The Hathway Kingdom. (Book 1)

Chapter Fourteen.

~Fourteen. ~

Romulus stared at the clock on the wall in the banquet hall as he tapped his finger against the arm of his chair. He could tell that his guests were beginning to become impatient as they waited for Larissa to come into the hall and he was beginning to agree with them. He knew that it was going to be entirely up to Lady Maki as to whether she would be able to attend the banquet, but he was hoping that she would be able to convince her to let her come.

He looked up as he saw movement near the door to the banquet hall and he sat up straight against as he watched a servant speak to the Speaker as he stood at the door. He nodded his head and mumbled something to the servant before they rushed away and the Speaker turned back to the room and cleared his throat, causing everyone to fall silent.

"Your Imperial Majesty! My lords, ladies, and highnesses. Please welcome the winner of yesterday's tournament. Her Royal Highness Princess Larissa of the Hathway Kingdom!" the Speaker called out before he stepped aside, and everyone stood up and turned to the doors as they heard footsteps coming towards the door.

As she walked up to the door, Romulus' eyes widened as he watched her. Looking at her now as she entered the banquet hall, one would never know that she had been injured and was still. The way that she held herself as she came into the room and curtseyed as she stopped, left you in no doubt that she was a princess. It also left you with no doubt that she was born to rule.

He walked around the table and towards her, coming to a stop in front of her. She remained in her curtsey the entire time that it took him to walk around the table to her, but he could see that she was struggling to maintain it. Quickly reaching forward, he placed his hands on her arms and helped her stand back up. She lifted her head and looked up at him. He met her eyes for a moment before he offered her his arm to escort her to the table and her seat.

She looked at him for a moment before she reached out and accepted his arm delicately. He could feel her shaking ever so slightly but he said nothing about it, not wanting to draw attention to it or embarrass her. Instead, he placed a hand over hers on his arm and escorted her over to the seat that had been designated as hers.

He waited until she was seated before he let go of her hand and moved over to his own seat again. The rest of the guests sat down as well as he did before he gestured for the food to be brought out. Once it had been, he stood up again.

"Today, we are here to celebrate both my birthday and Her Highness' victory yesterday. So please, eat, drink and dance until your heart is content," he said before he accepted a glass of champagne that was handed to him by a servant. "To Her Highness, Princess Larissa," he said as he held up his glass and the others did the same.

"To Her Highness!" the others said as well, and Larissa felt herself blushing. She stood up cautiously, holding up her own glass to him as well.

"And to you, Your Imperial Majesty. Happy birthday," she said to him, meeting his gaze as they tapped their glasses together. She sat back down again, and the others did the same before everyone began to eat.

Larissa sighed as she ate in silence, placing her knife and fork down on the table beside her plate. She could tell that she didn't have much of an appetite, but she knew that she needed to eat to keep her strength up. She looked down at her plate before she blinked as she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Lady Maki told Tristan to give me this. She said it was a tonic for the pain and to help keep any infections at bay," Elissa said as she knelt down beside Larissa and held out the small vial to her.

"Thank you, Elissa," she said quietly before she accepted the vial that was handed to her.

She quickly removed the cap on the vial before she raised it to her lips and drank from it until it was empty before she handed the empty vial back to Elissa, who stood back up. She pulled a face at the taste of the tonic before she reached for her water and drank from it deeply to get the taste out of her mouth. She sighed after she swallowed her mouthful before she looked up and around the table.

Everyone was busy eating their meals and talking to one another and she was grateful for it. She knew as soon as they all moved into the ballroom that she would be receiving congratulations for her win yesterday. She closed her eyes and leant back in her seat, groaning at the thought. She wasn't sure if she had the energy to be doing that at all today.

Feeling eyes on her, she opened her own and looked around the room and table. A pair of smoky blue eyes stared back at her when she found them, and she frowned. She looked at the person carefully before her eyes fell on the scar that ran from the middle of their nose, down the left side of their face and down the middle of their left cheek. It ended just under his jaw on that side and she realised just who it was that was staring at her.

Prince Isidore of the Wade Kingdom was watching her from where he sat at the table. She gave him a small, cautious smile before her attention was drawn elsewhere as she felt a hand over hers. She looked at the hand before she looked up and found that it was Romulus' hand.

"Yes, Your Imperial Majesty? What is it?" she asked him as she looked at him carefully.

"It is time to go into the ballroom now, Your Highness. Your uncle has asked me to escort you into the room," he said to her as he stood up and walked over to stand at her side, waiting.

"Oh. Yes. Sorry. Thank you," she said to him as she turned slightly and went to stand up.

Her side had other ideas. It pulled rather painfully and caused her to clench her eyes shut as a hand flew to the wound. She pursed her lips as she did her best to get through the wave of pain that went through her. She felt a hand on her knee and when she opened her eyes, she saw Romulus was kneeling in front of her with a worried look in his eyes.

"Your Highness?" he asked her, and she gave his hand a gentle pat quickly.

"I'm fine," she said to him as she smiled at him gently. He looked at her carefully before he nodded his head and stood back up, helping her to her feet carefully and slowly.

He helped her into the ballroom now, taking her over to some seats that were near his throne. She sat down in the chair once he had helped her over to it, clutching at her side before she looked up at him. She gave him a nod in thanks, her chest heaving slightly as her breathing became slightly laboured from the pain. He frowned slightly as he held her hand still and he moved so that he was kneeling in front of her again. He looked at her carefully as he held her hands in his.

"Will you be alright?" he asked her in a soft voice as the rest of the guests came into the room. She nodded her head as she gave his hands a soft squeeze.

"I will be, Your Imperial Majesty. I promise," she said to him as Tristan and Elissa came hurrying over to them. Romulus glanced at them before he stood back up, letting go of her hands as he did.

"Alright. I will leave you in the care of your guard and maid for now. I will come and check back with you later," he said to her before he bowed and walked over to his throne before she could say anything in response.

Larissa blinked a few times before she turned to look at her uncle as he came over to check on her. He sat down beside her as the music started up and he looked at her carefully.

"Are you alright, Larissa?" he asked her in a soft voice as he reached over and took her hand gently. She gave him a small smile before responding.

"I am fine, Uncle. I promise," she said to him before she turned to look at the first lot of guests that wished to congratulate her on her win the day before.

***Author's note: Hey there everyone. I'm sorry this is a short one but the next should be a bit longer. More is happening as we go along! I hope you're enjoying it!***