To Stand Beside Her

by B. Kristin McMichael

  “I am surprised you are not thanking me,” Jahangir said smugly. “I thought I was doing you a favor by rescuing you from Nalick. I hear he is such an appalling king even his own people fear him.” He was trying to bait her to respond, yet she kept quiet. Jahangir moved close enough for her to feel his breath on her face.

  “We have been making preparations since we knew where to find you. The wedding will be in two days,” Jahangir said as he looked down the front of her dress. “And I can’t wait.” Leila was ready to gag but kept her thoughts to herself. Nalick would not wait two days to rescue her, but she also didn’t want to start a war. Jahangir walked away as he was not satisfied with the quiet Leila that stood before him. With a wave of his hand, men surrounded her and locked her back up to take her back to the cage.

  “Until she figures out there is nowhere for her to run to, keep her locked in that cage,” Jahangir ordered. Jahangir knew, as well as Seth, that Leila probably already had a plan to run away. “Also, don’t unlock her.”

  Outside Jahangir’s room Leila commented to Seth, “No prize yet?” Seth was upset.

  “That is none of your business,” Seth replied.

  Once she was locked back in her cage, Leila sat down to evaluate the situation. She was still locked in more chains than she wanted to deal with, but chains were never problem. The problem was the weakness in her left side that was slowly spreading to the right. As the guards changed, Leila noticed something seemed different. In the dim light of the room, she could not see the face of the guard, but he seemed familiar. Seth gave checked on her one last time before he headed to his own quarters for the night.

  “Do not go near her, for any reason,” Seth ordered the guard; the guard nodded. Once Seth left the room, the guard sat down opposite of Leila and stared at her.

  Leila knew the eyes of the guard, but she could not remember where she had met him before. She continued to stare at him as she began to work her hands free. The man stared back knowing full well what Leila was doing, and he made no move to stop her. Leila looked to the window and could see most of the castle had gone to bed. The guard noticed also. Slowly, the guard stood, blocked the door with his chair, and approached her.

  “How’ve you been kitten?” the man asked as he unlocked her door. The familiar voice made Leila immediately stop worrying.

  Leila smiled and leapt to her feet and tried to hug the man. “Marx,” she said, “it has been so long.” With her free hand she playfully batted the fake nose he had on. The man hugged her back. It had been a long time since he had last saw her, but in his eyes, she never changed. Leila was still as beautiful as the day he first met her.

  “Let me undo these for you,” Marx said turning her around and finishing unlocking the chains. “We will need to wait here a little longer. The outside guard change will not be for an hour or so.” Leila nodded and quickly searched the room for her old clothing.

  “Have you seen anything of mine?” Leila asked.

  “I got here too late. They already took everything away hoping that it would discourage you from going out in the cold. Little do they know, you like the cold.” Marx strategically moved more of the furniture to block the door. “We shouldn’t be disturbed tonight, but if so, I’d rather not have to draw my sword.”

  Marx had always been more of a pacifist. Leila often wondered how he stayed in the job for so many years. What she did not know was that he stayed just so that he could run into her from time to time.

  “Here,” he offered her some food.

  “What about the other guards and Seth?” she asked.

  “And the guards all looked a little sick earlier. I think they need me to fill in all night long. I assured them I was feeling fine and up for the job. And well, I don’t think Seth will be awake any time soon,” Marx smiled.

  “You didn’t,” Leila said. Marx winked. Marx was the only other person Roger trusted with the medication that would put Leila to sleep. Even after Roger used it on Leila, he would always brew a special tea to wake her back up. Even the smallest dose could keep a grown man asleep for days. Seth would not be waking any time soon. It was the pacifist in Marx coming out again.

  Leila sat next to him with their backs on the door. “So the whole Endika kidnapping thing was your idea?”

  Marx nodded. “I was quite far into the North Country when I got the news a courier had been caught by Nalick. When I heard the woman escaped and then walked to the gate and asked to be let back in, I knew it was you. Why’d you go back if you already escaped?”

