{"id":1026,"date":"2012-01-18T00:00:56","date_gmt":"2012-01-18T05:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=1026"},"modified":"2012-01-16T21:54:51","modified_gmt":"2012-01-17T02:54:51","slug":"autumn-chapter-2-03","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=1026","title":{"rendered":"Autumn – Chapter 2 – 03"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>It only took a few minutes for Kess to scramble through making tea from leaves Eva dug out of her backpack.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>It smelled enough like Chai that they\u2019d cautiously trusted it\u2014though Ter\u00e9zia couldn\u2019t help but notice that everyone waited until after Eva drank before they chanced it.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Halfway into her mug of tea, Eva paused in her drinking, cradling the cup between her hands and looking at each of them in turn.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWell, if you\u2019d like to get the straightjacket or the rope before I start, now would be the time.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Kess\u2019s nose wrinkled.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cYou say that like you\u2019re absolutely certain that we\u2019re going to think you\u2019re crazy.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Eva deadpanned and Ter\u00e9zia\u2019s stomach flip-flopped.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Eva <\/span>was<\/span><\/em> sure they\u2019d think she was crazy, and she was apparently well-prepared for it.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Oh god.\u00a0 <\/span>What are we in for?<\/span><\/em><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWell, we promised you by the road a place to sleep tonight, at the very least,\u201d Gray said.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cIf we have to truss you up like some kind of stuffed poultry so we all feel safe, then so be it.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Deal?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>The girl laughed, nodding.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI suppose I can agree to that.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>She took a deep draught from her mug, set it down, then topped it off.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Her expression changed slightly as she took a deep breath and began to speak.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cIt\u2019s hard to know where to start, but I suppose I should go all the way back to where it begins, in a village far away and very, very long ago.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>She smiled faintly.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cSince it\u2019s almost a fairy tale, I suppose I should start with \u2018once upon a time.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Ter\u00e9zia swallowed bile.<\/span>\u00a0 Now I see why she was warning us.<\/em><\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cSo, once upon a time, in village long ago and far away, a boy fell in love with a girl.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He was a prince and she was a chieftain\u2019s daughter.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>It would have been a match for the ages, and in a way it was, because across all the ages of this world, he\u2019s looked for her, waited for her, waited for the chance to be with her again.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Eva stared at all of their faces and laughed weakly.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI suppose I\u2019m already sounding crazy and losing you.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cSounding crazy, yeah,\u201d Wat said slowly, leaning back and frowning.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Eva sighed softly.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cSomehow, I think that Phelan and Teague got the better end of this deal, the bastards.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>She shook her head and looked at them all for a long moment.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Her gaze settled on Ter\u00e9zia.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI said I could tell that you were scrying.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cYes.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Then again, I\u2019d also love to know how someone put me off earlier, too.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Eva took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cBecause there are more will-workers in the world today than there have ever been before.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>It\u2019s either a concentration or a dilution of gifts, I\u2019m not sure which.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Maybe a combination of both.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>She shook her head slightly.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThat\u2019s more Phelan\u2019s fascination than mine, and I\u2019ll be damned if he <\/span>didn\u2019t<\/span><\/em> get the easier end of this whole goddamned mess.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>She huffed a sigh and shot to her feet, beginning to pace like some kind of caged animal.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Ter\u00e9zia cringed.<\/span>\u00a0 Unstable much?<\/em>\u00a0 <\/span>She watched the woman pace, back and forth, back and forth in front of the fire.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Eva finally stopped, staring into the flames.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Her voice came softly, almost as if she was dreaming.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cPrinces of the gods-be-damned <\/span>\u00c1es D\u00e1na<\/span><\/em> my foot.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Bloody pains in my ass is more like it.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>She leaned against the mantle, seeming to deflate\u2014seeming older by a factor of ten or more as she began to speak again.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWe had to go, back across the veil to the Otherlands.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>We left, but not before we\u2019d grown overly attached to humanity, to people and places that we\u2019ll never see again.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>We watched and waited and watched to see if and when we\u2019d ever be needed again. And then the almighty Teague, Prince of Princes, announces that it\u2019s time, that he\u2019s found <\/span>her<\/span><\/em> again and that we\u2019re needed to come back again.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He\u2019d <\/span>seen<\/span><\/em> something, and my idiot brother had already returned, and that we\u2019d never see him again unless we followed.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>So some of us did, only to be attacked from every side by things that would have just as soon never seen us again.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Batshit crazy.\u00a0 <\/span>Crazier than the Mad Hatter crazy, crazier than the Joker crazy.<\/span><\/em>\u00a0 <\/span>Ter\u00e9zia swallowed hard and began wondering if she could get out of here before Eva grabbed an axe and hacked them all to death.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>She spun, a fire in her strange, ancient eyes.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cAnd then the world ended, and I started walking because there was someplace that I needed to get to.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I\u2019m not sure this was it\u2014in fact, I\u2019m almost sure it\u2019s not\u2014but I don\u2019t know how many other groups of sensitives I\u2019ll trip over before I make it to where I feel like I\u2019m supposed to be.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>So here, if you\u2019ll have me, is just as good as anywhere else.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Ter\u00e9zia\u2019s heart was pounding in her throat, her stomach churning.<\/span>\u00a0 Who the hell is this crazy woman and why did we let her inside the lodge?<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It only took a few minutes for Kess to scramble through making tea from leaves Eva dug out of her backpack.\u00a0 It smelled enough like Chai that they\u2019d cautiously trusted it\u2014though Ter\u00e9zia couldn\u2019t help but notice that everyone waited … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,40,14,39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-2","category-chapter-2","category-story","category-year-one"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-gy","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1026"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1026\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1028,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1026\/revisions\/1028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}