{"id":4593,"date":"2021-04-05T10:13:39","date_gmt":"2021-04-05T14:13:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4593"},"modified":"2021-04-05T10:13:39","modified_gmt":"2021-04-05T14:13:39","slug":"nineteen-02-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4593","title":{"rendered":"Nineteen – 02"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

He stared at his hands and I watched him, drinking slowly.\u00a0 I could tell that he was thinking, letting what I\u2019d already told him roll around in his head and my heart ached a little.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t ask for what was coming.<\/p>\n

Neither did you.\u00a0 Your parents didn\u2019t, either\u2014not yours and not his.\u00a0 They just picked up and kept on keeping on because there was no other choice in the matter, now was there?<\/em>\u00a0 I barely managed to suppress a sigh, taking another deep swallow of tea before I cleared my throat and dared to speak.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou remember the stories about the battle with Orcus and the truce?\u201d<\/p>\n

Tory glanced up and nodded slightly.\u00a0 \u201cI remember that we never heard them \u2018til we were older, that everyone would stop talking about it when one of us would come into the room, when they\u2019d talk about them at all.\u201d\u00a0 He frowned.\u00a0 \u201cWhich was admittedly not often at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor good reason,\u201d I said, glancing toward my bookshelves.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve read what my mom and dad wrote about it and\u2014well.\u00a0 It seems like there was a sense of relief that followed the whole thing but at the same time, I don\u2019t know that my mom and dad ever really shook the sense of a weight hanging over all of them.\u00a0 They knew that the agreement would break down eventually.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t even know what the agreement was,\u201d Tory said, leaning back in his chair.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d I agreed.\u00a0 \u201cBut I\u2019m not sure it matters, since the other side\u2019s not abiding by it anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBased on you being attacked.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah,\u201d I said.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, that and some other things.\u201d<\/p>\n

His brows knit again.\u00a0 \u201cWhat other things?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHave you been watching them?\u00a0 Your mom and dad, Uncle Matt, Uncle Phelan, all of them?\u00a0 Really watching?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u00a0 Have you?\u201d<\/p>\n

I sighed, staring into my mug for a few seconds.\u00a0 \u201cSomeone has to.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019re you trying to get at, Lin?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re the one that asked.\u201d<\/p>\n

He threw his head back and made an irritated sound.\u00a0 \u201cAnd I\u2019m asking again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe point is that the peace is breaking down and that makes shit\u2019s going to get really real really fast that includes shit for us.\u201d\u00a0 I gulped down the rest of the tea in my mug\u2014probably faster than I should have\u2014and winced.\u00a0 Everything still hurt, but staying in bed wasn\u2019t going to be an option, not for much longer.\u00a0 \u201cThe travelers that came?\u00a0 Your cousin and the rest?\u00a0 They\u2019re here in part because of that, because things are about to come unglued again and we\u2019re going to have work to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not making any sense,\u201d he said, getting up to come and take my mug from me.\u00a0 \u201cAre you sure you\u2019re not\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDelirious?\u00a0 Crazy?\u201d\u00a0 I smiled wryly.\u00a0 \u201cYes to the first, yes and no to the second.\u00a0 I know what it sounds like, Tory.\u00a0 It\u2019s only going to get crazier from here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCrazier,\u201d he echoed, watching me as I threw back the covers and started to gingerly get out of bed.\u00a0 \u201cCrazier how?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me get dressed,\u201d I said, wavering as I got to my feet.\u00a0 At least I could get up without the room spinning.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019ll go talk to them.\u00a0 It\u2019ll make more sense that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat<\/em> will make more sense?\u00a0 You still haven\u2019t told me anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

I paused, chewing the inside of my cheek, then glanced at him again.\u00a0 He held my gaze steadily, concern and confusion mingled in his eyes.\u00a0 I exhaled a sigh.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you want me to tell you, Tory?\u201d I asked softly.\u00a0 \u201cYou want me to tell you that they\u2019re here because we\u2019re part of a prophecy?\u00a0 That our lineages and shit like that have written a destiny for us?\u00a0 Because that\u2019s what I know.\u00a0 Because that\u2019s what all of the stories and all of the books and all of the signs are starting to point to.\u00a0 Is that what you want me to tell you?\u201d<\/p>\n

He just stared at me for a few seconds more.\u00a0 His jaw tightened, his hands clenched.<\/p>\n

Then he pivoted and walked out my door.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Thomas Merlin Ambrose’s point of view.] He stared at his hands and I watched him, drinking slowly.\u00a0 I could tell that he was thinking, letting what I\u2019d already told him roll around in his head and … 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":[336,337,368,14],"tags":[340,271,150,171,170,149,148,168,147,165,200,146],"class_list":["post-4593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ambrose-cycle","category-book-8","category-chapter-19-book-8","category-story","tag-ambrose-cycle","tag-artorius-mackenzie","tag-awakenings","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-original-fiction","tag-post-apocalyptic","tag-serial","tag-serial-fiction","tag-story","tag-thomas-merlin-ambrose","tag-web-fiction"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-1c5","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4593","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=4593"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4593\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4594,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4593\/revisions\/4594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}