"Oh Wura, I was so worried about you, I was looking for you everywhere, why did I leave?" asked Liam as he looked at Wura in surprise, he was scared that he would not find her, but now that he saw her and heard her voice, he was more than relieved, he should have never left her alone.
"I went to look for you when I saw that you did not return after a long while" said Wura.
"But I did tell you to stay put" said Liam.
"Now is not the time for this Liam" said Wura as she frowned, she did not want them to start arguing, and especially not now when Darla was here.
"Liam, I found Darla here while I was looking for you, there was a beast, and well Darla is hurt, she twisted her ankle or broke it, I am not sure" said Wura as she knew that the most important thing to focus on right now was Darla and them getting far away from here.
Liam was surprised when he heard what Wura said and he looked behind Wura where he saw Darla sitting on Wura's horse.
"Darla, are you alright?" asked Liam as he got off his horse and he walked to Darla as she nodded and she was holding back her tears.
"You said that there was a beast?" asked Liam.
"Yes, right over there" said Wura as he pointed to the dead beast and Liam looked at it.
"Are you both alright?" asked Liam in worry as he looked at Wura.
"We are fine Liam, but we have to get out of here before other beasts arrive" said Wura as Liam nodded, he knew that she was right.
"Alright, Darla can you walk?" asked Liam as Darla shook her head and Liam carried her in his arms.
"Darla will ride with me, Wura make sure to stay very close to me alright?" asked Liam as he stressed the word close, he did not want anything bad happening to her.
"Yes Liam I hear you, we should go now, I do not want to be here when more beasts arrive" said Wura as Liam put Darla on his horse, he did not want to be here when that happened either.
"Are you comfortable?" asked Liam as Darla nodded her head and he got on his horse.
"Darla hold onto me tightly" said Liam as Darla nodded and he hit his horse as his horse started to move quickly and Wura followed after him as she sighed, she knew that Liam would come for her, she just knew it.
…
Elihu could not think straight or focus, something was telling him that against all odds something bad happened to Darla and it was all his fault, he could not help but feel guilty, he should have never left her alone, there was no sign of her anywhere, and he could only think of the worst.
"Elihu, what is wrong with you?" asked Zuph as he could see the worried expression on Elihu's face as they rode their horses back to the inn.
"I am worried about Darla, I should have never left her alone, what if something bad happens to her? Malcom and Dothan will never forgive me, not to even talk about Mero himself who made him follow Darla and now he left her all alone.
"You really should have never left her alone then" said Zuph.
"Thank you for repeating that Zuph" said Elihu as he sighed.
"I am only saying the truth" said Zuph as Elihu sighed.
"I am going to go back and look for her" said Elihu as he turned his horse back, he only hoped that he would find her fine and in good health, or else, he would be dead.
"You cannot just go like that" said Zuph.
"I will, and I will be back soon" said Elihu.
"Where is he going?" asked Malcom as he and Nora were on the same horse and he turned around to look at Zuph.
"He is going to find Darla" said Zuph.
"Then we should go with him" said Dothan.
"No, I do not think that is a good idea, let Elihu go alone, did you not say that Mero would be waiting for us?" asked Nora as Malcom nodded.
"Then we should go, before he starts to worry about you" said Nora as Dothan knew that she was right.
…
"Oh Elihu, you are an idiot, you should have never left her alone, what if something bad happens to her? It will all be your fault, your stupid fault for leaving her alone, Mero is going to kill me, and the Queen as well" said Elihu to himself as he rode his horse as fast as he could while still searching for Darla but he could not see her anywhere.
"Darla, Darla" called Elihu as he looked around and still no sight of her, he felt his heart dropping, he did not know why he felt like something bad happened to her, he would not be able to forgive himself, he would beat himself up if she got hurt or worse.
"Darla" called Elihu once more as he called out for her with all his might.
…
"Malcom there you are, I have been looking for you everywhere, I thought that you got lost" said Mero as he saw Malcom approaching.
