Partially involved

Wura sighed to herself as she brushed her hair in front of the dressing table mirror and she heard a knock on the door.

"Come in" she said as the door opened and Nora walked in.

"Good Evening my Queen" said Nora as she bowed her head.

"Oh Nora, how wonderful, you are back, so how was your day off?" asked Wura with a bright smile on her face as she stood up and turned to look at her.

Nora did not say anything as she just shot Wura a look that read "Are you still going to pretend that you do not know what you did?" while Wura just continued to smile, feigning ignorance.

"My Queen, are you going to pretend like you had no hand in what happened to me today" said Nora as she knew that waiting for Wura to admit first would be pointless.

"What happened to you today?" asked Wura with an innocent smile on her face.

"Well my Queen, you sent me to the stables where all the horses had been taken away, and instead I met Mero there" said Nora as Wura gasped.

"You met Mero?" asked Wura as she feigned surprise and Nora felt like laughing right now, she believed that Wura really thought that she was convincing enough.

"Oh my Queen, enough of this, I know that you were the one that set this all up, please admit it" said Nora.

"I will only admit it if It has a good outcome" said Wura as Nora stifled a laugh, she wondered if Wura could be any more obvious.

"My Queen it had a nice outcome" said Nora as Wura started to triumph.

"Aha!!, I knew that it would, if it had a good outcome then yes, I planned everything" said Wura as she giggled and Nora laughed.

"My Queen, I did not say that it had a good outcome, I said that it had a nice outcome, there is a difference" said Nora as she laughed.

"They are all the same to me, nice and good" said Wura as she laughed and Nora laughed.

"Oh come on Nora, come, tell me everything that happened, I am sure that it is good" said Wura as she dragged Nora to sit on the bed with her.

"Was it that obvious that I was the one behind it?" asked Wura as Nora nodded.

"My Queen, it could have not been any more obvious, everything planned pointed to you" said Nora.

"Well let me have you know that I was somewhat partially involved, Mero suggested things" said Wura.

"Things like what?" asked Nora.

"Like the picnic, all I had to do was make sure that you followed him no questions asked" said Wura as she laughed and Nora felt like Wura could be so dubious when she wanted to.

"So tell me Nora, what happened? Did you enjoy the picnic?" asked Wura with a smile.

"I cannot lie my Queen, I enjoyed it to some extent, although, I felt like things were awkward with Mero being there, and there was a great silence between us most of the time" said Nora.

"Tell me, what did you talk about?" asked Wura with a smile, she had a rather boring day today, and she wanted to feel happy, and Nora telling her about something that made her happy, made her feel happy.

"Many things my Queen, I found out some things about Mero" said Nora.

"Things like what?? If you do not mind me asking?" asked Wura with a smile.

"Things like, his mother was from the East, my Queen did you know that?" asked Nora.

"Ahh yes I know that, Liam told me about it, our mothers are both from the East, he even speaks the language from the East" said Wura with a smile.

"Ahh well I found that very interesting, and I also found out some very personal things about him, like why he hates witches and seers" said Nora.

"Because he believes that what they told his father caused his mother's early death" said Wura.

"Yes my Queen, how did you know?" asked Nora.

"Well I was bored all day, so I got Elihu to tell me about it" said Wura.

"Yes my Queen, It was very sad to me, I could hear his grief, and I had never seen him so sad, so angry" said Nora.

"I can only imagine, not everyone is lucky" said Wura as she sighed.

"How do you mean my Queen?" asked Nora.

"Well remember I told you that my mother was a slave?" asked Wura as Nora nodded.

"And Mero's mother was a slave as well, my mother always told me to always be aware of my roots, my origin, the daughter of a Duke, but yes, at the same time, the daughter of a former slave who was saved" said Wura.

"It breaks my heart to know that not everyone is as lucky, my mother's life would have been so much different if my father did not show up and she was saved, to think that there were so many like her, who did not have the opportunity to be set free" said Wura.

"My mother never hid anything about her past, she wanted to make me understand not to look down on anyone, she taught me to not be ashamed that she was a slave, but to be proud that yes, sure there was slavery in the past, and it has ended now, but I should never be ashamed, rather I should make sure that I never looked down on anyone" said Wura.

"Anyone can suffer, the world is never fair" said Wura as she sighed.

"To think that Mero and I have a lot in common, I believe that is why we get along so nicely" said Wura as Nora smiled.

"My Queen, have you ever felt different?" asked Nora as Wura laughed.

"Oh Nora, different, yes, I have felt different so many times, more times than you could imagine" said Wura as she laughed.

"How so my Queen?" asked Nora.

"Well I am very much aware of the fact that my skin is darker than most in Wyverdale" said Wura.

"I can see the difference in my hair, the colour of my eyes" said Wura.

"Do you see the difference, how dark my skin is compared to yours" said Wura as she compared her arm to Nora's arm.

"I never thought that you thought about things like this my Queen" said Nora.

"Well I do, actually it never used to bother me before, but I still thought about it" said Wura.

"I remember when I was growing up and I was with the other children of the Dukes, as tradition, building ties between families throughout generations" said Wura.

"At first I did not feel out of place, I did not notice a significant difference, other children of the Dukes either were fascinated by my hair, or my skin, some others made fun of me" said Wura.

"Especially Rosie Williams, she blatantly pointed out how different I looked, how I was not from here, how I was the daughter of a slave" said Wura as she smiled.

"You know, back then as I child, I wonder how someone could be so mean, but that was the harsh reality" said Wura.

"I cannot lie and say that his late Majesty did not try his best to break the barrier, he made Wyverdale more inviting to people from other land, as long as they came in peace, they were and always would be welcome here" said Wura.

"As I grew up, I was less and less made fun of, maybe because of my title, I agree it was my title, and then meeting Liam, and with everything that happened" said Wura as she sighed.

"I really forgot how other people must view me because it really did not hurt me until Elder Foden came with his accusations, it really hurt me, I thought that Wyverdale had grown past that division, but I was wrong" said Wura.

"My Queen, I did not know that you felt like this" said Nora as she touched Wura's hand.

"Well yes, sometimes I do, but enough about me Nora, tell me the interesting parts of what happened between you and Mero" said Wura as she laughed and Nora laughed.

"Well my Queen, he asked me if we could give… give things between us a try" said Nora as Wura gasped.

"No way Nora, what did you say??" asked Wura as she shook Nora, literally wanting to pry the answer from her lips.

"Well I… I… I said that we can give it a try…" said Nora in a whisper and Wura heard her loud and clear.

"Oh my Nora, I am so happy, yes, yes yes" said Wura as she hugged Nora and Nora laughed.

"My Queen, I believe that you are overreacting, we are not sure if things will work out" said Nora.

"Oh they will work out Nora, they definitely will" said Wura as Nora laughed and Wura laughed as Nora shook her head.