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

bodies?""I was not talking of trifles!" Joanna drew a labored breath, sought to call to mind John's acts of charity, of compassion. "My father truly loved England, as his father and brother did not. And he cared for his subjects' weal. He was the most accessible of Kings, was hearing appeals even whilst fighting for his throne, that last fortnight of his life."When Will would have interrupted, she cried, "No, hear me out! You asked for particulars and you shall have them. The son of a friend was recently stricken with leprosy. I know I need not tell you the horrors of such a fate. Yet, as pitiful as the leper's plight is, it can be even more wretched if his king or lord lacks pity. Under such lords, lepers have ofttimes been burnt, even buried alive. But my father did pity them, Will, and he did whatever he could to ease their travail. At Shrewsbury he entitled the lepers to a portion of all flour sold at market. At Bristol he granted lepers a settlement of their own, where they could dwell under the protection of the crown. He even foundedSt Leonard's Hospital at Lancaster long ere he became King, when he was but two and twenty! Do such acts sound like trifles to you? Would a man utterly evil care for the least of his brethren?""You want to talk of John's pity? Let's begin, then, at Windsor Castle. I am sure my grandmother and uncle were fearful, for they knew John well. But Idoubt even they could have guessed what he had in mind for them. They were dragged to an underground dungeon, thrust into the dark, and left to die. They were given no candles, no water, no food but a basket of oats and an uncooked ham. For ten days they were left alone in that hellhole, with the door barred against their screams. On the eleventh day the guards entered the cell, found them both dead. There was no way of knowing just when they'd died, how long their suffering had lasted. The guards could tell, though, that my uncle had died first and that my grandmother had gone mad at the last. Shall I te you why, Joanna? Shall I tell you how they knew that?""No," she whispered. "No, please ...""Because my uncle's cheek was bitten and chewed, as if gnawed , a rat. But it was not a rat who'd eaten his flesh, it was his own motr>e

601Those were her teethmarks in his face That was what she'd been driven to m the final hours of her life, by your father, by the man you call kind'"He'd grasped Joanna's wrist, forcing her to listen When he released her, she stumbled backward, fled the hut Her stomach was heaving and she fell to her knees on the grass, lay prone as the trees whirled above her head, spinning in sickening circles She clutched tufts of grass, clung as if the earth itself were falling away from her She was weeping as Will knelt beside her Gathering her into his arms, he held her as if she were a child, and for a time there was no sound but that of her choked sobbing, the whimpering of her spaniel"I'm going to take you back inside now " The voice was so gentle that she wondered if it was truly Will's, but she obediently put her arms around his neck and he lifted her up, earned her back to the shelter of thehafod "Here,"he said, handing her his flask "Drink " She did, the liquid was warm and so heavily spiced that she choked anew It burned her throat, set her head spinning She drank again, at his insistence, but shook her head weakly when he offered the flask a third timeThe last of her tears squeezed through her lashes "Will, I'm sorry, so sorry ""So am I, Joanna I ought never to have told you that There've been times," he confessed, "when I'd have given up my chances of salvation if only I'd not known, if only I could forget "Joanna shuddered "How could your father have told you7 Why did you have to know7"He reached out, touched her tearstamed face "You were weeping for me7 For that fourteen-year-old boy7"Joanna shuddered again, and when he put his arm around her, she did not move away "There was no need for you to know, no need " She turned so she could look up into his face, into eyes fringed with surprisingly long, fair lashes"You were so young How could you live with pain like that7""By learning to hate Not just John The men he trusted, the men who waxed fat on his favor, men like Hubert de Burgh and Peter des Roches Your UncleSalisbury ""And me?""1 wanted to hate you, thought I did until I saw you again at Chester CastleBut you know that, Joanna You know how much I Wanted you, how much I want you right now ""Will, I cannot " But he was leaning toward her, covering her°uth with his His breathing had quickened, but there was no urgency"is kiss, not yet It was both unexpected and reassuring, this gen-eriess, he had about him such unsettling undertones of violence that it as startling, somehow, to find he could be so tender a lover Joanna

602knew she had to protest now, while there was still time for protesting, for thinking. But when he kissed her again, she found herself responding, kissing him back.He was too practiced for awkward fumbling with clothing, slid his hand into the bodice of her gown. She gasped as he cupped her breast, and he gave a low laugh. "God, how I want you! It'll be so good, I promise you ..." And forJoanna there was only that moment, the feel of his hands on her bared skin, and an urgency to match his own. When he lowered her back onto the blanket, she reached up, drew him down