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

the arbor, gesturing. "Acourier, Papa, with urgent ne the North!"One of the black-garbed Augustinian canons was standing

485away- "There's a man seeking to talk with you, my liege. He fewr fee^^Barnard Castle, from Hugh de Balliol. May we bring savs he u?,, ^"At once."John had paled. As Isabelle clutched his arm, he said d "If Barnard Castle has fallen ..."WU A messenger was being ushered into the abbey gardens. He was led and travel-stained, but John saw only his smile, the triumsmile of a man bearing tidings sure to please. "The Scots King and ^rmy assaulted the castle, my lord, but we drove them off." "Thank God!""In truth, my liege. Shooting down from the battlements, one of bowmen loosed an arrow at Eustace de Vesci. The Almighty guided h aim lord. It struck deVesci in the head; he was dead ere he tumbled from the saddle."John caught his breath. And then he began to laugh. "I want the name of the bowman. That arrow of his is worth its weight in gold to me1" As he swung around, back toward Isabelle and Richard, they saw that his eyes were ablaze with light. "What better omen than this? I think my luck is about to change for the betterat long last!"THE Wash was a wide bay of the turbulent North Sea, fed by four rivers, extending more than twenty miles inland into the counties of Lincoln andNorfolk. The seaport of Lynn had grown up where the River Great Ouse emptied into The Wash. In early October its citizens were alarmed when they got word of an advancing rebel force. But by then John had reached Lincolnshire. He swung south again, detoured toward Lynn, and the rebels fled at his approach.On Sunday, October 9, the grateful townspeople of Lynn welcomed their King, and on the following day a feast was given in John's honor at the Benedictine priory of St Mary Magdalene, St Margaret, and All Virgin Saints.However boundless their goodwill, their resources were limited; ' ey could not hope to equal the exotic fare that had been set before John J|» happier days.But they did what they could with what they had, and , ' whose expectations were minimal, was pleasantly surprised. Am. e PIn8s of stewed pomegranates and pears were served, to much row"8' f°r aU knew such fruits were aphrodisiacs.Tarts filled with marPeac S^ar/ and 8rour>d pork were offered next, followed by a roasted skinn *e C°°ks had labored nours to strut the bones and refit the beenas? feathers so as to give the illusion of life everlasting. A pig had egg.yola,Ughtered and cut in half, the hindquarters stuffed with suet and and f0 "read crumbs, then carefully sewn together with the head Part of a capon, thus creating a wondrous beast to delight both

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486the appetite and the eye. But what amused John the most was th tlety, a sensual mermaid sculptured of marzipan, tail dyed gr6 ^ parsley juice, her flowing hair a spill of saffron. Wl'hAs entertainment, there was an acrobatic act and an alarrni ept juggler who seemed continually in danger of stabbing himself ^ "" his own knives. But for the townspeople, the true attraction of th ning was the presence of their King, and they listened, spellbound rare firsthand account of the momentous happenings in the world KJ* yond the marshyFens, beyond Lynn."Upon reaching Windsor, I found I did not have enough men f direct attack, butI was able to end the siege by acting as bait. As I moved north out of theThames Valley, the French abandoned the siege and out in pursuit. Rather halfheartedly, since they soon gave up and re turned to London. Which surprised me not in the least; Louis seems willing to fight to the lastEnglishman."As John had expected, that drew laughter. "I continued north, for we knew that the Scots King had come to Dover to do homage to Louis It was my hope that Icould intercept him on his way back into Scotland. Unfortunately he managed to elude our scouts, but we were able to wreak havoc upon the lands of our enemies in the shires of Cambridge and Lincoln."Swallowing the last of his wine, John pushed aside the stale trencher that had served as his plate. "Does your almoner save these for the poor?""Yes, sire."Glancing about at his men dining at the lower tables, John said loudly, "Let no one throw his trencher to the dogs," and signaled for more wine before resuming. "On the Thursday ere Michaelmas, we entered the city of Lincoln. Iknow there were those who thought Nicholaa de la Haye no fit castellan forLincoln Castle, but she has shown herself to be as steadfast, as stalwart as any man in holding the castle for the crown. The townspeople had not her courage, however, and yielded the city to the rebels. They had no stomach for fighting, though, fled even as we approached. We pursued them north, and then headed back when we heard you were in need.""And thankful we are for it," the Prior said fervently, and others in the hall took up the refrain, expressing their gratitude in terms so ophantic that one of the young monks laid his bread down in disgu his appetite utterly gone. aBrother Thomas was incensed that his Prior should make we ^^ blasphemer, a man with such mortal sins upon his soul. The A g ^ were ungodly, evil men. Thomas, who had been named after ^^ martyr Thomas a Becket, did not doubt that Henry and his son

487pjell John, too, would feel the flames of perdition Nothing t,urmn& ^^ ^ there was no contrition in his heart When the land C A under Interdict, he had shamelessly mocked the clergy, men of waS estmg the hearthmates and concubines of village priests, deC°°' faat the priests ransom their illicit loves He had heaped scorn111311 tempt upon Stephen Langton, a man of Thomas's own Linan h re and, likeThomas, of Saxon