  “Kay was inside. I thought I got her out, but then she got caught again as I was on my way out,” Leila explained while eating the bread he had given her.

  “You’re the only courier I know that has enough guts to actually tell someone you escaped and wanted to be let back in. By the time I made it down to the palace in Lexia you had already headed north to visit King Godfrith. I lost track of you for a few days and before I could pick your trail back up you were back in Lexia.” Marx had spent the last four years trying his best to follow her trail. She was always gone in a flash, and he knew this time would be no different. While they were friends, they worked for different governments and would always be kept apart. Marx used the little time with her to put to memory every one of her movements as it would be awhile before he would see her again. King Endika would not be happy when he was late again on assignment by being diverted to help Leila. “So once the opportunity came to get you out of there, I tried. I agreed to work with Endika, but there was no way I was really going to give you to him.”

  “I figured that much. I was almost temped to meet you, but Nalick would have been worried,” Leila explained finishing the bread.

  “When I heard you went back on your own, I knew you didn’t need my help, so I finished out my own assignment and headed home. I was in Dria when I heard the news Jahangir and Seth were going to take you from Nalick. I sent a scout to follow Seth and then came directly here. You know you could take a little bit of time off between being caught. It would make my life easier.” Marx had been in love with Leila for many years and would do anything to help her. Leila playfully punched Marx.

  “Is he a good man?” Marx asked seriously.

  “Yes,” Leila replied without looking into his eyes. She had always felt the love Marx had for her, and did not want to hurt his feelings.

  “Does he love you?” Marx asked gently forcing her to look in his eyes.

  “Yes,” Leila wanted to look away, but she could not. In Marx eyes she saw happiness, not pain as she expected.

  “Do you love him?” he asked letting go of her face. Even Marx didn’t want to really know the answer.

  “Yes,” she said barely loud enough to be audible.

  “Then, I guess I should get you back to him,” Marx said standing and looking over the windowsill. “It is almost time.” Leila stood behind him. Marx turned around to Leila beside him. His heart raced. He had not been as close to Leila as he was now for years. “All I have ever wanted was for you to be happy,” he explained as he gently touched her face wanting to give her one last heroic kiss.

  Leila looked into his crystal blue eyes. He was telling her the truth. “I know. I just didn’t want to hurt you again,” she said quietly. She turned from his gaze. Leila looked over the edge of the window. Leila still didn’t know if she had enough strength. Marx could see the worry in her eyes.

  “You can’t hurt me by being happy.” Worry was still etched on her face. “Is something wrong?” he asked. He had never seen Leila hesitate before.

  “My left side seems weaker than normal. Seth put something in my back on the left side, and it has been getting weaker ever since,” Leila explained. Since Marx was also risking his life to save her, she was not about to lie to him. Marx turned Leila around and looked at her back.

  “There is something here, right under the skin,” Marx said moving his hand over the spot. “Roger will have to take it out, but first we need to get you out of here.
”

  Marx gave Leila his hand. “Squeeze my hands,” he directed. Leila in turn squeezed both of his hands. The look in his face confirmed what she thought. Leila was not just weak on her left side; she was slowly losing muscle control.

  “I don’t know what he did to you, but the quicker we leave the better. Would you be able to hold onto me?” Marx asked.

  “Maybe,” Leila replied amazed that he wanted to scale the wall with her on his back.

  “Then, let’s go,” he said while climbing out the window. Leila followed. Once outside the room, Marx moved closer to Leila. “Climb on.” She obeyed. “Now just don’t let go.”

  Marx moved down the wall as quickly as he could with her on his back. As couriers they weight trained extensively and her size was not a problem but more of a balance issue. Leila used all the strength she could to hang on as Marx was not only scaling the wall but worrying about her at the same time. Her shoulder ached and the numbness was spreading. Leila closed her eyes and pressed her face into his back. Marx tried to hurry as he could tell this was straining her. At the half way point, Leila could feel her strength completely failing.

