To Stand Beside Her (24 page)

“King Endika,” Nalick said while shaking the smaller man’s hand.
Leila tried to cover her laugh with a cough.
Endika was literally half the man Nalick was in every way.
Next to Nalick, Endika looked like a child, an older looking bearded child.
He was half Nalick’s height and shorter than Leila.
H
e had a full beard to try to make himself look older, but she always felt he looked like a
small
child playing dress up.
“This is my future bride, Queen Eia,” Nalick introduced Leila as the diminutive man took her hand and kissed it.

“My
,
you seem so familiar
, a
s if I met you before,”
Endika
added
ogling her,
trying to get a response.
Leila quickly took back her hand as
Edika
made her feel disgusted.

“I get that a lot,”
Leila
replied.

Endika continued to stare at her.
He was just the same as all the other kings
Leila
had met over the years.
H
is
stares made her feel like a prize that someone could win at the faire.
She was glad to have Nalick seated between her and the creepy man.
Leila was trying her best to not say what she was really thinking.
Nalick
quietly tried to thank her, but
Leila
would not let him.
Nalick turned to his guest, and they began to talk.
After the meal, the entertainment started and Leila used it as an opportunity to go onto the balcony.
As she stood, Nalick turned to her.
She leaned down next to him
balancing herself with her hands on his shoulders.

“I am just going onto the balcony for fresh air,”
Leila
explained as Endika continued to eye her up and down.
Nalick nodded and Anatolio, who was standing behind Leila, followed her out onto the balcony.

“Is everything alright?”
Anatolio
asked.

“
T
hat man just gets to me with all his staring
,
n
ot that these dresses leave much to the imagination,”
Leila
explained
gesturing to her dress
.
Anatolio gazed back across the room and stared at the other king.
Anatolio gently moved Leila to the left of the balcony and undid one of the curtains.

“Is that better?”
Anatolio
asked.

Leila turned to see she was out of view of Endika while still being in the view of Nalick.
She smiled at the young man standing with her.

“Yes.”
She leaned on the rail of the balcony.
She was sure Anatolio was not a noble and watched the glares often in the past few days he received from everyone.
“Do these people ever get to you?”

“No.
It has been like this my whole life.
I am use
d
to it,”
Anatolio explained keeping a distance between them.

“I have
not
read about you,” she said to him
.

“
But
I have about you,” the young man replied leaning against the rail next to her.

“Why did you take this job?” she asked.
“If they have always treated you like they treat me, why would you purposely want to work in the palace?”

“I was offered this
,
and
I really could not come up with any reason to turn down being able to work so closely to a legend.
I hoped that maybe by being so close to you, something might rub off and make me a better tracker
,
”
Anatolio replied.
Leila smiled at the young man
who was finally opening up a bit
.

“I don’t think I’ll let you learn all my secrets,”
Leila
teased.
The young man chuckled while tossing his blond hair out of his face.

“Just a few will be better than none,” Anatolio replied.
“Let’s not worry Nalick any longer.”
Anatolio escorted Leila back to Nalick’s side
,
and she sat down next to him.
Endika had left his seat
to mingle with the nobles.

“Is your wonderful friend already tired?
It must be past his bed time by now,”
Leila
said
,
referring to Endika.

“I thought you promised to be nice?” Nalick replied
putting his arm on the back of her chair
.

“I will be nice, if he returns
. Little Endiki must be tired being up so late
,” Leila responded
,
and Nalick
had to suppress a laugh
.
“Besides, it is very hard to be nice to such a creep.”
She
was doing her best not to tell the other king how she felt.

Leila watched as the nobles huddled in groups.
She could tell which families were allied and which were not.
On the dance floor
,
Leila
watched
Endika dancing with Lady Maclen, mother
of her soon to be new friend Emma
.
In the corner of the room
Leila
could see the sad face of Emma.
Watching to
the area
where Emma was looking
,
Leila
could see a young man with his parents.
Leila was wondering who the man was but her gaze returned to Endika.
Something about him being so familiar with Lady Maclen made Leila’s stomach churn.
After the song finished, Endika approached the head table in front of Leila.

“I was wondering if you would be so kind as to dance with me,”
Endika
asked Leila.

Leila smiled politely, “I’m sorry
,
but I am so exhausted from our recent trip
to meet my family
.
With Nalick’s permission, I was just going to head to bed
.
”
I would not touch you with a ten
-
foot stick,
she thought.
A
sking her to dance with King Endika was stretching the amount of nicest she had already shown, so
Nalick
nodded as she stood to leave.

“Will you be up later?” she asked Nalick.

“Of course,”
Nalick
replied.
He had checked in on her before he went to bed each night.
He assumed she had been asleep, but as always, she seemed to know more than she ever let on.
Leila
was only
now
making it obvious to irritate their guest.
Leila smiled at the hint of jealousy that crossed Endika’s face.
To add to it, Leila leaned over and kissed Nalick’s cheek.

