Only one

"Nora, where have you been all day??" asked Wura as she looked at Nora who just walked into her room.

"Please forgive me my Queen, I offered to help one of the maids with her duties, and I was not able to leave until now" said Nora as she bowed her head, she could sense that Wura was very upset, and it was understandable, she did leave her alone all day.

"You left me here alone with his Majesty Nora" said Wura as she looked at Nora and she shook her head, she thought that she could trust her, but no, Nora ran away as soon as Liam came by.

"I am sorry my Queen…" said Nora as she did not know what else to say, she would agree to serve a punishment for disobeying her lady.

"I am ready to receive any punishment that you desire for me" said Nora as she did not dare look up, she could not face Wura, not when she left her alone when she needed her the most, what sort of personal maid was she if she did that? But she did not think of this at the time, she was just nervous, the tension in the room was unmissable, and she was sure that it was not in her place to be there at that time.

"Who said anything about a punishment??" asked Wura in surprise as she shook her head, Nora was just too much, she jumped from conclusion to conclusion.

"But I…" said Nora as she hesitated.

"But I disobeyed you my Queen, and for that I need to be punished" said Nora as those were the rules, any servant that could not serve their master well would be punished, or worse sent away.

"Nora, you did not disobey me" said Wura as she sighed, she scolded herself, Nora was so soft, she could be easily frightened, so she should not have spoken to her in annoyance like that in the first place.

"Nora, I am not talking to you as a maid right now, but as my most trusted confidant" said Wura as Nora kept her head bowed down.

"Look at me Nora" said Wura as Nora hesitated to do so.

"Please look at me" said Wura once again.

"Yes my Queen" said Nora as she raised her head and she looked at Wura.

"I am not upset that you left me… you had every right to do so" said Wura.

"All I want to know what why you left me in the first place, did you feel uncomfortable? Did you sense something wrong?" asked Wura as Nora did not say anything.

"Nora, you are always allowed to speak freely with me, especially when we are both alone" said Wura as she smiled, right now she was not even upset anymore, she felt like laughing, she had begged Nora to stay with her eyes, but that did not work at all, and well she ended up spending some time alone with Liam after so long,

"My Queen I…" said Nora as she hesitated.

"What is it Nora?" asked Wura as she smiled.

"My Queen, I believed that you and his Majesty had many personal matters to resolve, and they were between you and him, so I did not see why I should have stayed my Queen, please forgive me if I let you down" said Nora as she looked down.

"Oh Nora, you did not let me down, far from it, I believe you made the right choice" said Wura as she smiled.

"I did?" asked Nora in surprise as she looked up as Wura and Wura nodded her head.

"You were right, there were some things that his Majesty and I needed to discuss, and well, I do not think that we would have resolved our issues if you were here" said Wura as she smiled, she liked that she and Liam spoke together just like the times before, when they had nothing to worry about, when Liam was not King and always so busy.

"Ahh…" said Nora as she did not know that her running away like a coward would actually make such a huge difference.

"Yes Nora, so thank you" said Wura as she smiled.

"All I was upset about was that I could not find you anywhere afterwards, I wanted to go out and look for you, but I did not know where it was that you had gone, and that was why I was so upset, because you did not tell me where you were going before you left, I was very worried" said Wura as she smiled.

"Ahh, I am sorry my Queen, I will make sure to inform you where I am going next time my Queen" said Nora as she bowed her head, it made her feel appreciated that Wura was worried about her, even though she had left her alone and ran away.

"Yes, please do Nora, because I do not know what I would do without you" said Wura as she smiled and Nora smiled at her.

"So…" said Nora as she hesitated.

"So what Nora? What is it?" asked Wura as she smiled.

"So you and his Majesty have reconciled, My Queen?" asked Nora as she was curious, she did not want to seem like a gossip, but Wura did say that she could speak freely.

"Yes, we have" said Wura as she smiled.

"He apologized for avoiding me and… I…" said Wura as she smiled, she did not know why she was hesitating.

"You what my Queen?" asked Nora.

"Well, I am happy that we are no longer avoiding each other" said Wura as she smiled.

"I am glad that you are happy my Queen" said Nora as she smiled, she did not want to ask any more questions, because they would be too personal, from what she could see, it would seem that Wura had feelings for his Majesty, but she refused to admit them, or she did not know that she had feeling for him.

"Nora, did you know that Liam's Uncle arrived at the Castle today?" asked Wura as she moved on to more important matters.

"Ahh well yes my Queen, I happened to overheard the other maids speaking about the arrival of Royal Duke Nigel Engelwish" said Nora as she nodded her head.

"Well that came as a surprise to me, I never knew that his Majesty had an Uncle" said Wura.

"Well my Queen, that is understandable, only few people know that Royal Duke Nigel is the younger brother of her late Majesty Queen Vivian" said Nora.

"The Royal Duke is a rather gentle man, and he is rarely seen out in public" said Nora as she explained and Wura sat up straight on her bed.

"He is called a Royal Duke, why Is that?" asked Wura.

"Well my Queen that is because at the time her late Majesty became Queen, her family was of low royal status, they were too low to be considered Princes, and too high to not have a title at all, and hence why his Majesty created the title of Royal Duke for Duke Nigel" said Nora as she explained.

