The next Morning.
Today was a very important day, because tomorrow was the day long awaited, the day of the wedding of Liam and Wura, and the Castle was as busy as ever, the maids were told to decorate the entire Castle with bright colours which was what they were doing now, and for once it did not snow in the night, but rather it snowed in the morning.
"Good Morrow my princess" said Nora as she walked into Wura's room, over the past few days she had learnt some things about Wura, the first one being that she was one who woke up early in the morning, and the second being, she always seemed to have a smile on her face.
"Good Morrow Nora" said Wura as she smiled at Nora, she knew that when Nora was like this, she probably had something to tell her that Liam had told her to say.
"What is it that his highness said?" asked Wura as she smiled.
"Ahh…" said Nora as she did not expect this question at all, but it seemed that Wura was getting to know Liam.
"Well my princess, his highness truly did tell me to inform you that he would not be able to join you for breakfast today seeing as something came up, but he did say that he and his Majesty will join you for dinner" said Nora.
"Oh well that is alright then Nora" said Wura as she did not seem surprised at all, it seemed that Liam was still in a bad mood from yesterday, why else would he have come up with such an excuse.
"Shall I bring your breakfast?" asked Nora as she noticed that Wura seemed very calm.
"Well yes Nora, you can" said Wura as she smiled.
"Alright my lady" said Nora as she bowed and she left.
…
"Good Morrow father" said Liam as he smiled and he walked into Alaric's office.
"Ahh good morning my boy, how are you doing this fine morning?" asked Alaric as he looked up and he smiled at Liam.
"Well I am well father, and how are you?" asked Liam.
"I am good my son" said Alaric as he smiled.
"I am glad to hear that father because…" said Liam as he paused.
"Because of what??" asked Alaric.
"Well because late last night I received a letter from the priest, he requires the presence of both of us this Morning at the Church" said Liam as he smiled.
"Oh I see, I completely forgot, there are some rites that must be carried out before the wedding" said Alaric as he shook his head, he really was getting old and he had began to forget things easily.
"I was not even aware of this till last night father" said Liam as he laughed.
"Well my boy, it is a very important rite, you must receive the blessing of the priest before the wedding for good luck" said Alaric as he smiled.
"Then does that not mean that Lady Diwura must go along with us?" asked Liam.
"No my boy, that is not necessary" said Alaric.
"Only the royal males are required to receive the blessing, his bride will be alright, since the blessing of the groom would cover her too" said Alaric as he smiled.
"Oh well, alright" said Liam as he was surprised that was a very strange belief, he had never heard of his before.
"Yes my boy" said Alaric.
"So we must to go the Church now" said Alaric.
"Alright then Father" said Liam.
"And what about Lady Diwura? Does she know that we would be stepping out?" asked Alaric.
"Well yes, I have informed her maid and she will inform her" said Liam as he nodded her head.
"Well alright then my boy" said Alaric as he stood up.
"Let us be going" said Alaric.
"We cannot keep the priest waiting at all" said Alaric as he smiled.
"Alright father" said Liam.
"I will tell them to ready the carriage" said Liam.
"Yes, you do that my boy" said Alaric as he smiled, and Liam smiled as he walked out of Alaric's office.
…
"My princess, Lady Lilia had arrived at the castle, but she said that she was extremely busy, but she could not come and see you personally" said Nora as she walked into Wura's room with a box in her hand.
"Oh that is no worry at all" said Wura as she smiled, she was very happy, she could always count on Lilia, she had even finished making the dress she had asked her to make very quickly.
"My Princess, where shall I put the dress??" asked Nora.
"Well Nora, take it to your room" said Wura as she smiled.
"But…. But why my princess??" asked Nora as she did not understand why Wura would want her to take her dress to her own room.
"Well because Nora, the dress is for you" said Wura as she smiled.
"For me??" asked Nora as she was in shock, she could not believe this at all, Wura would make a dress for her??
"Of course Nora, it is for you" said Wura as she smiled.
"Oh but my princess, I can not accept this, I truly can not" said Nora as she shook her head, this was to much.
"But why not??" asked Wura.
"Did you not say that you did not say that you had nothing to wear to the wedding at all??" asked Wura.
"Yes my princess, but…" said Nora as she was cut off.
"But nothing Nora, it is a gift from me to you" said Wura as she smiled.
"You deserve it, for being so good to me" said Wura.
"And besides, I will not take No for an answer Nora, so just keep it" said Wura as she smiled.
Nora was completely surprised, Wura was something else entirely, she had no idea at all that this was what Wura had planned, and Nora really appreciated it, but it was too much, Wura was being to nice to her.
