“You said you didn’t knowwho your mother was.That Sophie never told you.”
“She didn’t.Not while shelived.They came to me in a dream the night of the fire.My mothertold me the babe was to be Isabeau, as she was before her, thenSophie told me to run.They saved our lives.”
***
Talon
Talon’s empty belly growled as hereturned to the cabin from the stream where he’d bathed.He hadn’teaten at the keep yesterday, insulting Berta no end.But he’d beenin such a hurry to get to the Hollow, and hopefully, Lara, thathe’d only stopped there long enough to speak with Anglbert andPhillipe and to saddle the roan and fill the sorrel’s packs withbread, cheese, sausage, wine, and a sack each of flour and oats.He’d left the Black at the keep to stud, whispering in thestallion’s ear that he’d be well pleased with two dozen black foalscome next summer, and then he was off and a third of the way to theHollow before it became too dark to ride.He’d built no fire, justchewed his hardtack and slept a bit, waking in the dark and back onthe trail as dawn broke, never stopping until he hit the ground asLara’s arrow grazed his arm.
He entered the cabin and stoppedstill, his breath sucking in at the sight of Lara’s pear-shapedbuttocks as she bent over, dipping a sponge in the rinsing bucket,then squeezing the water out and down the long, lean length of herleg to her foot.He let his breath out in a great rush, sounding,and feeling, like he’d been gut-punched.Lara straightened andturned, showing him the full roundness of her milk-heavybreasts.
“You are a sight for soreeyes, lady.”He closed the distance between them slowly, taking inthe thatch of auburn curls at her sex, the mouthwatering curves ofher hips, the nip of her already slender waist.Then he noticed howpronounced her hip bones were, how her belly, always taut, sunk in,and how sharply her collarbones jutted out.He looked long and hardat her face, at the dark shadows beneath her too-large eyes, thedeep hollows of her cheeks.“You haven’t been eating?”
“I have.It’s just, I’drather sleep than eat given the chance, and I’ve only so manychances in a day.”
She sighed and leaned into his chest.The feel of her skin against his was the succor he’d been ridingback to since the moment he’d ridden away from her.He nibbled herneck and ran his hand down her back, feeling her prominent spine.His daughter lay naked on the bed, enjoying the warmth of the fireafter her bath, staring up at her pudgy fingers and kicking herlegs, which had three rolls of plump flesh along eachthigh.
“Your daughter wouldrather eat, from the looks of her,” he said.
Lara nodded and yawned into hisshoulder.“The little leech never sleeps for any length oftime.”
Talon chuckled.“My mother complainedthe same of me as a babe.”He gave Lara a hearty kiss that promisedmore later.Right now, they both needed to eat.“I’ve cheese,bread, sausage, and wine from Berta.”He went to his pack andemptied it.“What shall we devour first?”
Their bellies sated, Talon stretchedout on the bed beside Lara and watched in fascination as she nursedtheir daughter, whose perfectly formed little hands and feet turnedcircles apace with her suckling until both slowed and eventuallystopped.After lifting the babe to her shoulder, Lara patted her onthe back until she let out a loud burp.
“She’ll sleep now,” Larasaid, stifling a yawn as she laid the babe down between them.Talonoffered his shoulder, pressing a kiss on Lara’s forehead as shesnuggled into him.Isabeau whimpered and Lara drew the babe intoher arms.“Shush, baby,” she murmured.“Your papa’s here.We canboth sleep.We’re safe.”
Talon tucked them closer.Lara hadtold him the men who’d tried to burn her alive had done so onNithard’s orders, that she’d run, or limped, up to the Hollowwithout letting anyone know she was still alive.Then she’d livedhere, pregnant and alone but for Wolf and then their infantdaughter, in constant fear and constantly on guard since.No wondershe was exhausted and worn out.He vowed to deal with Nithard oncethey returned to the keep and fell asleep curled around hissleeping woman and child, planning retribution.
He woke to a small foot kicking him inhis belly and gray eyes studying his.
“Sizing up the interloper,are you?”Isabeau kicked and gurgled with glee as her footconnected with his belly again.He grasped her pudgy foot, and shekicked harder, squirming and grinning at him.“You are yourmother’s daughter, aren’t you, you troublesome little sprite.”Shekicked and cooed and seemed to be waiting for him to answer.“Comeon then.”He scooped her up as Lara stirred.“Your mama needs hersleep.”
He checked her changing cloth as he’dseen Lara do.Happy to find it still clean and dry, he wrapped herin a blanket and walked outside into the crisp fall night with Wolfat their heels.The moon was a night away from full and cast abright light down on them as they took their first walk alonetogether.
Isabeau’s eyes shone as bright as thestars and her toothless smile smote him as surely as Lara’s everhad.“Aye, you are your mother’s daughter.You have her sweetsmile, auburn curls, and big cat eyes, eyes I’d have wagered wouldbe a mossy hazel, whose dove gray make your papa’s breeches burstwith pride.”He nuzzled his daughter’s petal-soft cheek and hisheart melted at her coos of delight.“Isabeau Juditha Guiscard, mylittle dove.”
They walked, talked, and stared at thestars and each other until the moon was high overhead and the chillof night began to seep through Talon’s tunic.“We’d better get youback inside before you take a chill,” he told his daughter.“ThenI’d really be in trouble.”
Lara still slept soundly, and Talonbanked the fire and sat by it with Isabeau’s back propped upagainst his legs, making faces and noises at each other until thebabe began to alternately fuss or fight her closing lids.Talonlaid her in the bed beside Lara and the babe rooted at her mother’sbreast.Lara groaned and her eyes fluttered open.She slipped thesleeve of her nightshift off her shoulder and put the babe to herbreast, nodding off as the babe suckled until she too fell asleep.Stripping his clothes off and slipping under the covers with them,Talon closed his eyes.
***
Lara
Lara twitched her nose at the savoryaroma of roasting meat, and she opened her eyes to daylightstreaming into the cabin through the open door.The deep timbre ofa man’s voice and an infant’s cooing floated in from outside, andLara’s heart stopped for one horrible moment as she glanced down atthe empty space in the bed beside her where her daughter usuallyslept.Then the man chuckled, and she recognized Talon’s deep,throaty laughter.She tumbled out of the bed and stumbled out thedoor to find two pairs of gray eyes smiling at her.
“Talon?”She still wasn’tcompletely certain he was standing there holding their daughter inone arm while turning a pheasant on the spit over the fire with theother and that she wasn’t dreaming it.
“Aye, love.None other.”He peered hard into her face.“You should sit before you falldown.”
Lara plopped onto the bench as Wolfleft Talon’s side to sit beside her, still trying to fit the sightof a cooing Isabeau in Talon’s arms in her muddled mind.Yesterday,she’d woken to yet another day of endless chores, little sleep, anda voracious daughter.Today, she’d slept in until after noon andawakened to a meal being cooked and her daughter taken care of.Feeling her empty breasts, she had a vague recollection of the babenursing in bed and Talon’s voice urging her to stay andrest.
“How long did I sleep?”she asked, stifling a yawn.
“The night and half a daythrough.During which time we’ve been getting acquainted, haven’twe, Miss Issy?”He juggled the babe, who gurgled and kicked him inthe belly with as big a grin on her toothless face as was on herfather’s.“She kicks like a mule, our daughter.”Talon grabbed herfoot and shook it gently.“I pity the lads she kicks in the shinsfor getting too fresh.”
Lara leaned back, still a littledisoriented, and took in the horses grazing alongside the goats,whose udders looked to have been milked.“You’ve beenbusy.”