“Good night
,
my king,”
Leila
said before leaving.
Nalick grinned as he watched her leave.
The sparkle in her eyes made him want to follow, but he needed to stay with his guest.
Trying to hide his grin from her blatant actions to make Endika jealous, Nalick resumed his conversation
while
watch
ing
Leila cross the room and out the doors.

Leila returned to her room. Anatolio, as always, checked the room thoroughly before he bid her goodnight. After shutting the door, she carefully removed the jewelry around her neck and arms. Underneath her dress she felt the necklace she refused to remove. On it was the ring Erich had given her the day he had proposed. Leila sat down on the edge of her bed and started to remove the hair clips thinking of him.
What would Erich look like now if he was still alive? Where would we be living? Would we still be running assignments for Roger, or would we have started a family by now?
Dozens of unanswered questions ran through her head. Leila was unsure how to feel; she was beginning to have feelings for Nalick but part of her felt she was betraying Erich’s memory.

After Leila removed all the hair clips and jewelry, she could let her hair down. What took hours to do was undone in a matter of minutes. Leila closed her eyes though she was not ready to go to sleep; as she tried to stop her racing thoughts, she pictured Erich. Erich was taller than her and much less muscular than Nalick. He had scraggly, dark blond hair that was always getting in his eyes. Though Leila’s job required her to blend in and be similar to the people around her, Erich always told her that her greatest asset was that she was different in looks and mind than everyone. Her ability to befriend and build the trust of people around her made her a better person than anyone he had ever met. Erich convinced the young, scared Leila that she could make her life into anything she desired; she just needed to decide what she wanted. Leila tried to remember Erich’s smile, but the image that came to her head was the painful smile; the man she loved asked her to promise him as he lay dying that she would never give up on love. Erich had known all along that one day she would meet Nalick, and if she were to give him a chance, she could learn to love him. Leila had Erich’s blessing all along to marry Nalick.

Leila opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling. If Leila threw herself into assignments and didn’t slow down, she didn’t have to admit that he was really dead. Now she actually had time for leisure and could actually think about it. It just hurt to finally admit to herself that Erich was not coming back. As Leila laid on her bed, it hit her. Erich really was gone and never coming back. Carefully, she wiped her tears and sat up. She needed to get her mind off of Erich so she walked out to the balcony and sat down. The stars calmed her heart, but not tonight. Leila found no comfort in the familiar stars. She returned to the bed and lay down. Leila was not tired, but sleeping was the only way she figured she would feel better.

Later that night Nalick returned to say goodnight to Leila after everyone had left. She was already tucked into her bed. When she had left the dinner Leila had been her normal, challenging self. Gently, he smoothed her hair away from her face. The chain around her neck was outside of her shirt. He could now see the ring. As Nalick studied her ring, Leila quietly opened her eyes.
“Everything is done for tonight?”
Leila
asked sleepily
rubbing her eyes
.

“Sorry, did I wake you?”
Nalick
asked back
looking up from the ring
.

“I tried to wait up for you, but I must have fallen asleep.”
Leila sat up and noticed she was under the covers.
“What time is it?”

“Late,” Nalick replied.
“I think Endika was trying his best to keep me there so that I could not come up here to you.
You did quite a good job of rubbing it in his face that you are staying here with me.”
Nalick smiled as Leila gave him a fake innocent look.

“Did I really do that?
He must have just misunderstood,” Leila chuckled.

“Are you ok
ay
?” Nalick asked changing the subject.
Leila did not understand
,
and
he gently rubbed the dried tear
stains on her face.
Leila blushed.

“Oh that was nothing.
I was just a little sad,”
Leila
replied
finally
notic
ing
that Nalick was sitting very close to her.
Her heart for once was not racing like mad while he studied her. It somehow felt different
, s
omewhat comforting to have him so close while she felt so sad.
She looked up into his eyes and could tell that her crying was not ‘
nothing
’ to him.
“Really,” she said trying to convince him.
Nalick picked up her hand and held it next to his face.
He gently kissed
the palm of her hand
.
Leila shivered as goose bumps ran down her arms from the faint touching of his lips to her hand.

“I will do anything for you to be happy,”
Nalick
said.
Gently he touched her cheek.
His hand drifted down and touched her necklace.
“It is from Erich,” he guessed.
Leila nodded without looking into Nalick’s eyes.
Nalick gently raised her face to look at him.
“I would never try to replace him.
I want you to know that.”
Nalick understood why she had been crying
,
and he was not jealous or
angry
.
He
leaned closer and gently kissed her forehead as he had done each night since they returned.
“Goodnight
,
my queen.”