“Elena, if you could have the cook send up an early dinner, we would appreciate it. And if Phillip asks, he doesn’t get dinner until he takes a bath,” Leila said as Elena quickly hurried away out the door to Mauve’s room. As soon as Elena passed through the door, Mauve emerged.
“My dear, how are you?” Mauve asked hurrying over to heck Leila over herself. “We were all so worried when we heard you had been taken again.” Selma raised her eyebrows and only Leila caught her mother’s reaction.
“I am fine and so is Phillip. Nalick is still there cleaning everything up and hopefully will be back tomorrow,” Leila said seeing Mauve look around the room. “Mauve, did you meet my mother and best friend?”
“I can see where you get your good looks from,” Mauve said before she turned to leave.
“So that makes just about everyone,” Leila said, trying to remember if she needed to introduce her mother and friend to anyone else. “Mauve takes care of basically everything and fusses like you would not believe over making sure I am presentable to the court. Elena lives here with us to watch over the younger children and basically does the same things that Mauve does. Oh yes, the last person is trying to sneak in the room right now without us noticing,” Leila said, noticing Anatolio quietly walking to the stairway. “Anatolio, I would like you to meet my mother Selma and best friend Kay.” Anatolio stopped and walked over to them. Gently he shook both Selma’s and Kay’s hand.
“The extra boy on the balcony is Kay’s.” Leila explained as Anatolio quickly took an inventory of the room.
“Will you be joining us for dinner?” Leila asked, but Anatolio shook his head.
“I already told Roger I would join him,” Anatolio replied quietly.
“Is Phillip in his room?” Anatolio asked and Leila nodded. “Roger wants to see his hand.” Leila nodded again, and Anatolio quickly bowed and continued up the stairway.
“And what does he do?” Kay asked eyeing the young man over as he hurried away. Kay thought most of the men in Lexia were not her type, but the young blond man was definitely cuter than any she had seen so far.
“Besides shy away from groups of people,” Leila replied sarcastically. Anatolio had to have caught the comment, but he did not show it.
“He is basically my new shadow. He follows me everywhere I go and sometimes knows where I am going before I even do. Nalick hired him to protect me.”
“I could use some protecting,” Kay teased, and Leila laughed. “You can send him my way if you’d like.” Leila playfully punched her best friend’s arm.
“When Nalick said you would be bringing children with you come to visit, I didn’t know what to expect,” Selma said. “You do seem to always do things quickly but deciding to get married and raise children in the span of a few months is a bit shocking. And then to find out it is three children and the oldest is only years younger than you. Phew.”
“It just sort of happened,” Leila said, watching Ruth desperately trying to play with the boys. Phillip returned down the stairs with Anatolio and did not say anything as he left. Phillip was caught up in his own little world.
“Kind of like when you brought home that nest of baby rabbits?” Selma asked.
“Well, yes,” Leila innocently shrugged.
“Had you two even talked about having children?” Selma asked.
“No, we are just trying to make it to our wedding day,” Leila said. “At this rate, I may miss my own wedding.”
Selma shook her head. “With all the resources available to Nalick, he can’t protect you any better than Roger?”
“If it were up to just Nalick, I would be safely locked away in this room forever. This wing of the castle is probably the most heavily guarded place in the world. Mom, you know I will never be safe. The only place I’m truly safe and free is at home in the mountains, where no one knows where to find me,” Leila explained. Phillip returned and tried to sneak back upstairs. “Phillip,” Leila called to him. “Please take a bath before dinner gets here.” Phillip reluctantly took a quick bath.
“Can I eat downstairs? Lord Pillas said he would bring Nighttime by tonight, and it is going to be dark soon, and,” Phillip tried to convince Leila who nodded her head.
“Just make sure to take someone with you. I don’t want you sitting there alone, okay,” Leila replied, and Phillip smiled and quickly filled a plate with food. Phillip hurried to leave but stopped in front of the door.
