Lovesick

"Liam, when am I finally going to ride on my own horse?" asked Wura as she got down from Nolan as Liam watched her.

"I see you are getting bored of Nolan already Wura" said Liam as he laughed.

"No, do not say that, not at all, Nolan is a very good boy" said Wura as she patted Nolan, and Nolan neighed as if saying thank you, as he eyed his master who was betraying him.

"You bought Ayo for me, he is my own horse, what is he used for if I do not ride him?" asked Wura as she turned to look at Liam.

"I believe you are right Wura" said Liam.

"Yes, so when can I ride Ayo again?" asked Wura.

"Are you not scared of riding him again?" asked Liam as he already knew that she was a fast learner, her hand was already firm, and she could ride Nolan nicely, he only wondered if she would not be scared if she tried to ride on Ayo.

"Well No, I am not scared, I mean Ayo did not run off like that on purpose, he was only scared, he is a good boy" said Wura as she smiled.

"Well alright then, if you say so" said Liam as he smiled.

"You sound hesitant" said Wura.

"Well not really, I only worry that you might be scared if you ride on Ayo again, but seeing as you said that you are not, alright then" said Liam as he smiled.

"You worry?" asked Wura as she laughed, that was the silliest thing that she had heard all day, why would Liam be worried, she had to be the one to worry.

"Yes, I worry for you" said Liam as he smiled and Wura just shook her head at him.

"But In other words, you can ride Ayo tomorrow, I will get the stable master to check if he is steady now" said Liam.

"Thank you" said Wura as she smiled, she was raised well, no matter what, as long as someone did something for you, you always had to say thank you.

"No need to thank me Wura" said Liam as he smiled.

"I enjoy teaching you" said Liam as he smiled.

"It is more like you enjoy annoying me" said Wura as she smiled at him and she shook her head.

"I am guilty as charged, but spending time with you is…" said Liam as he smiled and he was cut off.

"Liam, I think Nolan is hungry, he has been moving all day, maybe you should feed him" said Wura as she knew what Liam was about to say, she did not really know what he was going to say, but she knew that it would be something sweet, judging from the way he was smiling at her.

She knew that smile all too well, the charming, sweep you off your feet, make you question yourself and your feelings kind of smile, and quite frankly, things were going simple, and casual, and Wura did not want any sort of questioning thoughts in her mind.

"I believe you are right" said Liam as he smiled helplessly, Wura was smart, she knew what he was going to say, he did not want to scare her off, or make her upset, so he just agreed with her.

"How about you feed him?" asked Liam as he smiled.

"Can I?" asked Wura in surprise.

"Of course you can" said Liam as he smiled, he found her childlike behaviour cute, she got excited at the littlest of things, she was so innocent.

"Come on, let us go" said Liam as he smiled and he held Nolan's reins as he walked to Nolan's stable as Wura followed behind him, he needed at have patience, patience for everything.

…

Liam was sitting in his office, he had a decree to write, but he could not focus on it at all in this moment, his mind was filled with thoughts, and thoughts of one woman alone, and that was none other than his wife Wura.

Liam was thinking of ways to get her to like him, he did not know if he was that hard to like, maybe because everyone had always liked him first because he was Prince and now he was King.

Wura was so… stubborn, and he liked that about her, she stood for what she believed in, and he liked that she was so strong, but at the same time, she guarded herself so much, that it made it difficult for him to try to get into her head and find out what she was thinking about.

"We need to spend more time together" said Liam to himself as he was deep in his thoughts, but the question was how?

Liam remembered that his father always used to say that the best way to build a relationship was to spend more time together, that was in fact the reason his father had sent them to Cornwalk, to spend more alone time together, and Liam had to say that it did work, he learnt more about Wura there, but when they returned things changed.

"Oh Father… what do I do?" asked Liam to himself as he sighed, remembering his Father brought him bittersweet emotions, but he did have to say that his Father was excellent in the art of wooing women, he seemed to know every thing that there was to know about the art.

Liam knew that he and Wura had to spend more time together, but the question was how? Currently, they only spent little time together, sometimes at breakfast, and then at the stables till noon, and then they would only see each other again at dinner time.

He figured out that if he wanted Wura to get used to seeing him, he had to see her constantly, but how would he do that without her realizing it and then running away from him?

"Maybe we should leave the Kingdom for a while…" said Liam to himself as he shook his head, no, he was King, he could not just leave the Kingdom, that would be just irresponsible on his end, he and Wura would just have to stay here.

