{"id":4427,"date":"2020-09-25T09:31:09","date_gmt":"2020-09-25T13:31:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4427"},"modified":"2020-09-25T09:31:09","modified_gmt":"2020-09-25T13:31:09","slug":"twelve-01-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4427","title":{"rendered":"Twelve – 01"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

The once and future king.<\/em><\/p>\n

The words slammed into her with the force of a charging stallion, like one of the warhorses that the Wild Hunt still kept and tended.\u00a0 The prophesied once and future king.\u00a0 King Arthur.\u00a0 A myth\u2014a legend.<\/em><\/p>\n

Her mouth ran dry, her heart thudded painfully against her ribs.\u00a0 She lived<\/em> among myth and legend, albeit far removed from their original contexts.\u00a0 Why was it so hard to believe that\u2014<\/p>\n

\u201cHere?\u201d she blurted before she could stop herself.\u00a0 \u201cYou think he\u2019s here<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n

All eyes turned toward her\u2014all eyes except her father\u2019s, which remained steady on the lead rider, who looked up at her with surprise.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, yes,\u201d he said softly.\u00a0 \u201cAt least, that\u2019s where all of the hints and clues we\u2019ve found have led us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cKailey,\u201d Matt said, his voice quiet but firm.\u00a0 \u201cWill you and Lin please escort our guests to the cottage set aside?\u00a0 I believe Jacqueline and Jameson are there with their injured companion already.\u201d\u00a0 He finally turned to look toward them, his gaze landing on Phelan.\u00a0 \u201cPhelan, if you could stay, please.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course,\u201d the once-and-current Taliesin murmured.\u00a0 He carefully stepped around Kailey, who still stood frozen in front of the doorway, and slipped into the room.\u00a0 He gestured slightly to the riders, then to Kailey.\u00a0 \u201cIf you\u2019ll follow her, she\u2019ll show you a place where you can get cleaned up and get some rest that\u2019s not on a forest floor or a roadside.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat would be most welcome,\u201d the lead rider said, heaving himself to his feet.\u00a0 There were deep circles under his eyes, as if decent sleep had been a rare thing of late.\u00a0 \u201cI think we could all use that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll have some food brought shortly,\u201d Hecate said with a warm smile.<\/p>\n

Kailey tried to suppress a shiver.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re looking for the once and future king and they think that they \u2018ll find clues to who he is here?\u00a0 Where to find him?\u00a0 I don\u2019t\u2014<\/em><\/p>\n

She cast a glance at Lin as the riders gathered themselves and their gear.\u00a0 There was a sadness in his eyes that made her breath catch.<\/p>\n

She cleared her throat and glanced at the riders.\u00a0 \u201cIf you\u2019ll follow me, please.\u201d<\/p>\n

She started walking, then, not looking back, trusting that they\u2019d follow\u2014trusting, at least for now.\u00a0 She looked at Lin again.\u00a0 He was still staring at her, worried, sad.<\/p>\n

Was that what they were keeping from me?<\/em><\/p>\n

She\u2019d find out soon enough.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Kailey Astoris’s point of view.] The once and future king. The words slammed into her with the force of a charging stallion, like one of the warhorses that the Wild Hunt still kept and tended.\u00a0 The … 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":[336,337,356,14],"tags":[340,150,171,170,194,345,350,181,149,173,148,168,147,165,200],"class_list":["post-4427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ambrose-cycle","category-book-8","category-chapter-12-book-8","category-story","tag-ambrose-cycle","tag-awakenings","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-hecate","tag-kailey-astoris","tag-knights-errant","tag-matthew-astoris","tag-original-fiction","tag-phelan-ocredne","tag-post-apocalyptic","tag-serial","tag-serial-fiction","tag-story","tag-thomas-merlin-ambrose"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-19p","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4427","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=4427"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4427\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4428,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4427\/revisions\/4428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}