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

had fallen from a trpp U i c^ knocking out a toothL|e Lucklly it was one of her baby teeth But I felt I had to punish her, bu], e ^n' 'f only to keep her from breaking her neck, and now she's sjOQ, & Joanna smiled ruefully "I can always tell when I'm not in her graces, she'll talk to me only in Welsh'"ii0nt, ewe'yn laughed, pushed his trencher aside, they were less than a lr|toLent, and already he was heartily sick of fish, yearning for

444w445forbidden foods: butter, milk, cheese, eggs, and, above all, meat, "-n warnElen that tree-climbing is one of the Seven Deadly Sins." Rjsjn from the table, he moved toward Joanna. "We need not talk about it breila.""How well you know me. But no, I was being childish. Tell me what happened.What did my father offer for your support against the northern barons?""Everything but eternal life everlasting. As always, John is profligate with his promises." Llewelyn turned back to the table, picked up a dried fig. "But you'll not believe what John's new Bishop told us. It seems that John is of a sudden afire with crusading fever, and on March fourth, he took the cross!"Joanna stared at him, openmouthed. "My father?" But after a startled moment to reflect, she realized how clever a stratagem that was, and said so."More than clever, Joanna. To give the Devil his due, it verges upon brilliance. Whatever else John lacks, it's not imagination. Nothing could be better calculated to win the Pope's goodwill; Innocent has been striving for fifteen years to prod Philip and John into another holy war against theSaracens.""I know," Joanna said, and for an unguarded moment there was in her voice the echoes of indulgent affection, of the love she'd once given to John in such free and abundant measure. "I remember the Pope's letters, but my father never found the prospect of dying for the Holy Land all that alluring!""Well, he's now seen the light ... at a most opportune time, in truth. Since a crusader's person and possessions are inviolate, that puts his foes at a distinct disadvantagethe most Christian King and the infidel barons. De Vesci would have done better to bypass Rome, to spend these weeks fortifying his castle at Alnwick. For as long as John talks of Jerusalem, the Pope will buy whatever he has to sell."It was a cynical assessment, but Joanna could find no fault with it "What ofGruffydd? Did my father offer to release him?""Of course . . . after I help him prevail over the rebels.""And . . . and you do not believe he would keep his word?""Do you, Joanna?""I do not know." Joanna averted her gaze. "Mayhap he might/ s ventured, andLlewelyn's eyes narrowed. , "I see. Do you also believe that unicorns can only be caugn , virgins? Do you believe, too, that the barnacle goose is spawned in sea like a fish and may be eaten during Lent?" ,t'S"Llewelyn, stop! You asked me what I believed, and I told y°u-ot fair to blame me because you did not like my answer. Would you rather I'd lied to you?"A moment passed, and then another, before Llewelyn was able to urnmon up a taut smile. "How do you expect us to get a satisfactory argument going if you fall back upon logic?"He stepped closer, let his hands rest upon her shoulders. "I know you want to believe that John would keep faith, set Gruffydd free. I would to God I could believe it, too, Joanna. But I know better. John promises gold and delivers dross. He'll never let Gruffydd go, never. Not unless he's forced to it."Joanna said nothing. Llewelyn's way was not hers. She'd have bargained all that Heaven held, would never have risked the war that brought about twenty-eight deaths at Nottingham Castle. But Gwynedd was not her homeland, and Gruffydd was not her son."Joanna . . . there is something else I must tell you. William de Cornhill wasJohn's sworn man long ere he was made Bishop of Coventry and Chester. He spoke for John, at John's bidding, offered to free Rhys Gryg, to buy our swords and let the dead bury their dead. But he warned, too, what we might expect should we make of John an enemy and not an ally. He was quite blunt, said that if I

joined with the rebel barons, I would be excommunicated."Joanna gasped. "And you'd risk even that?" She knew that her father had not been greatly troubled by his own sentence of excommunication. But she knew, too, that Llewelyn's faith was not as tenuous as John's. "Llewelyn, beloved, think what you do. When you ride into battle, you'll be offering up more than your life. You'll be offering up your soul.""I do not believe that, Joanna.""But to be excommunicated is to be cast into darkness, eternal damnation""For the sin of not supporting John? In my eyes, that is no sin, Joanna, and nothing the Bishop of Chester or the Pope says can convince me otherwise. Am Ito believe that John Plantagenet is now the Jointed of the Lord, the chosen ofGod? Not my God."While Joanna shared Llewelyn's sense of outrage, she could not ept the comforting dichotomy he'd drawn between the stringentCachings of their Church and the infinite mercy of the Almighty. She fo u 'n *^e f°Pe's power to damn her husband, however unjustly, ie was not like Llewelyn, not a rebel, and in despair she wondered,, e d find the strength to endure what lay ahead.80 it will be war," she said softly. "War yet again."

446r447ON April 26, Robert Fitz Walter and Giles de Braose, Bishop of Hereford led an armed force to Northampton. But John did not appear as agreed upon, and the next day the barons moved on to Brackley, where Saer de Quincy had a manor. AtBrackley they set forth their demands in writing, calling for a return to "the old