“But I thought it was your destiny to stay here,” the young man was now truly confused.
“I have always chosen my own destiny,” Leila explained, “and I don’t plan to stay here any longer than necessary. If you are unwilling to help me, our conversation here is done. I will find my own way out of this palace.” Leila turned and started to walk back toward the hallway and waiting men.
The young priest was startled by the news that this woman did not want to stay. Once he realized she was leaving, he ran to catch up with her.
“That is not required,” an old man’s voice said from behind Leila and the priest. “I don’t think she will leave quite yet.”
Leila stopped walking away and turned to face Gabor. “So, you will not be helping us leave?” she questioned the old man angrily.
“Have you ever thought that maybe I am doing the best for you?” Gabor asked.
Leila glared at him. “You are just full of lies. I am not staying. I am going to get Kay out of here first, and then I will be on my way, whether you want me to or not.”
“What would it take to make you stay anywhere?” Gabor pondered, not moving any closer. “Would you stay if I told you that you would be happy here?”
“How could I ever be happy being confined to a palace as a prisoner?” Leila turned to walk away. As she neared the door, Gabor made one last comment.
“Erich died wanting you to be happy. For once, child, stop worrying about the rest of the world and look in your own heart. Are you happy with your life?”
Leila pounded on the door until it opened. She did not want to be told by some old man with his own priorities what would make her happy. Angrily, she exited the priest’s chamber and walked back to her room with Theo and Marcarius in her wake. As all three approached Leila’s room, she turned, took their keys, and opened the door herself.
“Thank you,” she said, handing the keys back to a shocked Theo.
Chapter 4
How dare he talk about Erich? If it weren’t for stupid kings trying to force me to marry them, he would still be here. Leila took some food off the table. She stomped back to the bedroom and climbed back up into her chair by the window, passing Kay on the way. It was past lunch time. Leila was hungry, but the chains around her wrists would not allow her to eat. Kay kept away knowing that Leila needed time to think.
Leila tried to fight back tears. It had been four years since King Jahangir had imprisoned her in his jail when he made the same proposal that ended with the death of Erich, her partner and fiancé.
I am happy, Erich, she lied to herself. As happy as I can be without you. Leila had not spent a day without thinking about her dead fiancé. She wanted to be happy, but without Erich, it was not possible. She stared out at the horizon. Beyond her view were the mountains and the home Leila was raised in.
I need to get Kay out of this, she thought. That’s where she needs to be. Leila heard the outside door open again, and she quickly wiped away her tears.
“Miss,” a young servant girl asked, peering into the bedroom. “Could you please come with me?”
Finally, someone with manners, Leila thought. She climbed down from her chair. Kay stood in the middle room.
“You, too,” the girl requested of Kay.
Kay and Leila followed the servant girl. Theo and Macarius trailed the three girls.
“Please sit there,” the servant asked, pointing to two chairs in the room. Theo and Macarius stopped and waited outside the room.
In the corner of the room was a fireplace that was lit. It seemed odd to Leila that a fire would be lit somewhere where the heat was hardly bearable during the day anyway. Leila and Kay sat silently, waiting to see what was going to happen next. An older lady entered with hair dyed bright red and three male assistants. The lady walked over to Leila and pulled Leila’s hair away from her face, examining her as Leila kept perfectly still. Then the woman walked over and inspected Kay the same way.
The young girl returned, carrying a case that she sat on the table next to the chairs. The older woman opened her case and began to sort through the jewelry inside it. Every now and then, she would stop and hand an assistant something specific. Leila watched what was happening but was not sure she was correct in her thoughts. In Lexia, engaged women pierced their ears and wore ornate jewelry to announce their engagement. Nalick was marking his intentions. Leila stood up. All six people in the room looked at her.
“Kay, we are leaving,” Leila turned to go out the door.
Before Kay had a chance to stand, one of the men placed both of his hands on her shoulders and forced her to stay sitting. The two other men acted at the same time to hold Leila back down in her chair. Caught off guard and with her hands tied to her waist, Leila was unable to fight back efficiently. She had not assumed the men were there to fight.
“The king has ordered you be prepared for your upcoming wedding,” the red-haired woman explained.
“Then why are you holding Kay here as well,” Leila demanded.
“I was told that the king plans to marry both of you,” the woman continued. Leila’s heart sank. Was Nalick truly a man who would not only force one, but two women to marry him? Leila struggled to try to free herself from the two men.
“I was told you were a fiery one. Everyone in the palace was told that they could not harm you for any reason, no matter how disrespectful you were, but the king never said anything about punishing her.” The woman walked over and forced Kay’s hands onto the table. The man holding Kay down placed her hands palm side up as the woman struck Kay’s hands with the lash she had just pulled out of the bag. Leila continued to struggle as the two men held her in her chair.
“You will learn some manners,” the older woman said to Leila. Kay closed her eyes but did not make a sound as the woman whipped her hands five times. When she was done, the woman walked over to Leila. “You will learn that we all follow the king’s orders, no matter who we are.” Leila continued to struggle.
Kay opened her eyes. “Leila, please stop. It is okay. I am fine,” Kay lied to her friend to try to calm her down, although her hands were red with welts beginning to form.
