"Dawn, do you need any help?" asked Nora as she smiled and she looked at Dawn as there were other busy maids in the kitchen.
"No Nora, I am alright, but thank you for your offer" said Dawn as she looked up and she smiled as a maid collected a plate from her as she smiled.
"Oh… okay" said Nora as she nodded her head, she felt bored, she had nothing to do.
"Why are you in the kitchen anyway? Are you not supposed to be with her Majesty?" asked Dawn as she smiled and she looked up at Nora.
"Ahh well her Majesty is currently having dinner with his Majesty and the Royal Duke" said Nora as she explained and that was why she felt so bored, she had nothing else to do, she had cleaned Wura's room, and everything else was boring, she did not realize just how her dependent her life was on Wura.
"I see" said Dawn.
"Yes, so you see, I am bored, I would like to spend my time wisely, I do not like to be idle" said Nora, she knew that Wura would probably return back to her room after dinner not so soon, so she wanted to keep herself busy before that time would arrive.
"You should consider yourself lucky Nora, you do less work than the rest of us" said Dawn as she laughed.
"Well if it was up to me, I would not like it to be so" said Nora as she smiled, she was not someone lazy, back when she was just a common Castle maid, she would always make sure to do her work diligently and on time, and Dawn knew that.
"You know Nora, it is good to just sit and relax sometimes" said Dawn as she laughed.
"But I was not hired to relax was I?" asked Nora as to her, she would do what she was paid to do.
"Good one Nora, alright, I should have known that the diligent Nora would never give herself a break, never ever" said Dawn as she laughed and Nora looked confused, as if she did not know what Dawn meant by giving herself a break, she did not feel tired, no not at all.
"Stop looking at me like that" said Dawn as she laughed and she looked at Nora's clueless face as Nora still looked confused.
"Alright, fine, you know what, there is something that you can help me with after all" said Dawn as she smiled, she knew that she needed to find Nora something to do or less she would jut end standing here looking like an abandoned puppy.
"Alright" said Nora as she smiled.
"The knights have yet to receive their dinner, Misty was the one that was supposed to give them their dinner, but Lady Marli called her to clean the east wing of the Castle, and I was going to give the Knights their dinner, but that would be after I was done here, but since you are here now, would you be willing to do that for me?" asked Dawn as she smiled.
"You can count on me" said Nora as she smiled, she thought that it would feel refreshing to walk around the Castle for a while.
After all, she had been with Wura all day every day, and Wura was always in her room, which meant that she was always with Wura in her room, she could not remember the last time that she walked around the Castle.
"Thank you Nora, you really are doing me a favour" said Dawn as she smiled.
"It is not a problem at all Dawn" said Nora as she smiled.
"Great" said Dawn as she smiled and she turned to the table as she carried a full tray from the table and she turned as she handed the tray to Nora who was taken aback since the tray was heavier than she had thought it would be.
"That is the dinner for the Knights, and not the ordinary knights, but the high ranking ones" said Dawn as she explained and Nora nodded her head.
"Where do I find the Knights then?" asked Nora as that was the only question on her mind.
"Oh, just at the training grounds, they usually train at this time" said Dawn.
"Okay" said Nora.
"Thank you once again Nora, you really did me a favour" said Dawn as she smiled and Nora just smiled as she turned around and she walked out of the kitchen.
…
"You think he will ever rest?" asked Zuph as he lazily looked at Luc and the others as they watched Mero spar with one of the other knights, they were just lucky that it was not one of them that they were sparring with.
"Not a chance, I mean, not as long as he is still in that state" said Luc as he pointed at Mero as he was heaving and his cold breath could be seen as a mist formed as he heaved, it was another cold winters night, one of those nights that would be worse until it suddenly got better.
As it was almost Spring, instead of the snow to begin to clear up, it began to snow even heavier, that people were almost scared that Spring would never come by, but they knew that no matter what, the seasons never changed, they remained the same as they moved in that same constant circle.
"You know what, I am just hungry, why do we have to be here while Mero insists that he suffers?" asked Elihu as he groaned, it was cold out here as it was, and the fire that they had made was doing nothing at all.
"Well you know how Mero is, he says that we should all train as well" said Zechariah.
"I believe that maybe there is something going on that he is not telling us" said Luc.
"Whether there is something going on or not, all I want is my food" said Elihu.
"You groan too much Elihu" said Luc.
"Leave me be, all of you" said Elihu.
"You complain about my love for women, and now you complain about my love for food, you lot can never be satisfied can you?" asked Elihu in frustration as Luc and Zuph just laughed as Zechariah shook his head as his eyes went to the entrance, he should see the shadow of someone coming, and just as he had thought, he saw a young girl with a tray in her hand walk into the training grounds as she caught sight of them sitting on a log and she walked towards them.
"Good Evening" said Nora as she smiled and she walked to where Elihu and the rest were, it was cold out here, so cold, mist formed as she spoke.
"Good Evening" said Zechariah and the others as he smiled.
"Dinner is served" said Nora.
"Oh finally, you do hear prayers" said Elihu as he looked up at the sky as Zechariah shook his head.
