Commitment

"What is that??" asked Wura as she turned to look at Liam in utter confusion.

"Well what does it look like?" asked Liam as he smiled and he looked at Wura, as the pink dress she was wearing swept through he snow.

"A picnic??" asked Wura as she could not understand, there was a red checkerboard cloth laid on the somewhat green grass, and there was a woven basket on the cloth.

"Mhmm" said Liam as he smiled.

"But it is the middle of winter" said Wura in utter confusion.

"Mhmm, you can tell my father that" said Liam as he laughed.

"Come" said Liam as he began to walk and Wura followed after him, she could not believe this, she had never been on a picnic in winter before, she had been on a picnic with her family in the summer and spring, but she had never heard of a picnic in the winter before, well it turns out that there was a first time for everything.

"I am still surprised, a picnic in winter??" asked Wura as she and Liam sat down on the cloth.

"My father is filled with many bright ideas" said Liam as he laughed.

"He claims that he we need to spend time together, and what better place to spend more time than to have a picnic… in winter" said Liam as he laughed.

"Haha, well there is a first time for everything" said Wura as she laughed.

"It is rather warm here" she said as she felt hot, which she found weird seeing as there was still a bit of snow around them.

"That is because there is a hot springs nearby, which keeps this area of the forest warm" said Liam as he smiled.

"I see" said Wura as she seemed to be thinking, so she was actually right for only wearing a little fur coat that reached to her waist.

"Do you want to take a swim?" asked Liam as he smiled.

"What?? No" said Wura as she shook her head.

"No your highness, No I do not want to swim" said Wura as she laughed.

"I do not even know how to" said Wura as she laughed and she shook her head.

"How come?" asked Liam as he smiled.

"I do not really like water, and I have never learnt how to swim" said Wura as she laughed.

"Well when I was younger, I used to sneak out and swim out here" said Liam as he laughed.

"Oh your highness, so you were a troublemaker?" asked Wura as she laughed.

"Not quite, but I did like to adventure a lot" said Liam as he laughed.

"I never took you as the adventure type" said Wura as she laughed.

"So what do you say?" asked Liam.

"I can teach you how to swim" said Liam as he smiled.

"Oh no, no your Highness, I do not want to get wet" said Wura as she laughed and she shook her head.

"Are you sure?" asked Liam as he smiled.

"Your highness, stop insisting, I do not want to swim" said Wura as she laughed, she did not want to end up drowning, and besides what would she wear if she got her clothes wet.

"How about we eat hmm??" asked Wura as she looked down at the basket as she smiled.

"Alright then" said Liam as he smiled, he did not insist anymore, he found the way Wura shook her head cute.

"This place does look nice, and quiet" said Wura as she smiled, she liked the gesture, she actually was getting bored in the Castle, and it felt good for her to go somewhere else for a change.

"Yes, it is very quiet and peaceful" said Liam as he looked around at the trees, there were no animals here at all, and it was just so quiet.

"And it would seem like all the animals have migrated due to the winter" said Liam as he could no longer see Nolan, he wondered how his father arranged all this so quickly, his only thought was that his father had been planning to send the both of them off alone here for a long time now.

"I do not blame them, winter in Wyverdale is always very harsh for many animals" said Wura as she opened up the woven basket.

"Oooh fruitcake" said Wura as she smiled and she brought out a plate of fruit cake covered in a cloth.

"Hmm what a surprise" said Liam as he was now sure that this was not planned in a day.

"I am starting to believe that his Majesty just did not develop this idea of his on a whim" said Wura as she laughed and she ate a piece of the fruitcake.

"There is no such thing as an idea that just popped into his head with my father" said Liam as he laughed and he ate the fruitcake and Wura laughed as well, day by day, she was getting to learn the type of person Alaric was.

"And you agreed with him?" asked Wura as she looked at Liam.

"Well I had no other choice, my father would not let me rest" said Liam as he laughed.

"Well enough about that, we are already here, so let us enjoy this wonderful, quiet scenery" said Liam as he smiled.

