To Stand Beside Her (50 page)

“Next time he should take me with.
I’d make a good soldier,” Tim said hopp
ing
down and continu
ing
to play with Luca who waved to Leila.
Leila was still standing in her traveling clothing she had changed into the night before.
Selma
recognized her clothing as if
Leila
had gone on a run for Roger.

“Go clean up,”
Selma
said to her daughter.
“We’re not going anywhere.”

“If you see the older one, tell him he should take a bath also,” Leila said
,
making
her way over to the main bath.
Elena quickly rushed in the room ahead of her and started the bath water.
Leila bathed and returne
d to the main room to visit
her mother and friend.

“What’s so funny?” Leila asked
as Kay began to laugh
when
Leila walked near
.

“Where did my best friend Leila go?
What did you do with her?” Kay asked
,
jumping up and tugging at Leila’s dress.
Leila looked down and laughed with her.
Growing up
Leila
refused to wear dresses and only
did so when she was in disguise
.
Kay had never seen her best friend in a dress if she didn’t have a wig on to go with the ensemble.

“Does it look bad?” Leila asked
,
getting self
-conscious
.

“No, actually
,
you look great,” Kay replied
,
and
Selma
nodded.
“So you have a family now?”

“Sorry about not writing about the children.
Everything has been quite hectic the last two weeks and with yesterday, it just didn’t slow down,” Leila explained as both of her guests nodded.
Leila never lived a slow life.
T
hey were not surprised in the least.

“Are you two hungry?” Leila asked her guests.

“Sure,” Kay said.
Kay
had been very impressed with their late breakfast and was eager
to
see what dinner would be.

“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 with
out us noticing,” Leila said
,
notic
ing
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.
Anato
l
i
o 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 cau
ght 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 safe
ly
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 woul
d 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.
T
urn
ing
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 thi
nk, 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 touch
ing
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 continue
d
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
.
T
hey 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
M
ommy?” 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.