out into the autumn day, the sun high above them, sunlight filtering through the leaves high above. The castle, Eldred had come to realise, was shadowed during the middle hours of the day, cool shade that shifted and moved with the wind above, that disappeared as the sun dipped back down. The exterior walls seemed to have been built with this in mind, as where there was no access to the outside through the bridge, the surrounding walls were low enough that sunlight could reach the courtyards until only an hour or two before it set fully.

They retraced Gildas's steps from the day before, although Eldred had little interest in looking around, his attention consumed almost entirely by his thoughts. He paid little attention to the people who passed, although the courtyards did seem quieter than they had been earlier.

By the time they reached the corridor and Ness's room once more, Eldred found himself talking once more. "Alma was nice, I don't think she wanted to hurt me."

Ness opened the door before them, and Eldred could see now that the small room beyond was smaller even than the stalls in the stable.

"The maid's kindness was false," she said, her tone strained, patience beginning to wear thin. "She wanted you to feel safe, to feel as though she was on your side. She was not- her actions would have led to your injury."

"How would you know for sure? Even if she was, 's not right to- to threaten somebody like that," Eldred said, pushing past her and sitting back down on the bed. He had wanted to say it wasn't right to kill someone, but was unable to form the words. "I don't want anyone else hurt because of me," he said, quietly.

Ness didn't answer, standing frozen in place by the open door. After a few long moments, she seemed to remember herself, and closed it, the latch clicking shut.

When it became clear she had nothing else to say in that moment, Eldred turned away from her, shuffling toward the far end of the bed, picking up the little wooden horse Leola had given him. He sat at the bed's edge, running his fingers over its curves and planes, staring out at the forest beyond the window pane.