Page 105 of Historical Hotties
“I am very glad to see that you are feeling better, my lady,” he said. “I suspected that Cassius would have that effect on you.”
Dacia remembered what Cassius had said about Darian hunting him down and bringing him back. The man who had been her true friend for years, sometimes her only friend, and a man who had taken defeat in the quest for her hand more graciously than most men would have. She took the flowers from him, her expression soft.
“Thank you, Darian,” she said sincerely. “For everything… you have my eternal gratitude.”
There was something more to her simple words, something poignant and heartfelt, and Darian knew she meant it. He wasn’t a sore loser by nature, but a man who had been truly selfless. Reaching out, he took her hand and kissed it gently.
“And you are welcome… for everything,” he said. Then, he let go of her hand and gestured towards the keep. “You’d better let Cassius take you back to bed. Go, now. I will make sure all of this is cleaned up.”
But Dacia stopped him. “Nay,” she said. “Please… I want to look at every single gift when I am feeling stronger, right where they left it. Please do not clean it up just yet.”
Darian nodded. “Very well,” he said. “I suppose you’ve earned that right. I’ll make sure de Shera doesn’t steal anything, either.”
He headed down the steps after Bose and Rhori, and some of the servants had wandered over to get a look at the tributes paid to their sweet, young lady. A lady who, Father Lazarus said, had never lost her dignity, no matter what.
Cassius took Dacia back into the keep where he remained with her for the next week, sleeping on the floor next to her bed, feeding her broth and stew, and retelling her all of the stories he’d told her when she had been lying unconscious. He was as devoted as any man could have been to his lady. She had never left him when he had been injured, and he wasn’t going to leave her, either.
Ever.
For the Lord Protector of King Edward, it turned out that his heart was far stronger than the de Wolfe sword he carried. He was a man who had finally found his place, and his purpose, in the arms of a woman who had been made for him.
Cassius de Wolfe had found his heaven.
EPILOGUE
Berwick Castle
Autumn, 1303 A.D.
“There once was a lady fair,
With silver bells in her hair.
I knew her to have,
A luscious kiss… it drove me mad!
But she denied me… and I was so terribly sad.
Lily, my girl,
Your flower, I will unfurl
With my cock and a bit of good luck!
Your kiss divine,
I’ll make you mine,
And keep you a-bed for a fuck!”
The great hallof Berwick Castle boomed with laughter and cheers as a man with a very fine singing voice, Blayth de Wolfe and the uncle of the groom, serenaded the room with his beautiful voice and naughty song. In fact, within the de Wolfefamily, this particular song was literally known asThe Naughty Wedding Song.
Blayth was quite proud of himself. He had stolen a citole from one of the minstrels hired to entertain the guests and he’d stood on a table full of de Wolfe guests to sing his bawdy song. As Cassius had once told Dacia, sometimes one must surrender one’s dignity in order to have a bit of fun. And everyone was having a ball.
Over at the dais, however, trouble was stirring in the form of his extremely old but still spry grandmother.
Jordan de Wolfe was on the move.
