The Knight's Mysterious Maid-Chapter 333: Not welcomed (4)

Annalise spent the two hours resting with Rafael near where all the knights had settled down to let their horses rest. They went back to their position of her laying on Rafael’s lap to sleep and when it was time to leave, they gathered their things and horses to move out to make use of the sun in the sky.

They spent the day riding with small breaks in between to let the horses rest and to gather more food from farmers they passed by. Annalise heard from Rafael that they were getting closer to where Lockwood started and it would only be a day ride to reach Lockwood if they continued to travel without making a lot of stops other than the stop they were about to make.

They could properly rest when they reached Lockwood.

As the day changed to night, they stopped once more to set up camp, but this time they were using tents since they would spend the night here and then ride out as soon as the sun kissed the sky to have light to see where they were going.

Annalise stood beside her horse, watching the knights take food from their carts and went around searching for wood to make fires so they could get cooking. Some went out to hunt to see what animals were around to add more meat to their meal.

Annalise wanted to join them, but she stayed behind to help Rafael put up the tent she would be sharing with him.

"I should make you have to sleep in another tent," Ezra said as he walked to where Analise stood tying together the sticks for the tent. "Don’t look at me like that. I am meant to be keeping the two of you away from each other, but I also have other orders to leave you two be. If your father asks, you didn’t share a bed with him."

"My lips are sealed," Annalise promised so she could get Ezra to leave her with Rafael. "See, this is why I like you."

"I thought you liked me because I helped you get out of trouble when you were younger. Try not to get pregnant so my lie will not be revealed. I’ll tell your father you snuck around behind my back. I am going to find us some proper meat to eat. I don’t trust they will be able to hunt down something good," Ezra said, walking away from Annalise to get his bow and arrow.

Just as he was tasked with watching her, he was also tasked with keeping her fed.

Annalise watched Ezra walk away and wondered who had given him another order. It could be her mother or grandmother pushing for her to be near Rafael at all times.

She knew the two were looking forward to good news when it came to her relationship with Rafael. That she had either decided she wanted to get married or was pregnant. Her mother wanted a wedding while her grandmother strangely wanted a child to come from this.

"I am finished. You can put on the cover and tie it," Annalise said, stepping away from the tent to let Rafael do the last part. They got up their tent fast compared to everyone else since they were focused on getting it over with instead of sitting around, speaking of being tired like some of the knights were doing.

Because it was not time to sleep, most of the knights were more interested in walking around, enjoying their time not riding and talking about food.

"You can make a lot of money if you bring women to watch the knights walk around half-naked like this. We both wouldn’t have to work if you-"

"Get inside the tent Annalise," Rafael said, holding her hand to pull her inside with him. He was not going to walk around without his shirt on so Annalise could collect money from women excited to see sweaty men. "You sound like a madam of a red light district business."

"Except I wouldn’t let the women sleep with you. Just watch you train. You should have seen how they were blushing on the day of the competition and that was when you were wearing armour. That must have been the only time they could stare at men and not be scolded. Imagine how many would pay to watch you train," Annalise said, sitting down on the soft blanket Rafael placed for them to sleep on.

There was another blanket to cover their bodies with as the night would get cold with winter coming.

Annalise started to take off her shoes so she wouldn’t dirty the blanket.

Rafael pulled together the opening of the tent so they could have privacy as they got undressed. He had purposely put up the tent for the opening to be pointed away from where everyone else was gathered and he picked an area they were almost off to themselves. "I am not making money that way. Wouldn’t you be jealous of women staring at me?" He asked as he started to take off his armour.

"No. Stares will not bother me. While they look, I get to touch you and I wouldn’t need to worry about making money. It is only when they try touching you that I would end the business," said Annalise.

She wasn’t serious about it since she didn’t think it would be right, but she knew they would strike gold if it were possible. She would keep it saved in her mind in case they were to ever need money and a lot of it.

"I wouldn’t be able to get any money from men watching me train because I-"

"Stop talking," Rafael said, pushing Annalise back for her to fall on the blanket.

He thought differently about men not wanting to watch her. Annalise had a unique charm to her which made her stand out amongst other women. He knew that it wasn’t only Logan who wanted to court Annalise and when they had walked into town together, she had heads turning.

The night of the festival and the ball were two examples of her getting a lot of attention but she had not noticed it. One because she was more interested in candy and at the ball, she wasn’t happy to see him with Siena.

It might make him a terrible person, but he was glad knowing where Annalise came from would scare off a few people. He would have less fools to warn about approaching her.

Rafael lingered over Annalise, pinning her hands down beside her head with his hands. Earlier when they walked off from everyone, he had wanted to kiss her to start making up for the time apart, but after she admitted to feeling tired, he let her rest.

"Are you tired, Annalise?" Rafael asked, waiting for her answer before he leaned down to kiss her. He hoped that now was a time when she was full of energy. They had a lot of time alone while dinner was being prepared by the knights. Anyone would have to be an idiot to approach the tent when the opening was closed.

The knights weren’t innocent virgins to not know what they might be doing inside the tent.

Annalise shook her head. Even if she felt tired, it would have all gone away now.

"Good because-"

"Commander!"

"Fucking hell," Rafael muttered, accidentally gripping Annalise’s hands out of anger. He just thought that no one would be an idiot to come to him now when he had Annalise where he wanted her, but he was wrong. There was always an idiot nearby.

Annalise bit her lip to resist smiling now when Rafael was frustrated. She would be annoyed right now if not for how funny it was to see him angry with the person outside. "You should see what they want and come back here right away. I will not be falling asleep soon. We have all night," she said to ease his anger.

Unless there was danger coming their way, they did not have to be in a rush to be intimate. They were spending all night here and Annalise thought it would be best if they waited for everyone to go to their tents so they would not be disturbed.

Rafael reluctantly let go of Annalise and carefully exited the tent so the person outside would not see her.

Rafael closed the opening of the tent and then turned around to see who was bothering him. "You. You were supposed to deliver a message to the palace. What happened?" He asked, getting the feeling that something was wrong.

"I delivered the message and was informed that you are not to bring her to the palace. The court doesn’t want her entering the town and the king is having a hard time calming them down. For right now, you must not take her to Lockwood," the knight said, relaying the message from the king.

He travelled without rest to be able to catch up to Rafael to stop him from entering Lockwood.