Page 30 of Historical Hotties
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. “FromBeowulf,” 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 knowBeowulf?”
“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 knowBeowulf, I have debated it.”
“With whom?”
“With the priest and with my grandfather,” she said. “I will debate it with anyone.”
