To Stand Beside Her (8 page)

“Anything else you can think of at the moment?” he asked.

“You will free Kay
right now
.
” Leila
checked
his response
to see if he would not follow through.

“Then it is settled.”
Nalick waved to Theo to come over to him.
He took Theo’s keys and unlocked the chains around her wrists and waist.

“I will take you to your room where you can have supper,” Nalick turned from the balcony and led Leila to the staircase.

Stunned, Leila silently followed him.
This time
,
instead of stopping on the
fifth floor, they continued up one more
f
light of stairs.
The doors to this floor were blocked by four men.
They all stood and bowed as Nalick drew near.
The doors opened to another hallway.
Nalick led her to the left.
At the end of the hallway, he opened the doors.

“This will be your quarters,”
h
e explained as Leila walked past him into the room.
“My room will be at the other end of the hall,” he
added
as Leila gazed around the room in awe.

Leila
had thought the room downstairs was ornate, but
that room
was nothing compared to this
one
.
The
new
room was at least ten times the size of the room down below and the ceiling was over two floors tall.
The right side of the room was open to a balcony along the entire wall.
In the middle of the room was a large bed
with
a sheer curtain attached to the ceiling
,
allowing the bed to
be
encased by a light blue haze.
Near the bed was a fireplace with a chimney that reached up into the ceiling.
Directly to her left was a table with eight chairs sitting on the back side of the fireplace.
The left wall had two doors in it.
Windows surround
ed
all the walls.
Several chairs and couches were placed around the room.
Everything was made of the finest wood and fabric.
As Leila looked around the room, there was nothing familiar or even similar to the home she grew up in.
Could this really feel like a home
?
she thought to herself.

“Can I say goodbye to Kay?” Leila asked.

“No.
I will not take the chance of the two of you being together without you being locked up.
For the time being,
if you need anything,
Theo
lives
in the first room on the right,” Nalick said
,
pointing to the door right outside the one they just came through.
“
If that is all, I will be back in an hour to finalize our deal.”

Nalick shut the door behind him.
Leila walked back into the room. It was night outside again. She walked to the balcony and sat d
own near the railing
,
rest
ing
her head on the rail. Across the city
indoor
light
s were on
. From her view
point
,
not only
was
the sky
cover with stars
,
but the ground was
too
.
Leila
gazed up into the sky and looked for the constellations she knew. Something about the twinkle of little lights in the sky made her feel better.

Am I making the right choice?
s
he asked herself.

The stars had always been her guide in life.
When Kay left, Leila
would be all alone with only the stars as her friends. Leila glanced down at the north gate and could see it opening. Though she could not see well enough to tell who the people were, she was sure Kay was leaving. Leila sighed.
If this doesn’t work, you can always leave,
she reassured herself.
Tears began to trickle down her face.
She sat on the balcony until there was a knock at her door again.

“Nalick asked us to ask you to please join him in his office,” Theo said smiling at the fact Nalick did not order Leila but rather asked.

Following Theo down the hallway,
Leila entered
the office
alone
.
Nalick
was
at a large desk that was covered with various papers.
He smiled kindly as she entered.
His smile made him even more handsome than he already was.
Leila still was confused on how she felt about the man in front of her.
He let Kay go, but was
still
the man holding her captive.
Leila cautiously
walked over to his desk and sat down across from him
,
not smiling back
.

He handed her a piece of paper.

“Please read this over,”
Nalick
asked.
“I think I remembered everything I agreed to before.
If you would like to add anything, just go ahead.”
He handed her a pen.
“You can always
add more later
,
of course.
All I ask in return is that you marry me
.
If at any time I break my end of the deal, you are free to walk out of here without any explanation and disappear to where ever you go to when you leave kings.
I promise I will not follow or hunt you down.
Your friend has been freed and on her way home.
”
He smiled at her
again
,
“
d
o we have a deal?”

“Yes,”
Leila
replied
,
still
not smiling back
.
Kay was safe, and that was all that mattered.

