By the time I woke, Marcus was gone.
My head felt clearer, though a dull ache lingered low in my abdomen. I frowned and pushed the duvet aside, only for my heart to skip at the sight of blood staining between my thighs and the linen beneath me.
For a moment, I simply stared before relief crashed over me.
So it was stress, I wasn't pregnant.
A smile broke across my face before I could stop it.
I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood, gathering the bloodied sheets into my arms just as the flap of the tent opened.
The two young attendants stepped inside and bowed when they saw me.
"Domina," they greeted.
Her eyes falling to the bundle clutched against my chest, and she hurried forward, hands already reaching for it.
"Please," she said gently. "Allow us."
I nodded and surrendered the sheets to them.
One attendant carried the bundle away while the other gently guided me from the bed, wrapping a clean linen cloth around my waist before draping a simple tunic over my shoulders.
"The dominus instructed us to prepare you for your bath," she explained as she fastened the garment. "Afterward, you are to assist Livia."
I followed without protest.
The bathing tent had already been prepared. Steam curling lazily into the cool morning air from a large wooden tub filled with warm water scented with lavender and rosemary, their fragrance mingling with the faint aroma of oil and soap.
The attendants worked with practiced efficiency, washing the dried blood from my skin before coming out my hair and braiding it nearly behind my head. When they were finished, they dressed me in a fresh ivory Roman dress, securing it at the shoulders with bronze pins before draping a light shawl over my arms.
Only then did they lead me through the awakening encampment.
The camp pulsed with quiet purpose. Soldiers were already breaking their fast, armourers hammered dents from battered shields and orderlies hurried between tents carrying baskets of herbs, clean bandages and buckets of water.
When we reached the medical tent, Livia was standing over Marcus, who was seated on one of the cots, carefully applying a salve to the cut along his jaw while he endured the treatment with a pronounced frown.
At the sound of our approach, they both looked up.
Marcus smiled, while Livia clicked her tongue before setting the small pot aside and wiping her fingers on a linen cloth.
"Husband and wife alike," she muttered with a shake of her head. "You both make dreadful patients."
Marcus chuckled. "I am only here because my wife insisted the scar might permanently ruin my good looks."
"As she should," Livia replied without missing a beat, finally capping the jar of salve. She glanced at me with a knowing smile. "After all, she is the one who must wake to your face each morning."
Marcus shot her an amused look.
"And now that I have finished with you," Livia continued, dusting her hands together, "you may leave. There are soldiers with actual injuries waiting outside, and I would rather not waste my herbs on vanity."
"I shall remember that."
"You needn't. Just stay out of trouble for one day."
He rose from the stool, adjusting the clasp of his cloak before turning toward me.
For a heartbeat, I thought he would simply nod and go.
Instead, he crossed the space between us until we stood only inches apart. His fingers brushing a loose strand of hair behind my ear before settling lightly against my cheek.
Then he kissed me.
It was brief enough to spare us Livia's scolding, yet long enough to steal the breath from my lungs, leaving me momentarily unaware of anything beyond the warmth of his lips.
When he finally pulled away, his forehead rested against mine.
"I will see you tonight," he murmured, so quietly I wondered if anyone else could hear.
"I will be waiting," I whispered back, unable to resist the smile in my lips.
Only then did he step back and leave the tent, the flap falling shut behind him.
The silence lingered for barely a second, before Livia cleared her throat.
"Good," she said matter-of-factly. "Now that the Imperator has remembered he commands an army rather than a romantic poetry, we have work to do."
She began gathering rolls of linen, bronze probes, knives, needles, jars of honey, vinegar and bundles of dried herbs into a wicker basket before handing half of them to me.
"Come," she said. "You are assisting me today."
"Where?"
"The surgical tent," she bit out, her expression growing serious. "The wounded are waiting."
By the time the sun dipped below the horizon and the evening meal drew near, I was rinsing bloodied bandages, wiping down bronze instruments, setting them neatly back in their places.
The motions came as naturally as breathing.
For the first time since waking in this strange world, I felt useful again. It was like stretching muscles left idle for too long, rediscovering a part of myself I had feared was lost. There was comfort in the familiarity of it, in tending wounds, easing pain and helping in the only way I truly knew how.
"You should go back to the Imperator," Livia said as I polished the last of the instruments. "He will be waiting for you. I can finish the rest."
"Are you sure?"
She nodded, already reaching for another stack of linens.
"I am. Besides," she added with a knowing smile, "I remember what it was like to be young and in love."
I couldn't stop the smile that spread across my face.
After washing my hands in the basin and drying them on a clean cloth, I turned back to her. "Gratitude, Livia."
She inclined her head. "And gratitude to you as well, domina."
I was practically skipping out of Livia's tent, clutching the small jar of salve she had insisted I take.
"If the sight of that cut bothers you so much," she had teased, pressing it into my hands, "apply this to your husband's jaw. And when there is time, I'll teach you how to make it yourself."
The promise alone was enough to brighten my mood.
I had always been fascinated by medicinal herbs, by the quiet science hidden within roots and leaves. perhaps there were remedies here, forgotten by time, that I could one day carry back with me.
"Marcus?" I called soon as I reached his pavilion.
The flap was open so I stepped inside without waiting for an answer, the small jar in my palm.
A proper meal had been laid out across one end of the map table and two glasses of wine, illuminated by the soft glow of oil lamps and candles. Someone had even scattered sprigs of rosemary between the dishes, their fragrance mingling with the warmth of the tent.
It was beautiful, yet Marcus hardly seemed to notice.
He stood at the opposite end of the table, turning one of the carved wooden figures between his fingers over the map spread before him, his gaze distant, lost in thought.
I crossed the remaining distance between us.
"Marcus?" I called again, more softly this time. "What's wrong?"
"I have found a way for us to return to your time," he said quietly, setting the wooden figurine back onto the map before slipping an arm around my waist.
Joy burst through me. The day certainly couldn't get any better.
"Marcus...that's wonderful."
Yet there was no relief in his expression, only conflict.
My smile faltered.
"But there are two problems, Elena."
His fingers brushed a loose strand of hair behind my ear, lingering there for a moment. I had discarded my veil hours ago, as he tucked the strand away with absent tenderness, delaying the words he was about to speak.
"What problems?"
His gaze dropped briefly to the map before returning to mine.
"We have altered too much since arriving here." He drew in a slow breath. "History is no longer unfolding as it should. If we leave now, there is no telling what becomes of these lands."
I frowned. "What does that mean?"
"It means that Lord Gwrgenau must survive." His jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. "No matter what will happen, his bloodline has to continue. The future we came from depends on it."
The name alone soured the happiness that had filled the room moments before.
"And the second?"
For the first time since I walked into his tent, Marcus looked away.
"My Emperor has summoned me."
Silence settled between us.
When he finally met my eyes again, there was something in them that I had not seen before.
"I am being called back to Rome."