“Will you at least break your fast with us?” she asked.
Tarran took Tad from her because he didn’t like seeing her carrying around a heavy child with her rounded belly. “I will,” he said. “But then I must get on my way.”
“I know,” Tresta said. “And you have everything packed?”
“Everything.”
“Including my gift for your mother?”
“Including your gift for my mother. She will adore it.”
He was speaking of a delicately embroidered scarf that Tresta had made. “Good,” Tresta said. “Oh… wait a moment. I have something for you, too.”
As he stood at the door, holding Tad and pretending to bite his fingers as the boy squealed in delight, Tresta went over to her sewing table and returned with something in her hand. When she held it up for him to see, all of the humor left his face.
“A poppet?” he asked, reaching out to take it. “For me?”
Tresta nodded, watching him inspect it. “The last time I stood in this chamber with my husband leaving, I was pleading and begging him not to go,” she said, tearing up though she was trying to be brave. “This is a very big moment for me, Tarran. When Teague left, I did everything but throw myself on the ground to try and convince him not to go. You know of the poppet I gave him, the one with my hair and fabric from my wedding gown.”
Tarran nodded, the impact of the moment not lost on him. “I know,” he said softly. “It was buried with him. I know he would have wanted that, very much.”
She nodded, wiping at tears that were starting to fall. “I will not beg you not to go because I know you must,” she said. “I also know you will return to me. This is not like it was before, not at all, but I still do not want you to go. I will miss you every moment of every day, but mayhap this little poppet will remind you of me from time to time.”
Reaching out, he pulled her against him. “Time to time,” he scoffed softly, kissing the top of her head. “I will miss you with every breath I take and, every night, I will kiss the poppet good sleep and pretend I am kissing you. Thank you, my sweet. It was very thoughtful of you.”
Tresta was pressed up against him, her head on his chest, her arms around his waist. “You do not think it strange that I am giving you the same thing I gave Teague?”
“Nay,” he said. “You are giving me a piece of you and I shall cherish it. Just as he did. I think it is very considerate.”
She sighed, closing her eyes as she absorbed her last few moments with him before he departed. “I was so awful to Teague on that day,” she said. “I cursed Richard, the quest, and I very nearly cursed Teague. But he was resolute.”
Tarran gave her a squeeze. “I know,” he said. “I was there – remember?”
Tresta looked up at him, smiling weakly. “I do,” she said, her smile quickly fading. “I told you once that I think I knew he would never return home again. Something told me so. But as I look at you now, I know you will return. I have complete faith in that.”
“No following me?”
Her smile was back. “I swear, no following you.”
“No dying of a chest ailment while I am away?”
She chuckled. “It comes and goes,” she said of the cough that continued to linger, better at some times and then worse at others. “The same physic who thought you might never recover from your head injury before we were married is the same physic who told me the trouble in my chest might kill me. He was wrong. Or, at least, he has been so far.”
Tarran leaned down to kiss her on the lips, but Tad started whining so he was forced to let her go.
“The beastie is restless, Mother,” he said to his wife. “Let us break our fast so that I may get on my way. The sooner I leave, the sooner I return to you.”
Tresta smiled at him as he headed from the chamber, carrying Tad with him. She could hear him speaking calmly, sweetly to the boy all the way down the steps that led to the level below.
But, for a moment, she paused.
She looked around the chamber, the same chamber that she had shared with Teague. There were times after his death that she still felt him here, but no more. Now, this chamber belonged to her and Tarran. His mark was all over it, but it was right that it should be. What had once belonged to Teague had passed to Tarran, who had never shown anything less than the greatest respect for Teague and his legacy.
With a lingering smile at the memories, Tresta headed for the stairs.
