//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 // Story: Luna's Lacunae // by kudzuhaiku //------------------------------// Tiptoeing, Maeve crept along the hallway, hoping that she would not be seen. It was nighttime, most of the inhabitants of the castle were sleeping, but not all. In the pocket of Maeve’s filthy smock were several carrots, carrots she had saved from her own meal, little, wilted, sad looking things, somewhat wooden as old carrots tend to be, but still carrots. Her stomach rumbled and made squelching sounds as she crept from shadow to shadow. A terrible stench filled Maeve’s nostrils, the smell of pigs. Many, many pigs. She hated the smell, she hated everything about this place. She hated her master, she hated his wife, and she hated Queen Oonagh. Tír na hÓige was not a pleasant place. Cracking open the door to the stables, Maeve peered through the crack, looking for Nilzebog. It was late and Maeve hoped that the goblin was passed out drunk and not awake. There was no sign of him, so she crept through the door, alert to danger. She passed the horses, which were sleeping, moving from shadow to shadow, pillar to pillar, moving to Luna’s stall. She opened the door and slipped in, her eyes straining to see in the dim light. All four of Luna’s legs were chained to the floor. The skin around her shackles was bloody and raw. One of Luna’s eyes was swollen shut and crusted over with blood. She lay on her side, one teal eye glittering in the near darkness. “You should not be here,” Luna whispered when she saw Maeve. “They’ll beat you again.” “I brought you some carrots,” Maeve said to Luna, kneeling down on the filthy stones of the stable floor. She reached into the pocket of her smock and pulled out the carrots she had, grabbed one in her other hand, and held it out for Luna. Ravenous, Luna began to devour the carrot, not caring it was dirty, that it was wilted, or that it was a bit wooden. Famished, she bit her own lip by accident, drawing blood, and did not notice as she continued to gobble down the carrot that Maeve held out for her. Patient, Maeve held out each carrot for Luna, not wanting to place them down upon the filthy floor. While Luna was eating, Maeve kept turning her head, listening for the sounds of footsteps upon the stone floor, fearing that she might be discovered. When Luna had finished eating, Maeve took off, silent as a mouse, off to look for a bucket and some water. She moved around the stables, slow, cautious, wary for danger, and she returned with two buckets of water. One so Luna could drink, the other so that Maeve could clean Luna up a bit. When she put down the first bucket in front of Luna, Luna stuck most of her face into it and began to drink, sucking down as much water as she could, almost choking as she swallowed. Maeve waited for Luna to recover and drink a bit more. When Luna had finished, Maeve dipped her hand into the other bucket and then tried to wipe away the encrusted blood over Luna’s closed eye. She dipped her hand into the bucket again, cupped this time, and scooped out some water, which she dribbled over the crusted blood, hoping it would soften. “Maeve, if you could help me,” Luna said in a soft pleading voice, her good eye closing. “They bred with me one of their horses again… they tied me to a tall bench… Maeve, I am torn up back there, I need your help.” Saying nothing, gritting her teeth, Maeve nodded and continued to try and remove the crusted blood from Luna’s eye. She dribbled more water over it, wiped with her thumbs, and then, after much effort, Luna’s other eye opened. The eye itself was bloodshot and could only open a tiny bit, so much was the swelling. Luna blinked a few times and then rested her head down upon Maeve’s lap. Maeve shook her hands off, trying to get them somewhat clean, dipped them into the water bucket, and then tried to clean the filth out of Luna’s ears, which were hot to the touch. “Thought I heard sumptin.” The voice chilled Maeve’s blood. She looked up, fearful, and saw Nilzebog. Her eyes narrowed as she stared up at him in defiance, and she held Luna’s head in her hands. “I’m gonna have me a good time floggin’ you… when I return you to your master, you won’t be sittin’ down or sleepin’ on your back for a week,” Nilzebog said. The goblin grinned, revealing blackened broken teeth, teeth broken by Luna, who had kicked him in the face during their first meeting. Moving with surprising speed, Maeve picked up a bucket and hurled it at Nilzebog, who ducked. She watched as he toppled over, slipping on the now slick stone floor, the fat gross creature was a bit too top heavy. She sprung away from Luna, darting out through the stable door, and then looked around, desperate to find anything that might help. She spotted a shovel leaning up against a doorframe. Leaping past the thrashing Nilzebog, Maeve snatched up the shovel, gripped it in both hands, whirled around, and then she swung with as much strength as she could muster, striking Nilzebog with the shovel. There was a loud metallic gong sound as she shovel came down upon Nilzebog’s head. “Damnable tart!” Nilzebog shouted as he got to his feet, rubbing his head with his hand. “I should skin you alive for the headache you just gave me, ya bint!” Maeve swung again, trying as much force as she could muster into the blow. The shovel was snatched by Nilzebog, who tore it out of her hands and then tossed it away. A second later, Maeve felt something strike her in the side of her head, which caused white explosions in her vision. Everything went silent as she tumbled down to the floor, she was unable to hear anything for several agonising moments, and then low ringing sound began to fill her ears as she lay on the ground, flailing about, unable to do much of anything. A sharp kick landed in Maeve’s ribs, knocking the wind out of her. She gasped, struggling to breathe, her mouth open, her ears still ringing. She rolled over and tried to squirm away, but wasn’t able to do more than just lay there, gasping for air. “How dare ye fight back, you grotty little fire haired cunt, I have half