WolfeSword: de Wolfe Pack Generations

by Kathryn Le Veque

  As the fire smoldered in the solar, they ran through the rest of the rooms, looking for anything of value. Catesby only had one son, as his wife had died many years before, and they tore apart his son’s chamber on their continued hunt for anything valuable. They even ransacked the dead wife’s chamber, stealing her jewelry and fine things that had been stored away after her death.

  They left that chamber on fire, too.

  Every room in the manse was searched for anything of value that they could carry with them. There were pieces of good furniture, but they were left behind because it wasn’t practical to haul them around.

  The rape and ransack of Hagg Crag went on for most of the day. They also ransacked the kitchens for anything they could carry, knowing that it might be awhile before they had the opportunity to replenish whatever foodstuffs they could carry with them. They did not intend to stay at Hagg Crag because now that they were in England, they knew the Yorkshire countryside was rich and they intended to take what they could before they headed home.

  The men from the Hagg army that weren’t killed and did not run away were given the opportunity to join the mercenaries, but no one did. There were about eighty men left, the same number of mercenaries, but no one would join them. Marcil was hoping they would so he’d have a better chance at laying siege to Edenthorpe, but it was a fool’s dream. He knew that. He couldn’t take the castle with only eighty-one men, so once all of the horses were confiscated and any other livestock was turned loose in the kitchen yard, Marcil’s men rounded up the remnants of the Hagg army and corralled them in the stable. Shutting the door behind them and bolting it, they set the stable on fire.

  Marcil and his men welcomed the dusk to the soothing sounds of men being burned alive. They had taken everything they could from Hagg Crag and were now burning any witnesses to what they had done.

  No survivors, no trace.

  But Marcil had planned it this way.

  With Hagg Crag burning and in ruins, Marcil turned his attention to the nearby village of Doncaster. It was nearing evening, which meant people would be in their homes for the night and would be caught off guard by a gang of mercenaries who planned to raid the town before they fled off into the night. Of course, Edenthorpe would send out troops to fight off the marauders, but Marcil and his men could do a great deal of damage before that event occurred. They’d managed to glean a good deal of valuables from Hagg Crag, but it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough to make up for the fact that the mighty bastion of Edenthorpe would be lost.

  Marcil intended to take what he wanted from the village.

  It was small compensation, of course, but it would have to do.

  As the sun set behind the smoke rising from the burning manse and stable, Marcil and his men gathered their booty, mounted their horses, and rode off in the direction of Doncaster.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Edenthorpe Castle

  “CeeCee, it is wonderful to see you again,” Amata said, hugging her cousin in a flagrantly insincere gesture. “Papa is finally feeling much better, so I thought I would come and visit you. It has been such a long time since we were last together.”

  Dacia, as always, was thrilled to see her cousin. She didn’t care if the woman was being insincere or not. She was just glad to have the company, as always.

  “I am so glad you have come,” Dacia said happily. “It has been a very long time, indeed. I am having something special prepared for your day of birth next week. We must make this visit a celebration!”

  She had Amata by the hand, pulling the woman towards the keep as Amata’s escort unloaded her capcases and disbanded the horses and wagon. Several Doncaster men were lending a hand.

  But Amata seemed to be looking everywhere but at her cousin, who she had allegedly come to visit. As Dacia pulled her across the bailey, her head was on a swivel.

  “And we shall,” Amata said, spying an unfamiliar knight over by an outbuilding that housed male visitors. “We shall make it a great celebration. But let us talk of that later. Tell me of your activities since I last saw you, CeeCee. Have you had any unexpected visitors? Have you been well?”

  Dacia nodded. “Very well,” she said. “Grandfather has been well, too. You did not contract what your father had, did you?”

  Amata shook her head. “Nay,” she said. “Whatever Papa had is something recurring. He just seems to come down with a cough he cannot shake, and then it goes away. But he is quite well now.”

  Dacia smiled. “That is good,” she said. “But you must send for me the next time he becomes ill. I may have something to help him. Mayhap I can even cure him.”