Liam was so deep in his thoughts that he did not even hear the several knocks on his office door, and he also did not hear when Mero walked into his office, wondering if Liam was in there or not, but he was surprised when he did see Liam sitting in his office, he wondered why he did not answer him when he knocked.

"Liam, are you alright?" asked Mero as he snapped Liam out of his thoughts.

"Hmm… I am fine…" said Liam as he looked up to see Mero standing there across his desk.

"When did you enter?" asked Liam.

"Well when you refused to reply to my knocks, I thought that maybe you were not in your office" said Mero as he could tell that Liam was absent minded, very absent minded.

"Hmm, I see" said Liam as he looked at Mero.

"What were you thinking about?" asked Mero as he sat down.

"How to spend more time with Wura" replied Liam casually as Mero just wondered what happened to Liam, he had been bitten by a seriously, poisonous bug, that made him think irrationally.

"Liam… are you sure you are alright?" asked Mero as he just had to ask, at this point, he was sure that Liam could trade the entire Kingdom just for Wura, and that was not something to be happy about.

"I am alright Mero" said Liam as he replied.

"I doubt you are Liam… it would seem that you are lovesick…" said Mero as that was the only explanation that he could give for Liam's sudden change of behaviour.

"I am not lovesick Mero, I know what I want…" said Liam.

"And what I want Is Wura…" said Liam.

"Mero, I do not think that you have ever felt the way that I feel right now" said Liam.

"That is because I have not" replied Mero simply.

"When you realize that you long to be near her… to be by her side, to see her, when she comes close, you feel… different, when she smiles at you, you want to smile back, when she is upset with you, you want to apologize because you cannot stand a single second of her anger, you do not want to hurt her, only protect her… you always want to see her happy, to see her smile" said Liam as he smiled, while Mero remained indifferent.

"When you know that you want to spend the rest of your life with her and no one else, and all you want, I for her to know how you truly feel, and you hope that she feels the same" said Liam as he smiled.

"So you are saying that you are in love?" asked Mero.

"I am not saying that I am in Love Mero" said Liam.

"I know that I am in love" said Liam as he smiled.

"I see…" said Mero.

"What are you thinking about Mero?" asked Liam as he smiled, he could tell that Mero wanted to say something.

"So If you were to tell her this, and she did not reciprocate your feelings back towards you, would you get angry, and all the love you said you once feel for her, be replaced by hate, hurt and anger?" asked Mero.

"No, I would never do that" said Liam.

"I would never force her to feel something that she does not naturally feel" said Liam as he shook his head.

"If she will not reciprocate my feelings, then so be it, I will never force her to love me, I would never do that" said Liam.

"Even if I love her, and she does not love me back, I will leave her be, because she is no one's slave, your heart cannot choose who to love, and who not to love" said Liam as he smiled.

"Which is why, If I do confess my feelings to her, and she does not feel the same way… I will leave her be… but it she does feel the same way, it would be wonderful" said Liam as he smiled, he really wished that she did feel the same way he felt for her.

"I see… well then, you have my full support" said Mero as he only wanted to know if Liam was serious or not, he did not want anyone to be forced together just out of duty, those sort of marriage or unions never existed, and either one or both people involved got hurt.

"Just remember what you have said Liam, and stick to it" said Mero.

"You have doubt in me?" asked Liam as he smiled.

"No, I have no doubt in you Liam… but as you said, when it comes to the matters of the heart, you may lose all rationality" said Mero.

"Well I doubt I will lose all rationality with you here to watch me" said Liam as he laughed.

"Mhmm" said Mero.

"Anyway, what brings you here Mero?" asked Liam as he smiled, he had noticed that Mero had just been sitting here, listening to him talking about his own problems with his wife.

Liam did not dare ask Mero when he was going to settle down, well because he knew Mero called acts like Love stupid, and ultimately selfish in the end.

"Well I was wondering if you had sent the letter to Baron Melvin, alerting him that I will be going to the fields once spring breaks" said Mero.

"Well I have sent that letter, not too long ago" said Liam.

"Alright then" said Mero.

"I will take my leave now, that is all I wanted to say" said Mero as he stood up.

"Are you sure that is all you want to say Mero?" asked Liam as he smiled, he knew that there was a burden on Mero's mind that he was yet to speak out.

"Well No…" said Mero.

"Then go ahead and tell me what Is on your mind" said Liam.

