I was a toddler when I saw my mother struggling with severe headache. The innocent little me kissed her forehead trying to soothe her. Her happy smile was the reward. All I craved for as rewards, for healing those people since my early teenage years, were smiles of happiness; not gratitude.
- Diary Of Ophelia
"What were you thinking Sia? You were being reckless back there. Instant duel? Couldn't you have talked first? I've been out of my mind with worry. " Barak was near to shouting his words out.
"Barak...."
"Now don't 'Barak' me. Yes, I know that you are capable. I know that you can hold the fort yourself. But you are so small...."
"I'm as old as you are!" Celosia interrupted him accompanied with an eye roll.
"Oh come now, Sia. You were born after me and you are so short."
"We are twins. I'm not short, I'm petite. Period."
"You are my little..."
"No..."
"Yes..."
"No..." Her voice was getting fainter.
"Ye....Sia!" His voice was filled with panic.
He stopped his horse and jumped down in a hurry. Pegasus had stopped moving when he felt his mistress leaning on him. Barak rushed to hold her to prevent her from falling down.
"I'm sorry, Pegasus. But you'll have to carry me too." Barak got onto the white horse and held his sister with care. She was bleeding all over and he found his hands covered with blood. He whistled to his horse to follow them. "Beethoven, hip hip."
Thus the two horses and their companions continued their journey to the palace. Alec was waiting for them in the courtyard.
"Alec, call Epione. Sia has fainted. Don't let little sunshine know about the matter. Leo will handle the responsibilities of the banquet. You can also stay there after informing Epione."
"Yes brother. Is she okay?"
"I reckon she is. Wait, help me get her down."
Together they managed to bring her to the ground. Barak carried her into her chambers while Alec rushed to get Epione.
Barak placed his twin with great care on her bed. The sheets drank up the blood that was freely flowing from the numerous wounds on her body. Barak was at a lose of his next actions. He turned to the entrance of the room hearing the hurried footsteps. The Healer has come.
"Sia...." Epione stood still for a moment and then started shooting off orders. "Barak, go get warm water. I've given them instructions."
Epione started the treatment right away. According to their medical beliefs, the four humours are to be balanced. One of the main humours, blood was draining out from Celosia's body and it should be stopped. With the help of the maids Epione removed the outer clothings and examined the numerous wounds. Hearing the footsteps she instructed the maids to receive the warm water from Barak. They brought in the water and placed it near her. Epione used the clean cotton clothes and warm water to wipe away the blood and started stitching up the wounds.
'Hope she'll remain unconscious till I can finish the job.' The vinegar was applied to the wound after closing it and was bandaged using white cotton cloth strips. Epione was trying her best to speed up the process.
-------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile in another part of the palace:
Jason was brought into the healing facility and placed on the wooden bench.
"Remove his upper clothes," Danaë instructed Andreas. The other healers rushed to prepare the basic requirements and placed it near her.
"Lieutenant, what's the matter? Get away from there. He has already lost a significant amount of blood."
"But Your Highness...." His voice was filled with panic. He moved aside.
"What happened?" Danaë was perplexed.
She was surprised at the sight that greeted her eyes and sighed. " She used it!!"
"Who used what??" Andreas was furious hearing someone used something against his future monarch.
"Don't worry. It's just a poison created by my daughter. She has the antidote. Alec, bring Epione here. Asklepios, start wiping away the blood. Don't start stitching the wounds before she arrives. Keep everything ready. I'll have to go in her place." She instructed her senior most disciple.
"Nobody else is to mess with the treatment. Thea you can remain and observe." She rushed out to her eldest daughter's chambers after giving the orders.
"How was the Crown Prince be poisoned?" Andreas had come out of the stupor created by the sudden revelation and speedy orders. Danaë had already been out of earshot.
"Perseus coats his sword with various poisons as a rule." Alec answered instead of his mother.
Andreas was so angry with the reply and yelled with no restraint, "Couldn't he have mentioned that bloody fact before he disappeared. Or atleast even when he reached the safety of the palace??"
