Page 31 of Historical Hotties
A flicker of a smile pulled at Cassius’ lips. “Even me?”
He saw her eyes crinkle up as she smiled beneath the veil. “YouareBeowulf,” she said. “You are a great warrior from the House of de Wolfe.Wulfis 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.
“I know enough,” she said. “The woman has a recurring fever that does not seem to completely go away. Now her daughter is showing symptoms, too. I have given them both a potion of willow bark, which will ease the fever, but I suspect it is coming from a worm or an insect of some kind.”
“A disease?”
“Possibly,” she said. “I do not believe it to be contagious, but it may even be in the food they eat. I do not know.”
Cassius was studying her as she was watching her patients. By the time she turned around, she caught him looking at her and she cocked her head curiously.
“What is it?” she asked.
Embarrassed that he’d been caught staring at her, he thought he might as well be straightforward with her. He hoped they had reached some level of comfort between them, but he wasn’t entirely sure that level of comfort would be all that tolerant of what he was about to say.
He was about to find out.
Lifting a hand, he gestured at his own face.
“I was just noticing your modesty panels,” he said. “You said that you always wear them?”
Something in her eyes flickered anxiously and she lowered her gaze. “I told you that I was modest with men I do not know,” she said. “Or when I am outside of Edenthorpe for all to see. As I explained, it is my way.”
Given everything Cassius had been told about her, he knew that was the truth. Before he made his next move, he took into account where they were– located in a tiny cottage where they were both essentially captive until the trouble at Edenthorpe was finished. If he spoke to her now about her reasons for keeping her face covered, she couldn’t run from him.
She would have to hear him out.
Cassius honestly didn’t know why he should even bother discussing something that wasn’t his business, but there was something inherently tragic about a beautiful young woman who thought she was ugly because of the cruelties of others. From what he had seen, Dacia was more than accomplished in many areas. She was bright and well-educated.
And… she was beautiful.
Perhaps if he told her his opinion, it might make a difference to her.
Or not.
But something was compelling him to speak.
“I understand,” he said. “But I would like to speak plainly. May I?”
She eyed him warily. “That depends,” she said. “If you are offensive, I shall tell you so.”
He nodded. “And I hope you would,” he said. “But it is not my intention to offend you. I would never knowingly offend you, Lady Dacia. I swear this to you.”
