Softly there was a knock on the door, as Theo stuck his head in the room. “Nalick, everyone is assembled in the judgment hall.”
“Is Anatolio still out there?” Nalick asked reluctantly moving to the door.
“Yes,” Theo replied.
“How will you punish them?” Leila asked knowing that Nalick was not kind when it came to handing out punishments.
Nalick wanted to explain, but Leila did not want to hear how they would actually be punished. Her heart was too pure to deal with the reality of running a kingdom.
“Please give both boys a break and their daughter Emma too. I know she was not involved,” Leila asked. Nalick gazed into her eyes and was not able to refuse her.
Nalick put his arm around Leila as he escorted her out the door. “As you wish,” he replied. As they approached the door to the judgment chamber, Nalick stopped. “This is not something I want you involved in ever. I don’t want this to weigh down on you so please stay here with Anatolio.” She understood. She also did not really want to know what would happen to everyone. “I want to first talk to the court, and then I might need for you to come in for a minute. But that will be it,” he explained.
Leila watched as the doors were opened before Nalick. The room where she had first met him was now packed full of people. The court all stood and bowed to the entering king. The doors shut, and Leila was left to wait. She could not make out words, but from the tone Nalick was not in a good mood. He was now the man everyone feared. Down the hallway next to the room, Theo appeared from a side doorway. Theo motioned for Leila to come over to him.
“Nalick will need you to join him for one minute,” Theo escorted Leila to the side door. Anatolio waited outside the door for Leila to enter behind Theo. Theo led her past the first row of people as everyone sat silently as she entered. The steely stare Nalick gave the room changed when he saw Leila. Leila walked over and took Nalick’s outstretch hand. Again, like the first day she was presented to the nobles, Leila could feel their cold stares as she stood before them.
“May I?” Nalick asked lightly tugging her sleeve. Leila stretched her left arm for him as he gently rolled her sleeve back. Leila could hear a gasp that started from the front row as whispers proceeded to the back of the room. Nalick gently place her arm on his and turned to the crowd. “We predicted that we might encounter problems with other kingdoms wanting Queen Eia. So the priests decided that she would join the royal family not as a princess, but as queen.” Leila did not understand, but it was not the time to ask. “Thank you,” he said to Leila softly kissing her cheek before Theo returned to her side to escort her back out of the room. Leila turned one last time before she left the room to see the hardened stare of Nalick as he stood opposite of the Maclen’s.
Once outside the room, Leila walked back to Anatolio. “What did Nalick mean that I am already queen?”
Anatolio nodded his head and replied, “Oh, so you finally found out?” Leila stared at him waiting for him to explain. Anatolio tried to usher her back to her room but she stood with her hands on her hips waiting.
“Nalick was worried when you said yes to marry him that in the time before the wedding other countries might try to claim you. Lior has many peace treaties that are very unstable and rest on the exchange of noble family members. Nalick thought that if you were given the title of princess other countries might rightfully ask for your hand in marriage. So he asked the priests to make you the queen.”
“But how did everyone in the room not know that until now?” Leila asked.
“See, when a royal son comes of age, about age twelve to fourteen, they get a marking on their hand; the same marking as the one you have. The same goes when the bride is chosen for a royal son. The difference is when one becomes king or queen, the lines are extended. When you are just a prince or princess the lines end at the wrist. Because your lines continue up your arm, you are not a princess but a queen.” Anatolio looked to see if she understood. He laughed to see her shocked expression. Since he met her, nothing seemed to shock her. Leila was the most experienced courier he had ever met, and yet she was only a few years older than him. Leila quickly pushed his right shoulder and tipped him off balance. Anatolio had not noticed he was leaning only on the edge on the wall behind him. Leila then laughed with him. Anatolio stared at Leila with admiration. Though she did not understand the court customs, there was so much he hoped he could learn from her.
Chapter 16
By the time everything had been settled and the paperwork signed, Nalick had returned to find Leila already asleep for the night. Leila woke the next morning to Nalick sneaking out of the bed next to her. He did not want to face the wrath of Mauve, but little did he know that Leila already had told Mauve that she had asked him to stay with her at night time. As soon as Nalick noticed he woke her, he sat down next to her.
“Busy day starting already?” Leila asked while yawning. Nalick bent down and kissed her forehead.
“It has not slowed down since we returned, why should today be any different? A kings job is never done,” Nalick replied. “I need to oversee advancement day for the military, and I need to pick two more personal guards for you when you leave the palace walls. Seems there is a high price on your head in many countries, and they now know where to find you.”
Leila replied, “You know that is just being a bit excessive. I really can handle myself.” Nalick knew she could. From all the reports he had read about her, she was probably better than most of the men in his army; since she was a woman, most men would not take her seriously before it was too late. Anatolio told Nalick how she handled the two young men the day before without even breaking a sweat.
“What will you be up to today?” Nalick asked.
Leila thought for a moment, “I don’t know, since we finally got rid of Endika.”
“Would you like to come with me?” he quickly asked.
