Nunnery Brides

by Le Veque, Kathryn

“That is good to hear.” Dane looked Gaston over again, acquainting himself with his father’s state. “And you? I did not expect you to come when I sent the missive about de Lara’s death and my marriage, Papa. I just wanted you to know what had happened.”

  Gaston smiled faintly, cupping the man’s face with his big hand. “I know,” he said. “But I had to come. My son, the duke. I am so proud of you, Dane. But you already know that. I have always been proud of you, even when you were young and ridiculous.”

  Tears stung Dane’s eyes but he fought them. Instead, he smiled. “I love you, too,” he said quietly. “It is such a blessing that you are here. Come, now, meet my wife.”

  Taking the man by the hand, he led his father over to Grier and Cort, who were standing a few feet away in conversation.

  “Grier,” Dane said, catching her attention. “This is my father, Gaston. He is every bit as great as I have told you.”

  Grier focused on Gaston, a smile on her lips, as she reached out to take his hand. “My lord,” she greeted. “I have so wanted to meet you because I wanted to thank you.”

  Gaston’s gaze drifted over the beautiful woman. “Why is that, my dear?”

  Her smile broadened. “For Dane, of course,” she said. “You have raised a fine son. I am so very fortunate, and I wanted to thank you for that.”

  Gaston liked her already. Bending down, he kissed her on the cheek, grinning at her and holding her hands tightly as Matthew and Trenton walked up.

  “Dane,” Matthew Wellesbourne spoke seriously. A big man with curly blond hair that had mostly gone gray, he was Gaston’s best friend in the world and William’s father. He pointed to his frolicking son. “I sent Willie with you so the man could grow up. What I see now does not impress me.”

  They all turned to see William, Gage, and Boden wrestling in the snow, frightening horses as they went. As Grier fought off laughter, Dane sighed heavily.

  “I know you cannot tell by looking at him, Uncle Matthew, but he has, indeed, grown since he has been with me,” he said. “It is something about those three together that brings out the naughty lad in each of them. They will be doing that when they are old and gray, you know.”

  Matthew knew that, too. In a sense, it was good to see that some things never changed, not even his wild youngest son or the younger de Russe boys. The fact that some things stayed the same was oddly comforting.

  “I suppose,” he said, his gaze falling on Grier. “Your lady wife, I presume?”

  Dane nodded as he looked at Grier. “My dear wife,” he said affectionately. “My lady, this is Matthew Wellesbourne, Earl of Hereford, and standing next to him is my brother, Trenton. Greater men you will never meet.”

  As Matthew went to speak to Grier and Gaston, Dane went to Trenton. Trenton, his older brother by a year, and Dane were inordinately close, and Trenton was the man Dane respected most in the world next to his father. Trenton had married the year before and had given up his position with the king in order to settle down and help Gaston manage his estates.

  Now that Gaston was growing weaker, and sicker, Trenton had taken on a tremendous amount of responsibility. As the Earl of Westbury, he was the heir to the dukedom of Warminster.

  A more powerful man had never lived.

  Dane extended his hand to Trenton, taking it tightly. “I am surprised to see you,” he admitted. “The great and mighty Westbury on my doorstep. I have missed you, Brother.”

  Trenton grinned; like most of the de Russe male offspring, he looked like his father to a fault. He was the man’s size and strength, and nearly his personality, too. He’d had some demons in his life but, thanks to the woman he married, his life was finally running smoothly for once. For Dane, that was very good to see.

  “I have missed you, also,” Trenton said. “You and I usually do not spend so much time apart, but with my duties with Warminster, and your new holdings in the northern Marches, I’m afraid separation might be a new way of life for us.”

  Dane nodded, regretfully. “But I will always be at your side if you need me; you know that,” he said. Then, he glanced at Gaston as he lowered his voice. “Why is he here? He looks terrible, Trenton. I cannot believe Mother let him come.”

  Trenton’s gaze moved to Gaston, also. “When he received your missive about the dukedom and marriage, nothing could keep him away,” he muttered. “Mother actually locked him in a chamber, trying to keep him from going. The only way she would let him travel is if all of us went with him – me, Uncle Matthew, Cort, and Gage. She would not let him go without a huge support system.”

