To Stand Beside Her (53 page)

Anatolio
escorted
Leila
to
Gabor
.
Anatolio tapped on
Gabor’s
door and there was a soft reply from inside the room.
Anatolio opened the door and stood in the doorway waiting for Leila.
Hesitantly
,
she walked by Anatolio into the sparsely decorated room.
Gabor was sitting across the room next to the one window
,
reading.
Gabor
smiled as she entered.
His smile widened
as he realized the man behind her was not Nalick, but Anatolio.
Gabor
had seen the future of both of them and was happy to see them together.

“What a surprise,”
Gabor
said to Leila.
“Come take a seat.” He moved to clean the seat next to him.
Leila helped
sitting
down next to him.
Anatolio quickly bowed and left the room to wait
alongside
Kay.
Anatolio
did not want to be around for her initial reaction.

“So what brings you here?”
Gabor
asked
,
“
A
nd in disguise
.
”

Leila quickly removed her wig and untied her hair.
“I was in the city,” she explained of her disguise.
“Nalick is keeping something from me,” she said explaining her reason for her visit.
“I figured you probably know what is going on.”
The old man smiled and nodded.
Gabor
was not going to give a verbal reply.

“But you are not going to tell me,”
Leila
added disappointedly.

“It is not my place to tell you what he knows or why he does what he does.
That is for him to tell you when he finds the courage to do so,” Gabor explained as he removed his glasses.
Leila stood to leave the room.

“You are quick to leave.
Perhaps if you ask the right question, you might find the answers you seek.”
Leila sat back down beside him and stared at his questioning eyes.

“So you won’t tell me what he is hiding, but you will answer other questions?”
Leila
asked
,
and
Gabor
nodded.

“I don’t make it a habit of telling people the fate of others, but if you want to know about your own future
, then t
hat is an entirely different case.
Ask anything about yourself, and I will answer the best I can,”
Gabor
explained.

“What do you see for my life with Nalick
,
or rather my marriage to Nalick?”
Leila held out her hand and the old man took it.
He closed his eyes and smiled as if he were watching an entertaining show.

He let go and smiled at her more.
“You will have ten very happy years together with five more children beyond the three you have now.
I am not saying you will not have your ups and downs
,
like any marriage, but you will always be happy.
Together your union will produce the best king our country will ever have.”

“Ten years?”
Leila
asked.
“Will something happen to me in ten years?”

“No.
In ten years
’
time you will be pregnant with your sixth biological child,” Gabor explained
,
smiling as he closed his eyes and could see the bright future waiting for his country because this one girl chose to stay.

“Does something happen to Nalick?” she asked
,
but
Gabor
shook his head.
Leila wanted to jump up and shake the man to get her answer.

“That I cannot say
for that is his future
,” he replied.

“What about after ten years?” she asked not
truly
wanting to know in full detail.

“You will be happy.
After fifteen years in Lior, you will head home to the
North Country
.
You will grow old and see your grandchildren grow into adults.
But there is no need to worry as you will not be alone,” Gabor said to the shocked woman sitting next to him.

“Phillip will take to heart the idea of being a prince and learn as much as he can from Nalick.
He will never be king
,
but it will not bother him.
Instead
,
Phillip
will find that he can serve his country and his family by teaching your
first
-
born
son how to do both.

“
Tim will grow into your right hand man and learn your trade as well as if he were your own biological child.
He will never leave your side and do everything he can to make sure you are happy.
That child will know as much about being a courier as you do and will be just as good at it.

“
Ruth will teach everyone how to love and compromise.
While you are doing your best to make their lives better, they will actually make your lives better than they were ever meant to be.”
She was still confused by the first statement he had made.

“Will I be happy?”
Leila
whispered
,
st
an
d
ing to try to av
oi
d her fate
.

“Yes,
Nalick
has made sure of it,” Gabor replied.

Leila walked to the door quietly.
All she could understand was that her marriage to Nalick would only last ten years, yet she was
not
going to move back to the North Country for fifteen years.
Together all she could assume was something was going to happen to Nalick.
What is your fate Nalick
?
she thought.
Leila met outside the room with Kay and Anatolio.

