Chapter Sixteen #3
Dacia could only giggle at him. He was being thoughtful and excessive, a potentially dangerous combination for a man’s purse, but he didn’t seem to care in the least. He started pawing through the other rings presented, including the one with the amethyst, which he liked very much.
Dacia watched him hold the rings up to the light and inspect them.
“I always thought it was a strange custom for the woman to wear a ring symbolizing her loyalty to one man, but a man does not wear a ring symbolizing his loyalty to one woman,” she said.
“History abounds with male lovers giving their female lovers a ring, but you do not see men wearing any rings at all.”
Cassius was looking at a ring with a brown stone on it. “Would you like for me to wear one?”
“Of course not. I was simply making an observation.”
Cassius set the ring down and looked at the clerk. “Do you have any rings for men?”
The clerk looked surprised. “Elaborate and bejeweled, my lord,” he said. “They would not be suitable for a fighting man.”
“Why not?”
“Because they are enormous, my lord,” the clerk insisted. “Unless you wish to use them as another weapon.”
That brought a chuckle from Cassius. “Nay, I do not wish to do that,” he said. “But she is right. Women are expected to show their loyalty, but men are not. I should like for you to do something for me.”
“Anything you wish, my lord.”
Reaching out, he pulled the ring off of Dacia’s finger and handed it to the clerk.
“You will put my name on this ring, on the inside, so all will know who she belongs to,” he said.
“My name is Cassius, so make sure it is clear. As for me… measure the same finger on my hand that she is wearing the ring on and make me a gold circlet. Just a simple golden band, smooth and strong. You will inscribe her name on the inside, so all will know to whom I belong. Her name is Dacia.”
Dacia smiled at him, at his sweet and utterly romantic gesture as the clerk went to find something to measure his finger with. When he was gone, she spoke quietly.
“Are you certain you want to wear it?” she said. “Men do not wear such things.”
“My grandfather did, as I recall,” he said.
“It suddenly occurred to me that I saw him wear a ring my grandmother had given him, years after they’d been married.
She wore a very simple ring that he’d given her and years after the fact, she gave him one also.
When my father asked her why, she said because she wanted him to wear her heart as she wore his. I am happy to wear your heart, Dacia.”
It was one of the most touching things Dacia had ever heard.
“That is such a sweet gesture,” she said, leaning against him affectionately.
“I have a book from the Far East, something that was left to me by my tutor, and it is all about the love between men and women. There is one passage in it that has always stayed with me.”
“What is that?”
She looked at the big diamond ring on the table before picking it up, inspecting it. “The world moves for love,” she murmured. “That is what it says – that the world moves for love. It does, doesn’t it?”
“My world does,” Cassius murmured. “It moves for your love. Tell me again that you love me.”
Immediately, her cheeks flushed red and he laughed softly, giving her hot cheek an affectionate stroke. But he did no more than that, not wanting to make a spectacle in public, even though he very much wanted to kiss her.
The clerk returned, distracting them from each other as he measured Cassius’ finger with a marked ribbon. Then, Dacia watched in horror as Cassius paid an enormous sum for the diamond ring, but when it came to his ring – the simple gold band – he paid the clerk almost as much.
But he had a purpose in mind.
“How soon can you have these rings finished?” he asked.
The clerk put the money, all of it, into a pouch under his table. “At least two days, my lord,” he said. “Three, more than likely.”
“Make it in two days, including the name etching, and I shall pay another silver coin,” he said. “Can you do it?”
The clerk nodded firmly. “Aye, my lord.”
“Good,” Cassius said, rising to his feet. “I do not know where your master went, but thank him and tell him that I shall return in two days for both of those rings.”
As the clerk nodded, Cassius took Dacia by the elbow and escorted her outside.
Rhori and Bose were standing by their mounts, watching some pretty women down the avenue.
The women were flirting and the men were watching, like hunters sighting prey.
Cassius had to slap Bose on the back to get the man’s attention.
“Our business is concluded,” he said, taking Dacia to her palfrey. “Now, we must find the best merchant in town and make some additional purchases.”