  Amata squeezed her hand but she still wasn’t looking at her. “Dear CeeCee,” she said, using a nickname Dacia had since childhood. “You are always so good and kind. So willing to help.”

  “It is no trouble.”

  “Then you’ve not had any exciting visitors since the last time I was here?”

  It was a reminder of an earlier question that Dacia had failed to answer, but where Amata was concerned, that wasn’t unusual. Amata always wanted to know everything that had gone on in her absence, demanding every little last detail. She was nosy that way.

  “Nay,” Dacia said, but quickly recanted. “Wait, that is not true. We had three of Edward’s knights visit us yesterday and last night, Edenthorpe was attacked.”

  Amata looked at her sharply. “Attacked?” she repeated fearfully. “By whom?”

  Dacia pulled her along. “By Lord Hagg,” she said quietly. “That’s what I was told. You know he wants that land to the south that Grandfather is mining. Last night, he decided to harass us.”

  Amata didn’t look any too soothed. “That is terrible,” she said. “Was there any damage?”

  Dacia shook her head. “None,” she said. “Fortunately, the king’s knights were still here and they helped protect the castle.”

  “Are the king’s knights still here this morning?”

  “Aye,” Dacia said. “I was told that Grandfather asked them to remain a little while. He wants their help with Lord Hagg.”

  Amata’s head resumed its eager swiveling. “Where are they?”

  Dacia shrugged as they passed the great hall, with the keep directly ahead. “I am not sure,” she said. “But you will meet them at some point. I know how eager you are to meet fine, young knights.”

  Amata gasped. “CeeCee!” she scolded softly. “You make it sound as if I lust for them constantly.”

  “Don’t you?”

  Dacia turned to look at her, seeing an unhappy expression on her cousin’s face. But Amata couldn’t keep it up for very long. She cracked a smile and looked away.

  “Well… not constantly,” she said, giggling. “But it would be nice to meet a knight to marry and take me away from this place. I do so long to see the big cities and meet interesting people. I…”

  She suddenly came to a halt, her gaze on the great hall. Dacia was forced to stop as well, turning in time to see Cassius emerging from the hall entry. He had Argos with him, catching sight of the young women immediately. It was difficult not to see them because they were right in his path. Amata lifted a hand and waved it furiously.

  “Greetings, Sir Cassius!” she called. “It is agreeable to see you again!”

  Dacia looked at her cousin in surprise. “You know him?”

  Amata couldn’t take her eyes from him. “He came through town during the Lords of Misrule feast,” she said excitedly. “Yesterday, in fact. He’s so handsome, CeeCee. The most handsome man I have ever seen. Don’t you think so?”

  Bewildered, Dacia looked at Cassius as he came upon the pair, his expression bordering on unfriendly as he looked at Amata. Still, he politely bowed.

  “Lady Amata,” he said with a hint of disapproval in his tone. “What brings you to Edenthorpe?”

  Amata was beside herself with glee. “You, silly,” she said. “You would not come to me, so I have come to you. Are you surprised?”

  Cassius just
looked at her. “It would have been best had you sent word ahead to ask for permission to visit,” he said, avoiding her question. “We had some trouble here last night and it may not be safe for you to travel.”

  Amata sensed a rebuke, but it didn’t spoil her enthusiasm. “If you had trouble last night, then surely you and your powerful knights chased them away,” she said, letting go of Dacia and looping her hands through Cassius’ elbow in a possessive gesture. “I am positive Lord Hagg took one look at you and fled. How could he not?”

  She was clinging to him, something he was clearly displeased with. “There is a little more to it than that,” he said. “If you will excuse me, I must be along my way.”

  He started to move away from her, but she held fast. “Please do not go,” she said. “I have come all the way to Edenthorpe to see you. Will you not sit with me and talk a while? I never did thank you for the dances yesterday. You are a wonderful dancer, by the way. I have never seen finer. You made me feel lighter than air when you lifted me in your powerful arms.”

