Leave the Castle

"Marli you asked to see me?" asked Alaric as he saw Lady Marli walk into his office as he looked up from his desk.

"Yes your Majesty, I ama sorry if I am bothering you" said Lady Marli as she smiled and she bowed her head.

"No, not at all, not at all, please sit" said Alaric as he smiled.

"Thank you your Majesty, you truly are too generous" said Lady Marli as she smiled and she sat down across Alaric's desk.

"So what brings you to my office this noon?" asked Alaric as he smiled.

"Ahh well your Majesty, I wanted to discuss something very important with you" said Lady Marli.

"Alright, I am all ears, you may go on" said Alaric as he smiled.

"Your Majesty, I have given this much thought and…" said Lady Marli as she paused.

"And I would like to leave the Castle" said Lady Marli.

"Only for a little while" she added quickly as she saw the look on Alaric's face.

"Oh well alright, you scared me there Marli" said Alaric as he laughed, he had thought that Lady Marli wanted to leave the Castle for good.

"I thought you meant that you wanted to leave the Castle for good" said Alaric as he laughed.

"Ahh no, no your Majesty, I could never do that" said Lady Marli as she laughed and she shook her head.

"The Castle will forever be my home, I grew up here, and most of my life is here" said Lady Marli as she smiled.

"I only want to leave for a little while, I need a change of scenery" said Lady Marli as she smiled.

"I can understand that Marli" said Alaric as he smiled.

"But what brought about this sudden thought of you leaving the Castle?" asked Alaric as he had known Marli since she was a little girl, he had seen her grown up, and she had always been here, even when he had gifted her and her husband a house in one of the towns, they gladly accepted it, but they did not move from the Castle.

"Well my King, I recently had a conversation with someone very special, and what she said made me to think that I needed a change of scenery" said Lady Marli as she smiled.

"I have served in this Castle for many years, since I was a little girl, and I truly do not regret that at all, I owe who I have become to you" said Lady Marli.

"But I believe that it is time for me to have some time to myself" said Lady Marli as she smiled.

"I truly do agree with you Marli" said Alaric.

"You have served me and every single person in this Castle well, and if you need some time to yourself, then you may go ahead" said Alaric as he smiled.

"Thank you your Majesty" said Lady Marli as she smiled, Alaric was a very generous and kind man.

"You are welcome my dear" said Alaric as he smiled.

"The only concern that I have is that who will take over your duties when you leave?" asked Alaric.

"Ahh well your Majesty, I have also thought of that, and I have concluded that I will hand over my duties to a certain maid when the time for me to leave is come" said Lady Marli

"She is more than capable, and she has been under me for a long time now, she is very trustworthy, and I believe that she will be able to lead the other maids, as well as do her own duties" said Lady Marli.

"Alright, I am glad that you already have someone in mind to take over your duties" said Alaric as he smiled.

"Yes your Majesty" said Lady Marli as she smiled.

"So when will you be leaving?" asked Alaric as he smiled.

"Well tomorrow morning your Majesty" said Lady Marli.

"And when will you be returning?" asked Alaric.

"Well I do not know at this moment your Majesty, but I will not be gone for too long" said Lady Marli.

"Alright then Marli, I wish you all the best, and may God be with you" said Alaric.

"Thank you your Majesty, Thank you" said Lady Marli as she smiled.

…

Later that day.

"My princess, how did you enjoy your picnic?" asked Nora as she was walking behind Wura as they were on their way to the dining room.

"Well it was very nice Nora, thank you for asking" said Wura as she smiled at Nora.

"You are welcome my princess" said Nora as she smiled.

"You knew about the picnic Nora, and you were very quiet" said Wura as she smiled.

"Ahh well yes my princess, I am sorry that I did not inform you, I was asked not to" said Nora as she apologized.

"That is alright Nora, I understand" said Wura as she smiled.

"Thank you my princes" said Nora as she smiled, Wura could not lie, she enjoyed going out of the Castle for a change, and she got to ride a horse, even though she had to share Nolan with Liam because he was his horse, but overall she enjoyed her day.

"My princess, I will go now, please enjoy dinner" said Nora as she smiled.

"Alright Nora, I will, and you should do the same" said Wura as she turned to look at Wura and she smiled as Nora bowed her head and she left as Wura entered into the dining room, Alaric and Liam were already there.

"Good Evening your Majesty" said Wura as she smiled at Alaric as she sat down beside Liam.

"Good Evening" she said as she smiled at him.

"Good evening Wura" said Liam as he smiled at her.

"Ahh my dear, good evening, I hope that you enjoyed your picnic" said Alaric as he smiled.

"Yes your Majesty, I did" said Wura as she smiled.

"You see my boy, I told you that she would enjoy it" said Alaric as he smiled and he looked at Liam.

"Mhmm of course father" said Liam as he smiled and he shook his head.

"The forest really is quiet and peaceful" said Wura as she smiled, and she felt like that was the first time she was truly honest with Liam, and he was being very understanding.

"Ahh my boy, where is your ring?" asked Alaric as he glanced down at Liam's hand that was on the table, and he suddenly noticed that Liam's ring had disappeared.

Wura looked at Liam, she did not know what he was going to say, Alaric was very sensitive to his surroundings.

"Well father, I was never really one for jewellery, so I took it off" said Liam as he replied simply.

"Hmm I see" said Alaric as he looked at Wura's hand and she still had her ring, Wura sighed in relief, she was thankful that she had decided not to remove her ring, because it would raise questioning, she had only kept Liam's ring in a very safe place.

"Father you also do not like jewellery as well" said Liam.

"That is true my boy that is true" said Alaric.

"So let us eat" said Alaric as he smiled and they began to eat, it was not up to a few minutes that Alaric spoke up.

"So my dear, are you with child yet?" asked Alaric with a smile as Wura was drinking her wine and she immediately spit it out as she coughed, she was not ready for that question at all, that was totally unexpected.

"Are you alright?" asked Liam as he turned to look at Wura as she coughed and she nodded her head.

"Yes I am" she said as she stopped coughing and she turned to look at Alaric.

"I am sorry if I caused you any discomfort my dear" said Alaric as he smiled.

"But I am not getting any younger, and my wish is to have a grandchild of my own" said Alaric as he smiled, Wura just looked at him, she could not believe this, she and Liam had not even slept together, not to even talk about having child, she was not ready to be a mother at all, she was too young for that.

"Father, do you not think that you are looking too into the future?" asked Liam.

"We have only gotten married, and we are not ready for a child yet" said Liam as he looked at his father and Wura looked at him as she shook her head, he was right, and he spoke the truth, a child??? And entire child?? That was no joke at all.

"Oh alright my boy, you are right" said Alaric as he smiled.

"But do tell me my boy, how many children do you want?" asked Alaric as he looked at Liam and he smiled.

"I want four" replied Liam plainly and he took a sip of his wine.

"Four??" asked Wura to herself as she looked at Liam.