"Sorry Mero, I did not intend to make you worry, but on my way to the market I saw Dothan and the others, so we all decided to go to the market together" said Malcom as he got down from his horse and he helped Nora down as Mero looked at her.
"I see" said Mero as he looked at Zuph and Dothan.
"Yes, but we have no seen Liam or Lily yet, I am starting to get worried about them" said Malcom as Dothan nodded his head, he was worried as well, very worried.
"Where is Elihu?" asked Mero.
"Well he was here with us a while ago" said Nora.
"But what?" asked Mero.
"He left Darla alone and now he went to go and look for her" said Dothan as Mero sighed and he shook his head, of course, he knew that something like this would happen, Elihu was just too hot tempered, how could he leave her alone in the middle of nowhere.
"Of course he did" said Mero as he sighed.
"How can he leave her alone in the middle of nowhere? What if something bad happens to her?" asked Mero.
"Exactly what I was thinking" said Malcom as he agreed with Mero, he did not like that Elihu just forsook his sister like that, even though she was truly a difficult person to be with, but he had to be the bigger person, they all knew how Darla was, he should have been more rational.
"Come on, we should go and look for both of them right now, before something bad happens" said Mero as he walked to his horse and they all agreed with him.
…
Darla was feeling more pain by the minute, her foot was hurting her even more, the pain was so unbearable that she started to cry silently, but Liam could still hear her sobs.
"Darla, what is wrong?" asked Liam.
"My foot, it hurts… it hurts a lot" said Darla as she cried and Wura could feel her heart breaking at the sound of Darla's cries, she could only imagine how much pain she was feeling right now.
Wura remembered when she had tried to escape from the giants and she broke through the window, she had twisted her ankle and that hurt her very much, and Darla was sure that her ankle was broken, which was even more painful than a sprain, so she felt really bad for her right now.
"Hold on Darla, I am sure that we will get some help soon" said Wura.
"Wura, did you check the map?" asked Liam as he looked at her.
"Yes I did, and there is supposed to be a town nearby, not too far from here" said Wura.
"Alright" said Liam as he slowed down his horse a bit and Wura did the same as their horses were galloping steadily.
"Darla, Darla" called Elihu.
"Wait, is that not Elihu??" asked Wura as Liam nodded, he heard his voice as well.
"Yes, it is Elihu" said Liam.
"Elihu" called Wura as Elihu heard her voice and he slowed down his horse as he caught sight of Wura and Liam riding on their horses as he moved to them.
"My lady, I am looking for Darla" said Elihu.
"I know, I found here, she is there with Liam" said Wura as Elihu looked at Darla and he sighed in relief.
"Oh thank goodness" said Elihu.
"Elihu, what is wrong with you? You should have never left her alone" said Wura as she started to scold Elihu.
"Yes I know, I was stupid for leaving her alone, such an idiot my lady, forgive me" said Elihu.
"You should not ask for my forgiveness, you should ask for Darla's forgiveness, because of you she got hurt" said Wura.
"She did?? What happened?" asked Elihu.
"There was a beast and well she broke her ankle thanks to you not being there" said Wura.
"I am so sorry Darla, please forgive me" said Elihu as he looked at Darla and Darla just nodded as she cried, the pain was unbearable.
Elihu got off his horse as he walked to Liam's horse as Liam looked at her.
"Let me take her" said Elihu as Liam nodded and Elihu carried Darla off his horse onto his own horse.
"I am so sorry Darla, this is all my fault" said Elihu as Liam and Wura looked at each other.
"Elihu, Darla…" called Mero as he caught sight of Elihu and Darla as well as Liam and Wura as he and the others rode towards them.
"Mero I…" said Elihu as he knew that he had a lot of explaining to do.
"Darla, what happened?" asked Malcom as he got off his horse and he rushed to Darla as he saw her crying and Dothan did the same.
"I think that I broke my ankle" said Darla as she cried even more and Wura felt her heart breaking as she heard her cries.
"Which one?" asked Malcom in worry as Darla pointed to her left ankle as she cried and Malcom touched her ankle as Darla cried out in pain.
