Crispus nudged my side. "If I can judge by your expression, you don't seem to want a life like my mother has."
I grinned. "Actually, I was thinking I should try it for a while, just to see how I bear the burden of wealth."
Once we went inside, beneath an open sky we found well-tended gardens that stretched from one wall to the other. I couldn't see Caela anywhere, but I sensed her, and picked up my pace. We walked along the corridor until I saw the entry doors.
"One side for the men, the other for the women," Crispus said.
"Which side are we going in?" Aurelia asked.
"The men's, of course."
Aurelia teasingly punched his arm and he joked, "If you fight like a boy, and carry weapons like a boy, then I don't see why you can't learn to use the boys' entrance."
"No, I fight and carry weapons like a girl, and I'll use the girls' entrance! See you on the other side!" Then she skipped through the other doors.
Crispus and I walked through a spacious dressing area to find Aurelia already waiting on the other end. Then he pointed out the directions to each of the four baths. "The caldarium at the rear of the building is the hottest of them all, and most bathers begin there. Then the tepidarium is in front of it. Maybe your griffin would've gone there."
I shrugged, hoping not. Crispus's tepidarium had been so perfectly comfortable, I'd never have left if women hadn't been coming to bathe. If Caela was in this one, I'd have no easier time getting her out.
"She wouldn't want the frigidarium, it's too cold." Crispus shivered to make his point and Aurelia giggled and poked his arm, which I didn't think was particularly funny at all. "But I think she'll be in the natatio," he added. "It's for open-air swimming, and your griffin would like that best."
We entered from the dressing room, but even before we did, I recognized the sound of Caela's breathing, though it seemed raspier than the breaths I had heard in Caesar's cave.
I held up one hand. "Let me go in alone. If she's injured, she might be calm and easy to manage, but she also might want to fight. Stay back until we know for sure."
"We rode in the caravan into Rome," Aurelia said. "She knows me already."
"Yes, but that doesn't mean she likes you." My smile was mischievous. "Don't feel bad. I'm not even sure she likes me."
Once inside, I spotted Caela in the far corner, nestled behind two large columns. I called her name, and saw one of her long, triangular ears perk up, but she didn't raise her head. Not a good sign.
Because of the large pool between us, it was necessary to walk the long way around to get to her. I went to the right, and about halfway there, noticed the nugget of gold she had taken with her from the venatio, dropped on the marble floor like cheap fill rock. If she had abandoned this so casually, then things were more serious than I had thought.
I called to her again, and this time she cawed softly, painfully. She was trying to move enough to greet me, but not succeeding.
"I'm so sorry," I said once I was closer. "I didn't know you were hurt this bad." I lowered the sack of meat right in front of her, but after a sniff, she showed no interest in it. So I ran my fingers across her feathers the way she had seemed to enjoy it before. Once I reached her wing, I understood how bad things were.
The spear from the bestiarius had broken the wing. Either that, or it had injured the wing, and once I had forced her to fly us out of the amphitheater, that had finished breaking it. I would've apologized again, but it seemed senseless at this point.
I knelt beside her and removed the bulla from around my neck to place against her wing. It glowed brighter in the moonlight, and felt heavier too. I hoped if the bulla connected me to her, it would transfer the healing powers better. Because of the seriousness of Caela's wound, I would have to rely even more upon the Divine Star, which Radulf could detect, and it made my heart pound. But this had to be done. All that mattered was Caela.
Pushing aside the nerves that were stirring inside me, I set the bulla directly over her wound. She flinched from the pressure, but had no strength to move away. I whispered another apology for the pain it caused, but I would likely have only one opportunity and I wanted every chance to do it right.
Just as I had done earlier that day, I focused on the magic to heal. It came easier this time, wrapping itself around both Caela and me, and I thought about Radulf's words, that magic was a muscle and using it made it stronger. Having practiced all day in the vineyards, I definitely felt the added strength, and knew I would need it now. I concentrated on the flow of magic, letting it fill every pore in me, giving it more life with every breath I drew in, and pushing it deeper into my core with every exhale.
When it had built up inside me, I willed it to move from my hand, through the bulla, and into Caela's wing. If it healed the infection in my arm, it could heal her as well. I only needed enough strength to outlast her injury.
Caela trilled nervously as she felt the magic, and even shuffled a bit, but my hand stayed in its place. With my other, I stroked her neck, hoping to keep her calm.
"This is too big for you, Nic." There had never been any doubt that Radulf's voice would come again, only how long it would take him to find me. It drizzled through my veins like ice, and I shivered.
"Go away," I muttered. "Live while you can. I'll come for you soon."
He chuckled, which diverted my attention until Caela shifted again. I poured more of myself into her, not only magic, but my gratitude for having twice saved my life, and my sorrow that all I had done in return was endanger hers. For the first time, I began to understand the magic, not just use it. Magic itself was an emotion, and like the strongest emotions, it could build or destroy. Right now, it was doing both. Building her, destroying me.
My arm began shaking and I leaned my weight into her to support it. Even as she was gaining strength, I was losing it, and it was becoming harder to keep her wing from fluttering out of my hands.
"Not yet," I whispered to her. "Not yet, Caela."