Here Be Dragons - 1 Sharon Penman (paper ebook reader .TXT) 📖

be the same sort of hardheaded realist. Having walked trustingly into John's trap, he could accept defeat with as much dignity as he could muster, or he could cast his life away in a gesture of grand defiance.He chose the former, snapped a command to his men, and then turned back to face Chester."I came here in good faith," he said, with such scalding contempt that suddenly none of the Normans could meet his eyes; even Thomas Corbet looked somewhat discomfited."You came here to answer charges brought against you by Marcher lords likePeter Fitz Herbert, that you've been raiding Norman manors, running off livestock, and burning crops," Chester said, quite flatly, and Gwenwynwyn's lip curled."Yi ci a fyner ei grogi dywedir ei fod yn lladd defaid," he said scornfully.Even Marcher border lords like the Corbets had never bothered to learn Welsh;Chester alone spoke the language. It was he who translated for the benefit of his companions. " 'The dog we would hang is said to devour sheep.' If, by that, you mean the King has contrived an excuse to seize your lands ...""What else would I think? I would like to know, though, where this pretty plot was first hatched . . . Westminster? Or Aber?""Aber? You think the King is obliging Llewelyn ab lorwerth in this?" Chester shook his head, even smiled faintly, as though at Gwenwynwyn's naive misreading of English aims. "Your suspicions are understandable, but unwarranted. I assure you the King has no desire to see Powys fall underLlewelyn's control. Royal couriers are even now on their way to Gwynedd and to the courts of Prince Maelgwn and Prince Rhys Gryg in South Wales, forbidding them to take advantage of y°ur troubles with the King, telling them to keep out of Powys.""And you truly think Llewelyn will heed such a command?" Gwenwynwyn was staring at them in bitter disbelief. "You fools. You p°°

281bloody fools It would be laughable, in truthif I were not to be the one to pay the pnce for your stupidity'"jsjo one answered him Chester gestured abruptly and men-at-arms merged from behind the screen, moved to escort the captive Welsh Prince to his confinementIn the silence that followed, Thomas Corbet steppe^ toward Chester, began to assure the Earl that he knew LleweIvn well, that he would not dare to defy theKing's command No one asked Richard for his opinion, and he did not volunteer it He admittedly did not know Llewelyn as Thomas Corbet did, had only met him twice But he suspected that Gwenwynwyn knew Llewelyn better than any of them, and if Gwenwynwyn was right, he thought uneasily, there would be Hell to payFor his sister's sake, he could only hope that Thomas was right and theWelshman wrongGREYING dawn light was illuminating the snow-drifted peaks of Eryn, turning the crystalline lakes of the high mountain reaches to glistening blue ice, bringing day to the River Lledr valley and the castle standing stark sentinel in the shadow of Moel SiabodJoanna stood by the hearth in their bedchamber, watching her husband dress As always when he was in a rush, Llewelyn lacked patience, preferring not to summon his squires to do what he could more quickly do himself It was cold andJoanna pulled her bedrobe close, sought with chilled fingers to fasten the belt over her swollen abdomen"I still cannot believe it," she said when she could keep silent no longer "Icannot believe you'd do this, leave me when my time is nigh The babe is due in six weeks, Llewelyn You would truly leave me when I do need you the most and for what7 A bloody border raid'""Joanna, you are not hearing me, not listening to what I say I know you are distraught, and I am sorry for that, love But a chance like this will not come again With Gwenwynwyn caged in Shrewsbury, all of Powys hes open for the taking You think Maelgwn and Rhys Gryg are not planning to carve it up between them even as we talk7 You know what I want for Wales, know what it would mean to hold both Gwynedd and Powys Can you truly expect me to forfeit such an opportunity7 I cannot do that, Joanna, not even for you ""My father will not forgive you," she said, saw him shrug"I expect I can live with that," he said, and his indifference only served to fan Joanna's fury all the higher In the night she'd clung to lm/ put aside her pride and confessed her fear, her need to have him, n ner when the babe was born And he'd been very tender, veryVlng But he'd not weakened in his resolve to depart on the morrow,

282to lead an army into Powys, and when she said her father would riot forgive him, she was in fact warning that she might not be able to f0r. give him either.Llewelyn buckled his scabbard, felt the familiar weight of a sword at his left hip, sheathed a razor-edged dagger, and then crossed the chamber, put his hands on Joanna's shoulders."You say the babe is not due for six weeks, breila. That means there still will be time enough. Once I'm entrenched in Powys, neither Maelgwn nor RhysGryg is likely to mount any sort of challenge to my suzerainty. If all goes asI expect, I'll leave Ednyved in temporary cornmand and come back for the birth." He smiled at her, a smile to break her heart, said, "I promise, love, promise to be back in time," and she wrenched free."Think you that I'm a child to be mollified with sugared words, placated with promises? You're not God, cannot give me an assurance like that. How can you be sure the babe will not come early, before its time? That you'd not be delayed by foul weather, reversals of the campaign? Or that you'd not get so caught up in that campaign, in the killing and the conquest and whatever it is that makes men lust