If I just keep my eyes shut, maybe they will go away, Leila tried to not to move. The swish of the curtain told her the person was near. Leila felt the person sit down on the edge of the bed. Leila waited but the person did not leave. She slowly opened her eyes to unexpectedly find Nalick, not a servant of his, sitting on the end of the bed.
“Did I wake you?” Nalick asked softly, the tone of his voice and the look in his eyes was not the man she stood before two days earlier. Leila did not answer, mesmerized by his deep brown eyes and kind smile. He was much more handsome when he wasn’t angry at her.
“I brought you this,” Nalick said as he held out a small jar as a peace offering. “It will help the swelling go down from last night.”
Nalick cautiously moved closer. Leila did not move but curiously watched him as he shifted closer and tenderly unwrapped the cloth from around her hand. He opened the jar and gently rubbed the cream over the black lines that crisscrossed her hand and arm. Immediately, the burning feeling was gone. While he was busy concentrating on her hand, Leila took the moment to study him. The young king was physically much larger than any of the other older kings she had met over the years. The tales Leila had heard of him leading his army into war were most likely not just tales. Today, though, Nalick appeared more real, not like the authority figure she met on her first night in the palace. His hair that had been pulled back from his face before fell loosely almost to his shoulders. His concern for her was drawn all over his face. He turned her arm over softly and began massaging the cream on the inside lines also. He was gentle with his calloused, warrior hands.
“If you put this on a couple more times, the swelling and pain will be gone for good,” Nalick explained finally looking up at her. Leila dropped her eyes to her hand also.
“Would you like me to also put it on your shoulder?” he asked.
“Yes,” she responded moving her hair. Nalick began rubbing the cream over the mark on her back. Leila involuntarily shivered as tingles went down her toes. A man so fierce could be so gentle.
“Excuse me,” a woman’s voice said from behind the bed.
Startled, Leila quickly turned around to see an old woman dressed in a dark purple dress with a crisp, white shirt underneath. Curiously Leila looked around the room. She had not heard anyone enter from the heavy front doors that led into the room. Nalick offered Leila his hand to help her out of the bed. Once Leila stood, she realized the old lady was giving Nalick a stern gaze; Leila had to keep herself from laughing. A tiny woman would be giving a man almost three times her size a strict look was amusing.
“Leila, this is Mauve,” Nalick introduced the lady. “She is responsible for taking care of you.” Mauve still glared at Nalick but gave a quick curtsy to Leila.
“Nothing was happening,” Nalick explained to Mauve. “I was just putting cream on her arm and back to ease the pain.” Mauve still didn’t look like she believed him. “Really I was not trying to do anything but help her.”
“It is improper for you to see your future bride before we have had time to dress her for the day,” Mauve moved over and began pushing Nalick out of the room. “Now that you have woken her, we will get her ready for the day.” Nalick was pushed out the door.
“Sorry, dear,” Mauve said to Leila. “I knew you had a rough night, and I was trying to let you get your rest. He snuck in when I had just left the room for a moment. He was raised to have manners and trust me dear he does, but sometimes I just need to remind him.” Leila liked this woman.
“There is breakfast on the table,” Mauve said pointing to the table filled with every breakfast food Leila had ever seen. “I didn’t know what you ate for breakfast, so I had them make a little of everything.”
After she ate, servants bathed Leila and returned her to Mauve for inspection. Leila had never been cleaner, so Mauve would have no complaints.
“Theo and Macarius should be here soon to escort you to the priests,” Mauve said as Leila passed inspection. “I’m so glad you decided to stay dear. You look absolutely beautiful. It is nice to finally have a woman back in Nalick’s life.” Mauve and the servants left the room.
Leila walked out onto the balcony to wait. She could feel the hot breeze blow her way even though she was standing in the shadows. Why would anyone purposely build a city in the middle of a hot desert? she questioned. Leila grew up in a valley in between two of the largest mountains in the range. The days were typically warm, but there was always cool breeze. A hot breeze was not much of a breeze at all. Can I really get use to this? she wondered sitting down on the balcony rail. Leila gazed over the rail and could see the city below. People and carts moved around on the streets below. Free. She had lost her freedom to run regardless of the open windows and balcony.
“My lady,” Theo approached from inside the room. “Nalick is meeting with the priests right now. He requested that we kindly ask you to join him,” Theo said with a smile as he offered her his hand.
“Does he still think I am going to run?” Leila asked her two armed escorts as they led her out of the room.
“Are you?” asked Macarius. While Theo seemed to have a kind disposition towards Leila, Macarius seemed more cautious of accepting her.
“I don’t know,” Leila told the truth, but Macarius did not seem to appreciate it.
Leila walked the rest of the way in silence. Nalick beamed as she approached. She was more beautiful than he could imagine. Dressed in a long green dress that complimented her red hair, Leila looked the part of the queen. Mauve, as always, had done an excellent job.
“Didn’t know I cleaned up so well?” she joked. He doesn’t clean up too badly either, she thought.
A priest stood in the doorway and coughed to get her attention. Nalick gave her one last look before she faded from his view into the private chambers of the priests.
