Chapter 411: Harmless (1)
Rafael covered Annalise’s hand with his own to help calm her nervousness. "It will be fine. The palace can be scary when you are not used to it, but I will protect you. You’ll be surrounded by people who wish to make you feel at home."
Annalise smiled, wanting to show Rafael that she was fine. The people she was going to meet were his friends. She had to think about their reaction to her coming from the border. They might have sent an invitation to join them for a gathering, but there were things left to see like if they wouldn’t be tense around her.
"If it will help make you less nervous, we will only be sitting around talking, enjoying what food is prepared, get a little tour around the palace and then return home. I’m certain you won’t be in a rush to return home," said Rafael.
"Maybe. It is large," Annalise said, looking out the window at the palace in the distance. "Why does it need to be so big? So enemies would take a long time to reach the king? How many royals live there?"
"Not many, but plenty of guests are going in and out of the palace so there are many rooms. They would have prepared rooms for us and the knights if I had not gotten us a home. You will see why when we get inside and see how many people are there. I must admit that there are also useless rooms for showing off treasures or decor," Rafael said as he remembered a large room full of empty paintings.
"I imagine that there are plenty of useless things there. My home is so much smaller in comparison. Should the king ever visit the border, he might not feel comfortable. I won’t be getting a bigger home just to be like this palace," Annalise said, pressing herself to the door to try to see more of the palace.
"You are forgetting that we will be building a large new manor at the border. It will be bigger than the last to hold more knights and servants, but no one is looking for you to compete with having a home as large as the palace. If they were, I prefer the home you have with your parents," Rafael replied as it felt more like home.
Being in the palace meant you might be stressed with every step you took and it was so large that the royals did not see each other until it was time to eat. He knew that Tobias had been going out of his way to see Hazel as often as he could but before there were many rules to keep the two apart.
"I think you are just saying that because you love me, but it is true. I suppose the one good thing about a large home like this is having a big area to play around. I hope to get a tour of where their guards train. I won’t get too excited since they wouldn’t want to show their enemy that. Or show your weapons," said Annalise.