To Stand Beside Her (25 page)

Nalick stood to leave, but Leila grabbed his arm
startling him
.
The sadness she felt before in the evening was quickly returning the farther away he got from her.
Leila
did not
want to
be
alone.
T
he moment she was alone again, she would
begin
crying.
Nalick was surprised that she stopped him from leaving.

“Please stay,”
Leila
begged softly
, her
self-
assura
nce
gone
.
Nalick sat back down.
“Not just until I fall back asleep.”
S
he was asking him to stay the night.
“I know Mauve will be upset, but I just don’t want to be alone.
Besides she will only be upset with you,” Leila joked, but Nalick knew it was true.
He hesitated, but the look in Leila’s eyes told him she needed him to stay there with her.

Slowly dropping his shirt and shoes on the ground,
Nalick moved around to the opposite side of the bed and lay down next to her.
She turned to face him and smiled.

“Thank you,” she said.

Nalick tenderly stroked her hair as she laid and stared at him. Her expression of sadness changed. As she looked into his eyes, Leila did not feel like crying anymore. Nalick had never been in love before, but he knew what he felt inside was just that. He moved to lie on his back as Leila moved closer and laid her head on his chest. Nalick smiled and kissed her head. Leila felt safe with his arms around her; slowly, she drifted back off to sleep.

Chapter 1
5

In the morning Leila woke to find she was still sleeping on Nalick’s chest.
Without opening her eyes, Leila felt the muscular chest beneath her hands. She was not dreaming. Nalick had stayed the night.
She rubbed her hands down to the muscular arm that was now her pillow. He was
a warrior king
,
and it showed
through his well
-
defined muscles
. Rubbing her hands back across his bare chest she could not help but smile. He was actually hers.
She slowly lifted her head
.
Nalick was already awake.
She smiled at him. H
e was happy.
Cautiously
,
she looked around the room for Mauve.

“Don’t worry,” Nalick replied
,
“
s
he has already
stopped by this
morning.
I am in for a good scolding.
Yes, you are not getting in trouble.
Just me
.
” Leila grinned
.
G
etting
a king
into trouble
was
a funny thought.

Leila moved so that her face was just inches from his.
It was now Nalick’s turn to feel his heart beat
race in
her presence.

“Thank you for staying,”
Leila
said quietly.
“I just was a bit sad last night, but somehow you make me feel better.
Thank you.”

Nalick cautiously moved closer and
pressed his mouth to hers
.
Leila felt his soft lips graze hers and then move more passionately.
Leila did not back away as he thought she would but instead returned the kiss.
More than ever, Leila wanted to be close to him. She had spent days denying the feelings she had for him, but now was to
o
expose
d
to keep lying to herself or to Nalick.
Leila’s head was spinning
wanting to tip over
, but she remained leaning half way on top of him.
Inside Nalick’s heart raced
at an unbelievable pace
.
Casually
as possible
,
Nalick’s hand moved down her back and traced the outline of her thin back. Nalick’s hands had made it down to the scar on her hip and paused.
Both wanted to savor the moment of their first real kiss.

“Young man, come this way,” Mauve ordered
ending the moment
.
Though Nalick did not want to let go of Leila, he
reluctantly followed
Mauve
.
Leila smiled and watched across the room
where
Mauve was scolding Nalick.
After Mauve was done yelling at him, she pushed him out the door and returned to Leila.
Leila watched Nalick unwillingly leave the room.
“We need to get you ready for your lunch today,”
Mauve
said cheerily with a completely changed attitude.

“Mauve,” Leila said hesitantly.
“Why did you yell at Nalick?
Is this not his palace?”

“Yes, but he should have better manners.
He was raised to be a good kid,” Mauve explained.

“He is a good man,” Leila replied.
“I asked him to stay.”

Mauve seemed shocked.

“I was lonely last night and didn’t want to be alone
,
”
Leila continued.

“Oh child,” Mauve tried to comfort Leila.
“I know you are far from home.”

“Then why can’t Nalick stay here with me?” Leila wondered.

“He has promised the priests he will not let anything happen that will tarnish your honor
before your wedding and he is a hot blooded boy, so...
,” Mauve would not say directly what she meant, but Leila understood.