The meeting was brief as Leila was grilled by the priest elders. They asked questions about everything from her parents and background to her time and date of birth. Each priest had their own objective, but Leila could not figure out what they wanted to know.
After the priests left the room, Leila turned to Nalick. All the questioning of the priests made her think of her own questions for Nalick. “I still don’t understand. You know very little about me and yet, want to marry me. Isn’t every women of marry age waiting for you? You must have over a hundred noble women to choose from. Why do you want me?”
“I was five or six when you were born.” Nalick stood up and walked over to one of the windows. “You were seen as a prize.” Leila joined him by the window. Nalick chuckled to himself, “I guess you still are by most of those kings.”
Nalick seemed to be caught in how to say the next part. “Lior has had its problems over the years. The nobles and their factions often feuded between each other. The poor fight with the nobles and the nobles fight amongst themselves. Twice while I have been king neighboring countries have taken advantage of the turmoil within Lior, to attack us. I was eighteen when I led my first army to defend our country. Before I even became king, the older priest you met just now told my father how he could stop all this internal fighting.” Leila waited for the answer she guessed was coming.
“It was you.” Nalick took Leila’s hand and walked her back near the bench. “My father sent scouts each spring up to the North Country to find you. It was years before the scouts came back with news about you. But it was too late. Roger of Whitmore Valley already found you.”
Leila sat back down on the bench with Nalick close beside her. Roger was the man that took her in and trained her to be a courier. He was the manager of the courier station at Whitmore Valley. It began to make sense to Leila now. She had always wondered why Roger allowed her to start training at the age of twelve when everyone had to wait until they were fourteen.
“I was king by the time the scouts actually found you again. By the time we finally figured out which courier was you, kidnapping you would not work. Why do you think the first thing Roger prob
ably taught you was how to escape?” Leila could remember the harsh years of training to escape any situation.
“Since no one would be able to touch you while under his protection, we waited for you to start assignments. That would not work either. You were always accompanied by Erich who was just as good at protecting you as Roger was himself.” Nalick wanted to reach over and touch her just to hold her hand, but she was far too scared of him still. “When Erich died, Roger could not protect you anymore. You began taking the hardest missions. So we made a deal with Roger. If he promised to send you on any assignment that would take you to Lexia, then we would make sure you could get out of any trouble you got into elsewhere.” Nalick waited for her to respond.
“Roger agreed to a deal like that?” Leila asked in disbelief.
“He didn’t have much of a choice. With every noble out there wanting to marry you, he found no other way to protect you. We were basically the only ally he had that did not want to force you into marriage at the time. The priests here felt the best approach was to wait for you to come to us.
“I was completely happy waiting for you. I have never wanted to get married. I watched my mother in an unhappy marriage. But everything changed. I was in Dria when I briefly saw you. You caught me off guard as you made no noise. I thought I was seeing a wood sprite.”
Leila thought back to that day. She had stopped at a creek to fill her water flask when she noticed it led to a small pond. Leila spent over thirty minutes gazing over the edge of a rock at the large colorful fish swimming at the bottom of the pond when she noticed she was being watched herself. As soon as she realized who it was, she quickly disappeared into the forest.
“Did you realize that Roger was no longer giving you assignments in Lexia? Somehow that man knew I was planning to keep you here, and he did his best to prevent you from coming here.” Nalick rose and walked back to the window. Nalick paused and then came back to her. Tentatively he took her hands in his waiting for her to protest. “You may think I know nothing about you, but that is not true. I know you much better than you think. I know there will never be a better woman for me than you. If you give me a chance, I can make you happy,” he promised her.
Leila didn’t know what to think. His hands were warm against hers and she could slightly feel the blood beating. As she stared into the eyes of the man before her, he was the first man in a long time that saw her not for the symbol she was, but as the person she was.
Can I trust him? she asked herself.
“But why me?” Leila whispered to him.
“Since I was a child I asked the same question. What was so special about this girl everyone was searching for? You’re not afraid of me. I deal with people all day and have never met a woman who was as bold as you were. The strength and intelligence you have in just your little finger is more than any noble woman in the country has in their whole body. You make me a better person. I will try my best to match you and hope that I will never disappoint you, because I know how quickly you will be gone if I do,” he chuckled.
Leila did not have time to respond as the three priests from earlier returned.
“We have decided,” the elder priest said to Nalick. “If you would please join us, everyone has been waiting.” Theo and Macarius stood on either side of a balcony holding open a curtain. Nalick walked through first with the priests. Through the small opening, Leila could see there was a crowd gathered below. Leila waited behind.
“What is happening now?” Leila whispered to Theo as Nalick stood beside the priests.
“It is customary to announce the engagement of the king to the people of the city,” Theo explained. “When you step out, to your right will be about forty people seated on a lower balcony. They are the representatives from each of the noble families,” he explained to her.
