Page 82 of Historical Hotties
Cassius stepped in. He had to because the situation was veering out of control. Dacia was veering out of control. He put himself between Dacia and the priest, his big hands on Dacia’s arms.
“Breathe, angel,” he said softly. “Calm yourself. We can work through this, but I need your level head.”
Unfortunately, Dacia was beyond that. The lies, the far-reaching implications of what had happened were not lost on her. Amata had set out to ruin her.
And she had.
But she couldn’t let her ruin Cassius.
“Cassius, I am sorry, but I will not be forced into a marriage under these terms,” she said, weeping. “Don’t you see? We cannot start our marriage to comply with Amata’s lies. She knew this when she spread these rumors. If we marry, then it makes it look like she was right.”
“It does not.”
“You heard the priest,” she said. “They want me to marry you to stop the rumors. If we do that, it is as good as confirming them.”
Cassius held on to her, afraid of what would happen if he let her go. “Dacia, listen to me,” he said calmly. “We would not be confirming anything, but if it shuts up the gossip mongers, I am willing to do it.”
Her tears were flowing all down her face. “You wanted to get married at Berwick Castle, with your family around you,” she sobbed. “You said it yourself. That is what you wanted to doand what I wanted to do, but now… Cass, I cannot marry you, not when I am the focus of such terrible things. You are a man with a pristine reputation. You cannot marry a woman with a lesser reputation than you. It would tarnish that which you have worked so hard for.”
His brow furrowed. “This is madness, Dacia,” he said. “Doncaster is not the world. It is only a small part of England. No one else cares what these people think.”
“But I do,” she said, wiping the tears as fast as they fell. “It ismyworld. If you marry me, it will be your world, too.”
He was trying not to get into an argument with her. “You are overwrought,” he said, hoping against hope to stop her momentum. “Let us return to Edenthorpe. Tomorrow, the outlook will be different.”
Unfortunately, Dacia wasn’t listening to him. She pulled away from him, out of arm’s length.
“Nay, Cass,” she said. “I cannot do that to you. I cannot let them ruin you like they are trying to ruin me. It is not fair to you. I love you too much to let that happen.”
At first, Cassius had been in genuine disbelief about the entire situation. But now, he was feeling real fear. Dacia was afraid he would be hurt by his association to her and it cut him to the bone.
“They cannot hurt me, angel,” he said steadily. “We must stand strong together. That is the only way we can triumph in the end.”
Dacia was backing away from them. “You are a strong, talented knight,” she said, tears and mucus running down her face. “You aremyknight. You said that Doncaster is a tiny part of this world but, in a sense, IamDoncaster. These lands have belonged to my family for hundreds of years. I can never leave it, so I must stay and face this crisis, but I will do it on my own. I do not want you singed by the fire that burns around me. And if thechurch becomes involved, I cannot let you be touched by that. Please, Cass… above all else, you must stay safe. These horrors are mine and mine alone.”
He was starting to feel sick to his stomach. “I will not leave you,” he said. “What they say cannot hurt us as long as we remain strong, together.”
“Nay, Cass.”
“If I go, then Amata wins. Is that what you want?”
She shook her head, her lower lip trembling. “Nay,” she murmured. “But I cannot let you be hurt by what she has done. You have my heart; you always will. I love you as the moon loves the night, as the stars love the darkness. But because I love you, I will not marry you.”
With that, she turned and ran back to her palfrey as Cassius followed. She leapt onto her little horse, tears soaking the veil around her neck and chest, and spurred the little beast onward with Argos running after her. She was galloping by the time she hit the gate, heading out on the road that led to the castle.
Cassius boomed at the escort, sending the soldiers after her as he collected Old Man and pursued. Outside of the village walls, they kept an eye on her up ahead, all the way into Edenthorpe’s bailey.
Even then, Dacia was too fast for Cassius. She flew off her horse and ran into the keep before he could stop her. He followed as quickly as he could, ending up in front of her barred chamber door with Argos sitting outside of it, waiting patiently to be let in. But no amount of pounding or pleading could coax Dacia into opening that door. Cassius spent two straight days sitting at her door, begging her to let him in.
On the beginning of the third day, he knew that his future was slipping away from him no matter how hard he tried to hold on.
With his back against her chamber door, the tears finally came.
And a fragile heart was shattered.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Silverdale Manor
