The Knight's Mysterious Maid-Chapter 306: Second chance (3)

"So, there might be a big fight going on right now, but you want to lay here with me? Not that I mind since you’ve forgiven me and this is nice, but aren’t you worried about it getting out of hand back there?" Annalise asked, tapping her fingers on the soft grass.

She didn’t have the patience to be enjoying them lying together. First, they should check that the people they cared for were still alive, and then they could come back here.

"I need a moment before I get back on a horse. What if one of your people found me here? Would they care to listen to you bringing me here? We need to go back together," Rafael answered, closing his eyes as he tried to get used to the pain.

The border guards barely listened to him so they wouldn’t stop fighting to listen to Annalise. Rafael also did not want her anywhere near Martin when he still had a gun in his hands. He didn’t know how many of the border guards had hidden guns and planned to use them today.

If Martin wasn’t dead, he was going to be when Rafael returned. Martin obviously didn’t know how to properly use the gun so there was a chance the bullet could have hit Rafael.

Annalise propped herself up to look at where there was blood staining his ripped-up shirt. "I still think you should let me ride to find a doctor to start stitching you up before you lose too much blood. I did not go through all of this just for you to die."

"I am not going to die. I just need a few more minutes without you telling me that you want to ride off by yourself," said Rafael. "You’re doing a terrible job of keeping me calm."

Annalise laid back down beside him. If she wanted to, she could get up, grab his horse, and ride off without him being able to catch her. Unless her father sent out people to search for her no one would be coming to this side to stumble upon Rafael.

Her mother and everyone else left behind knew to stay at home.

Still, she decided to give him the little time he needed. It was evident that everyone else wanted to fight today so they should do as they want and see firsthand why there was no need to fight anymore. So much death would fill the air today if they continued to ignore her plan to come to an agreement.

Annalise looked to her right at the sky since she had nothing else to do but wait. Aside from everything that was happening, it was a beautiful day. Had her father not learned about Rafael and rushed out to the field, this could have all ended differently.

"My grandmother knew the woman your grandfather was in love with. Her name was Iris," Annalise said.

"It was," Rafael replied, turning to Annalise. He didn’t remember what the woman looked like, but her name was never forgotten since Nicolas would say it a few times.

"She was my grandmother’s friend. I have a box of her memories at home. My grandmother gave it to me to watch over, but I think it belongs to your family. For all of you to enjoy some memories of your late grandfather. It was a good decision not to bring it today. It might have been ruined with me riding off and leaving my horse behind," said Annalise.

"It all makes sense now. Why he was always so reluctant to answer the king’s order to go to the border and his opinion about the land. I wonder if my father knew," Rafael said as his father sometimes seemed to have a few secrets he didn’t want to share when it came to their family.

Now that Rafael brought up River, Annalise wondered if she should tell him that River found out she was from the border.

’I probably shouldn’t say, but then I would be keeping something from him. Maybe I should just tell him later, but then waiting to tell him something created a problem for us,’ Annalise thought, becoming lost in what she should do.

She didn’t want Rafael to also be upset with his father for not telling him, but she also did not want to keep it from him.

"Rafael, please don’t get angry with what I say next. He figured it out on his own and wanted me to be the one to tell you so it would hurt less. Your father found out I was from the border when we were on the trip. It was the night you were wounded and I went down to the kitchen to get water," Annalise revealed.

She slowly turned to him to see his reaction and surprisingly, Rafael did not appear upset. If he was, he was doing a good job of hiding it.

"Of course he did. We’ll need to have a nice family talk when I see my father. I am not angry though I wish he had let it slip to me the day I was taking my mother to Lockwood. I would have plenty of time to think and be more prepared for today. I understand why he gave the task of telling me to you. Did his reaction not give you a hint I would not be hard on you?" Rafael asked.

"I did have thoughts you would be accepting, but there would be a negative thought to ruin it all. Honestly, relationships are unnecessarily painful. Do I really want to be in one with you? You should know that recently some fools brought up getting me married," Annalise said, stopping there to purposely make Rafael worried.

"That is not going to work on me. You are lying here with me so nothing came from speaking of you getting married. You also do not seem like the type to marry because it is what others think you should do. Can you gather my armour for me to get dressed? It is time we ride back to see the damage," Rafael said, slowly sitting up.

Annalise sat up with him and checked to see if his sitting up caused more blood to spill and then got to her feet to gather his helmet and other pieces of armour.

Rafael stood on his own and got dressed in his armour as Annalise also got properly dressed. He hoped that somehow her father had calmed down since he wasn’t looking forward to being attacked again. He couldn’t exactly defend himself as he normally would since he had to convince her family to let her be with him.

Annalise was already choosing to be with him, but Rafael planned to do the right thing which was to win over her family. He had to do whatever was needed to have them approve of their relationship so Annalise would not be on bad terms with her family.

Rafael did not want her relationship with her family to turn sour because of him.

Annalise was the first one to get dressed and pull the horse out from wandering the cave. She hoisted herself up onto the horse and then waited for Rafael to finish getting dressed. She worried about what they were about to ride back to and hoped that seeing her with Rafael would have everyone stop to listen to them.

Annalise kept her eyes on Rafael, watching as he got onto the horse behind her. As much as she wanted to ride quickly to see if her father was not hurt, she had to move slowly so nothing would happen with Rafael’s wound.

Even though she understood her father, seeing how careful Rafael had to be made her angry all over again.

Rafael wrapped his left arm around Annalise’s waist while he kept his right hand free to check on the wound if it started to hurt.

"You can go faster," Rafael said since the horse was going too slow. They used up a lot of time waiting for him to get used to the wound so now they had to be quick. "I am fine."

"You better tell me if your wound starts to hurt. I am going to hurt you if you sit behind there and keep your mouth closed about the pain you are in," Annalise warned him and then commanded the horse to move faster.