  Now it made sense as to why so many of his family members had come. “How has he been?” Dane asked.

  Trenton put his hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Not well,” he said honestly. “He spends most of his time with his grandchildren and he does not travel. That is why it took us so long to get here; we traveled slowly and stopped frequently, for his sake. But nothing would stop him, Dane; you have to know that. He is so proud of you and what you have become. I heard him tell Mother, once, that he could now die happy because Trenton and Dane had finally come into their own.”

  Dane closed his eyes, a brief and miserable gesture. “I hope he did not hasten that death by coming here,” he said. “Come, let us go inside the hall where it is warm. He should not be out here in the cold.”

  Trenton agreed. They moved towards the group that was now circled around Grier, and even though she was the center of attention, which usually embarrassed her, she was carrying on a charming conversation, bringing laughter from both Gaston and Matthew. It made Dane’s heart swell with gratitude to see that; his beautiful wife, now blossoming before his very eyes.

  He, too, couldn’t have been prouder.

  “Let’s not stand out here in the snow any longer,” Dane said, pushing between Cort and Matthew to take Grier by the arm. “My wife will be just as entertaining in the hall, where it is warm and we are not being snowed on.”

  The group of them began to walk towards the hall as the Warminster escort was disbanded behind them. However, William and Boden and Gage were still roughhousing, so they left those three to their own snowy fun. In fact, Matthew was watching the trio, shaking his head at their antics.

  “Is this what has been happening at Shrewsbury?” he asked Dane. “This place is so slow and unexciting that those three can spend all of their time wrestling?”

  Dane looked at the man in surprise. “Shrewsbury?” he said. “Slow?”

  Gaston put his arm around his son’s shoulders. “Admit it,” he said. “You’ve found a peaceful and completely dull command in Shrewsbury. Nothing exciting ever happens here.”

  Dane lifted his eyebrows, looking at his wife, who was looking at him with the same expression.

  Nothing exciting ever happens in Shrewsbury.

  Dane had to shake his head.

  “Give me time, Papa,” he said. “I will tell you just how unexciting Shrewsbury has been since I have assumed command. I think it might surprise you.”

  Gaston laughed softly. “I am an old man, Dane,” he said. “It takes quite a bit to surprise me. Have you even used the legendary Shrewsbury battle horn yet? That thing must be rusting for lack of use.”

  Dane had to laugh. “You think so, do you?”

  Dane was still laughing when they entered the hall, met by Charlisa and her gracious hospitality. By the end of the evening, not only was Gaston surprised by the deceptively peaceful Shrewsbury, so was everyone else. Shrewsbury wasn’t the bucolic corner of Shropshire that they thought it was.

  But more than the life-and-death struggle that Dane and Grier had been forced to endure, one thing was readily apparent to Gaston – the gap-toothed, skinny lad he’d first met those years ago had grown into a fine, strong man without a shadow of Guy Stoneley’s manner in him. Perhaps Dane was a Stoneley by blood, but his heart and soul were purely de Russe.

  And that gap-toothed, skinny young man had finally found his piece of heaven.

&nb
sp; * THE END *

  Children of the Duke and Duchess of Shrewsbury, Dane and Grier

  Rory

  Etienne

  Adreanna

  Felicity

  Sophie

  Sebastien

  Tristen

  Gregor

  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

  Afterword

  I truly hope you’ve enjoyed Dane and Grier’s story. Now, to clarify a couple of things –

  As you’ve seen, Grier is the last of the de Lara family, the Lords of the Trinity Castles (or Lords of the Trilaterals, as they are also called). There are two branches of the de Lara family.

  The first branch is the Lords of the Trilaterals, which stemmed from Luc de Lara, who came over with the Duke of Normandy (see WARWOLFE for this character). The de Laras come from Spain, and Luc de Lara was the Count of Boucau. One of the direct descendants of this branch is Sean de Lara (LORD OF THE SHADOWS). You also meet Sean’s father and brother in ARCHANGEL, and the Lords of the Trilaterals are discussed a bit in that book, too.

