The Dukedom

"Have you had time to talk to Baron Melvin?" asked Liam as he looked at Mero as he sat opposite of him as he was sitting at his desk.

"Yes I have" replied Mero.

"And what did he say?" asked Liam.

"He assured me that all is well, and that if you so wish to check what he had been doing thus far, that you are more than welcome to come and see him as King" said Mero as he explained.

"Do you think that he is lying?" asked Liam as he smiled.

"I cannot tell, he seems rather nice…too nice I might add" said Mero.

"We are told to watch out for people who seem too nice" said Liam as he smiled.

"But I doubt that he would do anything, while my Father was on the Throne, there was still some sense of Security" said Liam.

"And I am more than young enough to journey down and see if the lands he was given to cultivate are being used rightly" said Liam as he smiled.

"So you will go to Neverthal?" asked Mero.

"Well not necessary at this point in time, but soon, once everything in the Kingdom has settled down, once Spring comes" said Liam as he smiled, he had many plans, many thoughts in his mind, on how to make his Kingdom a better place, and also how to get rid of all those who were hindering the progress and betterment of the Kingdom.

"I see" said Mero.

"When you are ready to go, just inform me, I will be more than happy to accompany you" said Mero.

"Thank you Mero, you do not need to tell me, I already know where your loyalty lies" said Liam as he smiled and Mero smiled as well.

"But for now, I want you to focus more on the training of the Knights, Spring is well underway, and their training will commence full force, they have to be ready for anything" said Liam.

"As you wish" said Mero as he nodded his head

"*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*" came the knock on the door of Liam's office as Liam turned to look at the door.

"Enter" said Liam as he turned back to look at his desk when the door opened and Wura walked in.

"Good Morrow your Majesty" said Wura as she smiled and she walked to Liam's desk.

"Good Morrow Wura" said Liam as he smiled, he was surprised to say the least, he did not see her this morning, so he wondered what she was doing his office, not that he did not want her to be here, but he wondered if she came here just to see him, or for something very important.

"Good Morrow my Queen" said Mero as he smiled and he bowed his head.

"Ahh, Good Morrow Mero, forgive me, I did not notice you over there" said Wura as she laughed sheepishly.

"No need for that my Queen" said Mero as he smiled and he raised his head as Liam narrowed his eyes at Mero and then at Wura, since when were they so close that Wura even called Mero by his first name?

"Well since you are here now my Queen, I will take me leave" said Mero as he smiled and he stood up.

"I hope that I am not interrupting anything…" said Wura as she felt like Mero was leaving because of her.

"No, not at all my Queen, I was about to take my leave before you came in" said Mero as he smiled.

"Alright then" said Wura as she smiled.

"I will see you later my King" said Mero as he turned to look at Liam and he bowed as he smiled.

"Hmm, see you Mero" said Liam as he still had an indescribable look on his face, and Mero smiled once more as he walked out of the room and he closed the door behind him.

"Please sit" said Liam as he smiled and he looked at Wura as she looked at him.

"Ahh, Thank you, your Majesty" said Wura as she smiled and she sat down across him on the other chair.

"I hope that I am not disturbing you your Majesty?" asked Wura as she smiled.

"No, not at all Wura" said Liam as he smiled.

"You never disturb me" said Liam as he smiled and Wura cleared her throat.

"So to what do I owe this visit of yours this nice morning?" asked Liam as he smiled, he truly was curious.

"Ahhh, well your Majesty, I was going through some manuscripts" said Wura as she showed him the documents that she had been holding in her hand.

"And I came across the Royal Law of Year three, in this line" said Wura as she pointed to the line and she handed him the document as Liam skimmed through the text.

"I am confused, I have never heard of such law before" said Wura as she frowned, she had read many books about the Kingdom, but she had never came across this law before.

"I was hoping that you would know what the law was" said Wura as Liam stopped looking at the text as he looked up at her.

"Well the Royal Law of year three simply states that, during the end of Summer, the people will pay the taxes due to the Kingdom once that season expires, and it will not be until the next Summer of the next year that they will pay taxes once more" said Liam as he explained.

"Ahh… I see now, thank you, your Majesty" said Wura as now it made sense, she had an idea that the law would be about taxes, because the Royal law of year four was about taxes as well.

"You are welcome" said Liam as he smiled and Wura smiled, her thoughts were right, she knew that if there was someone who would know about this Law it would be Liam.

"I was just so confused, because I have never heard of such a law before" said Wura as she smiled.

"I am aware of the Royal Law of year four, which states that at the end of every five years, the taxes of the people will be paid back to them" said Wura.

"Yes, that is true" said Liam as he smiled.

"I even used to assist my Father when he used to calculate and gather all the records of the taxes paid by the people for their return" said Wura as it was part of the Duke's duties to return the taxes back to the people.

"I see" said Liam as he smiled.

"You seemed to like helping your Father a lot" said Liam as he smiled.

"It was a way for me to pass the time" replied Wura as she smiled.

"Speaking of your Father, are you aware of the plans for the Dukedom?" asked Liam as his face went serious.

"No… which plans your Majesty?" asked Wura as she was confused, she did not know what he was talking about.

"I mean, speaking of if your Father was to pass, who would the Dukedom go to?" asked Liam as he knew he was asking a very delicate question but it was necessary.

"Ahh… well… I do not know your Majesty…" said Wura as she seemed to be thinking.

"According to the law, being the only child of my parents, and female, my fate would have been to marry a man that would take over my Father's place as Duke, or marry a nobleman, from one of the other Dukedoms which would merge the two Dukedoms together" said Wura.

"But that would not be possible since I married you…" said Wura as she replied honestly.

