The sun was bright and high in the sky on a cold morning by the time he\u2019d collapsed on a blanket near the fire, oblivious to the activity around him.\u00a0 Someone had taken mercy on him and covered him with a blanket sometime between the time he fell over sideways and the time someone toed him awake around midday.\u00a0 Phelan flailed weakly, muttering curse words in every language he knew, each more heartfelt than the last.<\/p>\n
His hand struck the metal shaft of a crutch and his eyes snapped open.\u00a0 Then he blinked blearily at what he saw, not quite believing his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re supposed to be horizontal,\u201d he said, his voice a little slurred with the last vestiges of sleep.\u00a0 He sat up slowly, gaze sharp and never leaving his cousin\u2019s face.\u00a0 \u201cWhat are you doing up?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJacqueline said that if I was bound and determined to get up and be about, she\u2019d let me as long as I used the crutches and stayed off my leg.\u201d\u00a0 She looked doubtfully at the ground.\u00a0 \u201cUnfortunately, I haven\u2019t quite figured out how to gracefully sit down while using these things, and falling hurts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Phelan made a face and stood up to help her sit.\u00a0 \u201cYou look like hell, cousin.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHave you looked in a mirror lately?\u201d\u00a0 Neve winced as he helped her lower herself to the ground.\u00a0 Her whole leg was splinted from ankle to thigh and bound tightly.\u00a0 Phelan barely suppressed the urge to shake his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI what\u2019s wrong with me is nothing a few nights of sleep won\u2019t fix.\u00a0 I suspect that you\u2019re in worse shape.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, that\u2019s what happens when a firbolg throws you into a tree,\u201d she said with a slight wince as she shifted, trying to get comfortable on the hard ground.\u00a0 Phelan wrapped his blanket around her and felt her forehead.\u00a0 Still warm, but the fever seemed lower now.\u00a0 \u201cStop fussing, Phelan,\u201d she muttered.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m going to live.\u00a0 Whatever was in that syringe that I got stabbed with seems like it\u2019s doing the trick.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a course of antibiotics and you\u2019re lucky you\u2019re not allergic to them,\u201d Phelan said, brows knitting.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m willing to lay pretty good odds that you\u2019ve been running that fever for weeks and lying and saying that you were absolutely fine to travel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCameron knew I was lying,\u201d she said softly.\u00a0 \u201cBut he wasn\u2019t going to gainsay me.\u00a0 That\u2019s the way he is.\u00a0 He realizes when I\u2019m going to be stubborn about something and lets me do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
But at what cost?\u00a0 Your life?\u00a0 That\u2019s too high a price.<\/i>\u00a0 Phelan turned away, stared at the fire for a moment.\u00a0 If Cameron pulled through the infection that was already raging in him, he and Phelan were going to need to have a nice, long talk about how to stop Neve from doing stupidly dangerous things.\u00a0 \u201cHe should know when to stop you,\u201d Phelan muttered, half under his breath.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not your place to decide,\u201d Neve said firmly, jaw setting.\u00a0 All that did was emphasize how thin and frail she looked, especially with the deep, bruise-colored shadows beneath her eyes.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s between him and I.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen it endangers both of your lives, it becomes my business,\u201d Phelan said, standing up and clearing the sleep from his eyes.\u00a0 He looked around, trying to get his bearings\u2014trying to figure out what time of day it was, which fire he\u2019d collapsed near.<\/p>\n
Secondary cookfire, apparently.<\/i>\u00a0 Tala was waving from across the way.\u00a0 He lifted his hand in vague greeting and stretched, looking back at Neve.\u00a0 The younger woman was glaring daggers at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho died and made you<\/i> the fucking Taliesin?\u201d<\/p>\n
He skewered his cousin with a baleful look.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t go there, Neve.\u00a0 Don\u2019t ask questions you don\u2019t want to know the answers to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Never in a thousand generations would he have ever thought that his cousin could go paler than she already was.\u00a0 Her flesh was already the color of fine parchment but now it was positively white, the color of the snow beyond the tent\u2019s boundaries.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeamus,\u201d she breathed.\u00a0 \u201cSeamus was the Taliesin?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLike your grandfather before him,\u201d Phelan said bitterly, though it was a bitterness he didn\u2019t quite feel. He checked his tone and sighed.\u00a0 \u201cHe passed the mantle to me a very, very long time ago.\u201d\u00a0 It certainly gave me a good excuse to disobey Uncle\u2019s edicts, though I could never tell anyone that.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you\u2019ve been\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cChasing the prophecies ever since, yes,\u201d Phelan said, his voice quiet and eyes distant.\u00a0 \u201cAnd I will tell you truthfully that prophecies are damned unhelpful sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes?\u201d Neve murmured.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of the time,\u201d he amended, nose wrinkling slightly.\u00a0 \u201cAnd upsetting most of the rest of the time.\u00a0 They certainly don\u2019t make life easy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPhelan, are there\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI told you not to ask questions you don\u2019t want to know the answers to,\u201d he said, scrubbing both hands over his face.<\/p>\n
Neve flinched.\u00a0 \u201cThat means there are.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course there are.\u00a0 There always are.\u00a0 There\u2019s prophecies about you, there\u2019s shit about Marin and Thom and Teague and my baby sister, too.\u00a0 There\u2019s prophecies all over the damned place and it\u2019s a bitch to keep them straight\u2014especially when the interpretations change with each passing second<\/i> when I realize I was wrong about how something was supposed to go, or that I\u2019d read something wrong or that what I\u2019d been told was only part<\/i> of the full utterance.\u00a0 No wonder Seamus always looked like he was trying to pass some kind of stone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes Teague know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d Phelan said, looking away.\u00a0 \u201cI had to tell someone, Neve.\u201d\u00a0 As Brighid said once, it\u2019s too heavy a burden for one to shoulder alone.<\/i>\u00a0 He\u2019d told her and Finn, once upon a time, and her brother as well. \u00a0They had carried his secret to their graves.<\/p>\n
Possibly beyond, <\/i>he realized as his thoughts turned to Matt and Marin and their uncanny\u2014almost inexplicable\u2014attachment to him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do they\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t ask,\u201d he said quietly, staring at the fire.\u00a0 He absently reached for another log and settled it amidst the flames.\u00a0 \u201cNone of it matters until there\u2019s children.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPhelan,\u201d Neve said, her voice weak.\u00a0 \u201cThere\u2019s going to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot yet,\u201d he said, not quite catching her meaning.\u00a0 \u201cWe still have time.\u00a0 Years, I hope.\u201d\u00a0 Years are what we\u2019ll need, if I can keep everyone alive that long.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have years,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cPhelan, I\u2019m pregnant.\u201d<\/p>\n
He swore and didn\u2019t stop until a very surprised Thom joined them a few minutes later.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The sun was bright and high in the sky on a cold morning by the time he\u2019d collapsed on a blanket near the fire, oblivious to the activity around him.\u00a0 Someone had taken mercy on him and covered him with … Continue reading