Page 64 of Of Scale and Blood

“Twodays?” I repeated, a little shocked. “Why so long?”

“We needed to keep your leg immobilized for a period of time after the operation. After conferring with your healers back in Esan—we had to consult them to ensure you had no allergies to the strong potions we were about to give you, and also to check what had been done during your other recent surgery—it was decided the best way to achieve that was to keep you knocked out. Apparently, you have something of a history when it comes to not obeying medical orders.” She raised an eyebrow, as if daring me to disagree. I couldn’t, of course, so after several beats of silence, she added, “The benefit of doing that, of course, is that you’re now free to leave.”

“As in, right now?”

“Yes, although I do suggest you get dressed first. Your clothes have been washed and repaired, and hang on the hooks to your right. Your impatient second has your weapons and packs.”

“Thank you, Doctor.”

She nodded. “Good luck with your drakkon riding. I’ll be praying for Túxn to gift you good fortune ridding the skies of this scourge.”

“We certainly need all the prayers and good fortune we could get right now.” Especially if Damon’s transference spell wasn’t workable.

As the doctor left the room, Kele strode in. She looked fresh and no longer smelled of drakkon, and I had no doubt that was due to the military folk insisting both she and Hannity take a long soak in a scented bath before they inhabited their area. Military personnel generally had a good tolerance for odious scents—bathing facilities on long recons weren’t exactly plentiful—but the reactions of the commander and his people definitely suggested the musk of our drakkons was a little too strong for their tastes.

“What news from Esan?” I swung my legs off the bed and warily stood. My damaged calf muscles twinged, and pain swirled yet again, a distant warning that I still needed to be careful. And one, no doubt, that I’d forget soon enough. I hobbled over to my clothes and began to dress.

“There’s been a couple of minor skirmishes with the Mareritt, but no further signs of the riders.”

“Were the Mareritt using the gilded riders’ tube weapons?”

“No, but the commander said they are building numbers up in the wastelands.”

“They’re readying for an attack.”

“It would appear so.” She placed our gear on the bed, then sat down beside it, her nose wrinkling. “We should be doing a preemptive strike now, while their numbers remain low.”

“Except for the fact that if the Mareritt are working with the riders, however peripherally, then the build-up might be nothing more than a means of drawing our strongest forces and our drakkons away from our fortress, thereby ensuring Esan isn’t fully equipped to counter an attack by the riders.”

“I’m not entirely sure we’re equipped now,” she replied, somewhat gloomily. “Three drakkons, however mighty the combination of them and us might be, will never defeat the sheer number of people they can put in the air. Presuming, of course, that rider wasn’t talking shit and they do intend to fill our skies with gold.”

“They haven’t done so yet, so there’s still time to figure out a solution. Even if it is simply getting more fire witches onto drakkons. Where’s Hannity?”

“She found a friend to play with last night. She’ll meet us in the mess.”

“Good, because I am starved.”

Not just for food, came Kaia’s comment.Mating heat high.

I just about choked.Kaia!

True.

“And it’s moments like this I wish I could hear the drakkons,” Kele said dryly. “Kaia obviously said something very... interesting, because your face is a picture right now.”

“Trust me when I say you reallydon’twant to hear them. They stick their noses into your personal affairs and make all sorts of comments, whether you want them to or not.”

She raised her eyebrows, amusement lurking around her lips. “I take it Kaia made one such comment?”

“Involving mating heat and how bad it rides me.”

“Well, she’s not exactly wrong. You are just married, and you do have a lusciously virile man waiting for you at home.”

He was certainly home, and he was certainly virile. Whether he was actuallywaitingfor me was another matter entirely. I strapped on my sword and knives, then picked up my packs. “Enough of this rubbish. Let’s go eat.”

She chuckled, but grabbed her packs and followed me through the curtain. Once in the hall, I motioned her to the lead and followed her through the myriad of wide tunnels that connected the various hospital areas, and then on into the not-so-wide tunnels that were obviously a part of the older emergency administrative system.

The mess hall was narrow but long, containing two rows of stone tables and wooden bench seats. Smallish serveries sat at either end, and the delicious scent of roasting meats filled the air, as did a slight haze of smoke. Obviously the vents weren’t working to full capacity right now.

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