To Stand Beside Her (23 page)

After brief goodbyes, Leila escorted the three men back to the
port
of
Cath.
Once on Nalick’s ship with the army escort, it took two days to make it home to Lexia.
By the time they reached the palace,
Leila
had spent three days
straight
traveling.
Leila was very tired and could not wait to just relax a bit and catch up on her sleep
.
B
eing royalty did have a few benefits.
Nalick though did not have time to sleep and relax.
Nalick
had been away from Lexia for almost a week and out of Lior for several days
and his country needed his guidance.

Late in the evening
,
after being back in Lexia for two days, Nalick finally
found
time to talk to Leila
alone
.
Quietly he entered her room and could see she was on the balcony where he had been told she spent most of her time.
T
ime either on the balcony of her room or in the garden below helped Leila to know that she was not trapped in the palace.
Nalick approached her cautiously.
It had been several days. Though he felt they had been moving forward with their relationship in the
North Country
, everything was halted back in Lior with him gone all the time.
Leila heard the footsteps behind her but did not turn around.

“Finally got away from your work?”
Leila
asked.

“I have been trying for days to get away, but there is always work to get done.”
Nalick walked around the bench Leila was sitting on
. Leila moved to make room for him
,
and he sat down beside her
.
“It seems Lior’s ally King Endika wants to make a formal visit to congratulate me on my upcoming wedding.”
Nalick watched Leila’s expression as she laughed a bit to herself.

How nice,
she thought sarcastically but held her tongue from saying it.

“That or he just wants to see if the rumors are true,” Leila
replied when he took her hand in his
.

“So you have met him before,” Nalick guessed
,
gazing over the city with her
.

“If you are referring to the diminutive man that could not actually even beat a girl in any sort of competition, then
yes
.
I have met him before.
Personally
,
I wondered how he could actually be king, but I did not wonder why he was not married,” Leila responded as Nalick laughed.
They agreed on most things including King Endika.

“Since he is an ally, we have been trying our best to arrange everything.
He will be here tomorrow
,
and there will be a feast in his honor
. H
e has requested lunch with us and a few of the noble families
for the next day,
” Nalick explained
waiting for her to pull away
.
Instead she lean
ed
into his arm that snuck around her shoulder.

“Since he is an ally, does that mean I have to be nice to him?” Leila questioned.
Nalick smiled and nodded his head.
Leila gave Nalick a disappointed expression.

“And the nobles too?”
Leila pushed her luck.
Nalick nodded again.

“Is it
wise to be having foreign King
s visiting?”
Leila asked changing the subject.
“Will he not be traveling with a substantial army?”

Nalick nodded
,
“
Y
es
, but it is also not wise to rebuke a foreign king who wishes to visit, especially since he is an ally.
Besides, the main force of our army is here in Lexia and will be in any city you are at from now on.”

“I doubt that will do any good for Jahangir
,
”
Leila cringed at the thought of that man.
Nalick pulled her closer
,
hoping to emphasize that he would always keep her safe. Leila felt the safety in his arms, but was still horrified at the thought of the man.

“My reports so far have indicated that he is back in his castle sulking at being deceived by you again.
Our spies in all the other countries also say so far there is no threat to you
,
”
Nalick tried to reassure Leila.

“
Do they
know about Jahangir’s newest plans?” Leila asked.
Nalick raised his eyebrows.
Roger would keep Leila informed, but
Nalick
didn’t know that she had already met one of her courier contacts since they had been back.

“My report was that he has sent his best spies and couriers into Lexia to look for an opportunity to get his hands on me.”
Nalick looked a bit alarmed
at her statement
.
“Don’t worry.
Seth would need to bring more men with him than he currently has to get anywhere near the palace.
Anatolio has done a good job securing the palace.” Nalick seemed to be a bit more relieved.
“So what time tomorrow will the
dinner
be?”

“Just past sunset,” Nalick replied.
Leila leaned against Nalick as she relaxed and looked into the sky.
Feeling his skin touch hers made her heart race, but also comforted her at the same time. Though she had two days of leisure, it had been a bit lonely without Nalick to tease.
“Do you regret coming back?” Nalick asked more somberly as he cautiously put his arm around Leila.

“Not at all,” Leila replied scann
ing
the sky looking for familiar constellations.
Nalick was relived.

