{"id":1432,"date":"2012-09-19T00:00:18","date_gmt":"2012-09-19T04:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=1432"},"modified":"2012-09-18T19:18:05","modified_gmt":"2012-09-18T23:18:05","slug":"winter-chapter-21-04","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=1432","title":{"rendered":"Winter – Chapter 21 – 04"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Marin kissed him gently, then picked up the coat that had slipped off his shoulders.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cHere.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Put this on\u2014the one side at least.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>This is all going to be a moot point if you freeze to death tonight.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Beyond the tarp that Matt had rigged up to keep the weather out of the forge, the wind howled, clawing at its edges.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He needs a real door,<\/em><\/span> Thom thought as he shoved his good arm through the sleeve of his coat.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cHow bad is the storm out there?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cIt\u2019s going to get worse,\u201d she said.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWe can\u2019t stay up here much longer, otherwise we\u2019ll still freeze to death, even with the blankets and the jackets.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWhy does he hate us?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Thom asked.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Marin blinked.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cRandom much?<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Why does who hate us?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cCariocecus.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Any of them.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I don\u2019t know, Mar, I think that Vammatar would\u2019ve shown up whether Phelan was here or not.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>It can\u2019t just be blood.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>There\u2019s something else going on here.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I just wish I knew what it was.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>He thought of the Morrigan.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Was she the voice from his dream?<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>No.\u00a0 <\/span>That wasn\u2019t her.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>That was someone else\u2014something else.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I\u2019m not sure what, but it wasn\u2019t her.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>As ominous as what the Morrigan said to us was, I don\u2019t think she really wants to hurt any of us.<\/span><\/em><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Not yet anyway.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Not unless we cross her.<\/span><\/span><\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Not until we cross her.<\/em><\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d Marin said quietly.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cMaybe it has something to do with what we can see\u2014what we can\u2019t control.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Maybe it\u2019s just bad luck.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cYou don\u2019t think it\u2019s bad luck any more than I do.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Thom reached up with his good arm and ran his fingers through her hair.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cYou know it\u2019s not as much as I do.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>She closed her eyes and sighed.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cYou\u2019re right.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I do.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>That doesn\u2019t mean I have to like it or admit it.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Thom smiled wryly.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The smile faded after a moment.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI was dreaming when I walked out here,\u201d he said.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWhen you woke me?<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I heard a woman calling me, asking me to keep going forward.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>To keep moving.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>One more step, she said.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>One more step.\u201d A shudder wracked him.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cIt felt wrong, Mar, but I couldn\u2019t tell you why.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I don\u2019t know what it was.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Marin chewed hard on her lower lip, then shook her head.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI don\u2019t know, Thom,\u201d she whispered. \u201cBut like we both said, we\u2019ve got to find out.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>We\u2019ve got to figure it out.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cPhelan knows more than he\u2019s telling us,\u201d Thom murmured.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cAbout all of it.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cHe\u2019s trying to protect us by keeping his mouth shut,\u201d Marin said.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cMaybe it\u2019s a misplaced effort, but that\u2019s why he\u2019s doing it.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Thom shook his head, starting to struggle to his feet.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>If she was saying that they needed to get back, they probably did.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He used her shoulder to lever himself upright and she rose a moment later, putting one arm around his waist to steady him.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI had a vision a few weeks ago,\u201d he said as they leaned against each other in the darkness.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cAngie was giving me quite the lecture about sheltering people.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly, wincing at the pain that lanced through his chest.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWe talked about our son\u2014yours and mine.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>She said he\u2019d know more, more quickly than we\u2019d give him credit for.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI\u2019ve seen him, too,\u201d Marin said, voice barely audible over the wind.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWe\u2019ll live long enough to have him, Thom.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Somehow.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>He shivered at the realization that she\u2019d known why he\u2019d said it even before he had.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Somehow, she knew.<\/em><\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cYou\u2019re right.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>We will.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>They set off into the howling wind together, headed back toward where the tents and the fire should be.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Marin kissed him gently, then picked up the coat that had slipped off his shoulders.\u00a0 \u201cHere.\u00a0 Put this on\u2014the one side at least.\u00a0 This is all going to be a moot point if you freeze to death tonight.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 … 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":[35,60,14,52,39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-2","category-chapter-21","category-story","category-winter","category-year-one"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-n6","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1432","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=1432"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1432\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1433,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1432\/revisions\/1433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}