“Let go of me,” Leila said angrily to the men still holding her in her chair. “I have never killed a person before, but there is a first time for everything.” Both men did not hesitate as they immediately released her. Leila walked over to the door and opened it. Theo and Macarius were not outside the door, but a new guard was there.
“Where is Nalick?” Leila demanded of the startled guard.
“Um, at this time of the day, um,” the guard looked at Leila’s face and was beginning to get scared. “He should be in his office, on the fourth floor of the royal wing,” the young guard began to explain.
Leila knew where she was going. She took off down the hall as the young guard stood near the door wondering what he should do. There were two prisoners. Which one he should follow was the question, but before he could decide Leila was out of his sight. On her way up the staircase, Theo came down the stairs. He was so startled to see Leila coming up that he just stopped and let her pass by. After Theo realized Leila was alone, he hurried to catch up with her. Leila climbed the stairs two at a time and was soon on the fourth floor. Theo followed close behind, but did not try to stop her. From the look in her eyes, Theo had a good guess where Leila was heading, and he didn’t want to bear the brunt of her anger. Leila took a sharp left at the fourth floor door and pushed past the guards that stood in the doorway. Nearing Nalick’s office, she noticed a figure at the end of the hall standing on the balcony. It was him. She walked down the hall quickly.
“How dare you!” Leila yelled at him.
Nalick slowly turned around, unfazed by the angry Leila that stood before him.
“This is the best time of the day,” Nalick said, turning back to look out the balcony over the city. “The city gets this deep red haze that fills the sky.” He continued to ignore the anger in Leila’s voice.
“S
he doesn’t deserve to be punished for what I say.” Leila wanted to slap Nalick, but with her hands chained down she was unable to. “You are truly the man I heard tales about, forcing two women to marry you unwillingly.”
Nalick still didn’t give into her anger. “As a kid I would sit here for hours, just waiting for the sun to set and the sky turn blazing red.”
Out of frustration, Leila turned around and walked away from Nalick. She walked halfway down the hall before she stopped and returned to him. “What do you want?”
“You already know,” Nalick continued to stare out at the city. The sun was beginning to set and the sky was slowly turning a burnt red color. He paused and turned to face her. “I am not a monster. You name it and it will be done. All I ask for in return is that you stay here with me.”
“First, Kay will be set free,” Leila began her demands as she continued to pace. “You will send no men to follow her. Kay will be allowed to return to our home alone. Second, I will not be your prize. I do not want to be treated as an object placed in the palace as an ornament. I will be free to come and go as I please.” Leila paused to give Nalick time to object. He did not so she continued. “Third, you will take no other wives beside me. In my culture, we do not believe a man can marry more than one woman at a time. What you Lior nobles do is disrespectful. Fourth, there must be love. We do not marry unless we are in love where I come from. I will not marry a man I do not love, no matter what we agree now.”
“Anything else you can think of at the moment?” he asked.
“You will free Kay right now.” Leila checked his response to see if he would not follow through.
“Then it is settled.” Nalick waved to Theo to come over to him. He took Theo’s keys and unlocked the chains around her wrists and waist.
“I will take you to your room where you can have supper,” Nalick turned from the balcony and led Leila to the staircase.
Stunned, Leila silently followed him. This time, instead of stopping on the fifth floor, they continued up one more flight of stairs. The doors to this floor were blocked by four men. They all stood and bowed as Nalick drew near. The doors opened to another hallway. Nalick led her to the left. At the end of the hallway, he opened the doors.
“This will be your quarters,” he explained as Leila walked past him into the room. “My room will be at the other end of the hall,” he added as Leila gazed around the room in awe.
Leila had thought the room downstairs was ornate, but that room was nothing compared to this one. The new room was at least ten times the size of the room down below and the ceiling was over two floors tall. The right side of the room was open to a balcony along the entire wall. In the middle of the room was a large bed with a sheer curtain attached to the ceiling, allowing the bed to be encased by a light blue haze. Near the bed was a fireplace with a chimney that reached up into the ceiling. Directly to her left was a table with eight chairs sitting on the back side of the fireplace. The left wall had two doors in it. Windows surrounded all the walls. Several chairs and couches were placed around the room. Everything was made of the finest wood and fabric. As Leila looked around the room, there was nothing familiar or even similar to the home she grew up in. Could this really feel like a home? she thought to herself.
“Can I say goodbye to Kay?” Leila asked.
“No. I will not take the chance of the two of you being together without you being locked up. For the time being, if you need anything, Theo lives in the first room on the right,” Nalick said, pointing to the door right outside the one they just came through. “If that is all, I will be back in an hour to finalize our deal.”
Nalick shut the door behind him. Leila walked back into the room. It was night outside again. She walked to the balcony and sat down near the railing, resting her head on the rail. Across the city indoor lights were on. From her viewpoint, not only was the sky cover with stars, but the ground was too. Leila gazed up into the sky and looked for the constellations she knew. Something about the twinkle of little lights in the sky made her feel better.
Am I making the right choice? she asked herself.
