Chapter 172: Advice (4)
"You are doing well. I won’t have to worry about you dying when you leave for war. You were trained for the best so of course I wouldn’t need to worry," River said, looking at the well-crafted sword Rafael gave him to use.
"It doesn’t sound good for you to be complimenting yourself in the middle of complimenting me. What happened for you to suddenly be in the mood to pick up a sword? Is he causing trouble again?" Rafael asked, referring to Travis.
Since his father stepped away from being a knight, it was rare that he picked up a sword unless there was danger. It was to stop his mother from worrying about her husband getting injured.
"He has nothing to do with the mood I am in today. It has just been a long time since you and I had a good sword fight. You remembered a lot of what I taught you and even added a few tricks of your own. As much as you have been training, I hope you have been resting. Your body needs time to rest or you will pass out at the wrong time one of these days," River said.
"For the last time, I do rest. How many times must I say it?" Rafael asked, tired of the conversation about resting.
It wasn’t like he spent all day with a sword in his hands. He spent more time in the study than he did out here. He assigned captains to train the knights when he had other things to do.
"From what I saw this morning, I must agree that you were resting well."
Rafael frowned. Dealing with his mother was already something he had to bear with, but now his father was joining in. "Teasing doesn’t suit you, father. Leave it to my mother. You are supposed to be the parent I can run to so I can hide. Did you come here to have fun or is there something you want to say?"
"Both. I really wanted to spend time with my son and have a word with you while your mother is distracted. Just like your mother, I am also amused by the fact you have fallen for your maid and you were so quick to admit it to us. I’m surprised you didn’t try to come up with an excuse to keep this from your mother," River said since Rafael was always secretive about his women.
"She hates when I lie to her and I could already see her piece together what was happening. There was no point in lying since it might bite me in the ass one day. Are you here to tell me that I should forget everything I said in the past and try to court my maid?" Rafael asked as he placed his sword down on the wooden stand.
"No, I don’t want to make you break the rules you created. You’ll need to do that on your own. I just want you to be careful. With your uncle in town, he will target everyone you care for. If something were to happen between you and Annalise, you have to be prepared for it to catch his ears and for him to target her. I don’t know much your feelings are-"
"I just like her," Rafael interjected. It wasn’t anything more than that for anyone to notice something. "It will stay there and then fade away."