“Did you get your answer?” Kay asked.

“Kind of,” Leila replied.
“I guess I just need to wait to hear Nalick explain it to me as I am a bit confused.”
How could I be happy if he is dead
?
she wondered.

“If you don’t understand what it is, do you at least know why he isn’t telling you?” Kay asked.

“I think, but I am just not sure,”
Leila
replied
,
leading the way back to the royal quarters.
Anatolio studied her to see what Gabor might have told her.
I
t did not include him, and he was relieved.
He did not want the relationship between them to change and was actually happy Nalick had not told her yet.

They made it back in time for lunch
,
and
s
he did not say anything to Nalick
.
Before the lunch was even done, Mauve took Leila away to get her ready.
Leila complied without a fuss
.
After she was dressed,
Leila sat down on the couch and watched as Mauve fussed over Nalick.
Leila barely noticed as Tim climbed up next to her and wiggled until he was almost sitting on her lap.

“Mommy, you look pretty,”
Tim
said as he cautiously touched the jewelry around her neck.
Leila smiled at her middle child.
H
e was trying to cheer her up.
Leila picked him up and placed him on her lap.

“Thanks, Timmy,”
Leila
said
,
snuggl
ing
him.

Nalick watched from across the room as Mauve was still fussing over him.
Anatolio approached Nalick quietly.

“She would not come back until I or someone told her what you are not,” Anatolio explained
,
and Nalick nodded his head slightly.
“So I sent her to Gabor.”
Anatolio waited for him to get angry.

“Thanks,” Nalick said
.
“She had to find out sooner than later.
Do you know what he told her?”

“No, I left her alone with him
,” Anatolio reported
watching Leila also
.

“She
deserves
the truth.
The poor girl has been through enough in her life.
The sooner she knows and accepts your fate, the better it will be for all three of you,” Mauve said
,
butting into the conversation
.

After taking Timmy and Ruth to visit their cousins for the night,
Leila silently followed Nalick through the corridors to the main hall where it was lavishly decorated.
T
here was not enough time to explain everything to her on their walk to the hall, so
Nalick
did not interrupt her silence.
Leila happily greeted their guests as Nalick introduced her to everyone.
S
he was upset with him but nothing showed to the people who were visiting.

After dinner, Leila and Nalick again walked silently to their room.
Once they arrive back,
Leila
checked on each of the children who were tucked into their beds asleep.
She was trying her best to avoid Nalick, as he would tell her what she didn’t want to hear.

Assured everyone was asleep, Leila
walked out into her garden and lit a torch near one of the benches.
She thought briefly when she first fell in love with Nalick that everything was going to be perfect.
Leila
had finally found a man that did not just love her for her appearance but for the person she was.
She was surprised as more and more they got along great and were similar in so many ways.
Leila
had
thought
that since
Nalick
was a king, he would be just like every other king she had met.
He
was not.
Theo and Macarius liked her because they thought Nalick had finally met his match, but what they didn’t know was
that Leila
had
also
met her match
in
a man that could stand beside her in every way possible in love, in life, and in happiness.
And now that would be limited to ten years.

Chapter
31

Leila sat and watched the shadows cast by the torch light flickering over the plants around her.
It was dark outside as the moon and stars were covered by clouds.
As the clouds moved she could tell where the moon was, but they never completely moved so that she could view it.
Leila
felt
utterly
alone as she sat gazing into the sky and the absent moon was no comfort.
Is this what my life will be like
?
she asked herself.
Leila
had not felt this feeling of
loneliness
since she had decided to stay with Nalick.
She
shivered even though the breeze that blew by was warm.

Nali
ck checked on the children also
but took his time.
He was not sure yet how to tell Leila the truth.
Nalick
watched
her walk
to the balcony and knew she was waiting for him.
Quietly he walked out and approached her.
She did not turn to face him as he neared but kept looking for the moon in the sky.
Nalick sat down beside her and from the faint light of the torch he could see the dried tear streaks that lined her face.
Nalick
gently picked up her hand, and
Leila
turned to face him. He could see the change in her eyes as loneliness stared back at him.