It was possible to love two men in a lifetime and love them with all her heart. What she felt for Teague had been a warm and passionate thing, but that had ended over three years ago. Now, Teague was tucked away in a corner of her heart, a tender and sweet memory to visit now and again and nothing more. Tarran occupied every inch of her heart now, but he had always been extremely respectful of Teague’s little corner. That belonged to him and he never tried to erase it or change it. All he ever tried to do was remember Teague with her and speak of him fondly to his sons.
Teague, as Tresta had promised him, was well remembered to the young men who were growing up to look and act so much like him.
In large part, thanks to Tarran.
Her rock, her savior… her everything.
Tarran made it home from Thunderbey Castle in East Anglia with four days to spare before the birth of his second child and first daughter in the autumn of that year. A beautiful girl who looked just like his wife and he was smitten with her the moment he held her in his arms. They hadn’t planned on a girl, but he wasn’t disappointed in the least. They hadn’t selected any names until Tresta mentioned that Teague had always hoped to name a daughter Catherine.
Catherine du Reims had a beautiful sound to it, named by a man she would never meet.
It was one more example of Tarran’s respect for Teague and for his memory. In the years to come, both Teague and Tarran would be well-remembered by the children of Tresta d’Mearc du Reims. Two different fathers, but men who were intertwined by love and family and faith. In time, the children of the d’Mearc and du Reims siblings all knew of Teague and Tarran through the eyes of those who had loved them.
Memories and reflections that were carried through the ages.
Once, Tresta had embroidered on the body of the poppet she gave to Teague the following words – Remember me. Never could she have imagined just how well remembered they would all be.
A timeless tale of love, loss, and unexpected endings from the age of gods and mortals.
* THE END *
Children of Tarran and Tresta
Thaddeus “Tad”
Catherine
Veronica
Graham
Stephen
Kathryn Le Veque Novels
Medieval Romance:
De Wolfe Pack Series:
Warwolfe
The Wolfe
Nighthawk
ShadowWolfe
DarkWolfe
A Joyous de Wolfe Christmas
BlackWolfe
Serpent
A Wolfe Among Dragons
Scorpion
StormWolfe
Dark Destroyer
The Lion of the North
Walls of Babylon
The Best Is Yet To Be
De Wolfe Pack Generations:
WolfeHeart
WolfeStrike
WolfeSword
WolfeBlade
The de Russe Legacy:
The Falls of Erith
Lord of War: Black Angel
The Iron Knight
Beast
The Dark One: Dark Knight
The White Lord of Wellesbourne
Dark Moon
Dark Steel
A de Russe Christmas Miracle
Dark Warrior
The de Lohr Dynasty:
While Angels Slept
Rise of the Defender
Steelheart
Shadowmoor
Silversword
Spectre of the Sword
Unending Love
A Blessed de Lohr Christmas
The Brothers de Lohr:
The Earl in Winter
Lords of East Anglia:
While Angels Slept
Godspeed
Great Lords of le Bec:
Great Protector
House of de Royans:
Lord of Winter
To the Lady Born
The Centurion
Lords of Eire:
Echoes of Ancient Dreams
Blacksword
The Darkland
Ancient Kings of Anglecynn:
The Whispering Night
Netherworld
Battle Lords of de Velt:
The Dark Lord
Devil’s Dominion
Bay of Fear
The Dark Lord’s First Christmas
The Dark Spawn
Reign of the House of de Winter:
Lespada
Swords and Shields
De Reyne Domination:
Guardian of Darkness
With Dreams
The Fallen One
House of d’Vant:
Tender is the Knight (House of d’Vant)
The Red Fury (House of d’Vant)
The Dragonblade Series:
Fragments of Grace
Dragonblade
Island of Glass
The Savage Curtain
The Fallen One
Great Marcher Lords of de Lara
Dragonblade
House of St. Hever
Fragments of Grace
Island of Glass
Queen of Lost Stars
Lords of Pembury:
The Savage Curtain
Lords of Thunder: The de Shera Brotherhood Trilogy
The Thunder Lord
The Thunder Warrior
The Thunder Knight
