A Blessed de Lohr Christmas (de Lohr Dynasty Book 9) Read online

  A BLESSED DE LOHR CHRISTMAS

  A Medieval Holiday Short Story

  By Kathryn Le Veque

  © Copyright 2019 by Kathryn Le Veque

  Kindle Edition

  Text by Kathryn Le Veque

  Cover by Kim Killion

  Edited by Scott Moreland

  Reproduction of any kind except where it pertains to short quotes in relation to advertising or promotion is strictly prohibited.

  All Rights Reserved.

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  License Notes:

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook, once purchased, may not be re-sold. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it or borrow it, or it was not purchased for you and given as a gift for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. If this book was purchased on an unauthorized platform, then it is a pirated and/or unauthorized copy and violators will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Do not purchase or accept pirated copies. Thank you for respecting the author’s hard work.

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  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 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

  The de Lohr Dynasty:

  While Angels Slept

  Rise of the Defender

  Steelheart

  Shadowmoor

  Silversword

  Spectre of the Sword

  Unending Love

  Archangel

  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

  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

  Lord of the Shadows

  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 Promise (also Noble Knights of de Nerra)

  The Mountain Dark

  Starless

  A Time of End

  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.

  Table of Contents

  Title Pager />
  Copyright Page

  Kathryn Le Veque Novels

  Author’s Note

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  About Kathryn Le Veque

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  What fun it was to go back to Rise of the Defender!

  This story starts exactly after the epilogue of Rise of the Defender, so it’s essentially a continuation of that story (as if it wasn’t long enough!). Since the epilogue for Rise of the Defender is, in fact, everyone arriving at Lioncross Abbey for Christmas, I thought this tale would be a natural progression of that.

  I had to do a little research on Rise of the Defender, however, in the form of Christopher and Dustin’s children. In the epilogue, they have seven, including Peter, who is Christopher’s bastard son from a relationship he had with a Lady Amanda. Dustin essentially adopted Peter as her own, so it’s really one big happy family. They have more children after the epilogue that aren’t ever mentioned, but I have them in my original notes from 25 years ago. They had two more sons after baby Rebecca, Douglas and Westley (known as West de Lohr), and a daughter, Olivia (yes, that really was a name used in Medieval times).

  Douglas appeared in Tender is the Knight, as a young and obedient knight who served Richard, Earl of Cornwall, and found himself with a very bad directive that ended up costing him his life. If you haven’t read that story yet, I won’t give it away, but poor Douglas had no choice – Richard of Cornwall was the brother to the king and the second son of King John, and a nutjob in his own right. Since the de Lohrs always serve the crown, Douglas found himself serving Cornwall – with bad results.

  For those keeping track, here is a list of Christopher and Dustin’s children:

  Peter (Christopher’s son with Lady Amanda)

  Christin

  Brielle

  Curtis

  Richard

  Myles

  Rebecca

  Douglas

  Westley

  Olivia Charlotte (the future Honey de Shera)

  At some point, I’ll get around to writing the stories of Peter, Curtis, Richard, Myles, and Westley – much like I did Sons of de Wolfe. David and his son and grandson – Daniel and Chad – already have their stories told in Steelheart, Shadowmoor, and Silversword, so if you haven’t read those yet, put them on your TBR pile.

  If you haven’t read Rise of the Defender yet, then don’t read this paragraph because it discusses a key plot point. SPOILER: I get many questions from readers wanting to know if Christin is Marcus Burton’s daughter. I gave hints at the end of the book that she wasn’t, so to be clear, she is NOT Marcus’ child. She is very much her father’s daughter, and Christin’s story will be told in my January 2020 novel, A TIME OF END (An Executioner Knight’s novel). Little Christin grew up to be a rare lady spy!

  Back to Marcus – this novella isn’t only about Christopher and Dustin, or David and Emilie. It’s very much about Marcus Burton, too. He played a major secondary role in Rise of the Defender and, unofficially, he really is the third de Lohr brother. But for those of you who have read Rise of the Defender, you know that Marcus very nearly turned into the villain in that story. He did a lot of damage, something that took him years to realize, so this story is very much about Marcus as much as the others. There’s some closure here.

  We are also introduced to several new characters in this story, just a glimpse of them, but characters I may do something with at some point. I don’t elaborate on them too much because the story isn’t about them – it’s about our favorites. But that doesn’t mean that, at some future date, they won’t have a story of their very own written about them.

  Lastly, the usual pronunciation guide because we have some Welsh here. It’s just one name – Sianet: Sha-NAY (no kidding!). This is quite a gripping little tale, so settle back and enjoy a really nice conclusion to Rise of the Defender. I think you’re going to love it.

  Hugs,

  PROLOGUE

  RISE OF THE DEFENDER

  Epilogue from Rise of the Defender:

  Christmas, 1210 A.D.

  “They are here!” Dustin was running as fast as her shapely legs could carry her. She dashed out of her bedchamber and hit the stairs like a runaway horse, almost crashing into her daughters at the base of the stairs.

  “Mama, they are here!” Christin announced with excitement.

