To Stand Beside Her (49 page)

“My lord,” Nikias said to Nalick
,
“
W
e should get going as soon as possible to still be able to use the night darkness to cover our men.”

“I’ll be right back,” he said to his men.
Nalick stood and scooped Leila up in his arms
,
walking away with her
.
Nalick tried to savor one last moment of having her in his arms before he set her down
beside
a covered cart.

“Anatolio will stay here with you
and Phillip
,” Nalick said
,
motioning to a cart that held Phillip as he slept
.

“
I’d rather you stay here,” she replied.
“No offense Anatolio,” she said to the young man who was standing near.

“I will be back as soon as I can,” Nalick said.
“Please stay right here and don’t run off.”
Leila nodded and pulled him close.
Leila
did not like the feeling of him running off to fight a battle
,
and she could not be beside him.

“Be careful
,
and don’t do anything stupid,”
Leila
said before kissing him.
She finally understood the feeling he felt
when
she was kidnapped.

Nalick wrapped his arms around her.
“I promise I will be back soon and in one piece.”
Leila nodded and didn’t want him to let go.
The whistle behind him made Leila turn.

“It’s time for me to go,”
Nalick
said quietly
,
and she let go of him.
Aiolos’ camp would be easy to take over, but people would get hurt and some even killed.
She sat and silently watched Nalick strap on armor
that
Theo handed him as he walked away.
He transformed into the king people feared.
Viewing
the faces of the men passing
,
she knew for most it was the first time they had gone into a real battle.
Leila regretted getting so many people involved, but there was nothing she could do to stop it.
Beyond kidnapping the queen of another country, Aiolos had gone into Lior and set up
a war
camp.
Nalick could not ignore this fact and had to respond.

Leila began to scoot back in the cart to be next to Phillip
after the last of the men passed
,
but Anatolio stopped her.

“I almost forgot,”
Anatolio
said digging in his pocket.
“Here.” He held up her necklace with her ring from Erich.
Anatolio
opened the clasp
,
and she turned and lifted her hair as he put it back on her.
“I didn’t know you ever took it off.”
Leila shivered as his finger
tips brushed the back of her neck. Anatolio’s movements were always gentle with her.

Leila
moved back
,
l
y
ing
down beside
Phillip
and watched
him
slowly breath
e
.
He was deep asleep.
Leila was amazed he could sleep so well after his eventful day.
I
n the quietness she could hear the men talking around the fire but she could not make out their words.
In the distance Nalick was fighting, but there was nothing she could do to help.
Leila felt her eyes get heavy and she started t
o
drift off to sleep.

Leila rose at the sound of men returning.
From the looks on their faces, everything turned out good for Lior.
She cautiously watched each man pass.
The men who had been left behind with her seemed disappointed that it was over so quick
,
and they did not get to participate.
Man after man passed
,
but she saw no sign of Nalick.

“He won’t be back for a
while,” Anatolio said
standing
near the cart.
“The terms of the surrender need to be agreed upon before he will come back.
I will wake you if he returns.”

Leila shook her head.
She was not about to get much more sleep than she already had, at least not until Nalick returned.
Leila watched as more men returned.
Soon Theo returned
,
and she was happy to see him.
Her happiness faded a bit
when
she saw Nalick was not with him.

“Oh,”
Theo
replied.
“I wasn’t the one you wanted to see
.
Nalick
is fine.
Guess he found Aiolos pinned to a bed with daggers in each of his hands.
Seems Aiolos is not saying how that happened.”
Theo winked at her
,
and she played innocent.
“The area is secured and prisoners have been apprehended.
If you want to join Nalick, he is at King Aiolos’ tent.”
Leila stood, but then looked back at her sleeping son.

“I can stay with him,” Theo offered.

