To Stand Beside Her (58 page)

Anatolio was standing on the stairway as he watched Leila also get ready.
Anatolio
didn’t need Nalick to remind him
to do his job and follow Leila
,
but she
did.

Leila hurried through the calm streets of Lexia on her way to the docks.
Anatolio watched
her stop and talk
to several men from various ships along the way.
S
he was happy to finally not be
stuck in the palace.
Going home meant freedom.
Anatolio recognized the ship that she stopped at as the same ship that returned them to Lior the last time they were in the North Country.
Leila easily climbed on deck and searched for the captain.

“My, oh my
! I
f it isn’t Meg coming to visit,” a young man said from behind her.
Leila twirled around and quickly ran over
to hug
the man
, who was
barely older than herself
,
as he lifted her off the ground.

“I hear congratulations are in order.
Marx stopped by and said he was in town for your wedding.”
Gently
the captain, Fred,
set her back down.

“Marx is here?”
Leila
asked looking around.

“No, as we pulled in this morning he was boarding another boat north.
He just said he came down for a short visit, but I assumed that meant he visited you,” Fred explained.

“No, as usual he just came and watched, I guess,” she said disappointed.

“So
,
I hear the whole country has a week
vacation
,” Fred said
,
changing the subject notic
ing
her disappointment in missing Marx.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Leila replied.

“What a time for you to go and get married.
The same week as the King of Lior was getting married,” Fred added.
H
is father did not tell him who she was marrying.
“I’ve yet to see this new queen, but all the locals say she is the most beautiful woman they have ever seen.
Compared to the locals of Lior maybe she is the most beautiful, but no one could compare to you.”
Leila smiled at Fred and patted his head.

“You’re here early.
I thought we were to expect you tomorrow?” he said once again changing the subject hoping to stay out of trouble with Leila.

“I was in the area
,
and thought I
’d
stop by to check on everything,”
Leila
responded.
“I was expecting to see your dad.
Is everything al
right?”

“Yes and no.
He was expecting to see you too, but my mother got sick the last minute, and he stayed home to take care of her.
Last time he saw you, dad said that you were planning to get married.
Boy did I get an earful from my mother about that.”
Fred’s mother had been bugging him for years to ask Leila to marry him.
“She will not be happy until I bring you home as my wife.
So any reconsidering on the whole marriage idea?”

“Fred,” Leila said playfully punching him in the arm, “I’m a married woman now.
You should
n’t
be making proposals like that.”

“You wouldn’t by chance have a sister you could lend me in your place,” he added as she punched him again and they both laughed.
“My mother is going to be so disappointed.”

“So how many crew members do you have with you this trip?”
s
he asked.

“I have all of dad’s regular crew.
He arranged everything before I left.
Roger told him you would have some valuable fragile items you were transporting north to Cath.
Trust me, as soon as the men heard it was you that we needed to pick up, we
had
more men sign-up for this trip than needed.
If you want you can drop the
large
items off tonight,” he added.

“I shouldn’t do that,” she replied knowing that her items would be Nalick and the kids.
Transporting human cargo was always done in secret for both the protection of the people being transported and the shipmen doing the transporting.

“I’ll bring everything tomorrow morning.
What time would you want me here by?” she asked.

“If we leave around s
unrise, we can make Dria by mid
afternoon and Cath around dinner time,” he explained.

“Sounds good. We will be on time.” Leila gave Fred on last hug before jumping down to the docks and catching back up to Anatolio.

“Is everything in order for tomorrow?” she asked
Anatolio
not noticing his hesitation to be near her.

“Yes,”
Anatolio
replied.
“The cart is packed and waiting in the stables.
Roger left two barrels and two boxes as he figured Tim and Ruth could be in the barrels with either Phillip or Elena.”
Leila nodded finally notic
ing
the distance he was keeping from her.
Leila gave him a questioning look, and he just faded back into the shadows.
Leila wanted to talk to him more
.

Anatolio walked her back in silence. Leila
joined Nalick who was sitting outside
without a word from Anatolio
.

“All done packing?”
Nalick
asked as she joined him
sitting on the balcony overlooking the city
.

“Yes, hopefully,” she said s
it
t
ing
beside him and tr
ying
to remember if she had forgotten anything.

