To Stand Beside Her (46 page)

“So will you come willingly?”
Mitchell
asked
,
extending his hand.

Leila accepted his hand and stood still as a man approached and checked her for weapons.
Mitchell took both her hands and tied them together.

“Do you really think I am stupid enough to do anything before I see Phillip?”
Leila
asked sarcastically.

“Just a precaution,”
Mitchell
replied
,
pull
ing
the rope around her arms and le
ading
her into the woods. “Is she alone?”
h
e asked someone still hid in the woods.

“It looks like it,” the man said
,
stepping
out
from the shadows. “It is so nice to finally meet you.” The man said as he bowed deeply to her.

Chapter 26

“Queen Eia.
Hm.
I don’t think that name suits you.”
His small beady eyes with dark hair and a pale complexion told Leila who the person was.
Leila had never met the man before
,
but he was Agro.
He had been a courier with Marx for many years but recently changed to work for Aiolos because he wanted more freedom to be able to kill people.
Couriers in most countries worked on an oath to not kill people and thus were not see as criminals by their own government.
Argo
walked around Leila
,
viewing her from every angle.

“You are as stunning as Marx always described you.
Why he never made a move on you is unknown to me,
”
Argo licked his lips as he made the complete circle.
Leila held her head high and did not reply.

Leila
patiently waited for them to beginning moving as Argo continued to eye her over.
Leila followed Mitchell walking in the woods.
Mitchell had several horses waiting for them as they neared the edge of the woods
. T
hey had one less horse than riders, and
Leila
would have to ride with one of the men.
She
took
her chances with Mitchell
over
Argo and followed him to his horse.
With her arms still tied she hopped onto the horse ahead of him.
Leila
was even
agile
with her arms restricted
,
and
Mitchell saw
the ties were unnecessary.
Mitchell wrapped his arms around her as they rode.
He enjoy
ed
the distain from Argo as she had chosen to ride with him over the other courier.
Mitchell did not blame her.

Even though Mitchell was completely loyal to King Aiolos, he did not approve of his choice to hire Argo. The man seemed to have a short fuse and was quick to kill anything that got in his way.
Leila did not pay attention to the men that stared at her as she rode but rather to the path they were taking.
She hoped Anatolio would stay far enough behind to follow and not get caught by Argo.
She had heard from Marx
that
Argo was not very good at his job, but he was
e
ffective in killing any opponent that got in his way.
Marx was more than happy when
Argo
quit his post to join Aiolos.

After several hours of riding, they near
ed
a city.
Leila
did not know the town
,
but she knew t
hey were still in Lior.
The town
was
empty as they rode through it.
Every now and then s
he caught the sight of
a person or two
through the panes of the windows hid
ing
in fear.
Aiolos was as harsh and uncaring as Jahangir, the only difference
being that
Aiolos had the stature and ability to support his ruthlessness.
As they neared the opposite edge of the town, a large tent city was hidden well if not accessed through the town.
She estimated Aiolos had half his army with him tak
ing
over
the whole area
.
Leila imprinted a map of the tent city in her brain as they passed by many tents on their way to the center.
The
ornate much larger tent they were approaching
made it obvious
Aiolos was there personally to greet her.
Slowly they walked through the tents
and
the people sitting outside each.
As the neared the center tent, they passed the priests who began chanting in their
holy
language.

As the group
drew near
the main
tent,
Leila
hopped down from her horse before anyone could move to help her.
Before she could enter the tent, she was stopped and several more ropes were tired around her arms and legs
.
Leila laughed
to herself
as six men were ordered to not let go of her.
Leila had seen so many easy opportunities to come and go in the camp as she pleased.
Six men would not be a problem if she chose.
With the help of the priests
who offered on her way in
, Phillip would easily be safe.
No matter what they did,
Leila
was leaving as soon as she was alone with Phillip.

“So Phillip must be inside,”
Leila
guessed
waiting outside the tent
,
and Mitchell did not respond.
From the look in his eyes
,
she had guessed correctly.