  The second branch of the de Lara family is the Earls of Carlisle (DRAGONBLADE), because Tate de Lara was adopted by the de Lara family. Being the bastard son of Edward I, the king sent his infant son to the de Laras to both shield him and take care of him, so that branch of the family is de Lara in name only – by blood, they are Plantagenet.

  Therefore, Shrewsbury is not the Dragonblade/Earl of Carlisle branch, but the Sean de Lara branch. This book takes place three hundred years after Lord of the Shadows, but I think it’s particularly cool that Dane is now the Lord of the Trinity Castles as well as the Duke of Shrewsbury. I think Sean de Lara would have been very proud, and comforted, knowing that his family properties and family legacy are in the hands of a competent de Russe. Since my books cover approximately 450 years (the entire stretch of the High Middle Ages), sometimes there are centuries between books, especially with descendants, and the House of de Russe is my latest (most recent) house. They kind of close up the Medieval World and take us into the Tudor World.

  And with that, I hope you enjoyed the mini-family reunion at the end, brief as it was. It did my heart good to write about Gaston and Matthew one more time, and it does my heart good to see how fine and noble their children have become (except for William, Boden, and Gage, but they’ll have their time, eventually!).

  Much love,

  NIGHTHAWK

  A Medieval Romance

  Chronologically Book Two of the de Wolfe Pack Series

  By Kathryn Le Veque

  The next generation Wolfe Pack

  The Wolfe

  William and Jordan Scott de Wolfe

  Scott (Wife #1 Lady Athena de Norville, issue. Wife #2, Lady Avrielle Huntley du Rennic, issue.)

  Troy (Wife #1 Lady Helene de Norville, has issue. Wife #2 Lady Rhoswyn Johnstone, issue.)

  Patrick (married to Lady Brighton de Favereux, has issue)

  James – Killed in Wales June 1282 (married to Lady Rose Hage, has issue)

  Katheryn (James’ twin) Married Sir Alec Hage, has issue

  Evelyn (married to Sir Hector de Norville, has issue)

  Baby de Wolfe – died same day. Christened Madeleine.

  Edward (married to Lady Cassiopeia de Norville, has issue)

  Thomas

  Penelope (married to Bhrodi de Shera, hereditary King of Anglesey and Earl of Coventry, has issue)

  Kieran and Jemma Scott Hage

  Mary Alys (adopted) married, with issue

  Baby Hage, died same day. Christened Bridget.

  Alec (married to Lady Katheryn de Wolfe, has issue)

  Christian (died Holy Land 1269 A.D.) no issue

  Moira (married to Sir Apollo de Norville, has issue)

  Kevin (married to Lady Annavieve de Ferrers, has issue)

  Rose (widow of Sir James de Wolfe, has issue)

  Nathaniel

  Paris and Caladora Scott de Norville

  Hector (married to Lady Evelyn de Wolfe, has issue)

  Apollo (married to Lady Moira Hage, has issue)

  Helene (married to Sir Troy de Wolfe, has issue)

  Athena (married to Sir Scott de Wolfe, has issue)

  Adonis

  Cassiopeia (married to Sir Edward de Wolfe, has issue)

  Author’s Note

  Welcome to Patrick’s story!

  This one has been a long time in coming (because I wrote The Wolfe twenty years ago), but I think it’s well worth the wait. We essentially get to see the next generation of the de Wolfe Pack, right about thirty years after The Wolfe takes place and about fifteen years before Serpent. So this is a peek into the world directly after Jordan and William’s story.

  Patrick is a big man destined for greatness. We also get the sense that he is his father’s favorite son. The family clearly loves him and he loves them. It was great fun giving Patrick a journey that took him from a serious knight to a man who had fallen in love and learned a thing or two about life (and women). I hope you think so, too.

  Things to note: Berwick Castle features in this story and at this point in history, it was at the transition point between the end of Henry III’s reign and the beginning of Edward I. Edward made major improvements to the castle and to the city’s defenses, but I’ve taken artistic license in moving up those improvements and having Henry start them. I’m about ten or so years off from Berwick really having been a massively built-out bastion, but there is little history about the castle prior to 1296, so I’ve taken the liberty of having the stone rebuilding of the castle starting a little early.

