{"id":3018,"date":"2016-10-21T00:00:15","date_gmt":"2016-10-21T04:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3018"},"modified":"2016-10-20T18:22:35","modified_gmt":"2016-10-20T22:22:35","slug":"forty-two-06","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3018","title":{"rendered":"Forty-two – 06"},"content":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Thom’s point of view.]<\/em><\/p>\n

His heart stutter-stepped as he stared at the three before him and he was suddenly relieved that Pluton was no longer facing him, that the attention of the other two was focused on the dark-clad man focused on his flag-bearer. Disgust and horror nibbled at the edges of the woman\u2019s expression while the flag-bearer\u2019s expression hardened, his eyes narrowing dangerously at Pluton.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was mine,\u201d the flag-bearer snarled. \u201cI want her back, uncle, and I want the druid\u2019s head on a spike for what he did with her.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll get neither,\u201d Pluton said, his voice soft with cold, razored edges that cut Thom to the bone even as his heart began to beat even faster, pounding in his ears and nearly drowning out all sound.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t like where this is heading.<\/em><\/p>\n

At least there\u2019s a rift here. I can see it. But can it do us any good?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have uses for both of them at preclude the sort of punishment you would mete out, Aietes,\u201d Pluton continued, still quietly, still with the hidden edge buried beneath it. \u201cNow kindly silence yourself or give over the flag to Hera and remove yourself from my sight. You, sir, are more than lucky their negotiator cannot understand what we are saying\u2014else it would be your head.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ice shot through Thom\u2019s veins.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re not speaking English.<\/em><\/p>\n

He hadn\u2019t realized it.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d understood every word perfectly.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t let them know.<\/em><\/p>\n

The flag-bearer\u2019s eyes narrowed. \u201cYou would kill me?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou would wish for death,\u201d Pluton promised. \u201cNow be silent.\u201d<\/p>\n

He turned slowly back to Thom, who fought to keep the shock and horror from his face.<\/p>\n

Calm. Be calm.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cYou are correct,\u201d Pluton said, the razored edge gone from his voice. He sounded almost…conversational.<\/p>\n

That<\/em> was disconcerting all on its own.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is indeed a person,\u201d Pulton continued. \u201cA very dangerous person. Truly, handing her over would be doing everyone a favor, since we would be able to safely ensure that she\u2019ll not hurt anyone in the future as she has in the past. I suspect you know her history\u2014or perhaps you don\u2019t?\u201d<\/p>\n

He tilted his head slightly to one side, regarding Thom with a curious look, one pale brow rising slowly over one dark eye.<\/p>\n

Thom took a deep breath.<\/p>\n

Tread carefully.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI know some things,\u201d he said softly. \u201cBut by no means all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAh,\u201d Pluton said. \u201cThen perhaps we should enlighten each other. I will tell you of her and you can tell me where she\u2019s gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thom stayed silent. Pluton smiled.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, then. Where to begin.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Thom’s point of view.] His heart stutter-stepped as he stared at the three before him and he was suddenly relieved that Pluton was no longer facing him, that the attention of the other two was focused … 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":[124,224,14],"tags":[231,150,171,170,230,149,229,148,168,147,165,158,146],"class_list":["post-3018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-5","category-chapter-42","category-story","tag-aietes","tag-awakenings","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-hera","tag-original-fiction","tag-pluton","tag-post-apocalyptic","tag-serial","tag-serial-fiction","tag-story","tag-thom-ambrose","tag-web-fiction"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-MG","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3018","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=3018"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3018\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3019,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3018\/revisions\/3019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}