Half moon

"My Queen, would you like me to prepare you a warm bath?" asked Nora with a smile as she lit some candles in Liam's bedroom as Wura was reading on the couch.

"No, Nora, that will not be necessary, I do not feel in the mood to take a bath" said Wura.

"But it might help calm you down my Queen" said Nora with a smile.

"No, I am too lazy too honestly, it Is a hassle undressing and getting in the bath, and it is also a hassle for you to bring buckets of water up here" said Wura.

"That is no problem for me my Queen, I can just ask the maids to help me" said Nora.

"Honestly Nora, it is not necessary at all" said Wura as she sighed and she played with a loose strand of her hair.

"Alright my Queen, if you say so" said Nora with a smile, she knew that Wura was tired, so she did not insist anymore.

"Thank you Nora" said Wura with a smile.

"My Queen, shall I help you undress so you can change into something more comfortable?" asked Nora.

"No Nora, I am fine like this, I will change by myself later" said Wura as she really did not feel like moving at all.

"Alright my Queen" said Nora.

"Nora, you know what, you can go, your duties have ended early today, you need to rest because taking care of me the way you do is certainly not easy" said Wura with a smile.

"I do not complain my Queen, it is my duty" said Nora.

"I know it is Nora, but you deserve a break, go and sleep early for a change, and eat more" said Wura.

"My Queen, I have eaten, but you have not" said Nora.

"Well then Nora, eat on my behalf, get fat for the both of us" said Wura as she laughed and Nora laughed.

"My Queen, I doubt that I can" said Nora as she laughed.

"Nora, I know that I do not say this enough, but I thank you, I really thank you, because I do not know what I would do without you, I love you and appreciate everything you have done for me Nora, because I know that I am not easy to relate with sometimes" said Wura with a smile.

"My Queen you do not need to say that, I thank you because you are the best lady I have ever had, and it is an honour to serve you" said Nora.

"I do not consider you my lady my Queen, I consider you my friend" said Nora with a smile.

"I feel the same way too Nora" said Wura with a smile.

"And it is for that reason that you can leave me early tonight" said Wura with a smile.

"Alright my Queen, as you wish, please have a goodnight, and please do not stay up late reading my Queen, and remember to change from your dress to your nightgown" said Nora with a smile.

"I will Nora, you do not have to worry" said Wura with a smile.

"Goodnight Nora" said Wura with a smile.

"Goodnight my Queen" said Nora with a smile as she walked out of the room and Wura smiled.

Wura looked around as she was left alone once again in this room, she was starting to think that it was a bad idea for her to have moved in here.

She seemed to miss him more in here, her heart felt empty, and nothing or no one else could fill it, the deep uncertainty she felt could not be compared to anything.

"So is this how things are going to be?" asked Wura to herself as she sighed, she could not imagine her life going on like this, the days passing by, and the seasons as well, without Liam, she was not sure that she could handle it, she would rather die.

It was not getting any easier as the days went by, and she felt even more lonely than before.

Wura sighed as she continued to read, trying to take her mind of everything that was bothering her.

…

Wura stood up from the couch, she knew that it was very late, and still yet, she could not sleep at all, she had tried closing her eyes and drifting off into slumber, but all to no avail.

Wura put the book down as she walked to the window as she saw the half moon outside, just like her heart.

"I wonder if you are looking at the moon like I am too" said Wura to herself as she sighed.

She knew that she would not be able to sleep tonight, It would just be too much for her, nothing could be a remedy to the kind of pain that she was feeling right now.

Wura just stood there looking at the moon, lost in her thoughts, she could not go to sleep, she was tired of reading, in fact, she was tired of feeling this way, it was too much for her.

Wura did not know what she could do to try to ease this pain she felt.

"Well I guess another midnight walk would do" said Wura to herself as she turned around and walked to the door as she opened the door and walked out of the room.

…

Wura walked through the empty halls alone, she was on her way to the stables when she suddenly heard what sounded like loud chants and the sound of music.

Wura was curious, she did not know what was going on, but it sounded like whatever was happening was fun.

Wura turned around as she walked in the direction where she heard all the chants and music coming from, as she walked closer and closer to the origin and the noises became louder, the sound of music was undeniable.

Wura walked through the halls as she knew this place very well, it was the way that led to the training ground for the knights.

Wura saw a bright light at the end of the hall that led to the opening to the training ground.

Wura heard the music loud and clear as she stood behind the wall and she peeked out a bit to see the cause of all the noise.

There were men, many men who were singing, dancing to the music, chanting and most of all drinking as there were many smiles of enjoyment on their faces.

"I forgot, Mero told me about the Summer Festival… so this is it" said Wura to herself as she smiled, she had forgotten all about it.

Wura could not lie, the smiles on all the faces of the men seemed very happy, she was envious, if only she could be that happy for a while, if only she could forget everything that bothered her and just enjoy for once.

"Come on Mero, drink, it Is a festival not a burial" said Elihu as he laughed and handed Mero a tankard.

"I am not drinking Elihu, I promised the Queen that I would watch and make sure that some drunk idiots don't do anything stupid" said Mero.

"Oh Mero, you can do that and also have a good time, just one drink would not hurt" said Elihu with a smile as Mero took the tankard and placed it on the table, he was not going to have any.

"Oh Mero, you can never change, even Zechariah is having fun, it is the summer festival" said Elihu.

"Do not push me Elihu, you can drink as much as you want" said Mero.

"I want you to join me, right Zuph?" asked Elihu as he was looking at Zuph who was holding his own tankard as he drank from it.

"Leave him be Elihu" replied Zuph.

"Mero, the Queen is not here, I doubt that she would hear if anything bad was to truly happen, she would not even know" said Elihu as suddenly all the music stopped, and so did all the chants, laughs and enjoyment as everyone went dead quiet when they saw someone they least expected to see.

"My Queen?" asked Zechariah in surprise as he saw Wura standing at the entrance.

"Good evening your Majesty" said all the other knights as they bowed down.

"Good evening" said Wura as she did not know that her entrance would have caused them to stop all their celebrating.

"My Queen, good evening, do you need something?" asked Mero as he stood up and Wura walked to him as everywhere was quiet, she was surprised that all the music and laughs could have stopped so quickly.

"No, Mero, I just wanted to come and see what is going on here" said Wura with a smile.

"Ahh, alright my Queen" said Mero as Zechariah, Luc, Elihu and Zuph all looked at one another in a mix of confusion and worry, wondering what Wura was doing here.

"Yes, so everyone can go back to what they were doing" said Wura with a smile as no one seemed to be listening to her, they seemed affected by her presence here, and Wura did not want that at all, she felt bad that she ruined everyone's fun.

"Really, I do not mind what is going on here, you can all continue celebrating" said Wura with a smile as still no one did anything.

"My Queen, are you going to stay here?" asked Mero in confusion.

"Yes, I am… in fact I will join you all" said Wura with a smile as she caught sight of a tankard on the table as she picked it up.

"To celebration" said Wura with a smile as she raised the tankard.

"Wait my Queen that is not…" said Mero as he tried to stop Wura but it was already too late as she brought the tankard to her lips and gulped down the drink.