The Knight's Mysterious Maid-Chapter 295: Plans for war (3)

After talking to Celeste about Rafael, Annalise stayed with her grandmother to hear about what happened while she was away, and then she rested while she waited for the meal her mother was preparing for her to be finished. She also awaited her father calling upon her to join the meeting of what they would do if the knights came to attack them.

Before going home to see her mother, Annalise walked to Thomas’s home to have a word with him. By now, her father should have spoken to him, and she wanted to know what was discussed. Thomas hadn’t revealed her relationship with Rafael since her father didn’t come looking for her.

On her way there, Annalise thought of if she should ask Thomas to help her meet with Rafael. She could not do this alone since many eyes were on her now so she needed him.

As she neared his home, Annalise found him digging up the dirt and placing it in baskets.

"They have turned you into a farmer," said Annalise.

"It was my mother’s idea. I need to do everything I missed while I was away. I’m planting vegetables. You don’t look as if you got into a lot of trouble," Thomas said, putting a stop to his task to look at Annalise.

He had been worried that her father would go hard on her, but he worried for nothing.

"My father is angry. Instead of punishing me, he will be preparing me to take his place. The next time we ride out, I will be there by his side. If you want, I will also give you a nice spot at the front with us. You always wanted the chance to join them. Now it is your time," Annalise said, stooping down to look at piles of seeds. "I need your help-"

"If you are planning to run away again, I can’t go with you this time. As you can see, I have a lot of work to do. We’re behind on preparing for winter," Thomas replied, getting back to work. "Have you started to miss him already? I accepted it, but I don’t want to talk about you two."

"I am planning on using our relationship to have the two sides finally speak to each other. Fighting cannot go on forever. If there is a chance I can convince Rafael to speak to his king about stop trying to step foot-"

"This is unlike you. Annalise. Do you really think that just because the two of you are in love, everyone will stop wanting to talk? Seems like you are just trying to see him and I don’t want to get involved. My mother already wants to kill me," said Thomas.

Annalise looked around to make sure no one was around to listen to them. She leaned forward to Thomas and said, "He is close to the king and he leads the knights. We have never been able to get someone close to the king to listen to us. If his feelings for me are as true as he says, he won’t attack us. I also learned something about his family which might help to convince him not to attack."

"His family? I don’t understand. What does his family have to do with him not wanting to attack us? You," Thomas said, inspecting her body. "Don’t tell me that you are pregnant."

"Of course not. I found out that his grandfather loved a woman from the border. Rafael had seen her in his youth until she returned here. I have a box of things she got from his grandfather. Even if he is angry with me, that should get his attention to have him speak with me. Are you going to join me or question everything I say?" Annalise asked.

If she couldn’t convince him, she would find a way to do this by herself.

"You always spoke of wanting to lead an attack to kill the guards and all the king’s men bothering us, now you want to have a word with them. I just want you to know that you two will have a tough life going forward. Both sides won’t accept each other easily and you will have to do a lot of convincing to end this war. Are you ready for that?" Thomas asked, putting down his tool since he was going to join her crazy plan.

"Talking is better than fighting and seeing people I care for die. I can’t believe I am going to miss out on a good fight. I haven’t had one in days," Annalise sighed, saddened that she would not get the fight she sought after. "We need-" Annalise paused and turned to her right when she heard someone coming. She stood up as Ezra neared them.

"Good to see you haven’t lost your skill. Your father wants to speak with you. Both of you," Ezra said, looking at Thomas. He was curious about what the two of them spoke of since he wouldn’t put it past them to try leaving again. He wished they had spoken a little louder, but Annalise wasn’t a fool to be so careless.

Ezra placed his hands behind him and turned around to lead them to where the others gathered. Like most, he was excited to watch Annalise stand beside Phillip and hear her plans to help them win against the knights and border guards. It was a long time coming and thanks to her leaving, Phillip sped up having her shadow him.

Annalise was normally left here to protect those who stayed behind in case some guards managed to slip by them and reach here.

Ezra also looked forward to her teaching them how the knights trained. He knew he could take on the knights at the moment, but would love to use their own tricks on them.

Annalise narrowed her eyes at Ezra who seemed to be in a good mood. "Why do you appear happy?" She asked.

Ezra looked over his shoulder at Annalise on his right. "I have always looked forward to you taking your father’s place. You fight as good as him, if not better. It wasn’t every day that one of your peers could say they got the best of you in a match. You’ve been prepared for this very moment, but I must say that I am interested in how the talk of you starting to pick a partner will go."

Annalise walked faster to block Ezra’s path. "What do you mean?" She asked.

"It wasn’t your father’s idea. Some people were concerned about how you left. They think if you were to wed, having a family would keep you here. The future leader should always be here to protect us. Your reaction is what makes me happy," Ezra explained.

He already knew that Annalise wasn’t going to get married just to convince everyone that she wasn’t going to leave. Annalise had the same reaction as Phillip when he heard the suggestion. Before a table could be broken, Ezra said he was going to bring Annalise to add her to the conversation.

"You are at the age where young men would fight for your attention-"

"Ezra shut up. I go to visit my grandmother and you fools start talking about marriage behind my back. I’ll make them regret suggesting that," Annalise muttered, picking up her pace to reach where the meeting was faster.

"Annalise- Where is she going?" Thomas asked as he watched Annalise suddenly turn to walk in the opposite direction of where they were meant to go.

"Celeste lives in that direction," Ezra answered.