To Stand Beside Her (29 page)

Nalick waited for Leila to change. Anatolio was still keeping guard
and had watched the whole match
.
Nalick walked over next to him and sat on the staircase beside
the younger man
.

“So what do you think?”
Nalick
asked
Anatolio
.

“She truly is amazing,” Anatolio replied.

“Better than me?” Nalick asked.

Leila exited the store
room to find the two men sitting on the staircase
to the upper balcony
.
They both beamed as she approached.
The men escorted Leila back to her room where
she
could barely contain the excitement from the afternoon.
Her practice with Nalick was the first time since Erich died that she fought someone that she could not beat easily.
After
Leila's
long bath, Nalick was sitting on the balcony where he normally found her.
Leila sat down next to him.

“So was I everything your scouts told you I was?”
Leila
asked.

“Much, much more,”
Nalick
replied while wrapping the blanket that was around him around her also.
“You must have trained for years.”
Leila moved close to him so that his arm was draped gently around her shoulders.
She would not object to continuing their play from earlier.

“I trained almost daily.
The couriers at
Rogers
are not especially good at fighting
,
so we train more than normal
.
If they were, I guess they would not be couriers,” she laughed.
“Now do you believe me that I don’t need more guards?”

“I always knew that, but I would feel better if you had more men watching out for you,” Nalick said.

“Why are you so worried?” Leila asked.
She searched his face
,
trying to predict his response.

“I got a letter from Roger yesterday.
He said that Jahangir has a plan to take you, but Roger did not know the details.
All he knows is Jahangir has men in the city
,
and they are all working to find a successful way to take you
to Jahangir
.”
Nalick truly feared
losing
the woman sitting next to him.

“I will be fine,” she replied.
Leila
also feared being taken from Nalick by Jahangir.
Though she was afraid to tell Nalick, she loved him and did not want her love life to repeat itself.
Trying her best to hide her own fears,
Leila stood.
“I better get some rest for tomorrow,” she said cheerily.
Nalick could see the hesitation in her eyes at the mention of Jahangir, but as easily as she worried, she was fine again.
Nalick could not be as easily calmed.
He
stood and followed her to bed.

Leila was still sore from
their practice and could not fall instantly to sleep like Nalick
.
She quietly rolled over and watched
him
sleeping next to her.
Gently she touched his face and he did not wake.
His tan
,
olive toned skin was a stark
contrast
to the man she once loved.
Everything about Nalick was different from Erich, and yet she
was
attracted to him.
Leila softly traced Nalick features. He looked so peaceful while asleep.
Cautiously she picked up his right arm and looked at the lines.
Slowly she turned his palm over the looked at the words.
From her studying, she could make out many of the letters.

Why me
?
she wondered.
Of e
veryone in the world, Nalick ch
ose me
.
As she studied his hand, she failed to notice he had woken.
He in turn just watched as she was intently tracing the lines on his arm.
F
ollow
ing
the lines up his arm, she finally noticed him watching her.

“Sorry,” she whispered.
“I didn’t mean to wake you.”
Nalick did not mind being woke up by such a beautiful smile.

Nalick reached over and pulled Leila
half way on top of
him.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught movement.
Quickly he turned to see Mauve sitting
in the corner of the room
.
He could not tell if she were awake or asleep.

“She ha
s
been there
every night
,” Leila explained.
“Since I told her I wanted you to stay, she decided we need
ed
to be watched so that we behave.”
Nalick smiled and pulled the covers over their heads so that they were out of Mauve
’s
view.
Quickly he kissed Leila as he could hear Mauve standing.
Mauve was awake.

“Nalick,” she said sternly.
Nalick pulled the covers back down
and looked innocently at Mauve
before settling down to go back to sleep.

Chapter 1
7

Two days later
Leila rose early.
It was market day
,
and she was eager to visit with the children she had met there.
Leila
was surprised as Nalick was already gone before she woke.
He left a note promising to join her as soon as he was finished with his work for the day.
Nearing the
door she could hear Anatolio and Macarius talking.

