She just could not put her finger on it, but there had to be a serious reason why lately they had been offending each other more than usual.
Wura was fed up with this whole thing, she was about to talk to Mero in a very serious tone as she turned to look at him.
"Mero look, we need to..." said Wura as her voice trailed off and her eyes caught sight of what looked like tiny people running and hiding behind a tent that was right across them. She could hear tiny giggles and whispers, but the sky was already dim and she could barely make out the figures.
Mero heard her talking, but when she suddenly trailed off and became silent, he looked at her and his eyes followed her line of sight, he wondered if something was wrong.
"Is something wrong?" asked Mero as Wura turned to look at him and then at the tent, but this time she saw a little head peek out from behind the tent.
"No..." she replied, she did not think that whatever was going on there was dangerous, in fact it seemed like whoever was there was just playing.
"But you are looking in that direction and something seems off." said Mero as Wura looked at him.
"Nothing is wrong Mero, I just think that I can see someone hiding behind that tent, that is all." said Wura.
"If it makes you uncomfortable I will go and check." said Mero as he stood up without waiting for her reply and Wura sighed, he did not have to go over there, she doubted that it was anything serious, she could hear sounds of giggling coming from behind that tent and nothing more.
She did not like how Mero had to make a big deal out of mostly everything, especially when it concerned her safety.
Wura could hear the giggling increase as the whispering became louder as soon as Mero stood up and started to approach the tent and she could fear the frantic sounds of tiny little feet running.
"Sir, wait, wait, wait, we mean no harm, please do not harm us." came the voice of a young boy as he spoke out of the dimness, causing Mero to stop right in his tracks as he furrowed his brows in confusion.
Once Wura heard the voice of the little boy, she instantly stood up to catch up to Mero before he did anything rash, not like she did not trust him, but he was upset at the moment.
"Yes, we mean no harm, we were only looking at the Queen." came another voice of a young girl.
"Please do not be angry with us." she said.
"No one is angry with you." said Wura as she heard the sound of three little gasps.
"It is the Queen." came the loud whispering.
"She is really here and she is really talking to us."
"Mother was right, the Queen truly came for dinner, she was not lying." the voices said as they whispered among themselves and Wura could not help but giggle, these were the very lovely woman's children.
"Yes I am really here, and I would like to see your faces, come out there is no need to hide." said Wura as she smiled and there was immediate silence as Wura still wondered if the children were still there.
"But your guard, he is very scary, are you sure he will not be mean to us?" came what sounded like the youngest boy's voice as Wura turned to look at Mero and frowned at him.
"You see, you scared them Mero with that all too serious look on your face." said Wura as she whispered and Mero looked at her in confusion.
"I did not know that they were children, it was obvious that they were watching you." replied Mero as he whispered back and Wura scoffed.
"I know and I apologize for that, he would never hurt you, so please come out." said Wura as she smiled.
"Are you sure?" asked the boy as Wura nodded.
"Very sure." she replied.
"Do you promise?" asked the girl.
"I promise you that he will not be mean to you, if he is I will deal with him, but the three of you please come out." said Wura.
"Well okay your Majesty, if you say so." came the voice of the boy as he whispered something to his siblings and they stepped out from behind the tent and stood in front of Wura and Mero.
Wura smiled as she saw their cute little faces that were covered in dirt probably from all their playing, it made her feel glad.
"Good evening your Majesty." said the little girl as she fumbled with her dress and kept her gaze down, she was nervous and it was clear to see, but her behaviour just made Wura's heart warm even more.
"Good evening, you do not have to be nervous at all, I am so glad to see you, your mother has been calling you for dinner for a while now." said Wura as she smiled.
"Well yes, but we thought that she was fibbing that you were coming for dinner just to get us to take a bath after playing." said the boy who was clearly the oldest, not too significantly taller than his younger siblings, but the look of leadership and confidence in his face and speech could not be missed. It was clear that he was the leader of the three.
His words caused Wura to giggle, what a naughty little boy, accusing his mother of fibbing just to try to get them to wash up.
"Well she was not fibbing, I truly was invited and I am here to have dinner with you." said Wura as she smiled.
"Well it does not make any difference, we still are not going to wash up." said the boy with a frown as Wura chuckled and he wondered what was so funny.
"Well then, may I know your names? You mother told me about how lovely you all are." said Wura with a smile.
"Of course we are lovely my lady." said the boy as he gave her a little bow and wink.
"Allow me to introduce myself my Queen, I am Alver, it is a pleasure to meet you." said Alver as he took Wura's hand and placed a kiss on the back of her hand inciting a charmed giggle from Wura.
"The pleasure is all mine." she replied.
"That is my little brother Emond." said Alver as he pointed to his little brother who had just been staring at Mero the entire time.
"And this is my sister—" said Alver as he was cut off abruptly by his younger sister who did not want him introducing her.
"My name is Lorian, your majesty, I am pleased to meet your acquaintance." she said as she gave a little curtsey that Wura thought was the cutest thing ever.
"I am pleased to meet your acquaintance as well." replied Wura as she curtsied back.
"It is an honour to have dinner with you your Majesty." said Lorian as she seemed out of breath, she looked up at Wura for a brief second and looked back down as soon as she saw Wura was looking at her. She was so jittery and nervous, she was in the presence of the Queen! Her brothers did not seem to realize that they were standing in the presence of royalty. This woman literally owned the Kingdom and ruled. She was so amazing and the fact that she was right here in front of them was surreal.
"The honour is all mine, it is simply a pleasure to have been invited by a woman as lovely as your mother." said Wura as she smiled.
"And you do not have to be nervous dear, if calling me 'your Majesty' is too daunting, then you can just call me Wura, that is my name." said Wura as she smiled and Lorian looked up and gasped in shock.
She looked like she was going to have an heart attack. Who would not when the Queen herself literally told you that you could call her by her name as if you were friends!
Lorian found herself unable to breathe as her chest heaved up and down.
"Are you alright dear?" asked Wura in worry as Alver scoffed and walked to his sister.
"Oh she is fine my Queen, this often happens when she is excited, pay no attention to her, she will get over it in a minute." said Alver in annoyance as he flicked his little sister on her right temple and that seemed to do the trick.
"What did you do that for??" asked Lorian as she turned to look at her annoying elder brother in a fit of irritation.
"You were lost again and behaving not sane, so you are welcome." he said with a cheerful smile as Lorian hit him on his chest.
"You are embarrassing me in front of the Queen, stop it!" said Lorian in annoyance as the fact that Alver was just laughing showed how he did not take her seriously.