"Once upon a time, there was a little frog who was the ugliest of all the frogs in the land" said Mero as Nora listened.
"One day, he became tired of being so ugly, so he set out on a journey to find a witch who could make him beautiful" said Mero.
"But on his way he found many trials and tribulations which caused him to give up and he died as he was struck by lightning" said Mero as Nora looked at him in horror.
"What?" asked Mero in confusion as he did not know why Nora was looking at him like that.
"What sort of story is that Mero?" asked Nora in horror.
"it is a story, what else?" asked Mero.
"That was more horrific than happy" said Nora.
"I never said that it was a happy story" said Mero as Nora could not believe this, but what did she expect, this was Mero that she was talking about, he was the most serious man that she knew, of course she should not have expected him to tell her a wonderful story.
"You are right, you did not" said Nora as she nodded and Mero started to walk the horse slowly as Nora did not even realize that they were moving as she was deep in her thoughts.
"Who told you that story Mero?" asked Nora as she looked at Mero.
"My mother did" said Mero.
"You have a mother?" asked Nora as she only realized how insensitive that sounded only after she uttered out her words.
"Yes I did" said Mero.
"Ooh I am sorry, I did not mean it like that" said Nora as she apologized.
"It is alright Nora, I did have a mother, but she passed away many years back" said Mero.
"I am sorry Mero" said Nora.
"Do not be" said Mero as he stopped the horse and he got on it.
"Are you still scared?" asked Mero as Nora shook her head, honestly, she was no longer scared, and she did not want to annoy Mero any further, he did tell her a story to calm her down.
"No, I am not" said Nora.
"Are you sure?" asked Mero.
"Yes I am" said Nora as she smiled and she nodded her head.
"Alright then" said Mero as he made his horse move faster, but not too fast that Nora would get scared.
"But the poor little frog…" said Nora as she smiled and broke the silence between them.
"It should not have left it's home, I would still be alive if it did not" said Nora.
"Well that Is what happens when you believe the words of witches and seers saying that they see all and know all" said Mero.
"You really dislike witches and seers" said Nora as she had noticed that about him.
"Well yes, because they are liars, they only tell you what you want to hear and nothing more" said Mero as Nora kept quiet.
"I guess so…" said Nora as she finally noticed how truly awkward it was with just the two of them here, she really hoped that they would reach the market soon.
The ride to the market was filled with nothing but awkward silence, which was why when Mero brought the horse to a stop, Nora got down almost immediately.
"Well thank you for bringing me here Mero, I really appreciate it" said Nora as she gave a bow.
"I can stay to help you if you want" said Mero.
"Oh no, no, that is not necessary at all, I do not want to waste your time" said Nora as she shook her head.
"it will not be wasting my time, and besides, how are you going to get back to the Castle" said Mero as Nora realized that was true, how was she going to get back.
"Just let me go with you" said Mero as Nora sighed internally.
"Okay…" said Nora as she walked ahead and Mero followed after her as they entered into the market Nora had memorized everything that Wura had asked her to buy, she was sure that she would be done with this soon.
Nora quickly bought everything that she needed to buy as Mero followed quietly behind her and offered to carry the things she bought, to which she politely declined, until she realized that everything was just too heavy for her to attempt to carry on her own so she allowed him help her as they walked back to the horse where Nora checked the letter that Wura had given her when she saw one last thing that she was yet to do.
"What is wrong Nora?" asked Mero as he noticed that Nora was frowning.
"Her Majesty also wants me to get her some fresh flowers" said Nora as she looked at Mero, she had no idea where she would get fresh flowers from.
"There is a meadow nearby, maybe you can get some flowers from there" said Mero as Nora sighed, it did not look like she had any other choice, she was sure that Wura would not want her to return to the Castle until she had gotten every single thing on the list.
"Well alright…" said Nora as something told her that there was something going on here which she did not like at all.
…
Mero was silent as he was lost in his own thoughts, wondering if Wura's plan would work, she was the one who had arranged everything, he had no hand in this at all.
But Mero could not say no, he knew more than anyone that Wura wanted him to court Nora properly, his only regret was that he did not prepare himself adequately for all the tests that he would have to face.
Nora was just silent as she had to admit that this meadow was beautiful, but she was even more surprised when she saw something strange in the middle of the meadow as Mero stopped the horse and he helped her down.
"Of course… now it all makes sense" said Nora as she laughed in a bit of annoyance as she saw the picnic blanket, she did not need anyone to explain to her what was happening here.
"Let me guess her Majesty set you up to this?" asked Nora as she looked at Mero who nodded, he could not refute that.
No wonder Wura insisted on her dressing nicely, she even did her hair and set up everything so that she would go out today just for this.
"Of course she did… I told her that I was not sure of this…" said Nora as she sighed.
"Well I want to court you properly" said Mero.
"I never agreed to court you honestly, this is all so strange, and weird… especially you…" said Nora as Mero loved her honestly.
"I admire your honesty, I know that I am not the… most kind man, but I want to try to know you more" said Mero.
"Do you truly want to, or did her Majesty force you into doing this?" asked Nora.
"No Nora not at all, this is my personal decision to get to know you more…" said Mero.
"Why me?" asked Nora as she had that question, was it because she was the only option or what?
"There are several other women that would be more than happy to have a valiant knight like you court them, but why me?" asked Nora.
"Because I admire you Nora… honestly I do… and I have really had no interest in things like this for a long while" said Mero as Nora just felt like everything was awkward, especially with Wura's known involvement in everything, she doubted that anything could happen naturally.
"I really do not know what to say… or think" said Nora.
"Then at least stay and we can talk a bit more" said Mero as Nora laughed lightly.
"I honestly have no choice, knowing her Majesty, she will lock us out of the Castle if it will get the results that she wants" said Nora as she knew Wura too well.
"I know she will, but she is also very considerate" said Mero.
"Well she did make sure I left the Castle today, so I might as well make her happy" said Nora as she knew that planning something like this would have made Wura very happy.
And she did not want to put all her great efforts to waste.
"I will stay" said Nora simply.
"Thank you Nora" said Mero as he was sure that if she left Wura would blame him for not trying hard enough.
Nora walked to the blanket as she sat down on it as Mero left his horse to graze as he sat down beside her and Nora could feel things becoming even more awkward, there was nothing but silence.
They really had nothing to talk about at all, and that really made her feel weird, his presence was very weird to her.