Three days later.
Wura would be lying if she said that she had not enjoyed the past three days that they had spent here.
After everything that had happened and the agreement that she had with Mero, she had one less thing to worry about, and she felt herself feeling lighter and much more calmer. She had much more things to think about.
And now today was the long awaited day that Wura had been anticipating. They would finally be returning back to the camp after three weeks of a prolonged stay.
Yesterday Mero had given Wura the great news that they had finally been able to outwait the East troops and they had gone on their way yesterday.
Of course Wura was overjoyed by the news, but Mero being Mero was still very much doubtful of the validity of their sudden departure. Being the careful man he was, he made sure to send two guards ahead of them last night to be sure that their way was indeed clear, and to the surprise of Wura, they had returned bearing good news of their short journey.
Wura was again overjoyed and began to instantly pack up all her belongings, she could not wait to return and see Nora and the other again. She had felt like they had been isolated from the real world in Windharm, and although that was not a bad thing, she felt as if her prolonged stay here also prolonged everything else going on outside.
Wura had gotten up very early this morning. To say that she was excited to leave would be an understatement, but she could not lie that she would miss this place and the several nice people that made her stay here very enjoyable.
Wura was all smiles as she said goodbye to her little friends Alver, Lorian and Emond, as well as their lovely mother who had graciously packed something light for Wura to eat.
Wura said her thanks as Mero helped her to get on her horse and she thanked him while he got on his own horse.
Before they knew it, they were already on their way. And the voices of those bidding them goodbye faded away in the distance.
Wura sighed as she looked ahead. She had just remembered how stressful journeying back would be. Although she was happy that they would be returning, she wished that she did not have to sit through all the stress of moving up and down while the sun caught up with them.
By the time it was noon, they would have another problem to deal with, and that would be the heat. Wura could vividly remember how sticky she felt from all her sweating and she definitely was not looking forward to that part of their journey.
"You seem very happy." said Mero as he turned to look at Wura.
"Of course I am Mero, we are finally going to return to everyone, I missed them so much. I missed being in my own tent. I missed Nora, I missed just feeling like I am home..." said Wura as she smiled back at him.
"Do you not feel the same?" she asked.
"I do... but it does feel a bit sad to be leaving Windharm." said Mero.
"How come?" asked Wura.
"I do not know...it may hold a special place in my heart." said Mero as he looked straight ahead.
"May?" asked Wura in confusion.
"Alright, it does hold a special place in my heart." said Mero.
"And why is that?" asked Wura.
"Well because the first time I confessed my feelings to you was in Windharm." said Mero as he turned to look at Wura and smile as she felt her heart skip a beat hearing him say that with such a happy smile on his face.
"And you agreed to be with me there, and that makes me very happy." said Mero as he smiled.
"Mero...I do not know what to say to that..." said Wura her voice very soft.
"You do not need to say anything. But that is just how I feel, and I will forever cherish the memories we have together here." said Mero as he smiled and Wura smiled.
"I feel the same way Mero, believe me, I do." she said as she smiled.
Her relationship with Mero as of late had been new, strange, and yet comfortable. She did not feel the need to pretend with Mero, and she felt like he was very transparent with her, no, in fact he was very transparent with her, and that was what she liked so much about him.
There were no secrets whatsoever between them and she cherished that they had that kind of level of understanding with one another.
"I will not lie... I feel a little bit worried to be returning to our normal lives." said Mero.
"I can understand why... I feel the same as well. A part of me is so very happy, and yet another part of me feels guilty and scared. We have been gone for so long and things have changed, and I am afraid of that." said Wura.
"I am sure that things have not changed that much, and everyone will be happy to see us again. This was truly a long visit that we had not intended." said Mero as he smiled trying to cheer up Wura.
"Yes...you are right about that..." said Wura, the smile on her face wavering as she took a deep breath.
"Mero..." she called.
"Yes Wura." he replied as he turned to look at her.
"I have to ask you for a favour, and I want you to please consider it." she said, her tone serious.
"Whatever you want me to do Wura, I will do it." said Mero as he smiled reassuringly.
"Well...when we get back and we finally settle in and everything...I do not want you to end things with Nora just yet." said Wura as she saw the smile on Mero's face disappear.
"Now please try to understand me. Nora is my friend, and I do want her to feel unhappy and suffer, and definitely you ending things with her will make her feel all of that, and I will feel guilty because I am the reason." said Wura.
"Would you really like me to keep on pretending with her while you and I are together?" Mero asked, his tone serious.
"Yes, but do not use those words Mero. She was with you first before I was, if anything I am the bad person here for still pursuing what we have while I know that she loves you." said Wura as Mero sighed.
"I just do not want her to feel sad, especially not at this point in time. Let me prepare myself to tell her the truth, I know that this will never end well, but at least out of respect to the woman who is like the sister I never had, I do not want her to feel alone and rejected." said Wura as Mero sighed in understanding.
"Alright Wura, fine... I will do as you have asked, but I am not sure that I can continue to pretend with her for long." said Mero sadly.
"Thank you Mero, thank you." said Wura as she smiled in relief, at least she had some time to come up with a reasonable explanation to Nora before the worst happened.
"Do not thank me...I do not feel like this is right at all. If I continue to pretend to be in love with her, it will only cause more hurt than relief. Nora deserves to know what is really going on, and if we continue lying to her, she will feel more hurt in the end." said Mero as Wura looked away, not wanting to think of it like that right now.
"It does not matter what you say Mero. I have already made up my mind, and you already agreed, so please do not bring that up. I am only asking for some time to get my mind in order and give Nora the explanation she deserves." said Wura.
"You plan to tell her the truth about what is going on between us?" asked Mero as Wura looked at him and nodded.
"Of course, I trust her, and she is the only one I can tell about something like this. She is my closest confidant, and you follow her. I only feel bad that I had to get involved with the first man she loves...if it had been anyone else, I know that she would understand." said Wura with a sigh.
"I guess that we are both betraying people that we truly do care about." said Mero.
"Yes...that is the harsh reality. In Windharm we were alone, we were free to make decisions that would not affect the real world, but now we are returning to reality and we cannot say that all the words we said are not harmful to innocent people who did not deserve it." said Wura sighing.