"And your Father has no male child" said Liam.

"No he does not… only me" said Wura.

"So in the case that he was to pass, who do you think that the Dukedom will go to?" asked Liam.

"I am not sure your Majesty…" said Wura, it was impossible for her to hold her Father's Dukedom, she was married to the King.

"My Uncle, cannot be bestowed with the title of Duke, due to the law, he is not a nobleman, and my Aunt is only a lady" said Wura.

"Most probably, if my Aunt was to have a male child, my Father would pass the Dukedom over to him, as his nephew" said Wura.

"And if female?" asked Liam.

"Well if she be female, she would be bestowed the title of lady, and she would be required to marry a nobleman to continue the Dukedom" said Wura, she had read about all these things, all the rules of the Dukedom.

It piqued her interest, when she was of the age of sixteen, it became more clear to her that sooner or later, she would have to marry to secure her Father's Dukedom name, as Duke Scot, she was already prepared for that, her plan was to live her life as freely as she could until she was of the age of twenty, and then she would probably marry a man to handle all her Father's duties.

But fate had another plan for her, Liam came along, and somehow she caught his interest, and she married him, and here they were.

"I see" said Liam.

"You seem to know a lot of what might, or might not happen" said Liam as he smiled.

"It is necessary for me to my king, it is my Father's legacy after all, and I do not want it to go to waste" said Wura.

"Hmm" said Liam.

"Why do you ask your Majesty?" asked Wura as she was curious why Liam would ask about her father's Dukedom suddenly, was there something that she did not know?

Liam was in his own thoughts, he did not know whether to tell her the truth or not, the truth was that there were threats were being sent to the Dukedom families, there was someone, or rather a group of people who wanted to tear the Kingdom apart by spreading untrue, horrible rumours about the Dukes and their families, they wanted to start an uprising to tear down the Duke families in the name of justice and equality, which was not so, in all honesty.

And this all started with Duke Scot's family, he was the first target of these rumours, seeing as he had no male child to carry on the Dukedom for him, if he was killed, that was reduce the 7 Duke families to 6 and a war would break out, and those people knew that.

And that was why Liam asked Lawrence to stay in the plains with his wife and every other member of his family, he knew that they would be safe there, he had organized guards that would protect them in their home in the plains.

He did not want to tell Wura because he did not want to worry her, and if Lawrence did not inform her, it was because he had the same thought in his mind as well, he was sure that if Wura was aware of all the threats, she would never rest in peace, her heart would always be with her family.

"Well no reason in particular" said Liam as he smiled, he had decided that for her own good, he would tell her nothing.

"Problems such as these arise in the future, and it is my duty as King to be aware of plans put in place to cub such problems" said Liam as he smiled.

"I see…" said Wura as she did not know why, but something told her that Liam's reason was not the true one, she felt like he was hiding something from her, and she did not know what, if it concerned her family, then he should have just told her, they were her family after all, and she deserved to know.

"Yes" said Liam as he smiled, he could sense that she did not believe him at all, and it was not like he was lying to her, but he just did not want her to worry.

"Since when, were you and Mero so close that you addressed him by his first name?" asked Liam as he changed the subject, he was curious, since when did Mero and Wura become so close.

"Ahh…" said Wura as she was caught off guard by his sudden question, she did not expect him to ask her such a question.

"Well your Majesty… we met next to the library, and he asked me to call him Mero" said Wura as she just replied him casually, there was nothing there.

"I see" said Liam.

"So you would easily call him by his first name when he asks, and yet, when I ask you to do so, you refuse to" said Liam as he smiled, he was not jealous, far from it… Mero was his most trusted confidant and ally, Liam knew that Mero would not do anything that would implore him to be jealous.

Liam was just wondering what was going on in her head, she could easily call another man by his first name, but what was different about him?

"Oh your Majesty, you and I have a different relationship" said Wura as she laughed and she looked at Liam, he did not seem to find it funny at all.

"Oh how so?" asked Liam as he did not know why he was a bit annoyed, was he annoyed with himself or with her? He did not even know himself.

"Well I mean your Majesty… you are the King, and well, we just do not have that type of relationship" said Wura as she stopped laughing and she cleared her throat.

"I may be the King, but I am also your husband, and you are my wife" said Liam as Wura wondered what was wrong with him, he did not look too happy, just what was he thinking?

"I do not see what that has to do with anything your Majesty" said Wura as she was confused, what did she do that was wrong? Was she not allowed to address other men by their first names or what?

"Oh really now?" asked Liam as he scoffed and he looked away from her, he was never one to force her to do anything, but it really annoyed him when she refused to call him by his name after them being married for so long.

"I do not understand what makes you so upset your Majesty" said Wura as she frowned, why was he acting so… possessive? When they were not like that at all, she did not want to believe that he was jealous, or maybe he was just being in one of his bad moods again, and if that was the case, she would rather take her leave quickly before things escalated and ended with them hurting each other… again.

"Am I not allowed to address people the way that I want to?" asked Wura.

"No, you are allowed to" said Liam as he sighed.

"Forgive me, if I upset you, I was just asking you a question" said Liam as he looked at her.

"I see…" said Wura as she suddenly did not feel like staying here any longer.

"Well your Majesty, I will take my leave now, thank you for helping me earlier" said Wura as she did not waste any time at all as she stood up quickly.

"I will see you at dinner" said Liam.

"Alright your Majesty" replied Wura plainly as she walked out of his office, leaving Liam there all alone, she was very upset with him now.

Liam sighed as he wondered what made him behave like that, he was just so upset that she did not notice how difficult she was being for no reason at all, he just wanted to know what went on in that beautiful head of hers.