Wura sighed as she sat down at her desk in her office. She had not been able to sleep well last night, her mind just kept on going to Nora and how bad she must feel.
Wura just wished that she was starting to feel a little bit better, because she could not deal with the kind of guilt that she had.
Wura wanted to go and see Nora, but she decided not to, after all, the reason why she had relieved Nora of her duties was because she wanted her to take out time to rest.
If she went to see Nora, she had a feeling that she would only make Nora return from her break soon. She was doing fine, she could take care of herself, all she needed was that Nora do the same for herself and instead of caring for her she cared about herself for a change.
It was a difficult decision but Wura decided that not seeing Nora would be a good idea, after all, she did not want Nora to push away her bad feelings and pretend as if nothing was wrong with her. She needed to come to terms with what happened and Wura knowing Nora was sure that if anything she was still grieving the loss of her relationship with Mero.
Wura sighed and shook her head, she hated that in the beginning she was the one that pushed Nora and Mero to get together, and now she regretted it and blamed herself for putting her friend in such a tough situation.
Wura gave another sorrowful sigh, she remembered that she had not seen Mero since yesterday morning and she would prefer it if it was like that. She did not want to see him, what exactly would she say? What would they say to each other? It was best that they took this period to be away from each other and reflect on their choices, especially hers.
"Why do I always get myself into these sort of situations?" asked Wura to herself as she shook her head and groaned.
She just wanted to get this day over and done with and see Nora soon once she had recovered.
Wura could not help but think about the gossip that would soon spread abroad in the camp. After all it was only a matter of time before the news of Mero and Nora's ended relationship with spread.
And with it speculation would spread as well. It was inevitable that some digging for the truth would be done. After all everyone knew that Mero was the serious, diligent, knight and he was rarely seen with women, so this mystery woman of his would be the talk of the camp.
Wura shook her head choosing not to dwell on the several problems that would follow, instead she needed to focus on her work and all these letters that needed replied urgently.
...
Nora groaned as she opened her eyes and they adjusted to the light. She felt really terrible right now, her head was aching from all the crying. There were dried tears on the sides of her cheeks, her hair was a mess and she just felt awfully terrible right now.
She wished that she had not woke up. Sleeping was the only way she forgot about her pain for a while, and now that she was awake, it felt like she was ready to relive the pain all over again from her thoughts.
She sighed as she looked around, she was all alone, no one to turn to. She could not home it would be far too unnecessary and dangerous, and she could not do the thing she loved most to do which was to work.
She actually thought about Wura but she stopped doing that because she knew that Wura would not like her to think about anything or anyone else other than herself.
She really wanted to feel better, but she just did not know how to. She felt lost and without any direction, she felt tired and weak.
Nora suddenly heard a warm, calming voice break through her muddled thoughts as she looked towards the entrance of her tent.
"Nora..." she heard her name being called again as she was sure that the voice was not a figment of her imagination.
"Nora." the voice called out again as Nora felt forced to answer.
"Y...es...?" she replied as her voice came out cracked and dry from all her crying.
"May I come in?" asked the voice as Nora looked hesitant before she sighed and nodded.
"Yes..." she said as she cleared her throat.
"Thank you..." said Zuph as he walked into Nora's tent and looked at her. She looked really pitiful at the moment and it made his heart break, this was not the Nora that he knew at all. She looked weak and broken and he hated that a lot.
"Good morning Nora." said Zuph as he smiled at her.
"Good morning Zuph." replied Nora, she had not expected him to be here at all, especially not after what happened between them yesterday and their argument.
"How are you feeling today?" he asked as he did not seem to remember their argument yesterday and how she asked him to leave and never come back and yet here he was again.
"Better..." she lied as he did not seem to believe her at all but he did not refute her statement.
"Alright... and have you eaten today?" he asked as she shook her head.
"When last did you eat?" he asked as she wanted to lie again but his look told her otherwise.
"Yesterday... in the morning..." said Nora as Zuph sighed.
"Nora are you trying to starve yourself or what? If you are let me tell you that starving yourself will not make you feel better, it will only make you feel worse and add to your negative feelings, so please, do not starve yourself." said Zuph as Nora shook her head.
"I was not trying to starve myself Zuph... I just forgot to eat..." she replied honestly as Zuph seemed to believe her.
"Okay I believe you, and since we both agree that you are not trying to starve yourself, I brought you breakfast and a few things to eat." he said as he revealed the wooden basket that he was holding in his hand that Nora had failed to notice for some odd reason.
"I had a feeling that you had not eaten yet since you have not left your room in a while." said Zuph as he set the basket on the table as he unpacked the items inside.
"So I got you some breakfast, it is eggs and bread and some tea." he said as Nora just watched him saying nothing at all.
"You need to eat to regain your strength, I do not want you to faint from fatigue and weakness, you need to be strong." he said as he smiled and walked towards her with her breakfast as she did not make an attempt to take it from him.
"Is something wrong?" he asked her as she did not say anything at all.
"Do you not like what I got you? If not I can go and get you something else, what would you like to eat?" he asked as she shook her head.
"No, that is not it at all..." she said.
"Then what is it?" he asked starting to feel worried.
"Zuph, what are you doing here?" asked Nora as Zuph looked at her.
"I am here to take care of you..." he replied simply as he heard Nora sigh and that made him even more worried.
"But why... why are you here? Why do you want to take care of me when I told you yesterday to leave and never come back?" she asked, her voice pained.
"Because I care about you Nora, and because of that I can never leave you, never." said Zuph as he smiled and Nora felt tears dropping from her eyes.
"You are too precious to allow yourself get weighed down by this. This too will pass." said Zuph reassuringly as Nora sniffed.
"Now, please make it easier for me to take care of you by eating this wonderful breakfast." said Zuph as he smiled and Nora nodded as she took the plate from him and forced herself to eat.
Zuph smiled in relief when he saw her eating and it just made him feel so much better to know that she was listening to him. He had thought about her all throughout last night and he could not allow her be on her own while she went through something difficult like this.
"That is better, let me pour you some warm tea." he said as he smiled and walked back to the basket as Nora looked at him wondering what she ever did to deserve such care and worry from him.
She could not say it right now, but she was definitely happy that he was here, she was glad that he was here and she was not alone.