{"id":2147,"date":"2014-06-23T00:00:09","date_gmt":"2014-06-23T04:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=2147"},"modified":"2014-06-22T22:53:22","modified_gmt":"2014-06-23T02:53:22","slug":"thirty-02","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=2147","title":{"rendered":"Thirty – 02"},"content":{"rendered":"

His heart had started to match the rhythm of those drums by the time they were out in the snow and cold beneath the watchtower.\u00a0 \u201cFear fiach<\/em>, get down here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thom\u2019s face appeared from above, blue eyes narrowing slightly before he scrambled down the ladder.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t suppose anyone brought my sword.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phelan grimaced and shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cDoesn\u2019t seem like it, but I\u2019m hoping we won\u2019t need it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thom gave him a walleyed stare and Phelan nearly laughed despite himself.<\/p>\n

Expect the worst but hope for the best\u2014except for when hope\u2019s been beaten bloody and left in the street to die.<\/em>\u00a0 He knew that look, had seen it before. Phelan clapped him on the shoulder, gripped and squeezed for a moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you trust me, fear fiach<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n

Thom exhaled a sigh.\u00a0 \u201cYou know I do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phelan nodded firmly.\u00a0 \u201cThen give me a few inches.\u201d\u00a0 He glanced beyond Thom to Thordin and J.T., who had descended from the watchtower in Thom\u2019s wake.\u00a0 The rumble of hooves shivered the ground and the calls of hunting hounds mingled with the sound of drums.\u00a0 The rest of camp wouldn\u2019t stay asleep for long.<\/p>\n

Neve will have felt this by now\u2014unless Jac or J.T. gave her something to help her sleep.\u00a0 Marin\u2019s certainly felt it, and Kellin, and Cameron…<\/em>\u00a0 He frowned briefly, giving in to the brief urge to shiver.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going out to meet them,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cThe five of us.\u201d\u00a0 He inclined his head toward Sif to include her in their number.<\/p>\n

\u201cSix,\u201d Leinth said, peering at him from around J.T.\u2019s shoulder.<\/p>\n

He shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cNo.\u00a0 You stay here, guard the gate.\u00a0 We\u2019ll need someone who can hold it if things go sour.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leinth glanced sidelong toward Sif, then met Phelan\u2019s gaze.\u00a0 \u201cLady Sif would be a better choice for that role.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sif glared at Leinth.\u00a0 \u201cNo.\u00a0 You are more than equal to the task.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll stay with her,\u201d Rory said, breath steaming in the air.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019ll hold it together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phelan nodded firmly.\u00a0 \u201cThen it\u2019s settled.\u00a0 Thordin, Thom, Jay, Sif, with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDo we have a plan?\u201d\u00a0 J.T. asked, sounding like he didn\u2019t actually want to hear the answer to the question he\u2019d just voiced.<\/p>\n

Phelan just laughed.\u00a0 \u201cNegotiate,\u201d he said simply as he strode toward the gates.\u00a0 \u201cThey\u2019ll listen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou sound sure of that,\u201d Thordin said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s because I am,\u201d Phelan said, giving his friends a grim smile.\u00a0 \u201cTrust me.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m right on this one, and I\u2019ll prove it.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

His heart had started to match the rhythm of those drums by the time they were out in the snow and cold beneath the watchtower.\u00a0 \u201cFear fiach, get down here.\u201d Thom\u2019s face appeared from above, blue eyes narrowing slightly before … 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":[82,113,14,52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-4","category-chapter-30-book-4","category-story","category-winter"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-yD","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2147","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=2147"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2147\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2148,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2147\/revisions\/2148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}