Wura found herself unable to calm down, she just kept on pacing up and down, up and down. She felt so restless and helpless. Mero was not here when she actually needed him to be and it was worrying.
She was so restless that she decided it would be best for her to go and look for him instead of waiting her impatiently.
As soon as she set off to look for him, she had not even stepped out of her tent when she had bumped into Mero and he held her from falling.
"Where are you going to in such a hurry?" he chuckled as she raised her head to look at him.
"Mero! Where have you been?!" she gasped as he let go of her and he frowned.
"I had some things to take care of, what is the matter? You look very worried." he said as they walked back into the tent.
"That is because I am worried!" she replied.
"Okay, calm down Wura, tell me what is the matter." he said as she paced up and down.
"I cannot calm down Mero, I cannot, Nora told me yesterday that Zuph told her he had a plan to find out who the woman you are with is." she said almost unable to breathe.
"So that is why he asked to return to his normal duties." Mero said instantly realizing what was going on.
"I knew he would, his plan is to get close to you and find out who the woman is." she said.
"I see... so he is not really apologetic for what his behaviour." he sighed shaking his head, he almost sounded sad.
"No he is not. I just want to tell you so you will be careful Mero... last night I was unable to tell Nora that it was me... and I am sure it would certainly be worse if she finds out through someone else." she said shaking her head.
"You do not have to worry about that... I will be very careful, you can trust me." Mero said reassuringly. Wura finally found herself able to breathe well.
"So I see that Nora and Zuph are truly very close." he said as Nora nodded.
"Yes, they are, he took care of her when she was relieved of her duties for a few days... I can see that he truly cares for her." Wura said, feeling extremely guilty that they would have to hide something like this from the people that trust them the most.
"I think he has feelings for her." Mero said. Wura almost had to rub her eyes in order to make sure she didn't see a mix of anger and sadness on Mero's face.
"Mero... do you... still have feelings for Nora?" asked Wura.
"No... I love you, but I will not lie, I still care for her." he said looking down.
"Then why do you torture her and yourself? Why can you not give that care some time to develop into love instead of suffering yourself because of what you feel for me?" she asked, genuinely, all she wanted to do was solve all these problems.
If Mero asked for forgiveness and expressed how truly sorry he was, then he and Nora could get back together and most of their problems would be solved. Nora would be happy, she would be happy, even Mero would be happy.
"Because what I feel for you, is completely different from what I feel for her." he declared solemnly.
"With you, I am certain that my feelings are true and strong. I love you with my whole heart. Every moment without you makes me feel empty." he said vibrantly.
"But with her, I do care for her, I want to protect her, I do not want to make her unhappy, but if I do try to pursue something deeper with her, I feel like I will just cause her more hurt lying that I truly care while my heart is elsewhere." he said honestly.
Wura felt herself unable to speak, his words were so sincere and strong that she felt herself remembering why she fell for him as well.
"Mero... please... do not say such things." she said looking away. She had to be strong, continuing to feel these strong feelings would end up leading them on a path that would certainly be destructive.
"I cannot help it Wura, I need you to know my heart, always and forever." he said.
"Well I do not need to know it right now, I am trying to keep my head clear." she said.
"You know what Mero, it is fine if you do not want to give yourself and Nora another chance, I perfectly understand that." she said.
"But we have to be more careful than ever right now, we are going to be watched, you and I respectively." said Wura.
"I do not know why I have a feeling that Zuph does not believe I was as clueless as I led him to believe." she said.
"Do not worry Wura, I will be careful." he said assuringly.
"Thank you Mero." she said softly as he smiled.
"I have to leave now, take care." he smiled.
"Take care as well." she replied as she sighed and he left her tent.
...
"Hey Zuph, can you slow down please? Where exactly are you going in such a rush when you have to listen to what I need to tell you." Elihu said as he rushed after Zuph.
"I am not going to slow down because I know you are not going to say anything reasonable." Zuph shouted back. Knowing Elihu, he would not stop talking on and on about what feelings he thought he had for Nora, as true at that may be, Elihu was the last person he wanted to know.
"Oh come on Zuph, who knew that a woman was all you needed to make you lose your calm?" he chuckled as Zuph stopped allowing him to catch up.
"Warn yourself Elihu, do not speak nonsense or else you will not recognize yourself tomorrow." he threatened.
"Oh please Zuph, if anyone is not going to recognize themselves tomorrow it would be you." Elihu scoffed. "Or do you forget that I am a way better fighter than you are." he said proudly.
"You are so annoying Elihu, you know that?" said Zuph as he groaned.
"Of course I know, you all tell me that countlessly." he scoffed.
"Anyway, you are with me today, we need to go out for patrol." he said walking ahead of him as Zuph followed behind him.
"You need to work on that foul mood of yours, it doesn't suit you, it's more of Mero's thing." said Elihu.
"I cannot believe that you all can still respect Mero even after what he did." said Zuph.
"Zuph, unlike you, we do not want to lose our main source of income, and secondly, that is Mero's personal life. The only person that was truly hurt was Nora, the only reason it affects you so much is because you care for her." he said.
"Of course I care, she is a friend, and Mero was wrong for pretending as if their relationship was going somewhere when it was not." he said.
"That is true, and as much as we would all like to reprimand him for that, he is in charge and he might not take it lightly." said Elihu.
"So what you are saying is that being a coward in this instance is acceptable." he scoffed.
"No, what I am saying is that sometimes we need to be silent for the sake of peace." said Elihu.
"I see..." said Zuph.
"Yes, and you need to find a way to control your emotions when you're with Mero. We all could feel the tension emitting between you two." said Elihu.
"You are right, I care for Nora, but not in the way you cared for women." Zuph said.
"Used to, I am only going to correct you once more, I used to care for women that way, anyway, it is so funny to see you care for someone, you are so inexperienced it is hilarious." Elihu laughed.
It was at that moment that Zuph regretted even trying to confide in Elihu, who was he trying to fool? Elihu was the last person you could trust with something delicate like his feelings.
"Does she even feel the same way you do? Wait! Does she even know that you like her?" Elihu asked laughing, Zuph's silence was more than a vocal reply.
"She does not know, of course, what did I expect from a gentleman like you?" he laughed.
"You know, it is better you tell her soon, because with the way you are behaving, it will be hard to hide your true emotions." he said seriously.
"She still has feelings for Mero." he replied sadly.
"Of course she does... well that is a really tough situation my friend." said Elihu. Zuph could not tell if Elihu was actually being considerate or not.