Page 25 of Firebird
Thankfully, Malina didn’t comment on my overzealous behavior. I wasn’t simply angry or defensive that another man had been near her, harassing her. I’d been so overcome with rage that I’d nearly murdered the man.
Not that I had to explain anything to Malina. The burning in my belly reminded me that eventually I would. There was no escaping that dreadful fact.
Of all the people to enter my life at this moment in time, when my focus must be razor-sharp, when any distraction might stray me from my cause and would definitely endanger my life, the firebird appeared. I’d thought to never see her again, even knowing what she was to me then, all those years ago, as we stood in the woods beneath the moon and the shadow of the Carpathian Mountains. I’d walked away, knowing it was the only safe path to take. For the both of us.
She had not merely entertained me with a whirling dance, she’d captured me entirely. The dragon too. And though I’d had a fleeting thought of a life where a Dacian girl fit into mine, I dismissed it at once. My uncle had already taken power then and his ruthlessness had been stamped across Rome. I’d seen it as a centurion far from the city. Now, I knew it was far worse than I ever feared.
So I’d dismissed any fantasies of returning to the CarpathianMountains and finding the girl who haunted my dreams these past years. Now, here she was, thrust into my life through violence and blood. I feared that was the only future the two of us could possibly have. For my destiny, my sole purpose, could only end in violence and blood.
She shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t want her to be, and yet, I homed in on her light footfalls two paces behind me, on her every breath, on her scent of lavender oil mingled with sweat.
It didn’t matter what I wanted. The gods have their own designs, and Lady Fortuna will not be ignored.
VI
MALINA
I wiped Enid’s brow where she lay in the bed in an empty room next to the kitchen. She hadn’t said a word since we’d taken her from the slave auction.
After we’d gotten home, I’d helped Enid change, only to find a gash near her ribs. The wound reopened and began bleeding. Kara summoned a healer who tended to slaves and plebeians. He was a stern-looking but efficient man of the healing arts, it seemed.
He stitched Enid’s wound while I continued to wipe her brow. Hespoke softly to her after he examined her, finding she had several broken ribs and a fractured leg as well.
“Most likely happened in the net being carried back to Rome,” he told me and Enid, who seemed to be drifting in and out of consciousness. “She’s lucky. Most of the elderly and weak don’t survive the netting.”
Kara entered quickly with a steaming cup. “I have a sleeping draught that should help her rest.”
“Good,” said the healer. He then instructed us to bind her ribs and keep her in bed so the bones could mend. “I’ll check on her next week.” Then he left.
I remembered how Julian had carried me carefully in his claws back to Rome. That was horrifying enough. I couldn’t imagine how it must’ve been for Enid being crushed into a net like an animal and carried away without a care in the world.
I helped Enid sip the draught. “Just a little more,” I told her.
Finally, she gave me a weak smile and drifted off. Even though Enid was a tiny woman among the Celts, she’d always been full of life and vigor. Not now. It sickened me to think what she went through.
“What can she do?” asked Kara, gathering the soiled rags and dirty bowl of water. “If she survives.”
“She can sew. Very well, actually. Not just practical clothes either. She has a gift for decorative embroidery. She can do laundry too.” I smiled, tears pricking my eyes. “Not much of a cook though.”
When we’d lived together in her hut with the Celts, I’d done most of the cooking. She’d either undercook our meal or burn it to a crisp.
“Don’t get your hopes up, girl. She looks like she’s got one foot in the underworld already.”
I turned away from Enid to find Kara’s usual frown. But this one seemed to be of concern rather than the ornery scowl she’d worn for me since I’d met her.
“She’s not your relation,” said Kara.
I shook my head. “She’s one of the Celtic clan. The one who took me in when my family was killed.”
With a sniff, she lifted the bowl and soiled rags. “I’ll make a broth for when she wakes up.”
“Thank you, Kara.”
Kara paused without looking at me, but then nodded and left.
I tucked the blanket around Enid and left, quietly closing the door to her small room. I left the oil lamp burning in case Stefanos’s voice in the yard behind the kitchen drew my attention. I followed sounds of something thwacking together.
Outside, I found Stefanos play fighting with Ivo, both of them using sticks like swords.