  “I’m, going to slip soon,” Leila said to Marx. Leila looked down in the night darkness and could make out the faint outline of the ground. “We are almost close enough that I should not get hurt,” she said judging the distance. She did not want to let go, but it was becoming apparent that would not be an option at this point. Marx began to move faster which only jarred her grip and make her use more strength to hold on.

  “Just hold on a little longer,” Marx begged, feeling her grip loosening. Leila tried but it was no use.

  “Sorry,” she said as her hands slipped. Leila adjusted herself during the fall, landing on her right side in an attempt to compensate for her weak left side, but as she hit the ground, Leila realized that was a mistake. She heard a cracking sound coming from her lower leg while stumbling forward. In the darkness, something ripped across her upper right thigh before she hit the ground; she felt warm liquid trickling down her leg. It was too dark to see the damage. Marx quickly was at her side.

  “Are you all right?” he asked trying to help her stand up.

  “I think I broke my leg,” Leila said, not even attempting to stand on it, but trying to stop the excessive bleeding.

  Marx scooped her up into his arms. Even though excruciating pain rushed through her body, Leila remained silent. Quietly he moved from shadow to shadow until he was near the castle wall. Marx set Leila gently on the ground so that he find the entrance. Marx felt his hand across the wall tapping every now and then. Finally he found the spot he was looking for and he moved a few pieces of the wall opening a hole in the base of the wall. Leila watched as a part of the ground moved to expose a staircase. Marx picked Leila back up and continued down the stairway. Once they were at the bottom, Marx set her down to close the opening. Leila watched around her. She had not known about the underground passageways. It was not much brighter below than it was above, but Marx seemed to know his way around.

  Marx found a torch and lit it. He brought it near and handed it to Leila. Leila looked around at the stone lined walls. They were just as old as the castle. How could Jahangir not know about this? Leila wondered. Leila looked back at Marx who was now kneeling to examine her leg. He moved her blood soaked dress to expose her leg. It was bleeding much more than either of them expected. Leila watched his face to get clues to as to how bad it was. Marx kept his face passive and Leila knew that meant he was hiding something. Marx removed his jacket and wrapped it around her. She had not noticed her body shivering from the cold.

  “Thank you,” she said quietly.

  Marx then took the knife out of his bag and quickly ripped a piece off the bottom of her dress. He wrapped it tightly around her thigh. “This should help stop the bleeding for now, but we need to get you to Roger.” Marx picked her back up and continued through the passage ways. Even though she was eager to see where they ended up, she simply could not keep her eyes open any longer.

  Less than an hour later, Leila awoke leaning up against Anatolio. Leila did not know when she had fallen asleep, but now Matthew and Ian, fellow couriers for Roger, were busy trying to stop the bleeding in her leg. Leila looked around the makeshift camp as far as her weary eyes could see, but she did not know where she was.

  “How are you feeling?” Leila asked Anatolio remembering that he had not been there to protect her and thus must have been drugged. She could not see the couriers working but she could see Anatolio.

  Anatolio smiled to see she was awake, “I’m much better than you.” He repositioned her body to let her better supervise what was going on.

  “First time being drugged?” Leila asked. Anatolio nodded. Matthew and Ian returned and examined the wound again.

  “Leila, this is not good. We can’t get it to stop bleeding,” Matthew said to her. Leila looked down and could see the blood seep through the bandages. Leila had not noticed until then Nalick was standing only feet away. She smiled up at him and faked the strength she did not feel right then.

  “Is Marx here?” Leila asked Nalick.

  “I’m right here kitten,” Marx said as he stood next to Nalick.

  “Do you have a way to get across the river?” she asked though she could not see him.

  “Yes, a boat is waiting. Once we get you fixed enough to travel, Matthew and Ian can take you to Roger,” Marx said. He watched as she shut her eyes again. She was losing too much blood.

  “Good,” she replied and nodded her head slightly. “Then we better get going now.” She felt her leg being lifted. Even though it was quite painful, she did not have enough energy to protest. Marx carefully set her leg with the boards Theo brought.

