The Knight's Mysterious Maid-Chapter 255: Attack (1)

Annalise looked around at the people walking by her, trying to figure out which direction the call came from. There were too many people walking around and too much noise for her to remember which way she heard the call.

Annalise started to panic because of the terrible timing. She knew that her father would send someone to look for her and bring her home, but she never thought it would be in this situation that she would be found. Walking with the Callahans and the knights was the worst time for someone to find her.

Her people would look to ambush the Callahans and the knights to take her. Had she been walking the market alone, Annalise wouldn’t have been so worried, but being seen with knights was a different story. Being seen with Rafael was going to cause a lot of problems she didn’t need right now.

She needed a lot of luck to not be taken today. The only good thing at the moment was the fact it was early in the day so they would not try to take her just yet. Night would be their time to try, but Annalise wanted to speak with them before they tried forcing her back home. She was going to enjoy every bit of her last few days with Rafael and did not care who would not like it.

"Annalise," Rafael said, touching her shoulder to calm her after he noticed the fear that filled her face. She looked around like she sensed something bad and he couldn’t help thinking Siena’s guard had something to do with it.

Rafael would like to have his knights drag the man off to question him about Travis and then dispose of him, but they needed to wait until they were out of sight from the people watching his family to make a move. Rafael wanted it to happen quickly without alerting Travis’s men who might be watching.

In fear of what might happen, Annalise shook her shoulders to get Rafael’s hand off of her and stepped back to put some distance between them. Protecting him made it look like she disliked his touch and Annalise immediately worried about what he was thinking now.

Rafael’s eyes widened, confused by her reaction. It hurt to see her look at him and react like his touch was the worst thing in the world. He didn’t like the times when he couldn’t understand Annalise.

Rafael placed his hand back at his side. He had touched intimate parts of her last night, but now she was back to not wanting to be touched. He sighed, tired of taking steps back, but he was going to continue to be patient with her in hopes she would one day open up to him.

"What is wrong, Annalise?" Rafael asked. He was more concerned about how she looked scared out of her mind than focusing on why she didn’t want to be touched. She was scared before he touched her and he needed to get to the bottom of it.

Annalise relaxed, regretting how she pulled away from him because now Rafael was going to misunderstand her. She always had a perfect lie ready to get her way out of many situations, but her mind was blank.

Annalise took a deep breath and said, "You startled me. I didn’t shake off your hand."

Annalise glanced at Siena’s guard to make sure he was distracted and saw him following the others. Annalise decided to take a risk by reaching out to touch Rafael’s arm to show that she was not afraid of him. This wasn’t good for the people watching her to see, but she couldn’t have Rafael misunderstanding her.

"I’m trying to pick out a charm so do you mind going elsewhere so it can be a surprise?" She asked.

Her eyes then went to Beatrice and River going into a shop with shoes shown off by the windows. Siena and Kayla followed them along with the guard. Annalise only needed Rafael to be elsewhere and for the knights to leave her be so she could drift away to find who found her.

Rafael looked at the table full of charms. Annalise’s ribbon worked just fine, but he was not going to turn down any gift from her. He doubted that her fear was all about being seen picking out a charm for him. He was not a fool to miss that something or someone had scared her.

"Annalise, you can always speak to me about what concerns you. I will help you in any way that I can," Rafael said and then waited for her to speak, but he was met by silence.

"I like the black," Rafael said, pointing to the only black charm on the table to help her pick. He smiled to show that he was not upset with what she did and left Annalise’s side so she could go back to picking out one for him while he would keep a close eye on her.

It wasn’t every day he saw Annalise look so afraid so rather than focusing on Siena’s guard he was going to watch Annalise.

Annalise felt like she had done something bad for the world to be against her. To have her people find her when she was on a trip with Rafael. She already planned to go home so why did they have to find her now? Why did they have to come to ruin the time she wanted to enjoy with Rafael?

If she was correct that her father’s men had found her, they would follow her back to the home she was staying in with the Callahans.

"I need to sneak out but he doesn’t go to sleep," Annalise said, tugging on her hair because of her frustration.

The owner of the small stall selling the charms didn’t know what to make of the young woman standing before him and pulling on her hair. "Excuse me," he said, tapping the wooden table to get her attention.

Annalise didn’t notice the owner trying to get her attention and continued to try to guess why this was happening to her. ’Am I being punished for what I did with him?’ She wondered. ’I won’t scare anyone with animals if you forgive me.’

"This is too stressful. Give me the black one and these three," Annalise said, trying her best not to cry because of the pressure she was under at the moment. "Grandmother please," Annalise whispered, hoping her grandmother would work some magic to have nature on her side again.

Help her lose the people who found her for the next two days and then they could show up before her when she and Thomas were leaving.

The sound of horses trotting soon filled the market, getting everyone’s attention since no one rode horses through the market where people were walking. There weren’t many carriages coming this way since they stopped to let off their passengers.

Annalise tried to pay attention to the knight getting off the horse while she was paying for the charms.

The knight said something to Logan that she could not hear and the others looked angry upon hearing what was being shared.

Annalise looked to her side where Rafael brushed past her to go to his knights. Logan approached Rafael to speak as the other knights paced back and forth, seemingly awaiting an order.

Annalise grew worried when she saw a knight handing his sword over to Rafael.

Annalise left the stall as the charms were not important now. She had to know what was happening and why it looked like Rafael was going off to fight without any armour. The rule about Rafael not having armour on a trip was foolish when there was so much danger in his life.

Annalise stopped when Rafael looked her way and started to walk toward her. He shared the same look of anger as the other knights, but he calmed down a bit when their eyes met. "Please tell me you are not going to fight without armour."

Rafael grabbed Annalise’s hand and led her toward the shop where his parents were. "I need you to stay close to my father and tell him to not return to the house unless I send a message that it is safe. Keep away from Siena’s guard until Logan takes care of him."

"Rafael-"

"I will be back soon and I would be less worried if the three of you stick together. I am leaving Thomas and two other knights to protect you. Stay here and stay safe Annalise," Rafael said, letting go of Annalise’s hand now that he placed her before the door to go inside to join his parents.

He had to take the horse and leave now to catch up with the men who decided to attack the knights he left behind.

Annalise didn’t want to stay behind when Rafael was charging into a fight as the only one without armour. She didn’t know who he would be up against and how well-protected they were.

She wanted to run after him to join him, but seeing that a knight came for help and only three knights would remain to help protect Beatrice, she could not leave.

Annalise had a bad feeling about Rafael leaving them and she had a bad feeling about leaving Beatrice’s side. It felt like someone was splitting them up so she had to make this side even to keep Beatrice safe.

Annalise knew it couldn’t be her people doing this attack so it was most likely Travis making a move.