Leila shrugged. “Sure,” she replied. Beats sitting around here, she thought. Nalick was nervous but happy to be spending more time with her.
Nalick escorted Leila to the training courtyard. It was already filled with men of various ages. Leila watched as a line of men were getting numbers painted on their shoulders. Leila and Nalick stood together on a balcony that looped around three sides of the courtyard giving them a view of the whole courtyard.
“I will choose the top eight to spare with me tomorrow so that I can truly gauge how good they are,” Nalick explained as Leila eyed him over. A normal king would never put himself in such danger of getting hurt. “Once I get everything going, I will come back up here with you to watch.”
Leila waved across the way on the balcony to Anatolio who stood in the shadows. Catching her wave, Anatolio bowed his head to her. Leila sat on the edge of the balcony with her legs dangling over the side. She was happy to be outside and away from her room. The group of men broke up into smaller groupsas they started to put on protective clothing. She smiled down at Nalick as he made his way through the crowd back to the staircase. Leila remembered one of these events from a previous courier assignment.
Leila rested her chin on her arms that were sitting crossed on the railing. Quickly, she scanned each group and had determined the winners of each match up. To her left was a group of men with red numbers. One looked very familiar. When Leila gazed back across the way she could tell Anatolio was also carefully watching the same man fight. Once everyone had fought once, Leila turned to Nalick who was studying her as much as he was the soldiers below.
“Red fourteen, red twenty-six, and blue sixty-two are the best,” Leila said. “Though I doubt blue sixty-two will make it to lunch today.” Nalick scanned the crowds below and found the man she was talking about. He watched as he was easily beat time and time again. As Nalick looked for the other numbers, he recognized the faces. They were already officers in the army, but they had entered anyways because Nalick was looking for more personal guards. Everyone in high-ranking positions was looking for a way to gain closer acc
ess to him in hopes of becoming an aid to the king.
“Why blue sixty-two?” Nalick asked.
“He is thinking too much. When he finally figures out how to just react rather than think, he will be better than most of the people that are down below,” Leila explained. Her analysis was exactly correct.
“So what about you,” Nalick said; she turned to him, giving him a questioning look. “Where would you fit down there?” Nalick was curious about all the combat reports on the ghost courier. Leila smiled coyly.
Nalick gazed down at all the men still fighting. “Which could you beat?”
“The list would be much shorter if I could name the ones that I might not be able to beat,” Leila responded while turning to gauge each man again. Nalick grinned. He figured that much but wanted to see how modest she would be. Leila caught his smile and asked, “So when you do this, you personally fight each of the top men? Have you ever been beaten?” She tried to turn the tables on him.
“Once or twice,” he responded nonchalantly.
“Tomorrow should be interesting then,” she replied. Watching the men below, her gaze stopped on number fourteen, the man who looked like Anatolio. His style was quite similar to Erich’s and Leila doubted she would be able to beat him, but the rest were less impressive.
Somewhere in the crowd below a whistle was blown to indicate it was lunchtime. Reluctantly, the soldiers quit fighting. Leila joined Nalick back in their room.
“What about the guy that I saw that looks like Anatolio?” Leila asked.
“That is his oldest half-brother, Nikias. He actually commands quite a large portion of the army already. I have a feeling he is here because he wants to additionally have the post of watching over you. I am sure that is why Pallas, another half-brother is here also,” Nalick explained.
“Nikias is very good,” Leila said. “Anatolio acts like he has no family. He always seems to be following me, day or night.”
“He has just his mother who refuses to leave her job as a maid to one of the cities nobles. So I gave him an apartment in the palace when I asked Anatolio to come work for me. His father’s family, including his half-brothers, does not acknowledge him at all as being part of their family. Basically he is an illegitimate child and will not inherit any title or money from his father. That will all go to his half-brothers,” Nalick explained.
After they were finished eating, Nalick asked, “So I was wondering,” he paused and stopped talking trying to formulate his thoughts. Leila watched him search for words. She knew what he wanted to ask but was finding it fun to watch him unable to talk.
“I didn’t think you ever got tongue tied,” Leila said to him leaning in to distract him with a kiss. Pulling away she caught a slight blush in Nalick’s cheeks. “So you want to know if the rumors about me are true? No, I can’t sail a ship on my own, nor can I fly like a bird. Also I can’t disappear into thin air.” Leila watched him smile as she named off myths she had heard about herself over the years. “Can I really fight?” Nalick nodded his head. As he had watched her over the days, he began to doubt how true it was. She had such a kind heart that he could not imagine her actually hurting another person.
“It’s just that,” he paused again.
“I don’t need to actually harm someone to win. Erich did not take no for an answer. He wanted me to be able to protect myself, and in the last few years it has really come in handy. Trust me, I don’t periodically get sewn up by Roger because I think it is fun to get stitches in me,” she chuckled. A knock at the door interrupted them to go to the next round of trials for the guard posts.
