Chapter Five #3
Dacia sat down without any hesitation, entranced with the tale. “And the ponies behaved themselves?”
He nodded. But then, he shrugged. “Well, for the most part,” he said. “I remember one tried to bite Baron Lulworth when he shoved it by the head because it came too close. The little beast was not to blame for that.”
Dacia frowned. “It is a man of sin who would be so cruel to a little animal,” she said. “But what an enchanting feast that would have been. I should like to be served by ponies.”
He grinned. “All of the ladies at the feast thought so, too,” he said. “Mayhap you could try it here, sometime. Gather twenty ponies and have them carry around dishes on their backs. It would be a way to impress any future guests.”
Cassius could tell by the way her eyes were crinkling that she was smiling. “Mayhap,” she said. “But I would give you all of the credit for the idea.”
“It is not my idea. You are, therefore, welcome to use it freely.”
She looked at him, her eyes glimmering with warmth. “If I can find some well-behaved ponies, I might.”
He shook his head. “I have not met many of those, to be sure,” he said. “I’ve met warhorses with better dispositions.”
“That is true,” she said, looking over into the darkened stable area.
“We have two ponies here now who are nasty gluttons. One is named Day and one is named Night, and they would rather eat than anything else. If you try to make them do something, they will kick. Night will even lay down and refuse to get up.”
Cassius laughed softly. “Sounds like some men I know of.”
“Sounds like my grandfather when he has had too much to drink.”
They shared a moment of laughter, something that had Cassius increasingly boldened. She had a good sense of humor and he liked that. After a few moments, he sobered.
“May I ask you a question, my lady?” he said.
Dacia shrugged. “That depends on what it is.”
“It has to do with my dog.”
“Then you may ask.”
“Did he hurt your face today and you simply do not want me to see what he did?”
Her expression went from warm to cold, all in a split second. He was positive that she was going to get up and run away, and was quite surprised when she didn’t. Something was forcing her to remain even though her entire body was tense, preparing to take flight.
But she didn’t.
She did, however, lower her gaze, keeping that apron up, turning her head away from him so he couldn’t look at her.
The defenses were up again.
“Nay,” she said after a moment. “My face is not injured.”
“That is good,” he said, trying to look her in the eyes. “Then I can only assume you are covering such magnificent beauty that for me to gaze upon it would immediately make me your devoted slave for life. Is that it?”
He heard her sigh faintly. “Sir Cassius,” she said. “I like speaking to you very much, but I do not wish to speak about… this.”
“About my becoming your devoted slave?”
He could see, even from a side view, that she had rolled her eyes. “Nay,” she said. “About… the apron. I… I am very modest with men I do not know, and this is part of that modesty. Suffice it to say that it is simply my way. It always has been.”
The mood could have taken quite a serious turn there, but Cassius didn’t let it. He wanted her to know that he wasn’t particularly concerned with whatever lay beneath that apron.
“Then you do not want to make me your devoted slave for life?”
She was embarrassed, uncomfortable, but his charm had her chuckling in spite of herself. “That seems to be all you care about.”
“It would change my entire life.”
He could hear her chuckle. “I am afraid that it simply would not work out,” she said. “The king might become angry if I stole you away from him.”
“Mayhap,” he said, thinking that if she was willing to joke about it, then mayhap she understood that he wasn’t being critical of whatever was beneath the apron. “But you are much prettier than he is. He would understand.”
She looked at him, then. “I am not sure how you can say that when all you can see are my eyes.”
“They are the most magnificent eyes I have ever seen.”
Her gaze lingered on him a moment and he swore he could see the flicker of longing in them. Perhaps she wanted to believe him.
Perhaps she was afraid to.
Somehow, that made sense to him. He was coming to think that if the only reaction or reference she’d ever had to her beauty were the nasty comments of petty women like Amata de Branton, then surely she wasn’t used to someone telling her that anything about her face was magnificent.
But it was.
In truth, he felt rather sorry for her.
“Lady Dacia?”
They both heard the voice, standing up from the bench in time to see Darian coming through the kitchen door. He was looking over the yard but quickly noticed Dacia and Cassius over by the buttery. He headed in her direction, hardly giving Cassius a second look.
“My lady, forgive me,” he said. “Old Timeo is at the gatehouse asking for you. It seems that his wife has grown worse and now their daughter is ill as well. He has asked for your help.”
Dacia was on the move. “I thought the woman was doing much better.”
“Evidently not.”
“I need my medicament bag.”
“I’ve already sent a servant for that and a cloak.”
Dacia wasn’t thinking about anything but what lay ahead at that point.
The conversation with Cassius was forgotten.
Darian was behind her and Cassius was further back, bringing up the rear, but Dacia forgot herself completely and dropped the apron the moment she came through the kitchen door.
She was so used to moving freely around Darian that it didn’t even occur to her not to keep the apron over her face.
She was completely focused on the task ahead.
“Make sure Edie knows that I am going,” she said, turning briefly to Darian. “She will have to ensure the comfort of our guests while I am gone.”
“Aye, my lady,” Darian said. “And I will ride with you, but I do not want to take any of the other knights. Given the issues we’ve had lately with Hagg, I am uncomfortable giving you more than one knight for an escort. This could be a ruse, you know.”
