The Knight's Mysterious Maid-Chapter 331: Not welcomed (2)

"We’re only resting for two hours. Tell the men not to unpack too many of the supplies."

Annalise tied her horse to a nearby tree while Rafael spoke with Logan. Though they had been travelling from the time the sun was setting to the time it was rising, she was not tired and ready to explore.

She looked over her shoulder at Rafael talking and after she had secured the horse to a tree, she left it to graze on the grass. Annalise placed her hands behind her back as she walked away to explore.

It was always fun to look around somewhere she had never visited before and find what was special about it. If she was lucky, she could find the new pet she would share with Rafael and show him how cute it was now to convince him to let it stay in the same room as him.

Rafael wasn’t thrilled to sleep with a spider in the same room because he had never tried it before. Annalise smiled as she had a wonderful plan in mind now to surprise him with what would be joining their relationship. Being with her meant accepting her friends just as she accepted his friends. It couldn’t be helped that her friends were not human.

From his answer about having a pet, Annalise knew that she would be sharing a bedroom with Rafael. Not that she minded since she liked his room. Now that it was out in the open who she was, Annalise looked forward to trying on his armour when he would not be around.

Then there were her swords she would be able to use as she liked and not have to rush to put them back on the wall when she heard him coming.

"I was not going to wander off too far," Annalise said after she heard someone stepping on the dried leaves on the ground and knew it had to be Rafael. "I won’t do anything to have you always worrying about me. I wanted to look around a little and then I would have turned around. It is nice and quiet here. A lot of land to ride around and not worry about anyone watching you. A place to be carefree."

Rafael followed Annalise, looking around at what could be of interest to her. He hoped that there weren’t any creatures here that would capture her attention. He was willing to let her have one in the manor or Edgar’s home where his mother was staying, but he was not willing to travel with it the entire ride to Lockwood.

Annalise turned around to face Rafael and continued to walk backwards. She was looking for any of her guards and luckily, none of them were around yet. They might be busy tying their horses or finding water for themselves or the horses to drink.

She had a small opening to spend time with Rafael and not have anyone watching the two of them so she was going to make the most of it. Annalise now thought she should have let him put up a tent for the two of them so they could lay together away from everyone outside.

Annalise didn’t know where she was going, but walking away allowed her to be with Rafael. "Have you come here before?" She asked.

"I have. Other than our war with your father, there were bandits terrorising these lands. They still do which is why I have to be on the lookout. I came here with Edgar and Tobias, but never to the border. I remember years ago, we were here and the king had to be dragged back to the palace to pick a wife," said Rafael.

"It’s good you didn’t visit the border so my father wouldn’t have killed you and I would have missed the chance to meet you. You can laugh all you want but my father is a skilled man. Hard to defeat. It is evident from how he is still alive. I know how to remove that smile from your face. It was once suggested that I be put to marry your king when he was searching for a wife," Annalise said, enjoying how his smile quickly disappeared.

"I could have been your queen," Annalise chuckled, turning around to continue walking further into the trees. "Though I think that is still the case right now. In your world, I will be queen. Queen doesn’t sound as mighty as I plan to be. I want something to make bad people tremble. The great Lord Annalise."

Annalise started to worry because of Rafael’s silence and thought he might be annoyed with what she said about being placed to marry the king. She turned around while saying, "My parents would have never gone through- Oh!" She gasped, bumping into his chest armour. She had not heard him getting closer to her. "You are like a cat," she said, looking up at Rafael.

Annalise tiptoed and reached up to palm his cheeks with her hands. "It is too easy to make you like this. You deserve it for what you did with Siena. What could have happened shouldn’t annoy you. I ended up at your manor and now here we are. You are turning me into a person who has a romantic side. Before, I wouldn’t believe in such a fate in our meeting."

"Don’t tell my grandmother that," Annalise said, laughing as she tried to step away from Rafael, but his hands were on her waist to pull her back to him. "You are as touchy as I am. Not that I mind. It’s probably best we do not share a bedroom since we might find it hard to take our hands off each other. I don’t want to be cursed for keeping the commander busy."

"You said you liked my bedroom. I am willing to share," Rafael said, taking his eyes off Annalise to look around to see if they were alone. Since they were close to where the knights were resting up and a few of them might wander to relieve themselves or search for somewhere to rest alone, he removed his hands from her waist and held her hand to lead her further through the trees.

Annalise smiled, letting Rafael lead her away. She crossed her fingers hoping that no one would interrupt them. They did not have a perfect moment alone to do as they wanted without having to be cautious of someone walking in on them or watching them to stop them from touching each other.

They could still be interrupted now but they were going far enough that one of them could hear someone approaching them and stop what they were doing.

Rafael occasionally looked back to make sure Annalise was able to keep up with him and to check if any of her guards were following them. It wouldn’t be long before one of them would come looking for her once they realised she was missing so he had to be quick.

"Oh," Annalise said, reaching forward to grab Rafael’s armour as she found herself going down toward the ground because her dress was hooked onto something.

Rafael turned around to catch Annalise before she could hit the ground. He knew she wasn’t hurt when he heard her laughter and felt her body shake from it. He didn’t understand why it was funny that she almost fell on the ground.

Rafael’s mind was filled with him trying to put together how she could have tripped when he wasn’t pulling her along too fast. He had kept a pace she could have kept up with him. "Did I cause you to fall or are you clumsy?"

"It was my dress. I really dislike dresses. If they are too long, they get stuck in everything," Annalise said, laughing at how she almost fell. She wished she could have seen herself as she was falling.

Rafael kept his hold on Annalise as he stooped down to sit on the ground. With Annalise laughing at herself, they weren’t moving from here any time soon. He didn’t mind that they sat together since there still wasn’t anyone around to bother them.

Annalise made herself comfortable by laying her head on his lap and then she covered her mouth with her hands to attempt to stop laughing. "Do you see now why it is better for me to wear pants?"

"I see," Rafael replied, pushing her hair back with his hand so it would be out of her face. "You can have as many pants as you like when we reach Lockwood."