Leila slowly walked through the woods to the tents.
S
he noticed the distinct change in the air.
The eager brutes
that
had been waiting for a battle got what they wanted and were strewn
dead
across the way.
Leila
did her best not to look at the bodies she passed and headed straight to Aiolos
’
tent.
As she approached, Anatolio moved to open the door to the tent
,
and she cautiously walked inside.
There were no longer woman on the couches but several men chained together.
Inside the inner room of the tent Nalick sat with his back to the door
Leila
entered.
Nikias quickly rose and bowed to her, and Nalick turned around and smiled.
Leila walked over and quickly hugged him before sitting beside him across the table from Aiolos.
Quickly
,
she checked over him
.
T
here wasn’t even a scratch on him.
Leila was relieved and held onto his arm as he continued to talk.
Nikias continued to write and then handed the paper to Aiolos.

Aiolos seemed to be unharmed by the daggers Leila had put through his hands.
She had purposely missed any major veins as it would do no good to make a statement that she wanted him to spread to his fellow kings if he were dead.
Aiolos watched in envy
as
Leila
sat holding onto Nalick
.
Leila
was willingly staying with Nalick.
Aiolos took the paper from Nikias.
He agreed to give Nalick half the men he had brought with him including any officers that were not killed during the battle
,
which left him only with a quarter of his force to return home with.
R
emoving the officers would have a lasting affect and keep the border between Lior and Enea safe for years to come.

“So
you turned down all of this?” Nalick
asked
,
gesturing to the lavish tent
as Leila and Nalick left together
.

“You know me, just a simple girl.
I always kind of felt that this much decoration is trying to make up for a lack of something else,”
Leila
replied
,
and he laughed and hugged her.
The warrior king was completely gone.

“It is going to take a few days to clean this all up,” Nalick said
,
maneuver
ing
Leila
away from the dead bodies.
“I really should stay here, b
ut you and Phillip can go home.
Tim and Ruth are waiting,” Nalick reminded her.

“Besides, you should have some guests arriving soon.”
Leila
’s
family was coming to visit for her wedding.
Her family arriving was making the whole wedding seem more and more real.

“Are you sure you can’t come back?”
Leila
asked with a sad face.
N
alick scooped her into his arms and kissed up and down her neck while she squirmed.

“Why do you have to make this so difficult for me?”
h
e asked
carryi
ng
her back to their camp.
Leila held onto Nalick around his neck and rested her head on his chest as he walked.
H
is job was to take care of his country
,
and
due to her,
there was quite a mess to clean up.

“I pro
mise to return as soon as I can,
”
Nalick vowed.
Leila reached up and pulled him close to her.
Gently she kissed him and the soldiers walking by cheered.
Leila blushed
,
let
ting
go of him.
He set her down in the cart.

As the cart started moving and several men accompanied her back to Lexia, she climbed back next to Phillip and closed her eyes.
She had not slept much the night before
worrying
about Nalick and the fighting that was going on, but she was more relaxed now that she knew everything was fine.
Just before the
y
reached the walls of Lexia, Phillip tapped Leila until she woke up.

“Mom,” he asked.
“Where’s
D
ad?”

“He stayed behind to help get everything cleaned up and organized.
He will come back as soon as he can
,
but it might be a few days,” she replied without opening her eyes.

“So
,
I guess that means I don’t get my horse then,”
Phillip
said.
Leila opened her eyes and stared at him.
Phillip seemed to be unfazed by what had happened to him.
She was afraid after he refused to talk, that he was stunned by the events that
had taken
place, but now she had
the same old Phillip
in front of her.

“I promise nothing like that will ever happen again,”
Leila
said.

“You were amazing
M
om,” he replied back as she hugged him.

Chapter 2
8

Leila was surprised but happy to find her mother and best friend sitting in her home waiting for her to return.
They had arrived with Roger and brought Kay’s son Luca with them.
Leila had not noticed he was on the balcony playing with Ruth and Tim.
When both children saw Leila return, they ran to her as she hugged her
own
mother.

“Mommy
!
” Ruth called.

“Where were you?” Tim asked as
Leila
picked up both children.

“’lip
,
” Ruth sung out
on
seeing
her brother sneaking up the stairs to his room.
Leila set Ruth down
,
and she chased Phillip.

“Where’s dad?” Tim asked.

“He’s out with his army.
He will
probably
not be back until tomorrow,”
Leila
told Tim.
Tim contemplated what she said and responded.