Virtue & Vanity (47 page)

“He yelled at her,” I started saying so certainly as if I was the one telling the story and not Sebastian.

“He did,” he confirmed. “But his fury didn’t last for long. She complied when he ordered her to get up on her feet and the moment he saw her golden hair had grown back, he recognized the girl from the forest. For some reason, he was happy to see her again, but when he made her look at him, he was disappointed to see that all the loveliness had evaporated from her face,” Sebastian said in a distant voice.

“What did he expect? Alexander is the one who broke her. He’s the last man who deserved to take credit for her smiles,” I advocated on Leila’s behalf.

Sebastian nodded. “He was aware of that. When he took a strand of her hair in his hands, he stared at her horrified face and suddenly it made him act in a manner which would help him conserve his untouchable pride.”

Sebastian’s face turned serious and I looked at him with the same horrified expression poor Leila must have had on her face.

As the probable plot development dawned on me, I burned with fury. “If he ordered someone to cut her hair again, I swear...”

“He didn’t,” Sebastian dismissed my worry. “He simply let go of her and walked away.”

I gulped, looking surprised. “He didn’t hurt her?” Sebastian shook his head. “Why?” I asked.

“Because he didn’t want to hurt her, but he didn’t want to feel guilty about the state in which he had found her either,” Sebastian explained. “After that meeting things went back to normal for Alexander and Leila. He was back to being the mean king and she was back to being the invisible housekeeper. Invisible to everyone but Alexander, that is.”

This sudden twist made me look up at Sebastian in wonder. “So, he apologized to her after all?” I asked with genuine interest and felt a bit disappointed when he shook his head.

“He admired her from afar,” he whispered and a small smile graced his lips. “Watching Leila’s determination to enjoy life despite her harsh reality made him reconsider his opinion of her and one day when he saw her return the money she had found while cleaning, he was sure he was wrong about her. She wasn’t a thief after all, but Alexander was the fearless king who was raised to never apologize to anyone under any circumstances and he wasn’t about to start with Leila. Still, he wanted to find a way to make it up to her,” Sebastian described the king’s turmoil.

I chuckled, thinking about the depth he tried to give to these two people but my opinion of Alexander still hadn’t changed a bit. “How on earth does he plan to make it up to her without apologizing for his mistakes?”

He smirked. “Alexander was quite sure of himself. He thought that turning Leila into a lady, buying her expensive jewelry and dresses would make her warm up to him, but no matter what he did, she remained indifferent and determined to lock him out of her heart.” Sebastian suddenly sighed, pausing and I smiled at him.

“It seems that even kings cannot buy love,” I concluded and looked away from him.

“Alexander was starting to realize that when she broke down and asked him to let her go home. Deep down, he knew he was hurting her even more than before, but the very thought of living without her tore him apart. It was impossible to let her go.” Something in his voice revealed his own inner turmoil. He was remembering something. And so was I. “Refusing to give up, he made her join him for dinner every evening, hoping that she would reconsider, but all of his attempts to get her to open up and talk to him were rebuffed. His Leila was like a stone with no emotion.” There was something alluring about the way he said that with longing in his voice as if he could feel for Alexander and his Leila—who wasn’t his at all at the time.

“Maybe she was scared of being hurt again.” There was a ring of pain in my voice.

“You’re right. She was scared. With a good reason,” Sebastian confirmed my doubts and I looked at him with a puzzled look on my face.

“Did he hurt her?” I asked in a small voice.

Sebastian nodded. “But not on purpose. On one of the dinners, they were accompanied by the king’s conceited friends who heard the court rumors about Leila and they started making fun of her in front of Alexander. They laughed at her poor background, called her a thief, asked how it felt to have her hair cut down and they even mockingly complimented her for her housekeeping skills.”

“Alexander had to have been furious!” I interrupted him, but didn’t get an answer. “Please, don’t tell me that he dared to join his rude friends in making fun of Leila.”

