Surrounded by men

"Darla, I do have one question to ask you" said Liam as he and Darla were sitting in front of the fire.

"And what is that?" asked Darla as she looked at Liam and she smiled.

"It is about those beasts, I get a feeling that they cannot see us, maybe because we are human, Lily mentioned it once before" said Liam as Darla frowned when she heard Lily's name, it was Lily this, Lily that, Liam, Malcom and Dothan would not shut up about Lily, she was sick and tired of hearing that name.

"Well I do not know about that, there has not been anything said about the beasts not being able to see humans" said Darla as she replied in annoyance.

"But I believe that is the case now, after all, the beast was right in our midst, and yet it did not make any attempt to harm us at all, instead it went for you and the boys" said Liam as Darla had to agree with that, he was right about that.

"Maybe you are right, but I will not like to find out right now" said Darla as she saw Wura and Mero who were beside the fire as well in a far corner as they seemed to be talking.

"It would seem that Lily and that man of hers seem to be very close" said Darla as she snickered and Liam turned to see Mero and Wura together as they were talking, but he could not quite hear what they were talking about.

"Well of course they are close, he is one of her men after all" said Liam as he replied and he looked back at Darla as Darla scoffed, she was trying to make him see just what kind of woman Wura was.

"I think that he is more than one of her men to her, they are always together at all times, whispering amongst themselves" said Darla as she could never hear what they were saying.

"I do not know what you are trying to say Darla" said Liam as he did not like Darla's tone one bit, just what was she trying to insinuate.

"Lily is married, and she is here looking for her husband, I doubt that whatever you are trying to insinuate is not true at all" said Liam as Darla just scoffed, of course he was defending her, she did not know just what he saw in her that he liked her and even invited her to join them on a journey where it was only supposed to be the four of them.

"She is always surrounded by men, and strong able bodied men at that, do we know who exactly she is? How can we trust her?" asked Darla.

"I do not know what you are trying to say, she has her maid with her as well, and as for who she is, she does not know who we are as well, and yet she agreed to come with us" said Liam as he did not like what Darla was trying to say about Wura.

"Why do you defend her so much?" asked Darla as she could not understand, it made no sense to her at all, Liam was never friendly with women, even when she had met him, he did not warm up to her at first, so for him to suddenly grow a liking for this Lily girl who dropped out of nowhere, it annoyed her.

"Because I do not like it when you accuse people falsely" said Liam as he replied.

"I think that she is crazy, after all, do you not remember that she mistook you for someone else, she even hugged you?!" said Darla as she knew just how much Liam hated to be touched, by women especially, even she could not touch him anyhow, and yet, he let that Lily girl touch him, even hug him like you would hug a lover, and he did not even seem angry about it at all.

"She already cleared that up, she explained that I bear a resemblance to her husband, and that was why she hugged me, she was emotional in that moment" said Liam as Darla scoffed, every bad point that she had brought up about Wura, Liam had a way to turning them into good and defending her, she was irritated.

"Just stop speaking Darla, if you have nothing good to say" said Liam as Darla growled and she walked to where Malcom and Dothan were talking as she left Liam alone, it was his problem if he wanted to be with a liar and a stranger.

Wura stopped looking at Darla and Liam as Darla walked away, after what Liam had told her in the morning, and how much he had explained, she no longer felt jealousy towards Darla, far from it, she felt thankfulness, but now she just had to find a way to apologize to Darla, she had not been the best person to her.

"My Queen, are you alright?" asked Mero as Wura turned to look at him.

"I am fine Mero, I was just thinking" said Wura.

"Thinking about what?" asked Mero.

"I want you to teach me how to use a sword" said Wura as her words surprised Mero who did not expect her to say that at all.

"My Queen, why do you want that?" asked Mero.

"Well because I want to be able to protect myself" said Wura.

"That is not necessary my Queen, you have us to protect you, me, Elihu and Zuph" said Mero.

"That is not enough, I want to be able to protect myself, with what happened in the morning, I realized that you will not always have time to protect me, you also have to protect yourself, so I want to be able to do so for myself as well" said Wura as she had made a decision, she did not want to only be able to stand there while she was in danger, she wanted to be able to do something.

"My Queen, I am sorry, but it Is too dangerous, swords are not things to be played with" said Mero.

"You say it as if I am a child Mero" said Wura as she was annoyed, she did not know why Mero was always so against what she wanted to do.

"You are not a child my Queen, you are the Queen" said Mero.

"Exactly, and are Queens not allowed to protect themselves?" asked Wura.

"My Queen, it is too dangerous, believe me I am saying this for your own good" said Mero as Wura scoffed.

