To Stand Beside Her (2 page)

It was always fun to teach the new trackers a lesson;
Leila
wasn’t worth their time. Leila was an expert courier. She had been hand chosen six years earlier at the age of twelve
;
now at eighteen
years of age, she
was the best courier
of
any neighboring country. No one, man or woman, could keep up with her.
Leila
was a ghost to many and a legend to everyone else. Through her training, she had perfected the use of multiple identities so that she could travel from city to city, fulfilling even the most demanding assignments.

After changing clothes and packing her bags, Leila followed the map in her head to the gate nearest to the palace jail. Kay was too late by now. She had to have been caught. Leila surveyed the area and only one guard was on patrol. She could easily sneak by, but if she
was
caught inside, it would draw unwanted attention to her. The guard paced between the gate and the gatehouse.

What is the best way to get in
to
jail?
she thought to herself.

“Excuse me,” Leila said, as politely as possible. “I heard from my uncle’s neighbor’s best friend that my sister was thrown in jail for some silly misunderstanding,” she lied to the young confused guard. Clearly he was not accustomed to being addressed by people on the street. Unaffected by his stunned silence, she continued her lie, “she is about this tall,” she indicated with her hand to the height of her shoulder, “and she has long brown hair. She is traveling with my grandmother and me and stopped by to find an old friend of our grandmother’s. From what we were told, some mean guard misunderstood her and threw her in jail without a single question and now we are distraught on how to get her out. I left grandmother back at the inn and told her not to worry. But now I think I might be in over my head. I have walked around these gates for hours
,
and it doesn’t seem like there is any way to get in to help her out. We are not from around here, and I am afraid we will run out of money paying for the inn before we can find out how to clear up this misunderstanding.”

“I’m s-s-sorry,” he sputtered out. The young guard was having trouble talking to such a beautiful woman. “If there is any way I can help,” he quickly stammered.

“You can help me?” Leila acted as graciously as she could while hiding her smirk. “That would be great; I don’t know
how
I
can
thank you. Grandmother will be so happy.” Leila hugged the stunned guard.

“T-T-This . . . This . . . This way,” he stuttered.
The guard
began unlocking the gate, but before he could finish
,
the young, blond haired tracker from earlier trapped Leila’s arms behind her.
Leila
had let down her guard, and
the tracker
had seized the moment. The young guard bowed his head in shock. “S-S-Sorry Anatolio,” he apologized to the young man that held Leila’s arms behind her.

“You’re better than I made you out to be,” Leila said to the young man.

Her capturer, Anatolio,
began to walk her through the gates and made no reply. It had been years since someone had caught her off guard, and Leila was enjoying the entertainment.
Leila
had lost him so easily in the streets
that
she assumed he would not find her again so soon.
He must have been waiting here for me
, she thought.

Leila moved her arms a bit to see how tight
the young man
was holding onto her.
Anatolio
adjusted his grip and held on tighter as he began to push her through the doors to the palace compound. Leila was not foolish enough to run from him since he would lead her right to Kay.
Leila
slowed their pace a little, giving her time to look around and assess the corridors they were passing through. She had been inside the palace over a dozen times and knew where almost everything was, but it was always good to double check for any new problems she might encounter. Anatolio led her through a new section of the palace.

“Nice,” she commented viewing the possible exits and layout of the palace.

“Newly redone?”
Leila
asked but got no response from her silent captor
.
“
T
he quiet serious type I see.” He still did not reply.

“So I know where you are not leading me
,
”
Leila
said as she
turned slightly to see his face
in an effort
to read his reaction. “We are not on our way to either the king or the jail.” The man’s expression did not change.

“Is this the tour you give all the ladies you kidnap?”
Leila
asked trying to get a reaction. Anatolio just continued to push her through door after door.
Since we are not headed towards Kay, this would be the best time to leave him
, she thought, but her curiosity of where he was leading her made her continue.

Pushed through a doorway, Leila heard the door lock click shut behind her and Anatolio released his grip. From all the twists and turns to get here,
they were
close to being right in the middle of the palace.
Leila walked a few steps forward to evaluate the room she was in now, but to her surprise she was no longer in a room
;
rather she had been led to
a garden.

This is definitely not the spot I want to try to escape from,
she thought viewing the forty-foot walls.

In the corner of the garden, near the door they had entered, stood the young man
,
Anatolio
. Leila cautiously walked near him and tried to catch his gaze, but he continued to look elsewhere.
A
pproach
ing
him, she studied him carefully. He was modestly dressed with no specific garb to indicate his position or job within the palace. He did not carry a weapon, so he was no threat
in
that way. He was taller than she, but from his face he was at least two to three years younger which meant much
less
experienced.

This should not be a challenge
, she thought.

“Since you did not bring me to jail nor to your king, am I to assume you know who I am?”
Leila
asked Anatolio. He continued to look elsewhere. Leila moved closer right into his line of view so that he could not avoid looking at her.

“Who gave you orders to bring me here?”
Leila
asked.

“I did, Miss,” a voice said from behind her.