“Now
,
for your end of the deal,” Nalick paused, not want
ing
to do what he had to do next.
Two men
moved into the room and began to set up equipment on Nalick’s desk while Nalick stayed out of their way and leaned against
a
window.

“Each noble family has a specific emblem.
All family members of each family have this mark on their back.
To be part of my family
,
this sign,” he pointed to the crest on the letter he had just handed Leila, “
W
ill need to be etched into the skin on your back.”
Leila nodded her head
even though
he was not finished.
“Also,
to be a royal
.” Nalick pulled up his sleeve to show the intricate design that started at the palm of his right
hand and continued up his fore
arm.

“This is the custom that must take place before I am presented to the priests,” Leila guessed.

“Yes,” Nalick said, waiting to see if Leila would refuse.
“If you would like to wait a few days that would be ok
ay,
”
he offered not wanting to wait, but also trying to avoid getting on her bad side.

“No, we can do it now,”
Leila said handing back the paper.
She already knew that he would request she get permanent lines on her shoulder and arm. It was a well
-
known Lior tradition. Leila turned to the working men.

“The procedure can be very painful.
We have two ways to deal with the pain.
The first is a cream that numbs the area that is going to be worked on.
The other method is we can use some pills to make you fall asleep.
That way you only wake up with a
sore
arm
,
but you don’t have to feel the pain
,
”
t
he young
er of the two
m
e
n
explained
.

“Neither,”
Leila
replied.
D
rugs commonly
used to make people fall asleep
did not work on her
and she had had more than her share of pain over the years and was used to it
.

“My
L
ord,” the young man questioned
Nalick
.

“Do as she wishes,” Nalick ordered though he too
was worried
.

“First
,
we need to match up your left arm with King Nalick’s right arm,” the old man said.

Nalick moved near Leila.
Instinctively she jumped back a little as he neared.
Only Nalick noticed.
He sat down beside her and laid his right arm on the desk.
The old man took Leila’s arm and placed it on top of Nalick’s.
Leila tried to ignore the warmth of his arm beneath hers. The man
quickly sketched the same pattern on Leila’s arm matching it up exactly with Nalick’s.

“Thank you,” he said to Nalick
who quickly stood up and returned to the window sill.

What am I getting myself into?
s
he thought watch
ing
the man finish the pattern.

“Now
,
to the shoulder,” the man pointed to her left shoulder.

Leila stood up and turned her chair around. She sat back down straddling the chair carefully and unbuttoned her dress slightly to let the back piece fall, exposing her shoulder. The skin on her shoulder was much more sensitive than on her arm, but Leila held her face completely still. The old man finished drawing and began setting out bottles of liquids in a variety of colors.

“Are you sure you don’t want anything
for the pain
?” the old man asked kindly.

“No
,
thank you,”
Leila
responded.

The old man and his apprentice began their work. The pain simultaneously shot through her arm and shoulder. Leila tried her best to not wince or to let the tears come out that she felt building behind her eyes. She refused to let on that she could be hurt. Instead, Leila stared straight ahead at Nalick. Nalick did not break his gaze with Leila. The two men continued to work for hours and Leila and Nalick continued to silently stare at each other. Gently, the old man wrapped her hand in a cold cloth and then placed another rag over her shoulder, which was burning more than her hand which signaled the end of the procedure.

“Anything else?”
Leila
asked.
Nalick
shook his head
no
.

Leila walked back into her room, pushed the curtain aside that sur
rounded the bed, and laid down.

Three hours
, she thought.
What did I just get myself committed to?
Leila sat up and stretched her hand beneath the cloth. With every little movement, she could feel each spot she had been pricked. Leila looked around the room but decided to not move. She laid down on her stomach being sure not to move or touch her left arm or shoulder. It was not long before she fell asleep.

Chapter
5

Leila could hear
soft footsteps as
someone enter
ed
the room.
Although
she did not open her eyes,
she could see the faint light of day time
.
Leila
wanted to just sleep and forget the past two days
,
but her hand was still throbbing from the night before.
The person who entered did not make any noise beyond the quiet walking across the room to the bed.