"Ah.. I see now" said Wura as now it made sense, now she knew why the Royal Duke was not part of the seven Duke families.

"Yes my Queen" said Nora as she nodded her head.

"Well I think that Royal Duke Nigel is a very nice man" said Wura as she smiled.

"I have heard so my Queen, although he does get ill very easily, and hence why he resides in Livington, where the weather is not too hot or neither too cold" said Nora as she explained, since she was Wura's personal maid, she had to make sure that she knew everything there was to know about the Royal family, so that way, she would be able to provide her Queen with all the necessary information that she needed.

"Well then if that is the case, I do not think that it Is safe for him to be here, it is still cold" said Wura as now she was concerned.

"I am sure that he will be fine my Queen, the winter is already on its last course and Spring is well underway" said Nora.

"Well you are correct about that Nora" said Wura.

"Nora, have you eaten yet?" asked Wura as she smiled.

"Ahh… well yes my Queen, I have" said Nora as she nodded her head.

"Alright then" said Wura as she smiled.

"My Queen, would you like me to prepare your bath?" asked Nora as she smiled.

"No, no, that is not necessary Nora" said Wura as she shook her head.

"Alright my Queen" said Nora as she smiled.

"But you can help me get out of this dress, I cannot reach the laces myself" said Wura as she laughed and she stood up as she walked to Nora.

"Alright my Queen" said Nora as she laughed and she began to undo the laces behind the dress.

"My Queen" said Nora.

"Yes Nora?" asked Wura as she smiled.

"Thank you… for being so kind to me Nora" said Nora as she smiled.

"You do not need to thank me Nora, thank you for always being by my side" said Wura as she smiled and Nora smiled.

…

The next Morning.

"Ahh Good Morrow my Queen" said Nigel as he smiled and he walked into the dining room as he saw Wura already sitting down at her usual spot at the dining table.

"Good Morrow Uncle Nigel" said Wura as she smiled at Nigel and he took his spot on the dining table as he saw that Wura was already drinking her morning tea.

"How was your night Uncle Nigel?" asked Wura as she smiled.

"It was very good my Queen, thank you for asking" said Nigel as he smiled and Wura smiled back at him.

"I saw Liam on my way here, it would seem that he will be running a little bit late" said Nigel as he smiled.

"Oh I understand, he is a very busy man after all" said Wura as she smiled, which was why she was really surprised yesterday when she saw Liam suddenly appear unannounced, in her room.

"I do hope he is not too busy for you my Queen" said Nigel as he smiled, he really did hope that his nephew was not neglecting his wife, because he could easily neglect others when he got stressed.

"No, not at all Uncle, and even if he was, I would understand, running a Kingdom is not easy at all" said Wura as she smiled politely, not like she and Liam were that close that he needed to care for her at all times.

"Even still my Queen, apart from the Kingdom, you should be the most important person to him" said Nigel as he smiled and Wura just smiled back at him, she was sure that she was the last person on his mind.

"Uncle Nigel… does his Majesty have any other family members?" asked Wura as she was curious, she did not want to be caught of guard like last time, and she wanted to know more about Liam's family.

"Ah… well my Queen, No, not at all, I am afraid that I am the only one left" said Nigel as he smiled sadly, he was Liam's only living family member, ever since Alaric had passed.

"Oh… I see" said Wura.

"And what of your wife Uncle?" asked Wura as she was still curious.

"I am widower my Queen, my wife passed about 15 years ago" said Nigel with a sad smile.

"Oh, I am so sorry, I was being insensitive" said Wura as she quickly apologized.

"No, not at all my Queen, you were not insensitive at all" said Nigel as he smiled.

"My wife passed during childbirth" said Nigel.

"And the child?" asked Wura.

"Stillborn" said Nigel as he smiled sadly.

"Oh, I am so sorry" said Wura.

"There is no need to be my Queen, things happen, such is life" said Nigel as he smiled, he never remarried since his wife and his child had passed.

"My child… she was a girl" said Nigel as he smiled sadly, he did not even get to hold her in his arms once, before the midwives took her" said Nigel.

"Uncle Nigel… I… I am sorry" said Wura as that was the only thing she could say at this point, losing both your wife and your child in the same day was just horrible, very terrible.

"You apologize for nothing my Queen" said Nigel as he smiled.

"But I do have to admit that, at that point in time, everything was hard for me, I had no will to go now, but Alaric, and my beloved Nephew Liam, my only family members, they were there for me" said Nigel as he smiled and Wura smiled.

"Which is why in the end, there is nothing much more important than family" said Nigel as he smiled and Wura smiled as well, she had to agree with him, that was the truth, they all would be nowhere without family.

"Which is why My Queen, I simply cannot wait for you and Liam to start your own family as well" said Nigel as he smiled and the smile on Wura's face almost wavered as the mere thought of her having a child for Liam was… it was scary to her.

"Uncle, I would prefer it if you just call me Wura, everyone close to me does" said Wura as she smiled.

"Are you sure about that my Queen, I do not want to disrespect you?" asked Nigel as he smiled.

"Of course Uncle, we are family after all" said Wura as she smiled and Nigel smiled at her, he was blessed that his Nephew found such a kind, gracious, and thoughtful woman.