{"id":1263,"date":"2012-06-11T00:00:05","date_gmt":"2012-06-11T04:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=1263"},"modified":"2012-06-10T12:02:53","modified_gmt":"2012-06-10T16:02:53","slug":"winter-chapter-14-01","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=1263","title":{"rendered":"Winter – Chapter 14 – 01"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Neve hauled back on her reins so abruptly that Cameron didn\u2019t realize she\u2019d done it until he was a dozen feet beyond her.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He yanked his mount into a turn, brows knitting as he looked back at her.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>She held a finger to her lips, eyes on the trees lining the roadway.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Cameron\u2019s stomach dropped like a rock.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Really?\u00a0 <\/span>Again?<\/span><\/em><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>His horse didn\u2019t seem to think anything was wrong as it pranced back to hers, nipped at its ear.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Cameron growled, jerking on the reins.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>His mount danced sideways a few steps before settling down.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Cameron reached for Neve\u2019s arm.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>His fingers brushed her arm and she startled, looking at him.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI thought I heard something,\u201d she whispered.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>She shrugged.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI guess I was wrong.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThat\u2019s been happening a lot lately.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>His hand closed around her wrist.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>She seemed thinner after the past few week son the road.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Maybe she was.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>She didn\u2019t seem to sleep enough, either, even when they were staying in a settlement.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>He\u2019d fall asleep at night with her pressed against him, her back to his front, his arms around her and her arms around his.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>She\u2019d always be awake when he stirred at dawn.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Sometimes she\u2019d still be awake when he fell asleep at night.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Her eyes met his.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cDon\u2019t worry about me, Cam,\u201d she whispered, lifting a hand to stroke his cheek.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWe\u2019ve got more than enough to worry about.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cLike winter?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cYeah, like that.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>She leaned toward him, the gap between them so vast that he thought for a moment that she\u2019d topple from the saddle.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Her lips brushed his cheek before she straightened again.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWe\u2019ve got a lot of miles to cover before it starts to get bad.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>They\u2019d awakened that morning to find a thin layer of snow covering the outside of their tent.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The road was slick with the slowly melting snow, though their mounts seemed to take it well enough in stride.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The air had the familiar bite of winter, though by Cameron\u2019s estimation it wasn\u2019t even November yet.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Every settlement they\u2019d stopped at\u2014all four of them\u2014had tried to get them to stay, as if they all knew that winter was coming and it was going to be bad.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Of course, I don\u2019t think you need to be a meteorologist or a climatologist to know that this winter\u2019s going to be worse than most.<\/em>\u00a0 <\/span>Cameron squinted at the sky.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The sun was struggling to break through a mass of clouds, a dim glow beyond gray-white cotton.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cLooks like the weather might hold long enough for us to get another few miles before lunch, at least.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWe can get further if we eat and ride at the same time,\u201d Neve said, starting to get her mount moving again.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Cameron looped around her, ending up the opposite side of Neve and her horse from where he\u2019d started, nearer to the edge of the road.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThat\u2019s true,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cHow\u2019s your arm?\u201d she asked as his mount drew abreast with hers.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cStill sore, but it\u2019s better.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He still couldn\u2019t understand why he\u2019d been in such bad shape after that fight weeks before, when she\u2019d come to his rescue on a Canadian roadway, even with all the explanations she\u2019d offered, that her brother and Kira had offered.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The wound itself was mostly healed, but the scar was nastier than it had any right to be and still ached dully from time to time.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>She smirked.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cReady to actually learn how to use that sword I gave you, then?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>He blinked at her, tearing his eyes away from the road to stare at her.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The smile she gave him was impish as she reached across the gap to squeeze his knee.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI gave it to you for a reason, Cam.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I was carrying it for a reason and I guess that reason was so it would find its way to you.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Every time I think that maybe I\u2019m not completely insane, and that maybe she\u2019s not insane either, she goes and says something like that.<\/em>\u00a0 <\/span>He forced a lopsided smile at her.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWhat makes you so sure that I\u2019m supposed to have it?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Other than the fact that once it was in my hand, I felt like it had always been there.<\/em><\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Neve shrugged.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cInstinct?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cInstinct,\u201d Cameron echoed, shaking his head.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cSo are you ready to learn how to use it or not?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWhy the rush?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>His stomach flipped.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Is something following us again?\u00a0 <\/span>The last time it didn\u2019t stop until we got to that settlement with all the burning sage.<\/span><\/em>\u00a0 <\/span>His eyes still watered at the memory.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>There had been a lot of smoldering plant life at that house, but the girl who lived there\u2014a cheerful, slender waif of a girl named Jamie\u2014had been kind to them.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>There was a letter in one of Cameron\u2019s saddlebags from her to someone in Michigan.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cNot that I expect you to go hunting for her, but since you\u2019re going there, it just seemed like a good idea to write.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>He couldn\u2019t say no to that, or tell her that it was a bad idea.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>She hadn\u2019t been the only one to ask them to carry letters\u2014Kira had only been the first.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>One of his saddlebags was full of mail, some that could never be delivered.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>It was the least they could do to repay the hospitality that they\u2019d been shown.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Neve shook her head.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cDon\u2019t ask questions you don\u2019t want to know the answers to, <\/span>mo laoch<\/span><\/em>.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The fact of the matter is that we\u2019re going to run out of bullets sooner rather than later and building you a bow like this one is impossible on the road\u2014though I imagine by the time we get back to Teague, he might have gotten one started for you.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThat\u2019s not going to be for a long time,\u201d Cameron murmured, voice barely audible over the sound of their horses\u2019 hooves.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI know,\u201d she said.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cHence the sword.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>So are you ready or not?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>He sighed.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI guess so.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cGood.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>We\u2019ll start tonight.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Somewhere above them, a hawk cried.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Shivers shot down Cameron\u2019s spine.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>It didn\u2019t sound like any hawk he\u2019d ever heard before.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Drawing closer together, they continued down the road.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Neve hauled back on her reins so abruptly that Cameron didn\u2019t realize she\u2019d done it until he was a dozen feet beyond her.\u00a0 He yanked his mount into a turn, brows knitting as he looked back at her.\u00a0 \u201cWhat\u2019s … 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":[35,53,14,52,39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-2","category-chapter-14","category-story","category-winter","category-year-one"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-kn","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1263","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=1263"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1263\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1264,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1263\/revisions\/1264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}