Page 71 of Taming the Eagle
Kahina’s shoulder went rigid, and when she lifted her tear-streaked face, her peat-brown eyes were bleak. “Why are you still here?” she croaked. “I thought you’d have fled by now.”
“It’s too late for that,” Fenella replied, her voice still soft. “The opportunity has been lost.”
Kahina stared back at her before her mouth twisted. “Have you been planning this then?”
Fenella nodded.
“But why? You’re treated well here … and a bond has formed between you and the general.”
“I’m still his slave,” Fenella answered, her voice roughening. “In the end, he’s just another man who wishes to control me. I want to be free, Kahina. Is that so wrong?”
Her friend stared back at her. “No,” she murmured.
Silence fell between them. A groove formed between Kahina’s eyebrows as she tried to understand her. They were women in a man’s world. Kahina had accepted that long ago, yet Fenella didn’t want to spend the rest of her life bowing to a man’s will.
Daughter. Wife. Slave. She’d always been someone’s property. She just wanted to belong to herself.
“Why didn’t you say anything to Aquila?” Fenella asked finally.
“It wasn’t for your benefit,” Kahina murmured, looking away. “He’s a good man, Fen … and I didn’t want to hurt him.”
Fenella’s throat constricted. “Oh, Kahina,” she said, a wobble in her own voice now. “You are too soft-hearted for your own good.”
“I know,” Kahina gasped before burying her head in her hands once more. A choked sob followed.
Watching her, Fenella knew her tears weren’t for the man she served, or for the likes of her. Instead, she wept for Marcus.
Reaching out, Fenella wrapped an arm around Kahina’s back and held her fast. The soft sound of Kahina’s weeping filtered out into the portico, and anyone nearby would be able to hear. However, after the slaughter in the courtyard, the inhabitants of this household weren’t likely in the mood for eavesdropping.
They’d cleared the courtyard of the bodies, before Fenella and Kahina had washed the blood-stained pavers down with soapy water, and scrubbed away the signs of the violent skirmish. Nonetheless, the siege had left all of them shaken.
“Marcus lives still,” Fenella murmured after a while, rubbing her friend’s back. “Don’t mourn him yet.”
Raising her face to Fenella’s once more, Kahina’s throat bobbed. “You’re so strong, Fen,” she whispered. “I’ve never seen a woman fight like you did today … you were magnificent.”
Fenella huffed a laugh before reaching out and wiping away Kahina’s tears. “As were you with that pilum.”
Kahina managed a weak smile. She then sniffed, scrubbing at her wet cheeks. “How were you actually planning to escape?”
Fenella pulled a face. “I had a rope hidden behind where Aedan keeps fuel for the furnace. I was going to climb up to the Porta Principalis Dextra, stab anyone who tried to get in my way, and then use the rope to lower myself down to the causeway.”
Her face warmed as she recounted this. Revealing her plan out loud made it sound foolhardy. Would she have made it to safety, even with Aedan at her side?
Kahina’s gleaming eyes widened. “Jupiter,” she breathed. “You really are fearless.”
“No,” Fenella murmured, her cheeks growing hotter. “Just reckless.”
Kahina’s brow furrowed in confusion, but Fenella placed a hand over hers, squeezing gently. She didn’t want to talk about herself; instead, she wished to make it up to her friend. Kahina had done her a great kindness in keeping her secret safe.
She wanted to make amends for disappointing her.
“I think we need to assure ourselves that Marcus will indeed rally,” she said firmly. “Come on … let’s pay the hospital a visit.”
Outdoors, buildings smoldered, dark smoke staining the morning sky. The char of burning and the metallic stench of blood filled the air, catching at the back of Fenella’s throat. Dark patches stained the street, and although men had started to clear the bodies away, a few corpses still littered the ground.
Kahina murmured something under her breath and raised a hand to cover her mouth.
Next to her, Fenella frowned.