“It has been a bit lonely, but Macarius, Theo, and Anatolio all try their best to keep me company.”
Leila did not look to Nalick to see his response.
H
e was just as unhappy as she was about his job taking so much time.
Most of her assignments over the year had been alone
so she was used to it by now
.
It was just after she was home at her parents where there was always commotion; it was a bit lonesome to then be by herself.
The quietness that
followed her around the palace
made her feel a bit lonely.

“I know,” Nalick said
stroking
her hair.
Leila tried to hide her
heavy
breathing as her head tingled at ever place he touched.
“
I really wish I could spend more time with you.
After I get everything back in order, it should be better,” he reassured her.

Leila continued to rest her head on his shoulder.
“Can you at least stay a little bit now?”

“Of course.
Anything for my queen,”
Nalick
replied.
Leila closed her eyes.
Though she had been resting for several days, she was still a bit tired from everything.
Leila
had been on assignment for two weeks in Lexia before the whirlwind of motion from agreeing to marry Nalick had begun.
She never slept well in new places, but sitting in Nalick’s arms made her feel safe
while she
slowly
drift
ed
off to sleep.

The next morning Leila awoke alone in her bed. It was early enough that Mauve had not yet woken. Leila quickly dressed and hurried to leave before Mauve found her. Leila did not enjoy the demands placed on her, making her get ready for the formal meals that were planned for the upcoming evening. Leila quickly grabbed a letter on the table and hurried silently out the door of her room. As she passed the surprised guards at the bottom of the stairwell, she found Anatolio waiting for her. He smiled as he yawned to greet her.

“Up a little earlier than normal,”
Anatolio
commented.

“I was hoping to escape.
If
Mauve
found me, I would have been stuck all day in that room.”
Leila led the way to the palace garden.
As they neared, Anatolio signaled to several gua
rds to better watch the passage
ways around the garden.
The garden was in the middle of the palace
,
which was not an ea
sy place for intruders to enter
but Anatolio worried
anyways.
Once in the garden Anatolio climbed his normal tree as Leila walked over to the largest patch of grass and sat down.
She opened the letter from Nalick and smiled as she read it.

As Leila
read
, another person entered the garden.
As she had
done
each of the previous days, the young woman would enter and sit on the opposite side of the garden.
Each day
the woman moved closer and closer.
Leila could tell she wanted to approach her, but the young woman was a bit hesitant.
This day the young woman was much closer.
Leila stopped reading and looked up at her.
The girl quickly looked away.
Slowly
,
Leila was winning over the shy girl. The girl had not said more than a couple words to Leila, but each day she was closer.

Suddenly one of the doors opened.
Anatolio quickly jumped down from the tree startling Emma who did not know he was nearby.
In walked Mauve with two of the maids following her.

“Miss Leila, you are a hard person to find,”
Mauve
scolded
while
approach
ing Leila
and Anatolio relaxed.
“You were not supposed to wander off this morning.
We need all day to get you ready for tonight.”

Leila’s freedom was short lived and she spent the rest of the day in her room being prepped for the dinner that night. Everything was tedious and silly. Leila did not understand why she had to be so presentable to a bunch of people who hated her anyways. Mauve, on-the-other-hand, felt it was even more important to make Leila look her best for the nobles because they all disliked her. Mauve fussed for hours over every little detail; by the time Mauve was finally satisfied
,
Leila was ready to call it a night. Nalick waited for her to finish since Leila needed to make, at least, an appearance. Leila took the out stretched hand of Nalick and walked with him to the entertainment hall. Nalick was happy to see Leila, but part of him worried about King Endika meeting her.

“Could we just possibly get lost and make a wrong turn?”
Leila asked as
Nalick shook his head
no
.
He stopped before they entered.

“This is the one part of the job I also dislike,” he told her.
She smiled to know that he did not like meeting with foreign kings either.
“I know the nobles are not happy about the situation, but they will just have to get over it.
And Endika will just be Endika, an ally we appease to keep our boarders safe.
”
Leila liked his resolve.

Nalick raised his right arm
,
and Leila placed her
left
arm on top of his as he led her into the room.
The room was filled with people.
Leila
recognized many of the faces as nobles who lived in the palace.
Other faces she remembered from the day she was presented by the priests.
Leila tried not to giggle as everyone bowed and greeted them
; some found it more painful than others to bow to her
.
Leila
scanned the crowd to see if Endika was there.
S
eated at the head table
was the man she remembered.
Nalick led Leila reluctantly
to Endika
.
Nalick introduced Leila, though it was not necessary.