Dacia came to a halt and turned to Darian in the shadowed light of the kitchen. “Old Timeo a ruse?” she said, aghast. “That old man is as loyal to Doncaster as much as you or I are. He would never let Catesby Hagg use him so.”
“Unless he threatened the man’s family.”
She threw up her hands. “Then if you believe that, why let me go at all?” she demanded unhappily. “He could be waiting for me at Timeo’s home.”
Darian eyed her. “That is possible,” he said. Then, he turned to Cassius, who was still standing back by the kitchen door. “My lord, may I ask you to ride with me to escort the lady? We can leave your knights here at Doncaster in case this is a ruse.”
Cassius came closer, interested in what Darian de Lohr was saying, but more interested in the fact that Dacia had dropped the apron from her face.
In all of the fuss with the subject of Old Timeo and his ill family, she seemed to have forgotten the defenses she’d so carefully held up.
Her face was now exposed to the dim light of the kitchen.
And what a face it was.
Magnificent didn’t quite cover it.
She had freckles, that was true. A fairly heavy dusting covered her nose, her cheeks, and she even had a few down around her mouth.
They weren’t even very dark in coloring and nothing, in his opinion, that needed to be covered up.
No amount of freckles could take away from her sweetly oval face, a nose that was a little wide, and lips that could only be described as lush and bow-shaped.
With her dark, arched brows, brilliant eyes and dark hair, he was smitten by what he saw.
Perhaps she wasn’t the pale, fragile beauty that was the romantic ideal to some men, but if one took time to really look beneath the freckles, she was something astonishing.
For a moment, he was actually speechless, but for necessity’s sake, he quickly recovered.
“What ruse do you speak of?” he asked, focusing on Darian. “Is Doncaster having trouble the king is unaware of?”
Darian sighed heavily. “Some,” he said, unaware that Cassius was studying Dacia closely. “He hasn’t wanted Edward to know. He believes it will resolve itself.”
“What will resolve itself?”
Darian’s gaze lingered on the king’s Lord Protector.
The House of de Lohr and the House of de Wolfe were family because Cassius’ cousin, William de Wolfe, had married Darian’s cousin, Lily.
Although he didn’t know Cassius well, he had met him a few times in the course of his duties with Doncaster and knew that Cassius was one of the most elite knights in England.
Given that they were family, even if they didn’t personally know one another well, it was implied that there was already trust between them.
When Cassius had appeared earlier that day, Darian was more than happy to welcome the man to Edenthorpe and, now, he was more than willing to let him in on Doncaster’s troubles.
Had he known what Cassius was thinking about Dacia, however, he might have changed that opinion.
“We have a neighbor named Catesby Hagg who is laying claim to lands that belong to Doncaster,” Darian said. “It is a long story, so suffice it to say that Hagg has been bold enough to launch a few raids on the disputed land.”
“But nothing on Edenthorpe?”
“Nay, nothing on the castle,” Darian said. “But we must be vigilant.”
Cassius’ gaze drifted to Dacia, standing partially in the shadows of the kitchen. He couldn’t believe she hadn’t realized that she’d dropped her apron, waiting for the moment when she would remember and suddenly cover herself up again.
“And this old man who has summoned help?” he said. “Is he to be trusted?”
Dacia nodded. “Very much so,” she said. “His wife has not enjoyed good health over the past couple of years and I have helped her.”
“You are a healer, my lady?”
Dacia shrugged. “I have some knowledge, aye,” she said. “It is part of my responsibilities as the Lady of Edenthorpe. I tend the sick and the poor to the best of my abilities.”
That was very true in many houses all over England. The lady of the castle was always expected to tend to the sick and the weak.
That was good enough for Cassius.
“Then I will go with you,” he said to Darian. “Let me find du Bois and de Shera and tell them where I am going. Who are you leaving in command?”
Darian gestured towards the gatehouse. “I have four knights under my command,” he said. “Lesser knights, young and hungry, but experienced. I will leave one of them in command, Sir Clifton St. Marr.”
“You trust him?”
“Implicitly.”
“How old?”
Darian lifted his shoulders. “Young,” he said. “He has only been a knight for a few years, but his judgment is impeccable.”
Cassius digested that. “Then let me leave du Bois in command,” he said. “He has been a knight for twenty years and can command a battle better than almost any man alive. He would submit to St. Marr if I told him to, but let us not strip the man of the respect he has earned, shall we?”
Darian was agreeable. “Absolutely,” he said. “I will tell my men that the king’s knight is in command while I am gone. They will be most agreeable to taking orders from a man who is in royal service.”
“Better than that, he is one of Edward’s Praetorian guards,” Cassius said. “That’s what they call the king’s personal guard, you know. Praetorians.”
“Prestigious, indeed.”
With that, they headed out, following Dacia as she scurried away to collect her things.
Cassius went about his business, finding Rhori and Bose still in the great hall and explaining to them what their duties would be until he returned from his escort duty.
When Bose offered to go in his stead, Cassius brushed him off.
Perhaps too quickly. He didn’t want anyone else taking the escort duty.
If Dacia was going out, he was going with her.
He wanted another look at that sweetly freckled face.