"Nora, you can go, go and keep your new dress in your room, go" said Wura as she smiled and as if Nora was being controlled, she said nothing and just stood there, before she opened her mouth to speak.
"Thank you my princess" said Nora as she smiled at Wura, for the first time, she smiled brightly at her and Wura smiled back.
"You are welcome Nora" said Wura as she smiled as Nora left her room very grateful.
Later that day in the Evening.
"I see that you are in a good mood this evening your highness" said Wura as she smiled and she walked into the dining room, over the past few days she had done the same thing, she would wake up, eat and have dinner together with Liam and Alaric, which was a bit boring if you asked her.
"And a good evening to you too Lady Diwura" said Liam as he turned to smile at her as she sat down beside him, she had turned that seat to her personal spot on the dining table.
"I see that you are back to your usual self as well" said Liam as he smiled.
"Oh mhmm" said Wura as she scoffed at him, when truly she was happy that he was smiling once again, unlike yesterday.
"So… tomorrow is the day" said Wura.
"Mhmm" said Liam as he took a sip of his water.
"The whole Kingdom would be present and…" said Liam as he was cut off by Alaric's sudden entrance.
"Good Evening my children" said Alaric as he smiled and he sat down on his seat on the dining table.
"Good evening your Majesty" said Wura as she bowed her head and she smiled.
"Good Evening father" said Liam as he smiled.
"Oh a good evening it truly is, because I have a surprise planned this evening after dinner" said Alaric as he smiled very brightly.
"Oh really father?" asked Liam.
"Of course my boy, so let us eat" said Alaric as he smiled and he began to eat.
"Do you know what the surprise is?" asked Wura as she looked at Liam.
"I am just as clueless as you" said Liam as he shook his head and he looked at his father, and he ate his food.
…
Song recommendation
"Je te laisserai des mots" [Patrick Watson]
After Dinner, Alaric claimed that the surprise he had for them was in another room of the Castle, and that was how Liam and Wura were now walking behind Alaric who was leading them to where he surprise was.
"He seems very excited" said Wura as she looked at Liam.
"You have not seen anything yet" said Liam as he scoffed, his father could be a very cheeky man, and he wondered what it was that he had planned.
"Hmm" said Wura as she was curious as to what Liam meant by that.
They both followed behind Alaric, who led them to a part of the Castle that Wura had never been to before and after a few turns and some minutes of walking, Alaric stopped behind a great mighty oak door.
"Father, you can not be serious" said Liam to himself as he shook his head, he should have known.
"Of course I am my boy" said Alaric as he laughed.
"My dear, pay no attention to him at all, follow me" said Alaric as he look at Wura and he smiled.
"Alright your Majesty" said Wura as she held Alaric's hand that he had extended to her, and he smiled at he as he opened the door.
Wura could only say that the room was beautiful, from the gold coloured patterns on the red carpet spread on the floor, to the beautiful big chandelier hung in the centre of the room that gave the room the light.
There was soft music playing in the background, and Wura turned to see the musicians playing the music as they smiled, she wondered what this was all about.
"My dear do you like what you see?" asked Alaric as he turned to look at Wura with a smile.
"Yes I do your Majesty, this room is very beautiful" said Wura as she smiled at him.
"I am glad you think so my dear" said Alaric as he smiled.
"But if I may ask, what are we doing here your Majesty??" asked Wura as she still had no idea at all.
"Well my dear…" said Alaric as he was cut off by Liam who rested his back on the wall and he shook his head.
"My father loves to dance" said Liam.
"This is his dancing room" said Liam as he wondered how he did not notice where his father was leading them to.
"Dance??" asked Wura.
"Yes My dear, Dancing is passion" said Alaric as he smiled.
"So will you dance with me?" asked Alaric with a smile.
"Oh my" said Wura.
"I am sorry your Majesty, but I cannot dance at all" said Wura as she shook her head.
"Oh nonsense my dear, everyone can Dance, even just a little" said Alaric as he music picked up its pace and he held Wura's arm as they began to move around the room.
"You really are done for now" said Liam as he laughed, his father was too much.
Wura smiled, she really did not know how to dance at all, but she could not bear to crush the happy look on Alaric's old face, so she smiled and she moved along with him as he laughed.
"There you go my dear" said Alaric as he laughed as they moved around the room and Liam shook his head.
After a few minutes, Alaric had gotten tired and he had stopped dancing, and Wura was grateful for that.
"Oh I am not as young and limber as I used to" said Alaric as he laughed and he sat down on the couch at the far corner of the room and Wura laughed, he said so but Wura herself wondered how he could move so energetically.
"I always tell you that father" said Liam as he laughed.
"Oh hush my boy" said Alaric as he laughed and he waved Liam off.
