Page 81 of Historical Hotties
Dacia wasn’t sure she liked that. “What do you mean?” she said. “You cannot harm her, Cass. I know she is a mean-spirited and vindictive, but you cannot harm her.”
He looked at her sharply, offended by the mere suggestion that he might go to such lengths. But he had to remind himself that they hadn’t known each other that long. All she knew was that he was the king’s Lord Protector, a seasoned knight with a brutal reputation. With a heavy sigh, he shook his head.
“I have never lifted a hand or a sword to a woman and I never will,” he said. “But Amata and her lies cannot go without punishment.”
Father Lazarus intervened; he had to. The knight’s sense of justice was building this into something that would not go in their favor. “My lord, if you punish her, it will appear as if you are trying to silence her.”
Cassius looked at the man as if he were an idiot. “Iam.”
The priest shook his head. “Nay, that is not what I mean,” he said. “I mean that it makes you look cruel and barbaric, as if you are preventing her from telling the truth about you. Does that make sense?”
It did, but Cassius was still exasperated. “But it isnotthe truth,” he said. “She is spouting lies because I rejected her and for no other reason than that. She had an interest in me, but I had no interest in her, and now she is punishing us for it. My attention has been, and always will be, on Dacia, who has done no wrong. She is completely innocent in all of this.”
Father Lazarus nodded. “I assumed as much,” he said. “Dacia and her grandfather are kind and good. Everyone knows that but, unfortunately, they are swayed by rumors and gossip. Most weak-souled people are.”
Dacia was looking at Cassius, wondering what the man was going to do. She could see how angry he was and she was deeply touched by his willingness to punish Amata.
But she couldn’t let him do it.
“Father Lazarus is correct,” she said softly. “Though I adore you for wanting to protect me and my reputation, if you confront Amata, it will only make things worse. She will tell everyone you tried to intimidate and threaten her, or worse. She has the ear of the people in this village and always has.”
Cassius looked at her, his expression between rage and knowing she was right. “Dacia…”
She cut him off, gently. “It is true,” she said. “I’ve known it all along, for when I was younger, I was friends with many of the girls in the village. One day, they all decided to shun me. I nolonger had any friends. Amata told me that it was because they were afraid of the marks on my face, but I know it was because Amata turned them against me. Edie told me that, but she really didn’t need to. I knew. So this is just one more web of lies in a forest of lies that Amata has told against me.”
Cassius could see that beaten young woman again and he didn’t like it. He hated it. It made him want to sell Amata to the pirates and burn her house down. But he knew, deep down, that she was right. So was the priest.
He couldn’t do a thing about it or his actions would prove Amata’s lies.
“Then tell your grandfather what she has done,” he said, sounding as if he were pleading with her. “Surely he can repair the damage.”
“And have him fight my battles for me?” Dacia said. Then, she shook her head. “I must learn to fight my own battles, Cass. You have taught me that and it is a lesson I have been learning, quite nicely. I will deal with Amata in my own way.”
Cassius didn’t know what that meant, but it exasperated him. The whole situation exasperated him. As he shook his head, frustrated, Bose happened to walk past him, a bloodied nose and a cut above his eye. But he was walking tall and proud, as if he hadn’t just beat up on a priest, who was sitting on the steps of the church, hand on his head. As Cassius watched him walk back to the horses, Father Lazarus spoke.
“All of the priests know what has been said,” he said, mostly to Dacia. “Some believe you have been fornicating with this knight, so marrying the man immediately will ease their outrage, at least for that. But the rumor about the dead baby is another issue altogether.”
Dacia stared at the man. “I will not marry him immediately simply to ease their outrage,” she said angrily. “I will not be coerced into anything by those faithless fools.”
Cassius turned to look at her. “Angel, if it will ease the situation, then…”
She cut him off with surprising strength. “I told you that I will not do it,” she said, her rage returning to Father Lazarus. “I refused to be pushed into anything by those men who have nothing better to do than listen to idle gossip.”
Father Lazarus could see that she was quite enraged. “My lady, it is the only solution,” he said. “Right now, some of priests are considering sanctioning your grandfather as well as you, preventing you both from taking communion or praying within these walls. They are even considering sending word to the bishopric of York to investigate you, and something like that will only lead to heartache and terror. You cannot allow that to happen.”
She was nearly irate. “Investigate me forwhat?”
Father Lazarus didn’t dare look at the enormous knight. “The situation with the baby,” he said. “They want it to be considered a crime. A murder.”
Dacia’s hand flew to her mouth and a sob escaped. “You cannot be serious.”
“I wish I wasn’t. With God as my witness, I wish I wasn’t.”
Tears filled her eyes. “But… but I have never even been with a man in that sense,” she said tightly. “There has neverbeena baby. Amata is lying, covering up for the fact that she has bedded more men than she can count on her fingers and toes. She is trying to punish me and punish Cass because we love one another. Amata’s liesarethe crime.”
Father Lazarus wasn’t unsympathetic. “I know, my child,” he said gently. “And there are others here who know, but there are still others who believe the lies. If you marry de Wolfe, then he can take you away from all of this. A marriage will be seen as a husband gaining control of you. Mayhap he can take you fromDoncaster and you can start a life where people do not speak against you.”
Dacia was devastated. “I amnotmarrying him for that reason,” she said. “Why would I punish him so when these terrible things are being said about me? Why would I do that to him?”