"You know what fine, I do not even care what you think, I only asked you because I thought that you would help me" said Wura.

"But seeing as you do not want to help me, it Is alright, I will just get Elihu to help me, I am sure that he will be more than happy to help me" said Wura as she stood up and Mero held her hand as he stopped her from going any further as Liam looked at Wura and Mero, he wondered what was going on between them, they seemed to be arguing.

Mero sighed, Elihu would be the worst person to ask to teach her how to use a sword, he was sloppy with his own sword skills, and Wura would hurt herself if she did train with him, and well Zuph, he was not a teacher, he could not teach anyone.

"Alright my Queen, fine, I will teach you" said Mero as he wad forced into this, he did not want to end up regretting this.

"You will?" asked Wura as she raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yes I will" said Mero as he nodded her head.

"You are not just lying to please me, you will actually do it?" asked Wura carefully as Mero nodded his head.

"Good" said Wura as she sat back down and Mero let go of her hand, honestly, she did not want Elihu to teach her at all, he was too loud, and they did not get along well, and Zuph, she did not know how skilled he was with a sword, she knew that Liam was very skilled, and Liam and Mero were very close, which meant that Mero had to be very skilled as well.

She wanted a good teacher, so she could learn faster.

Mero sighed, taking care of Wura was a handful, she was just so stubborn, and she always wanted her way, Mero wondered how Liam always put up with her, maybe because he loved her, but as for Mero, he found her stubbornness annoying to have to deal with, especially in this sort of dangerous setting that they were in.

"You better keep your word Mero" said Wura as she looked at him.

"I will my Queen" replied Mero as Wura really hoped so, or else, she would just ask Liam, he was her husband after all, and she was sure that he would be more than happy to teach her, sure he could not remember her, but he will soon.

Liam stopped looking at Wura and Mero, they seemed to have solved the disagreement that they were having, Liam did not know why, but he felt something strange whenever he saw Mero and Wura In close proximity, but he did not know what that was at all.

Liam just shrugged off his thoughts, he was sure that he was overreacting.

"My lady, I made you some dinner" said Nora as she smiled and she brought Wura her dinner as Wura looked at it.

"You should not have Nora… I am not hungry" said Wura.

"But my Queen, you have not eaten for days now, I beg you, please eat, even if it is only a little" said Nora as she pleaded with Wura and Wura sighed as she took the bowl from Nora, she knew that Nora would not leave her alone until she did eat, and she found that annoying, she was not hungry at all, she did not feel hungry at all, and she did not feel weak either.

"Thank you my Queen" said Nora as she smiled in relief as Wura frowned.

…

Wura woke up only to find Liam already awake as usual, so she stood up to join him, because she realized that the only time that they got alone, was when everyone else was sleeping.

Liam heard footsteps coming straight to him as he turned to see Wura walking towards him as she smiled at him.

"Good Morning Liam" said Wura with a smile as she looked at him.

"Good Morning Lily" said Liam as he smiled and Wura sighed internally, she felt like she had made a mistake, maybe if she had told him her actual name, he would remember her quicker, but Wura knew that she had already done what she did, and she could only work from there.

"You and Mero… you seem rather close" said Liam as he did not know why that bothered him so much.

"What?" asked Wura as she did not know if she heard him right, did he say something about Mero.

"I said you and Mero… that is his name right?" asked Liam as he looked at Wura.

"Yes, his name is Mero" said Wura as she nodded her head.

"You and him seem very close" said Liam.

"Ahh well, not really, sometimes I cannot stand him, he is so overbearing, always telling me what to and not to do, and always talking me down, in the name of protecting me" said Wura as she scoffed.

"Then why do you let him stay around you?" ask Liam.

"That is because he is my husband's right hand man, my husband trusts him with his life, and I trust him as well, I know that he really cares for me and my husband, but sometimes, he can be insensitive, even though he means well" said Wura.

"I do trust him, believe me I do, but I want him to stop seeing me less like a burden and more like an ally" said Wura as she did not even know why she was telling Liam all this, maybe because she hoped that her explaining would at least jog Liam's memory.

"I see" said Liam.

"Yes, why do you ask?" asked Wura.

"No reason, I was just curious" said Liam as Wura looked at him… was he jealous??... of course, he was, yes, he was jealous of she and Mero's relationship, he had been so before, so much so that just because she called Mero by his name, he wanted her to do the same with him.

Wura's mind started to race, what if she made Mero pretend to be with her, then maybe that would jog Liam's memories in jealousy, but no, Wura could see that going in the worst way possible, so that was a no.

"Those beasts yesterday, I still believe that they cannot see us" said Wura.

