The Heart of The Heir | completed

11: The General

~Raya Aliña~

I stood up abruptly at the sight of Ezran falling on my floor.

I looked over at Adalia as she also stared at him. Her hands covering her mouth and a shaking having taken over. She looked over at me with a warning.

I hurry around my desk towards the prince in my doorway. Unconscious.

"Who is that?" Adalia asks. I can feel her behind me, trying to look.

My tone becomes serious, "If you want to keep your head on your shoulders, you will not utter a word beyond this room about what is happening." I look up at her. She's hesitant to answer but she finally does with a shaking nod.

"Good, now help me flip him." I say as I start to push him up on his side.

I can see the handle of a dagger in his side, blood getting all over my mothers rugs.

This wasn't new to me, stumbling into my office at some hour in the night with his blood or organs not where it's supposed to be.

"Okay," I said, mostly to myself. I assessed the wound more closely and decided what I should do.

I went for pulling the dagger out. But when I tried that, Ezran jolted awake and started screaming. I looked at the dagger and with what I could see, the dagger was formed in a zigzag manner, meaning if I pulled this straight out, it could possibly knick and artery or something else very important.

"Stop!" She said. I looked up at her and she drops to her knees on the other side of Ezran. I Watch her closely, and I don't even question her when she pulls out a dagger from her hip.

She cuts the fabric around the wound and wipes some of the blood away with her fingers. She then points the dagger in a way to create space for the blade to come out of his side without hurting him to much.

She cuts the flesh on both sides, not a tremble in her hands.

Then she grabs the hilt of the blade and carelessly pulls it out of his side. He didn't wake or make a sound, almost as if he was numb.

She looks up at me and smiles, "Trust me, it's not as painful as it looks."

I turn my head, confused, "You've done this before?"

She laughs and pulls out the bandage that was sitting on top of my bag. "I've learned a few things over there," she cleaned his wound, "Many things, actually."

"Like what?" It was clear she learned to tend to wounds.

She was silent for a few seconds... a little longer than I hoped.

"I learned how to survive." Is all she said.

She stood up and I watched her, "Whoever this man is, you must keep him bedridden for a week to let the wound heal. I stopped the bleeding but if he moves to much, with out stitches, he could die. Get a needle and thread in him by morning and he'll live to see another week. Maybe."

She had completely bandaged him up and not a single drop of blood got on her clothes. She rolled her shoulders and checked her hands. Then she walked to the door.

I stopped her just before she left, "Adalia, wait-"

She interrupted me, "I don't care who he is, so I won't say anything. Just make sure he stays alive." And then she was gone.

~

"Holy shit!" Ezran groaned loudly. He tried sitting up but failed from the pain that I assume was now shooting through his side. "What happened?"