Before Bose could reply, Dacia caught sight of someone that she recognized and she stopped Cassius from lifting her up onto her palfrey.
“Wait,” she said. “Look over there. It is Old Timeo and his wife. She looks much better. Let me inquire on her health, and then we may continue.”
With Cassius remaining with his knights, Dacia walked across the avenue, lifting her skirts to keep the dust off the hem as Argos, not to be left behind this time, followed alongside her.
The old man and his wife were at a smithy stall across the street, evidently having a piece of farming equipment looked at or repaired.
They didn’t see Dacia until she was standing next to them.
“Good day to you,” Dacia said pleasantly, looking at the man’s wife. “You appear much better today, Leoba. How is your daughter faring?”
The old man and his wife looked at Dacia, startled by her appearance. But very quickly, it seemed to be more than that. They obviously moved away, putting distance between them.
He began backing off.
“All is well, my lady,” Old Timeo said as his wife got in behind him, putting her husband between her and Dacia. “Everyone is well.”
Dacia wasn’t blind. She could see that they were shrinking away from her and it occurred to her that there could only be one reason – it was because she wasn’t covered with her veils like she usually was.
Old Timeo was afraid of her marks.
Her heart sank.
“I… I am glad to know that,” she said, lowering her chin, going into self-protection mode to hide her face. “Should you need any further help, please send for me. I suspect that the problem may be… a worm.”
They didn’t even hear her last two words. They were too busy scurrying away from her as fast as they could go. Feeling deeply ashamed and embarrassed, Dacia went back to her escort and mounted her palfrey before Cassius could help her.
He had been standing with Rhori and Bose in quiet conversation, surprised when she returned so quickly. She jumped on her horse before he could lend a hand and when he reached her, he could see that she was close to tears.
She was looking at her lap again.
“Angel?” he said quietly. “What is the matter?”
She shook her head. “Can we please return home?” she whispered tightly. “I… I do not wish to go to the merchant’s stall today.”
His brow furrowed. “Why not?”
“I just don’t,” she said. “Not today. Please, Cassius… I want to go home.”
He didn’t move. He leaned forward, onto the saddle, trying to look her in the eyes. But she wouldn’t lift her head to look at him.
“Dacia,” he murmured. “Tell me what happened. Why are you troubled?”
The tears began to come, then. “Old Timeo and his wife ran from me because I am not covered,” she said. “It was a mistake for me not to wear my veils, Cassius. Please… I want to go home before I face any further humiliation.”
His heart sank, just a little. He looked down the street to see the old man and his wife, nearly to the village walls by now on their way out of town. Reaching up, he clasped her hands in his big, gloved mitt.
“Did they say anything to you?” he asked gently. “Did they tell you that you should be covered?”
She was starting to weep, struggling desperately not to embarrass herself. “Nay,” she said. “But the way they looked at me… and then they ran… they did not need to say anything. Their actions were enough.”
Cassius was proud of her for coming into town without her usual covering.
She showed great courage when he forced her out of her comfort zone.
But he could see that he had pushed her too far.
He couldn’t control the actions of a few village idiots and he didn’t want to subject her to anything more she might consider embarrassment, so he squeezed her hands and let them go.
“Very well,” he said. “If you want to return home, then we shall. Mayhap you will feel like going to the merchant when we return to collect our rings.”
She simply nodded, wiping at the corner of her eye, and he felt like a monster for forcing her into town without the comfort she was used to.
It was a learning process for them both, but he knew she would do whatever he asked her to do, whether or not she was comfortable with it, simply to please him.
And, being a man who was used to having his way in all things, he didn’t even realize it until they had moments like this.
Now, he felt terrible.
Turning for his horse, he lifted a hand to Rhori and Bose.
“We are returning to the castle,” he said. “I… I suppose I am feeling a bit weary. I think I have had enough excitement for today.”
No one questioned him. They assumed the lady’s upset was because of Cassius’ condition, so Rhori and Bose began moving the escort out, heading back the way they had come.