Awakenings

[This post is from Phelan’s point of view.]

An uncomfortable flutter worked its way through Phelan’s stomach as he looked forward Marin. His jaw tightened as he saw a familiar stubborn look take root in the girl’s eyes and his stomach sank.

“I’m fine,” Marin said again with a tone of voice that brooked no argument.

Leinth stared back at her steadily. “If you say so,” she said softly, then turned. “But I still think that another set of hands dealing with those wards would not be unwarranted.”

Marin stayed silent. Phelan looked between the two for a moment. Finally, he exhaled a sigh. “It’s not worth fighting about, you two,” he said quietly. “Really, it’s not.”

“Of course not,” Leinth agreed. Marin nodded.

“Come on. There’s more stuff to look at before we know exactly what kind of damage’s been done.” There was a sigh in Marin’s voice, one she wouldn’t quite let slip free.   Phelan studied her for a few seconds, then looked away.

She’ll run herself ragged—run herself into the ground—and there’s nothing I can do to stop her. Not this time.

He swallowed his own sigh and gestured to the churned ground of the courtyard. “Well, we’d better make sure there wasn’t any damage to anything further in, since those bastards got inside. We’ll have to figure out a way to reinforce the dome faster than what we did today.”

“At least we had the dome,” Marin muttered.

“We’ve learned from our mistakes,” Phelan said, regretting the words the instant they left his lips.

Marin winced, but nodded. “Yes. Yes, we do.” She shivered slightly in the rain but marched resolutely toward the tents. The murmur of voices reached them, echoing down hallways and off walls. Thunder grumbled above them, more sullen than angry. Phelan dared breathe a little easier, hoping that it meant that the news regarding Sif was good—or at least not dire.

We can only hope.

[This post is from Phelan’s point of view.]

Marin took him by the hand, shrugging his arm from her shoulders. Phelan took a deep breath, glancing toward the wall. “When she was attacking you—did it feel like she was attacking the wardings on the wall, too?”

“That and more,” Marin admitted, following his gaze. “You’re going to say we need to check it.”

“Smart girl,” Phelan murmured, already starting to walk. Marin trailed behind, not letting go of his hand. Leinth’s brow arched, but she followed, crossing her arms beneath the cloak she wore over her jeans and tee.

“What precisely happened?” Leinth asked.

“An attack,” Marin said, glancing back over her shoulder. “An old enemy deciding that her opportunity had finally come.”

“I’m worried, Marin,” Phelan said as they came to the wall. He shifted his staff to the crook of his arm, reaching for the rain-slick concrete and stone. “I’m worried that she’s working with Menhit or worse, Menhit’s working with her. I’m worried that they camazotzi were answering her beckon call, not Menhit’s.”

“There’s nothing we can do about that right now,” Marin said as she drew up alongside him. She squeezed his hand. “We’ll figure it out later, just like everything else.” She pressed her hand against the wall and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. Phelan watched her for a few seconds, then touched the wall himself.

A faint tremor of power worked its way up his arm, sent a shiver skittering down his spine. He breathed a sigh of relief. They were weakened, but they were still undeniably there.

“She damaged them,” Marin murmured, “but not as badly as she could have, I think.”

“Then we repair them as soon as we can,” Leinth said from behind them. “But you let another set of hands help with that, Marin Ambrose. You’ve given more than enough in defense of this place, especially so soon after you had that baby.”

“I’m fine, Leinth,” Marin said, pulling her hand away from the wall and turning toward the other woman. “Really.”

“I know bullshit when I hear it,” Leinth said, though she smiled. “I’ve spouted it often enough myself. You’re not fine, but you do a good job of faking it—for now, at least.

“For now.”

[This post is from Phelan’s point of view.]

“Come,” Leinth said softly, staring at the watchtower. “We should see to the damage done to the defenses.”

Next to him, Phelan felt Marin stiffen, then relax.

“You’re right,” she murmured, then took a deep breath. “You said nothing hit us from the back side?”

A chill shot through him. She was calmer, more focused than he expected, especially considering what J.T. had just said about Thom. Phelan glanced up toward the watchtower again even as Marin tore her gaze from it, looking at Leinth.

“Nothing,” Leinth said. “They focused on frontal assault, it seems. Either they don’t realize that we’re more vulnerable on that side without the walls, or—”

“Or a dozen other things,” Marin said grimly. “Or they don’t realize that there’s no wall there or the assault on the front side was a distraction for something else or the wards are stronger than we think they are—or something about the ravine and the creek halts their advance. It could be anything, but whatever it is, we’ll have to worry about it later.” She exhaled, glancing up toward the sky as another rumble of thunder shook the three down to the marrow of their bones. “Hopefully this storm won’t do any more damage to anyone.”

“Maybe I should try to go talk to him,” Phelan muttered, eyeing the clouds. He had no doubt that Thordin was still holding onto the storm, though he suspected his friend might not realize what he was doing—what his emotions were doing. “If Thordin settles down—”

“Leave him be,” Marin said. Her jaw tightened and she met Phelan’s surprised look with a steely stare of her own. “At least until this gets really dangerous for us and not just for the enemy.” She rubbed at her temple and sighed, gesturing for Leinth to lead on. “Come on. I need something to distract me for a little while until J.T.’s at least gotten started with Thom. He doesn’t need me underfoot right now.”

The statement was true enough and Phelan knew it—and he also knew it was killing Marin not to know what was going on with her husband, with the father of her child. “Do you want me to—?”

She shook her head quickly. “No. Stay with us. I need you here.”

Leinth watched them with a slightly arched brow, curiosity gleaming in her eyes. “I’ll take that to mean that things went a bit less well than we’d hoped but probably better than we might have expected. Was Thomas the only casualty?”

“And Sif,” Phelan said, swallowing. “No one else seems to have been seriously hurt, but I suppose we’ll know more in a little while, once we’ve got a full picture of what the hell just happened here.”

He hoped against hope that his statement would end up proving true.