To Stand Beside Her (26 page)

“Hurry up.
They will soon notice she is gone
,
and then we will not get her out of her
e
,
” one complained.
Leila felt them lift her on to a cart and place a blanket around her.

“Come on,”
the other
said.
“Once we make the trade
,
we can come back and no one will notice.”

Leila felt the horses move
,
and she was being pulled on a cart.
She opened her eyes just a slit to observe the situation.
They were pulling
the cart
to one of the gates.
As they stopped, Leila closed her eyes quickly.

“Hi Mica
. Hi
Nell,” a guard
spoke
.
“What are you two up to today?”

“One of
our
maids got sick and we are taking her home,”
the first
said.
Leila heard the guard walk around to look into the cart
before he
let the boys leave.
The cart moved on into the city.
Leila calculated where they were in the city
in her mental map
.
T
hey stop
ped
at another gate.
This time
,
though
,
no one checked the cart and just let the two boys pass
.
Finally the cart came to a stop
outside the city
,
and she could hear Mica and Nell arguing.

“We need to take a left here,” one said.

“No
,
I think we missed it.
We should have taken a left back there,” the other replied.

Leila slowly got out of the cart.
As she approached the front of the cart
,
Leila
could see the two young men were both standing on the ground holding onto a map.
They seemed to be lost and arguing over the directions.
Leila checked to see if Anatolio was near and could not see him.
Oh well
, she thought,
I’ll just do this myself.
Quickly she approached and disarmed the larger of the two boys and knocked him unconscious before turning to the other boy.
He quickly surrendered.
Leila then tied up the two boys and placed them in the cart together.

“Who were you going to meet with?” Leila asked
,
but the boy seemed too scared to answer.
“Then
,
let us try an easier question.
What is your name?”

“Mica,” the boy barely whispered.

“Then this must be Nell.
What family do you belong to?” Leila asked.

The boy seemed scared to answer again.
Leila walked over and pulled the back of his shirt to see the emblem on his back.
It was the Maclen family.
She then checked the unconscious boy
,
who
had the same emblem.
Leila walked back to the boy who was still awake.

“Who were you going to give me to?”
Leila
asked again.

“I don’t know,”
Mica
quickly answered.
“Nell had the plans
;
I was just helping him.
Wha
t are you going to do with us?”
He was going to cry soon.

“For now, we are going to sit here until I get all the answers I want,” Leila replied walk
ing
back to Nell.
She slapped his face a few times to wake him up.
Groggily he opened his eyes.
After he focused on Leila he quickly tried to move
,
but he was tied up.
Then she saw the terror in his eyes as he realized he was caught.

“But
you shouldn’t be awake,” Nell said.

“There are a lot of things I shouldn’t be,” Leila replied.
“So the question for you is
:
who were you going to meet?” Leila repeated her question for the older boy.

She was not someone he wanted to lie to; he hesitantly answered, “His name is Marx. He offered us a lot of money if we transported you to him.” Leila smiled. It had been almost a year since she had seen Marx. She was tempted to ask about the meeting point but Nalick by now would be worried.

“Who drugged me back in the palace?” she asked though she already knew her answer.

Both boys shook their heads.
“If we tell you, then we will be killed by them,” Nell explained.

“And what do you think Nalick will do with you?” Leila asked as the color drained from both the young men’s faces.
“Here’s the deal, I will ask Nalick to spare your lives if you tell me who drugged my drink.”

The boys looked at one another.
“Our uncle came to us about everything, Lord Maclen.
I think it was our Aunt, Lady Maclen
,
that was actually going to put the drug in your drink,” Mica told her.

Leila smiled.
Her assumption was correct.
In the distance Anatolio approached.
Leila waved to him as she sat on the edge of the cart.
“About time,” she called to him.
“I figured I was going to have to wait all day for you to join us.”
Anatolio began to protest, but the smile on Leila’s face made him stop.

“So these two boys figured they could
kidnap you
?” Anatolio questioned.

“Yep, but as you can see, we didn’t get too far before they got lost,” Leila smiled as she replied. “We better get back. I didn’t have time to explain anything to Nalick, and I am sure he is worried by now.”

“Or furious,” Anatolio suggested, looking at the terrified two boys’ faces.

Anatolio helped Leila into the cart before hoisting up the two boys like sacks of potatoes. Leila and Anatolio quickly took the cart back to the city. Leila immediately went to Nalick’s office sure she would find the worrying king there waiting. As soon as Leila entered the office, Nalick quickly hugged her and checked her over for damage.

