Satisfied now

Mero sighed as he walked back into the tent and Luc followed after him, Mero walked to a nearby table as he crossed an area off a map, he was just so tired, physically and emotionally, it was just too much.

"I am sure that the others are on their way back now" said Luc as Mero turned to look at him.

"Mhmm" said Mero as Luc sighed, just like Mero, he was frustrated, he could see no good news here, nothing but disappointment.

"We should wait for them to return" said Luc.

"What else can we do than that?" asked Mero as Luc had to agree with him as he sighed.

…

The day had ended as the sky became dark and grim, opposite to the bright blue it was earlier in the day, the Moon was half of its usual size, and there were limited stars in the sky.

"I am sure that Mero has returned by now" said Elihu as he and Zuph were riding on their horses, trying to make their way back to where their camp was set.

"I told you that we should not have gone further, it is late now, very late now" said Zuph as he replied.

"Well I just had to make sure that the whole part of the forest that we were given to search was totally clear" replied Elihu as he did know that Zuph was scolding him for not listening to him when he said that they should leave and return back to camp.

"Mhmm, well are you satisfied now? We still found nothing" said Zuph as he replied, and his horse neighed as if it had seen something in the darkness.

"Do not scold me Zuph, if you are not serious about finding Liam, I am" said Elihu as he turned to look at Zuph.

"And once again, I tell you to keep your voice low, we do not want anyone mistakenly hearing what you just said" said Zuph as he shook his head, Elihu was just too loud, and that was not a good thing at all, not in this situation where the matter of Liam missing was kept very quiet, so as not to raise an alarm that would raise people's fears high.

"It is late, surely no one can be out at this time of the day" said Elihu.

"You never know Elihu, which is why we need to be careful, please do not start a war because of your loose mouth" said Zuph as he shook his head, he wondered why he was paired up with Elihu anyway, it would have been better for him to go with Zechariah, and then Elihu would go alone, but then again, Elihu could not possibly go alone in this state of his, he would end up messing up, and something bad would happen.

"I hear you" said Elihu as he scoffed and he could see some lights ahead, which meant that they were close to the camp.

"Let us go, we need to find out if the others had any luck" said Elihu as he moved his horse faster and Zuph sighed as he followed after him.

…

"Elihu and Zuph are yet to return?" asked Zechariah as he walked into the tent and he saw Mero and Luc there already.

"Yes, we were waiting for them" said Luc as he replied and Zechariah sighed as he sat down on the couch beside Luc.

"Any luck?" asked Luc as he looked at Zechariah and Zechariah shook his head.

"None at all" replied Zechariah and judging from the way that Mero and Luc were looking, he doubted that they had any luck as well.

…

Elihu got down from his horse as he tied him to a nearby tree and Zuph did the same as he followed after Elihu and they walked into the tent.

"You all are here" said Elihu as he saw, Mero, Luc and Zechariah.

"Yes, we are" replied Luc.

"And judging from the way you are looking, I doubt that you have anything good to say" said Luc as Elihu walked to sit right next to him.

"Well I doubt what the reason for us going there was? Because clearly, we found nothing at all, no trace of him" said Elihu as he scoffed.

"It was necessary Elihu, for us to be able to rule out all areas that he may or may not be in" said Zechariah as he knew that he had to explain this to Elihu, over and over again, he just did not seem to get it, they could not be hasty here, not at all, it would do nothing but cause them trouble.

"I did tell you that I had checked those area before, I just had to be sure" said Mero as he shook his head, for six days now he had been searching and still nothing.

"Well then, I am sorry to say, if we have been searching all this while and we are yet to find nothing, then I am sure that something is wrong somewhere" said Elihu.

"How do you mean Elihu?" asked Luc as he looked at Elihu and Elihu looked at him.

"As much as I do not want to say this, but if we have been searching for Liam this long, and there is still no sign of him…" said Elihu as he took a pause, he knew that what he was about to say would be the equivalent of treason, but he just had to say it.

"It means that there is a high chance that Liam is… he is dead already" said Elihu as there was silence, as much as Mero did not want to admit it, Elihu was right, that was a great possibility, after all, they had been searching for Liam all this while, and it was like he vanished from the face of the earth, as if he was never there.

"if that is so… then at least, his body would have turned up by now" said Zuph as he was only trying to be honest, they were knights after all, and they were trained to be strong in all things.

"This was where the incident happened, then at least, we would have found his body somewhere in the forest" said Zuph.

"But what if some of the townspeople have found his body?" asked Elihu.

"Highly unlikely, they would have reported it as soon as they saw it" said Zechariah as he added.

"But what if they are scared to say anything? Less they be accused of murdering the King?" asked Luc.

"That is not possible, because if the truth was to come out, they would be accused of harbouring the body of the king, so their best decision would be to alert the castle that they know the whereabouts of his Majesty" said Zechariah as they all kept quiet.

Mero stayed quiet the entire time as he watched them all speak, they all had valid points, there was a possibility that Liam was dead.

"I do agree that it is possible…" said Mero as he sighed.

"But if this is the truth, and Liam really is dead… then what will we tell her majesty?" asked Mero as that was his greatest fear now, how Wura would react, she pleaded with him the last time, so now Mero was sure that she would break down if they told her that Liam truly was dead.

"Well there is nothing we can do, it would be the truth after all" said Elihu as much as it pained him to say such, but he was only being honest, having false hopes would do nothing but break them with a face mirage of hope while in reality there was nothing hopeful at all.

"We have searched everywhere, and believe me, we have, and if at this point… we still have not found Liam… I believe that what we all fear has happened" said Elihu as he sighed, Mero kept quiet, he so wanted to wish that Liam was still alive, but with all Elihu had said, it made him realize that he had to think realistically.

"Alright then, we will search for him one last time tomorrow" said Mero as he rubbed his eyes and he sighed as he opened his eyes, they were red, seeing as he was tired, and he had not gotten any rest.

"And what if we cannot find him?" asked Elihu as Mero looked up at him as he looked at the others and they all kept their gaze on him, waiting earnestly for what his reply would be.

"Then we will have no other choice than to tell her Majesty the truth…" said Mero.

"No matter how hard it might be" said Mero as they all kept quiet, the mere thought of their King being dead brought nothing but grief to all their hearts, and as much as they did not want to accept it, that was the truth that they were being faced with right now.