Sebastian shrugged. “He didn’t join them, but he didn’t stop them either. Even when she looked at him with unshed tears in her eyes, seeking his protection and opening up to him for the first time, he remained silent in the fear of damaging his pride and reputation.”

Once again, although I was perfectly aware these people weren’t real, I felt revolted by his actions. Hell, I wished this king Alexander was real so I could give him a piece of my mind. “Sebastian, I don’t understand where you’re going with the story. I can’t see how she could ever forgive him for this.”

“Neither did Leila.” Sebastian smiled, revealing mystery in his eyes. “She had finally had enough and she ran away from that dinner, causing a scene despite the fact that she knew it would enrage the king. But she didn’t know that he was everything but enraged. He felt terribly ashamed for his weakness, and that night he decided to put everything he had known aside and ask for her forgiveness even if he had to beg her on his knees.”

There was a moment of silence. “That’s very nice, but I don’t think he has a chance,” I said in a detached voice.

Something lit up in Sebastian’s eyes. “Unfortunately, it was too late to find out. When Alexander went to see her, all he found was an empty room and an open window. It didn’t take him long to realize the lady who was her friend helped her escape to avoid his wrath. Now that he finally wanted to make things right, Leila was gone.” He sighed. “For the first time in his life, Alexander felt what it was like to miss somebody. His days without Leila were gray and depressing.”

“So what did he do? I bet he sent an entire army to go look for her.” I arched my eyebrows and Sebastian snickered.

“No, actually he did the only thing he could do. He reached for his phone and—what?” He asked in a defensive tone when he noticed my confused expression. “It’s a story with modern elements.”

So far it was going great, but the mention of the phone, suddenly broke my little fairytale bubble.

“But you already have them riding on horseback. I turned a blind eye to the witness protection system, but the phone is just unacceptable,” I complained.

Sebastian shook his head in playful disapproval. “Sweetness, I swear to God, you’re being impossible right now.”

“No, I’m not,” I protested. “I’m only trying to help. If you go on like this you’ll make the whole setting—”

“Alright, alright. I get it.” He laughed and then sighed. “How about this? Alexander took his feather, dipped it in a large bottle of ink and wrote her a long letter. Then, he waited two weeks for a reply.” He looked at me, proud of his sudden wit. “Happy now, princess?”

“Very.” I chuckled. “So, did Leila forgive him?”

“No, she told him he could go to hell.”

I laughed, remembering we had a similar conversation.

“It must be a bluff. She’s just playing hard to get!” We both looked at each other and smiled. “Go on, please.”

“After he read her letter, Alexander wouldn’t give up, but he knew that she didn’t want to see him or speak to him. So one day, he listened to his advisor’s advice. With great effort, Alexander convinced Leila’s friend to reveal her whereabouts and then he dressed up as a simple peasant and visited Leila and her mother under the pretense that he lost his way.”

A loud chuckle escaped my lips. Sebastian was surprisingly good at storytelling.

I imagined the scene and then came to the inevitable conclusion. “Leila gladly helped him, I assume.”

“She did, but not before telling him that he couldn’t have found the worst place to get lost in because it was ruled by the biggest idiot in the world.” I gasped, feeling uncomfortable and waiting for Alexander’s retaliation. Sebastian smirked as if he knew exactly what I was thinking. “Don’t worry. Alexander’s pride was really hurt, but the easiness in which he let go of her crude comment surprised him even more than her audacity to offend him.”

“Well, I don’t want to take sides, but he kind of deserved it.” Sarcasm dripped off of my voice.

“You’re right, sweet, he saw it coming… And that’s why he spent the following month away from all the luxury and power he was accustomed to live in. But he didn’t mind. Because taking care of Leila and her mother, as well as doing small things in order to slowly win over her heart, turned out to be a lot more satisfactory than he thought it would be in the beginning. He lived for the moments they would spend together next to the nearby river where they got to know each other. There was no doubt in his mind—he was in love with Leila, but he wasn’t sure how she felt about him. He tried to get her to talk about her experience when she was trapped in his palace, but all she wanted to reveal was that there was a very cruel and dangerous man looking for her.”

