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

John said grimly, "As you rjll old man." He gestured to the waiting guards. "Take this 'prophet f God' to Corfe Castle, confine him there until Ascension Day of next year."They seized the hermit, dragged him to his feet. He offered no resistance. "Ishall pray for you, lord, when your time is nigh."John looked about the hall, saw he was suddenly the object of morbid speculation. He did not doubt that many among them would lay grisly wagers on this madman's prophecy, that they'd count the days till Ascensiontide, 1213, with unholy glee. Few faces showed any sympathy; far more showed covert, cautious amusement. His son-in-law alone was making no attempt to hide his mirth, was openly grinning. John stared at Llewelyn, and for a long moment his brother Will's life hung in the balance."He amuses you, this pitiful lunatic?"

"Actually," Llewelyn said coolly, "I found him to be surprisingly convincing, found myself wondering if he might, indeed, be one of God's chosen."Joanna was close enough to hear her father's sharp inhalation of breath. She put her hand imploringly upon his arm, but he shook it off, keeping his eyes on Llewelyn."Sooner or later," he said, very softly, "you will make a misstep. And when you do, Christ Jesus Himself shall pity your fate."JOANNA knelt, hugged in turn her four-year-old half-brother Henry, three-year-old Richard, and her namesake and half-sister Joanna, who was not yet two. None of them had their father's dark coloring; Henry and Richard were redheads like their grandfather, and little Joanna had inherited Isabelle's blondeness. They accepted Joanna's kisses shyly, for sw was a stranger to them, then approached the bed to receive goodm§ht kisses from their mother.Isabelle smiled fondly, ruffled Henry's untidy, bright hair, forbore0 scold when her daughter left a dirty little handprint upon the skirt of r gown. But after a few moments, she signaled to the nurses, and the dren were shepherded from the chamber.^ 'he sight of them, the feel and smell of their sturdy little bodies, si ^red up Joanna's longing for her own children. Never before had a separated fromDavydd and Elen for more than a few days, she did not understand how Isabelle could be content to see her

362pa children so infrequently. Isabelle seemed proud of them, bragged ab them often enough, but she reminded Joanna of Elen, who lavish much love upon her dolls, but only when she wanted to play at bein mother.As the children departed, Joanna rose, too. "I want to see pa tonight, thinkI'd best go ere it gets too late."Isabelle, too, had been a witness to that scene in the great hall Sh gaveJoanna a wryly sympathetic smile, shook her head. '"Blessed a the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.' That rnav be true in Heaven, but they get precious little credit here on earth darling.""What would you have me do, Isabelle? Just stand by, watch and do nothing?What would you do if you were in my place? If you were the one being torn between husband and father?" But even as she asked, Joanna realized the futility of expecting Isabelle to experience another's pain. She was coming to see that Isabelle's emotional landscape was an alien world to her, a world in which flowers bloomed upon the surface in generous, dazzling profusion, but nothing was rooted deep.Isabelle was frowning; the blue eyes were soft with pity. At last deciding that she could best serve Joanna by helping her to face the realities of her predicament, she said candidly, "I would be as loving a wife and daughter as Icould. I would try not to let their hatred for each other poison their love for me. I would try to make each one see that I understood his grievances against the other. Above all, Joanna, I would try to reconcile myself to a bitter truththat there could be no happy ending.""THE hearth fire is almost out, Papa. Shall I fetch a servant to stoke it?""No, do not bother. But you can get me another cup of wine." Joanna obeyed, although she suspected that he'd already had more than enough wine that night.As soon as she'd been given admittance into his chamber, found him sitting all alone in shadowed gloom, she d abandoned her intention to talk to him about his latest clash with Llewelyn. This was not the time for it."Isabelle tells me that you mean to give Uncle Will custody of CantebriggeCastle. That's most generous of you, Papa.""I suppose," John agreed absently. He was gazing into the dy e fire, so absorbed in his own thoughts that Joanna made no furtne tempts at conversation. When Llewelyn drank too much, he tende get playful, laughing a lot and making atrociously bad puns and eve '^ ally becoming amorous. ButJohn's drinking had a darker, more dis

3632 texture to it, she'd never seen him well and truly drunk, knew she Jd not want to"You do not think he could actually have second sight7""No," Joanna said hastily, if not entirely truthfully, "of course not1

364He looked at her, and for a moment she truly thought he vvas eoin to answer.But he said only, "Things God could never forgive.""That's not so, Papa. There is no sin so great that God cannot { give it."He took her hand in his, raised it to his lips, and then he lauehed backed away. "Do not believe it, lass, not for a moment! There is n forgiveness, either in this world or the next.""You're wrong, Papa." Joanna drew a deep breath, said, « cou]j forgive you any sin."John gave her an odd smile, shook his head. "No, lass/' he said "You could not."He moved to the table, with an unsteady hand poured hi^gif an_ other cupful of wine. "If that mad old man be right, I'll have reigned for fourteen years.Passing strange, for it seems longer, much lortger " j-je turned back to faceJoanna, still with that strange smile. "There is but one lesson worth learning, one you must teach