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

never turn away a man in need of shelter, offer him food and a bed, guarantee his safety as long as he remains a guest at our hearth. I understand the Normans do have different customs," Llewelyn said, very dryly, saw the older man's face mottle with color, saw his barb bury itself in the scar tissue of an old shame. He was not surprised when de Braose made no effort to defend himself; to de Braose, theAbergavenny massacre required neither explanation nor expiation. Nor was he surprised when de Braose forbore to take offense, for he knew how much theNorman lord needed his help."I hear John has been laying waste to half of Ireland. Have you no fears for your wife, your family?""There is no need. As soon as John moved into Ulster, my wife and sons took ship for Scotland.""A wise decision," Llewelyn conceded. "John makes a bad enemy.""You should know.""Should I?"De Braose closed the space between them, stopped before Llewelyn's chair. "Can you not feel the noose tightening about your neck John had to delay his Irish expedition to deal with the Scots King, and he now delays your destruction whilst he settles a grudge against me an mine. But your turn is coming, my lord. Can you, in truth, doubt 1 After John did take Ellesmere Castle from you?" , Llewelyn tensed. It was months since John had abruptly recla'111

309the castle he'd yielded to Llewelyn as Joanna's marriage portion, but the ere mention of Ellesmere was enough to ignite a still-smoldering anel anger that gave the he to his affectation of indifference De Braose saw, and smiled"I have friends still in Wales, in England, am km by blood or marnage toDerby, de Clare, Mortimer To a man, they hate John, and with cause They'd heed a call to rebellion So, too, would Maelgwn and Rhys Gryg/ especially if you came in with us, my lord With John occupied in Ireland, this is a God-given opportunity, we'd be fools not to take advantage of it At the least, we could then treat with him from strength, pressure him into buying peace on our termsAnd with luck, we might be able to do more than maim, we might even be able to bring him down You do not fear him as most men do, so you do not realize the extent of their hatred Let them scent blood, and they'll react like a pack of hounds with a live hare in their midst Think what it would mean, my lord WithJohn shackled, one way or the other, Wales would be yours for the taking And of course you'd have my full support, that of my kindred ""Of course," Llewelyn echoed cynically But the thrust of de Braose's argument could not be dismissed as easily as his self-serving promises Llewelyn was quiet for some moments, at last shook his head Til not deny there is truth in what you say And if I truly thought we had a chance to succeed But the nsk is too great I've never been so hungry that I was willing to lick honey off thorns ""If rashness is a flaw, so, too, is an excess of caution Sooner or later a day of reckoning is coming between you and John Better that you should be the one to pick when and where Think on what I've said, that is all I ask Think on it"THE sun was sliding into the sea by the time Joanna returned to the rastle So great was her sense of outrage that she'd been unable to remain under the same roof with William de Braose, and had gathered up her children and taken them down to the beach for a day in the sun, out °f sight and sound of the man who was her father's avowed enemyDavydd and Elen had been thrilled with this break in their daily r°utine, splashed in the shallows and dug in the sand But Joanna was terly miserable How could Llewelyn do it, how could he make wel-me a man outlawed, a traitor to the crown7 Did he not realizeor rewhat her father would make of that7 Alys, Davydd's wet nurse, Packed a basket full of food, but Joanna could swallow no more than h l^uthful of cheese In the months since Woodstock, she'd watchedP'essly as her life careened out of control, as her father and husband

310r moved closer and closer to an irrevocable break. She'd been deeply hurt by her father's seizure of Ellesmere, saw the revoking of her marriage portion as a denial of her marriage, felt that her father had somehow betrayed her. ThatLlewelyn would receive William de Braose was, in 9 different way, no less a betrayal.Once they were within sight of the castle, Joanna felt free to dismiss Alys and the three men she'd taken along as an escort, knowing Llewelyn would have been furious with her if she'd gone off without them She was in no hurry to climb the slope up to the castle, not when William de Braose might still be within, and she loitered for a time by the water's edge, watching gulls squabble over the last of her bread. When Elen came running up, brandishing a dead crab, Joanna made the obligatory response, delighted her daughter by shrinking back in mock horror, not confiscating the crab until Elen tried to stuff it down the front of Davydd's tunic.Elen burst into thwarted tears, sobbing pitifully and resisting with all the strength in her small body as Joanna pulled her away from the water, in the direction of the castle. Just when Joanna's frayed patience was about to give way, Elen wriggled loose, sprinted forward with a glad cry of "Gruffydd!"A short distance away, three boys were sitting upon a log, throwing knives at a small piece of driftwood. Joanna was now close enough to make a grudging recognition of her stepson and Ednyved's son Tudur. The third youngster had sun-streaked blond hair and