{"id":4040,"date":"2019-07-29T00:00:13","date_gmt":"2019-07-29T04:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4040"},"modified":"2019-07-28T18:51:08","modified_gmt":"2019-07-28T22:51:08","slug":"nineteen-08-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4040","title":{"rendered":"Nineteen – 08"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\u201cWorse,\u201d Marin echoed, her brow furrowing. \u201cOkay. Are either of you going to elaborate on that?\u201d<\/p>\n

Seamus grimaced, swallowing against a dry throat. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, trying to put order to the chaos of his thoughts. Just breathe. Think. Focus. Damnation, just <\/em>focus. <\/em>It was easier said than done. There was something coiling at the back of his mind, just beyond his reach in the maelstrom. The words came slowly, dredged up from somewhere deep where he\u2019d kept them locked away for a very long time, never expecting to dredge them back up to the surface.<\/p>\n

\u201cOrcus has nothing to lose at this point,\u201d he said. \u201cEverything to gain. He\u2019ll take whatever steps he feels are necessary in order to make sure that he wins this time. If that includes driving a hard bargain with Aietes, then he\u2019ll do it. I don\u2019t know that he realizes what he\u2019s playing with when he\u2019s getting into making bargains with Aietes, but that\u2019s neither here nor there at this point. We have to assume that\u2019s the bargain he\u2019s made, and that makes both of them quite a bit more dangerous, now doesn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hecate nodded slowly. \u201cMuch more so,\u201d she said softly. \u201cThat bastard will stop at nothing to get me back under his control. He knows how to manipulate me, too, if it comes to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the more reason to make sure that we don\u2019t lose,\u201d Leinth said, crossing her arms. Her gaze took in all three of them, a storm breaking in the blue-gray of them. \u201cThough I doubt that Matthew\u2019s going to be very happy about what we might have to do to win.\u201d Her gaze slid toward Hecate, who took a deep breath and swallowed hard.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d she admitted softly. \u201cNo, I doubt he will. He\u2019s already said there are some measures that aren\u2019t necessary but I don\u2019t agree. If it means everyone is safe, there are some risks that are worth taking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRisks like what?\u201d Marin looked at her and Seamus could tell from her tone that she already suspected the answer.<\/p>\n

Hecate shot her a tight smile. \u201cSeizing control of things like the lampades<\/em> and the dirae<\/em> and maybe even the camazotzi<\/em> if he\u2019s managed to call them. Cariocecus might be able to pull off that last one, but I doubt he\u2019d want to try at this point, considering power to command them has been wrested away a few times now and he is certainly not at his best these days.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you?\u201d Seamus asked softly before he could stop himself. He regretted the words as soon as they left his lips. Hecate just looked at him and smiled faintly.<\/p>\n

\u201cFar better,\u201d she said, her voice equally quiet. \u201cIn some ways, I\u2019m stronger than I\u2019ve ever been, Matt\u2019s worry notwithstanding.\u201d She sighed, glancing sidelong at Marin. \u201cI have something to fight for that I believe in more than I\u2019ve ever believed in anything. That matters\u2014that matters so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marin slid an arm around her shoulders and squeezed her tightly. Seamus exhaled a shaky breath as he watched them.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight,\u201d he said softly. \u201cSo I take it that we\u2019ll be marching to war within the next day or so, then?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout a doubt,\u201d Hecate said, then smiled. \u201cAnd we\u2019ll win.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Seamus’s point of view.] \u201cWorse,\u201d Marin echoed, her brow furrowing. \u201cOkay. Are either of you going to elaborate on that?\u201d Seamus grimaced, swallowing against a dry throat. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, trying … 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":[299,324,14],"tags":[150,171,170,194,166,152,149,148,159,168,147,165,146],"class_list":["post-4040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-7","category-chapter-19-book-7","category-story","tag-awakenings","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-hecate","tag-leinth","tag-marin-astoris","tag-original-fiction","tag-post-apocalyptic","tag-seamus-vaughan","tag-serial","tag-serial-fiction","tag-story","tag-web-fiction"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-13a","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4040","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=4040"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4040\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4041,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4040\/revisions\/4041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}