To Stand Beside Her (28 page)

“I would like to hear your
opinion on each of the match up
s after they are done,” he said to her quietly before walking down to the front of the stage to confer with the judges.

Anatolio stood silently behind Leila.
Leila motioned for him to come near.
Anatolio approached Leila and kneeled beside her.

“Have you ever fought Nalick before?”
Leila
asked curiously.

“Once,”
Anatolio
replied
not elaborating as Leila wished because
Nalick returned to the stage
.
T
he men in the room all quieted down.

“This afternoon we will have twenty
-
eight
match-ups
.
We matched everyone based on their skill, rank, and position they are trying for.
As many of you suspected, there will be an additional round tomorrow,” Nalick began as a murmur spread through the crowd.
“I will be choosing the top eight from today to continue tomorrow with the chance for posts as person
al
guards.”
Leila watched as the men who were not fighting seemed to be disappointed they did not do better earlier.

“Then let’s begin with the first match,” Nalick said as two people rose and walked onto the stage as Nalick returned to Leila’s side.
“Pull up a chair,” Nalick said to Anatolio who shook his head no and returned to his spot behind Leila.
Nalick turned to Leila.
“Tomorrow’s top eight is your choice.”

“I have to choose from the men fighting?” she asked.

“Any of the people here,”
Nalick
replied.

“You really are going to let me choose?”
Leila
asked again.

“Yes.
They are going to be your guards, so it is your choice,” he replied.

“Then do I also get to test their strength tomorrow?”
She smiled sweetly
trying to get her way
.

“Prove to me tonight you should test them, then sure,”
Nalick
smiled back at her.

Not a problem
,
Leila thought before settling in to watch the men fight.

“Who do you think was the best today?”
Leila
asked Anatolio
after all the matches were finished
as
they waited for Nalick to finish with the judges
.

“Nikias,”
Anatolio
replied.
“But I didn’t expect it to be any other way.”

“
Do
you know
your brother well
?”
Leila
asked.

“He is a good man and an excellent fighter.
I heard a rumor once in practice he actually beat Nalick. I just wish I could have been there to see it.”
Anatolio realized Leila was watching him intently as he talked.
“So you know who he is?”

“Yes, but I didn’t need Nalick to tell me.
You look very much like him,” she replied.

“So I have been told by those that don’t fear his family
.
” Anatolio watched his older brother walk away.
“He is the only decent one in the group.”

“How many other half siblings do you have?” Leila wondered.

“Six, but I was raised by my mother as an only child,” Anatolio explained.

Nalick returned to Leila and Anatolio.
“So do you still want to show me that you should be the one testing them tomorrow?”

“Of course,”
Leila
replied.

“Then follow me.”
Nalic
k led Leila to the vacant court
yard.
As it was now late afternoon
,
the sun was casting shadows over most of the yard.
They would be all alone as everyone had returned to their homes.
Underneath one of the balconies, Nalick opened a door to a storage room.
He rummaged through a stack of clothing on one of and shelves and found some that would fit not only himself but also Leila.

“If you put this on, it should protect you from getting any cuts from the weapons
. The blades are dulled but it still can hurt
,” Nalick explained as Leila fingered the fabric.
Leila raised her eyebrows at the thought.
“I’m afraid we don’t have any shoes small enough for you though.”

“I prefer to be barefoot,” she replied.

“You can change in here,” Nalick told her while picking up a box of weapons before leaving the small room.

Leila quickly changed. The clothing fit her, but it was not as light as she was used to. She walked back out to the courtyard to find Nalick had also changed and sitting on the ground stretching. She sat down beside him and began to quickly braid her hair to keep it out of the way. Nalick watched in awe as she began to stretch to the left and right. He had never met someone quite as flexible. She stood and easily put her elbows on the ground in front of her; she reversed the motion, stretching backwards until her hands were on the ground behind her. She easily kicked her legs up until she was standing on her hands.
A little stiff
, she thought shifting her weight from hand
to
hand.
It had been many days since she had last trained.
Normally by now she would have been on another assignment and trained
for
two straight days to be prepared.
After she was done
,
Leila
walked over to the box to see the kind
s
of weapons she had to choose from.
Nalick joined her.

“
Practice blades
,” he explained.

“What?
Are your people not skilled enough to practice without actually hitting the other person
?
”
Leila
teased.

