Dullahan

10 - Alone - 2

He found his way back to the castle walls without incident, taking a different route than the one he had seen Key and Meirion disappear down, going in the opposite direction to the fountain in the hopes that he could avoid the rest of the children. He stepped through an archway into one of the paved pathways that circled the castle's perimeter, just inside its outer walls, feeling a wave of relief as he left the garden behind. He knew that they could chase him this far if they wanted to, that he couldn't actually stop them from seeking him out if they wished to, but he hoped that they would at least be reluctant to pursue him for the sake of it, instead of because the opportunity presenting itself.

Eldred stepped into a gap between castle buildings, leaning back against one wall and letting himself slide into a sitting position. Breathing deeply, he allowed himself to relax, to recollect his thoughts. He intended to do as Meirion had suggested, to return to Ness's room, but he needed a moment in the outside, where the fresh air was cold and clear in his lungs, where there were no ceilings above his head, where the walls didn't feel like they were pressing in around him.

Sounds of celebration pulled his attention back into the world around him, music and cheering floating toward him. He hadn't noticed them as he'd been walking, too distant to discern above the echo of his footsteps. He frowned, peering back out at the walkway he had been following, and noticed for the first time how quiet it was. When he had ventured out earlier that day, the bustle of the castle had seemed amplified. Thoroughfares had been filled with bodies, servants moving to and fro, courtiers walking along the higher paths and through gardens, the castle alive with chatter and brimming with excitement. He hadn't been able to fully recognise it at the time, too focused on his own adventures and their potential destinations to pay attention to the castle itself.

Now he found himself drawn to the source of the revelry, rising slowly from where he had crouched and continuing along the wall's path, the sounds a thread that wound taught, pulling him forward.

By the time he was approaching the castle's main courtyard, the great expanse of cobblestones enclosed by the castle's gate and the throne room, the noise was a roar in his ears. He turned a corner and found the edge of a crowd, fae of all sorts swarming the usually organised space.

He approached cautiously, unable to see much of anything over gathered people. Beyond the wall, he could hear the sound of approaching hoof beats, a pattern on cobblestones growing louder as their source drew closer. As he neared the backs of those furthers from the courtyard, the crowd parted slightly, a gap appearing where before they had been only a tangle of limbs.

Eldred glanced up, but the fae were too focused on what was going on before them, none seeming to have noticed him, so he tried his luck and stepped into the crowd.

The press of bodies around him was tangible and yet separate. Where limbs brushed against one another all around him, Eldred felt as though he were in his own bubble of space, his only interaction with the adults that surrounded him the occasional glance in his direction, frowns unable to find him before he moved past, slowly making his way toward the front of the crowd.

Banners of green and gold lined a carpeted run from the keep's main doors and the castle's portcullis, cloth snapping and fluttering in the wind, held aloft by armoured soldiers and guards, standing eerily still in contrast to their pennants. Eldred peered out from near the front of the crowd, craning his neck to see down the bridge, to catch a glimpse of whatever it was they were waiting for. The sound around him was deafening, voices calling out in celebration, shouting to be heard over the music that seemed to come from all directions.

Trumpets blared as the mounts appeared around the final bend of the bridge, a procession of liveried horses, deer, and other animals Eldred could not place strode onwards, hooves clopping against the stones, metal ringing out in accent to the swell of sound as the crowd seemed to reach a high, sparks of colourful light snapping into being above their heads, sparks fizzling into nothing above them. Upon the backs of the procession, garbed in elegant costumes that reminded Eldred of the Lord's hunting parties that would on occasion make their way through his home town, although the garb worn by the fae he watched now was several levels above anything he'd seen worn in his own world. Amidst the parade, central to his guard and crowned in branches made of gold sat the King, his own mount a stag with antlers that curled in a ring above its head, an echo of the King's own antlers that seemed interwoven with his crown.

The crowd surged around him, and Eldred let himself be pushed backwards, just far enough that there was a layer of limbs between himself and the King, arms and hands waving. He stood, transfixed by the parade as the procession approached, riders sitting tall and proud upon their mounts, courtiers waving and smiling dressed in impractically beautiful clothing, fae features accentuated with makeup and cloth. Guards flanked the noblemen, faces stern and focused for the most part, although a few tried to hold down smiles, caught up as they were in the crowd's energy.

They moved forward through the courtyard, their pace slow and even, and Eldred watched, drinking it all in, unable to tear his eyes away from the colour and intricacies of the parade.

His eyes met the King's, and cold fingers stifled the grin that had started to spread across his face. The man's stare was pointed, his face fixed in a leisurely smile that seemed to sharpen when he noticed Eldred, the edges of his mouth drawing tighter, eyes narrowing a fraction.

Eldred took a step back, and then another, the spell of the crowd broken in a matter of moments. The few bodies between himself and the king, the rank of guards that surrounded the man seemed to fall away, the world narrowing to a line drawn between Eldred and the King. He stood still for a few moments longer, paralysed by the King's regard.

Then he turned tail, and ran back through the crowd, letting the celebrations of the parade fade into noise behind him.

He did not take a meandering path back to the corridor, running through the castle's many hallways and passages, only stopping when the wood of the door to the dullahan's corridor was firm against his back. He stood for a few moments, breathing hard and fast, heart pounding in his chest, and let himself calm. The familiar half-lit space spread out before him, the narrow corridor with its small windows, the shallow light that illuminated faded tapestries and moth-eaten wall hangings dampening the memory of the parade and its vibrant colours. He shut his eyes, breathing in the musty smell of a space not often used, the undertones of damp and cold now something familiar to him.

When his nerves had calmed, he set off down the corridor at a walk, no longer feeling the creeping sensation of eyes on him, or the certainty of the King's regard. He approached the door to Ness's room, hesitating at the sight of the lunch tray. He considered it briefly, but found his appetite lacking.

The door scraped against the floor as he pushed it open, the latch clicking as it fell back into place.

The books were as he had left them, open at the page he had reached, muted illustrations an invitation he found he did not want to resist.