Chapter 25: Cornered (1)

The next day, the Callahan household was busy from the moment the sun kissed the sky as the long-awaited day for the party was here.

"Make sure there are a lot of drinks around at all times. The majority of guests are knights, and those men can drink like they are fish."

Annalise was intrigued each time she heard about the knights. She hadn't gotten the chance to meet with any of the knights, but from Jonah's complaints, the knights would be able to eat down this estate in a day if it were made of food.

As she followed Beatrice, Annalise was amazed by the amount of money she heard was going into one night. Beatrice was spending plenty of money on food and drinks alone, but then there was the music, the extra pay to servants for working so late, the new decor Annalise heard Rafael complaining to his mother about, and more.

Beatrice kept saying that she didn't mind the price. She wanted Rafael to have a night of fun.

"Oh, Annalise!"

Annalise snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Beatrice say her name.

"I need you to go back to my room, go to the table where my jewels are laid out, and see a paper with the names of the guests. I need you to take it to the gates for me. I forgot to send it to the gates early so they can keep an eye on who is meant to be at the party," said Beatrice. She didn't want any stragglers making their way in tonight. "You can return right here when you are finished."

"Yes, Lady Callahan," Annalise excused herself. Though it was a good learning experience to see how they planned parties, Annalise wanted nothing more than to get away from it. It was quite boring to spend so much time looking into party details.

Beatrice had spent two days planning a party that would last a few hours.

'Maybe she should have listened to her son and not had a party,' Annalise thought.

Annalise left the grand hall, which would be used for the main party area. If she had her way, she would turn this hall into a space for training since she had no interest in parties. It was the perfect amount of space for her to train on days when there would be intense weather outside.

Annalise went to Beatrice's room, got the list, which was exactly where Beatrice told her it was, and then made her way to the gates. As Beatrice's maid, Annalise appreciated the fact she did not have to be running up and down under Mavis's orders. Normally she would use busy days as an exercise to stay fit, but today everyone reminded her of how chickens behaved after their heads were cut off. Bumping into each other as they ran around.

"Just my luck," Annalise muttered as the man from last night, who spoke of seeing her in the bushes where there were snakes, was coming toward her with Rafael by his side. Annalise frantically looked to her left and right to see where she could run to escape him.

"Well, if it isn't my little bush friend who doesn't want to admit it was her," Logan said.

'Why?' Annalise internally cried. Her chance to serve the king would slip through her fingers if he were to mention anything about snakes in front of Rafael.

Annalise decided to walk by Rafael and the annoying man beside him, and act like she had no idea what he meant about bushes. How was she to know that he was speaking to her anyway? They weren't friends. She wasn't the only person here walking around in the bushes.

Annalise folded her lips and closed her eyes for a moment when a large body blocked her path. Annalise looked up at Logan, who wore an annoying smile. He knew what he was doing by stopping her when Rafael was right there.

Annalise looked beside him at Rafael, who was more interested in the paper in his hands. She was curious about what was written on the papers and if it was of any importance to her.

"Where are you going now? Day off?" Logan asked. The maid in front of him had humored him yesterday, so he wanted to play with her.

Logan looked beside him at Rafael, who was acting like he wasn't interested in the conversation. If he wasn't, he would have walked ahead already. There was no reason why Rafael should stop and listen to this conversation.

'I hope he isn't interested in her,' Logan said, looking down at Annalise. He was thinking of keeping the maid to himself. Then again, if Rafael showed interest in a woman, Logan thought he had to do the world a favor and let Rafael have that woman since it would count as a rare occurrence.

"Lady Callahan wants me to take a guest list to the gates and then return to her side," Annalise answered. She hoped that with this, the conversation would be over. "Excuse me-"'

"Give me the list," Rafael said, holding out his hand for Annalise to hand it over to him. He needed to check that his mother was not trying to sneak any surprise guests by him.

Annalise did not need to be told twice, as she gave Rafael the guest list. "Can I return to Lady Callahan now?" She had no other reason to be out here now that Rafael had the list.

Rafael began to skim through the list. "You can take it to the gates in a moment," he said. There were a few names he would like to get rid of. Rafael finished and looked up at Annalise, who smiled. "Was it you with the snake?"

Annalise looked at Logan, who shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid of snakes, young master."

"You know, Rafael isn't fond of being called young master. He is a knight before anything else. Sir Rafael is better," said Logan. The Callahans weren't too close to Beatrice's side of the family, who finally viewed Rafael as one of their own after his father's name was spoken of all around the kingdom, and then Rafael became close to the king.

"It doesn't bother me," Rafael said, giving Annalise the list.

"It does-"

"Logan," Rafael said in a low tone, which alerted Logan to the fact he was in trouble. "Since you have so much time to talk about what I dislike, hit the training grounds right now. "'

Logan's mouth fell open. "You understand that your mother has planned for us to have the day off? To relax after we spent weeks in harsh weather, hunting down our enemies. You really want me to train today?"

"I wasn't aware you were under my mother's command. Party planner?" Rafael inquired since knight could not be Logan's title. "Add five laps if I don't see you there in the next five minutes," he added.

Rafael left the two to find themselves in trouble.

"That heartless man. Can you believe that?" Logan looked down at Annalise. He did not think his simple conversation would have ended like this. "Training on a day we have a party. Don't I look fit enough to you," he showed Annalise his arm.

Annalise glanced at his muscles, unimpressed by them. "I don't feel sorry for you. You should have left me alone. Have fun training," she said, walking around him.

"I'm surrounded by heartless people," Logan said, shaking his head. "Time to hide," he muttered, as he was not going to the training grounds. Rafael couldn't kill him if he couldn't find him.