“
Y
ou promise this time it won’t be so cold there?” Nalick asked
,
remembering his first visit in the snow.
Leila was not packing any warm clothing for anyone.

“No, it is spring now
, s
o
,
the trees should be starting to get leaves and the early flower
s
blooming,” she explained.
Leila paused while mentally checking her list
for the tenth time.
“The snow should be all gone,
ex
cept for on top of the mountains, but I didn’t think you wanted to do any mountain climbing on this trip,” she teased.

“Do people really intentionally climb the mountains?” Nalick asked in amazement at her suggestion.
Leila nodded while laughing at the question.
Nalick moved his arm around her pulling her tight to himself.

“Let’s go to bed,” Leila suggested
,
standing and pulling at his arm.
“It will be a very long day tomorrow getting to my parents.”
Nalick stood at her prompting and quickly scooped her into his arms.
Leila giggled thr
o
w
ing
her arms around his neck.
“To bed, husband of mine,” she directed
nuzzling
into his chest.
Nalick kissed the top of her head and took her to their bedroom.

Leila rose early the next morning and got everyone moving on time.
With all her planning, everything happened in order. She easily transported her family hidden away from the palace to the ship that took them north. With the help of Roger and his sons, her family made it off the ship and out of Cath without a single tracker following them. Leila was a professional and her three months in the palace did not dull her skills at all.
After a full days
’
worth of traveling from before dawn until after dark, they finally arrived at her parents place.

Leila was relieved to make it to her parent’s house without a single issue and all of her family safe.
Leila opened the door to her parent’s house and led the way into their home with her guests.
Selma
and Dirk were waiting for them with supper for the ones still awake.
Leila smiled but could not hug them without waking Ruth.

“We really should put them to bed,” Leila said to Nalick who was caring the sleeping Tim.
Selma
quickly stopped them from walking to the stairs.

“Theo and Macarius can have the same rooms they use
d
the last time,” Selma said and they both nodded,
“But for you,”
Selma
stopped talking.
“I wish it were still light out so you could see it better, but we have a surprise for you
."

“Can we put them to bed first
?
” Leila asked her mother.
Nalick pushed Leila to follow her mother.
She
followed her mother through the living room out a side hallway that had never been there before.
The hallway led to a new building behind her parent’s home that she could not see in the dark as they approached.

“It’s not completely done yet,” Dirk explained
,
walking beside Leila.
“But it is livable.
The bedrooms and living room are done, but the kitchen is not.
We figure if there was one room that couldn’t be finished, the kitchen would be the best bet
."
H
e was hinting at her lack of cooking skills.

Leila stepped into the living room.
Several couches faced the west wall that was lined with windows and a glass door that oversaw the lake.
The large stone fireplace along the same wall was burning keeping the large room warm as she noticed the ceiling was higher than normal.
Leila could see the staircase in the back of the living room led to a second floor and at the base of the stairs was an archway that led to what she could see was the start of a kitchen.

“There are six small bedrooms upstairs for the kids, Elena, and Anatolio,”
Selma
explained.

“There is a larger bedroom downstairs off of the kitchen for you and Nalick.”
Leila nodded
,
follow
ing
her mother up the stairs.
Selma
opened the door to the farthest room
,
and it was decorated with all her old furniture from her bedroom growing up.
“I figured Ruth could have this room.”
Selma
pulled the covers down from the bed and Leila laid Ruth inside it.

“Through
the kitchen
is a room for you two,”
Selma
explained leading them
back downstairs and
through the closest door to the living room.
Leila walked into the room and smiled.
Selma
had spent much time decorating the room.

“It’s beautiful,”
Leila
said while hugging her mom.

“Thank you mom and dad,” she said quickly hugging her dad also.
Leila looked around the room again.
She could see the quilt was hand made by her mother.
Gently she touched it knowing how much time her mother must have put into finishing it before they arrived.

“I know it is not as fancy as you are accustomed to now,”
Selma
added
,
“But we all tried out best.
Your brothers even helped out as much as dad.
”

“Mom, it’s wonderful,” Leila tried to reassure her mother.
Selma
stared at her only daughter and hugged her again.
It was good to have her back home even if it were only for a week.
There was no greater treasure in the world than finally seeing Leila happy after so many years
of sadness
.

Chapter
35