"Thank you" said Zechariah as he smiled and Nora began to give them each their bowls as she almost tripped over the cold snow and Zechariah stopped her from falling as she thanked him politely till there was all but one bowl left on her tray.
"What is for dinner?" asked Elihu.
"Pottage" replied Nora simply as she counted the bowls and she could see that there was one left but she had only given food to four people.
"You seem confused" said Zechariah as he looked at Nora, he could read the confusion in her eyes.
"Ahhh yes… well there is one bowl left" said Nora as she wondered if the kitchen workers had miscalculated.
"It is for him" said Zechariah as he pointed at Mero who was busy at the far corner as he cleaned his sword.
"Ah… I see, thank you" said Nora as she smiled, she was already getting so confused.
"I can keep it for him" said Zechariah.
"Ahh, thank you" said Nora as she handed the bowl to Zechariah as he smiled at her.
"I will take my leave now" said Nora as she smiled.
"Please enjoy your meal" said Nora as she smiled and they all thanked her as she turned to walk away but she was so absent minded that she did not watch where she was going and she bumped into someone.
"Sorry…" said Nora as she moved back and she looked up at the man who she had bumped into and she recognized him right away.
"Ahh… Sir Mero, good evening, I am sorry for bumping into you" said Nora as she bowed her head, from everything Wura had told her, she knew that Mero was the most trusted man of the King.
"That is alright" said Mero.
"I am sure that you did not do it on purpose" said Mero.
"Ahh, no, not at all, Sir Mero" said Nora as she shook her head, it was then that she realized that he must have been the man who was cleaning his sword, she had not been able to see him clearly since he was in a dark area, but it was now that Nora knew that she was really with high official ranking knights if Mero was here.
"What are you doing here?" asked Mero as he recognized her, maybe it was her timid nature, but he knew that this was Wura's maid, she did not work in the kitchen.
"Wait, do you know her Mero?" asked Luc as just like everyone else he was surprised, Mero did not usually speak to women, but he spoke to this woman and it seemed like he knew her.
"Yes I do, she is her Majesty's handmaiden" said Mero as he turned to look at Luc.
"Wait?? She is?" asked Zuph as he looked very surprised, if that was so, then why was she giving them their food??
"Are you really the Queen's handmaiden?" asked Luc as he turned to look at Nora.
"Yes, I am" said Nora as she nodded her head but she kept her gaze down.
"Then what are you doing here?" asked Elihu.
"Ahh… well my Queen, Is currently having dinner with his Majesty and the Royal Duke, so I decided to help around the kitchen" explained Nora as now she was getting cold, it was very cold out here, she would have grabbed her coat if she had known that it would as cold as this.
Nora's lips began to quiver on their own accord, she tried to stop her teeth from chattering but it was hard, it was then that she noticed that these men had no coats on as well, but they seemed to not feel any cold at all.
"I see" said Mero as he wondered why she was here, he was never one to forget a face.
"Well this is such a surprise, we have never been granted with the gift of meeting her Majesty's trusted maid" said Zuph as he laughed.
"I am only a simple maid Sir" said Nora as she bowed her head and Mero looked at her, he could tell that the girl was shivering, and the others were too involved in their idle talk to notice that she was.
"I believe that you should go inside now, It is cold out here" said Mero as Nora still did not look up at him, he wondered if she was afraid of him or what, not that he minded, it was just a simple question.
"Ah… well yes…" said Nora as her shivering became more noticeable.
"I will take my leave now" said Nora as she smiled at the others as she quickly turned around and she walked back the way she came, as if fire was chasing her.
"Hmm what a peculiar girl" said Zuph as he laughed, she was very shy, refusing to look at all of them.
"More than peculiar, do you not remember her, she was the maiden dressed in midnight blue at the wedding" said Elihu as he ate his pottage.
"And you remember that?" asked Zechariah in confusion as he looked at Elihu.
"I never forget the face of a beautiful woman" said Elihu as he smiled and the other groaned, as they knew that Elihu would never change.
"What?? Even Mero seems interested in her" said Elihu as Mero turned to look at him and he narrowed his eyes at him as she shot him a look that read "What nonsense are you saying?"
"Alright fine, but you rarely talk to women, and yet you speak to her?" asked Elihu.
"I know that you are not blind Elihu, and I also know that you must have seen when she bumped into me" replied Mero as he shook his head.
"You are worse than a tale monger Elihu" said Mero as he scoffed and he walked away.
"What did I do?" asked Elihu.
"Oh Elihu, you know how much he hates being associated with women" said Zechariah as he shook his head.
"It is not my fault that his mother was a…" said Elihu as Luc shot him a look that read "Shut up"
"Alright fine" said Elihu.
"Just eat your food Elihu" said Zuph as Elihu kept quiet.
…
"My Queen, thank you for inviting me over for tea" said Lady Marli as she smiled and she looked at Wura.
"Thank you for coming Lady Marli, I do say that having tea all alone is rather boring" said Wura as she laughed while Nora stayed rooted in her place in the corner while she just watched Lady Marli and she stayed quiet.
"That is very true my Queen" said Lady Marli as she laughed and Wura smiled at her happily.