Chapter 183: Competition (2)
"I heard this is a big social event because the king is coming. Will he be here today?" Annalise asked.
"He will not be able to attend this year, but someone from the palace will be here in his place. There will be a time for you to see the king," Rafael replied, occasionally looking back at her to make sure she was behind him.
As he walked, he was approached by women and men. Men wanted to speak about his travels or for him to pay careful attention to someone they knew who was participating and women wanted to offer a charm for his sword or some other gift.
Annalise could not believe how Rafael walked around and there was some young lady at every step offering him a gift. If he would let her, she would gladly accept them from young women. Gifts should not be wasted. Not when she could make use of them since Rafael did not want them.
"Is this why you did not hold the competition at your manor? Because there are too many people looking to speak with you and when you are finished today, you want to be able to escape to your manor?" Annalise asked.
"That and the training grounds at the manor would be too crowded so we use this big field for people to sit around comfortably."
"And what are the little things the women are offering you? They are shiny," Annalise said, looking at a knight walking by with many of them on his sword.
"It has become a trend for women to buy little charms in the market and offer them to men to place on their swords for good luck and protection. Nothing about it brings good luck, but the women enjoy giving it to the men they favour and as you can see, men enjoy showing them off," Rafael replied.
If he saw any of his knights more interested in getting these charms than doing what they were supposed to do today, they were in for a hard day of training tomorrow.