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

shall be made Hesolate, that could well serve as the epitaph for Wales Since the time of VVilliarn the Conqueror, we've allowed the English kings to play the same damnable, deadly game with us, to set our princes one against the other And we never learn Chnst knows Idid not, I fell into the same tjme-worn trap If I'd found a way to come to terms with Maelgwn and Rhys Gryg, they'd be fighting the English now instead of collaborating with them If we'd banded together at the outset, all offered resistance, we could have stopped John dead at the Conwy ""That is the great weakness of the Welsh, Llewelyn We've never learned to act for the common good I sometimes suspect that unity is not a word native to theWelsh tongue It has ever been that way, ever will be ""No, Morgan, you're wrong The day must come when our people will unite around one man, around one prince " Llewelyn paused, then gave Morgan a twisted smile"But I always thought it would be me "Morgan made no facile disclaimers, offered no polite, empty assurances ButLlewelyn knew him far too well to expect any Moving away from the cliff, he said, "You did not ride all this way without fetching me something to dnnk, Ihope7"Morgan managed a smile of his own "Indeed not," he said, handed Llewelyn a flask "I was watching you when Joanna offered to go to her father You were the only man in the room who did not look surprised Had it already occurred to you to have her intercede with John'""Of course What could be more obvious7" But Llewelyn then lowered the flask, revealed his own ambivalence "Why7" he challenged "You see it as sheltering behind a woman's skirts7""I see it as the only action open to you What matters it if she's a wornan when she is also the only one in Christendom with any chance °f swaying John7But can you trust John, Llewelyn7 Even if Joanna can s°itiehow persuade him to offer terms, can you be sure he'd honor em? That he'd not agree to a safe-conduct merely to get you into his hands7"'He might well refuse Joanna's pleas, but I do not think he'd use er as a lure, as bait Not even John would do that, not to his own aughter " He added dryly, "But then, I'd have to believe that, would Inot?"Llewelyn drank again, passed the flask back to Morgan "I was at

334Norham Castle with John when the Scots King came to surrender, t0 buy peace onJohn's terms. John demanded far more than money, w him nothing, neither pride nor manhood."He looked at the priest, suddenly dropped all defenses and said with anguished, unsparing honesty, "I do not know if I can face that Morgan. There is a part of me that feels as Gruffydd does, that I'd rather die ere I let him do to me what I saw him do to the Scots King."Morgan found himself blinking back tears. "I do not know what to say to you, lad, would to God I did.""Do you remember what you once told me? You assured me that accommodation to superior strength is no shame. That helped ease a boy's hurt, taught me a truth I thought I'd taken to heart. But. . . but it avails me little now, Morgan. Not when I think of John, and what he will demand of me."JOANNA had finally fallen into a fitful doze. She awoke at once, though, whenLlewelyn closed the door, sat up as he approached the bed."Did Morgan find you?""Yes. How did you know I'd go to Rhaeadr Eywnnol ?""I remembered you told me you'd gone there when Tangwystl died."He made no comment. She felt the bed shift as he lay down. He was still fully clothed, had not even taken his boots off. As she'd lain awake waiting for him, Joanna had decided to take her cues from him. If he wanted her to comfort him with her body, she would. If he wanted silence, she'd keep still. If he wanted to talk, she'd listen. But now that he was here beside her, she found herself so afraid of saying or doing the wrong thing that she could do nothing at all.His rage seemed to have burned itself out; she could see only exhaustion in his face. Leaning over, she touched her lips to his forehead He opened his eyes, looked at her, and then reached out, grasped a handful of her straight black hair. "You do, in truth, look Welsh," he said, let her hair slip through his fingers."Llewelyn, please. Let me go to my father."He raised himself up on his elbow, and then he nodded. "Tomorrow," he said."Tell him that he's won, that. . . You know what to tell him."She was no longer so sure of that. She'd prayed that he would agree, but now that he had, she was suddenly terrified. He was putting his life in her hands.What if she failed him, if Adda was right, if hef father would not listen to her?

335"I'm frightened, Llewelyn," she_said, and he put his arm around her, held her close."I know, Joanna." After a long time, he said, very softly, "So am I."28ABERCONWY, NORTH WALESAugust 1211O>V-/NCE she had ridden into the English camp, Joanna was separated from her small Welsh escort, taken into the outer parlour of the abbey. Too tense to sit for long, she paced the confines of the small chamber as if it were a cage, until she could endure the waiting no longer, escaped out into the west walkway of the cloisters.The Cistercian monks had fled before John's army; more than a dozen soldiers now lounged on the grassy inner garth. Joanna's unexpected appearance momentarily stopped all conversation; heads jerked around. Of all the privations peculiar to campaigning in Wales, the one the soldiers found most difficult to accept was the utter lack of women. Theirs was the most uncommon