Read To Stand Beside Her for Free Online Page A

here is done. I will find my own way out of this palace.” Leila turned and started to walk back t oward the hallway and waiting men .
    The young priest was startled by the news that this woman did not want to stay. Once he realized she was leaving , he ran to catch up with her.
    “That is not required,” an old man’s voice said from behind Leila and the priest. “I don’t think she will leave quite yet.”
    Leila stopped walking away and turned to face Gabor. “So , you will not be helping us leave?” s he questioned the old man angrily.
    “Have you ever thought that maybe I am doing the best for you?” Gabor asked.
    Leila glared at him. “You are just full of lies. I am not staying. I am going to get Kay out of here first , and then I will be on my way, whether you want me to or not.”
    “What would it take to make you stay anywhere?” Gabor pondered , not moving any closer . “Would you stay if I told you that you would be happy here?”
    “How could I ever be happy being confined to a palace as a prisoner?” Leila turned to walk away. As she neared the door , Gabor made one last comment.
    “Erich died wanting you to be happy. For once , child, stop worrying about the rest of the world and look in your own heart. Are you happy with your life?”
    Leila pounded on the door until it opened. She did not want to be told by some old man with his own priorities what would make her happy. Angrily , she exited the priest’s chamber and walked back to her room with Theo and Marcarius in her wake . As all three approached Leila’s room, she turned , took their keys , and opened the door herself.
    “Thank you,” she said , handing the keys back to a shocked Theo .

 
    Chapter 4

     
    How dare he talk about Erich? If it weren’t for stupid kings trying to force me to marry them, he would still be here. Leila took some food off the table . She stomped back to the bedroom and climbed back up into her chair by the window , passing Kay on the way . It was past lunch time . Leila was hungry, but the chains around her wrists would not allow her to eat. Kay kept away kn o w ing that Leila needed time to think.
    Leila tried to fight back tears. It had been four years since King Jahangir had imprisoned her in his jail when he made the same proposal that ended with the death of Erich, her partner and fiancé.
    I am happy, Erich, she lied to herself. As happy as I can be without you. Leila had not spent a day without thinking about her dead fiancé. She wanted to be happy , but without Erich, it was not possible. She stared out at the horizon. Beyond her view w ere the mountains and the home Leila was raised in.
    I need to get Kay out of this, she thought. That’s where she needs to be. Leila heard the outside door open again , and she quickly wiped away her tears.
    “Miss,” a young servant girl asked , peering into the bedroom. “Could you please come with me?”
    Finally, someone with manners , Leila thought. She climbed down from her chair . Kay st ood in the middle room.
    “You, too,” the girl requested of Kay .
    Kay and Leila followed the servant girl. Theo and Macarius trailed the three girls.
    “Please sit there,” the servant asked , pointing to two chairs in the room. Theo and Macarius stopped and waited outside the room.
    In th e corner of the room was a fire place that was lit. It seemed odd to Leila that a fire would be lit somewhere where the heat was hardly bearable during the day anyway . Leila and Kay sat silently , waiting to see what was going to happen next. A n older lady entered with hair dyed bright red and three male assistants . The lady walked over to Leila and pulled Leila’s hair away from her face , examin ing her as Leila kept perfectly still. Then the woman walked over an d inspected Kay the same way.
    The young girl returned , carrying a case that she sat on the table next to the chairs. The older woman opened her case and began to sort through the jewelry inside it. Every now and