{"id":3351,"date":"2017-09-15T00:00:06","date_gmt":"2017-09-15T04:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3351"},"modified":"2017-09-14T18:01:19","modified_gmt":"2017-09-14T22:01:19","slug":"twenty-two-01-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3351","title":{"rendered":"Twenty-two – 01"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

It was late when the rain finally ended, into the wee hours when I took the dawn watch, and I didn\u2019t see Thordin until he came to the fire during that watch the next morning, looking as exhausted as I wouldn\u2019t admit to feeling. I\u2019d spent the hours after J.T. had finished with him sitting with Thom while he slept and had only left to take the dawn watch to spare Cameron from having to leave Neve. Her water had broken during the aftermath of the battle and when time for the watch came, she was still in the throes of labor when it came time for the change in the watch. I\u2019d sent word for him to stay with her via J.T., then gone to take the watch. As much as it made me ache to think of Thom maybe waking up without Lin and I there, some things were much more important.<\/p>\n

Thordin arrived by the fire long after I\u2019d taken the watch, slumping down across from me, complexion like wax and his eyes sunken into shadowed hollows in his face. I winced slightly at the sight, then slowly stood to put on some water for coffee.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know better than to ask if you\u2019re all right,\u201d I said quietly. \u201cHow\u2019s Sif?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUnconscious,\u201d he grated, staring at the fire. His gaze drifted from the flames a moment later, settling on the basket where Lin was fast asleep, swaddled in a blanket that he\u2019d already managed to work an arm free from. \u201cNot in any danger of bleeding out anymore, though, so I suppose that\u2019s something. Took a lot of work, though.\u201d He closed his eyes. \u201cJac told me to get some air. Said she did the same thing to Sif a few times when she was fretting over me. I just\u2014bloody hell<\/em>, Marin. I told them that I would end them if I lost her to this wound and I meant it but what I really\u2014I really don\u2019t want her to die. I don\u2019t want<\/em> to lose her, not ever again. Once was enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think she\u2019d say the same about you,\u201d I said. \u201cOnce was enough. What you did\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWas reckless, I know. But your brother followed me out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTrust me, I noticed.\u201d I got out two mugs, then paused, watching him for a few minutes. His gaze had shifted again, back to the fire. \u201cThat was one hell of a storm.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI should have let it go sooner,\u201d he muttered. \u201cI wasn\u2019t thinking. Not about that, anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNone of us blame you for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one that\u2019s voiced it to you, anyway.\u201d He scrubbed a hand roughly over his face. \u201cAnd really, how many people actually knew it was me?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA few,\u201d I said. \u201cMaybe not everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thordin nodded and stared into the flames. \u201cIt\u2019ll be everyone someday.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeday isn\u2019t today.\u201d I started to make coffee. He watched the fire, saying nothing for a long time.<\/p>\n

Then, finally: \u201cWhen they come again, I\u2019ll make good on my promise.\u201d<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t ask what the promise was. I didn\u2019t want to know if it was what I thought it was.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, it was just safer not knowing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Marin’s point of view.] It was late when the rain finally ended, into the wee hours when I took the dawn watch, and I didn\u2019t see Thordin until he came to the fire during that watch … 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":[240,270,14],"tags":[150,171,170,152,149,148,168,147,165,200,169,146],"class_list":["post-3351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-6","category-chapter-22-book-6","category-story","tag-awakenings","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-marin-astoris","tag-original-fiction","tag-post-apocalyptic","tag-serial","tag-serial-fiction","tag-story","tag-thomas-merlin-ambrose","tag-thordin","tag-web-fiction"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-S3","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3351","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=3351"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3351\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3352,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3351\/revisions\/3352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}