"I also agree that she is right. It is better that you found out sooner rather than later but... for her to conclude that so quickly... forgive me for saying this Nora but..." said Zuph as his spoke softly knowing fully well that was he was going to say would upset Nora terrible.
"But what?" she asked him confused.
"But I do not think that it is unlikely that her majesty knew about his affair with another woman already." said Zuph as he knew there was no other way to lay this down gently so he just said it the plain was he thought it to be.
Zuph could not lie that as soon as he heard of the reason why she was like this, his mind did not instantly believe that the Queen was aware. As a knight he knew that anything was possible and also as one of Mero's friends he never expected that Mero would ever do such a thing.
If anything he had been lying to them all and not just to Nora, but he was certain that there was one person Mero could not lie to out of obligation and respect and that was none other than Wura. They were all aware of their close relationship as Queen and subject.
And it was no new information to them that he was her most trusted subject. It did not make the rest of them jealous, no far from it. Mero was a very diligent man and he was very good at his job, so it only made sense for him to be close to the Queen as her most trusted advisor.
After all he was also the most trusted advisor of their King so to them it was nothing to be jealous of, but there was no denying their close relationship.
Zuph watched as the expression on Nora's face contorted from confusion, to realization, to disgust and anger targeted to no one but him.
"How could you say that!" she replied in anger and she stood up from her bed in an attempt to get away from him.
"Nora, I did not mean for it to come out so bluntly." he replied apologetically as he stood up as well.
"No, no, no, just be quiet, why would you say that in the first place Zuph?!" asked Nora as she shook her head.
"I am sorry Nora, I did not mean to offend you... that was not my intention at all." he said.
"How could you say that? Are you doubting the Queen's honesty? That is almost the same as treason!" said Nora angrily.
"I am not Nora, please try to understand, it is not secret to us all that she and Mero are close and Mero respects her quite a lot, so I thought that he would have confessed to her or at least informed her before telling you." said Zuph.
"And you think that the Queen would know about this and would not think to tell me about it?" she asked as Zuph slowly nodded causing her to scoff at him bitterly.
"Well let me tell you clearly that I trust the Queen and I know her well enough to defend her." said Nora.
"The Queen is my lady and much more than that she is my friend and we trust each other. I know she loves me deeply and cares for me, there is no way that she would be capable of hiding such a serious thing from me." said Nora.
"I know Nora and I apologize." said Zuph as Nora cut him off.
"No, no you do not, you cannot just apologize when you do not really feel sorry for what you just said." she replied.
"The Queen would never, and I repeat ever be an accomplice to something so vile, if anything she would have had her suspicions, but she would not have told me anything because she would not want to upset me with baseless accusations." said Nora as Zuph could recall that he had seen her this upset only once.
"I am sorry Nora... you are right... I do not know what I was thinking... The Queen would indeed never be privy to such a scandal." he said softly as he tried to calm her down.
"No you are not sorry, you are not sorry at all, you knew exactly what you were thinking and it irks me so much to know that your mind could go that far. I trust the Queen with my life and she would never do anything to let me down or disappoint me." said Nora strongly as Zuph nodded his head in agreement, knowing fully well that he should not have brought his thought into the light.
"I really am sorry Nora, please do not be upset with me, I never meant to offend you or the Queen." said Zuph as Nora shook her head definitely not accepting his apology.
"I do not care Zuph, you said it and I do not like it... in fact, I do not want you here, you are just making me even more upset, please leave Zuph." she said as Zuph felt his heart press down hearing her say the words that he never wanted to hear.
"Please Nora, do not chase me away, I really mean it when I say that I am sorry, please forgive me." said Zuph.
"Zuph, please try to understand me... I do not feel myself at the moment and I would like to be alone now, so I beg you, do not try to beg me, just respect my wishes and leave... and I would appreciate it if you did not come back again." she said.
"We are man and woman, and regardless of how friendly we both are to each other, in the eyes of the public we are not supposed to be alone together in such a private place, so I beg you please leave and never come back." she said as she looked away her eyes tearing up as she said the last words.
"I see... I... I will respect your wishes Nora, because like I said... I care about you a lot... but you cannot tell me to never come back because I will regardless of what you say..." he said.
"So please take care of yourself and do not hesitate to call me because no matter where I am, I will answer you." he said as he looked at her and she ignored him.
He turned around and walked out of the tent as he stopped outside and heaved a deep long sigh.
Nora turned to see his retreating figure as she saw him leave and she burst into tears and fell back on her bed.
All her hidden emotions resurfacing again and she hated it. She hated that she had chased away yet another good friend and this time she was sure that she had even offended him, he definitely would not be coming back.
Zuph felt his heart shattering as he heard her cries from outside. He turned around and wanted to walk back in there to comfort her, to tell her that everything was alright and that he understood her pain and her plight and he did not care for all her mean words, he only wanted to be there for her.
But he stopped himself, he knew that this was a very difficult period in her life and she did need to be alone right now. He would do her no good if he continued to hover around her, and it would do himself no good as well because if he tried to force his help on her she would end up hating him and resenting him and he did not want that at all.
As hard as it was, Zuph turned around and went on his way... he knew that he would need to come back another day probably when she had finally calm down.
Nora's sobs became even more bitter and loud as she felt like hitting something anything. She hated this feeling of agony, she hated feeling this awfully, she hated what these emotions were turning her into.
"I hate you Mero... I hate you so much... if you had never broken my heart... if you had never lied to me or tricked me... I would still be happy, I would be myself." she said as she cried.
"I wish that I had never met you, I wish that you never pursued a relationship with me in the first place because you are so selfish... you care for no one but yourself." she cried.
"And I hate that I cannot control my own emotions... I hate feeling this weak and selfish..." she said as she sobbed and buried her face in her pillow causing her sobs to be muffled.
Nora's sobs continued on into the night. She did not know when she managed to fall asleep or when she finally stopped crying, but she did, and without her knowing she was fast asleep and completely drained from crying, finally allowing her some well needed rest.