“Oh yeah,” Phillip said returning to the table. “It was nice to meet you,” he said to Selma and Kay before he hurried off.
“What is that all about?” Kay asked as they continued their meal.
“The whole reason we went to the Pillas manor yesterday was because they gave Phillip his own horse. They said they would bring it by tonight, and hopefully they will, otherwise he will be very disappointed,” Leila explained.
After they finished their meal, Leila gave her mother and friend a tour of the palace. Leila made a detour to the medical wing of the palace as she walked around. Roger put in more stitches than she had ever had in her life in Macarius, yet he seemed to be breathing and alive. Bandages were wrapped everywhere around him including his head. Leila was relieved. Turning to leave, she noticed Anatolio was in the room also.
“Will he be fine?” Leila asked him.
“Roger said he did everything he could, and he should be fine. But we just have to wait and see for sure. Roger had to put in over a hundred stitches and remove three fingers that were too far gone to save. Roger thinks he was able to save his eye, but we will have to wait until he wakes up,” Anatolio explained.
Leila slowly walked near to Macarius and looked at him closely. She could not help but feel like it was her fault he was hurt. If she had not come along into Nalick’s life, Macarius would have never fought his heart out to save Phillip.
“It is not your fault,” Anatolio told her but could see she was not convinced. “You have to remember, the good you do by being here far outweighs the consequences. Just think, if you didn’t meet Phillip, Ruth probably would have died weeks ago.” Leila nodded and was happy Anatolio saw the good in her being in the palace.
“Thank you,” Leila said, softly touching his hand before she exited the room. Anatolio’s heart raced. For once he was the one cheering her up. Anatolio had seen how easily Nalick could make her face light up into a bright smile, but he had never done that before. Anatolio watched her rejoin her mother and friend and continued walking down the corridor.
All three returned to the royal wing of the palace for the night. Leila bid her friend and mother goodnight as she was ready for bed. They both could see how exhausted she was. As Leila entered her room quietly, Phillip had fallen asleep on the couch. Gently she tapped his shoulder and called his name. Groggily he opened his eyes and realized it was her.
“Mom, the horse is great,” Phillip said as she helped him to stand and began to walk him to the stairs. “Tell dad thanks.” He started to climb the stairs, but his eyes were drifting closed again. Leila steadied him and walked him to his bed. Once in bed Phillip opened his eyes again. “Thanks for taking care of everything,” he said as he closed his eyes again. Leila smiled and pulled the blanket around him.
Quietly she shut the door and walked across to Ruth’s room. Ruth and Tim cuddled together in Ruth’s bed. Leila smiled and sat down next to the two children. Part of her feared that someone might try to take the younger children to get to her. Leila hoped she had made enough of a statement for everyone to leave the children alone. Ruth opened her eyes and smiled.
“Can Ruth sleep with Mommy?” Ruth asked.
“Of course,” Leila replied. With Nalick gone for the night, she had plenty of room for the child to join her. Leila stood to pick up the small child, but Ruth stopped her.
“Bring Timmy too,” Ruth added. Leila picked up the sleeping Tim and held onto Ruth’s hand while walking them to their bedroom. Ruth quickly climbed into the bed and chose where she wanted to sleep as Leila l
aid Tim down in Nalick’s spot. Leila lay down beside Ruth and watched the little girl go back to sleep. Her mother was right. Everything was happening so quickly, but Leila didn’t want to change a single thing.
Chapter 29
“Do you eat like this every morning?” Kay asked joining Leila the next morning.
“Mauve likes to overdo it from time to time,” Leila explained. “Most of the time it is to get me in a good mood before she is going to tell me something I don’t want to hear.” Leila was right as after the meal Mauve brought by the schedule of events leading up to the wedding and following the wedding. Selma and Kay enjoyed watching Leila’s expressions as the list was read to her. Most of the list was events she didn’t want to do. Mauve didn’t notice her disappointment and was thrilled to show Leila off to all the guests that were coming.
