Can you blame me?

Mero turned to look at Wura as his eyes followed the direction in which she was pointing to and he nodded.

"Yes, there is a tent over there." he said not understanding what was so important about that.

"Is something the matter?" he asked as he could tell that Wura did not feel comfortable.

"Yes, something is the matter, I do not think that tent was there before we left Mero, I just appeared out of nowhere." said Wura in exasperation, she was perplexed and Mero did not seem to find this as strange as she found it and that worried her a lot.

Mero looked at the mix of exasperation and perplexation on her face and then at the tent and as he looked between the two his eyes rested on Wura as he started to laugh and Wura's frown deepened.

She did not get why he was laughing... was he laughing at her or what? The mere thought that he was laughing at her was making her angry.

"Why are you laughing? What is so funny?" asked Wura in anger as she wanted to hit him but stopped herself, she did not want to make him angry, they had only just mended their relationship a few moments ago, she did not want to ruin what they had mended.

Mero realized what he was doing before he could even stop himself, he saw the angered look on Wura's face as he cleared his throat and took control of himself. What was wrong with him? Why had he suddenly become so free with Wura? He could not remember himself being so free with anyone else except Liam.

"I apologize Wura, I did not mean to upset you." said Mero as his face went back to his serious looking demeanor.

"Why were you laughing?" asked Wura as she was not ready to let this go, there was obviously something that she did not know.

"It is nothing Wura, really, that tent was not there when we left, you are right about that." said Mero.

"Actually, it was set up while we were gone, that is my tent." said Mero as the angry look on Wura's face disappeared when she heard him say that was his tent.

"Your tent?" she asked as Mero nodded, now it made sense why the tent was so close to hers. This had caught her unexpectedly, it had completely skipped her mind that just like her Mero would need a place to sleep, and since he was her personal guard, there was no way he would sleep somewhere very far away from where she was.

"I see... so is that why you were laughing?" asked Wura.

"Well yes... you should have seen the look on your face, you were wondering if you were seeing things or not, it was simply amusing." said Mero as Wura's looked away in embarrassment, he was calling her amusing? Was that a good thing or a bad thing? She was not sure at all.

"Well can you blame me? One moment this tent does not exist and the next it suddenly appears, and very close to mine I might add." said Wura as his tent was not that close, there was an amicable distance between their tents, but still in her mind he was rather close.

"True, but it is only like that because as your guard I need to stay close, just in case anything happens, and it is not as if I am calling for something to happen, but you can never be too safe." said Mero as Wura nodded.

"I agree with you... and I understand, I would rather have you close to me than anyone else." said Wura as she did not realize how her words had come out until she had said them and her eyes went went when she did realize what she said, she looked at Mero, she did not know what she thought he would say, maybe he would be silent or ignore it but instead his response shocked her.

"I appreciate that." he replied casually, but his calm reply was enough to send warning bells ringing in Wura's head, she felt the sudden urge to defend her statement in order to avoid any form of misunderstanding.

"I did not mean close as in— What I meant is that I would prefer you be the closest guard to me rather than someone I do not know." she said as she explained quickly, she did not know how he took her words and she did not want any misunderstandings between them.

"I know what you meant, and I still appreciate that." replied Mero with a soft smile that Wura found herself looking at longer than she should have.

She started to contemplate the nature of their relationship now. In the beginning it was just a relationship between queen and confidant of her husband, and then it turned into a real friendship, and then he was her pillar in her time of need and comfort, and then someone she unfortunately kissed... and now.... she was uncertain of what exactly their relationship was.

Mero found himself looking at Wura longer than he had intended to. He could not lie to himself that he felt himself growing closer to her day by day, every moment they spent together her found himself learning more about her. From observing her little mannerisms, to the way she played with her hair when she was nervous, stressed, or tired, and to the way she smiled when she was happy, when she was angry.

He found himself paying more attention to her than usual. He knew more about her and her characters daily. He knew how stubborn she could be, how timid she could be in her moments of weakness and how she tried so hard not to show her lonliness.

Mero quickly snapped himself out of his thoughts, wondering what exactly he was doing? Thinking all these things about her would do him no good, he had to stop this before it escalated to something more than he could control.

Mero cleared his throat, seemingly jolting Wura back to consciousness as she realized where they were and how they were still outside.

"Wura it is getting very late now, you are tired, today has been a very tiring day, you should get some rest now." said Mero as Wura nodded.

"Of course, you are right Mero, today has been very tiring, I should get some rest, you get some rest as well." said Wura as she smiled at him before turning around to walk to her tent, but before she entered her tent she stopped and turned around.

"Goodnight Mero..." she said as she smiled at him.

"Goodnight Wura." he replied as she turned around and entered her tent and he did the same. 

Tomorrow was another day and there were many things that needed to be taken care of.

Wura entered her tent as she sighed, she was exhausted, mentally, physically. All the fatigue from the day's journey was hitting her and she just wanted to lay down in bed close her eyes and sleep.

Wura sighed once more as she proceeded to take off her dress and wear something more comfortable.

She found a light nightdress packed in her belongings as she wore it.

Wura yawned as she got into bed and closed her eyes, and then she suddenly opened them, unable to sleep.

Then all of a sudden the sound of Mero's laughing rung in her ears; she suddenly found herself smiling.

The sound of his laughter was delightful in her ears. She had never heard him laugh so lightheartedly before.

His face when he laughed just kept on popping up in her head. The way the corner of his lips tugged and the sound of his melodious laughter.

In the moment she was angry and could not care at all about his laughter, but now that she had time to calm down, she thought that she wanted to hear his laugh again. It was just so calming so soothing.

Mero was someone who rarely let his real emotions show, and in that moment, she felt as if he had let his guard down even for a moment, and he did it with her. Wura did not know why that made her feel so special... So special that she was the only one to witness him in such a manner.

Wura realized what she was doing and she quickly snapped herself out of it. She tapped herself on her cheeks and calmed her down

"Just what are you thinking about Wura? Control yourself!" she said to herself as she shook her head.

She was a married woman for her sake! Having such thoughts like this about anyone was arbitrary, she had to bury these thoughts and feelings never to be found again.

There was no way she would allow herself ruin a perfectly fine relationship that she had with Mero.

Wura gave her head another final shake, and when she did, she covered her head with the sheets on the bed and forced herself to go to sleep. There were certainly more problems she had to think about and deal with rather than wasting her time thinking about Mero.