To Stand Beside Her (15 page)

Leila sat down in the sand
to ponder
her options.
Jahangir was an evil man and would stop at nothing until he had Leila
,
even if it meant killing innocent people.
In fact
,
he would target the innocent to get to her.
The easiest solution was to run north.
Once
Leila
got across the sea, she would be in her own territory.
If o
nly she could
just leave so eas
il
y.
Leila
had made a deal and so far Nalick was holding up his end of it
.
I
f she left
alone
, she would not be able to just return like nothing had happened.
Leila contemplated a third option.

How much do you trust him
?
she asked herself.
If I take him with, my deal is still good, but can I trust him to know where I come from?

“So we have until about midday?” she asked as the sun began to rise in the east and the water began to twinkle as the sun bounced off the ripples in the water.
Anatolio nodded his head.

Leila walked silently
back
into the room, but it was not necessary to be quiet.
Theo and Macarius were sitting on the couches staring at their feet while
a worried
Nalick was pacing around the room.
None of the men noticed as Leila and Anatolio entered the room.

How did they find out already?
she wondered.

Anatolio coughed to get the three men’s attention, and Leila could see the mood change as the men realized she was standing there.
Nalick’s concerned expression quickly changed to relief.
Leila understood
;
they were not worried about the situation, but rather they thought she had had been taken.

“Not good news
?
”
Nalick
inquired
after calming down at the sight of her
.
Leila shook her head
,
no
,
as Anatolio repeated his findings to the three men.

“How could we not be prepared for this?” Nalick asked
,
starting to get upset.
“How do you march an army of t
hree hundred people near the bo
rder and not have anyone notice?”
Nalick began to pace the room
again
.

“But it is not a problem.
We can stay right here and wait for reinforcements,” Macarius replied.
His decision was easy;
keep Nalick safe at all costs.

“No,” Leila replied interrupting the men.
They all turned to her with shocked expression
s
.
“I know what Jahangir will do, and no person in this city will be safe, even if we are.
That is not an option I am willing to choose.
”
Theo smiled and shook his head in disappointment.
She was right.

“Then do we try to get home?” Macarius asked
, confused by her unwillingness to stay safe
.

“First of all, I have never ran from a battle, and I am not about to start.
Second, he could easily cut us off.
Th
ere
is not a safe route home
,
”
Nalick explained.

“Are you finished?” she asked while standing up and going over to her belongings.
At the bottom of the case that held her dresses
for the trip
was her
courier
travel bag.
Leila
never went anywhere without it.
She brought it to the table between the men and sat down and opened it.
T
he men watched her
c
uriously
.

“I have considered our options.
First of all, I agree that taking the water route home is not safe.”
Leila began unpacking her bag and neatly arranging the clothing she took out of the case.
“Second, I refuse to sit here while the city is attacked.
Jahangir will not be satisfied to sit and attack the palace.
He will go after the people of the city and the women and children will become the victims to make it safe for me.
I will not sit here and watch that. So I have made a decision.
I will be going home for a short visit.”
The three men looked at her in shock.

“But what about the deal?” Theo asked.
S
he actually seemed to like Lexia
,
and to
Theo’s
own surprise
,
Leila
was
getting along with Nalick.

“I will not be traveling alone,”
Leila
replied
,
beg
inning to unlock
the inner compartments.
“You three will be coming with me.”
The men all stared at her
not knowing what to expect
.

“
W
e will send one of your father’s fastest ships with a decoy.
Anatolio and one of my maids will dress in our clothing.
Leave the rest of your army here to protect the city.
Once Anatolio returns to Lexia, he will arrange the necessary force to escort us home safely.”

Leila unpacked her wigs and chose a dark colored one while putting the rest away
as she continued to lay out her plan,
“
I
f Jahangir stops the boat, Anatolio will allow him to search the vessel.
When he finds he has been tricked, he will leave.
He is not a very bright man, but attacking an unarmed ship in another country is
far
too stupid
even
for him to do.”
Leila pulled out a case of make-up and hair dyes.

Leila continued to open hidden compartments in her case
.
“Theo and Macarius, find clothing to travel in that will allow you guys to fit in with the local people around here.
You will need two complete outfits a piece.
Nothing ornate.”
Anatolio, Theo, and Macarius all quickly left.
Once everyone was gone, Leila turned to Nalick, “Please don’t make me regret doing this.”

