Chapter Twenty #3
Not knowing what else to do or say, he started from his childhood.
He spoke of his birth at Berwick Castle, the second of six children.
He spoke of his upbringing, how he spent one summer in Bjorgvin, the big city where his grandfather lived.
He spoke of learning the Northman’s language, at his grandfather’s insistence, but it was a difficult language to learn.
He spoke of his father actually having to sail across the sea to collect him and his older brother because Magnus had decided to keep them just a little while longer.
His father and grandfather had very strong words over Magnus wanting to keep his grandchildren.
He was never allowed to visit his grandfather again after that.
The sun eventually set, casting ribbons of pink and orange light into the chamber, only to gently fade away as the veil of night fell. Edie silently entered the dark chamber, bringing tapers with her and lighting the other tapers around the chamber, filling it with a soft and golden light.
Cassius was sitting on the ground now, next to the bed, still talking about anything he could think of.
Edie smiled timidly at him as she went about lighting the tapers and he smiled back, weakly, letting her know that her presence was welcome.
She was just in time to experience a series of dog farts, so powerful that even Cassius’ eyes watered.
All of that beef he’d fed the dog back at the tavern was having an effect on the canine’s guts, so Edie found a fan that Dacia sometimes used in the summertime and fanned all of that horrific smell towards the windows.
Cassius ended up laughing so hard that he wept.
He was hoping the noxious fumes might stir Dacia and, indeed, she did stir a little.
That nasty but powerful smell gave him hope.
He kept talking.
The night deepened and Edie brought Cassius some stew and bread, which he gratefully devoured as he told Dacia about his training at Kenilworth Castle and then later at Lioncross Abbey Castle, seat of the House of de Lohr.
He told stories about older knights who liked to target him and his brothers because they were so tall, and it was a triumph to be able to best the massive de Wolfe brothers.
He was quite proud in saying that no man had ever bested him or his older brother, though Titus and Magnus had been taken down more than once.
Towards midnight, Cassius began to grow weary.
He’d talked a blue streak for hours on end and now that he was completely sober, his head was beginning to ache and his body screamed for sleep.
He was just finishing a story about a wedding feast at Bamburgh Castle a few years before that included a massive tournament when there was a soft knock at the door.
Cassius turned to see Father Lazarus being ushered in by Edie.
In truth, Cassius wasn’t sure how he felt about the man’s appearance.
He knew that Father Lazarus had been Dacia’s ally when the rumors were flying but, somehow, he didn’t like seeing the man in the chamber.
As if Dacia needed last rites or absolution.
Stiffly, he moved to stand up but Father Lazarus waved him down.
“Nay, my lord, please stay where you are,” he said. “The duke sent word to St. George’s, telling us of Lady Dacia’s illness. I have come to see how the lady is faring and pray for her full recovery. I hope you do not mind.”
In truth, Cassius didn’t. She needed all the prayers she could get. He motioned the man towards the bed.
“Come in, Father,” he said. “Your concern, once again, is appreciated.”
Father Lazarus smiled as he came near the bed, his gaze inevitably moving to Dacia, pale and unmoving.
His smile faded.
“The poor lass,” he said sadly. “I have known her for most of her life. She has suffered so much. Losing her mother and father at a young age, being cursed with people around her who did not love her like they should have. Even so, she was always good to the poor and the sick. She took care of those who needed tending. And now… this.”
Cassius was looking at Dacia, feeling the impact of Father Lazarus’ words. They were words one would say at a funeral and he didn’t like it one bit.
“She will recover,” he said firmly. “She is simply exhausted and the powder she was given has had a lasting effect. But she will awaken soon.”
He sounded so positive that he was clearly in the realm of denial. Father Lazarus looked at him, hearing anguish in those words as well.
But he wasn’t going to dispute Cassius.
“They say that everything happens as it should,” Father Lazarus said quietly. “God has a plan for us all, my son. I think that mayhap Lady Dacia’s life happened the way it should because all of it seems to point to a great reward.”
Cassius looked at him, puzzled. “What do you mean?”