“What is going on?”
Nalick
asked worried
ly
.
“You said you were going back to you room
,
but when I checked, you had not made it there
.
Anatolio left a message at the gate saying he was leaving the palace.”

“
I’ve had a nice ride through the country today due to Lady and Lord Macclean
,” Leila explained see
ing
the anger building in Nalick’s eyes.
“I asked the two boys and they said they were to meet a man named Marx.
I was
tempted
to go meet him, but I came back instead
.
I have not seen Marx in a long time.
The last I heard
he was working for Endika.
Marx is an old courier friend.
”

“So they were trying to take you to Endika?” Nalick asked.

“Probably, though Marx would not have followed through with it,” Leila replied watch
ing
Nalick continue to pace around the room.
She quietly sat on the top of his desk and just watched him.
The
anger continued to grow within him.
Suddenly he stopped and turned to Leila.
His expression completely changed as he stared at her.

“Why are you ok
ay
?”
Nalick
asked finally realiz
ing
that
Leila
was drugged.
“You don’t seem
to be affected
by the poison
nor are you mad
for being poisoned
.”

“
Courier, remember?
I knew immediately what drug it was.
There is only one drug out there that will put me to sleep, and Roger is the only person that has it.
Also these boys were not a threat.
They really are quite harmless.
I didn’t even break a sweat tying up both of them.
My problem more is that you have people in your own court that were willing to do such a thing,” Leila explained. “
How am I suppose
d
to stay safe if your own court is willing to sell me out
?
”

Nalick moved closer to Leila and wrapped his arms around her, “Please next time tell me what is going on.
I was so worried.”
Nalick took a deep breath before kissing the top of her head.

Leila smiled up at him.
“There was no need to worry.
I had it all under control.
”
Nalick understood Leila was capable of protecting herself, but he still wanted to be the one to protect her.
Gently he kissed her forehead
again
.
Leila reached up to his face to continue what they had started in the morning, but they were interrupted once again.

Softly there was a knock on the door
,
a
s
Theo stuck his head in the room.
“Nalick, everyone is assembled in the judgment hall.”

“Is Anatolio still out there?” Nalick asked
reluctantly moving to the door
.

“Yes,” Theo replied.

“How will you punish them?” Leila asked knowing that Nalick was not kind when it came to handing out punishments.

Nalick
wanted to
explain
,
but
Leila did not want to hear how they would actually be punished.
Her heart was too pure to deal with the reality of running a kingdom.

“
Please give both boys a break and
their daughter
Emma too. I know she was not involved
,
”
Leila asked.
Nalick gazed into her eyes and was not able to refuse her.

Nalick put his arm around Leila as he escorted her out the door.
“As you wish,” he replied.
As they approached the door to the judgment chamber, Nalick stopped.
“This is not something I want you involved in ever.
I don’t want this to weigh down on you so please stay here with Anatolio.”
She understood.
She also did not really want to know what would happen to everyone.
“I want to first talk to the court, and then I might need for you to come in for a minute.
But that will be it,” he explained.

Leila watched as the doors were opened before Nalick.
The room where she had
first met
him
was now packed full of people.
The
court
all stood and bowed
to the
enter
ing king
.
The doors shut, and Leila was left to wait.
She could not make out words
,
but
from the tone
Nalick
was not in a good mood.
He was now the man everyone feared.
Down the hallway next to the room, Theo appeared from a side doorway.
Theo
motioned for Leila to come over to him.

“Nalick will need you to join him for one minute,” Theo escorted Leila to the side door.
Anatolio waited outside the door for Leila
to enter
behind Theo.
Theo led her past the first row of people as everyone sat silently as she entered.
T
he steely stare Nalick g
a
v
e
the room changed
when
he saw Leila. Leila walked over and took
Nalick’s outstretch
hand.
Again
,
like
the first day she was presented to the nobles,
Leila
could feel their cold stares as she stood before them.

“May I?” Nalick asked lightly tugg
ing
her sleeve.
Leila stretched her left arm for him as he gently rolled her sleeve back.
Leila could hear a gasp that started from the front row as whispers proceeded to the back of the room.
Nalick gently place her arm on his and turned to the crowd.
“We predicted that we might encounter problems with other kingdoms wanting Queen Eia.
So the priests decided that she would join the royal family not as a princess, but as queen.”
Leila
did not understand
,
but it was not the time to ask.
“Thank you,” he said to Leila softly kissing her cheek before Theo returned to her side to escort her back out of the room.
Leila turned one last time before she left the room to see the hardened stare of Nalick as he stood opposite of the Maclen’s.