To Stand Beside Her (16 page)

“I thought you said this would be easier,”
Macarius
commented.

Though
Leila
appeared lithe and delicate, she was actually stronger than any person
Macarius
had ever met
,
man or woman.
He had once heard that the ghost courier was an expert at everything: escaping, fighting, disguises,
and
languages.
Now he was beginning to see
that
, what he had been told in the past was actually the truth.

Leila silently led Macarius through the streets.
Every now and then she would instantly take a street and back track.
Although Macarius was not trained in tracking, he
noticed
she was trying to l
ose someone.
Quickly he tried to keep up with her.
Before long all their jogging acr
oss the city led them to a boat
yard.
Leila counted as she walked down the pier.

“I hope you can swim,” she said.
Leila approached a man sitting on a boat.
In
another language
she
spoke.
Looking at Leila’s hand and then Macarius’ as they walked on to the boat, the man continued to nod.

Macarius followed Leila down the stairs of the boat to the under cabin.
Leila
quickly walked down the hallway to the last room and opened the door,
where
inside was the captain’s quarters.
She walked over to the wall and opened the hidden safe door.
Once the safe door opened, Macarius
followed Leila down
a staircase th
at
led into the water
.
She carefully waded to the opening.
Holding onto the rungs of the w
all, Leila pulled herself along
side the ship like a ghost.
Macarius followed as Leila moved to the boat next to them.

Using the rungs on the side of the next boat,
Leila
proceeded to pull herself down to the next three ships.
Macarius noticed a blue flag with a lion on it flying at the top of the main sail.
Leila pushed a side panel of the boat and a door slide open just big enough for them to slide in sideways.
Once inside they climbed up a staircase to the inside of the hull of the ship.
Leila hurried over to the door and locked it.
On
the wall she put a small bag
and pulled a lever.
T
he bag rose to the ceiling and disappeared.
Leila began unpacking from her bag
as t
he boat beg
an
moving.

“We need to change and then we can go up on top.”
Leila explained
,
remov
ing
her top.
Blushing
Macarius quickly turned away and began to change also.
Once he was done, he turned to face Leila but was yet again facing a woman he did not recognize.

“
I’ll need this back,
”
Leila
said
,
removing her ring and taking the ring back from Macarius.
Leila led Macarius through the ship and walked onto
the
ship’s deck proceeding directly to the captain.
He greeted her with a hug.

“It’s so good to see you missy,”
the captain
said.
“How was your trip?”

“Same as normal,”
Leila
replied
,
walk
ing over and sitting
down behind the captain.
Macarius warily followed and sat next to her.

“Picked up another one?”
the captain
asked
nodding towards Macarius
.
Leila nodded.
“Good sailing today.
We should get in early.”

Leila watched as the pier behind her began to disappear.
She was heading home.
She closed her eyes and felt the cool wind whip through her fake hair.

“Will there be more
?” Macarius asked worried.

“Probably,” Leila responded without opening her eyes.
“I counted thirty
-
two trackers on our ride to the palace yesterday
.
We lost over a dozen but even more will be with Nalick.
”

Men went about their work all around them as Leila and Macarius sat on the bench.

“How old is she now?” Leila asked the man
that was
closest
after she finally opened her eyes
.

“Fourteen,” he replied
,
“
S
he still speaks of you every day.
We will never be able to repay you.”
The man bowed before Leila.
“Thank you so much.”
He dropped off a basket of food for her.

“What?”
Leila
asked Macarius as he sat studying her.
“Here, eat.
We may not get another meal before tonight.”
Macarius took the food but continued to gaze at Leila.

“These men,” he began, “
S
eem to admire you.”
Leila looked around
for admiring men and found none
.

“Oh,” Leila realized Macarius was talking about the men on the ship.
“
I travel a lot on this boat.”
Leila kept eating and waved to a man that approached.
“And do favors for them from time to time.”
Leila stood and hugged the man.
“Don’t tell me Henry is in trouble again
,
”
s
he teased.

“Gosh
,
no,”
the man
replied.
“Not after the last time!”
Leila and the man laughed.
“I just wanted to check with you.
Henry heard a rumor when he was in Dria two days ago.
Are you really,” he began
,
but Leila stopped him
by covering his mouth
.
“
D
oes this mean you are retiring from runs?”