"It hurts, it hurts to bad, make it stop" said Darla as she cried and Dothan could not bear to hear his sister cry like this, he had never seen her cry before, never, Darla never cried in front of them, this is the first time that they had seen her cry.
"Darla, everything will be okay" said Malcom as he attempted to carry her off Elihu's horse.
"Leave her here, she will be safer with me" said Elihu as he Malcom frowned at him and Dothan glared at him.
"I am sorry" said Elihu as he heard Darla's cries of pain, even Nora was shocked that someone as strong as Darla could cry like this, after all she was just a person like all of them were.
"I think that we should go now, Darla needs to be comfortable" said Wura as everyone looked at her.
"I agree with Lily" said Liam as they all looked at him.
"There is a town nearby where all of us are staying, we should go there now" said Mero as Elihu got on his horse and he could not bear to hear Darla's cries that were caused by him and his stupidity.
"Let us go now" said Mero as they all started to ride their horses.
…
Wura knocked on the door as she heard a voice telling her to come in as she entered with a tray.
"Darla, Nora made some stew, it should make you feel better" said Wura as she smiled and she walked into Darla's room as Darla was laying on the bed and her left food was bandaged.
"How is your ankle?" asked Wura in concern.
"Better" replied Darla as her voice came out scratched from all her crying.
"That is nice, does it still hurt?" asked Wura.
"Not as much as before" said Darla as she coughed a bit.
"You should eat now, it will make you feel better" said Wura as she placed the tray on the table and she turned around to walk away when she heard Darla called to her.
"Lily" called Darla as Wura turned around.
"Yes Darla, do you need anything else?" asked Wura as Darla shook her head.
"I am sorry… for everything, for my uncalled for hatred towards you, for being unfair to you, for selling you off to the giants, for everything, I am sorry" said Darla as Wura just smiled.
"It is fine Darla, I hold no grudges" said Wura as she smiled.
"But you have every right to, I was wicked to you and yet you saved me, after everything I have done to you, everything that I have said, I am so sorry Lily, I do not deserve your kindness you give towards me" said Darla as she cried.
"Please do not cry Darla, there is no need for that, everyone deserves to receive kindness, and I am sorry as well, I should have tried to understand you more" said Wura as Darla sniffed.
"Please do no cry, eat your soup now, Malcom should be back with the healing potion any moment" said Wura.
"Alright" said Darla as she sniffed.
"Thank you again Lily" said Darla as she smiled and she sniffed.
"No need to thank me" said Wura as she smiled and she walked out of the room.
…
Wura sighed, she was just so tired after what happened today, and all her joints were aching.
"My lady, are you alright?" asked Nora as Wura walked into the kitchen.
"I am alright Nora, just very tired" said Wura.
"I missed you my lady, I had been so worried about you" said Nora.
"You did not have to worry Nora, I was just fine with Liam" said Wura as she smiled.
"My lady, you need to eat, you must be tired" said Nora as she handed Wura a bowl of soup.
"I really am tired" said Wura as she took the bowl of soup from him.
"Nora, I have so much to tell you" said Wura as she smiled.
"About you and his Majesty?" asked Nora as Wura laughed.
"Well yes Nora, about me and Liam" said Wura.
"What happened my lady?" asked Nora.
"Oh so much happened Nora, things that I cannot say now, I will tell you later" said Wura as Nora laughed.
"Alright my lady, go and eat now" said Nora as Wura nodded and she walked out the kitchen as she almost bumped into Liam.
"Oh Liam, I almost bumped into you" said Wura as Liam smiled at her.
"My love" said Liam as he smiled and he looked around as he saw no one near and he leaned in and gave her a quick kiss on the lips as he pulled away.
"Liam!" called Wura in surprise as she looked around, hoping that no one would see them.
"You cannot just do things like that, what if someone saw us?" asked Wura as she whispered and she looked around.
"No one will see us" said Liam as Wura laughed.
"Well I am afraid that they will, so see you later Liam" said Wura as she laughed and she walked away as Liam shook his head.