{"id":3570,"date":"2018-04-18T00:00:36","date_gmt":"2018-04-18T04:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3570"},"modified":"2018-04-17T22:33:07","modified_gmt":"2018-04-18T02:33:07","slug":"thirty-six-06-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3570","title":{"rendered":"Thirty-six – 06"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Thunder growled, near enough to send a shiver through Phelan\u2019s bones. He squinted at the clouds. The light was starting to fade but at the same time the sun shining against those clouds made them seem even darker, more ominous\u2014the black of night, twisting back on itself, gilded by faint flickers of lightning buried deep in the roiling mass. Years ago, the sight may have become the beginnings of a song, but those days were gone now, probably never to return. That past was a yesterday that would not be revisited again.<\/p>\n

Or so he thought, in any case.<\/p>\n

\u201cRiders,\u201d Seamus said quietly. \u201cLooks like the group coming back from the greenhouses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phelan followed his cousin\u2019s gaze. There they were, sure enough, Paul and Stasia and some of the others, along with a few members of the Wild Hunt. He exhaled quietly, feeling a weight lift from his shoulders, one he hadn\u2019t felt until it was gone. \u201cD\u00e9ithe agus arrachtaigh<\/em>. One less thing to worry about,\u201d he murmured, scrubbing a hand over his face.<\/p>\n

Seamus nodded slowly in agreement, watching them. \u201cThey\u2019re riding easy. Nothing coming from that direction, I\u2019d guess, at least not yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSmall favors,\u201d Phelan said, his gaze drifting back to the clouds. Seamus sighed quietly.<\/p>\n

\u201cGo back, Phelan,\u201d he said. \u201cGo back to the fire and wait. They may need you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor what, Seamus?\u201d Phelan shook his head. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing I can do there that I can\u2019t do here. It\u2019s just waiting, that\u2019s all. That\u2019s all it is. The calm before whatever comes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing could come.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not,\u201d Phelan murmured, his lips barely moving. \u201cThis isn\u2019t nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

He almost asked if Seamus remembered when they came, when the Southrons had finally invaded their isle centuries ago. A storm had been the harbinger of their coming that day, too. But Seamus wouldn\u2019t have remembered that. He was gone by then, long gone, sent south into loveless marriage, into a political match that was supposed to keep them safe.<\/p>\n

Safe. Is there a such thing?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cGo,\u201d Seamus urged him gently. \u201cI know that look too well, cousin. This isn\u2019t the place you need to be, not right now. Later, but not now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Briefly, Phelan wondered what Seamus thought the look meant, wondered what expression he was wearing that brought the words to his cousin\u2019s lips. But it wasn\u2019t worth arguing, either. Seamus wouldn\u2019t let it drop, Phelan knew that well enough. He closed his eyes and nodded. \u201cYou\u2019ll sound the alarm if anything looks strange?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you know better than to ask that question,\u201d Seamus said, leaning against the ledge at the top of the wall. Phelan smiled crookedly.<\/p>\n

\u201cI suppose I do. I\u2019ll be back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou always are.\u201d Seamus\u2019s lips twisted into a wry smile, matching his cousin\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Phelan clapped him on the shoulder and climbed down. Someone would need to open the gate for the riders anyway, and it might as well be him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Phelan’s point of view.] Thunder growled, near enough to send a shiver through Phelan\u2019s bones. He squinted at the clouds. The light was starting to fade but at the same time the sun shining against those … 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":[240,287,14],"tags":[150,171,170,149,223,173,148,159,168,147,288,165,146],"class_list":["post-3570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-6","category-chapter-36-book-6","category-story","tag-awakenings","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-original-fiction","tag-paul-van-rijn","tag-phelan-ocredne","tag-post-apocalyptic","tag-seamus-vaughan","tag-serial","tag-serial-fiction","tag-stasia-lane","tag-story","tag-web-fiction"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-VA","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3570","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=3570"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3570\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3571,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3570\/revisions\/3571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}