To Stand Beside Her (41 page)

Nalick led the way back into the hallway
,
and Ruth grabbed the doll off her bed and brought it with her.
“The second room on the left will be for Phillip,” Nalick said as he opened the door to the room.
This room also had an additional door
, which Phillip
opened to the next room.

“That leads to Tim’s room,” Nalick said as Tim walked in and eyed the stack of toys in the corner of the room.
Ruth sat down next to her brother and began to look through the toys also.

“I’ll stay here with them until they get bored,” Phillip suggested as Leila and Nalick left the room back into the hallway.

“And the other five rooms?” Leila asked.

“Empty for now,” Nalick replied.
Leila raised her eyebrows and Nalick chuckled.
“When I was growing up, they were all empty
ex
cept for my room.
My father did not have any more children until after I became king.”

“So where does this hallway go?” Leila asked as they neared the stairs.

“I wanted to surprise you with it.
Go ahead,”
Nalick
suggested.

Leila walked down the hallway and opened the door.
She
followed the walkway as it turned left and went up a few more stairs.
At the top of the staircase
Leila
finally realized that there was a garden on the roof of the palace.

“I know you like to spend time downstairs in the palace garden
,
but you have not been back there except for this morning.
I thought this would maybe make you feel safer and you still could sit in a garden,” Nalick explained.
Leila turned around and smiled at Nalick.
Quickly
,
she hurried over and hugged him.

“Thank you,” she whispered
in his ear
,
sending tingles down his spine
.

As evening approached, Nalick helped Leila get the children off to bed.
Ruth was unsure about sleeping in her own room, but once Elena showed her that she was in the room next door, Ruth settled down to sleep.
Tim, on the other hand, refused to sleep alone
.
Phillip didn’t mind and easily shared his bed with his brother.
Quietly
,
in all the commotion
,
Anatolio had moved his few belongings into the room next to Phillip without anyone
ex
cept Leila noticing.
Once the downstairs room was quiet again, Leila made herself a cup
of
tea and sat outside on the balcony.
Her life had continued to change drastically in the past two months.
She was beginning to forget how alone she felt as she was now surrounded by many people who loved her.
Nalick joined her outside and looked at the stars.

“You really should get to bed,”
Nalick
commented.
“Tomorrow should be even more hectic than today as I am sure Mauve will not let a single one of us leave this room without meeting her expectations.”
Nalick rested his arm around Leila.
Leila figured the day would be hectic but did not want to reach the next day any sooner than needed.

“I’d rather just stay here for a bit,” Leila replied
l
a
ying
her head on his shoulder and mov
ing
closer to him.
Nalick nestled his face in her hair before sighing and looking into the sky.
As she watched him gaze at the sky,
she knew
something was on his mind but he was not comfortable
talking
about it.
Leila
rested her head back on his shoulder and did not ask.

Chapter
23

Leila woke the next morning before everyone else.
I
t
was
strange to be alone with Nalick in a new room.
Though
Leila
pondered staying in bed and watching Nalick sleep, she would end up waking him up if she did.
Instead she
quietly stood and walked into the main room.
As she could hear the bustling of the women in Mauves room, it was just the calm before the storm.
Leila quickly filled the bath water before anyone could ask to help her.
She then
sat and enjoyed the silence and was beginning to realize
that
she might not get much more silence with three children running around.

“So you gave up your nice quiet apartment in the palace here to come babysit us?” Leila asked
,
exiting the bath to catch Anatolio watching over the now busy room
.

Anatolio smiled.
“I like the commotion.
I was an only child and
always
wished I had tons of siblings to play with.
Besides
,
being here will make it much easier to follow you around
. I won’t have to sleep out in the hallway anymore.
”

“Doesn’t that get boring?” she asked.

“Never,”
Anatolio
said
,
before bowing and quickly leaving as Nalick approached.

“So has the chaos begun?”
Nalick
asked as he sat down next to Leila at the table.
Nalick’s hand automatically drifted to Leila
,
wanting to pull her closer to him.
He settled with holding her hand.

“I have not seen Mauve yet, but I am sure she is already driving everyone mad,” Leila commented
while
grabb
ing
a muffin off the stack in front of her.
As if on cue, Mauve entered the room.