"May I have this dance?" asked Liam as he walked over to Wura.
"You may" said Wura as she smiled and she took Liam's hand that he had extended to her.
"But I do apologize in advance if I step on your feet, I have two left feet" said Wura as she laughed, she could not dance at all, and she was often teased about it in the inner circle of the Duke's children, she had inherited that from her father, who too could not dance at all, even if it was to save his life.
"You do not need to worry at all" said Liam as he smiled at her, and he held her right hand in his left, and he put his other hand on her waist as she placed her left hand on his right shoulder.
The music picked up its pace, and just as Wura had said, she had stepped on Liam's foot which made him wince.
"I am sorry" said Wura as she smiled sheepishly.
"There is no need to be" said Liam as he smiled.
"Just relax" he said.
"And follow after me" he said.
"Move your left foot back, and your right foot forward" said Liam as he smiled and Wura did as she was told and her movements became more swift and clean.
"There you go" said Liam as he laughed and Wura smiled.
"Ahh my children" said Alaric as he smiled from where he was sitting.
"This is good practice for the Royal Dance tomorrow" said Alaric as he laughed.
"Royal Dance?" asked Wura as she was surprised and she looked at Liam.
"Yes my dear, it is royal tradition for the newly wed couple to dance in front of the their guests as husband and wife" said Alaric as he smiled.
"What??!" asked Wura in shock, she was not informed of this at all.
"Do not worry, you will be alright, if you relax like you did now" said Liam as he smiled.
How could he say that, she was only informed of this now, which gave her no time to practice at all, she would end up embarrassing herself in front of the entire kingdom.
"Alright" said Wura as she sighed.
Liam laughed, Wura said she did not know how to dance, and yet her feet already knew the movements as they swayed around the room , she just needed to focus and she would be perfectly fine.
Alaric smiled as he looked at the couple who were smiling and dancing, his heart was filled with Joy, Joy for the future of his son and the Kingdom, everything would be alright.
After a few minutes the music stopped and Liam and Wura stopped dancing.
"That was very good my children" said Alaric as he smiled and he clapped for them and they smiled at him.
"Well I must retire to bed now, I am awfully tired" said Alaric as he smiled.
"Goodnight your Majesty" said Wura as she smiled.
"Goodnight Father" said Liam.
"Goodnight my dears" said Alaric as he smiled and he stood up.
"And do not worry about me at all, continue to dance, play the music" said Alaric as he turned to the musicians and they played more music.
"Oh father" said Liam as he laughed and he shook his head.
"I will see you both tomorrow" said Alaric as he smiled and he left the room, and Liam turned to Wura and they started to dance once again.
…
"My princess??" asked Nora as she had come to escort Wura to her room.
"His highness asked me to inform you that he and the princess are in the dancing room" said one of the guards that stood at the door.
"Oh, alright then, thank you" said Nora as she went in that direction.
…
"I have our rings" said Liam as he and Wura danced.
"Hmm??" said Wura as she looked up at Liam, she had been concentrating too much on her feet that she did not hear what he said.
"I said that I have our rings" said Liam.
"Oh…" said Wura as she did not know what to say, the truth was that Liam was looking for a good time to give her ring to her, and what better time than now?
"Do you not want it?" asked Liam as he could sense her hesitation.
"It is not that your highness…" said Wura as she hesitated.
"Then what is it?" asked Liam.
"I just… I just…" said Wura as she could not find the words to say.
"Tell me Lady Diwura" said Liam as Wura looked up at him as they danced.
"Why do you want to marry me??" he asked her.
Wura could not say anything at all, this was the third time he had asked her this question, and unlike the other times when she had boldly answered him, this time, it was different.
"I…I…" said Wura as she did not know what to say.
"Your silence says a lot" said Liam as the music stopped and they stopped dancing, and he let go of her.
"My princess…" said Nora as she walked into the room and both Liam and Wura turned to look at her.
"Good Evening you highness" said Nora as she bowed.
"Good Evening" said Liam.
"Well it is getting late already" said Liam.
"I will see you tomorrow" said Liam as he turned to look at Wura.
"Goodnight Lady Diwura" said Liam.
"Goodnight your highness" said Wura as Liam nodded and he left the room as he did not look back at all.
"My princess, shall we go now?" asked Nora as she snapped Wura out of her many, many thoughts.
"Ahh… well yes, yes we should Nora, we should" said Wura as she looked at Nora and she smiled slightly.
"Alright then my princess, please follow me closely" said Nora as Wura turned to look at where the musicians were, and they had all disappeared leaving only their instruments behind, which made Wura wonder, but she had too many thoughts, so she followed after Nora.