  “Nalick,” Leila said still with her eyes close. Nalick moved closer and held her hand. “Send Anatolio with Marx to divert anyone who may be following me. Then Matthew and Ian can get me to Roger’s quickly without having to worrying about losing anyone.” Nalick nodded while gently touching her face. “Take the army you have with and retreat to Dria. Wait there for me, and I will return as soon as Roger can fix me up.” Leila opened her eyes to see the worried expression on his face. Straining, she lifted her hand and touched his lips. “Don’t worry. Roger has not failed me yet.” Nalick took her hand and gently kissed it.

  “I’m going with,” Nalick said to the men standing with her. “Anatolio will go with Marx. Theo and Macarius will take my army back to Dria, and I will go with Matthew and Ian.”

  Leila slowly was losing conscious again. The five men carried Leila to the boat Marx had waiting. As soon as they were across the shore, Theo and Macarius quietly marched the army back to Dria. After they were in the North Country, Marx stayed behind first. Anatolio continued with the group until he noticed they were being followed more. Anatolio led the trackers astray as Nalick and the two men took off full speed to Roger’s. Using several short cuts, the group was able to get Leila to Roger by noon the next day. Leila had awoken once during the trip in Nalick’s arms.

  Roger saw them coming and rushed to meet them. “What’s wrong?”

  “Her leg is broken, there is a deep gash on her thigh that has continued to bleed, and Marx said something is in her shoulder that is making her weaker,” Nalick replied carrying Leila up to Roger’s medical room. As he laid her on the cold table, she opened her eyes.

  “Hi Roger,” Leila said with a faint smile.

  “You couldn’t just hurt one thing,” Roger scolded.

  “You know me,” she said. Roger began mixing a white powder in a small vial to drink. He handed it to Leila as Nalick helped her balance while sitting. She drank the mixture and smiled at Nalick. “See you in a while.” She closed her eyes.

  “Did Marx say what this was?” Roger asked looking at her back.

  “No, it was injected before Marx found her at the castle,” Nalick explained. “Will you be able to save her?”

  “She is a fighter,” Roger replied as he b
egan to work with his son at his side. “She will be fine.”

  Chapter 20

  “We can wake her now if you’d like,” Roger said to Nalick. Roger left and returned with a cup of tea. Gently, Roger propped Leila up in a sitting position and asked her to drink the tea. After the small glass of tea was gone, Roger laid her back down. “She should be a bit groggy, and maybe a bit angry after that, since I didn’t wake her last night, but then she should be fine. Please try to keep her from moving too much.” Roger left the room.

  Nalick held Leila’s hand waiting for her to wake. He had not slept much through the night. Everyone could reassure him she would be alright, but until he heard it from her, he was finding it hard to believe. Leila had lost a lot of blood. Nalick closed his eyes and pressed her hand to his mouth as he waited.

  “Did Roger not feed you?” Leila asked quietly. A startled Nalick opened his eyes and smiled. “So how much damage?” She rubbed her eyes.

  “Just like you said. A cut in your leg, some sort of poison stones in your back, and the broken leg,” Nalick replied. Leila didn’t exactly remember telling him about anything.

  “What time it is?” Leila asked, finally noticing it was light outside.

  “The morning,” Nalick replied not sure himself.

  Roger appeared in the doorway. “Just keeping an old man on his toes?”

  “I thought you could use some practice,” she replied. “Why didn’t you wake me?” Roger shook his head. As Roger expected, she was not happy with the extra sleep.

  “Well then do I at least get to head home?” she asked.

  Roger sighed, “Can’t you sit still for even a moment?” Leila waited for an answer. “As long as you are still feeling fine by lunch time, I will take you back to town myself. Now, get some rest, and I will check back later. You too,” he said to Nalick. Both Leila and Nalick nodded their heads like young children being put to bed. Roger left the room. Nalick stood to follow, but Leila grabbed his hand.