Afterwards
To Maythorn’s profound delight, she bore Ren Blacksmith three children, all boys as great-hearted as their father. What with raising their four sons, and Ren’s blacksmithing, and his duties as Dapple Bend’s alderman, they lived a full and happy life.
Ivy, Hazel, and Larkspur also presented their husbands with children, a dozen between them, as many sons as daughters. Dappleward Manor rang to the sounds of laughter and play, as it hadn’t for many years.
The six sons grew into fine, strong men and served Dapple Vale with integrity and honor, as their fathers and grandfathers and great-grandfathers had before them.
The six daughters were all kind-hearted girls, but apart from their kind hearts were as different from each other as one might expect. They were variously shy and bo