Nalick returned in the afternoon. Leila heard the door open to their quarters, but she did not check to see who it was as it was still early afternoon. Leila was not expecting Nalick to return until night time. She was surprised to see the younger children running by the doorway and then realized who had entered the room. Leila left her mother and friend and also hurried to the guest neither of them saw. Selma moved to the doorway and watched her daughter greet her future husband. Nalick picked up both the young children one in each arm and began to walk back to the balcony, but he stopped as he suddenly saw Leila’s mother.
“I thought…” Nalick said, but stopped as he looked from Selma to Leila.
“We came early but the men stayed home,” Selma explained to keep her future son-in-law from telling the secret of why the men stayed at home.
“Well, welcome to Lior,” Nalick said while still carrying the two small children. “Has Leila shown you around?”
“Just the palace,” Leila replied.
“Give Roger a few more days, and then you can take them into town also,” Nalick replied as he set Tim down who ran back to his toys but continued to hold Ruth who wouldn’t let go of him. Roger had brought her mother and friend to Lexia, but Leila had not seen him since she returned. It was odd as he was always there to greet her when he could and she now realized that he was busy with something. “I saw that Phillip got his horse,” Nalick added.
“Mauve gave me the schedule for next week. Do we really need to have a formal dinner each night leading up to the wedding?” Leila asked. She didn’t enjoy the dinners, but they had many guests they needed to greet before the wedding.
“Sorry, but I thought by having several smaller dinners, it wouldn’t be as bad,” he explained, but Nalick could see any formal dinner, to her, was going to be bad.
The week passed quickly, and Leila was so happy to have her family to visiting that she forgot about the conversation she needed to have with Nalick. By the end of the week, Leila’s father, brothers, and their families arrived with the help of Roger’s sons Henry and Lars. There had been times since Erich died that everyone in her family doubted Leila could be happy again. Leila glowed any time she took care of the children and any time she was in the presence of Nalick. Leila returned to her own room to gather up her children to meet the rest of her family.
Leila returned to the guest quarters holding Ruth, who immediately hid her face upon seeing all the people in the room. Phillip and Nalick followed behind her carrying Tim, who was trying his best to get down and run around the new room.
“Everyone, I'd like you to meet our children,” Leila said to her family.
“This is Phillip,” Nalick pushed the older boy ahead of himself introducing him.
“Nalick has Tim.” Everyone laughed as Nalick tried to hold onto the rambunctious four-year-old.
“And this one here is the youngest, Ruth. Can you say hi to everyone Ruth?” Leila asked the child whose face was still hidden in her chest.
Nalick sat Tim down who proceeded to run around and shake everyone’s hand while telling them his name. Then Leila introduced everyone for Phillip’s sake and to remind Nalick, who could recognize the faces but not all the names.
“My brothers are there, Nael and Leon, and their wives Gisela and Sabine. My nieces and nephews and now your cousins are Dierk, Cara, Carl, Gabi, and Karin. The last person is my father Dirk.” Phillip nodded trying his best to remember everyone’s name, but the light haired people standing around easily confused him. Tim grabbed all the cousins near his age and began to pull them to the door.
“Can we go play with the toys?” Tim asked once he had Luca, Carl, Gabi, and Cara grouped at the door.
“Sure,” Leila said, and he pushed open the door and ran back to their room of the palace while the other children followed.
After visiting for hours, Leila and Nalick returned to their room to find that Gabi and Carl had fallen asleep. Leila and Nalick returned her nieces and nephews to her brothers first before returning to their room to find Ruth and Tim already in their beds waiting to be tucked in. Phillip was leaving Ruth’s room as they arrived.
“Mom, you sure have a big family,” Phillip said he closed Ruth’s door. Leila followed Phillip to his room as Nalick went into Ruth’s room.
“That was fun,” Phillip said as he closed his eyes.
“Goodnight Timmy, goodnight Phillip,” Leila said before leaving and crossing to Ruth’s room. Ruth was already fast asleep, and Leila did not want to wake her. Nalick said goodnight to the boys before he returned downstairs with Leila, who had climbed into bed herself. Nalick tried to build up the courage to talk to her, but he could see she was almost asleep. Leila reached up and tugged his arm.