“That was not what was happening,” Leila quickly replied
trying to stop the blush forming
.
“He was just keeping me company
.
”

Mauve was not completely convinced from the kiss she saw shared between the two of them.
Mauve continued to dress Leila
in silence
as two of the girls were fixing her hair.
Leila
was not excited to again be seeing Endika, but at least she was happy he would be leaving soon.

Nalick waited outside her room as Theo came in to fetch her.

“
Are we back to this now?
Does he not want me to join him?”
s
he asked Theo.

“Yes, he would like you to join him, but Mauve has told him he is not allowed in this room unless you two are supervised,” Theo explained while giving her a questioning look
,
“
a
nd I guess I don’t count.”

Leila rolled her eyes, “It was only a kiss,” she complained follow
ing
Theo out to the hall to meet with Nalick.
Leila laughed as
he
really wait
ed
in the hallway.
Mauve seemed to be the one person that could order the king around.
“So
,
here is the bad boy
,” she teased
leaning against him to mock Mauve pulling on his ear. Nalick replied by scooping her into his arms.

“Thanks for not helping me
,
”
Nalick grumbled.
Leila
playfully
protested being picked up.

“No problem.
It is fun to watch her yell at you,” Leila said
as she was
being set down and
t
aking
Nalick’s hand.

“So does that mean you will not be staying with me again tonight,” Leila smiled as she teased him.
Nalick was surprised that she would even offer.
H
e searched her face afraid that she might still be
sad
, but he could see no signs from the night before.

As the doors opened to the same hall they were in the night before, Leila saw the room had been rearranged.
There was now one single long table in the room.
Several couples were seated at the table.
Endika was across from
empty two seats
at the one end of the table.
Leila was happy to see she would not be sitting next to Endika and thought it would be easier to eat, but then she realized he was seated directly across from him.
Leila cringed and Nalick could see the reason why.
He leaned over and whispered in her ear.

“I am wil
ling to bear the wrath of Mauve
if you can find it in your heart to behave just one more day
,
and then he will be on his way home,” Nalick said quietly.

“He saw what he wanted to see, so why can’t he leave right now?
I’m even willing to help boot his butt out of the palace
,
”
Leila
replied
.

“Please be nice,” he whispered.

“So are you willing to break Mauves new rules?” Leila asked
;
Nalick nodded
in response
.
Leila
was getting the better end of the deal so she nicely greeted Endika and sat across from him.

Next to Leila
sat
Lord and Lady Maclen.
Neither of them acknowledged Leila but both bowed their heads towards Nalick.
Nalick
controll
ed
his anger
towards
his nobles as well as Leila control her disgust with Endika
.
Leila studied her
drink
and listened to the conversations around her
with the nobility assuming she did not speak their language
.
The Maclen
s
were
very unmoral people who seemed to be very upset Nalick would not marry a local girl.
Others were just disgusted that a common person was sharing their table.

The food was served and the conversations died down a bit.
Leila recognized
the slightly bitter taste
in her drink
at her first drink
.
It was poison.
She decided to play along
since it would not be affecting her
and carefully scanned the people eating with her as she took another sip.
Lady and Lord Maclen were doing their best not to watch her, but they both kept checking her.

“Don’t change the expression on your face,” Leila whispered
,
and Nalick nodded his head.
“I am going to get up and leave and just tell everyone I am feeling tired.
Tell Anatolio to follow me, but stay out of view.”
Nalick did not understand what Leila was doing.
Suspiciously Nalick eyed the guests as his table.

Leila slowly walked down the hallway leading back to the royal chambers.
Along the way two young men greeted her.
Pretending that she was getting tired, she yawned as she greeted them back.

“Would you like us to walk you to your room
, my queen
?”
o
ne offered.

“That would be so nice,” Leila said taking the arm the one boy offered her.
As
Leila
walked
,
she pretended to be falling asleep.
When
she began keeping
her eyes closed for longer periods of tim
e,
the two men began to lead her away from her room
.
The men were leading
her to the
stables.
There they put a plain dress over the dress she was wearing and cover
ed
her hair with a scarf
,
a
s they thought she was asleep.