The Great Knights of de Moray:
Shield of Kronos
The Gorgon
The House of De Nerra:
The Promise
The Falls of Erith
Vestiges of Valor
Realm of Angels
Highland Warriors of Munro:
The Red Lion
Deep Into Darkness
The House of de Garr:
Lord of Light
Realm of Angels
Saxon Lords of Hage:
The Crusader
Kingdom Come
High Warriors of Rohan:
High Warrior
The House of Ashbourne:
Upon a Midnight Dream
The House of D’Aurilliac:
Valiant Chaos
The House of De Dere:
Of Love and Legend
St. John and de Gare Clans:
The Warrior Poet
The House of de Bretagne:
The Questing
The House of Summerlin:
The Legend
The Kingdom of Hendocia:
Kingdom by the Sea
The Executioner Knights:
By the Unholy Hand
The Mountain Dark
Starless
The Promise (also Noble Knights of de Nerra)
A Time of End
Winter of Solace
Lord of the Shadows
Lord of the Sky
Splendid Hour
Gothic Regency Romance:
Emma
Contemporary Romance:
Kathlyn Trent/Marcus Burton Series:
Valley of the Shadow
The Eden Factor
Canyon of the Sphinx
The American Heroes Anthology Series:
The Lucius Robe
Fires of Autumn
Evenshade
Sea of Dreams
Purgatory
Other non-connected Contemporary Romance:
Lady of Heaven
Darkling, I Listen
In the Dreaming Hour
River’s End
The Fountain
Sons of Poseidon:
The Immortal Sea
Pirates of Britannia Series (with Eliza Knight):
Savage of the Sea by Eliza Knight
Leader of Titans by Kathryn Le Veque
The Sea Devil by Eliza Knight
Sea Wolfe by Kathryn Le Veque
Note: All Kathryn’s novels are designed to be read as stand-alones, although many have cross-over characters or cross-over family groups. Novels that are grouped together have related characters or family groups. You will notice that some series have the same books; that is because they are cross-overs. A hero in one book may be the secondary character in another.
There is NO reading order except by chronology, but even in that case, you can still read the books as stand-alones. No novel is connected to another by a cliff hanger, and every book has an HEA.
Series are clearly marked. All series contain the same characters or family groups except the American Heroes Series, which is an anthology with unrelated characters.
For more information, find it in A Reader’s Guide to the Medieval World of Le Veque.
About Kathryn Le Veque
Bringing the Medieval to Romance
KATHRYN LE VEQUE is a critically acclaimed, multiple USA TODAY Bestselling author, an Indie Reader bestseller, a charter Amazon All-Star author, and a #1 bestselling, award-winning, multi-published author in Medieval Historical Romance with over 100 published novels.
Kathryn is a multiple award nominee and winner, including the winner of Uncaged Book Reviews Magazine 2017 and 2018 “Raven Award” for Favorite Medieval Romance. Kathryn is also a multiple RONE nominee (InD’Tale Magazine), holding a record for the number of nominations. In 2018, her novel WARWOLFE was the winner in the Romance category of the Book Excellence Award and in 2019, her novel A WOLFE AMONG DRAGONS won the prestigious RONE award for best pre-16th century romance.
Kathryn is considered one of the top Indie authors in the world with over 2M copies in circulation, and her novels have been translated into several languages. Kathryn recently signed with Sourcebooks Casablanca for a Medieval Fight Club series, first published in 2020.
In addition to her own published works, Kathryn is also the President/CEO of Dragonblade Publishing, a boutique publishing house specializing in Historical Romance. Dragonblade’s success has seen it rise in the ranks to become Amazon’s #1 e-book publisher of Historical Romance (K-Lytics report July 2020).
Kathryn loves to hear from her readers. Please find Kathryn on Facebook at Kathryn Le Veque, Author, or join her on Twitter @kathrynleveque. Sign up for Kathryn’s blog at www.kathrynleveque.com for the latest news and sales.
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