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

were to pay a fine, one large enough to discharg your indebtedness to the crown, and to cover the costs I have incurred because of your rebellion, I would be willing to overlook your past of fenses, to give you and your sons full pardons."De Braose was stunned. "And my wife? What of her?" he de manded, even as he sought feverishly to detect where the snare lay.John smiled mirthlessly. "I've no wish to have her on my hands for life, thatI assure you. She would be released into your custody."De Braose was still struggling with disbelief; he might have found it easier to believe John if he had not shared John's summary way with enemies. "I do accept your terms, Your Grace, am speechless, in truth," he said, without irony. "Have you an amount in mind?""I think forty thousand marks to be a fair sum," John said, and then de Braose understood."Indeed," he said tonelessly. "When do you want payment, my lord?"There was no surprise whatsoever when John said, "You do have a fortnight to raise the money. Will that be acceptable?""Quite acceptable." At John's gesture, he rose to his feet, took the wine cupJohn was offering, his own. Their eyes held as he drank, as he drained the cup. And then John gestured again, this time in dismissal.MAUDE kept squeezing her husband's arm, as if to reassure herself of the reabty of his presence. "When they told me you were here, I could scarce believe it!""What of Will, Annora, the lads? Are they all right?"She nodded. "Fearful, but unhurt. I'll confess, Will, that I've been none too easy myself." And even that understated admission surprised him; hers was a haughty spirit that made no allowances for frailties, that would never acknowledge weaknesses in herself. "Well? For the love of God, Will, tell me!What did John say?""That we can buy absolution ... for forty thousand marks.""Forty thousand! You must be joking! We could never raise that, no one could.Did you not tell him so?""He already knows."She stared at him, then sat down suddenly on the nearest coffer"We ... we could raise four, mayhap even five thousand. You could borrow from Derby and de Clare. Pembroke might even""Maude, it would not matter. Even if, by some miracle, we begged and borrowed the entire amount, it would not matter. Can you not seeHe that' He deliberately demanded a sum he knows we can never pay- n is not going to give any pardons, and he is not going to let you go, n° for forty thousand marks, not for twice that amount."

r319Her (ace did not at once show full comprehension; it came only in degrees, as if she were clinging as long as she could to the illusory security of denial."Christ have mercy," she whispered. "He'll keep me caged till I rot." She rose, began to pace. "God in Heaven, how I hate that man! May his misbegotten, cankered soul rot for aye in Hell everlasting!"She raved on like that for some moments, abusing John in language even her husband could not have improved upon, at last turned back to face him, said tautly, "What mean you to do now, Will?"De Braose looked away, stared into space over her head. "There is a ship sailing at dawn for Barfleur. For the right sum, the captain will smuggle me on board.""You mean to flee to France? To abandon me and your children to John? Jesus wept, Will!" There was so much shock in her voice that he flushed, lashed out savagely."I did what I could for you, more than you deserve, for none of this would have happened if not for you! What would it serve to share the same dungeon? Icannot help you, Maude, can only save myself now. And I'm damned if I'll feel guilty about it!"Her mouth twisted. "Do you want to tell our grandsons that, or shall I?" she jeered, and he almost hit her. Unclenching his fist, he swung away from her, toward the door."I suppose I should wish you luck! It will not be easy, you know; I daresayJohn has you under close surveillance. It'll be a miracle if you even make it to the wharves."He paused, hand on the door latch. "You still do not see, do you, Maude? It was not me John wanted. It was you. It has been you from the beginning, from the day you opened your damned fool mouth and doomed us all."

^7ABER, NORTH WALESMay 1211VATHERINE was being escorted across the bailey toward Joanna's chamber when she heard the screams, screams of such total terror that she gathered up her skirts, began to run. In the antechamberBranwen was retching into a water bucket, with Alison hovering helplessly nearby. The screams were abruptly choked off as Catherine reached for the door latch. Within the chamber, Llewelyn was braced against a high-backed chair, while Joanna knelt beside him, trying frantically to comfort the screaming child he held upon his lap. As Catherine watched, sickened, Llewelyn's barber straightened up, holding a pair of pincers and a small bloody tooth.Elen writhed against Llewelyn's restraining hold, let out a high, keening wail of pain, fright, and outrage. Almost from the time she could walk, she'd shown a decided preference for her father, but now it was for Mama that she sobbed, and Joanna gathered her into a close embrace.Elen's face was beet-red, her eyes swollen, her bodice stained with saliva and blood and vomit, but her parents looked no less stricken. As Joanna crooned to the weeping child, oblivious to the blood smearing her own clothing, Llewelyn rose, poured himself a full cup of mead with a hand that shook."Christ, Catrin," he said softly, "I do not think I could go through that again for the very surety of my soul."Catherine understood exactly how he felt; a child of hers had once been subjected to the same ordeal. "You tried cloves, bettony?" s"e asked, and he nodded wearily."Every remedy we could think of, and then