“It was great,” Anatolio said.
“She let Pallas come to the stage to fight her and within moments he was lying on the ground looking up at her.
You should have seen the expression on his face.”

“Oh, knowing Pallas, I am sure he was not taking it
well
,” Macarius replied.
“He is the hothead of the group.
I can’t believe you are actually related to him.”

“Not if you ask him,” Anatolio replied.

“Don’t you ever sleep?”
Leila
asked Anatolio.
Every time she tried to go somewhere,
Anatolio
followed.
Anatolio became quiet again around her while they were in the presence of another person.
Leila shrugged
at
g
et
t
ing
no response and greeted Macarius.
“So is it just you today?”

“We have been knocking on Theo’s door for the last five minutes
,
but he has not answered,” Macarius explained.
“Micaela was going to take Dimas to Theo’s parents, but he must have gone with.
I don’t think he expected you to be up as early
,
as you were quite busy yesterday
beating all the guards
.”

“That was nothing,”
Leila
replied.
“Just a little entertainment.”
Macarius wished he had been there.
“Since he knows where we are going, can we leave without him?”
s
he asked
,
though she had a feeling what the answer would be.

“Nalick doesn’t want you going anywhere outside the palace without at least four guards,” Macarius explained.
“So we will have to wait for Theo.”
Leila added it up in her head.
The two new men from yesterday, Anatolio, and Macarius made four.
Macarius could see her confusion.
“Sorry, Anatolio doesn’t count.”
Leila looked to Anatolio for an explanation
,
but he just
shrugged his shoulders
in
reply.

Leila looked at both men but neither seemed to budge on the issue.
“So I won’t be let out of the palace then if I try?”
Macarius shook his head
no.

He promised that I would be free to come and go as I please
, Leila thought
,
getting upset.

Anatolio
could see her anger building and quick
ly
suggested, “Why don’t we wait in the garden?
Macarius can come
and
find us as soon as Theo returns.”
Anatolio
underst
ood
her better than she thought.
Leila
nodded her head and followed
Anatolio
to the palace garden.

Once inside the garden walls, Leila
sat at
her normal spot.
Anatolio joined her rather than climbing into the nearest tree.
In her disguise, if anyone passed them, they would not know he was talking to the queen.
Leila understood and moved over to make room beside her.

“The arrogant man yesterday
…
” she began
,
but he interrupted her.

“Is also my half
-
brother,”
Anat
o
lio
said ending her sentence.
“
Four older brothers, one older sister, and one younger brother, but they mean nothing to me.
My father did nothing but get my mother pregnant, and he has done nothing since.
The only person in that family that acknowledges I exist is Nikias
.”

Leila thought to the previous day and wondered about the stoic
-
faced man she met.
“You look like him and even act like him,” she observed
,
running her fingers through the cool grass
.

“He was the only man close to a father figure in my life.
In front of everyone, he would treat me the same as anyone he met, but on the
other
side, he was always there for me.
If I need
ed
advice or training, he would help me.
He’s a good man,” Anatolio said
,
staring into the clouds above
.

“And Pallas?”
Leila
asked.

“Is just your typical rude noble,” Anatolio easily replied.

“So how did they handle you getting to work directly with Nalick
?
”
Leila
wondered
,
looking over at
Anatolio
while he stared up
at the sky
.

“Though they would not show it publicly, I knew most of them hated it.
Nikias was happy for me, but Pallas was furious.
I always thought that if I accomplished much, they would finally accept me, but I know that is not true.
I am working
directly under
the king, and they still don’t accept me,” he explained
,
still staring up as it was easier than to look
ing
into her knowing eyes
.
Leila never missed anything.

“Things are just so much more complicated here,” Leila commented
going back to the grass on her hands
.

“It is not like this back where you are from?” he asked
,
looking down at her
.

“There are no kings and queens or noble families.
Some people have more and some less, but no one acts as if they are better just because of their name,” Leila explained.
“Maybe it is the heat.
It makes everyone in Lior a bit crazy
.
”