“Some are not, but
in
our case, I don’t need to get in any more trouble with Mauve,”
Nalick
said.
Leila chuckled
,
pictur
ing an
angry Mauve yelling at Nalick for a tiny scratch.

“Fine,” she replied while sulking.
She looked though the weapons, but none would work for her.
Most were too heavy or bulky.
She had focused her training without weapons
as a courier did not routinely carry one on assignments
.
H
er strength came from her maneuverability and
as such
she would need to choose a weapon that would still allow her to do that.
After looking through everything
,
she settled on a set of four daggers.
Three of the daggers were normal size and the fourth was a little larger.
Nalick watched her choice.
Daggers were a choice for someone that was quick, not for someone who was powerful.
Nalick chose a single double
-
sided blade that was almost the length of his arm.
Leila quickly strapped one dagger to her ankle, thigh, and upper arm.
Nalick looked as the arrangement and was confused.

Leila smiled at his confusion
.
“I don’t really have a preference for left or right hand,” she explained.
Nalick nodded.
She was trained better than he had expected.
“Shall we begin?”

For over an hour Anatolio watched as Nalick and Leila fought
,
evenly dancing from side to side of the courtyard.
In the beginning Leila tested Nalick to get his reactions.
She even gave him openings to win, but he was smart enough not to take them.
As the fight progress
ed
,
Anatolio
could tell she was very well trained.
Even
though
Nalick
was stronger and better with his weapon,
Leila’s
stamina and analytical skills compensated for the difference between them.

After a while
,
nonetheless
,
Leila
could feel the muscle in her hip start to get sore.
Leila
had told Roger she was fine, but she had not put it to such a harsh physical test since she had been hurt.
However, h
er hand was holding
up better than she had expected
.
After analyzing each move,
Leila
found a pattern to Nalick and possibly a way to compensate.
Since her hip was getting worse, she decided to try it.
Moving into position, she began her attack.
Before
Leila
could finish
the move,
she was flat on the ground and Nalick’s sword was at her neck.
She chuckled as
he
dropped his sword and lay down next to her.
Winded, he heaved deep breaths
while Leila
lay
quietly
,
analyzing what went wrong
.
Nalick
was amazed
Leila
was not tired.

“
You could have won
if you didn’t try to end it so soon
. I’m beat
,”
Nalick
said.
He was impressed.
She was much better than anyone had ever said.

“I figured you would be too stubborn to give up even if you were tired,”
Leila
replied.

“
You finished this for me?
” he
asked
.
“
You are really amazing
.”

“And weapons are not even my specialty,”
Leila
said back.
Nalick rolled over and stared at her.

“Once I catch my breath I would like to see how well you fight without them then,” he said
,
taking in gulps of air
.

“So did I earn the right to test the men tomorrow?” she asked.

“Yes, that is for sure,”
Nalick
said smiling at her and slowing standing
for a second round
.

“Really?”
Leila
asked.
He
was still out of breath
but would not quit
.
“I’ll make this quick then.”
Leila stood in front of Nalick.
“Ready?”
Reluctantly he
nodded his head
,
unsure if he should back out while he still could
.
Leila
tested
,
and
Nalick
was an easy read
without weapons to hide behind
.
Within two minutes she had Nalick pinned to the ground with her bare foot on his neck.
Leila bent over to offer him a hand to stand up
,
and
Nalick
instead pulled her down on top of him.

“I don’t
ever
remember being taken down so quickly and
certainly not
by someone even half my weight,” he said in awe
,
finally catching his breath
.

“I told you it was my specialty,” she said.
Leila felt her heart begin to beat faster as she lay on top of Nalick. Beneath her she could feel
that
his heart was also beating fast, but she did not know if it was from the previous match or the same reason hers beat so fast.
Nalick did not let go of her waist keeping her pinned to him.

“I would like to try again sometime when I am not as tired,”
Nalick
said while gently tugging her braid.
Leila bent down
so that her face was only a breath away from his. She stared into his eyes
,
contemplating making the first move. Nalick’s eyes were warm and inviting, so she gently pressed her lips to his. Nalick responded by also gently kissing her in return
.
His
hands rested peacefully on her hips
and
he
felt that he
was finally winning her over completely.

“The result will be the same,” she said with a grin.
Nalick wanted to reply back
,
but it
w
as probably true. Unwillingly
she stood.
L
ying
in the sand in the middle of the
practice was not the place to continue playing.