“Come to bed,” she said. “We can talk in the morning.” Nalick nodded before joining her. The closer it got to the wedding, the harder it was getting to talk to her. Reluctantly Nalick fell asleep.
Surprisingly, Leila woke the next morning to find everyone still asleep. Quietly she crept out of the bed and dressed into practice clothes. She had a lot of nervous energy built up as her hectic wedding schedule was about to begin that night with a formal dinner to greet more people she had never met. Leila quickly wrote a note and left it on the table. She laughed quietly to herself and observed that for once Anatolio did not see she was leaving. Easily she slipped out the door and shut it soundlessly behind her. As she walked down the hallway, the door to Roger’s room opened and the older man stared at her with an all-knowing expression.
“Running off without taking Anatolio with?” Roger asked as he too noticed the young man was not following Leila.
“I’m not going anywhere outside the palace. I am just heading to the training grounds to practice a little and burn off some energy so that I can sit peacefully through tonight’s boring dinner,” Leila explained like a child that had been caught sneaking a cookie before dinner.
“Would you mind if I join you?” Roger asked.
“Not at all,” she replied, taking the arm he offered her.
“So are you really ready to get married?” Roger asked as they weaved between corridors making their way to the courtyard.
“Ready as I will ever be,” she replied with a grin but noticed he didn’t laugh.
“Yes,” she said more seriously.
“You are willing to take the good and the bad that comes with getting married?” Roger asked, testing to see if Nalick had finally talked to her.
“Of course, but I can’t imagine anything getting worse than it is now,” Leila referred to being kidnapped. “They already know where I am, so it doesn’t matter if I get married.” Nalick had not told her yet.
As they walked into the empty courtyard Leila let go of Roger’s arm and walked to the center. The courtyard was empty and Leila was alone. She closed her eyes, feeling the rays of the sun peeking over the walls. Leila stood still, and Roger watched her. She would never lose her free spirit. Roger cared for Leila like a daughter. Roger was eager for Nalick to tell her his secret, but there was no way he could force him. Somehow even part of Roger didn’t want her to know. He could not blame Nalick for not wanting to make her sad.
Leila smiled, finally opening her eyes to Roger staring at her.
“So, you’re going to be my sparring partner?” she asked, playfully pretending to punch him.
Roger chuckled and backed away. “If I was only twenty years younger, gladly.”
Leila sat down and began to stretch as Roger moved onto the balcony to watch her. She was magnificent in her ability to move. Erich had made sure she was well trained years before he died knowing she would always need to protect herself. As she crisscrossed the courtyard practicing the same moves she had done for years, Roger could see the influence of Erich in her movements. It had been three years since he lost his son at the same age Leila was now. As she matured, more and more she reminded him of his late son. It was hard to believe that Erich still had so much influence over her. Roger understood why she had such a hard time letting people into her life since she clung so desperately to Erich’s memory. Though Leila detested the idea of fate and predetermined outcomes, Roger strictly believed that events in life happen for a reason. Roger never regretted Leila’s influence on his son and his son’s life. He truly felt Leila was there to make his son happy for the brief time they spent together. Roger continued to watch her move around the courtyard as if she were dancing.
“Maybe the boy should tell her,” Roger said to Nalick as he approached with Anatolio. Anatolio quickly shook his head no. Anatolio didn’t want to be the one to tell her. Roger chuckled. No one wanted to tell her, but someone had to. “You can’t escape fate. She will find out sooner or later,” Roger assessed. Nalick nodded as Leila stood and walked to the men. All three men smiled as she neared and stopped talking.
Chapter 30
Leila was not happy to be returning to her room in the palace. She tried to sneak in the room so that she could find a hiding place, but unfortunately the children happily greeted her. Nalick laughed knowing she was trying to get out of getting ready for dinner.