The Knight's Mysterious Maid-Chapter 336: Change in plans (3)

Rafael woke in the middle of the night to check on the fire to see if it needed wood or if one of the knights had added wood to it to last the rest of the night.

Before getting up, he looked to his side at Annalise who was sound asleep. Luckily, she wasn’t shivering from the cold air creeping into the tent. Rafael reached his hand over her to fix the blanket that had fallen off of her but stopped as Annalise started to move around in her sleep.

Rafael didn’t want to wake her now when there was still plenty of time for her to sleep, so he became still to avoid waking her. He had the pleasure of watching her snuggle closer to his body and her hand gripping his shirt, which made it impossible for him to leave to check on the fire.

In her sleep, Annalise had set a trap for him. One that would have her wake to join him wherever he was going.

Rafael had no choice but to lay back down slowly and hope that one of the knights was checking on the fire. He pushed her hair out of her face so it wouldn’t tickle her face and disturb her sleep. Annalise wiggled her nose when a strand of her hair slipped his fingers and fell on her nose.

Rafael smiled, amused by the fact Annalise didn’t think she could act cute, but here she was looking very cute as she slept. He couldn’t shake the feeling that she was doing this on purpose.

He then listened to her mumbling something and wondered if she was fighting someone in her dream or still trying to convince him to have a lot of pets.

Since he couldn’t get up now, Rafael hugged Annalise and closed his eyes to go back to sleep. At some point in time in the future, he would reveal to her just how cute she was when she slept, or keep this little secret to himself.

The next day, the knights split up into two groups. One group was following Rafael to take Annalise away from Lockwood and the other group to collect Beatrice. Rafael stayed with Annalise while Logan and Christian led the other group to get his mother.

With threats of some bastard taking women and then the chance Travis could have sent someone to search for his mother, Rafael wasn’t taking any chances in sending a few knights to get his mother so he sent almost half of them to escort his mother. The rest of the knights travelling with Rafael carried most of their supplies.

Over a day later, Annalise sat on her horse at the road they needed to take to get to the manor. She was waiting with Rafael for Beatrice’s arrival so they could all leave together by merging back into one group. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

Annalise felt nervous when they arrived but as she had some time to think, she knew not to worry about her reunion with Beatrice. If anything, Beatrice might be more interested in when she kissed Rafael than being afraid of where she came from.

"Are you alright, Annalise?" Rafael asked, knowing she had to be worrying about seeing his mother and telling her the truth.

"Yes. I’m looking forward to seeing Beatrice again. What are the chances she doesn’t ask about the kiss the day we left? I should have considered we might see each other again and not kiss you when Beatrice was around. I set myself up for this to happen," Annalise said, having no one to blame but herself. "I don’t suppose you-"

"No. Whatever it is my answer is no," Rafael answered. He already had his fair share of listening to his mother ask about the kiss. Now it was Annalise’s turn to suffer.

"And you claim to love me," Annalise muttered.

"That doesn’t mean I suddenly want to listen to my mother ask about my relationship with you. It is your turn, Annalise. Have fun," Rafael said, laughing at the way she glared at him. "You are about to have more fun since her carriage is coming. I will make sure no one interrupts your talk with my mother."

"Now you want to stop interruptions?" Annalise questioned, amazed by his timing. "Your time will come and I will do nothing to save you," she promised.

If Rafael wasn’t careful it would be her who he needed to be saved from.

Annalise watched as the carriage got closer and closer until it finally stopped right in front of them and a familiar face was seen. Annalise couldn’t make much out of Beatrice’s words until the carriage door was opened.

"What are you doing here, Annalise?" Beatrice asked, hopping out of the carriage without anyone’s help. She had been looking forward to seeing Rafael to see with her own eyes if he was fine. No one had told her that Annalise would be here.

Beatrice looked back and forth between Rafael and Annalise for which one would explain to her what Annalise was doing here instead of staying with her in Lockwood. Annalise couldn’t have been crazy enough to miss Rafael so much that she went to the border to see Rafael. It couldn’t be possible Beatrice thought, but the smile Annalise wore told her that something close to that might have happened.

"Explain now," Beatrice demanded, not having the patience for the two of them keeping their mouths shut. "Why is Annalise here?"

Annalise was the first to get down from her horse and then Rafael joined her. Beatrice wasn’t her mother so why was she feeling like a child before her?

"Rafael, please find someone to lead my horse back. We should talk in the carriage, Beatrice. There is a lot for me to explain," Annalise said, walking toward Beatrice at the carriage.

Beatrice wanted an explanation now with Rafael, but seeing how serious the two were, she turned around and entered the carriage to hear what Annalise had to say. The mere fact they had to speak alone scared her about what would be said by Annalise.

It couldn’t be that Annalise and Rafael weren’t together so what was causing this weird feeling like something bad was about to be said?

Annalise entered the carriage after Beatrice and closed the door. "I assume you are wondering why I am with Rafael now and didn’t join where you were staying. I was at the border with Rafael but not for the reason you are thinking of. While many think of the border as a dangerous place, I think of it as home. Over here, I would be called a barbarian."

"The last day we saw each other, I had no plans of returning to see anyone again. I had to return home because my parents needed to know I was still alive and there was nothing more for me to do here. My father is the leader there. Your husband would know him since they once fought each other. I revealed who I was to Rafael at the border and that is how I am here with him," said Annalise.

Annalise tapped her fingers on her legs, watching every change on Beatrice’s face. At first, it appeared as though Beatrice thought she was joking so she laughed, but as Annalise continued to tell what happened, Beatrice’s smile was replaced by a frown.

Annalise hoped the truce would be good news to bring back a smile to Beatrice’s face so she said, "We are working to have a truce-"

"Wait a moment," Beatrice said, touching her forehead with her right hand. Many things were going through her mind right now that she wouldn’t be able to take in more of what Annalise was saying. "I need a moment to digest all of this."

Annalise stayed quiet to give Beatrice the time she needed to wrap her mind around what was said. She knew that everyone wouldn’t be quick to get used to knowing who she was. She wanted Beatrice to take this slow and ask whatever questions were necessary to get used to this change.

Beatrice sighed, moving her hand from her forehead to be placed back on her lap. "You are from the border. This certainly makes everything complicated," she said.