Here Be Dragons - 1 by Sharon Penman (best inspirational books txt) 📕

298coax Llewelyn into having your chambers done over. If you're clever he'll not refuse, will even come in time to think it was his own idea."Joanna laughed. "How little you know of Wales. Llewelyn coul

299eil and wimple, handed Joanna a brush, confiding, "I had a scare this wring/ thought I might be with child again I do not mind having more, think I'd like a daughter But I've borne John two sons in fifteen months, have no desire to drop a litter a year1 So to give myself some breath-ng space, I've been taking brake-root in wine ""But Isabelle, that is a sin You know what the Church does say, that nothing must be done to prevent a child's conception "Isabelle shrugged "I know, too, who gets to bear that childnot His Holiness the Pope But you cannot be all that eager yourself to face the birthing chamber again, Joanna At the least, you should put a jasper stone under your pillow when you lay with Llewelyn Ask him to get you one, you need not tell him what it is for ""Of course I would tell him1 Think you I'd do that without his consent7""And what if he balks7 If he is one of those men who judges his manhood by his wife's protruding belly7""Not Llewelyn," Joanna said and smiled "The midwives think it unlikely thatI'll be able to carry a child again to full term, think I might not even conceive again When I told Llewelyn that, he said, Thank the Lord God1' He has ever" Breaking off in mid-sentence, she jumped to her feet, ran to console her son Davydd had begun an unsteady trek across the chamber toward his mother, only to lose a precarious balance and fall upon his face Picking him up, Joanna soothed and teased until his sobs ceased, until he settled contentedly in her lap, began to suck upon a sticky little thumb"Joanna, I confess I still do not understand Welsh laws of succession John says illegitimacy is no bar, that Gruffydd has the same rights as your son Is that true7 Does that make him Llewelyn's heir, as the firstborn7""Under Welsh law, all sons share equally in the father's estates It is a fair system for the common people, fairer for younger sons than Norman primogeniture, which gives all to the eldest son But it has one dreadful drawback, Isabelle, how do you divide a kingdom7 What inevitably happens when a prince dies is that his sons fight amongst themselves, winner-take-all to the survivor ""You're saying that when Llewelyn dies, Gwynedd would be parti°ned between his two bastard-born Welsh sons and your Davydd7"Joanna nodded grimly "And the very thought does terrify me It is ot lust a question of preserving Davydd's rightful inhentance Should befall Llewelyn ere Davydd reaches manhood, it would become a ^estion ofDavydd's very life "Is there nothing you can do, Joanna7"

300"There must be." Joanna brushed her lips to her son's pitch-black hair."Blessed Mary, but there must be.""i THINK not, have no desire for an English knife at my throat.""Do not be insulting; I am Norman, not English. And you let me cut your hair, do you not? So why should I not shave you? Unless you truly want to trust your throat to a barber so greensick from wine that he seems stricken with palsy?Now lie down. I'll be right careful, have no wish to get blood all over the bed!""Why am I so sure I am going to regret this?" But Llewelyn did as Joanna bade, lay back and rested his head in her lap."There now," Joanna said with satisfaction some minutes later. "Almost done and I've yet to draw blood." She cocked her head to the side in playful appraisal. "Have you never wondered how you'd look without your mustache?"Llewelyn's eyes snapped open. "You would not dare!""Ah, Llewelyn, how I wish you had not said that. Now I feel obliged to prove to you that I would!" She let the razor hover tantalizingly close to its target, laughing, and when he grabbed her wrist, sought to pull her down beside him, she wriggled free, defended herself with the pillow. Neither realized how close they'd rolled toward the edge of the bed, not until it was too late, until their struggle carried them over the side, tumbling down onto the floor rushes.Joanna was breathless but unhurt; in falling, Llewelyn had managed to twist away, to keep from landing on top of her. She rose to her knees, pulled her skirt down. "Are you all right?" she asked, stopped laughing when he admitted reluctantly:"No, I think not ...""Oh, love, you did not hurt your back again?" She leaned toward him solicitously, then gave a muffled scream when he pounced, rolling over and pinning her under the weight of his body.Joanna found herself utterly helpless, unable to move. "I should have known;you're so untrustworthy," she scolded, smothering her laughter against his shoulder. "Now let me up. Papa is awaiting us in the great hall.""Make it worth my while and I might.""If I were to say I was sorry, that I do love your mustache?"He considered gravely, shook his head. "Not good enough.""Well, that was my best offer." Squirming under him, she made an intriguing discovery. "When Gwenwynwyn and Maelgwn call y°u hard, they do not know the half of it, do they? So it's not true, then, that when a man gets to be your age, his powers begin to wane?"

301"My age?" he echoed, with mock indignation. "I'm but six and thirty1""That is, after all, twice as old as I am," she pointed out gleefully, nd deliberately shifted her hips to make the most of his erection."Wanton," he murmured, his mouth against her throat. "If you do not stop tempting me, we are going to bypass the great hall altogether, are going to continue this conversation in bed. So do not say you were n0t