The Knight's Mysterious Maid
Chapter 183: Competition (2)

Chapter 183: Competition (2)

"I heard this is a big social event because the king is coming. Will he be here today?" Annalise asked.

"He will not be able to attend this year, but someone from the palace will be here in his place. There will be a time for you to see the king," Rafael replied, occasionally looking back at her to make sure she was behind him.

As he walked, he was approached by women and men. Men wanted to speak about his travels or for him to pay careful attention to someone they knew who was participating and women wanted to offer a charm for his sword or some other gift.

Annalise could not believe how Rafael walked around and there was some young lady at every step offering him a gift. If he would let her, she would gladly accept them from young women. Gifts should not be wasted. Not when she could make use of them since Rafael did not want them.

"Is this why you did not hold the competition at your manor? Because there are too many people looking to speak with you and when you are finished today, you want to be able to escape to your manor?" Annalise asked.

"That and the training grounds at the manor would be too crowded so we use this big field for people to sit around comfortably."

"And what are the little things the women are offering you? They are shiny," Annalise said, looking at a knight walking by with many of them on his sword.

"It has become a trend for women to buy little charms in the market and offer them to men to place on their swords for good luck and protection. Nothing about it brings good luck, but the women enjoy giving it to the men they favour and as you can see, men enjoy showing them off," Rafael replied.

If he saw any of his knights more interested in getting these charms than doing what they were supposed to do today, they were in for a hard day of training tomorrow.

Annalise looked at Rafael’s sword which had no charms on it. She knew that he was distant when it came to women, but could he not enjoy the day and take at least one? She was certain his sword would be covered with them if he started to accept one. "Maybe it does bring good luck. Are you certain you do not want one?" She asked.

Rafael didn’t see the point in decorating his sword with something that did not bring good luck. Your skill helped you win, not a little charm. If he were to accept a charm from someone, they would get the wrong idea or he would be approached by other women rushing to offer their charms.

He wasn’t going to take any unless it was from Annalise and seeing that she didn’t know what they were for, she did not have one.

"I don’t need it," Rafael replied.

"Are they valuable? If they are and you are offered many, but you don’t want them, I will take them off your hands so you are not bothered by them. It sounds like a fair deal to me," Annalise said. She picked up her pace to be by his side and smiled to convince him.

"How kind of you, but they are not valuable. Well, most of them. Most are not real jewels. They are made of glass, but there are some decorated with gold and real jewels. Any charms that are expensive will not be given away so easily and unfortunately, the young lady will keep checking to see if I still have it so you cannot sell it," Rafael said, holding out his sword to stop the man who was cutting in front of Annalise.

Some of the people were so lost in conversation that they did not watch where they were going, bumped into someone, and then got angry.

"Of all the times for you to care about the feelings of the young women courting you, why does it have to be now-"

"Rafael Callahan."

Annalise was the one to stop first when a young woman she had not seen before came to block where she was walking with Rafael. Rafael was ready to go around her, but Annalise tapped his armour to make him stop. It wouldn’t take him long for him to hear whatever the young woman had to say and then tell her no.

Siena smiled, happy to finally stand face-to-face with Rafael. It was hard to find him and when she did find his tent, she spotted him leaving and had to walk fast to stop him. "I’m sorry for blocking your path. I am not here to bother you. I am from out of town and I have always wanted to see the Callahan knights. I also really wanted to see the commander," she explained.

"Now you have seen me. Excuse me," Rafael replied, walking around the lady and her maid.

Annalise smiled at the two women before her and started to walk around them as Rafael did.

Siena stared at where he once stood in disbelief. She knew this wouldn’t be easy, but she thought she would get a little bit more out of him than this.

"My lady, why aren’t you following him to finish talking?" Kayla asked.

"To make it seem like I am desperate? Bothering him won’t get me anywhere and we have a long day ahead of us for me to meet with him again. If I chase him now, he will regard me as the other young women who are nothing but a headache. We will stay close and not disturb him," Siena said, following where Rafael walked which was in the same direction as her spot to sit and watch the show.

"Oh. You are smart, Siena. Who do you think is the woman beside him? She is not dressed like a lady and I don’t remember hearing about any female relatives other than his mother. Perhaps a maid or a young lady clinging to him?" Kayla asked, hoping the latter was not the case.

"It doesn’t matter who she is to him. I will get close to Rafael. It doesn’t look like she is anyone special to him anyway," Siena replied.

While Siena continued to stay near Rafael to know where he was, Annalise and Rafael met up with some of the knights.

"Look how many I have gotten already," Michael said, showing off his sword full of four charms.

"I was there next to you when she told you to hand her charm to Rafael. You kept it for yourself-"

"Shut up you bastard!" Michael spoke over Christian. Rafael wouldn’t want the charm so why shouldn’t he keep it and claim it as his? "It looks like you won’t be having any protection today, Rafael. You don’t have a charm on your sword."

"I might get lucky and beat you today," Christian said, hoping it would happen. He had been training to take on Rafael.

"Gather the men for the first groups," Rafael said, ignoring their comments. He didn’t mind that the charms made them cocky since it made them eager to fight, but they should not get ahead of themselves by thinking it would help them beat him.

"You mustn’t lose to him," Annalise said as she watched Christian walk away. She wanted to wipe Christian’s smile clean off his face. "You should wear a charm."

"I don’t need it and I am not taking one from some young lady."

"Must you be so stubborn? Here," Annalise said, untying the green ribbon she used to tie her hair into a ponytail. "It is not like the other charms, but we can tie this around your sword and act like it is."

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