To Stand Beside Her (30 page)

“I wouldn’t doubt it.
My mother is not from Lior either
,
and she always complained about the heat.” Anatolio casually observed the walls around the garden.
“Are you afraid of being caught by Jahangir or Aiolos?”
They were currently safe, but Leila’s safety would always be an issue.

“I don’t fear being caught by anyone.
There is always a way out if you try hard enough.
Most of the time, you just need to be patient.
Maybe it helps knowing that they all want me alive.
If they wanted me dead or alive, then I might worry some,” Leila explained
,
and Anatolio chuckled.
He understood her reasoning
but could not help but admire how courageous she was.

“Would you teach me?”
Anatolio
asked quickly
before he could stop himself
.

“What do you want to learn?”
Leila
asked
,
puzzled by the question.

“Everything.
You are great at everything a courier needs to be good at,” he said.

“Sure, what should we start with?”
Both of their heads quickly turned to the door opening to their left.
Theo looked around the garden.
Leila stood
,
realiz
ing
he could not see them behind the flowers.

“Sorry
,
Miss Leila,”
Theo
apologized.
“I just walked Micaela and Dimas to my parents.
I caught Nalick this morning
,
and he said you were still asleep.”

“Not a problem,”
Leila
said trying to reassure him and stop him from continuously apologizing.
“So where do we pick up the new guards?” she asked le
aving
the garden.
As she turned, she noticed Anatolio had backed away and was going to follow in the distance as always.

“They are both waiting at the gate,” Macarius explained
,
joining Leila and Theo
.

Though it took a little time to convince both
of
the new men that Leila was the person in the disguise, finally all four men accompanied her to the market.
Nikias and Javed both kept two steps behind her and quietly searched the surrounding people for any sign of something being out of place.
Leila ignored the two new men a
n
d proceeded to walk from tent to tent
,
dragging Theo and Macarius along
.

Once near the square,
Leila
found Phillip standing over his two siblings as they clapped along with the music and watched the people dance.
As she neared,
the small boy Tim
noticed her first.
He quickly jumped up before Phillip could catch the edge of his shirt and dodged the people as he ran over to her.
Leila picked him up.

“
Found her
,”
Tim
cried
,
calling
to Phillip
.

“Hello, Phillip,” Leila said
,
carry
ing
Tim back over to his brother.

“I was just going to go sit down and get some drinks.
Would you guys like to join me?” she asked.
Phillip picked up Ruth and followed Leila through the crowd to the tables.
Tim remained on her lap and started to tell her stories about his week.
After he finished his first story, Leila reached for one of her bags.
“Which bag would you like to look in first?”
s
he asked Tim.

Quickly he grabbed the toy bag.
Inside he found a toy car and doll.
He handed the doll to Ruth as he began to race the car around the table.

“So what do you do for work?” Leila asked Phillip.

“I work for a meat cutter here near the market.
I don’t make much, but
it's enough
,” Phillip explained.

“And you make enough to take care of all three of you?” Leila wondered.

“So far,” Phillip replied.
“
Our mother died and there was no place for us to go.
If we went to an orphanage, they would split us up and make even Tim work.
I do better to take care of us.
Besides, I am almost old enough to get a real job,” Phillip tried his best to convince Leila they were doing fine.

“
B
ag please,” Ruth asked for the other bag that Tim did not open.
Leila handed her the bag.
Ruth squealed
seeing
the sweets.

“
T
here are several sweets in there,” Leila said as Tim stopped circling the table as soon when he heard his sister squeal.
“If you have one now, Phillip can then hold onto the rest and then you can have some later.”
Ruth nodded and picked out one piece.
Tim walked over to his brother and held out his hands for one also.

“Thank you,” Phillip said to Leila as Tim hopped back on her lap.
Sweets were a treat he could not afford to buy his siblings.

“Why is that man watching us?” Phillip asked pointing behind Leila.
Leila turned to see Nalick standing only feet away but not approaching
them
.

“That is the man I am going to marry in a few months,”
Leila
explained.
“He is a bit shy.”

“Oh,” Phillip said nodding his head.
Phillip recognized the man from the countless images of the king he had seen over the years.
Without Nalick wearing a crown, Phillip could not be sure, but he suspected.

