Chapter Eleven #3
“You may,” she said. “But I reserve the right to decide whether or not to answer it.”
“Fair enough,” he said. “How old are you?”
She faltered, just a little. “I have seen twenty years and three.”
He leaned just a little closer. “I’m told you reject all suitors who come your way.”
Her smile faded. “Who has told you that?”
He shook his head. “It does not matter,” he said. “But you know in a castle this size, people talk. They all talk. I am coming to think that it is a good thing you have rejected suitors who have come for you because you are far superior to any of them. No man is worthy of you.”
She smiled, rather sadly. “Then I shall be a very lonely woman.”
He shook his head. “I think not,” he said. “There will be a man who will come along, worthy of you. But you cannot chase him away.”
“How will I know this shining example of manhood, then?”
He sat back, his eyes glittering at her. “You will know him,” he said. “He could be right in front of your face right now for all you know.”
“You are in front of my face.”
“I am the shining example of manhood.”
“That is established.”
“See? You knew that before I even told you.”
He was talking in riddles, perhaps declaring his interest, perhaps not. It was difficult to tell. Dacia kept putting pieces of beef in her mouth, wondering where the conversation was going.
“Tell me something, Cassius,” she said. “Where are you going when you leave us? You told me that you had only stopped to relay a message to my grandfather, so you must have another destination once you leave Edenthorpe?”
He nodded. “That grandmother I spoke of,” he said.
“She is the matriarch of our family. All eighty-five of us. She had nine living children and more than seventy grandchildren, with some of the most powerful knights in all of England. But she is our guiding star and I very much want to see her. I’ve not seen her in three years. ”
Dacia smiled. “That is very sweet,” she said. “Where does she live?”
“Castle Questing, in Northumberland,” he said. “That is why I am hoping to finish this business for your grandfather sooner rather than later. Edward is expecting me back in London next month and I do not want to return before I’ve seen her.”
Her smile faded. “Did you tell my grandfather that?”
“Nay,” Cassius said, shaking his head. “It is not necessary. This should only take a few days and then I shall be on my way.”
Dacia didn’t press him. She knew he had given his word to her grandfather that he would stay and help and after their conversation about honor, she knew he wasn’t going to break his word. So she smiled weakly.
“However long you remain, just know that you are most welcome,” she said.
“I am grateful that you are here to help my grandfather and Darian. But I do hope you will visit us again whenever you have the opportunity. You have made a friend of me, Cassius, and I do not have many. In fact, after the incident with Amata today, I really do not have any.”
His smile faded as he watched the flickers of regret across her face. “You stood up to her today,” he said. “I was proud to witness that. I have a feeling Amata has been beating you down and taking advantage of you for a very long time, so I am proud that you finally took a stand against her.”
She tried to force a smile, but it was unconvincing.
“Sometimes you overlook the obvious when you are desperate for companionship,” she said.
“I have spent more than my share of lonely hours. I do not see that improving any time soon, but I am not complaining. It is simply the way things are. But… but I do thank you for what you have done for me.”
He was leaning into his hand, chin in his palm, as his eyes glimmered. “What have I done for you, CeeCee?”
She heard her childhood nickname from his lips and she smiled broadly, touched that he should use that intimate term.
“You have given me a view of myself that I have never seen before,” she said.
“All I have ever heard is how unsightly my face is. That has been my whole life. But you… you see something different. You see what no one else sees and I shall always be grateful. You have given me… hope, Cassius. I shall never forget you for it.”
She felt embarrassed even as she said it, so she stopped talking and picked up her cup, drinking deeply of her wine. Cassius watched her, a smile tugging on his lips.
“You’re sweet,” he murmured. “I think I like you, Dacia of Doncaster.”
She just looked at him and giggled, unsure what more to say because she was quite certain she’d said enough.
“And I like you,” she said. “I am glad we are friends.”
“So am I. In fact, I am glad that I will be remaining here for a few more days. Mayhap we can become better friends.”
Dacia didn’t say anything more because she didn’t want to sound too happy that he was remaining.
She wasn’t adept in the ways of men and women, and there was a fine line between gentle flirtation and reading too much into the situation.
She’d seen that from Amata and she didn’t want to do the same thing.
But if Cassius had been this charming with her cousin, she didn’t blame her for thinking there was something more to it.
But something told her Cassius hadn’t been like this with Amata.
Call it a hunch.
Before she could reply, however, there was a commotion at the hall entry.
One of Darian’s junior knights had just come through the door, pushing through the crowd as he approached the dais.
He had a harried look about him, young and excitable as he was, and some of the soldiers in the hall were standing up, curious as to why he seemed so agitated.
Darian stood up as well when he saw him.
The knight headed right to him.
“My lord,” he said. “There is trouble in Doncaster.”
Darian frowned. “What trouble?”
The knight gestured in the direction of the gatehouse. “We have many panicked villagers pouring through the gates,” he said. “Someone is looting and burning the town. We have been asked to help.”
“Looting and burning?” Darian asked, incredulous. “Who?”
“It does not matter who,” Cassius answered for the knight. He and Rhori and Bose were already on their feet, already on the move. “Rouse your garrison, de Lohr. You have a village to defend.”
Rhori and Bose began shouting to the men, ordering them to arms, and Darian’s junior knights began to take up the cry. Darian, caught off guard by the announcement of raiders and Cassius’ subsequent action, caught up to Cassius and grabbed him by the arm.
“This is my command, Cassius,” he said. “I will give the orders.”
Cassius could see that the pleasant relationship between them threatened to deteriorate into a competition.
It was something he’d feared when Doncaster has asked him to stay but, at this moment, he could see that very thing reflected in Darian’s eyes.
The man was a good knight, but he’d rarely dealt with trouble at Edenthorpe.
He wasn’t moving fast enough.
“Then give them,” Cassius said, not backing down.
“While you are asking questions, men are burning down your village. If I were a gambling man, I would say it was probably the same men who attacked Edenthorpe last night, so it is quite possible that this is a ruse. Keep that in mind when giving orders and do not empty your garrison of men or you might find someone else in possession when you return. Take half with you and put the other half on the walls or you might be very sorry.”
He didn’t even wait for an answer. He pushed past Darian, heading out to the knights’ quarters to don his armor. Doncaster wanted his help even if Darian didn’t.
Doncaster was going to get what he asked for.