{"id":3108,"date":"2017-01-16T00:00:38","date_gmt":"2017-01-16T05:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3108"},"modified":"2017-01-15T11:24:51","modified_gmt":"2017-01-15T16:24:51","slug":"one-01-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3108","title":{"rendered":"One – 01"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

It was just after sunrise when he came into the forge, silent and contemplative. His fingers brushed over his tools, the anvil, the half-finished projects that he\u2019d left behind. A gentle, misty rain fell outside, muting every sound, and the thickness of the mists shrouded the world like a cloak, letting us forget what had happened two days before, at least for a little while.<\/p>\n

I hadn\u2019t thought he\u2019d realized I was there until he looked right at me with a faint, crooked smile. \u201cYou\u2019re supposed to be in bed, sis. My nephew wake you up?\u201d<\/p>\n

With a faint smile of my own, I shook my head, slipping out of the shadows near the whetstone. \u201cNo, he\u2019s still asleep after his predawn feeding. I decided to stretch my legs a little. I ended up here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matt stared at me for a few long moments, then said, \u201cSo you weren\u2019t looking for me?\u201d<\/p>\n

I glanced down. \u201cI figured you\u2019d eventually make it up here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou were right.\u201d He closed his eyes, exhaling a sigh. \u201cYou should sit down. You\u2019re pale.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMatt\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

He opened his eyes and I felt the immense weight of that gaze. He was worried on a lot of levels, not just about me. I sat down instead of arguing and he sank down next to me. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and I leaned against him, listening to the slow, easy rhythm of his breath.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou were hoping I\u2019d come looking for you,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

Matt sighed, nodding. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to bother you. You\u2019ve got enough on your plate right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re my brother.\u201d<\/p>\n

He shot me a crooked smile. \u201cThat means I\u2019m either always a bother or never a bother. I\u2019m almost afraid to ask which one it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

I laughed, wrapping my arm around his waist and squeezing. He rested his cheek against my head and sighed again. There was an elephant in the room\u2014more than one if I was really honest\u2014and he was leaving it to me to be the one to name it. I couldn\u2019t blame him.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you love her?\u201d<\/p>\n

He exhaled and nodded without a hint of hesitation. \u201cAt first I wondered if it was because of her history with C\u00edar, but I figured that it was more than that. Their history just made it easier for both of us. It dropped some walls that would have made things really difficult otherwise.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen she loves you, too? Not just because of C\u00edar?\u201d<\/p>\n

Matt nodded again. \u201cAnd she trusts me, which is more than I can say about almost everyone in her life.\u201d He tilted his head back, staring at the ceiling. \u201cI don\u2019t know if we can stay here, Mar.\u201d<\/p>\n

My stomach dropped, my throat growing tight. Everything I\u2019d ever seen showed him with us. We needed<\/em> him with us. More than anything, I<\/em> needed him to be here. He was all I had left of the family I\u2019d been born to, that I\u2019d grown up a part of. \u201cWill you at least try?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat depends on her and everyone else,\u201d he murmured. \u201cShe knows they have good reason to hate her, Mar, and I know it, too. She did some really bad things, but\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know,\u201d I said, cutting him off. \u201cI get it, Matt. \u00c9riu…\u00c9riu knew. She told me. I\u2019m sorry.\u201d I wasn\u2019t sure if I was apologizing to the brother sitting next to me or to C\u00edar mac D\u00fabhshl\u00e1in, whose soul was the twin of ancient one living in me.<\/p>\n

My brother sighed again, his arm tightening for a moment before he let go. \u201cWho would have thought a year ago that we\u2019d think talking to ghosts about the ancient lives of our souls would be normal<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot even me,\u201d I said softly. \u201cAre you okay?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMostly. I\u2019m just worried.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAbout her?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAbout everything.\u201d His crooked smile returned as he glanced toward me. \u201cI think I learned that from the best.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cProbably right on that.\u201d I squeezed him gently. \u201cI\u2019m kind of looking forward to meeting her, though, y\u2019know?\u201d<\/p>\n

Matt stared at me for a few long moments, then shifted on the bench. He hugged me fiercely and pressed a kiss to my forehead.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think she\u2019ll like that,\u201d he murmured. I reached up to ruffle his hair.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope so. She must be something really special if you married her fifteen seconds before she picked a fight with a god of death.\u201d<\/p>\n

He blushed. \u201cWho told you?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPhelan. Thom\u2019s still trying to wrap his head around it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat sounds like him.\u201d Matt took a deep breath and stood up, wandering toward his anvil. His fingertips brushed along its smooth surface. \u201cThordin kept an eye on things up here for me, didn\u2019t he?\u201d<\/p>\n

I nodded. \u201cToward the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll have to thank him.\u201d He stared out the open door at the mist and rain. \u201cIt\u2019s good to be home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re glad to have you home,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

He looked at me and smiled. \u201cNo matter what? Despite who I brought with me?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBased on what everyone\u2019s told me? You guys saved us. That should be enough for everyone.\u201d I stood up, wincing slightly. Everything was sore. \u201cBut you don\u2019t have to face any of them until you\u2019re ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t I?\u201d he smiled faintly and shook his head. \u201cI appreciate the sentiment, but I think it\u2019s time for us to figure out what normal is now\u2014and then she and I can decide what we\u2019re going to do. That means facing them sooner rather than later.\u201d He nodded toward the door. \u201cYou want to go have breakfast? Before Thom wakes up and realizes you\u2019re gone and has some kind of anyerism?\u201d<\/p>\n

I smiled. \u201cBreakfast would be great.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen let\u2019s go. I\u2019ll cook if someone else hasn\u2019t already started.\u201d<\/p>\n

I took his hand. He squeezed my fingers and together we headed down toward the cooking fires and whatever the new normal might turn out to be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Marin’s point of view.] It was just after sunrise when he came into the forge, silent and contemplative. His fingers brushed over his tools, the anvil, the half-finished projects that he\u2019d left behind. A gentle, misty … 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":[240,241,14],"tags":[150,171,170,152,181,149,148,168,147,165,146],"class_list":["post-3108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-6","category-chapter-01-book-6","category-story","tag-awakenings","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-marin-astoris","tag-matthew-astoris","tag-original-fiction","tag-post-apocalyptic","tag-serial","tag-serial-fiction","tag-story","tag-web-fiction"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-O8","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3108","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=3108"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3109,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3108\/revisions\/3109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}