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

a deep tan; she only belatedly recognized him asWilliam de Braose's grandson and namesake.He rose politely, if briefly, to his feet at sight of her; so did Tudur. ButGruffydd did not move, managed to make of his slouching pose a deliberate provocation. In the five months since he'd attained his fourteenth birthday and his legal majority, Gruffydd's relationship with Joanna had deteriorated rapidly. No longer sullenly mute, he was becoming openly antagonistic, almost as if defying Joanna to fall back upon her weapon of last resort, to complain of his rudeness to Llewelyn. Joanna did not know whether he was testing his newfound manhood or testing her, knew only that they were racing headlong toward a confrontation, and she watched grimly as Elen flung herself onto her brother's lap, wrapped her arms around his neck, and entreated, "Make me fly, Gruffydd!"Coming to his feet, Gruffydd obligingly swung the little girl up ti"° the air, high over his head, making her shriek with laughter, as Davyo watched wistfully. But while envying his sister's swooping fligh'' stayed where he was, for he was somewhat afraid of Gruffydd. r*1 every overture had been rebuffed so brutally that he now avoid322Gruffydd whenever possible; although his awareness was still only on nUnconscious level, he'd begun to sense that when his brother Gruffydd looked at him, it was with loathing.Setting Elen down upon the sand, Gruffydd sprawled back upon the log. "I hope you have an explanation for your disappearance. My father is less than pleased with you for running off as you did.""That is hardly your concern."As always, their conversation sounded discordant, somehow offkey, for Gruffydd refused to address Joanna in Welsh, and she just as stubbornly renouncedFrench. Will was beginning to look amused, and it was to him that Gruffydd said, "A Welsh-born wife would rise even from a sickbed to make welcome a guest in her husband's house. There was a time, in fact, when women did not come and go just as they pleased. In the reign of Hywel the Good, a prince's wife shunned the great hall in his absence, kept to the women's quarters until her lord returned. But then you Normans invaded England, brought queer and outlandish customs with you like some noxious foreign pox.""I find it passing strange that you would choose to boast of the more backward aspects of your heritage," Joanna snapped, and Will laughed aloud.

"Check and mate," he pronounced, with a mocking grin that endeared him neither to Joanna nor to Gruffydd."Sugar!" Joanna whistled for her dog. With Davydd holding onto her skirt andElen dawdling behind, she started toward the castle. She'd taken only a few steps, was still within earshot when Will laughed again."So that is your father's wife.""That," Gruffydd said, quite clearly and distinctly, "is my father's whore."Joanna froze, disbelieving, and then spun around. "I want an apology from you, and I want it now. If not, I shall go to Llewelyn, tell him the way you dare to speak about his wife." Gruffydd's eyes narrowed. "Go ahead. I'd deny it.""Do you truly think he'd believe you over me?" Joanna said, and he r°se, took a sudden step toward her. He was taller than she, as tall ready as Llewelyn, and for the first time she was aware of a physical Menace, aware that a boy's raw, raging passion was now contained wi*in a man's body.Will moved to Joanna's side. "'My father's whore,'" he drawled. Dld you forget, Gruffydd, that I heard you, too?"Gruffydd was taken aback, but not for long. "You keep out of this!" Will smiled. "Make me," he said. Stop it," Joanna said sharply. Will had shifted his weight, bracing

332himself; a hand had dropped to the dagger at his belt. Gruffydd, too wore a dagger, and he was, Joanna, knew, utterly fearless. They were' the both of them, too old for boyhood squabbles that left only scratches and bruises, but not old enough to judge what was worth fighting or dying for, and Joanna was suddenly frightened. "Stop this foolishness," she repeated, knowing even as she spoke that they were not likely to heed her.It was Elen who stopped it, Elen who was tired of being ignored and sought to call attention back to herself by quoting parrotlike, " 'Father's whore.' Is that you, Mama?"Gruffydd drew a quick breath, looked down at the little girl, and Joanna saw in his eyes a sudden shame. His hand unclenched from his dagger hilt; he flexed his fingers, rubbed his palm against his tunic. He obviously did not know what to say to Elen, at last mumbled, "You must forget that, lass, must not say it for others to hear"Joanna interrupted hastily, knowing nothing would be more likely to brand the word into Elen's brain. "It is just another word for ... for Norman, Elen."As Elen wandered away, satisfied, Gruffydd looked at Joanna. "I was wrong to say that," he said, very low. "I never meant for my sister to hear. It will not happen again." The apology cost him dearly, but in making it, he unexpectedly achieved a certain bleak dignity, which not even Joanna could deny.Gruffydd's eyes flicked briefly to Will, back to Joanna. "I owe my lord father better than that," he said, turned and walked away.JOANNA paused on the wooden stairs leading up to her chamber in the GreatTower, looked thoughtfully down at Will. "Thank you for escorting us back to the castle. But tell me, why did you take my side against Gruffydd?""I'm naturally gallant," he said, and laughed, then shrugged. "Mayhap because you're Norman, a woman. Or mayhap because I was not much taken with your stepson.""I was surprised, in truth, to see the two of you together. I'd have thoughtGruffydd would sooner befriend a caeth, a bond servant, than one of Norman blood.""Well, I expect it helped that I speak so much better Welsh than you! And we did discover a common bond, a shared loathing for tne King of England.""I see," Joanna said slowly. She