The stars had always been her guide in life. When Kay left, Leila would be all alone with only the stars as her friends. Leila glanced down at the north gate and could see it opening. Though she could not see well enough to tell who the people were, she was sure Kay was leaving. Leila sighed. If this doesn’t work, you can always leave, she reassured herself. Tears began to trickle down her face. She sat on the balcony until there was a knock at her door again.
“Nalick asked us to ask you to please join him in his office,” Theo said smiling at the fact Nalick did not order Leila but rather asked.
Following Theo down the hallway, Leila entered the office alone. Nalick was at a large desk that was covered with various papers. He smiled kindly as she entered. His smile made him even more handsome than he already was. Leila still was confused on how she felt about the man in front of her. He let Kay go, but was still the man holding her captive. Leila cautiously walked over to his desk and sat down across from him, not smiling back.
He handed her a piece of paper.
“Please read this over,” Nalick asked. “I think I remembered everything I agreed to before. If you would like to add anything, just go ahead.” He handed her a pen. “You can always add more later, of course. All I ask in return is that you marry me. If at any time I break my end of the deal, you are free to walk out of here without any explanation and disappear to where ever you go to when you leave kings. I promise I will not follow or hunt you down. Your friend has been freed and on her way home.” He smiled at her again, “do we have a deal?”
“Yes,” Leila replied, still not smiling back. Kay was safe, and that was all that mattered.
“Now, for your end of the deal,” Nalick paused, not wanting to do what he had to do next. Two men moved into the room and began to set up equipment on Nalick’s desk while Nalick stayed out of their way and leaned against a window.
“Each noble family has a specific emblem. All family members of each family have this mark on their back. To be part of my family, this sign,” he pointed to the crest on the letter he had just handed Leila, “Will need to be etched into the skin on your back.” Leila nodded her head even though he was not finished. “Also, to be a royal.” Nalick pulled up his sleeve to show the intricate design that started at the palm of his right hand and continued up his forearm.
“This is the custom that must take place before I am presented to the priests,” Leila guessed.
“Yes,” Nalick said, waiting to see if Leila would refuse. “If you would like to wait a few days that would be okay,” he offered not wanting to wait, but also trying to avoid getting on her bad side.
“No, we can do it now,” Leila said handing back the paper. She already knew that he would request she get permanent lines on her shoulder and arm. It was a well-known Lior tradition. Leila turned to the working men.
“The procedure can be very painful. We have two ways to deal with the pain. The first is a cream that numbs the area that is going to be worked on. The other method is we can use some pills to make you fall asleep. That way you only wake up with a sore arm, but you don’t have to feel the pain,” the younger of the two men explained.
“Neither,” Leila replied. Drugs commonly used to make people fall asleep did not work on her and she had had more than her share of pain over the years and was used to it.
“My Lord,” the young man questioned Nalick.
“Do as she wishes,” Nalick ordered though he too was worried.
“First, we need to match up your left arm with King Nalick’s right arm,” the old man said.
Nalick moved near Leila. Instinctively she jumped back a little as he neared. Only Nalick noticed. He sat down beside her and laid his right arm on the desk. The old man took Leila’s arm and placed it on top of Nalick’s. Leila tried to ignore the warmth of his arm beneath hers. The man quickly sketched the same pattern on Leila’s
arm matching it up exactly with Nalick’s.
“Thank you,” he said to Nalick who quickly stood up and returned to the window sill.
What am I getting myself into? she thought watching the man finish the pattern.
“Now, to the shoulder,” the man pointed to her left shoulder.
Leila stood up and turned her chair around. She sat back down straddling the chair carefully and unbuttoned her dress slightly to let the back piece fall, exposing her shoulder. The skin on her shoulder was much more sensitive than on her arm, but Leila held her face completely still. The old man finished drawing and began setting out bottles of liquids in a variety of colors.
“Are you sure you don’t want anything for the pain?” the old man asked kindly.
“No, thank you,” Leila responded.
The old man and his apprentice began their work. The pain simultaneously shot through her arm and shoulder. Leila tried her best to not wince or to let the tears come out that she felt building behind her eyes. She refused to let on that she could be hurt. Instead, Leila stared straight ahead at Nalick. Nalick did not break his gaze with Leila. The two men continued to work for hours and Leila and Nalick continued to silently stare at each other. Gently, the old man wrapped her hand in a cold cloth and then placed another rag over her shoulder, which was burning more than her hand which signaled the end of the procedure.
“Anything else?” Leila asked. Nalick shook his head no.
Leila walked back into her room, pushed the curtain aside that surrounded the bed, and laid down.
Three hours, she thought. What did I just get myself committed to? Leila sat up and stretched her hand beneath the cloth. With every little movement, she could feel each spot she had been pricked. Leila looked around the room but decided to not move. She laid down on her stomach being sure not to move or touch her left arm or shoulder. It was not long before she fell asleep.
Chapter 5
Leila could hear soft footsteps as someone entered the room. Although she did not open her eyes, she could see the faint light of day time. Leila wanted to just sleep and forget the past two days, but her hand was still throbbing from the night before. The person who entered did not make any noise beyond the quiet walking across the room to the bed.