Today, I’m sharing a glimpse of Tagatha’s life in Lyric.

After Chapter 3
Tagatha:

I shoved our door open with one arm, holding baby Luc against my hip with the other.

My husband looked up from a wooden puzzle he was doing with our daughter. “Wow, that was quick. You usually spend half the day at the wool store.”

I set Luc on the floor and pushed my hair out of my face. “Didn’t even get there. Guess who I ran into?”

Jameth stood, rubbing a sore spot on his lower back. “Do I get a clue? Your parents can’t be pried out of Braide Wood when it isn’t a Feast day. Other family?”

“Mm. Sort of.”

“Not Tristan, then? All right, I give up. Who did you run into?”

“Kieran. And he was bleeding. Looked like he’d lost a sword fight or something. I told him he should come here so we could help him out, but he was in a hurry.”

Jameth turned away to hide a wince—and not the kind of wince that came from the backache he’d picked up unloading a recent shipment of stone from Terramin.
I stepped around the puzzle pieces. “What?”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“That face you made.”

“You don’t like my face?” Grinning, he wandered into our kitchen alcove and scooped the last of the morning’s clavo into a mug.

With one eye on our children, I followed him. “You know I like your face just fine. And all the rest of you.”

His broad shoulders squared and he winked at me over the mug as he raised it. After all this time, he still made my breath catch. In spite of my mother’s horror at our move to Lyric, we’d created a beautiful life here. Still, I’d felt the weight of her disappointment last time she’d visited. She believed I’d abandoned Braide Wood, with all the history and traditions that wove our family together.

I sank onto the bench by our table and ran my hand over the golden wood. Of course I missed Braide Wood—the smooth, twining branches, the scent of pine, and the laughter and stories around a crowded dinner table. I shook my head. I still loved our clan, but I also loved the excitement of Lyric. Most of all, I loved Jameth. And he needed to be in Lyric for his trading business.

“Glad you like all the rest of me.” Jameth patted his ample stomach. “You feed me so well, there’s more of me to like every day.” He took a drink and his face puckered at the bitterness of stale, over-steeped clavo.

“That’s the face. That’s the one you made when I told you I’d seen Kieran.”

He choked out a laugh. “You could be right.”

I should never have told him about my childhood crush. I’d tagged along with Tristan and Kieran for years, so it was only natural my romantic dreams latched on to him briefly . . . as they had with several of the boys in Braide Wood. Silly, looking back on it, but perfectly natural. I snickered. What a disaster that pairing would have been.

I rose from the table, took Jameth’s mug, dumped it out, and started a fresh batch of clavo. “I just wanted to help. He looked like he was in trouble.”

Jameth snorted. “What else is new?”

We walked back to the main room where are children were playing. “I know, but Tristan would want us to look out for him.” I shrugged. “Nothing I can do now. I better get to the shop.”

Jameth gathered up baby Luc and handed him to me, then hoisted our daughter onto his shoulders. “Make it quick. I can’t bring Tamara to my meeting with the Sandor traders today.” Our daughter tilted her curly head and grinned from the high perch.

Luc squirmed and bleated with that half-giggle-but-I’ll-start-crying-in-a-moment sound that he had perfected. I bounced him a few times. “I’ll hurry. Thanks for watching Tamara. I can’t choose yarn colors with both of them tearing the store apart.” The shop spun caradoc wool into the softest textures and dyed so many beautiful shades. Luc was outgrowing his sweater, and I wanted to three-peg a new one in the exact shade of green that glowed from the trees in Braide wood at first light.

Jameth grinned. “I know. But last time I thought you’d gotten lost in there.” He bent to plant a quick kiss on my lips. Tamara giggled and tilted forward, planting sticky fingers in my hair.

I untangled her and gave my husband a playful shove. “I didn’t hear you complain when I finished your new tunic.” Luc squawked again. “Sure you don’t want to watch them both? I would finish faster.”

“Ha! Luc’s my secret weapon. He won’t let you dally.”

I tossed my hair back and marched down the street to my favorite store. I found myself looking about for Kieran. Maybe I’d ask Tristan about him next time Tristan and Kendra came to Lyric for a gathering. Right now I had more important things to think about. If I got some extra green wool, I could add a trim to the tunic I’d started for Jameth. The color would bring out the flecks in his hazel eyes. Breathing a prayer of thanks to the One for bringing Jameth and I together, I giggled as I slid open the door to the yarn shop.