Nalick walked with Leila to a different wing of the palace. Instead of the wide-open courtyard, they went to a room that had a stage down in the front of it. The seats that they passed were on an angle sloped down towards the stage so that everyone seated would have a good view of the event. On the stage to the right were empty seats at a table. Nalick led the way past all the seated men and took Leila to the front of the room.
“I would like to hear your opinion on each of the match ups after they are done,” he said to her quietly before walking down to the front of the stage to confer with the judges.
Anatolio stood silently behind Leila. Leila motioned for him to come near. Anatolio approached Leila and kneeled beside her.
“Have you ever fought Nalick before?” Leila asked curiously.
“Once,” Anatolio replied not elaborating as Leila wished because Nalick returned to the stage. The men in the room all quieted down.
“This afternoon we will have twenty-eight match-ups. We matched everyone based on their skill, rank, and position they are trying for. As many of you suspected, there will be an additional round tomorrow,” Nalick began as a murmur spread through the crowd. “I will be choosing the top eight from today to continue tomorrow with the chance for posts as personal guards.” Leila watched as the men who were not fighting seemed to be disappointed they did not do better earlier.
“Then let’s begin with the first match,” Nalick said as two people rose and walked onto the stage as Nalick returned to Leila’s side. “Pull up a chair,” Nalick said to Anatolio who shook his head no and returned to his spot behind Leila. Nalick turned to Leila. “Tomorrow’s top eight is your choice.”
“I have to choose from the men fighting?” she asked.
“Any of the people here,” Nalick replied.
“You really are going to let me choose?” Leila asked again.
“Yes. They are going to be your guards, so it is your choice,” he replied.
“Then do I also get to test their strength tomorrow?” She smiled sweetly trying to get her way.
“Prove to me tonight you should test them, then sure,” Nalick smiled back at her.
Not a problem, Leila thought before settling in to watch the men fight.
“Who do you think was the best today?” Leila asked Anatolio after all the matches were finished as they waited for Nalick to finish with the judges.
“Nikias,” Anatolio replied. “But I didn’t expect it to be any other way.”
“Do you know your brother well?” Leila asked.
“He is a good man and an excellent fighter. I heard a rumor once in practice he actually beat Nalick. I just wish I could have been there to see it.” Anatolio realized Leila was watching him intently as he talked. “So you know who he is?”
“Yes, but I didn’t need Nalick to tell me. You look very much like him,” she replied.
“So I have been told by those that don’t fear his family.” Anatolio watched his older brother walk away. “He is the only decent one in the group.”
“How many other half siblings do you have?” Leila wondered.
“Six, but I was raised by my mother as an only child,” Anatolio explained.
Nalick returned to Leila and Anatolio. “So do you still want to show me that you should be the one testing them tomorrow?”
“Of course,” Leila replied.
“Then follow me.” Nalick led Leila to the vacant courtyard. As it was now late afternoon, the sun was casting shadows over most of the yard. They would be all alone as everyone had returned to their homes. Underneath one of the balconies, Nalick opened a door to a storage room. He rummaged through a stack of clothing on one of and shelves and found some that would fit not only himself but also Leila.
“If you put this on, it should protect you from getting any cuts from the weapons. The blades are dulled but it still can hurt,” Nalick explained as Leila fingered the fabric. Leila raised her eyebrows at the thought. “I’m afraid we don’t have any shoes small enough for you though.”
“I prefer to be barefoot,” she replied.
“You can change in here,” Nalick told her while picking up a box of weapons before leaving the small room.
Leila quickly changed. The clothing fit her, but it was not as light as she was used to. She walked back out to the courtyard to find Nalick had also changed and sitting on the ground stretching. She sat
down beside him and began to quickly braid her hair to keep it out of the way. Nalick watched in awe as she began to stretch to the left and right. He had never met someone quite as flexible. She stood and easily put her elbows on the ground in front of her; she reversed the motion, stretching backwards until her hands were on the ground behind her. She easily kicked her legs up until she was standing on her hands. A little stiff, she thought shifting her weight from hand to hand. It had been many days since she had last trained. Normally by now she would have been on another assignment and trained for two straight days to be prepared. After she was done, Leila walked over to the box to see the kinds of weapons she had to choose from. Nalick joined her.
“Practice blades,” he explained.
“What? Are your people not skilled enough to practice without actually hitting the other person?” Leila teased.
“Some are not, but in our case, I don’t need to get in any more trouble with Mauve,” Nalick said. Leila chuckled, picturing an angry Mauve yelling at Nalick for a tiny scratch.
“Fine,” she replied while sulking. She looked though the weapons, but none would work for her. Most were too heavy or bulky. She had focused her training without weapons as a courier did not routinely carry one on assignments. Her strength came from her maneuverability and as such she would need to choose a weapon that would still allow her to do that. After looking through everything, she settled on a set of four daggers. Three of the daggers were normal size and the fourth was a little larger. Nalick watched her choice. Daggers were a choice for someone that was quick, not for someone who was powerful. Nalick chose a single double-sided blade that was almost the length of his arm. Leila quickly strapped one dagger to her ankle, thigh, and upper arm. Nalick looked as the arrangement and was confused.