“Let’s just say, for the time being, I am taking a break from assignments, but only assignments.
If anyone needs my help, I will not hesitate,”
Leila
replied.
“Besides, it’s not like you guys won’t know where to find me
.
Don’t worry about me.
I chose to stay.
No one is forcing me
.
”
The man didn’t really seem to believe her.

“He is a good man.
Really
.
”
S
he patted the
older
man’s hand.

The man smiled at Leila
,
“
Y
ou really do seem happy.”
He hugged her again before leaving.

Leila returned to leaning against the rail with her eyes closed.
Macarius watched her quietly and studied her.
From her appearance,
Leila
was one of the most beautiful women he had ever met.
Outwardly
, s
he seemed like she would be this quiet
,
sweet girl
, but he was there the first night she had been brought into the palace before Nalick.
He knew
better.

In the back of his mind,
Macarius
had always thought of Leila as a thief that was running as a courier to get money.
To find that
Leila
had been doing just as many assignments without pay made him start to doubt the person he had always envisioned Leila to be
.
It wasn’t long before t
hey
were approaching the shore.
Leila stood up as the captain approached.

“Tell you
r
wife I said
hi
.
” Leila walked to the side of the boat as it slowly pulled up to the dock.
Three men jumped off and tied the boat up and two more men put a plank to connect the boat to the pier.
Leila waved goodbye to the
disappointed
men as she walked down the pier to the dirt road leading to the city of Cath.
Macarius followed Leila in silence, unsure how to even talk to
her
.
She was not the person he pictured her to be
.

“There are six people outside,
and
probably a few more inside,” Leila
pointed to the building they neared
.
Quietly they approached a window
of a tea shop
.
Leila placed
a
small bag
on the window ledge
and then directed Macarius to follow her silently.
They walked to another building
,
and Leila unlocked the door.
Inside was a sparsely furnished room
,
which only had windows at the top of the wa
ll
so that no one could see in.
After five minutes, Macarius watched as a panel on the floor began to be lifted.
Leila helped
move
it to the side.
From beneath the floor, Theo and Nalick climbed into the room.

“That was so neat,” Theo said excitedly.
“Can we do it again?”

“We need to be quick.
There are six men outside that will be searching for you soon.
You both need to change
,
and then we will head into town for supplies.”
From her bag, Leila removed another wig
lighter in color than her own
hair
but shorter
.
“
Here
,” she said to Nalick
,
plac
ing
it on his head and tuck
ing
his hair beneath it.
Then she handed Theo a hat.
Leila walked over to the wall across from the door and opened a secret half door.
“This way,” she said to the men.
“Follow the path, and it should end in a barn.
I will be right behind.”

Cath was a port city that attracted people from many countries
,
and
it was
easy to mix into the assorted crowd of people
.
Leila was all business, heading right into her plan
and to her layover station
. S
he
led
the men into a barn
next to a clothing shop
. A
s
Leila
opened the door to the stall
, she
pushed the men in.
Inside, t
o their surprise
,
w
ere
a bed and several chairs.
C
lothing was strewn all over the room and the bed was not made.

“I will be right back.
Do not open the door for anyone.
I am the only person who has the key for the room, so once I leave
, l
ock the door behind me.
”
The three men nodded as they were now in her territory.

Leila left the room and the door locked behind her.
She
walked back to the
main building
,
through the storage area
and
into the shop in the front.
The stop was empty.
Quietly she brows
ed
the racks until the owner returned.
“Melinda?” the woman asked.
“I thought you wer
e going to be gone much longer. Can you stay for a bit of tea?”

Leila smiled and hugged the woman.
“I wish I could, but I am transporting people,” Leila replied
,
follow
ing
the woman
through another door.

“Promise we will have tea and
catch
up the next time you stop through,”
the woman added.

“Of course,” Leila replied as the woman left the room.
Leila shut the door and quickly changed.
They would be heading into the mountains and the further in they got the colder it would be, so Leila packed several layers of clothing
for everyone
.