  Cassius had about all he could take of her sappy adoration, but before he could shoo her away, Dacia spoke up.

  “You… you two danced yesterday?” she said, looking between Amata and Cassius. “Where?”

  “At the Lords of Misrule feast,” Amata said. “I told you that was where I met him. Sir Cassius and I were crowned the king and queen of the feast. Well, almost. But he had to leave because he had business to attend to with Cousin Vincent. Still, it was great fun while it lasted.”

  Now, Dacia’s focus was on her cousin. For a moment, she just looked at her, processing the foolish words that were coming from her mouth and coming to understand that Amata’s visit here was no casual happenstance.

  She had a motive.

  Perhaps it was jealousy or perhaps it was disappointment, but Dacia did something at that moment that she wouldn’t normally do.

  She confronted Amata.

  “Then you came today because you knew he was here,” she finally said. “It was not to visit me at all. It was to see Sir Cassius.”

  Amata looked at her as if suddenly realizing she’d given away her entire reason for coming. “I… I knew he would be here, that is true,” she said quickly. “But I very much wanted to see you, CeeCee. Seeing Sir Cassius is just a happy coincidence.”

  It was a lie.

  Dacia knew it was a lie and she felt like a fool. A silly, duped fool. Everything Edie had ever said about Amata came tumbling down on her. Although in the back of her mind she’d always known that her cousin only used her, she had always been willing to overlook it. But no longer. That selfishness had never been more apparent than it was now.

  And Cassius… the only man who had ever shown Dacia any attention had evidently done the same with Amata. There had been nothing special in the compliments he’d paid her because he’d done it before – with a young woman who didn’t have the handicap of freckles all over her face, and perhaps a thousand others, too.

  It wasn’t just her.

  God… she felt like an idiot.

  “Then please visit with him since you came to see him,” she said, lowering her gaze and backing away. “I will not interfere.”

  At that point, she was already turning around, heading for the keep, but Cassius called out to her.

  “Lady Dacia,” he said. “Wait, please.”

  Dacia kept going. Cassius called to her again and she started to run, all the way up the stairs and disappearing into Edenthorpe’s keep.

  Cassius watched her go with a heavy heart.

  “I wonder what’s the matter with her?” Amata asked as if she didn’t really care. “It is of little matter, I suppose. I shall find out later. Will you come into the hall with me, Sir Cassius?”

  Cassius turned to look at her. Then, he pulled his arm away from her grabbing hands, stilling them rather firmly when she tried to grab him again.

  “Nay,” he said steadily. “I shall not go into the hall with you. You came to see your cousin, so go see her.”

  Amata’s face fell. “But… but we had such a nice time yesterday,” she said. “I thought you would be glad to see me.”

  “I have no time for a visit, my lady.”

  Amata was starting to look hurt. “What have I done to make you cross with me, Sir Cassius? Please tell me so that I might make amends.”

  He looked at her, seeing the petty, vain, and spoiled girl he’d suspected from the start. She had been pretty to him, once, when he’d first met her. But her manner and her personality had cancelled out any beauty he thought she might have had. The disappointment on Dacia’s face when she had realized why her cousin had really come had sealed that opinion.

  Cassius didn’t do very well with petty, vain women.

  He’d seen too many of them in his lifetime.

  “We had three dances yesterday and that was all,” he said evenly. “I’ve danced with a hundred pretty girls and they are all the same to me, including you, so think not that there was anything special with a few leaps and twirls. You were a few pleasant moments to pass the day with and nothing more. So if you’ve come to Edenthorpe because you thought I wanted to see you again, I am afraid you are gravely mistaken. Anything you thought I might want is a creation of your own mind. If you’ve really come just to see me, then you may as well return home. I am not interested.”

  Amata was red in the face when he finished, deeply ashamed. “That is a terrible thing to say to me,” she said. “How dare you!”

  Cassius cocked an eyebrow. “Feeling humiliated, are you?”

