Page 75 of Firebird
“From Rome.” He held up the scroll. “From Caesar.”
Malina instantly sat up. I had wanted to linger awhile together, but it seemed Rome would not wait. I pushed myself into a sitting position, noting my uncle’s seal, then broke it and unrolled the scroll.
My gut tightened as I read the brief missive and rolled it back up.
“What does he say?” asked Trajan, while Malina watched me with concern.
“To return to Rome at once and report on our enemy here.”
“He’s heard news from our camp.” Trajan scowled deeper.
“Of course he has. We know he has spies everywhere.”
“But you’re still injured,” objected Malina. “You shouldn’t move just yet.”
My annoyance instantly vanished. That she cared was enough to quell the anxiety about my uncle. For the moment.
“Nevertheless, we must break camp and return. Caesar wants me to returnwithmy army.”
“What of the burn victims still too wounded?” asked Trajan.
“Have others carry them.”
Trajan clenched his jaw. Returning to Rome wounded by our enemy was a sign of defeat. Though we weren’t defeated here, we’d lost our one battle with the marauders. We’d been hit harder than expected. And by an enemy who simply vanished into thin air.
“We leave this afternoon, Trajan.”
He nodded and left to put my orders into motion, though there was also a look of concern on his face when he glanced at Malina. He didn’t have to voice it. I knew his worries already. They lived inside my flesh, my bones.
“You shouldn’t fly yet,” she protested. “What if you rip all of the sutures when you shift?”
“It’s mostly sealed. Except for that one tender place.”
She shook her head, scowling at me prettily. “That one tender place.”
She pushed out of bed and hurried to her small table, where her few tunics and linens were folded neatly. Then she started shoving the garments into the small bag she’d carried them here in.
I sat up and swiveled my legs around to plant my feet on the floor. My side stung but I didn’t feel the sutures pull. She was right though. While my wound would only be a mere scratch in dragon form, I’d break the sutures and it would need healing yet again once I transformed back.
“So strange.” I watched her busy herself, my elbows on my knees, hands clasped.
“What is?” she snapped, walking to my other bedside to pack away the medicinal salve and supplies.
“That the woman I… treasure so much can pack herself into a bag so small.”
She snorted and glared at me, then continued shoving things into the sack.
She didn’t understand the depth of my affection, how long I’d dreamed of having her. And though last night was only a kiss—a little more—it was enough to buoy hope in my heart.
“You don’t regret what you said before.”
She settled on her knees to fold the blankets that had made up her bed while we’d been here. “Before what?”
I smiled at the thought those linens had gone unused last night, my own body and bed keeping her warm instead.
“Before you kissed and ravaged me in my sickbed.”
She stopped her hurried movements and gaped at me. “I believe you were the one doing the ravaging.”
