The Knight's Mysterious Maid-Chapter 257: Attack (3)

"It is Caldwell," Siena said, having nothing to hide. "You should be familiar with my father seeing as you were to marry him."

"Shane Caldwell is your father. My foolish brother wants my son to marry the daughter of the man I was meant to marry. This is ridiculous," Beatrice said, touching her forehead as if it would help calm her thoughts. "Over twenty years later I still hear about a marriage uniting the two families. What made anyone think I would want Rafael to be in an arranged marriage when I hated it?"

"Your brother seems to think that it is what everyone would want. He wants something from my family, but he cannot get it unless he becomes part of the family. Honestly, my father wasn’t too excited about the marriage at first after the shame you put him through. Said he was embarrassed-"

"I spoke to your father about not being able to love him. He said that he understood and did not argue against me wanting to love River. I know that he married soon after I left. What shame did he feel?" Beatrice asked, feeling like Shane had no reason to be embarrassed. "It is only my story of having a lover that is spoken of. Why do you think your father married quickly?"

"Possibly to end what was being said about him," Kayla answered.

Siena turned to Kayla, glaring at her for speaking out of turn.

Annalise wanted nothing more than to sew Kayla’s mouth shut. This was a conversation between Siena and Beatrice. Siena and Kayla appeared to be good friends with the way Kayla was always ready to defend Siena, but she needed to know when to shut up.

Beatrice chuckled, finding the young woman’s words to be funny. "They always speak of me running around with River while I was promised to your father. That was true. I took every opportunity I had to be near River when I knew my family wanted me to marry Shane, but I was not the only one with my eyes on someone else. It was simply more fun to gossip about my lover."

"My father said he loved you," Siena said, feeling like she was missing a lot from the story.

"Your father was a good man. Perhaps there was a time when he loved me along with loving your mother. Like me, he had to go along with the engagement. Hearing that he married not long after I left with River, I thought that he must have been happy I made it possible for us to go over the people our hearts desired."

"Maybe his friends joked about having a runaway bride here and there, but it is nothing compared to what I endured. The things said about me for running away with a man below my status. The things your father said about me to make himself look good. I could have started gossip about his lover who I assumed must have been your mother," Beatrice said, finding some resemblance in that woman now that she knew.

Siena found it hard to believe that her father talked badly about Beatrice. He always spoke about her in a good light from what she remembered. It was only when Travis was around that he smiled at the jokes being told. "I have never heard my father speak poorly of you," she said.

"You would have been too young to remember what was being said. Everything from that town reached my ears. My brother has always been the centre of attention. Everyone wants to be his friend so they say what they think would please him even if it is cruel and they don’t mean it," Beatrice replied.

If the Norman’s wealth wasn’t enough to have someone begging to be Travis’s friend, his talent of exiling you from social groups and torturing you in secret did their job to make anyone not want to get on his bad side. Other men from wealthy families and those far richer than Travis ended up fearing him because of his cruel ways.

Beatrice wasn’t excluded from his wrath when she got in the way of his plans. She couldn’t help but wonder how Travis was with his own children and wife.

"I do not trust you," Beatrice confessed. "My brother has sent many people to where I am to deceive me and toy with me. My family no longer considers me one of them and forgot about me. My brother seems to be the only one to remember that I am his sister and is intent on sending me to my grave early."

"That is not true. I have sat with your mother and there is a sadness in her eyes when your name comes up. I think they miss you," said Siena, certain of it because of what she saw. If Travis wasn’t getting in their ears, they would come to see Beatrice.

Beatrice doubted it because her family knew where she lived and never tried to come to her. It was easier for them to come to her than for her to return to White Town. She would not subject River to having to listen to awful rumours that remained.

As cruel as Travis was, their father could stop him and put him in his place, but their father allowed him to do as he wanted. Maybe her parents were yet to realise how evil their son was, but that didn’t change the fact that they made no attempts to welcome her back into the family.

"I am not here to hurt you or your family, Beatrice. From the day I saw the true personality of your brother, I wanted nothing more than to get away from him. If Rafael couldn’t defeat his uncle, I was ready to become his wife, but I wouldn’t do that now. I am yet to understand what my father and your brother want from each other. There are other families with wealth for my father to marry into. Why all this?" Siena wondered.

There were plenty of men asking for her hand. She could have been married by now and her family already reaping the benefits.

"Our families have always been obsessed with getting close to the king. Despite the wealth of the Cladwells and the Normans, they have never been welcomed to the palace to get close to the king. Rafael speaks privately with the king each time he is in the palace. He is their way to the throne where they think they can grow their status," Beatrice explained.

"That or the fact my brother has something on your father to push him to accept this engagement," she added. Travis always spoke of having an interest in everyone’s dirty secrets.

"I truly am not here to harm you or your family. I plan to work with Rafael to end all of this so I can get out of your brother’s care and return to my family. Hopefully, I can stand up to my father so I can choose the man I want to marry. I don’t want to chase Rafael when he cares for Annalise," Siena said, looking at Annalise.

Beatrice wasn’t ready to trust Siena just yet. The fact that she was staying with Travis made her feel like there was a chance for Siena to betray them one day.

Annalise walked away from the door when she started to hear a loud noise like something had fallen onto the floor. River and the knights must have started to deal with Siena’s guard. "I must follow your husband’s wish," she said, going to Beatrice to cover her ears with her hands.

Beatrice didn’t need Annalise to cover her ears, but instead of sending her away, she smiled. She sensed something between Rafael and Annalise on their ride to the town but said nothing about it to avoid making them uncomfortable.

She liked the fact that Annalise handled the violence better than she ever did. No one could convince her that Annalise and Rafael were not suited for each other.