An understanding

"Honestly Mero, I am tired...*sigh*, I am truly tired, but other than that I am fine... taking it one day at a time" replied Wura as she looked at Mero.

"Thank you for asking Mero" said Wura as she added a little smile.

"You do not have to thank me my Queen, I know that this is hard for everyone, especially you" said Mero as Wura nodded with a little chuckle, the word hard was an easy one chosen to describe the situation on hand.

"That is unfortunately true... and Mero, there is nothing wrong with you addressing me by my name when we are alone" said Wura as she did not fail to notice that Mero was trying to create some distance and barrier by keeping things serious.

And it was not like she did not appreciate him for that, she really did, but right now, they were speaking as friends and not as Queen, she wanted to talk to a friend, not a knight.

"Are you sure?" asked Mero.

"I thought it would make you uncomfortable if I addressed you by name" said Mero as lately he had been treading carefully whenever it came to Wura, he did not want to make her feel uncomfortable, or do things that would give her the wrong impression.

"No Mero, you addressing me by name does not make me uncomfortable at all, if anything, it makes me feel more comfortable" replied Wura as she smiled and Mero gave her a small smile in return.

"So how are you Mero? I am sure that you have been very busy" said Wura as she smiled and she continued eating, the truth was that she did not know how hungry she truly was until she ate.

She was completely unaware of the fact that she had been truly starving herself for the past few days, no wonder Nora had been so worried for her, she could not blame her, Wura knew that she could be very stubborn at times and she would have ruined herself already if not for everyone who dedicated themselves to looking after her and making sure that she was alright.

"I am fine Wura, and as for being busy, we all are" said Mero as Wura laughed.

"I guess that we are all truly busy, some more than others" said Wura as she smiled and Mero just suddenly started smiling at Wura, which made her feel self conscious.

"Why do you look like that Mero? Is there something on my face?" asked Wura as Mero smiled and shook his head.

"Then what is it? Why are you smiling like that?" asked Wura as she was confused.

"Well because you are finally eating" said Mero as Wura immediately scoffed.

"Seriously Mero, that is why you look so happy?" asked Wura as she scoffed, she could not believe this, she had thought that it would be something serious.

"You do not know how much you neglect yourself Wura, so it makes me happy to see that your appetite is back" said Mero as Wura did not know how to feel about that, she could tell that he cared about her, and she liked that he did.

"Thank you" replied Wura as that was all she could say in response when suddenly they both heard the sound of a familiar horn being blown in the distance as they both looked at each other.

"The East want to meet" said Mero as he looked at Wura, knowing what she wanted to do.

"Then we will go meet them" replied Wura as the horn blew again causing her to stand up and drop her cleared plate on the tray.

"What?" asked Wura in annoyance as she looked at Mero, she did not like the way he was looking at her, and she knew what he wanted to say.

"I do not really think that it would be wise to go meet them every single time they call for a meeting, for all we know, they might be setting a trap, and I do not want you getting hurt, I would prefer if you stay here and we send a messenger instead" said Mero as Wura took a deep breath and she closed her eyes.

She really did not want to start an argument with Mero, she was tired of their misunderstandings, she knew all he wanted to do was to protect her, and she obviously knew that she would not be unwise and let herself enter a dangerous situation.

"I agree with you Mero, we cannot give them the liberty of meeting us every time they call" said Wura.

"But?" asked Mero as he could sense a but coming.

"But I am the Queen, the leader, I do not want to send a messenger in my stead while I am completely fine and able to appear" said Wura.

"I want to go, but I know that you are right, and you only want to protect me" said Wura very gently.

"So arrange for my protection while I go, I do not care what measures you put in place, so as long as they are reasonable, I will comply" said Wura, she was trying her best to behave maturely.

"Alright my Queen, but before we go, you need to drink something first, preferably water" said Mero.

"Oh come on Mero, you cannot be serious, this Is no time for something this unserious" said Wura as she sighed.

"My Queen, this is serious as well, your health is very serious, so please do that or, you will not be leaving the confines of this camp any time soon" said Mero as Wura felt like hitting something, she had eaten and now he was insisting that she drink something, she hated when Mero got like this.

"Is it by force?" asked Wura in anger.

"In this case it is my Queen, you have to understand, I know how stubborn you can be, which leads me to use stubborn measures" said Mero as Wura scoffed, she stood up, 

"As you can see I am eating, and by the time I am done, I expect everything to be ready for me to go meet with Olamide, and do not dare test me Mero because my patience in nothing more than a thing thread right now" said Wura.

