Zuph just looked at Nora. Nora could not tell if he was upset by what she had just said or not, either way, she did not like his silence and she definitely did not like the way he was looking at her.
"What is it? Are you upset?" she asked him. Zuph quickly snapped out of his daze and shook his head.
"No... no, I am not upset at all." he replied.
"I highly doubt that, then why were you suddenly quiet?" she asked worriedly. The last thing she wanted was him to be upset with her.
"I am not upset with you Nora." he assured her.
"But what?" she asked him sensing hesitancy in his tone.
"But, this is a very delicate matter, I do not think that you should have told the queen." he replied.
"Why?" she asked him.
"I do not know, maybe because of the fact that she and Mero work closely together always, and she might tell him about our plans without even meaning to. I mean, things to slip out when you spent a lot of time with someone continuously." he said.
"That may be true, but I trust the queen. She cares for me and I doubt that she would do anything of that sort... she is my friend." said Nora.
"I trust the queen as well, I just feel l like you should not have told her. After all, the less people know about this the better." Zuph insisted.
"You say that you trust the queen, but you sound so distrustful." Nora said.
"Can you blame me Nora? Honestly, we thought we trusted Mero, now look what happened." he said, Nora looked at him, sad.
"I know that the queen is trustworthy, and I do not mean to offend you." he said.
"I am not saying that the queen is not trustworthy, what I am trying to say is that maybe she might reveal to Mero our plans without meaning to in one of their conversations. That is a bug possibility." Nora nodded, she knew that he was just speaking the truth.
"I am not saying that you cannot tell her important things that you want to share with her, all I am saying is that you should be a little more discrete when you tell her about her plan."
"Do not reveal to her every single little detail. The less she knows, the better it is for us all. I hope you understand." he said.
"I understand Zuph, I really do. I did not mean to accuse you of anything, it is just that, she is very dear to me, and it is natural that I tell her everything as she tells me." said Nora as Zuph nodded and smiled.
"I understand Nora. It is all about explaining things well so we know that we think the same thing." he said as he smiled. Even though he still had doubts that Wura saying she knew nothing of Mero's secret woman was true, Zuph knew that he had to be careful.
This was the queen, he could be charged with treason if he stepped out of line. It just did not make any sense to him. Wura and Mero were very close, they saw each other everyday, they spoke at length, he still found it difficult to believe that Wura truly did not know anything, or at least did not feel some sort of inkling that Mero was hiding something.
As much as he wanted to share what he felt with Nora, knowing how close the two were, he just decided that it would be best to keep it to himself. After all, the last thing he wanted to do was upset Nora. He could not imagine himself not being able to talk to her like how they were right now.
"I agree with you Zuph, I am glad that we can be honest with each other." Nora smiled at him, she was so relieved that he did not sound upset with her, instead he explained his concerns gently, like a reasonable and sensible man should.
"I feel the same way Nora." Zuph smiled ay her.
"You know how we were talking of how we enjoyed our time in the Yonder realm?" he asked as she nodded.
"All our talking made me realize how much I love to journey across vast lands, seeing knew things, living in a constant state of different ventures." he smiled.
"I was thinking that maybe after all this news of war dies down, I might ask for leave and just journey on my own." he said.
"That sounds like something you truly will enjoy Zuph." Nora laughed.
"I am sure that you will have a wonderful time, only that I would miss you... truly." she laughed.
"Well, you do not have to miss me if you decide to come with me." he replied.
"Come with you?" she asked surprised. She saw him nod, and yet she still felt like he should repeat his words.
"Yes, come with me, if you decide to, we could journey together, sleeping under the stars, talking every moment of everyday, just like old times." Zuph smiled. He knew that this might be him asking for too much from Nora.
After all, they were only friends, she still did not know how he truly felt about her, and he knew that he was taking a risk by asking her this question, but he just felt like he had to do it, if she said no, it would be alright, but if she said yes, he would be overjoyed.
"My gosh Zuph, you make a very tempting offer I have to admit..." she said as he laughed.
"So, what do you say?" he asked hopefully.
She could see the look of hope in his eyes and she did not want to destroy it. She liked to go to different places as well, but right now did not feel like such a good time to do that.
"I do not know Zuph... maybe if you give me some more time to think about it." she said.
"I cannot just leave my duties, who would take care of the queen and take over my duties. And I have never thought of just leaving like that, even if it is for a little while." she said.
"I know how you feel Nora, and it is alright, you can have as much time as you want to think about it. When you have an answer, I will be right here." he smiled.
"Thank you Zuph." she smiled back.
"You are welcome... anyway, it is getting late now, I should be on my way now." said Zuph as he stood up.
"You are right, goodnight Zuph." Nora said as she stood up and smiled at him.
"Goodnight Nora." he replied as he waved at her and left.
...
The next morning.
Wura paced around in her office, she was waiting for Mero to get here, she had to tell him what Zuph was up to so they could both be careful.
She had been unable to sleep last night, she had been restless waiting for morning to come so she could tell him, and yet here he was, nowhere to be found. Where was he when she actually needed him here the most?
...
Zuph walked through the camp, he looked very serious, as if he was going to war and to him it felt like he was.
He had to go and see Mero and ask for his previous duties back. Even though he did not want to see the man, he had to at least be civil with him for the sake of their plan.
"Good morning Zuph, where are you going in such a rush?" asked Luc as he caught up to him. He had seen him walking so quickly, and he found that odd.
"I am going to see Mero." Zuph replied.
"Are you sure that is a good idea? I mean you almost fought with him the last time you two were in the same room together." said Luc, he sounded worried. If he did not know any better he would think that Zuph had feelings for Nora with the way he took what happened between them so personally.
"I need my old duties back and I can only get it back when I talk to him." he replied.
"Then stop frowning and looking so serious like that. You look like you're about to go to war." said Luc.
"Maybe I am." he replied not making Luc less worried at all.
"Zuph, you better behave yourself, you will be thrown into the dungeons if you fight with him." said Luc.
"I think you should stop following me and instead go back to your duties." Zuph replied harshly.
"You know what Zuph, now I am definitely going with you." said Luc as Zuph sighed in frustration.
Knowing that he would be unable to chase Luc away. Zuph just hoped that Luc would stay out of his way.