a mind to tear yer dainty little asshole a new one, I don’t care what your master says!” Something impacted with Maeve’s stomach, striking her with terrific force, and now the starbursts in her vision were red. She flailed around, unable to defend herself, and then another blow struck her in the stomach. Choking, unable to breathe, Maeve retched, vomiting up what little dinner she had eaten a few hours ago. Uncoiling the leather whip that hung from his belt, Nilzebog stood over Maeve, leering down at the helpless girl on the floor who was gasping like a fish out of water. “I’m gonna take my time workin’ you over… your master said you were to learn a lesson if you ever snuck out again…” Falling out of the bed and kicking around on the floor, Maeve woke up. She struggled to breathe, each breath ragged and painful as she sucked air into her lungs. Gasping, almost sobbing, Maeve lay on the cool stone floor, her cheek pressed against it, glad for the cool sensation against her skin. As she lay there, she heard hooves on the stone floor. “Maeve?” Unable to answer, Maeve focused on breathing. She closed her eyes, turned her head, and pressed her other cheek against the floor. Both hands were clenched into fists and blood trickled out from between her fingers as her fingernailed pressed into her flesh. “Are you okay? What did you dream about this time?” Rolling over, Maeve curled up into a fetal position on the floor and wrapped her arms around her knees, hugging her legs to her chest. She inhaled through her nose and exhaled out of her mouth. After doing this several times, she opened her eyes and said, “The night I fought back for the first time.” Maeve felt a somewhat damp nose press into her neck and give her a nudge. “I was very proud of you, hitting that goblin in the head with a shovel. It did not do much good, but you showed spirit.” Luna’s voice was gentle, reassuring, and she gave Maeve another gentle nudge. “It was far more satisfying when you killed him, cutting him in half.” Her eyes still closed, Maeve thought about the feeling of Lann na Gealaí Dubh in her hands, both hands, and the feeling of the blade striking Nilzebog in the shoulder and her clumsy downward chop cutting him from shoulder to groin, slicing through bone, gristle, and guts. She recalled the way the grip of the sword relayed the sensation of cleaving through bone to her hands. She had felt it in her elbows and hot blood had spurted onto her face. “Would you like for me to fix you some of your calming tea?” Luna asked, her lips inches away from Maeve’s ear. She saw Maeve nodding and once more, Luna gave the girl lying upon the stone floor a reassuring nudge. The teacup trembled in Maeve’s hands as she took a sip and then, with great care, Maeve set the cup down upon the table. Looking up, her eyes met Luna’s. Maeve sat up and straightened out her shoulders. “Red saw my brand today.” “Did he now? That would mean that you took your clothing off.” Luna’s brows lowered by a fraction of an inch. “I must assume that you went swimming?” “The water was too cold. I still had on my underclothes.” Maeve’s gaze dropped back down to her teacup. “I had some strange thoughts today when I got undressed and went for a swim.” “Such as?” Luna asked. “I got to thinking that Red is a male and he’s intelligent and I was getting naked in front of him and he understood what nakedness is and I felt funny when I thought about it. Red is an animal, but he is a smart animal, and I suppose I’m an animal too… and I was kinda worried about him looking at me and seeing me naked,” Maeve replied. Luna began to chuckle and her wings fluttered at her sides. “Why would a pony care about what a human looks like naked?” “I don’t know.” Maeve shrugged. “It felt very strange… it sort of hurt. I didn’t want him seeing my scars and thinking I was ugly.” Maeve picked up her teacup and stared down into the sloshing brown liquid as she held it in her trembling hands. The chuckling ceased and Luna leaned forwards over the table. “You want Red to think that you are pretty? Maeve, your face is turning quite red, are you okay?” Feeling sulky, and not knowing why, Maeve muttered, “Every little girl wants to know that they are pretty. That’s what my mama said. There are no human boys around and I don’t know if I’m pretty or not and it kind of worries me. I have all of these horrible scars and this brand on my back. I don’t think I’m very pretty at all.” “And you hope that Red thinks that you are pretty?” Luna’s tone was serious and held no trace of teasing. Her intense stare was focused upon Maeve’s face. “He’s my friend, he’ll be honest with me,” Maeve said, trying to explain her feelings. “But he’s a pony, and you, you are very different.” Luna expression became one of concern. “I understand what it is that you want, or at least I think I do, but he is going to have very different ideas about what is pretty.” “When I was hugging him today, I realised how alone I am here. There are no others like me. It makes me hurt sometimes when I think about it.” “You were hugging Red?” Luna’s head tilted off to one side. “It just sort of happened. I was cold, and wet, and miserable, and he could see my brand through my chemise because it was wet, and he felt bad for me, but earlier he called me a hairless monkey thing and talked about how frizzy my hair was and I kinda wanted to toss him into the water for calling me a hairless monkey thing, but then after he saw my brand and I felt ashamed because he had seen it, then he started crying and I didn’t know what to do… He touched me and I thought I was going to get sick but then I grabbed him and I pulled him close to me and I was still soaking wet and freezing and my teeth were chattering so hard and I don’t know what happened, but it felt really nice to hug him.” “Oh…” Luna lifted up her teacup. “Well then, that explains everything.” “What do you mean, Luna?” Maeve asked, one eyebrow drifting up towards her hairline as she peered over her teacup at Luna. “Nothing. Do not worry about it. For now, just be happy that Red is your very best friend,” Luna replied.