The Hathway Kingdom (Book 2)

Twenty-Two.

~Twenty-Two. ~

Iovianus' crowning ceremony was the following day. It was being held in the early hours of the morning as the Wade family tradition was to have a feast that lasted the entire day and then turned into a relaxed and informal ball in the evening to celebrate. Larissa wasn't looking forward to either as she had hoped to leave as soon as the ceremony was over with but, upon being informed of what it entailed by the King and Queen at their dinner the night before, Larissa and Professor Strickland had both come to realise that they wouldn't be able to leave for the next two days. At the very least.

Larissa sighed as she came out of the bathroom attached to the room she had been giving, drying her hair with a towel, and wearing the gown that went under her dress and a bathrobe. She'd had a look at her wounds as best she could and from what she had seen, it looked like the wounds were nothing more than scars now. There was still a great deal of pain from them, and they twinged, tugged, and sent a searing pain right up her spine and out to her fingers when they decided to act up. Out of all the wounds she had received in this last year alone, the ones on her back were by far the worst she had ever experienced.

She looked up as she heard movement and she saw Elissa hanging out her dress for the ceremony as well as placing her shoes on the floor below the dress. She walked over and held out the towel to Elissa, who accepted it and stepped back to allow Larissa a chance to examine her dress.

Made from a champagne-coloured fabric that was soft to the touch and sewn together with gold lurex thread, the dress would fit everything that it needed to and more. The design of the dress made it so that it was a form-fitting dress, but not in a way that Larissa would be uncomfortable after wearing it for the entire day. With a tear-drop shaped neckline that went down her chest to just above her breasts, exposing the bare minimum of them and her cleavage before going up her neck in a high collar, coming to a stop just underneath her jaw. The sleeves were cropped, ending just below her shoulders and there was a belt made from the same material as the dress and embellished with a simple set of crystals sat at her waist. The skirt of the dress was form-fitting as well, hugging her legs to halfway down her thighs where it flared out, with the back of the skirt stretching out into a small train.

"Hmm...Appropriate colour given that their colours are red and gold," Larissa said as she turned to Elissa as she came over and Elissa nodded her head.

"But of course, Your Majesty. You know I only ever pick the best for you," Elissa said with a sniff before she helped Larissa get ready.

The ceremony was held in the throne room, with the King and Queen sitting on their thrones and Iovianus kneeling before them as the Priest went through the speech, which was similar to the one that the King or Queen recited during their own coronation. Larissa recognised them as they were the same, she had said during her own. Larissa was seated on a similar set of thrones just off to the left of the King and Queen, being the only other monarch present at the crowning ceremony.

The moment that the ceremony was over, Iovianus took his place beside his father and began receiving congratulations from those gathered for the ceremony. This went on until the ballroom was ready, the only other room within the palace large enough for those gathered to eat, drink and be merry until their hearts were content. Throughout the congratulations he was receiving, Iovianus' eyes found their way to Larissa's, and he was surprised to see sympathy shining in those green eyes.

He had a feeling that she had to go through something awfully similar at her own coronation. This event was of no comparison to her coronation, however. Hers would have been such a grand event that she had monarchs from around the world attending to give her endless congratulations that no doubt bored her to tears. She was also the only daughter and heir of an immensely powerful family. Her coronation was something to be celebrated as much as that of the Emperor's coronation.