Father Lazarus walked to the foot of the bed, his gaze moving to Dacia.
“She was born with a face that some consider less than perfect,” he said.
“I had a sister who had freckles like Lady Dacia, so I never saw anything strange in them. My sister was a beautiful woman, I think, and so did her husband. But she had to find the man who saw that beauty in her. It took time and tribulations for that to happen.”
A thought occurred to Cassius. “Then that is why you have been sympathetic to Dacia.”
Father Lazarus shrugged. “In a way,” he said.
“I understand what a woman like her must suffer. I feel that it is the same with Lady Dacia as it was with my sister – she has been through tribulations. She has never had a suitor as far as I know. I heard she chased them all away, and it is a good thing, too. She would have never met you had she not, a man who sees the beauty in her. That is God’s plan for her, my son – you are her great reward. ”
Cassius hadn’t thought of it that way. A smile creased his lips as he turned his attention back to Dacia, his hand on her forehead.
“As I told her, she is one of God’s most magnificent creatures,” he said. “I suppose she wore the veils for a reason.”
“She did. So she could reveal herself only to you.”
Cassius continued to look at her, kissing her hand. “I am the most fortunate man in England,” he said. “And you, Father… thank you for being her ally. She hasn’t had many.”
Father Lazarus nodded. “I know,” he said. “People can be cruel… and superstitious. But Dacia never failed to rise above it. She never lost her dignity.”
Cassius glanced at him. “Did Amata’s confession have the desired results, then?” he asked. “Do the villagers seem forgiving? Dacia loves Doncaster, you know. Even when the villagers turned against her, she would not leave. She has more loyalty to them than they have to her.”
Father Lazarus lifted his eyebrows as he averted his gaze.
“I am afraid I was harsher with Lady Amata than I should have been,” he said.
“That young woman has been wicked since she was a girl. There are many of us who could see what she was doing, but I am sorry to say that many of the villagers are weak-willed and easily swayed. Lady Amata could be persuasive. When her father finally forced her to confess her lies, Lady Amata told those attending vespers. When she came to matins this morning, her penitence was to stand in front of the church and tell everyone who passed that she had lied about Lady Dacia. She stood out there for two hours before I allowed her father to take her home.”
Cassius couldn’t even muster the strength to find that humorous. He saw it as a small bit of penitence in what should be a lifetime of penitence for Amata.
“For the pain she has caused, that is little comfort, but at least it is a start,” he said. “I do not think you were harsh at all, Father.”
“I’ve told her she must do it for the next month,” Father Lazarus said. “Every morning, she is to spend two hours in front of the church, telling everyone how she lied about Lady Dacia. If she does not, I will take a switch and beat her.”
“That sounds much better,” Cassius said firmly. “Next time, the people will not be so foolish as to believe her. If there is a next time.”
Father Lazarus nodded. With someone like Amata de Branton, it was difficult to know what the future would bring. He almost didn’t care because, at the moment, there was a sick woman in front of him that he was concerned about.
A young woman that Amata had tried to destroy.
“I would like to pray for Lady Dacia now, if you will allow it,” he said. “May I?”
Cassius nodded, sitting against the bed in a way that had him leaning against the wall, but still holding Dacia’s hand. He had no intention of letting her go.
“Please,” he said. “But no last rites, Father. She is not dying.”
“Of course not, my lord.”
Cassius listened to the droning prayers for a few minutes before they lulled him into a deep, dreamless sleep.
*
Someone was snoring.
Loudly.
Dacia wasn’t sure how long she had been awake. She wasn’t even sure when she began to hear the snoring in her ear, louder than anything she had ever heard in her life. She lay there, eyes half-open, seeing her familiar chamber but hearing sounds that she had never heard coming from that chamber.
It took her a moment to realize there was more than one person snoring.
There were a few.
Blinking her crusty eyes, she opened them wider, turning her head slightly to look at her surroundings and immediately spied Argos sleeping next to her. In truth, he was partially sleeping on her, his legs on her torso as he burrowed against her.
The dog was snoring.