  Dustin grabbed Christin’s hand. “Come along,” she said as she snatched her other daughter’s hand. “Come, Brielle.”

  The three ladies raced outside, excitement filling their veins. Dustin was near to bursting with anticipation; it had been so long since she had seen her sons. Fostering was a cruel thing, she thought bitterly as the great gates of Lioncross Abbey swung open. To separate a family for the sake of training was inexcusable to her, although her husband thought differently.

  Christopher was crossing the bailey with his youngest son in tow. Five-year-old Myles was the spitting image of his Uncle David, whom he would soon be greeting. He stopped a moment and shielded his blue eyes from the sun as he watched the gates lurch to a halt, eager to catch a glimpse of the incoming party but being foiled as his father hoisted him onto his shoulder.

  “But I want to see!” Myles protested with a grin, gripping his father’s neck.

  “You can see better from up here,” Christopher told him. “Down on the ground, someone might run over you.”

  Myles strained to look over his shoulder as his father made his way to the front steps of the keep, watching with excitement as the large party entered the gates with a great noise and fanfare.

  “Do you see them?” Dustin demanded of her husband before he even reached her.

  Christopher fought off a grin, stopping at the base of the steps turning around to face the party. “Nay, not yet. They are probably riding with Emilie and the girls.”

  Dustin was so excited she could hardly contain herself and her daughters were catching on. “Do you think they have changed much, Mama?” Christin asked.

  “Christin, they have only been gone six months,” Christopher said. “I doubt they have changed to the point where you wouldn’t recognize them.”

  “But six months is a long time, Dada,” Brielle chimed in. “Curtis and Richard are bound to have grown some.”

  “They have not grown beards,” he turned and winked at his ten-year-old daughter. “You are starting to sound like your mother with your worrying.”

  Dustin lifted an impatient eyebrow at her husband. “And you are callous in your treatment of your sons. Who ever heard of sending a six-year-old boy to foster?”

  “Richard was two months shy of his seventh birthday,” Christopher re-explained for the hundredth time. “’Twas better to send him with Curtis to begin their training together. He wanted to send them to Marcus.”

  “Marcus already has Peter.” Dustin shot back. “I did not want to send him so far north, as you well know. We haven’t seen Peter in almost a year.”

  Christopher shook his head. “Peter is a fully trained squire and Marcus says he fights better than most of his knights. You should be very proud of your son.”

  “I am,” Dustin insisted, avoiding her husband’s gaze. “But he is so far away and I miss him terribly.”

  “Christ, Dustin, he’s almost eighteen years old and as big as I am,” Christopher said. “He’s not a child any longer and you would do well to remind yourself of that.”

  Dustin made a face. “He is still a child of six to me. For a man with four sons, your attitude is most heartless.”

  Christopher shook his head again, after seven children, they still could not agree on the proper form of child rearing. Dustin would keep them to her bosom until they were thirty if she had her way, while he was quite convinced that early fostering was necessary.

  “I am not heartless, sweetheart, I am simply more practical than you,” he said, st
roking Brielle’s long, blond hair affectionately. But Myles goes to Marcus.”

  “He does not.” she said firmly. “He goes to Canterbury when he is eight and no earlier. I am sure David is doing a fine job with our sons. They do not need to go to Marcus.”

  “Of course he is doing a fine job, he’s my brother,” Christopher said, watching as his brother dismounted his warhorse and shook hands with Jeffrey. “But Marcus has done an outstanding job with Peter. I feel David may be too soft on Curtis and Richard because he is their uncle.”

  Dustin caught sight of David, too, and her face lit up. “There’s David. But where are my boys?”

  Christopher chuckled, patting Myles on the leg. “You shall go to Somerhill, won’t you? You want to foster with Peter and Uncle Marcus?”

  “Aye, Dada,” Myles nodded solemnly, although he did not realize the entire concept of fostering. All he knew was that his brothers had been gone a long time, living with their Uncle David. He was too young to remember Peter. It was just he and his three sisters, one of which was a baby. He had been lonely without Curtis and Richard to play with, although his father had done a fine job of filling in.

  “There they are!” Dustin screeched, rushing down the steps. From behind the wall of horses and men, a lovely woman and several children appeared, walking toward them.

  Christopher put his hand on his wife. “Do not hug them. Treat them like young men.”

  She scowled at him. “They are my sons and I shall hug them if I want to.”

  “Nay, Dustin, you shall embarrass them in front of the soldiers,” Christopher admonished. “Let them bow to you here in public. Hug them later in private, if you would.”

  She furrowed her brow impatiently, knowing his words to be true but, Lord, how she had missed her children.

  She resumed her place between Christin and Brielle, waiting impatiently for Emilie and the brood of children to reach them. When finally they were upon them, Dustin could not take her eyes from her two blond-headed boys.

  “Greetings, my lord.” Emilie politely kissed Christopher on both cheeks. “Thank you for having us for Christmas. The children could hardly wait.”

  Christopher smiled. “You look lovely, Emilie.” He acknowledged the three girls standing next to her. “And I am pleased to see your children look like you and not my dastardly brother. Good Christmas to you, ladies.”