“Are you really going to take us with you
?
”
Nalick
asked in disbelief.
“This isn’t just a way to l
ose us?”

“You were worried about me when you didn’t find me here this morning,”
Leila
said changing the subject.
“Why?”

“I thought something had happened to you,”
Nalick
said while getting up and turning away from her
.
“I know you said you would not be taken by that man that was here last night, but even you have been caught numerous times.”

Leila smiled
,
“
Then
this is an even better reason to take you back to my home.
If I should ever go missing, you will know exactly where to find me.
But just for future reference
,
y
ou
don’t need to worry until I am gone for several days.
Contrary to popular belief, I can take care of myself.
”
Nalick returned and sat next to Leila as she opened the jars.
Inside each was a rubbery peach colored make-up.
Taking
Nalick
’
s
right arm she began to put a thin coating of the make-up over the lines on
it
.
“It should be dry in a few minutes.”
Leila
then
began covering the lines on her own arm.

Anatolio returned dressed in Nalick’s clothing
with a very sleepy maid
.
Though he was not as broad across the chest as Nalick,
Anatolio would easily pass
as the
king
.

“We will be back in three days
’
time.
Can you
get an adequate force here in that amount of time
?
”
Anatolio nodded his head.
Grabbing Elena’s arm, he escorted her out of the palace.
Leila passed the
waiting
men and got ready herself.
When she returned, the men finally understood how she could
have just
disappear
ed
.
Standing before them in a blue peasant blouse and ruffled red skirt with a short black wig, she did not look anything like herself.
She was a citizen of Dria now.

“Nalick, can you cover this for me?”
s
he asked
,
lowering the neck of her shirt to expose the king’s emblem on her shoulder.
Nalick used the make-up paste and covered it.
While she waited for it to dry, she explained to
Theo and Nalick
how they would leave.

Finally, she stood to make her last inspections.
Leila tapped
Nalick’s
neck
while inspecting the men
.
Nalick removed his shirt. Gently
,
Leila touched the large emblem that spanned his back. She knew how painful it had been for the small hand size crest on her own shoulder,
so
she could not imagine one as large as Nalick’s.
Nalick sat with his shirt in his hands as he waited for the make-up to dry.

“Any questions?”
Leila had to look away to not blush in front of the men.

“So how do we get out?” Macarius asked
,
suspicious that Leila was going to leave the group behind.

“Much easier, at least in my opinion,” she replied without giving any details.
Leila looked over the men in front of her.
Nalick
had no reservations with her plan, but the other two men were a bit skeptical
.

“She is not leaving us,” Nalick guaranteed the men
,
surprising them both with his response.
“She is trying to protect the people of this city.”
Even with his markings gone, his hair now brown in color, and
his being
dressed in peasants clothing, Nalick would stand out.
Leila smiled at the trusting man before her.

“You guys are ready to leave
.
Do your best not to draw suspicion to yourselves, as the less people that follow you, the less we will have to get rid of over there.”
Both men nodded.
Nalick and Theo rose to leave.

Leila followed behind the two men as the
y
neared the room door.
Lightly she grabbed Nalick’s hand, and he slowed and turned.
Pulling him closer, she talked quietly so that only he could hear
,
“
B
e careful.
No matter how we try to disguise you, you will be a target.”

Nalick smiled at her concerned
,
“I have not survived this long
just because I am king.
I do know a thing or two about defending myself.”
Lightly he touched he
r
face.
Leila’s heart fluttered a bit.
“We will be waiting, but please don’t take too long.
I might get worried.”
Leila smiled as he left with Theo.

Leila turned to Macarius
as she
dug through her bag until she
found
two small gold rings.
She put one on her smallest finger on her right hand and walked over and put the other on Macarius’ hand.

“We will be leaving by the beach.”
Leila rose and Macarius followed as Leila led them through the palace and into the garden by the beach.
Macarius could not understand where they could leave from, but he followed Leila as she walked down the beach near the stairway th
at
led to Godfrith’s study.
Leila neared the stairs but did not climb them.
Instead
,
she walked to the front of the building next to the stairs.
The water of the river was rippling against the building as waves came in.
Carefully
,
she took one step.
On the ledge just beneath the water she would be able to cross to the other side of the palace.
Macarius cautiously followed her
.
After they made it back onto land, Leila led Macarius to the outside wall of the palace.
S
he
scaled the wall in only a minute
.