"I am glad that we could reach an understanding me Queen" replied Mero with a smile.

"Understanding my foot" scoffed Wura angrily.

"Everything will be ready by the time you finish preparing" said Mero as he walked out and she scoffed at him, Mero was lucky that he was Liam's number one trusted confidant, or else she would have not put up with him at all.

…

"My Queen, I arranged that you meet them with a horse today, just in case anything happens" said Mero as Wura nodded.

"Alright then" said Wura as she mounted on Nolan as she smiled and patted him as Mero mounted on his own horse.

"Three guards on horseback will follow us, and two on foot" said Mero.

"Alright" said Wura as she rode ahead and Mero rode beside her and the guards followed after her, she did not complain at all, she knew that she had told Mero that she would comply, even though she believed that this was all too much.

The gates of the camp opened as they went through them and Wura squinted her eyes when she saw no sign of them at all.

"I do not see them anywhere Mero" said Wura as she turned to look at Mero who looked as suspicious as she was.

"If they do not arrive soon we will leave" said Mero as in that same moment they saw a familiar man on a horse with a bright smile on his face.

"He is on his way, stand down" said Mero to the guards as they nodded.

"My Queen, please remain on Nolan" said Mero as Wura looked at him and nodded.

"Ahh how nice of you to grace me with your presence Queen Wura" said Olamide with a smile as he brought his horse to a stop at a close distance.

"Well I was curious, we have not met for weeks now, I am wondering what you want to discuss with me" replied Wura as Olamide smiled at her.

"Ahhh how nice, it seems that the Queen does not trust me, she always goes around with her guards, while I am here alone, unarmed" said Olamide.

"I take precautions" said Wura.

"It feels more like you are planning to kill me than anything else" said Olamide.

"You should send them away, so we can speak privately" said Olamide as Wura looked at Mero and he shook his head, this did not feel right to him at all.

"The rest of the guards can go, but Mero stays, if he leaves, I will leave as well, I trust him, and he will not dare harm you" said Wura.

"Alright, if you say so" said Olamide with a smile as Wura dismissed the guards and they turned to look at Mero for support as he nodded to tell them that they should leave and they did so.

"Tell me what you want" said Wura as she looked at Olamide.

"If I am being honest, I did not think that you had it in you" said Olamide.

"I would never believe that you would be able to retaliate by burning our own towns" said Olamide.

"Women really are dangerous" he added with a smile.

"Like the saying goes, do me I do you" replied Wura with a smile as Olamide chuckled.

"I believe that we could have made very good acquaintances if we were not against each other" said Olamide.

"Only in a world where you stopped what you are planning" replied Wura.

"Look Olamide, I am tired of making innocent be caught in between our battle" said Wura.

"They do not deserve to suffer like this, which is why I will like to make a compromise" said Wura.

"I can… I can give you part of the Wyverdanian land at the border of the East if you stop this and decide on a truce" said Wura as Olamide seemed to be thinking.

"That land belongs to one of the Dukes does it not?" asked Olamide.

"Yes it does" replied Wura as she saw no point in hiding.

"And you think that they would freely give you their land to give to me?" asked Olamide.

"I am the Queen, if I require something from them there must be a reason, they are not allowed to refuse" said Wura.

"Interesting, a Queen that is ready to cause an internal war just to stop an external one" said Olamide with a smile.

"No war will be started, the land belongs to a Duke that is very close with my father, they are as close as brothers, and he will surely understand" said Wura.

"I do not even need to explain this to you, these are my kingdom's matters and not yours" said Wura.

"I want to know your answer, do you agree to it or not?" asked Wura.

"I am afraid…not…" said Olamide with a smile.

"And why not?" asked Wura with a frown as this made no sense to her.

"Well because that land is too small for us, that is not merely enough compensation for the land that you took from us" said Olamide as Wura was starting to get irritated.

"For the last time, we did not steal your land!!, this land rightfully belongs to us" said Wura in anger.

"And if I am even giving you the liberty of taking our land just for the sake of peace, I would advise that you take it" said Wura.

"Sorry, but that offer is not acceptable" said Olamide.

"I am done! You are just extremely greedy, I should not have even offered this to you if I had known you would not take it and demand for something more" said Wura as Olamide just smiled and she felt like slapping that smile off his face, he was just such a wicked person.

"I do not want this war to go on any longer" said Wura.

"Then I will make it easier for you and end it" replied Olamide with a chilling smile that made Wura feel like there was a warning in his words.

"Ultimately I want peace" said Wura with a deep sigh.