“Today is a glorious day,” the elder priest began, “our King Nalick has finally chosen to marry. We have consulted the stars and met with the future bride. With great pleasure I get to introduce our future queen, Queen Eia.” There was a hushed silence over the crowd as Theo pointed to Leila to enter. Nalick offered his hand to Leila stepping up onto the balcony. Below hundreds of faces stared up at her.
“I thought part of our deal was not being made into an object,” Leila whispered to Nalick.
“Sorry. This is all part of tradition,” he replied.
The silent mass waited as the elder priest continued. “The wedding will take place three months from the day after tomorrow.” The crowd erupted into applause and cheers while the nobles sat silently.
“You can’t please everyone,” Nalick whispered in her ear waving to the peoples and then turning her back into the room. “I need to stay here for a little bit.” He stopped in the doorway, “Theo and Macarius will escort you back to your room. Just don’t get lost on the way,” he winked.
Leila waited in the doorway to her room until she heard both Macarius and Theo leave. Quietly she walked and back down the staircase. The guards at the entrance to the floor were startled to see her. She smiled and let herself by them. Retracing her steps from the first day Leila was escorted through the palace, she looked for the garden. After several wrong turns, she found the garden door. No one was guarding the door as she quietly slipped in. She sat down on a small patch of grass. It had been two weeks since she came to Lexia with Kay. Though the city was familiar and felt like a second home to her, in her mind nothing could compare to the forests that lined the mountains of the North Country. Leila was getting sick of all the sand, but yet here in the garden she could faintly be reminded of home. She leaned against the tree and closed her eyes. The breeze was still warm, not cool like she had hoped, but the grass between her fingers would have to be the best comfort she would get out of this place. Leila heard the click of a door and immediately hid herself behind the largest tree in the garden.
“But Momma,” a girl complained to an older woman, “if he has chosen a bride, why can’t I get married to someone else?”
“King Nalick is king and can take as many wives as he wants. Trust me dear, father will get him to take you on as his head wife,” the older woman commented as she continued to lead the younger girl through the garden.
“But doesn’t the head wife belong to the first wife?” the girl stopped thinking of questions and began to twirl her hair.
“Emma, don’t dawdle. This girl he has chosen is not of noble birth.” The older lady grabbed her daughter's hand away from her hair and pulled her the rest of the way through the garden.
The nobles were not as welcoming as the people had been and now she knew why. They still had hopes to get their daughters on the throne.
Chapter 6
Leila woke the next morning to complete silence. After the chaos of the day before, she was happy to not have anyone around. Though early in the morning, from the balcony Leila could see that the city was full of activity. Seeing the people run from place to place made Leila want to be free of the palace’s cold, confining walls.
He did say I was free to come and go as I please, she thought to herself. Maybe I should test what he said.
“Awake already, dear?” Mauve yawned rubbing her eyes. Leila had quietly entered her room to find her dressed but sleeping in a chair. “Can I get you anything?” Mauve asked.
“Is there anything else that I can wear? The clothes here are all beautiful,” Leila assured Mauve, “I would like to go down into the city but don’t want to give away who I am. I just want to go as a normal person.”
“But, dear, why would you want to do that?” Mauve asked setting down the garment that she had fallen asleep sewing
“I just want to be able to be me again. This,” Leila indicated to everything around her, “is not me. I am much less complicated than all of this.” Mauve rummaged through a trunk and handed her a dress without another comment.
“Thank you,” Leila responded leaving the room with a simple dress. Quickly she dressed and disguised herself adding gloves and a scarf to cove
r the lines on her arm and her bright red hair. She quietly walked over to the door to check if anyone was in the hallway. As expected, Theo was standing outside of her door.
“I hope you weren’t planning on sneaking away today. Nalick was not happy yesterday to find you had wondered off without telling anyone,” Theo scolded Leila. “We need to go get Macarius to join us.”
“Why?” Leila asked. “He doesn’t seem to like me too much. It would be much more enjoyable for just the two of us to leave.” Theo shook his head no. “Fine,” she pouted as they walked down the flight of stairs to get Macarius.
“Macarius doesn’t dislike you; it is just that he is a bit protective of Nalick,” Theo tried to explain.
“Either way, he doesn’t like me,” Leila commented as they reached Macarius’ door. Theo knocked loudly.
“What?” Macarius asked answering the door. He stood for a minute looking from Theo to Leila, and then he realized it was Leila.
“Our charge would like to go to the market, and you know Nalick would have our heads if we lost her again,” Theo explained.
“Does Nalick know where we are off too?” Macarius asked as they continued down the stairs getting dressed along the way.
“No, but I am sure Mauve will tell him soon like she came and told me,” Theo responded. As they walked through the palace, not a single person turned to look at them as they passed. Leila was happy. Her disguise would work well in town if the people of the palace didn’t even recognize her.
Leila had not been in Lexia during the open market for a while. As they approached the city square, the crowd grew denser and the look on the two men’s faces turned to worry. If this was where Leila wanted to vanish, it would work the best. Theo and Macarius had no intension of disappointing Nalick, but Leila was an expert in disappearing. Leila had no plans of leaving Lexia quite yet, so she turned and placed a hand through each man’s arm as not to lose them and began to walk to the first shop.