Chapter Six #2
He was cut off when one of his men shouted, pointing, and everyone turned towards the great bastion of Edenthorpe.
Beneath the silver moonglow, they could see something moving in the distance, near the castle walls.
There were gangs of men on horseback, bearing torches, as they watched, a barrage of flaming arrows launched at the men upon the walls.
It took everyone a moment to realize what they were watching.
A raid.
“I thought you said Hagg had never attacked the castle,” Cassius said, incredulous. “What in the hell is that?”
Darian was momentarily flabbergasted. “Damn,” he finally hissed. “He never has attacked the castle.”
Cassius could see that the activity was growing. “That, my friend, has changed,” he said, giving Darian a shove. “If not him, then someone is, and at night, no less. Get your men back there. I will go inside and sit with the lady.”
Darian looked at him. “I cannot leave her unprotected, Cassius,” he said. “I must…”
“You cannot take her through those lines and you know it. She must remain here.”
“But if they move in this direction…”
Cassius cut him off, though not unkindly.
“If they see thirty Doncaster soldiers around this cottage, they are going to suspect that they are protecting something,” he pointed out quickly.
“You must get these men away from here so as not to attract attention. Get them away from here and I will protect the lady with my life. I swear they’ll not get her as long as there is breath left in my body, Darian. But you have a castle under siege.”
Darian was torn, but only for a split second. He knew that what Cassius said was true. Soldiers around the cottage would only attract attention, so it would be best to move them. After a moment of indecision, he nodded.
“Very well,” he said. “Get inside and stay with her.”
“I will.”
“Do not leave her for any reason.”
“I will not, I promise.”
Darian emitted a sharp whistle between his teeth and his men began to run for their horses. He, too, started to move, but not before he looked pointedly at Cassius.
“I will return,” he said.
Cassius was heading for the cottage door, whistling for Argos as he went. “I know,” he said. “Be cautious. There are only thirty of you and more than a few hundred of the enemy.”
Darian waved him off, now rushing for his steed. Cassius bolted for the cottage door, yanking it open, and dashed inside with the dog on his heels. As he threw the bolt on the door, he happened to catch a glimpse of Dacia’s startled gaze.
“Shutter the windows,” he commanded softly. “Close them all up. Quickly, now.”
The occupants of the cottage were an older woman, a middle-aged woman, two young children, an old man, and Dacia. The old man began to move without question, but Dacia stood up from where she was bent over the older woman.
“What is it?” she asked, concerned. “What has happened?”
Cassius went to help the old man place the shutters in front of the window closest to the door.
“It seems there is a raiding party at Edenthorpe,” he said.
“Darian has taken your escort because we are afraid it would attract their attention.
Therefore, we are going to fortify this cottage and settle down until the raid is finished.
Her eyes widened. “Hagg?”
“Possibly.”
Dacia didn’t say anything. Cassius was moving to the next window when he happened to look at her.
She was still standing there and he knew it was because she was concerned, perhaps even indecisive about what she should do.
Her home was under attack, as outlandish as that sounded, and she was understandably shaken.
Confused.
He spoke softly.
“Everything will be all right, my lady. Return to your work.”
Dacia looked over at him and her gaze lingered for a moment. She was wearing a series of gossamer veils across her face and on her head, essentially only revealing some of her hair and both eyes. Everything else was covered. It was the apron all over again except with finer material.
But there was no mistaking those magnificent eyes, now filled with concern.
“Do you really think so?” she asked quietly.
“I do.”
“You do not think it is too serious?”
“Probably not, but it is best to be prudent. Do not fear.”
She continued staring at him before finally nodding her head and turning away.
But her movements were slow and uncertain, apprehensive with the turn the night had taken.
Cassius watched her return to work, trying to ease the fever of an old woman who didn’t look as if she would survive the night.
He went about helping the old man secure all of the shutters in the two-room cottage, returning to the larger common room and taking position next to the door where he could peer through the shutters at the castle in the distance.
It was going to be a long night.
*
“Well?” Dacia whispered. “Is the fight still going on?”