“I was wondering,” Leila said to Argo
,
wait
ing
for everyone to be sure she was secured.
“Will you end up like Seth if you fail also?”

“Marx won’t be coming to save you this time,” Argo replied.
Leila’s expression did not change.
W
ord spread quickly through the courier community
,
and Marx would know soon enough.
She just hoped she wouldn’t need his help this time.
There was unquestionably bad blood between Marx and Argo.

“I wasn’t expecting him to,”
Leila
responded confidently.
Quickly
,
Argo began barking orders to the men standing around the tent.
Everyone ran away swiftly
,
trying their best to secure the area.
E
ven with their increased efforts
,
they would not be able to keep her locked away.
Mitchell pulled on
the
rope around her arms
,
and she followed him into the tent in front of her.
Leila
stopped just past the front door as a lady approached her and removed her shoes.
The floors and the walls were lined with expensive fabrics.

Though Leila found the palace in Lexia ornate
,
it was nothing compared to the lavishly decorated tent she was in.
C
ontinui
ng
further
inside
,
she observed
,
to her disgust
,
several half
-
dressed women lounging on beds
they were chained to
.
Aiolos
’
love of power over women was evident.
Mitchell continued to pull her forward as two men opened the second set of curtains in front of her.
Leila quickly scanned the room
for
she was looking.
Towards the middle of the room seated on a couch facing away from her was Phillip.

“Phillip,”
Leila
said
,
and the boy turned around.

“Mom,”
Phillip
responded
,
trying
to stand
,
but the two men next to him held him down.
“You shouldn’t have come here.
This was a trap to get you,” he added.
Leila nodded her head.

“She already knew that,” a voice said from behind another curtain.
Leila did not need to see his face to know who was speaking.

“It’s been a
while,”
Aiolos
said
,
confidently moving the curtain as she was dragged to the center of the room.
The men holding her back
ed
away but continued to hold onto their ropes.
Leila did not acknowledge the man speaking to her but stared at Phillip.
He was covered in blood, and s
he could not tell if he had been hurt.

Aiolos walked over to Phillip and pulled the boy with him.

“I can’t believe you actually care about this kid,” Aiolos continued.
“He isn’t even your own child
,
and yet you came running without any back up.”

“Phillip is my son,”
Leila
replied staring at Aiolos.
Aiolos
could see the fire behind her eyes and smiled.

“Are you okay?” her tone changed as she looked to
Phillip
.
He nodded his head meekly.

“Nalick was a foolish man to let you out of his palace alone,” Aiolos commented.
“But he did teach the rest of us how best to catch you.
Just kidnap and hold someone dear to you and you come running.
I didn’t know if this brat would be enough, but
it
looks like I finally won the prize.
”

Leila laughed
,
upsetting Aiolos.
“What is so funny?” he demanded.

“You think I am actually staying with Nalick because he took someone close to me?
Come on now
,
think a little.
My friend left the palace the day after I entered.
What is the longest stay I have had in your palace?
Either Nalick has some sort of super jail cell
,
or I am staying on my own free will,” she replied.
Aiolos raised his eyebrows.
It had not occurred to him that she was staying on her own free will.

“He might have taken my friend by mistake
,
but she has been home now for months.
I can come and go as I please in Lior.
Nalick would not be foolish enough to try to keep me there by force, but it seems you are.”
Phillip was surprised by how easily
Leila
made fun of the man that was holding her captive.

Aiolos pushed Philip onto the nearest couch and approached Leila.
He walked around her and viewed her from every angle.

“Seems that you clean up pretty well.
Being queen suits you.
Too bad about this,” he pointed to her arm.
“Such a
worthless
custom.”

“And shaving a woman’s head before marriage isn’t?” she replied
,
mentioning the one custom that other countries made fun of Enea for.
Leila could see she was upsetting Aiolos
,
and she smiled.
He moved closer and grabbed her
as her smile quickly faded.
He was near enough she could feel his breath on her face.
He would be much harder to fight off when she was chained as such.