“Good morning
M
iss,”
Mauve
said to Leila.
“Nalick
,
your clothes are arranged for you after you bath
e
.” Nalick nodded.
“I have everything picked out for the children, but I figure
d
it would be best to dress them after they eat.”

“Do I get to eat first also?” Leila asked
,
bit
ing
into her muffin.
Nalick chuckled as Mauve seemed to not understand
that
she was joking.

“Are the children awake yet?” Mauve asked
,
trying to hurry everyone.

“
Yes
,” Leila replied.
Mauve nodded mentally check
ing
o
ff
item
s
on
her list
and then
went upstairs
to collect them
.
“Do you think if I hide under the covers she might just forget about me and leave me alone?” Leila asked Nalick.

“You mean you don’t like being treated like a doll and dressed up?”
h
e replied
,
using the terminology she had to describe it before to him.
Leila finished her muf
fin and hurried back to her bed
room
,
hoping to be forgotten in all the confusion that was beginning.

“I might as well try it and see if it works,” Leila suggested as Nalick joined her.

“For some reason, I think she might know you are there,” he said as Leila pulled the covers over her head.
Leila pulled the covers back down and looked at Nalick.

“I wish I could freeze time and just keep things at a
standstill
.
No having to get dressed up or meet people who basically hate me for no reason,” Leila complained.

“Nobody hates you,” Nalick said
sitting
down next to her.
“They
all
just need a little time to adjust to you.”

“You make it sound like I am a bad tasting vegetable or something,” she laughed
,
pull
ing
her feet from beneath the covers and thr
o
w
ing
them across his lap.
He picked up her feet and wiggled her toes.

“No.
I mean they just don’t remember how to deal with
real
people.
They are all so caught up in this fake world of nobility
that
they forget they are just like everyone else.
You just happen to remind them of this, and I don’t think this makes them too happy.
In time they will adjust.
I promise
.
” Nalick rubbed her feet.

“Nalick,” Leila began
while
watch
ing
him.
“You’re not telling me something.”
Nalick did not look at her face.
“I can tell.”

“Don’t worry about it.
We can talk about it later,” he said
,
still not looking at her.
Nalick
was keeping a secret from her
.
I
t was becoming harder to do so, but he didn’t feel ready to tell her.

Leila sat up and turned his face towards her, “Promise?”

“Promise,”
Nalick
replied
,
leaning forward to steal a kiss before they would inevitably be interrupted again.

Leila could hear Tim yelling as he ran down the stairs
,
and she watched through the doorway as the young boy made his way to the table.
Tim
was happily singing about food as he looked everything over and decided what he wanted to eat.
Elena had brought Ruth to the table
,
and Phillip joined them.
All three children sat together and ate.

“So we really are going to keep them?”
Leila
asked Nalick.
“Do you think we are ready to be parents?”

“I don’t know if we will ever be ready, but I know as long as I have you by my side, I feel like I can do anything
.
” Nalick
pulled Leila close to him to make his point
.
She nodded.
Leila
felt the same way.
Nalick stood
,
but Leila quickly grabbed his hand.

“Don’t leave yet,” she begged
,
pull
ing
him back to the bed beside her.
Nalick sat down and gently pushed her semi-wet hair from the side of her face.
Nalick
wanted to tell her
his secret
, but he could not stand the thought of making her sad.
Leila could see the struggle behind his eyes, but did not question him further.
She was happy to just have him sit near and hold onto her.

“What did we get ourselves into?”
Leila
asked as Tim decided he would run a lap around the table after each bite of food.

“You can’t change your fate,” Nalick said somberly while standing again.

Leila watched him walk away and tried to analyze his last sentence.
You can’t change your fate
, she thought.
What does he mean by that?
Leila searched her mind
,
trying to remember anything Gabor had said to her about her fate but could not remember.
She had done her best not to be told her own fate. Across the room, Leila could see Mauve trying
to hurry the children so that they
could get ready.
Leila used the diversion of the children to escape upstairs.
S
ilently
she made her way along the stairs unnoticed by Mauve
,
and qu
ickly she ran out into the roof
top garden.