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

knowing you as I do." Her tears were coming faster no* "What do you mean to do, Papa? Shall you haunt me for the rest of W days?" Her voice broke;kneeling on the icy tiles before John's coffin/ s wept bitterly.

BOOK TWO

WINDSOR, ENGLANDSeptember 1217AT the time of John's death, Louis exercised authority over half of John's realm. London was his, and his ally, the notorious pirate and freebooterEustace the Monk, claimed dominion of the seas, operating at will from his base in the Channel Islands. But an anti-French antagonism was taking root in the country, and John's death gave many disgruntled rebels the excuse they needed to abandon Louis. Among those who acknowledged the boy King as their sovereign was John's brother Will, Earl of Salisbury.John's alliance with the Church now stood his young son in good stead. Wales had been under Interdict since November. Louis and the rebel barons had been declared excommunicate, and the papal legate Guala did his best to elevate the conflict into a holy war, encouraging Henry's supporters to wear the white crosses of crusaders. Coming under such intense pressure from the Holy See, Philip was fast losing all enthusiasm for his son's English adventure. ButLouis was not, and the *ar dragged on through the winter and early spring.« began to seem as if neither side could score a decisive victory. ,- "'ln mid-May, the Earl of Pembroke learned that Robert Fitz Walter, P 'K Qu*ncv'ar>d a French force were besieging Lincoln Castle.Pembroke saw his opportunity to engage them while Louis was oc-~- --">-' "f J-'VJJL IU1 IH V H_f t LlfjCltlV,11IV111V* 1111VLJVU-1C?VV CtO »J*.DV 1 'n another Sie8e °f Dover Castle, and by dawn on May 20, a- ust army was in sight of Lincoln's city walls.^n J -h *e castle/s hereditary castellan, Nicholaa de la Haye, had But |yj1?pn8 a gallant defense, the town was securely in rebel hands. *ekom ° S6nt ^er lieutenant constable out to the royalists with the5rna" Po '^at S^e cou^ &iye them entry into the castle through a^Or"iail em d°°r' °nce in the castle' Peter des Roches made a daring nee into the city itself and discovered a gate along the west-

504ern wall, blocked but unguarded. Returning to his companions, h shared this discovery with Chester, Pembroke, and Will, the leaders of the expedition.While the royalist vanguard sought to batter down the north gate another force gained entry through Peter's hidden gateway, and soon the steep, narrow streets of Lincoln had become a battlefield. By S-QQ P.M. it was over. TheFrench commander was dead, Fitz Walter and Saer de Quincy were taken prisoner, along with three hundred French knights, and the rest of the French were in flight.Amazingly enough, only five men were slain in the actual fighting More died, however, on the chaotic retreat back toward London. And when the triumphant royalists sacked the city, many women and children drowned while trying to flee in small boats that capsized in the River Witham.Their victory was so complete that the jubilant English dubbed it "the Fair ofLincoln," as if it had been a tournament. But it did not end the war. Louis still believed the English crown was within his grasp, was not willing to concede defeat.JOANNA reined in, shocked, at first sight of Windsor Castle. She remembered apple orchards, groves of hazelnut and filbert, lush vineyards nurtured since the days of her grandfather's reign. But she saw only scorched, mangled tree stumps, barren and pitted earth where rocks launched from mangonels had gone astray. As she passed into the lower bailey, there, too, she found scars of the castle's three-month siege. There were gaping holes in the ground, the outer timber palisades were blackened, and the stone walls of the middle and inner baileys were gouged and battered.Even the great hall had not been spared; a section of the roof had suffered a direct hit. Joanna stopped her mare. It had been more than eleven years, but she even remembered the day of the week: Tuesday, May 2, in God's year 1206.She'd stood with her father here in the bailey, struggling to bid him farewell without tears, still unable to believe that in just nine days she would be the wife of a Welsh Prince. She'd though she had managed to hide her fear fromJohn, but when they embraced, he hugged her tightly, saying, "You'll have no regrets, sweetheart, promise.""No regrets," Joanna echoed now, a lifetime later, and then s laughed, a laugh so strained, so lacking in mirth that her men gave looks of curiosity, even of sympathy. After a time, her mare bega ^ fidget. Only then did she bestir herself, shake off her father's spell an cross the drawbridge into the middle bailey.

505The timber buildings constructed by Henry II for his Queen's cornfort were ranged along the north wall of the upper bailey, and they lone seemed unscathed. Joanna was escorted across a grassy courtyard nd into the chamber where Isabelle awaited her.They were alone; Isabelle had dismissed her own attendants and Joanna's maid.There was genuine affection in their greetings, animation in their first moments of sharing, but there was a slight wariness, too, as if their intimacy needed to be rediscovered, to be tested anew after a five-year separation."Henry had an earache, so I had to put him to bed with a vervain poultice. He is so excited by your coming, so eager to see you," Isabelle said and smiled."Being an only child myself, I confess I cannot comprehend his passion for siblings. But nary a day goes by when he does not make wistful mention ofDickon, even of Nell and Isabella, and they're just babes.""They're still at Corfe?" Joanna's disappointment was sharp, for she'd yet to meet her little sisters."Yes, for safety's sake. In fact, dearest, I was not at all sure Llewelyn would allow you to come halfway across England, safe-conduct or not.""Llewelyn does not know. He's waging war in South Wales, was besiegingHaverford the last I