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

give him the time he needs to entrench himselfnot without losing our lands forever.""That is what I want to talk with you about, Gruffydd." Llewelyn rose, began to pace. "What we feared is coming to pass. John is refortifying in stone those timbered castles he erected last summer. His men patrol the roads, the passes, cross the Conwy into my domains at will, as if seeking to provoke a confrontation. And he is planning to bring in English merchants and their families, to charter towns as the Normans did in South Wales." He swung around to face Gruffydd, said with sudden passion, "The Normans would never have been able to steal so much of Deheubarth if not for towns like Swansea, Pembroke, Fishguard, Tenby. They are towns on Welsh soil, but no Welshman may become a citizen, or bear arms whilst in the town, or sit on a jury in an^ lawsuit between a Norman and one of Welsh blood. The Welsh in much of South Wales are intruders in their own land. But I'll not let that happen in Gwynedd. Christ forgive me, Gruffydd, I cannot!"Gruffydd swallowed with some difficulty. In arguing that Llewely

357must try to reclaim the Perfeddwlad, he'd spoken from the heart he truly believed every word he'd uttered. But it was no less true that he had not expected his father to agree with him. Now he found himself approving whatLlewelyn meant to do, while at the same time feeling a shocked sense of betrayal that his father would put anything, even Gwynedd's sovereignty, above his own safety. He'd have been put on the rack, though, before he would have admitted it, and he made an enormous effort, said as calmly as he could, "Isuppose, then, that we should think upon what I might expect from John. I know he has not harmed Maelgwn's elder son; Madoc is still at court. What of the younger son? Was he made to suffer in any way for Maelgwn's rebellion?""No, the lad is quite safe in Shrewsbury.""Well, that is reassuring." Gruffydd managed a smile, but he had to ask. "Papa. . . has John ever harmed a hostage?""No, Gruffydd, he has not. Not even when Hugh de Lusignan offered up hostages for his freedom after Mirebeau, only to betray John within days of his release." Llewelyn moved back to the settle, sat down beside the boy. "John is utterly without mercy to those who have offended him, but he has never avenged himself upon the innocent. His quarrel is with me, and it is with me that he'll settle it, not you, lad."Gruffydd was showing more courage, more maturity than Llewelyn had dared hope for; he was making it almost too easy. Llewelyn had never been so proud of his son, or so aware of his own failings as a father."Gruffydd, I want only the best for you. But I'd not blame you if you did not believe me, lad." He hesitated, then said, "I've done a great deal of thinking these months past, found out things about myself that I'd rather not have known. I wish I could say that nothing mattered to me but those I love. Icannot."Gruffydd was not sure what response was expected of him; he could not recall ever talking with his father about intangibles or imponderables, about emotions and doubts, secrets of the heart. "I know you love me, Papa," he mumbled, and flushed."Yes, I do. I loved your mother, too, lad. I loved her very much. But could not allow myself to marry her, for there'd be no political advanage to the marriage; Gwynedd would have gained nothing from such a match. I was willing to wed Joanna, though, to take her sight unseen, to yoke myself for life to a woman I might find both undesirable and un-1 able, because she was the King of England's daughter, brought me , atTangwystl could not, a border castle and a political alliance with the English crown."Gruffydd was silent for some moments. "You're saying, Papa, that °u ve always put Gwynedd first. I understand that, in truth I do. You

358see, that is the way I feel, too. There is nothing I would not do, nothing i would not give up if only you'd name me as your heir."Gruffydd's words had come without calculation. His was an un complicated, elemental nature, one not attuned to subtleties, still less to subterfuge. But the expression on his father's face was a revelation to him. He suddenly realized that Llewelyn's decision to break faith with John could work to his advantage and Davydd's disadvantage, that he would have a powerful claim indeed upon his father's conscience, that his would be a wrong much in need of redress."No man could have a son with greater courage, Gruffydd," Llewelyn said softly."It means much to me that you think so, Papa. But what I need to know now means even more. Did you forget my birthday again?"Llewelyn grinned. "Brace yourself, lad. This time I remembered!"They both laughed. Neither mentioned what Llewelyn's decision could meanyears of confinement for Gruffyddthe boy because he did not fully comprehend the risks, and the man because he'd managed to rationalize those risks, to convince himself that John's past generosity toward the innocent and the unoffending was an adequate guarantee for his son's safety.JOANNA crossed the crowded hall, slipped her arm through Llewelyn's. "Papa wants to talk to you, love." She hesitated, then murmured, "He does seem to be trying, Llewelyn. It's not so impossible to believe, is it, that he might truly want peace?""John's peace is rather like the peace of Godin that it passeth all understanding." But there had been so little conviction in Joanna's voice, so much wistfulness, that Llewelyn added, "I will admit he's made this visit far more tolerable than I expected."John beckoned them up onto the dais, gestured for a page to serve them wine.For several moments they made desultory conversation, bland in form and banal in substance. But then John