The Hathway Kingdom. (Book 1)

Chapter Twelve.

~Twelve. ~

"You should have brought her to me soon, Rosaleen! That wound is far too deep and is far too gone for me to be able to fix it now!" the head healer, Lavina Maki, exclaimed as she cleaned Larissa's wound once more, earning her a wince and a curse from the latter.

"She would have, Lady Maki, but it didn't stop bleeding until just before we came here," Larissa explained between winces as Lavina wiped away blood from the wound. She heard her scoff before sighing.

"Yes, well...be that as it may, you are going to have to remain here, Your Highness. I cannot have you scampering about the palace. Especially with that wound. You'll end up bleeding all over the place," Lavina said to her and Larissa scowled.

"Fine..." she said in a small voice before she flinched away from Lavina as she pressed against the wound.

"But...Does that mean that she will be unable to attend the banquet and ball tomorrow night, Lady Lavina?" Elissa asked as Rosaleen came back into the room with clean cloths and a bowl. Larissa's eyes fell on the bowl and they narrowed slightly as she saw the light glinting off something inside the bowl.

"Well...Provided that she remain here and has a dress that will help prevent the stitches I am about to do from coming undone and she does not dance, I see no reason not to allow you to go, Your Highness," Lavina replied as she took out the needle and thread after Rosaleen placed the bowl down.

"You will need to move onto your side now, Princess," Rosaleen said to her before both she and Lavina helped Larissa lie down on her side.

"Are you positive that you don't want me to use anything to numb the area, Your Highness? This is going to hurt quite a bit," Lavina asked Larissa and she nodded her head.

"I will be fine, Lady Lavina," she replied as she looked away from them.

She saw Lavina glance at Rosaleen before the latter sighed and gestured for Lavina to continue. She heard Lavina getting everything ready before she felt a hand resting above the wound. She blinked as a piece of leather was held in front of her face and she took it in her hand carefully.

"Bite down on this," Rosaleen said and Larissa nodded her head before she put the leather strap in her mouth and bit down on it. She nodded her head to Rosaleen before looking away again.

"Alright. We're ready now, Lady Lavina," she heard Rosaleen say to Lavina before she felt a small pinch in her skin as the needle was pressed into it.

Larissa did her best not to move as Lavina began to mend the wound. Lavina had not lied to her: it hurt quite a bit and, she wasn't sure if it was the fact that the wound was still fresh, or the fact that she was having it mended without a numbing agent, or even the fact that it was an even bigger wound than her first one, but the pain was like nothing that she had ever felt before.

By the time that Lavina was covering the wound and Rosaleen had helped Larissa sit back up, Larissa had little to no energy left and her jaw was cramping from how hard she had been biting down on the piece of leather. She winced as Lavina began to wrap bandages around Larissa's waist and she spoke up.

"Next time...I'm taking the numbing agent," she said in a weak voice and Lavina chuckled as well as Rosaleen from behind Larissa. She felt Rosaleen give her shoulders a gentle squeeze.

"You did well, Princess. Most others that have done the same usually pass out from the pain before we finish mending the wound," Rosaleen said and Lavina nodded her head as she tied the bandage in place.