Page 10 of Historical Hotties
She didn’t think it would hurt to answer.
Just for a few minutes.
The postern gate was open as it usually was during the daytime, but it was almost as heavily guarded as the gatehouse. That had only been normal as of late– her grandfather had been having trouble with a neighbor, a minor baron named Catesby Hagg of Hagg Crag, who was convinced Doncaster had claimed land that belonged to him. The land in dispute had a mine on it that quarried fine, white rocks in much demand for building in the area. There was money to be made and no one had cared a lick about that strip of land until her grandfather’s men had discovered the rock and had begun to mine it.
Suddenly, Hagg came forward and the dispute had been going on for about three years. Mostly, he raided the mine, or at least tried to, but Doncaster had more men and more power, and Hagg’s offensives were always turned away. He hadn’t come after the castle yet, but the army remained vigilant.
One could never tell when dealing with Catesby Hagg.
Still, Dacia felt no sense of danger as she headed for the postern gate. Her maids, the women who tended to her every need, would go with her if she asked them to but, at the moment, they were in the keep where they always were, dusting and cleaning and sewing and generally keeping busy, and Dacia was glad. She’d much rather take Amata with her, but she wasn’t at Edenthorpe, so she was content to go alone.
It was better than going with those women who seemed to view her as Doncaster’s heiress rather than just a woman, an ordinary woman, of flesh and blood.
It was a strange dynamic, indeed.
“Going somewhere?”
Dacia heard the voice as she neared the gate. Startled, she turned to see her grandfather’s captain approach.
She grinned sheepishly.
“To the river,” she said. “I did not see you around, Darian. Why did you not go with Grandfather into town?”
Sir Darian de Lohr made a face that suggested he found the very idea distasteful. A big man with blond hair and sky-blue eyes, he was unwaveringly handsome, dedicated to duty, and a son of the House of de Lohr. There were few finer families in England and Darian had all the makings of a legend, like many of his ancestors.
There had been whispers for years that he would make an excellent Duke of Doncaster with an advantageous marriage to the heiress, but there was one problem with that idea– he’d been at Edenthorpe for eleven years and Dacia had known him since her childhood. She had essentially grown up with him and he was the closest thing she had to a brother.
Unfortunately for Darian, she didn’t view him as husband material.
And he knew it.
“Your grandfather took enough heavily armed men with him to start a small war should he have a mind to,” he said in answer to her question. “Besides, someone has to remain here, in command.”
Her eyes twinkled at him. “It couldn’t be because you might see Amata in the village, could it?”
He turned his nose up at her. “I do not know what you mean.”
She laughed softly. “Not much, you don’t,” she said. “The last time she visited, she told me that she is madly in love with you.”
“That was only for a brief moment and quite some time ago,” he pointed out. “She is madly in love with every man she meets.”
Dacia shrugged. “That is possibly true,” she said. “Still, her father is rich. Marry the daughter and you inherit the father’s money.”
“It wouldnotbe worth it.”
Dacia snorted. “Poor Darian,” she said. Then, she threw a thumb in the direction of the postern gate. “Care to go with me to the river?”
He shook his head. “I do not,” he said. “But take someone with you.”
“I do not want to.”
“You have an entire horde of women to choose from.”
“Not them. I would rather go alone.”
He frowned. “Then stay where I can see you, for Christ’s sake.”
“I will.”