"Her Majesty is a kind woman, if you are sure that what you feel for her is not serious at all, then do not dabble into it Liam, it will end up hurting her" said Mero plainly at that was his view on the whole thing.

"Thank you Mero… I will take your words to heart" said Liam as he smiled.

"And believe me when I say that I am serious… hurting her, is the last thing on my mind" said Liam as he smiled, he really valued Mero's honesty, Mero was the only one who could speak to him that way and he would take no offense to it at all, he valued his advice, he was like his elder brother.

"Alright then Liam, I will see you later" said Mero as he walked to the door.

"See you Mero" said Liam as he smiled and Mero walked out of the room, leaving Liam there to think some more.

…

The next morning.

"Oh Nora, I cannot wait for you to meet my horse Ayo" said Wura as she smiled and she looked at Nora as they were walking to the stables together, Wura was so happy that she had someone to accompany her today, usually, she would walk to the stables all alone.

"I cannot wait to meet him as well My Queen" said Nora as she smiled and she bowed her head, he could tell you that Wura's smile and happiness were infectious, when you spent as much time as she spent with her, you would find it hard not to smile, or to match to her king personality.

"You know Nora, I wonder why his Majesty did not come for breakfast this morning…" said Wura as she was thinking, not that she cared for him, but this was his second day skipping breakfast.

"Are you worried for him my Queen?" asked Nora.

"Well no Nora, I am not worried for him, I am just asking because I wonder if he did not listen to me, he did say that he would listen to me and stop skipping his meals, but I guess that he is just a liar who just agreed to do what I told him to because he wants to get out of the situation" said Wura as she was very quick to conclude that even Nora wondered if Wura had been waiting to say this about his Majesty.

"Ahh well my Queen, he did not skip breakfast…" said Nora as Wura looked at her.

"How do you know Nora?" asked Wura.

"Well I was In the kitchen having my breakfast when the cooks were preparing his Majesty's breakfast… apparently he asked for his breakfast early and he ate it in his room" said Nora as she explained.

"Ah… I see…" said Wura as now she was feeling guilty for judging and reprimanding Liam so quickly, he did listen to her.

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

"Well then, that is good for him, it is his life, and his problem if he does not eat after all" said Wura as she was speaking more to herself than to Nora, she wondered why she cared so much if he ate or not.

Nora and Wura walked into the stables as Liam was already there and he was with Nolan as it looked like they had just returned from a morning stroll.

"Good Morrow Liam" said Wura as she smiled and Liam's face lit up when he saw her and heard her voice.

"Good Morrow Wura" said Liam as he smiled and he looked at her.

"Good Morrow your Majesty" said Nora as she bowed and Liam looked at her.

"Good Morrow Nora" said Liam as he smiled, he wondered why she was here.

"Did you return from your morning stroll?" asked Wura.

Liam smiled, he liked that she was getting more and more comfortable with asking him questions, and personal questions at that.

"Yes I did" said Liam as he smiled.

"Ahh I see" said Wura as she smiled.

"I will go for a morning stroll tomorrow as well, you can come with me if you wish to" said Liam as he smiled.

"Oh I will" said Wura as she smiled, she was happy, very happy today.

"I will be looking forward to it" said Liam as he smiled, because he was truly looking forward to it, they would be alone, maybe he could speak to her then.

"Liam, I brought Nora to see Ayo, so can we go see him now?" asked Wura as she smiled.

"Yes, the stable Master will bring him here any moment from now" said Liam as he smiled, he liked that she seemed to be getting more and more comfortable with calling him Liam, it made him happy, it would seem that they were making progress, little progress but it was still there, he knew that he could not just rush these things, or his desired outcome would not be the end result.

"I see" said Wura as she smiled and she looked at Nora who was keeping her head down, she seemed scared of Liam, Wura wondered why that was so, Liam was not scary, or at least she did not think that he was.

"Good Morrow my Queen" said the stable Master as he smiled, and he held Ayo's reins behind him.

"Good Morrow" said Wura as she smiled.

"My King, here is her Majesty's horse" said the stable master as he looked at Liam.

"Thank you" said Liam as he smiled and the stable master handed him Ayo's reins as he smiled and he bowed his head as he walked away.

"Oh Ayo, I have missed you" said Wura as she looked at her horse and she smiled, he looked just as calm as he always was.

Liam could not help but smile at her childlike attitude, she had a beautiful pure soul, and he did not want to harm her, no not at all.