"I agree, but what surprised me was the way I killed the beast, I never thought that I could do such a thing before, but when I held that sword, I knew just what to do" said Liam as Wura smiled at him, oh if only he could remember that he was the valiant prince who went to war for five years and conquered a Kingdom, and he was also the best King, and her husband.

"What if you were someone who was very skilled with a sword?" asked Wura.

"I was thinking the same thing, but I just cannot remember" said Liam as Wura looked at him.

"I am sure that you will remember soon" said Wura as she smiled and Liam smiled at her as they both turned to watch the sunset.

"I think that we should go and wake up the others now" said Liam as he smiled and Wura nodded as she followed after him.

…

Wura sighed she was deep in her thoughts, thinking of what she could do to try to make Liam remember.

Maybe she had to kiss him? But no, this was not a fairy tale, that only worked in fairy tales, and what if she did it, and it did not work, Liam would be angry at her for trying to kiss him.

Wura looked at the horse that she was riding on, and at Liam who was ahead, it was about now that she was regretting not bringing Nolan along with them, she was sure that Liam would remember if he saw his horse.

Oh she should have brought him with her, she was really regretting that she did not at this moment.

Wura decided that she had to try to make Liam remember every chance she got, maybe she should try recreating some of their memories together, so he would connect them together, she was going to make sure that she was with him at all times.

"Alright we are stopping now, I have to go into the market to buy some things, you all stay here" said Darla got off her horse.

"Alright then" said Liam as he got off his horse and Darla handed him her horse as she walked into the market.

Wura got off her horse as she got an idea.

"is that market safe to go into?" asked Wura as she turned to look at Malcom and Dothan.

"Well yes, it is, you see that symbol over there?" asked Malcom as he pointed at a gate that was painted with something red.

"Yes, I do" said Wura as she nodded and she looked at the gate.

"That red symbol means that the market is safe for all beings, witches, werewolves, giants and all" said Malcom as he explained.

"I see" said Wura as she nodded her head and Mero wondered what she was up to.

"My lady, what are you thinking about?" asked Mero as Wura looked at him.

"I want to buy some things Mero" said Wura as she replied plainly with a smile.

"If you want to go, then I will go with you" said Mero.

"So will I" said Elihu as Zuph said the same as well.

"I will go with you as well my lady" said Nora.

"No, you all stay here, Darla said that we should all stay here, I only want to quickly check for something" said Wura.

"You cannot possibly go alone" said Mero.

"I can go with her" said Liam as they all turned to look at him.

"You will?" asked Mero.

"Yes" replied Liam as Wura smiled at him.

"Thank you Liam, you see Mero, you all stay here, I will be fine" said Wura as she smiled, this was a perfect opportunity for her to try to make Liam remember her, they would be alone for once.

"Do not worry Mero, we will be fine" said Wura as she smiled and she gave her horse to Mero who just let her do as she pleased.

"Oh Malcom, what do you use to buy things here?" asked Wura as she looked at Malcom.

"Gold coins" replied Malcom as Wura frowned, she did not have any gold coins on her.

"Here my lady" said Nora as she handed Wura a pouch of gold coins that she brought with her on this journey just in case.

"Thank you Nora" said Wura as she smiled at her and Nora smiled as she had not seen Wura smile in a long time.

Wura turned to enter into the market as Liam handed over he and Darla's horses to Malcom and Dothan as he followed after Wura.

"What exactly are you looking for?" asked Liam as Wura turned to look at him.

"Oh, a sword, I want to buy my own sword" said Wura as she replied and she looked at the many stalls that had fishes, meat, and many other items in them, Wura could see that they all looked like humans, but she doubted that was the case, they might be witches, or werewolves or vampires.

"Why do you want to buy a sword?" asked Liam in surprise.

"I want to be able to protect myself, Mero said that he would teach me how to use a sword, so I want my own" said Wura as Liam just looked at her, he did not know that she was such a fighter.

"I see" said Liam.

"Yes" said Wura.

"Aha, finally" said Wura as she smiled as she finally saw a stall with many swords displayed.

Wura stood in front of the stall as she looked for the owner of the stall as she did not see them at all.

"I think we should wait, maybe the owner will return" said Liam as Wura nodded and something on Wura's neck caught his eye.

"Where did you get that pendant from?" asked Liam in confusion as Wura looked at him and she touched the pendant on her neck, she had forgotten about it.

"Ahh… it is… from... it" said Wura as she did not know what to say, did he remember it? It would make sense if he did, after all, it was his mother's necklace.

"It belonged to my mother in law… my father in law gifted it to me" said Wura quickly as she could feel Liam's eyes glued on the necklace, as if he was trying to remember where he had seen this pendant before.