Page 72 of Taming the Eagle
Perhaps venturing out of the praetorium at present wasn’t the best idea, but she was determined that Kahina should see Marcus.
One of the guards had reluctantly agreed to accompany them after Fenella insisted that Aquila had given them permission to visit the hospital. The guard had been wary, but there was no way for him to confirm the order. The general was busy overseeing the men securing the fort’s defenses.
And so, brow furrowed with disapproval, the legionary escorted the women through the smoking fort. Heaviness descended upon Fenella as she followed him.
She should be free now, running through the pines in search of shelter.
Instead, she was still inside Ardoch. Still a slave.
The valetudinarium, the hospital, sat at the southeastern corner of the fort. A long wooden building with a tiled roof, it crouched in the shadow of the walls.
The Roman dead lay in neat rows in the yard outside the hospital, as orderly in death as they’d been in life.
“Jupiter,” Kahina breathed, her voice catching. “So many.”
Fenella swallowed hard as she surveyed row upon row of corpses. Gods, it really had been a slaughter.
Their escort didn’t linger outdoors. Instead, the guard pushed through the doors into the hospital. The women followed him into a huge rectangular hall, crammed with pallets. Medics moved from patient to patient, shouting to orderlies. The stench of blood was even stronger in here, and Fenella choked down a gag, resisting the urge to clamp a hand over her mouth.
This had been her idea, after all. Suddenly, she was regretting it.
Squaring her shoulders, she met her escort’s eye. “We need to find Centurion Camillus.”
The legionary’s dark eyebrows crashed together, his jaw tightening at being ordered around by a slave. However, Fenella’s imperious look had the desired effect, for, after a moment, he spun away from her and marched up to the nearest orderly.
After a brief exchange, the orderly pointed right. The legionary then motioned to the women and headed down the aisle between the pallets, dodging medics and orderlies as he went.
Fenella and Kahina hurried after him.
They found Marcus in a smaller chamber at the far end of the hospital building. He shared the space with four other high-ranking officers. Curtains hung between the pallets, giving the patients a modicum of privacy. Nonetheless, that didn’t matter to Marcus, for he was insensible.
Face ashen, he lay propped up on a nest of pillows. Bandages swathed his naked chest, and although they appeared freshly applied, blood soaked through them.
Kahina emitted a choked sound at the sight of him, her slender body going rigid.
“What’s this?”
The party turned to find the curtain had been drawn back, and a tall, angular man stood behind them. His hands were bloodstained. A lanky orderly grasping a basin of water, with clean bandages slung over one arm, cringed behind him.
Their escort bowed his head. “Surgeon Falco … apologies for the intrusion.”
The surgeon’s craggy face twisted into a scowl as his narrowed gaze swept over the legionary and two female slaves. “Who are you, and why are you here?” he growled.
“We are here at General Aquila’s request,” the legionary replied. “To check on the status of Centurion Camillus.”
Falco’s mouth pursed. “Did the general really sanction this?”
“Sanction what?”
Breath catching, Fenella spun around to find the man himself standing in the doorway.
XXVI. THE SIREN
JUSTIN FOLDED HIS arms across his broad chest, amber gaze narrowing. “Answer me, soldier.”
“Sir!” The legionary’s spine snapped rigid, a fisted hand slamming against his heart. “I brought these women here upon your command.”
Justin’s frown deepened. “I commanded no such thing.”