"Mero, Mero." called Nora with worry filled in her eyes as she touched Mero's face, he had closed his eyes due to the immense pain he was feeling right now. He was a knight, he knew that it was inevitable to be hit by the enemy, it had happened a few times, yet, this time, he felt so weak.
"Mero." called Nora as Mero just groaned.
"Mero, I am so sorry." said Wura as she moved and pushed Nora aside Mero and she bent down beside him as she gasped looking at the arrow lodged in his chest, luckily it was meters away from his heart.
Tears fell down from her eyes, she cried out no, no, no. This was the worst thing that could have happened.
"Mero can you speak?" asked Wura sniffing as Mero shook his head yes and groaned, if it was a normal arrow, he would have been fine, but it was flaming arrow that was probably poisoned as well, he was trying his best not to cry out in pain.
The last thing he wished to do was to alarm Wura and Nora and make them worry even more about him. They needed to get to a place of safety.
"My Queen, what do we do?" asked Nora as she looked at Wura, she was on the verge of tears, and Wura just felt so bad, Mero was like this because of her, he got hit trying to protect her, why was she such a magnet for danger? Why did all the men around her enter into danger? Was she such a bad omen?
"We have to pull out the arrow?" asked Wura as she was not sure. All the questions of pain circulating in her mind were too much for her to bear.
"But it would hurt him even more my Queen." said Nora as Wura sighed in frustration.
"Oh Mero, I am so sorry, I am so sorry, you are in pain because of me." said Wura as she did not know what to do right now, seeing Mero in pain hurt her so much. It felt like her losing Liam all over again.
"Take me to the physician." said Mero in a calm tone he managed to force out, he did not want to make things even worse for both Wura and Nora.
In the same moment, another large booming sound was heard as the ground shook and Wura looked up, something told her that things were going to get worse.
"My Queen, I will take him to the physician, come on Mero, help me by standing up" said Nora as she did not waste any time at all and she lifted Mero up as he helped her help him and he rested his weight on her shoulder.
"Let me help you" said Wura as she stood up. "No, I will not leave you alone, I want to stay with him and make sure she is alright." Wura said she shook her head, she did not wish to leave Mero in this delicate state, no, never.
"No, find somewhere safe to stay" said Mero.
"No Mero, no, I will not leave you, so stop insisting." She said.
"Wura, I am being serious right now." Mero said in pain. "Do not prove stubborn, no, not now, you are the most important person here." Mero managed to say, he needed her to understand that her life was of the uttermost importance.
She was the one the East wanted, she was the only one sitting on the throne, he was still going to protect her even if he was hurt at the moment.
"That is not true! That is not true Mero, every single one of us are important here, you are important." Wura cried, she did not know when tears began to fall down her face.
"I like that you think that way Wura, but no, not in this case, if you are captured that is the end for all of us." Mero said softly, he knew that she was just as scared as he was, she was terrified, everything had just gone in the opposite direction.
He was the only knight present that could protect her and now he was hurt. She needed to go hide in a safe place for now. He needed to think of what next to do.
"I need you to listen to me, go and hide, Nora will take me to the physician, but you need to hide before the ambush moves into the camp." Mero groaned another loud boom resounded in the distance.
Wura felt the ground shake again and she saw a thick black smoke in the sky, everything was crashing down, everywhere was in total chaos and Wura did not know what the heck to do, she was overwhelmed, she felt like breaking down and crying right now.
"Mero, I am not going to allow this repeat itself again, no, not again." She cried. Somehow this felt familiar, as if this had happened before.
Suddenly her mind went back to Liam and how she had lost him twice. Twice, she had lost him, first it was while he was trying to protect her because she had not listened to him and second was because they had no choice but to leave.
Now she stood here, looking down at Mero, she felt her heart clenching, it was getting harder for her to breathe.
Mero could see the panic and fear in her eyes, he felt terrible, this was not what he wanted her to feel, no never not at all.
"Wura, breathe, calm down." He said through a choked breathe. Wura turned to him and looked into his eyes.
Nora who had been lying beside Mero could do nothing but cry. She never expected to see him in such a sorry state, he looked weak, he looked so weak, tired and exhausted.
Tears began to fall down her eyes as she watched him looking so hurt, the more blood she saw, the more worried she became.
"How can I calm down Mero? How can I?" She cried.
"Everything is destroyed, the camp, we are low on men and you are hurt." She cried.
"I know Wura, I know, but listen to me, you are the most important person here." He repeated.
"Stop saying that! Stop saying that!" She cried.
"You are important to me, you are important, I do not want you lose you Mero, I do not want to lose you." She cried, she could not control herself, she wrapped her hands around him and laid his head on her lap.
She did not want to leave him, she had prepared her mind to remain here. She had given up, there was no point in running, no point in hiding. Everything they had tried to do, the peace she had tried so hard to keep, it all came down crashing in a matter of minutes.
"I know Wura, I know, you are so important to me too, I do not want to lose you as well." Mero said, at this point nothing and no one else mattered to him, only Wura.
"I am just bad luck, it seems that everywhere I go, everywhere I am, bad things happen." She cried.
"No, do not say that Wura, never say that." He said, he raised his hand slowly to caress her face.
"You are not bad luck, it is not your fault all these things choose to happen." He said. He fought to stay awake, he felt so tired, he just wanted to fall asleep.
"Mero, I cannot bear to lose you, I would rather die than to lose someone I love again." Wura said, she did not know how much joy her words brought to Mero, to hear that she loved him, she did love him.
"Shush... shush." Mero said, he put his finger over her lips and quieted her down.
"I love you too Wura, and because of that, you need to fight, we both need to." He sighed tiredly, it was getting harder for him to keep his eyes open.
"I cannot." She cried.
"Never say that, you can." Mero replied. "I believe in you. I love you." He said, he mustered up the last bit of strength he had left, he raised himself up and placed a soft, gentle lingering kiss on her lips.
Liam quickly got off his horse as he rushed into the camp and his steps slowed down when he caught sight of Wura who had her back turned to him and Liam felt his heart leap out of his chest.
He was in so much shock he could not call out to her, he was feeling a flurry of emotions in the moment, fear, strength, courage, disbelief, anger all of those emotions made it hard for him to speak.
He was finally here, he had finally seen her after so long and he remembered everything, and yet for some reason, he was scared to call out to her, out of fear that she would be angry with him for everything.
He walked closer, took more slow steps to close the gap between them only for him to see Wura holding Mero and their lips entwined. Liam felt his heart shatter in that one moment.