Wura watched as Liam ate slowly. To her, she did not care that he was eating slowly, his chewing was loud and he was unwelcoming. She simply wished to watch him. It was a miracle to her to be seeing him right in front of where where she could hear him, she could touch him, and she could smell him.
These were all things she had hoped and wished for with all her heart for the longest time and to have him here now was the greatest blessing. Although, they were not on good terms at the moment, it did not mean she should not be grateful for the answer to her prayers.
Liam could feel Wura's gaze on her. He purposely avoided her gaze. He did not think he could handle seeing her and memorizing all her facial features in his mind. He would get soft again and he would be unable to lay down the law and show her just how angry he was.
His mind needed to be clear. He did not want to be carried away by his fleeting emotions, especially when he was unsure she felt the same. His love made him weak. He was weak when it came to her and that would no longer be the case.
The silence in the room could be heard.
"Have you eaten?" Liam asked. His question startled Wura. She did not think he cared.
"No," she shook her head. She had not eaten. She was too sad too, her stomach had been in knots for many days and she simply felt terrible.
"Why not?" he frowned.
"I have no appetite," she replied.
"Why?".
Wura looked at him. Her eyes said it all. It was all the stress, all the crying and all the worry she had been through.
"I see..." Liam understood it all.
"This is too much for me, eat it," he said placing the dish on the tray.
"At least try to finish it," she said.
"No, I am not that hungry," he replied. "Eat it instead.".
Wura looked at him and then at the tray. On one hand, she truly was not hungry, but on the other, the mere fact that he was offering her half of his meal showed that he cared for her despite how angry he was. It warmed her heart.
Having a feeling that he would not ask her again. She thanked him and ate the little she could from the meal. As much of a lack of appetite she had, his simple show of care reduced it a bit.
Liam tried his best to avoid watching her. It was like a posion to his bones. She was his life and yet his death at the same time. She was his sun and his darkness at the same time. She was the person who could make him happy and yet sad at the same time. He loved her with all his might. He loved her, and he had never expected the betrayal he had received from Wura or Mero. He loved them both so deeply and yet the people he trusted the most hurt him so much.
Liam turned his attention elsewhere and watched the maids emptied the tub and carried the tray out with them. They said goodnight and left.
Wura held her breath. Somehow being alone with Liam was like her worst fear and greatest longing combined.
She wanted to explain everything to him in one breath. However, she knew that would not be possible. She was not only trying to explain herself, but give him time to understand and process everything the way he was supposed to.
"Liam, can I talk to you? Or are you too tired?" she asked.
"Why do you ask?".
"Because I am aware that you are very busy, and you need rest with all the problems you have been trying to solve and you have not rested in a long while, you should get some rest," she replied.
"You need to sleep. Your mind is tired and you need to rest," she said.
"What makes you so sure about that?".
The way Liam spoke to her so coldly. It made her sad. He returned to his chilly demeanour. She knew he was trying to control his emotions and keep himself in check. He was only trying to defend himself and that was all she needed to know that the fact he was hurt meant hat he still cared for her.
"I am sure because running a kingdom is not easy. I have been in the same position you were and it was definitely not easy. You are on edge, your mind is racing trying to come up with several solutions that would best fix everything," she said.
"Liam, you need to rest, not only for you, but for the people. You need a fresh mind, and rested eyes. Go to sleep," Wura added.
"If I go to sleep, are you going to stay here seeing how you made my room your own since I was gone.".
"It depends, if you wish to not be disturbed and for me to leave, I will leave. This is your room after all. However...".
"What?" he asked.
"If you wish for me to stay, then, I will stay," Wura said. "Just to watch you and make sure you are alright. It would be enough for me to be here.".
In all honesty, Liam did not want her to leave, but he was still so very angry with her. His emotions were so conflicted. He hated feeling like this.
Wura could see Ian taking a moment to consider all her words. She hoped with all her minds that he would let her stay.
"Stay," he said.
Wura was about to jump for joy when she heard him say that one word. Her heart was lifted up and she felt more strength to fight for a reconcliiation.
"Only because you said you wanted to talk, so talk to me about what you wish to discuss with me," he said.
The smile on Wura's face disappeared. She was unsure if that was a good idea considering everything. It was late, they were both not in the right state of mind to dicuss what she wanted to. Liam was exhausted although he did not wish to admit it; she was too tired from all the crying and worrying she had been doing.
As much as she wished to get everything off her chest, she did not think it would be coherent enough.
"Do not waste my time," he said.
"I do not want to waste your time, Liam. It is just, do you really think that now is the right time for us to discuss something so delicate and important? You are tired, and I am tired. Can we not just make time to discuss this later?" she asked.
"No, I do not have time to waste like that. Anything you wish to say and explain to me, do it now. This might be the only chance you will get to explain it all," he replied sternly.
Wura sighed. Suddenly, she felt very pressured. She wanted to settle everything right here and now, but she doubted it was possible.
"Liam, I do not want to hurt you more than I already have. I do not want to anger you, I do not want you to feel pain, so can we dicuss this later under more calming circumstances?" she pleaded.
The last thing she wanted was to make things worse when she was merely trying to fix them.
Liam sensing her hesitation said, "I give you my word. I will not shout, I will not raise my voice. I will simply listen to all you have to say.".
Wura did not know whether to believe him or not. One part of her wanted to believe him, run into his arms and hug him. The other was scared, scared that this would blow up in her face and end up worse than it had begun.
"Are you sure?" she asked carefully.
"I am a man of my word am I not?" he asked.
Wura was hesitant to reply.
"I said I would marry you, and I did. I said I would love you, and I did, I said I would returned and I did.".
Wura felt her heart breaking when he said he did love her before, but now, it had changed.
"I do trust you, you are a man of your word. Alright," she nodded.
"What do you want to know? Where should I start?" she asked.
"You are the one in the best position to decide that. How about you start from the beginning. I want to know, when did you start developing feelings for Mero?" he asked coldly.
Wura took a deep breath. She knew that this was going to be an exceedingly difficult discussion. She only hoped that it would give Liam the closure he needed so they could move on from this and live their lives together.
"I did not like Mero in the beginning," she began.