  Castle Questing doesn’t exist – it is a creation of my imagination although I can tell you exactly where it sits on the topography of England. More fun things to note: the knights bearing names you will recognize – Hector and Apollo de Norville are the sons of Paris and Caladora de Norville, while Alec and Kevin Hage are the sons of Kieran and Jemma Hage (The Wolfe). Kevin has his own story in SCORPION, set when he’s about fifteen years older. Anson du Bonne is the son of Stephen and Genisa du Bonne (The Gorgon), Damien d’Vant is a son of Dennis and Ryan d’Vant (Tender is the Knight), and Colm de Lara is a grandson of Sean de Lara and Sheridan St. James (Lord of the Shadows).

  Patrick has several brothers and we get to meet two of them in this book. Scott and Troy de Wolfe have also appeared in SERPENT and they will eventually have their own books. And as a final note – look for a new character, Kerk le Sander, in this book. He has quite a story behind him, coming out in my 2017 novella duet with NYT Bestselling author Sharon Hamilton entitled The Trident Legacy. It would seem that Patrick’s friend, Kerk, has an immortal soul. Fun stuff for great reading!

  More characters of note: Daniel de Lohr makes a brief appearance in this book. His novel is SHADOWMOOR and Chad de Lohr is mentioned as well as the de Shera brothers (SILVERSWORD and THE THUNDER LORD, respectively), so if you haven’t read any of those books yet, they are must reads. In my world, everything is tied in!

  In all, this is a great adventure with a good deal of passion in it because Patrick and Brighton have an incredibly strong bond, as you will see. As always, I truly hope you enjoy the book!

  Love, Kathryn

  PROLOGUE

  In the heady days of Yore,

  There upon a moonlit shore,

  Came the knight known one to all,

  A warrior to heed the nightbird’s call.

  Son of The Wolfe, a legacy born,

  A knight of skill, yet his heart was torn.

  A heart so bold, demanded by kings,

  Yet a lady claimed it, an angel without wings.

  A nightbird with a warrior’s soul,

  This is now the story told.

  ~ 13th c. chronicles

  ‡
>
  July, Year of our Lord 1269

  Westminster Palace, London

  “No one enters a room like a de Wolfe.” An elderly man with a head of gray hair and one droopy eye spoke. “Even from afar, the moment the doors open and you enter, it is as if all of the air in the room is sucked out by your mere presence. Your father has the same gift, by the way. Think not that you are special in that regard, Patrick de Wolfe.”

  An enormous knight with eyes the color of jade and hair as dark as a raven’s wing was halfway into the great hall, heading towards the dais at the far end where the king sat. Great Henry, he was called, an elderly man who had ruled England for over sixty years. But the king was in poor health these days and his voice was barely above a whisper, which meant that one of the king’s advisors had to repeat what the man had said so that Patrick could properly respond.

  All was formality and pomp within the great hall of Westminster Palace. A mere knight was expected to respond to a kingly statement.

  “You have accused my father of such things before, my lord, or so I have heard,” Patrick responded loudly, as the king’s hearing was also very poor these days. “In fact, he told me that you have refused to allow him to enter a room before you for that very reason.”

  He was drawing nearer to the king now, his heavy leather boots clapping against the wooden floor in loud succession; boom, boom, boom…. Such a big man made very big sounds. He closed the gap quickly for he’d come with a purpose. An audience with the ailing king was something quite rare these days, even for the man who had been appointed to serve as the monarch’s personal Lord Protector. He had only just reached London and had sought audience with the king, which was granted as soon as the king was feeling better. Now, Patrick had arrived and the king could not be more pleased about it.

  But the one person in the room who wasn’t pleased with Patrick’s arrival was, in fact, Patrick himself. He wasn’t one to be nervous or jumpy as a rule. But as he came to a halt before Henry, he realized that he was just that – nervous. God help him, he was here with a purpose in mind and if the king didn’t grant his request, he wasn’t entirely sure what he was going to do. It all came down to the case he would lay out for the king and how convincing he would be. He’d done nothing but pray about it, fervently.