Chapter 380: Settling the past (1)
"I cannot come here with you? Am I to stay here and be bored?" Annalise asked, watching from the bed as Rafael put on his armour. "You will have me miss out on seeing your father fight and kill Travis?"
"We’re not going to kill him tonight. We’ll take him somewhere for my father to take care of him then. If you behave and don’t sneak out while I am away, I will take you to see Travis when he is put in a cell," Rafael promised. It was the only thing he could offer in exchange for her staying behind.
"Well, that is boring. I’ve been wasting so much money getting Ezra to gather gossip about Travis for nothing," said Annalise.
Rafael stopped getting dressed as it was news to him that she had been sending Ezra somewhere. "Where has he been gathering gossip, Annalise? Since when has he been leaving the manor?"
"You don’t pay attention to what’s been happening in your manor because Ezra has been spending a lot of time in the market for two days now. He enjoys it because he always returns with things I don’t think he needs. I’ve just been keeping up with what Travis does and truthfully, he lives a very boring life," Annalise said, wishing she hadn’t wasted money on Travis now.
All Travis did was go around speaking with men like himself, creating new friendships and talking about Rafael. Annalise considered him to be one of the worst enemies she had ever come across because there was no thrill with Travis. If he had hired her, she would be plotting on Rafael better than anyone had ever seen.
"That’s what you’ve been spending the money I put aside for you on? On me? That money was for you to enjoy yourself," said Rafael.
"I thought it was for me to do whatever I wanted so I paid Ezra and Thomas to do what I wanted. I still have a little left to spend on myself. I didn’t think Ezra would be so cruel to make me pay him extra. I want to join you," Annalise said, going back to their previous topic.
"If you join us, I will be distracted by watching your back. I know that you can fight," Rafael said before Annalise could remind him. "I won’t stop you from taking part in other fights, but this one worries me that you’ll get hurt and rather than being by my father’s side, I would be looking over my shoulder to see if you are okay."
"And I will be sitting here worrying about who is watching your back. I can stay at the back watching you. That is better than me having to sit here and know nothing. I don’t want to stay here to defend the manor as you said. There are plenty of knights here to do that and if they can’t defend it without your lead, they aren’t smart enough to be here," said Annalise.
"You are treating me like I can’t defend myself and I know it is out of worry that I might get hurt, but you have to remember that like you, I can protect myself. I’m the future leader of my people. If I didn’t meet you, I’d have bigger fights than this one with Travis to worry about. Fights I would certainly win," Annalise said, getting up from the bed.
"I will wear armour and stay far out of your way until you have Travis. I would like to find Siena and get her out of there because she’s not happy. Would it convince you if I take Ezra with me? Please," Annalise pleaded with him, trying her best to change his mind with her begging. "It concerns me that you will want me to sit at home like this while you go out to fight so I don’t get hurt. That isn’t right for me."