Leila
quickly spun around to notice an old man sitting so still in the garden that she was not aware of him before he spoke. As soon as they had entered the garden, Anatolio had been staring straight at the man. The old man had long, white hair and a beard to match that lay on his shoulders like a cascading waterfall. Dressed in a light blue robe, he should have stood out in the abundance of green in the garden, but he had blended in so perfectly that even the birds were startled when he talked. He was sitting between two flowering trees filled with small birds. He sat ever so still,
that
only his mouth moved as he continued to talk.

“Since I know who you are, I will ask you the same question. Do you know who I am?” His eyes twinkled as he asked. He moved his head slightly as Leila thought of her answer. “You may leave us, Anatolio.” Anatolio bowed, turned to the door, and gave two knocks. The old man slowly returned his gaze to Leila who had yet to answer.

“I will take a guess. You are the palace seer,”
Leila
answered.

“The tales told of you do not disappoint, young lady,” the man commented, in approval.

“I am Gabor, and you are Leila,” he said, while gently standing without disturbing the birds that were in the trees next to him.

“Why do you think my name is Leila?” she asked. When traveling on assignments, she had never told anyone her real name. To know the real name of a courier was deadly
;
i
f this secret got out,
Leila
would never be able to work safely again.
Only her allies knew her name, and she had never met this man before.

“Do not worry, child, for I am the only one who knows who you are,” Gabor reassured her. “Not even Anatolio knows. To him you were just a favor to an old man.” He chuckled to himself.

“So why am I here?” she asked.

“Just as I have been told, always direct.” Gabor smiled at her as he moved closer. Not knowing if he was a friend or foe yet, Leila took a step back. “It is all right child, I will not hurt you,” Gabor tried to reassure her.

“If you mean me no harm, why would you bring me here by force, and then keep me in a locked room
?
” Leila asked cautiously.

“You are free to leave at any time,”
Gabor
assured her. “I merely asked for your presence and did not specify to Anatolio how to attain you.” Leila stared at his eyes as he talked. He was not lying.
Gabor
tried to move closer again, and this time she did not back away.

“Would you like me to look into your future?” he asked, while offering her his hand.

“No, thank you,” she replied, without taking his hand. “I live only in the present.” Gabor slowly withdrew his hand. Leila did not want to offend the man, but she also had no desire to be told what she would do in the future.

Gabor returned to his seat on the bench between the two trees, disturbing the birds which flew to other trees in the garden. “Child, do you know why anywhere you go there is always someone there to help you if you get into trouble?” Gabor motioned for her to sit beside him.
G
uarded Leila moved closer and sat down. Gabor continued, “You are special. To the trained eye, you are an easy one to spot. The aura around you is pure white, and it does not change. Most people’s auras are different shades of color, and they change depending on the purity of their action. Yours, though, does not. When people come in contact with you, their aura becomes whiter in color to match yours.
You have the power to change the world.
”

“Then, you will help me leave?”
Leila
asked.

“I would not turn you down, but first I must ask you,”
Gabor
paused to look her in the eyes. “How long will you run? You continue to punish yourself with these incredibly hard missions time and time again, but that will not bring him back. Is it not about time you stopped running?”

Leila was tempted to look away. How did this man know everything about her? It had been four years since Erich died saving her, and yet it was a hard subject for Leila to hear spoken aloud. Had she been better at what she did,
Erich
would
not have died trying to save her from a jail
.

“I am not running,” she lied, responding to his question.

“Just like you, child, I can tell when a person lies,” the old man moved to pat her shoulder. Leila quickly stood up before he could touch her. Her quick movement caught the old man off guard. “You can lie to me, but how long can your continue to lie to your heart?” He motioned for her to sit back down. “I have no desire to read your future; I already know what it is.”

But how?
I did well not to come into contact with him
. Leila examined herself to see if she could remember any part touching him.

“I know what can become of you. If only you,” Gabor started.

“I do not wish to know my future,”
Leila
said harshly. “I only wish to know where my friend is being kept
,
and then we can be on our way home. Thank you for your explanation o
f
everything
,
b
ut now it is time for me to be on my way.” Leila did not like talking about herself, especially with a stranger.

Gabor slowly stood and walked to the door. He gave three knocks and the door opened. Anatolio stood before Gabor and bowed his head. “She wishes to be taken to the jail that is housing her friend Kay.” Anatolio nodded and walked back over to Leila.

“Child, don’t let your heart grow cold. The immense power you have in your innocence can be amplified a hundred times if you let yourself love again. Erich is gone. It is not your fault. You may think you are alone in your pain, but there is another
in just as much pain from being without love
. I just hope that the day you see him you can recognize that you are not alone.” Gabor smiled kindly at Leila. Anatolio moved behind her and grabbed her arms.

“I thought you were not keeping me here,” Leila asked suspiciously.

“I am not, but in order for you to be brought into the jail, you must be a captive. No one apart from the king can walk into the jail with a guest and demand to see someone being held there,” Gabor explained. “Anatolio will take you there and put you with your friend, but that is all he
is allowed to
do.
Jail will give you some time to
think over everything we talked about
,
” Gabor
said as he
smiled at her
.
“
M
ay we meet again, child.”