“I hope he told her the truth.” I looked at Sebastian. “I hope he told her there was nothing to fear.”

“He wanted to tell her the truth, but when she hugged him and told him she isn’t afraid of that evil man anymore because she had him to protect her, something broke inside him and he kissed her. After that, he didn’t have the heart to steal this figure of a peasant Leila fell in love with. Despite the fact that he finally managed to win over her heart, he still didn’t dare to tell her his secret. But one day, his soldiers came to Leila’s house to ask for money they didn’t have,” Sebastian said in a tensed voice, almost like he was reliving everything.

It was so much fun listening to this story and I finally started to feel for Alexander. I don’t know how it happened, but I wanted Leila to forgive him.

“Is that when he revealed his true identity?”

“So impatient...” He smiled. “He tried to make them go away without telling them who he was, but after they hit him and mocked his appearance, he had no other choice but to remove his disguise and show them he was their king.”

I laughed, trying to picture the sight. “I can imagine the look on their faces.”

Sebastian smirked and nodded. “They were rightfully scared, because Alexander never spared the lives of those who offended him. Nobody was more surprised than those soldiers when he pardoned them and told them to return to their homes.”

At last, I could see the happy ending approaching in the story.

“Leila must have been so proud of him,” I said softly, already daydreaming about their beautiful wedding, when Sebastian destroyed my hopes for the couple.

“Actually, she slapped him and sent him to hell all over again. He tried to explain, but she ran away before he got a chance to say anything.”

I frowned. “Wow, I kind of feel bad for him right now.”

“I know.” He sighed. “But despite her rejection he still wouldn’t give up on her. He searched for her the entire day, until he found her sitting next to the beautiful river where they’d kissed for the first time. Suddenly, Alexander, the ruthless king who was known for his undeniable boldness, felt so threatened by the possibility that this simple, helpless girl might reject him again that he spent at least an hour watching her sit by the water.”

I smiled, imagining the sight and I was so proud of Leila for not giving in easily to Alexander, despite the fact that he was the king.

Sebastian continued with the story. “Only when she got up to leave did he dare approach her, with so much delicacy like she was a frightened doe that might escape at the first sight of him.”

“And did she escape?”

“To both his and her surprise, she didn’t make a move or looked away from him until he stood right in front of her. Then, she did the last thing he expected and started bowing to him, but he wouldn’t let her do that. Instead, she was the one to look in surprise when the ruthless King Alexander who never apologized or bowed to anyone, went down on his knees and begged her forgiveness.” Pleasantness streamed through me as I pictured Alexander’s gesture.

“Please, oh please make her forgive him!” I whispered in excitement.

Sebastian burst in a fit of laughter. “What happened to ‘I hate him’ and ‘He’s a jerk’?!” he imitated my angry voice.

“I’ve changed my mind.” I shrugged and chuckled at his impression. “Now, please tell me what happens next because I’m dying to hear the rest of the story.”

“Leila forgave him without hesitation, but she also asked him to leave her alone. Nevertheless, Alexander was a persistent man and leaving her behind wasn’t an option he was even willing to consider, so he immediately refused her request and decided to do whatever it takes to convince her to stay with him,” Sebastian said in a determined voice and then smiled like he was about to tell the part of the story he enjoyed the most. “He gave her the key that unlocked all of the important doors in the kingdom. That key was his most prized possession that made him a king.”

“And he gave it to her? Just like that?” I was surprised.

“Just like that,” he said casually. “When he handed her the key, he told her she could do whatever she wanted with it. Then he asked her to marry him. Leila was confused by Alexander’s actions and she demanded an explanation. His clarification consisted of three simple words.”