  Amata was near tears. “If that is what you intended, then you succeeded.”

  He pointed to the keep. “Now you know how your cousin feels,” he said. “Clearly, you made her think that you had come to visit her when it was me you really wanted to see.”

  Amata opened her mouth to retort but nothing came forth. She huffed and stomped her foot, grunting unhappily.

  “You’ll not school me on manners, Knight,” she said. “Dacia is my cousin. She knows I love her.”

  He sighed impatiently. “Does she?” he said. “It seems to me that when I told you that I was coming to Edenthorpe, you made a point of warning me against your cousin with her witch’s marks. You mentioned that to simply look upon her was to be cursed. Is that what you tell everyone, Lady Amata? That your cousin has witch’s marks and she turns men to stone like Medusa?”

  Caught in a web of her own design, Amata backed away from him. “She does have marks on her face,” she said defensively. “You just saw them, for she was uncovered. Everyone knows she has the marks!”

  “Everyone knows because you tell them,” he said. “I was a virtual stranger and you told me, humiliating your cousin in the presence of a stranger. Why on earth would you do such a thing?”

  Amata didn’t have an answer. Instead, she began to seethe. “Rude,” she hissed. “You are rude and horrible and I hope I never see you again, Cassius de Wolfe!”

  Cassius looked at her for a moment before breaking down into a weak grin. “That can be happily arranged,” he said. “But remember one thing – you, my lady, are not nearly as pretty as you think you are. Your cousin, Dacia, is more beautiful than you could ever hope to be.”

  With that, he walked around her, heading towards the keep because it was clear that he cared more about Dacia’s feelings than her own cousin did. He felt badly enough that he wanted to see to her, to make sure she knew he had no designs or intentions towards Amata. Odd that he should want to make that clear to Dacia, but he did. But as he walked, he noticed that Argos was not beside him and turned in time to see the dog lifting his leg on Amata, peeing on the back of her dress.

  He didn’t even call the dog off.

  He just started laughing.

  Amata’s screams of rage were like music to his ears.

  She had kicked the maids out.

  When Dacia arrived in her chambers, four of the six maids were there, cleaning part of the floor, and she
had no patience for their presence at the moment. With a shriek, she threw them all out of the chamber and slammed the door, bolting it.

  She needed to be alone.

  The tears came. Tears of shame, tears of hurt. Shame because of Amata’s motives, hurt because Cassius had evidently spewed words of flattery to Amata, enough so the woman had come all the way to Edenthorpe to see him. Hurt because Cassius had turned those same words of flattering on her, making her feel special.

  But she wasn’t.

  She was angry at herself for ever believing his compliments.

  Her pockets were bulging with dragonwort and she pulled it out angrily, tossing it on the table in her smaller dressing chamber. She felt like an idiot for having sought out the weed in the first place, an idiot for letting herself get swept away by Cassius’ presence and sweetness. God, the man was sweet, and she’d fallen for it.

  She wondered how many other maidens had fallen for it.

  A knock on the door distracted her from her thoughts.

  “Go away!” she yelled.

  Whoever it was hadn’t heard her because she was in another chamber, so she stepped out into the big chamber just as the caller knocked again.

  “Go away!” she boomed. “Get away from that door!”

  There was no reply, only more knocking, this time continuous. Enraged, Dacia went to the door, threw the bolt, and yanked the door open.

  “Stop knocking, you stupid –”

  She had started yelling before she’d ever seen the caller and now she found herself looking into Cassius’ somewhat surprised face. His mouth was open in astonishment and, for a moment, neither one of them moved. Finally, he lifted his eyebrows.

  “Would you care to finish that sentence?” he said.

  Dacia looked at him, dumbfounded and hurt. “What?” she said, then realized what he meant. Quickly, she lowered her head. “Nay, I will not. I thought you were one of my maids. Sometimes they can be rather insistent and annoying, and… oh, it does not matter. What do you require, Sir Cassius?”