Page 4 of Historical Hotties
After a swift journey north from London, Cassius, his dog, and his men found themselves in Doncaster. The truth was that Cassius was so valuable to Edward that the man had sent two of his elite knights along with him to ensure Cassius made it home safely. Rhori and Bose came from some of the finest families England had to offer and also happened to be Cassius’ best friends, so here they were, traveling as a trio, in a leisure situation.
Therefore, the festivities around them were alluring.
Perhaps coming to Doncaster was a good thing, after all.
With Bose chewing the last of the cinnamon sweet, the trio entered the center of town. Now, the full glory of the festivities were upon them and it seemed as if the whole of Doncaster was enjoying the merriment. There was laughing and music and food, and gaily colored banners flying in the breeze.
The entire village was undulating in mass celebration.
Cassius reined his horse to a halt.
“We seemed to have arrived on a day of days,” he said. As a couple passed near, both man and woman in garlands, he grabbed the man by the neck. “You, there! What is this celebration?”
The man was forced to pause. Not that he had a choice with an enormous hand around his neck. Worse still, there was an enormous gray dog with a head as large as a pig’s standing up against him. The dog’s hand-sized paws were on his shoulders.
Nay, he had no choice.
“’Tis the Lords of Misrule,” the man said fearfully. “’Tis the first of April, my lord. The Lords of Misrule command this day with their fun and mischief.”
Cassius let go of the man and looked around. He noted that there were several men running about, each wearing a jester’s cap and red tunic.
Now, it was starting to make some sense.
“Ah,” he said, waving the man on as he turned to Rhori and Bose. “The Lords of Misrule rule the day, then. This should be interesting.”
The celebration of the Lords of Misrule wasn’t an unusual celebration, in fact. It was a day of pranks and mischief and frivolity, and they could hear screams as young women were pinched or poked, or even boldly kissed. Those in the jester’s caps were doing a good deal of teasing and pranking as dancing and laughter went on around them.
Cassius looked at his men.
“Well?” he said. “We could spend an hour or two here eating and drinking before moving on to Old Cuffy of Edenthorpe Castle. It seems as if there is plenty to go around.”
Rhori’s blue eyes glimmered. “What you mean to say is thatyouwant to spend an hour or two here eating and drinking.”
Cassius flashed that seductive smile that had every woman between the ages of eighteen and eighty falling at his feet. “Well and why not?” said the man whose male beauty made him something of a celebrity among the nobility of England. “It has been a long time since we’ve engaged in such leisure. We deserve it.”
Rhori laughed softly. “As you wish,” he said, throwing a leg over the saddle and sliding to the ground. “Come along, my Adonis. Let us go find some women to fawn over you.”
And fawn, they did. After they took the horses over to the livery and left the dog there to guard both the horses and their possessions, the famous knight that was Cassius de Wolfe entered the crowd and, predictably, the women gravitated towards him. Cassius had a head full of dark, curly hair, paleblue eyes, and a square jaw. He was built like a god, as Rhori had suggested, with broad shoulders, enormous arms, and a narrow waist. But it was his smile that could melt even the hardest heart– big, bright, and devilish. He smiled, women swooned, and all was right in the world.
And he attracted the opposite sex like flies to honey.
The king would laugh at the way Cassius drew women to him. Edward would joke that all the women were concerned with when he traveled or held court was that Cassius de Wolfe was somewhere in his midst. The king was quite certain he would be trampled to death someday by women anxious to get a glimpse of Cassius, an ignoble death to a noble monarch. But the truth was that Cassius had the skill to match all of that beauty, which is why Edward kept the man close.
Now that they were in the midst of a festival with many maidens, Rhori and Bose were hoping for Cassius’ leavings. He would probably select one lass to keep company with, leaving a horde of disappointed women just looking for a broad shoulder to cry on. There were tables set out with food and drink in the town center, and the knights collected cups of a free frothy ale even though a better, more flavorful one could be bought for a pence or two.
Unwilling to spend their money if they didn’t have to, however, they took the free stuff, wandering to the food tables where bread and cheese and all manner of pies were laid out– fruit pies, meat pies, pies made into the shape of chickens. Each man collected a couple of the pies and wolfed them down as a dance commenced in the middle of the square. It was a big, open area, now filled with hundreds of revelers. A large group of minstrels played a lively tune as women were lifted into the air by their strong partners, spun around to the sounds of their delighted screams.
Cassius had just finished his second pie when a lovely lass with flowers wound into her blonde hair grasped him by the arm.
“Come!” she said happily, pulling him towards the festivities. “Dance with me, my lord!”
Cassius’ lips curled into that lazy, sexy smile. “Me?” he said. “I am not much for dancing.”
The girl was pretty and she knew it. She batted her eyes at him. “Please?” she begged. “It would only take a moment and would make me so very happy.”
Cassius was a pushover. Plus, she was lovely, so it was no hardship to dance with her. He shrugged weakly and she took that as consent, pulling him into the dancing crowd as Rhori and Bose were abducted by maidens for the very same purpose. Soon, all of them were dancing gaily, lifting their partners into the air and listening to them squeal.
It was delightful.
