{"id":3836,"date":"2019-01-11T00:00:18","date_gmt":"2019-01-11T05:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3836"},"modified":"2019-01-10T20:17:01","modified_gmt":"2019-01-11T01:17:01","slug":"nine-05-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3836","title":{"rendered":"Nine – 05"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Phelan\u2019s brows knit and he looked between the two women as he slowly sat back down, gaze lingering on Hecate for a few long seconds. The shadows beneath her eyes concerned him, as did the way she seemed to almost curl in on herself. It was as if she was somehow trying to make herself smaller.<\/p>\n

It was worrisome, to say the least.<\/p>\n

He opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off without looking at him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would have your word of honor, Taliesin,\u201d she whispered. \u201cYour oath.\u201d<\/p>\n

He blinked. \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n

Then she looked at him, her eyes gleaming from the shadows around them. \u201cYour oath, Phelan,\u201d she said. \u201cI would have you swear to do something for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat depends\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOn what it is?\u201d There was the barest hint of a smile curving her lips, something almost sad about that smile. Phelan slowly reached for her arm.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d he said quietly, already knowing he\u2019d give it to her, no matter what it might be. This was a woman utterly changed\u2014or perhaps simply unbound\u2014from who she\u2019d been in so many of the centuries that had gone before.<\/p>\n

Hecate only nodded. There was no rancor in her tone, no censure in her eyes as she looked at him. \u201cI need you to promise to protect him if anything ever happens to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phelan\u2019s hand settled on her arm even as his eyes widened. Hecate watched him, her expression unchanging, her eyes searching his. It was hard to breathe; he felt light-headed.<\/p>\n

What the hell is going on? What does she know that I don\u2019t?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t even have to ask,\u201d he managed in a choked voice. \u201c<gods and monsters>, Hecate, you never need to exact a promise like that from me because I\u2019ve already made it. What\u2019s going on? Why this? Why now?\u201d<\/p>\n

She shook her head slightly. \u201cThat\u2019s not important.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hell it\u2019s not,\u201d he protested hoarsely.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt isn\u2019t,\u201d she said, reaching to cover his hand with hers, gently gathering up his fingers to lift them from her arm. She squeezed them gently. \u201cIt\u2019s just insurance, Phelan. That\u2019s all. And\u2014\u201d she stopped, swallowing hard before she started again. \u201cAnd it would give me a great deal of peace of mind to know that you\u2019d be oathbound to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

His brow furrowed, but he nodded. \u201cAll right,\u201d he said. \u201cAll right. You\u2014you have it. You have my oath. Should anything happen to you, on my honor, I\u2019ll protect him with my own life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her shoulders sagged in relief. \u201cThank you,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Then she hugged him, tightly, pressing her face against his shoulder.<\/p>\n

As he wrapped his arms around her, Phelan could have sworn he felt her tears starting to soak into his shirt\u2014though perhaps it was just his imagination.<\/p>\n

It was, after all, shaping up to be a very strange morning, all things considered.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Phelan’s point of view.] Phelan\u2019s brows knit and he looked between the two women as he slowly sat back down, gaze lingering on Hecate for a few long seconds. The shadows beneath her eyes concerned him, … 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":[311,14],"tags":[150,171,170,194,149,173,148,168,147,165,146],"class_list":["post-3836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chapter-09-book-7","category-story","tag-awakenings","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-hecate","tag-original-fiction","tag-phelan-ocredne","tag-post-apocalyptic","tag-serial","tag-serial-fiction","tag-story","tag-web-fiction"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-ZS","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3836","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=3836"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3836\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3837,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3836\/revisions\/3837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}