"She fainted. She was injured heavily for your damn info..." Alec yelled right back but was interrupted by a voice near to tears.
" Brother...."
The two men were stunned when they realised the presence of the little girl in the room and came to their senses. Even Jason had come out of his pain induced slumber.
"Stop it both of you. I'm fine. It's just some poison."
"It sure is some poison. You resemble a tree covered with moss. You are so green." Andreas did not shout any more.
Alec was soothing Thea with gentle words on the side.
"Hello everyone, so where is the guy who injured our gallant Lieutenant?" A bossy voice asked from the entrance.
Andreas turned around with a glare aimed at that voice and was frozen for a moment. He righted himself quickly but that frozen expression hadn't escaped his friend's notice, who smiled with a playful glint in his eyes.
"Well, that would be me. How is he?"
"Faring well, no thanks to you."
"Asklepios, are his wounds cleaned well? Prepare the warm water and the cotton strips. And what about charcoal and tannic acid?"
"I've prepared it Princess." He replied.
"Wait. Aren't you too young to be a healer?" Andreas sneered with disbelief.
"That is none of your business, pretty boy." Epione's words were coated with a layer of frost.
" You are treating our future monarch, little Healer." Andreas was incensed because she had called him, the mighty lieutenant of the Falcon Army, a pretty boy.
Jason was enjoying the banter between the two, inspite of the pain tearing into his nerves.
" I trust the Queen, Andreas. Let the Princess treat me." Jason interrupted them.
"Yes, My Lord."
"You are quite courageous, Crown Prince. You injured our Lieutenant and are still confident that I won't hurt you." Epione commented while mixing the charcoal with tannic acid and a secret ingredient that she had in her pouch.
"Do I have other choice, Princess?" Jason asked her fondly like an adult playing along with a small child.
"Of course not. The antidote to my poison is not public knowledge." Epione applied the mixture onto the wounds and instructed Asklepios to stitch up the wounds. Then she started applying the antidote on the rest of the wounds. When they completed the treatment, Jason resembled a newly made mummy from waist-up.
"There. It's done. Take rest. Don't let your wounds open up. And that means no vigorous workouts for minimum ten days. I would recommend staying in bed for the time being. Asklepios will take over your treatment from now on. Change the dressing every day." Epione prepared to leave. She smiled at Jason, the smile a doctor gives to a patient who made no fuss and didn't cry out while stitching the wounds, nodded at Asklepios and walked out of the door without even glancing at Andreas.
Alec left after instructing the maids to provide the Crown Prince with all the comforts and to show the soldiers of The Falcon Army to their accomodation.
"I'll stay with the Crown Prince." Andreas answered Alec's quizzical statement about his accomodation for the time being.
"Okay. I'll take my leave now. Get well soon, Jason."
---------------------------------------
"Rude!"
"Rude!? He was quite cordial towards us." Jason was bewildered with his Lieutenant's comment. They were in a private room in the healing facility; Jason was settling in quite fine.
"I was talking about the little Healer." Andreas sounded rude himself.
" Why? Because she ignored you?" Jason was laughing. And winced the nxt moment due to the intense pain that shot up the chest.
Andreas didn't notice. He was still frowning. Jason lay down on the bed with a layer of cotton clothes providing partial comfort. The room fell into a contemplative silence. The two men were thinking about the same person but with different perspectives.
"She seems like a genius in medicine. Not to mention the Queen herself and all the other healers. The island must have a huge collection of medicinal herbs in their possession, as the ones I observed in the main room were all fresh. Maybe there exits a cure for it?" Jason asked out loud.
"Jason, we've tried. In all the possible ways. And if you want to, we'll try this too. But it's too early for hope. Are you sure that the monarch will agree?" Andreas replied in a sombre voice.
" He has to. I'm not giving up. The stakes are too high." Jason sounded determined. Andreas sighed to himself.
Copyright owned by Mila Alaia
All rights reserved
Lots of ❤️
Mila Alaia