The Knight's Mysterious Maid
Chapter 182: Competition (1)

Chapter 182: Competition (1)

"There is already a large crowd and it has not started yet."

Annalise looked out at the open field where the Callahan knights and men from the town walked around wearing armour and swords in their hands. The long-awaited competition to earn money or join Rafael’s knights was finally here.

She walked with Rafael’s helmet Edwin had misplaced with the helmets belonging to other knights and she volunteered to leave Rafael’s side to get it since Edwin was swamped with work.

Annalise needed a moment to get away from Rafael since he was acting strange after the night she teased him about how she could make him belong to her. Days had passed since then and she was certain he did not like what had happened.

Annalise thought she was overthinking the first time when he avoided her, but after it happened again a second, third, and many more times, she knew that he was avoiding her. She regretted not leaving his room when she had the chance because now it felt like she was going to lose her position as his maid.

She should not have trusted that nothing would change between them and it would be forgotten.

Thanks to Rafael not speaking to her as he usually did, she did not get to ask if the king would be coming to town to watch the competition. She could only wait to see if the king would show up and hope that Thomas was around.

Annalise did not get the chance to leave the manor to meet with him to discuss the king coming or to get the tea from him.

Annalise made her way through the crowd of people who came to watch the competition. Nobles and common townspeople came to take a seat and watch the show. She didn’t think they would be interested in it, but the crowd surprised her.

She learned that it was a big event the town looked forward to since River started it. The king and other nobles Rafael knew potentially coming to town made it a big social event. People who did not care about watching men fight were here only to be seen and young women were eager to meet with the men participating.

Everywhere Annalise turned, she heard someone speaking about Rafael. He would be taking part in one match just for the fun of it, but he would not be competing for the money. He would spend most of his time judging the matches and deciding who had an early chance to join his knights.

Annalise entered the tent set up for Rafael to use alone and found him putting on his chest plate. "I found the helmet," she said.

Rafael continued to dress himself to be on time for when the competition would officially start. There was a lot he needed to do throughout the day so he had to be out of his tent fast.

Annalise disliked his silence after he had spent so many days annoying her. She looked back at the opening of the tent where two knights stood and then back at Rafael. "Am I going to be fired?" She asked.

She had to hear from his mouth since she did not feel like trying to understand his silence. Rafael should have used his mouth to tell her clearly whatever was on his mind. Why was he avoiding her? Why wasn’t he bothering her like normal?

She wanted to see the quiet Rafael since the talkative one always looked to tease her, but now she wanted that Rafael she was used to. She did not like having to figure out what was on his mind.

"Why would you be fired? Did you get into trouble with Mavis or Edwin?" Rafael asked.

"No, I think I have gotten into trouble with you. You try hard to not meet my eyes and you give short responses when I ask about something you need. It is not like you and maybe I am still misjudging you because I have not known you for long, but it is not what I am used to. It has happened since the night I brought you tea," Annalise said.

"If you thought over what I did and didn’t like it, though it wasn’t that serious, you should tell me if you do not want me by your side instead of sometimes acting like I am not there. If it is something else I did, please tell me. I do not want to be surprised by Mavis coming to me and telling me that I no longer need to be your maid."

Rafael turned to Annalise and just like she had said, it was probably the first time in a few days he had properly looked right at her. He was avoiding her. He was so that he could get rid of what he imagined doing with her since it was not right. With a little distance, he was hoping his feelings for her would slow down.

His attraction to her was getting out of hand. It wasn’t that he simply lusted over Annalise and wanted to bed her. He wanted to know about her strange ways and be with her. The thought of settling with a woman who wanted to kill all of his chickens crossed his mind.

"I apologise for avoiding you. You did nothing wrong that night and you will not be fired. Something has been weighing my mind and I needed a bit of space. I’m sorry for making you miss my voice," Rafael said, picking up his sword from the table. He walked over to Annalise to get his helmet and then he would leave.

"Umm. I never said that I missed your voice. I just said that I noticed you were avoiding me," Annalise said, holding out his helmet to him. Now she started back wanting him to be quiet. She could feel him getting ready to annoy her.

Rafael leaned down so Annalise could help him with his help. "My hands are full," he said, holding the sword with both hands.

"Perhaps it was better when you were avoiding me. I might have ruined my peace. You need to lower your head a bit more. I am not a giant like you are. Here," Annalise said, tiptoeing to help with putting on his helmet. "Even though you are mostly a judge today, when it is your turn to show off your skills, will you be giving it your all?"

"You are probably among the few women who wished all the matches today were real to see some blood. Yes, I will be giving it my all. I cannot let the town think that the commander is not as good as the young boys who don’t have much experience with swords. I will not be losing to spare anyone’s feelings. You are to stay close. Do not run off to disguise yourself to take part," Rafael replied.

Once Annalise was finished helping him, he pushed his helmet down so it would not be easily knocked off. He thought again about her participating. He wouldn’t put it past Annalise to have full armour lying around so she could change and take part.

"I could have done that," Annalise realised.

"Annalise."

Annalise smiled, stepping to the right to let him walk out of the tent so she could follow. "I am to stay near to you so that would not have worked. Before you go outside, I must warn you that there are a few young ladies waiting near your tent to see you."

"I cannot compete today, but I can still act as your guard to block them from approaching you. This would be a good time to let me hold a spider."

"No spiders, Annalise. Just stay where I can see you today," Rafael answered and then led the way out of the tent to get the competition started.

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