The Knight's Mysterious Maid-Chapter 274: Last day (1)

The next day, Annalise sat outside in the garden with Rafael and Beatrice to enjoy a picnic Beatrice put together for the last day. River was away with Logan and another knight to speak with Siena’s guard who was taken by the town guards.

"It is a nice day out to lay on the grass and do nothing," Beatrice said as she laid out what the cook prepared for her to use.

She spent her night thinking of ways they could spend time together before heading home in the evening. The trip went by faster than she liked, but she was ready to go back home to tend to her garden if she had time and start packing to travel with Rafael.

"It was a bit chilly last night. Did you sleep well, Annalise?" Beatrice asked, looking at Annalise who appeared lost in thought all morning. "I hope I didn’t make it hard for you to sleep by asking you to watch over Rafael for me."

Annalise stopped thinking about her conversation with River and turned to Beatrice. River didn’t seem to have told Beatrice anything or they were leaving the future to her and Rafael. "I slept well. The window was open, but the room was warm," she answered.

"Good. There wasn’t any need for me to worry about Rafael. He is walking around like he wasn’t wounded yesterday. I can peel an apple for you if you want. When Rafael was younger, he wasn’t fond of eating the skin of apples so I would peel them for him. Then he grew up and said they were a hassle to peel so I should stop," Beatrice said, picking up a shiny red apple and a small knife to start peeling one for him.

Annalise watched Rafael move around a big branch that fell from one of the trees in the garden. "He might have thought you were tired of doing it," she said.

"Little did he know that I liked doing it. I was a terrible cook back then so I enjoyed seeing his eyes light up when I peeled or cut fruits for him and put them in a bowl. I’d do it every morning and night if we had plenty of fruit around. That is why I want to add more fruits to my garden. So I can cut them up and take them to him. He’s grown, but he is still a baby for me," said Beatrice.

Annalise sat hugging her feet, watching Beatrice place the apple slices on a small plate. "Are there any embarrassing stories from his youth I can tease him about?"

"Not really. He was a quiet child, sticking close to either me or his father. He didn’t play around much with the other children. He would just sit and keep to himself or help me with my daily chores. When he finally made a friend after I sent him off to school, I secretly thought it might be better had I let him stay home. If I can think of any, I will tell you," Beatrice promised.

After dragging away a branch his mother found unsightly in the garden, Rafael returned to the two women and sat on a blanket his mother placed on the ground for them to use. He was greeted by a plate of apples and after wiping his hands in his pants, he took two slices.

"See, isn’t this much better than sitting around thinking about what happened yesterday? I hope your father can return soon to join us," Beatrice said, turning to Annalise for her to take one of the slices before Rafael would take all of them. "I told the head maid to send some juice to the knights to help them deal with the heat. I’ve heard they’ve been enjoying themselves at night with a little bit of drinking."

"You should take more of your knights on a trip often. A trip that was not an order from a king sending you somewhere and one that doesn’t involve anyone dying," Beatrice added.

Rafael took more slices of the apples to eat so he would have an excuse for why he couldn’t respond to his mother.

Beatrice sighed and looked at Annalise. "Beware. He’s just one big headache. Sometimes I feel for you working as his maid. If he ever gives you too much trouble, just come to me. They might be taller than I am, but as a mother, I know how to give them all a proper scolding. You are eating too fast, Rafael. Leave some for Annalise."

"He can have all of them," Annalise said, satisfied with the one slice she had.

"I will have to cut quickly to keep up with him," Beatrice said as she reached to pick up another apple. "If you would visit me and your father more often, you would get to eat plenty of apples. I am going to plan a family dinner when we return from Lockwood. Will you be travelling with us, Annalise?"

"No," Annalise answered, shaking her head. "I will be leaving to pay my parents a visit with my brother."

Beatrice’s shoulders dropped as she was saddened to hear Annalise would not be accompanying them to Lockwood. She thought as Rafael’s maid and to keep her out of sight from Travis, Rafael would bring her along for the trip.

Annalise was the perfect person to keep her company in Lockwood. She had already planned where she wanted to take Annalise when they visited.

"It is sad to hear this, but we can’t keep you away from your parents. They must be worried about you and your brother. Maybe another time we can travel to Lockwood together. I hope that our time away will make us realise just how much we miss spending time with each other and something will be done about it," Beatrice said, trying her best to avoid Rafael’s gaze.

He would be a fool to think she had given up on trying to put him with Annalise. Especially when she sensed something happened between the two. Beatrice had a feeling that Annalise did not sleep in her room last night, but she was not going to bring it up since it was not her place. They were both grown enough to be spending time with each other and not be questioned.

"Mother," Rafael warned her.

Annalise placed the last of her slice of apple into her mouth. She wasn’t bothered by Beatrice hinting at the fact she hoped the distance would make the two of them realise how much they missed each other. She enjoyed that Beatrice was making Rafael uncomfortable.

"I am the parent here so don’t try to scold me, Rafael. They didn’t bring out the berries Wendy sent for us. I will be back. It is time I stretched my legs," Beatrice said, putting down the apple and knife in her hands to get up.

Annalise shared a look with Rafael, both knowing what Beatrice was trying to do. She did it so often that the two of them didn’t believe in her wanting to get berries. Annalise made no attempt to offer to go get the berries as Beatrice would just say once more that she wanted to stretch her legs.

Annalise watched Beatrice get to her feet and then walk toward the house. As soon as Beatrice was a good distance from them, Annalise laid back on the blanket to look up at the sky. "It really is a good day to lay around outside and do nothing. It would be a little bit better if there was a lake or river nearby for us to play around in, but I will settle for this."

Annalise turned her head to the left to look at Rafael. "The sun is making you glisten. It is quite unfair that nature goes out of its way to make you look handsome. When you are in Lockwood, all of the women will want to have a moment alone with you."

"Their efforts will be wasted since there is someone who requires all my attention," Rafael replied.