Page 87 of Historical Hotties
Darian stiffened when he saw her, wondering what direction she was going to go. Would she chase him away? Or would she let him remain? As he held his breath, she simply glanced at him, putting a pin in her hair to tuck back the unruly strands.
“Greetings, Darian,” she said. “What brings you here?”
She sounded completely normal. Utterly, completely normal and Darian was truthfully the slightest bit wary. He hadn’t expected her to be so…normal.
Carefully, he proceeded.
“My lady,” he greeted evenly. “You are looking well.”
That was a lie. As she came out from behind the table that was in the middle of the chamber, the one that held flowers or shoes, or anything else tossed upon it, he could see that her clothing was hanging on her. Not eating and hardly sleeping, she’d dropped a noticeable amount of weight, enough so that it was obvious.
Her clothing was hanging at her. It occurred to him that Edie wasn’t making new clothing because she wanted to. It was because she had to. Her mistress was wasting away before her very eyes.
It was a sobering realization.
“Well?” Dacia finished fussing with her hair and faced him. “What do you want?”
That was it as far as greetings went. She may have been normal enough, but she wasn’t exactly being amiable.
But Darian had come to change that, he hoped.
He had something to tell Dacia, something he thought her grandfather should tell her, but the duke had given that task to Darian because the man had just sat through several long and excruciating minutes of Hugh de Branton forcing his daughter to confess all of her worldly sins to the duke, including all the recent rumors about Dacia and Cassius, and was emotionally exhausted by the rant. Therefore, he sent Darian to summon his granddaughter because Amata needed to apologize to her, most of all.
Darian hoped that it was enough.
“My lady, I have been sent by your grandfather on an important matter,” he said. “May we sit?”
Dacia eyed him, considering his request. “I do not want to sit,” she said. “Tell me what you have come to tell me.”
Darian sighed faintly, thinking this wasn’t going to be a simple thing. But it was necessary.
“Very well,” he said. “Have you been watching the bailey today?”
Dacia shook her head. “Nay,” she said, her mood immediately darkening. “It does not interest me.”
Darian knew why. It was because Cassius was no longer in it. “Then you would not see any new visitors,” he said. “I have come to tell you that Amata and her father have arrived.”
Dacia looked at him in shock, for just a brief moment, before immediately turning away from him. “I do not wish to speak to either of them, Darian,” she said firmly. “Tell them to go away. I have nothing to say.”
“Dacia, please,” he said, trying to be gentle. “Amata has just spent the past several minutes with the duke, but she wants to speak with you. You have shut out the world for two weeks, but I am here to bring you some hope.”
She was marching away from him, but she suddenly turned around and marched towards him. “Hope?” she repeated as if he’d said something outrageous. “Why should you want to bring me hope? When you learned of my betrothal to Cassius, you would not speak to me at all, so why now the sudden need to be kind to me? Save your breath, Darian. I do not want to hear it.”
That was a blow to his ego, but he resisted reacting. “I am sorry I did not speak to you when I learned of it,” he said. “I suppose… I suppose I needed to reconcile myself to it before I could speak to you. I am sorry if I offended you with my silence.”
Dacia had started pacing with pent-up nervous energy that was verging on rage. “You did offend me,” she said. “You hurt me, but I left you alone. Now I am asking you to leave me alone. I do not want to talk about anything and I most certainly do not want hear anything Amata wants to say.”
Darian wasn’t leaving. He watched her pace in circles, wringing her hands, before deciding to tell her what their business was. He could see that she wasn’t going to agree to see them, so perhaps she needed an incentive.
“Hugh de Branton forced Amata to confess her lies about you,” he said. “Amata confessed them to the priests of St. George’s and she was forced to confess the lies to all of those who came to worship for vespers and matins. She told everyone that she spread those lies about you and Cassius and that they were not true. She wants to apologize to you personally. Now, will you see her?”
As he hoped, that brought a big reaction from Dacia. She stopped pacing, turning to look at him with eyes so wide theythreatened to pop from her skull. For a moment, she simply stared at him, trying to process what he had said.
“You must be jesting,” she said, sounding weak and hollow.
He shook his head. “I am not,” he replied. “Her father has brought her here so that she may apologize to you. Dacia, she told everyone that she had lied. Now the entire village knows that you are innocent. According to her father, the priests know that you are innocent as well. Will you not at least let her apologize personally?”
Dacia stood there, her entire body quivering. Her gaze lingered on Darian for a few moments before looking away, struggling to digest what she had been told.