"I agree with you on that" said Wura as she smiled and she brought out some more food from the woven basket and she placed them on the cloth as she and Liam ate.

…

"Well, I better go look for Nolan, I can no longer see him" said Liam as he stood up as Wura packed all the plates back in the basket as they had finished eating.

"Alright then" said Wura and Liam smiled as he went to go and look for Nolan.

"*Sigh*" said Wura as she sighed and she looked around, everywhere was so peaceful, but why did she not feel that on the inside? She could smile, but she just did not feel happy at all, and she did not know why.

She looked down at her hand, and her wedding ring caught her eye, this thing was just a constant reminder of how unhappy she was, if she could choose she would not have married Liam, she knew better now, and yet she could no longer turn back.

Wura twiddled with the ring on her finger, oh how much she wanted to remove it, because she did not like it at all, she did not feel like she deserved it.

As Wura was lost I her thoughts she did not realize that Liam had already come back, and he had sat down across her and she did not notice.

"Is everything alright?" asked Liam with a smile as he snapped Wura out of her thoughts.

"Ah…" said Wura as she looked up, she did not even notice when he sat down across her.

"Are you alright?" asked Liam as he smiled.

"Ah yes… yes I am your highness" said Wura as she replied.

"Do you not like your ring?" asked Liam as he looked down at Wura's finger as he noticed that she was twiddling with the ring.

"No… no your highness, I like it… it is very pretty" said Wura as she looked down at the ring and she smiled, it was the prettiest ring she had ever seen, with the rubies shiny brightly on it.

"But…" said Wura as she hesitated.

"But what??" asked Liam as he noticed that Wura did not feel comfortable.

"I do not think that I deserve this ring" said Wura.

"And why do you say so?" asked Liam.

"Well…" said Wura as she hesitated.

"Well… a ring is a sign of commitment between two people, to show their love for each other" said Wura.

"I do not love you… and neither do you love me" said Wura as she looked up at Liam.

"I feel guilty" said Wura.

"Because not only are we lying to people around us, but we are lying to ourselves as well" said Wura as she looked very sad.

"But I do not complain, I am as much to blame as you are" said Liam as he smiled, he liked it when she was being purely honest with him.

"I know that you do not, and I am grateful for that" said Wura as she smiled at him.

"But we do not deserve to lie to each other like this" said Wura.

"So you are not willing to love me?" asked Liam as he looked at Liam.

"…" said Wura as she did not reply to him, the answer was yes, she did not see him as someone she would fall in love with, he may have been very nice, but she just did not like him in that way.

"I take your silence as a yes" said Liam as he smiled.

"Your highness, It is not that…" said Wura as she tried to explain herself.

"Shush" said Liam as he cut her off and he smiled at her.

"You do not need to say anything at all" he said.

"I understand you, and you do not need to be forced into anything that you do not want to do" said Liam.

"Here" said Liam as he removed the wedding ring from his finger and he placed it in Wura's hands.

"Your highness, why are you giving me your ring?" asked Wura as she looked down at his ring that was in the palm of her hand.

"I want you to keep it, you are right, a ring is a symbol of a commitment between two people, and we truly do not have that commitment between us" said Liam as he smiled.

"When you are ready, you can choose to decide what you want to do with that ring" said Liam.

"But your highness, what will you tell his Majesty??" asked Wura as she looked up at Liam.

"I was never one for jewellery in the first place" said Liam as he smiled.

"Thank… Thank you your highness" said Wura as she smiled sweetly at him.

"You are welcome" said Liam as he smiled at her sweetly, he did not want her to feel obligated to love him, that was not right at all, it was her decision to decide, and he did not love her either, to everyone they were a loving husband and wife, while to each other, they were nothing less than strangers.

"I believe that we should be going now" said Liam as he stood up.

"Alright" said Wura as she smiled and she stood up.

"What about all this?" asked Wura as she looked at the picnic cloth and basket.

"I am sure that one of the maids will come and clean it up" said Liam.

"Alright then" said Wura as she followed after Liam.