“Are you a noble?”
Phillip
asked Leila bluntly.

“Gosh no,” Leila replied.
“I’m from a place where they don’t have nobles.”
Phillip seemed more relaxed.

“Is he?” Phillip asked about Nalick.

“Yes,” Leila told him truthfully.
“I didn’t like him too much at first either, but then I found out he really is a good man.”
Theo and Macarius were sitting on the other side of the table and listening to the conversation.
Leila actually admitted to liking Nalick.
“Would you like to meet him?”

“He really is a good person?”
Phillip
asked.
“Around here
,
they don’t talk nicely about most of the nobles.
The only person they seem to like is the new queen.”

“I promise he is a good guy,” Leila said
,
motion
ing
for Nalick to come over and join them.
Nalick sat down next to Leila
,
and Tim huddled closer to her.
“It’s ok
ay
Timmy.
This is my friend.”
Tim relaxed as Phillip eyed Nalick suspiciously.
“These are Phillip, Ruth, and Tim,” Leila said introducing the children to Nalick.

“Pleased to meet you,” Timmy said while shaking Nalick’s hand.
Nalick smiled as the young boy tried to greet him like a grown up.

“Pleased to meet you
,
also,”
Nalick
replied.
Nalick shook Phillip’s hand also.
Ruth just smiled and offered him part of her treat.
Nalick watched Leila play with the children
while
talk
ing
to Phillip.
The children seemed to like her the instant they met her the two weeks before and now acted like they were all old friends.
Leila sparkled while talking to the children.
The lunch bell rang to interrupt their meeting.
Phillip rose
,
collected his siblings
,
and left
.

“Phillip reminds me of someone
,” Nalick observed.

“Someone?” Leila asked.

“
I think I knew his father
. He
taught me how to ride horses and fight
and
h
e died eight years ago protecting me while we fought in a war.”

“A noble?”
Leila asked.
Nalick nodded.
“Then, you would know his grandparents.
Could they take care of them?”

“They don’t know anything about Phillip.
Andor did everything he could to take care of
his family
.
Before we left for the war, he tried to tell his parents about
their mother,
but they would not listen.
I heard that
their mom
refused to marry anyone else because she hoped
Andor
would return.
He never di
d
,
” Nalick explained.

Leila shook her head.
“How can you just turn your back on your family?”

“I don’t know,” Nalick replied.
“I have never understood it either.”

As they walked through the gates, Nalick nodded as Nikias and Javed bowed before leaving.
Nalick walked Leila to the staircase.
He
paused to gently caress her head, hugging her to his chest.

“Not joining me again?”
Leila
asked.

“Too many plans to be made,” he sighed.

“Do you need any help?” Leila asked.

“You will have your part too.
Enjoy them not bugging you yet about everything,” Nalick referred to the priests.
“I have a feeling
your freedom will be short lived
.”
Leila raised her eyebrows.
She was curious
about
what else she would have to do to please the priests.

Chapter
18

“Could we work in the garden?”
Leila
asked
the nervous young
priest
.
The boy
nodded
,
relieved that this time his orders had been correct.

For the first time,
Anatolio was not close behind her
, but Leila continued on to the garden without him
.
He must be running late
, she thought.
Sitting
down next to the priest
, something
seemed out of place.
Carefully
,
Leila
scanned the walls.
The priest seemed to not notice the difference.
I must be over analyzing it
, she thought.
But again,
Leila
felt something was not right.

“How about we continue this later,”
Leila
suggested to the priest
,
too distracted to listen to him
.

“As you wish,”
the priest
said while gathering up his papers.

Leila continued to scan the garden.
Anatolio had never been this far behind before.
Something
is
wrong.
Leila watched the priest st
anding
to leave.
He bowed to her and turned to walk to the door on the left side of the garden.
Leila stayed where she was and watched him.
He casually pushed to open the door, but
found resistance as it did not open
.
Leila quickly jumped to her feet.
Something was wrong.
Leila
dashed over next to the priests as several men appeared from within the garden.
Several more
men
scaled down the walls.
One man lunged to stab the priest.
Leila quickly
dis
armed the man and picked up his weapon.