Cassius had been watching the battle for quite some time. The bright moon had sunk low in the sky, indicative of the late hour, but he could still see some movement near the castle. Whoever had attacked Edenthorpe had not quite given up yet.
“A little,” he said, turning to look at her. “I can still see activity at the gatehouse, but it seems to have dissipated elsewhere. Where does this Catesby Hagg live?”
“South and west,” she said. “A half-day’s ride from Edenthorpe.”
Cassius nodded before turning to watch the activity. “The moon will set soon,” he said. “Their light will be gone, so I suspect they are heading home after a fruitless attempt to assault Edenthorpe.”
He heard Dacia sigh. “Do you really think so?”
“I do. It is all but over.”
She paused a moment, grateful that the attack on her home hadn’t been worse.
“In all my years living at Edenthorpe, I can only remember two assaults,” she said, breathing heavily with relief.
“I do not even remember why or who, but I know they did not last long. They were both so long ago. Edenthorpe has always been peaceful.”
Cassius cocked an eyebrow. “Because only a fool would attack such a place,” he said. “With those tall walls and those berms around it, I would say that it is impenetrable. It is demoralizing to attack a castle, knowing you have no chance.”
He spoke like a man who knew his way around a fight. “Have you seen many battles?” she asked. “Mayhap that is a foolish question, given your profession.”
“It is not foolish,” Cassius said. “There are knights who see little battle and knights that see constant conflict. In answer to your question, I have seen many. Too many to count.”
“All of them in England?”
“Some in England, some in Scotland, some in Wales, and a couple in France.”
“Your family is a warring family, isn’t it?”
He shrugged. “We are knights and we have property to protect,” he said. “If someone wishes to take our property, we will fight. If the king needs our support, we lend it. There are other reasons to fight, of course, but good reasons. We do not go to war simply for war’s sake.”
“I did not mean it the way it sounded,” she said. “I simply meant you have a great deal of experience in warfare.”
“Definitely.”
“And you have seen much of it with Edward?”
“The king has many enemies.”
Dacia could hear something in his voice, something deadly. There was a stool next to the door and, wearily, she planted herself upon it, thinking of the events of the night, of Edenthorpe, and of Cassius.
It had been a most eventful evening.
“They have seen my strength for themselves, have watched me rise from the darkness of war, dripping with my enemies’ blood,” she murmured.
Cassius looked at her, his expression flickering with curiosity and recognition. “From Beowulf,” he said softly. “How would you know that?”
Dacia glanced him, feeling perhaps a little embarrassed. “Forgive me,” she said. “I did not mean to sound like a doomsayer. It is simply that what you said… the king having many enemies and you fighting his wars… made me think of that passage.”
He came away from the window. “You did not answer my question,” he said, though not unkindly. “How do you know Beowulf?”
“Because I have had an education in classic literature,” she said. “An old priest who taught me everything he could, everything I would learn. I not only know Beowulf, I have debated it.”
“With whom?”
“With the priest and with my grandfather,” she said. “I will debate it with anyone.”
A flicker of a smile pulled at Cassius’ lips. “Even me?”
He saw her eyes crinkle up as she smiled beneath the veil. “You are Beowulf,” she said. “You are a great warrior from the House of de Wolfe. Wulf is even in your name.”
He chuckled. “But I do not defeat the Grendel nor dragons,” he said. “That old poem is a tribute to godless people in a godless time. But I will tell you that mayhap more of those bloodlines are in me than you realize. My mother’s father, my grandfather, is a Norse king.”
Her eyes lit up; he could see it. “Konungr,” she said softly, using the Norse word for king. “I would believe that completely.”
“You know the Norse language?”
She shrugged. “As I said, the old priest schooled me on many things.”
Cassius nodded faintly, digesting the fact that this was truly a remarkable woman.
He didn’t want to give away what Darian had already told him because he didn’t think she would take too kindly knowing the man had been talking about her.
Cassius thought that whatever she wanted him to know should come from her, and he realized that he wanted her to tell him.
He wanted to know more.
“Did he teach you how to tend the ill?” he asked, with the intention of leading into more personal subjects. “You seem to know what you are doing.”
Dacia glanced over at the old woman and her daughter, sleeping quietly in the corner with their family around them.