The Knight's Mysterious Maid-Chapter 400: Time to leave (4)

Annalise looked to her left at Siena who slept, resting her head on the carriage wall. The carriage was dark because it was early morning and Annalise was the only one awake as there was much to see. She did not want to miss out on seeing the moment she would finally be in Lockwood.

As they rode further into the popular town, Annalise saw a great difference compared to other towns she had visited. Everything here seemed to be much bigger and grand like everyone was trying to show off they had money.

Annalise looked out the window, occasionally sneaking a glance at Rafael who rode beside the carriage instead of in front, leading all the knights. That task was given to Christian and then he sometimes switched with Logan.

There were no attacks from anyone looking to steal their supplies so the trip to Lockwood went as they planned and now, they were going right to where they would spend the next few days or perhaps weeks depending on how the court acted with the truce.

Being here did not guarantee a truce would be agreed upon and signed. It only meant that they would hear her or maybe they intended to talk over her to voice their demands and continue to explain why they thought they owned the land at the border.

Annalise was ready for whatever foolish speeches they would give. They might think that her being in a palace full of palace guards would scare her, but little do they know that she once planned to come here alone.

Annalise continued to stroke the kitten while keeping a watch on Siena and Heidi to catch either one if they were to fall out of their seats. They were both tired from talking about shops they had heard about or speaking about the knights. They helped to make the trip entertaining since Annalise would have been riding alone if not for Siena and Heidi accompanying her.

In the distance, Annalise saw a big mansion that matched the description of the one Rafael said they were going to stay in. It would have plenty of space to hold everyone who was on this trip with them.

"I wonder how Ezra and Thomas are faring," Annalise said to herself, looking out the right side of the carriage to try to spot one of them.

Ezra or Thomas would occasionally peer into the carriage to see what she was doing and then go back to wherever they were before.

Annalise continued to watch on as the carriage entered the gates and parked right in front of the steps where there wasn’t a far walk for her to get inside to be out of the cold air quickly.

"Heidi," Annalise said, leaning forward to tap Heidi’s shoulder. "We are here," she said, tapping Heidi once more.

Siena stirred in her sleep because of the noise and slightly opened her eyes to see what was happening now. She noticed the mansion and leaned away from the resting on the carriage to prepare to get out.

Heidi woke up shortly after.

Annalise was the first to step out of the carriage, giving the other two time to finish shaking their sleepiness off before they would step out into the cold. Annalise buttoned up her coat so the kitten could stay out of sight for now.

"You can go inside to sleep in one of the homes, Annalise. Taking everything off the horses and carriage will not take us long," Rafael said, continuing to ignore the movement in her coat. He had more important matters to deal with now and when they were going to rest, she would have to take out whatever was in her coat at some point.

"Right," Annalise answered, adding to Rafael’s suspicion since she didn’t make a fuss to help with taking down the bags. "I will go in first to have a look around. Will we be having guests tonight?’ She inquired.

Here she would get to be introduced to Rafael’s friends.

"No one has written to me about coming to see us today, but be prepared for if the duke visits or the king sneaks out of the palace to speak with us. I will send away anyone else so we can rest and have a look around the town later. Have fun looking around," Rafael said, leaving Annalise’s side to oversee the bags being taken down.

He also had to inspect the gates to make sure they would keep anyone who was not welcome here away. Though the man who had been taking and killing women had been caught, Rafael still felt like there was great danger as there was always something happening in Lockwood.

Rafael was a little curious about what was the talk of the town these days. What was on the minds of the people here these days?

Annalise hurried away from the carriage to go up to the front door which was being unlocked by a knight. She couldn’t have her kitten freezing even though it was in her coat. She still felt a bit cold so the kitten must feel the same way.

Rafael watched Annalise enter after the door was opened and then went back to helping to take down the bags.

"You can go inside with her and then come down to collect your bags from the front door," he said to Heidi. With her inside with Annalise, he would know that there was someone to watch over Annalise to make sure nothing happened to her and whatever Annalise was hiding wouldn’t get away from her to scare someone.

"Thank you," Heidi said, grateful she did not have to stay out in the snow. Before she left, she started to ask, "Then Lady Siena can-"

"She can join you inside. It’s early in the morning and it is cold. Go inside to look around with Annalise and find somewhere to warm yourself up," said Rafael.

"Thank you," Heidi repeated and then went over to Siena who was struggling to remove a large bag that was covering her own. "Siena! Rafael said we can go inside and take the bags from the front door after the knights bring them in. You won’t be able to get out your bag on your own." ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm

Siena was glad to hear this as she wasn’t getting anywhere in removing her bag. There were too many heavy bags on her own and now that she moved back what had been protecting the bags from becoming filled with snow during the ride here, the bags needed to be moved quickly.

"Thank goodness," Siena sighed in relief as she would have been out here all day if there was no one to help her.

Siena was slowly getting used to not having servants do everything for her and it was hard, but she was still going to give it her best to show she could survive living without her parent’s help. She had taken great advice from Annalise and Heidi had also shared helpful tips since she lived away from her parents as she worked in the manor.

"Stop acting like a lovesick fool and help," Rafael said, throwing a bag Logan’s way for him to catch.

He had noticed Logan standing off to the side gawking at Siena like there wasn’t much work to do. He wanted to be with Annalise, but he stayed behind to deal with the bags first. Logan could wait a little longer to speak with Siena.

"What the hell? What if I saw the bag being thrown too late?" Logan asked, hoisting the bag over his shoulder. He had a good view and Rafael ruined him seeing through Siena going into the mansion and seeing if she was enjoying herself. "Whenever you can’t be with your woman, you take your anger out on us. How cruel of you."

"Or maybe you are to be paying attention to the bags and not the woman you are recently obsessed with. How is it possible for you to fall in love with someone so fast? You were just sulking over Annalise no longer being available and now you are strung over her friend. I still think you are thinking with what is in your pants and it is not love," Christian said.

He had seen Logan fall in love too many times for him to take this time seriously and he wished Logan’s crush would end fast so he wouldn’t have to suffer seeing Logan trying to flirt again. He would rather have to run around in the snow or even sit down to have a conversation with Edwin as opposed to watching Logan try to show off when Siena was around.

Logan dismissed what Christian said because he had to be jealous. "Of course, you would find an issue with my love life and those around us who are courting women because you can’t find a woman who wants to be around a grumpy brute like you for long these days."

"Funny, I remember you saying that about Rafael and now look at him," Christian said, bringing the attention back to Logan.

"T-That is not what I said," Logan stuttered, afraid that Rafael might get upset by what Christian said. The brute part wasn’t from his mouth but judging how Rafael looked at him for a second and then looked off, he must believe Christian. "I truly need to find better friends."