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

But there is no need for this marriage. You and Chester are already allies.""Yes, lass, we are. But I am forty and nine, and Chester even older What happens when my power passes to Davydd, and Chester's earldom to John theScot? The alliance is too valuable to leave its survival to chance. If I no longer have to fight the Earl of Chesterwhoever he may beI am then free to act in South Wales. The Welsh princes will always have to defer to the English crown. But we can prevent further Norman encroachments into our lands. We can make sure that there are no more Flemish settlers moving in to displace theWelsh, that men like Pembroke build no more Norman towns on Welsh soil. We can still safeguard the future, and this marriage will help to do that."Elen's breathing had quickened. "You're not being fair, Papa," she said, almost inaudibly. "I do not want to marry him.""I know, lass." Llewelyn's voice had softened, too. "And I understand. How could I not? For much of my life I've had to do things that 1 did not want to do. But they had to be done nonetheless, because so much was at stake."Elen was silent. But the sudden droop of her shoulders was more expressive than any words she could have uttered. Llewelyn brushed the tears from her face. "I trusted you to make the right decision, Elen. knew I could. Can you not trust me as much? You'll have no regrets*lass, I promise you."John had once made the same promise to Joanna, under identic circumstances, and he'd been right. Joanna closed her eyes, said a silen" fervent prayer to the holiest and most merciful of mothers that L welyn, too, might be right. t"I'll do as you wish, Papa." But it was a stranger's voice, did nOund like Elen at all, and suddenly Joanna found herself wishing pas-jonately that her daughter could be a child again, with a child's choices nd the easy comfort to be found within a mother's embrace. She moved forward, put her arm around Elen's shoulders. The girl stiffened at the touch; pulling away, she fled the chamber. She stumbled several times, humped into the table as she turned, and that, too, was unlike Elen.They let her go. Llewelyn sat down abruptly in the nearest chair. He vvas the first to break the silence. "Was I wrong, Joanna?"She shook her head. "No, love, you were not. I do believe what I told Elen, that we could not make a better match for her than this."Crossing to his chair, Joanna put her arms around his neck, rested her cheek against his hair; although she teased him at times about going erey, it was still thick and dark, showed silver only under fullest sunlight. But he looked his age at the moment, looked so careworn that she leaned over, kissed the corner of his mouth. "I'll talk to Elen," she promised. "I'll go and look for her right now."

"I wish you would, breila. There's no logical reason for Elen to oppose this marriage, and once she's wed, finds herself the Countess of Huntingdon, she'll see it was for the best. I know that, Joanna. And yet . . . yet I still feel as if I'd been hunting for roebuck and instead shot someone's tame fawn."LLANFAES was one of Joanna's favorite manors. She liked the relatively mild island climate, loved to walk along the shore, to gaze across the narrow strait toward the lofty range called Eryri by the Welsh and Snowdon by theEnglish. She knew that Elen, too, loved the dramatic contrast of sea, sky, and mountains, and she headed for the beach. As she expected, there she found her daughter, standing alone by the water's edge.Elen was clutching her veil; it was crumpled, wet with tears. But her eyes were dry as she turned to face Joanna; they held no tears, only anger. "Go away, Mama," she said. "I do not want to talk to you.""Darling, I know you're hurting. But it will pass, I swear it will. E'en, Iknow.""You've felt like this, Mama? You've felt trapped? Trapped and helpless?""Yes, Elen, yes. God's truth, I did. You must believe me, darling." "I do, Mama. I believe you. And that is why I cannot forgive you." 'en's voice was coldly accusing. But all the while she was twisting and Dotting the veil with hands that shook.I know Papa loves me. But he is a man and cannot possibly underar|d how it feels to be bartered to the highest bidder like a prized filly.

542r543You, though, Mama, you should have understood. You should hav spoken up for me. But you did not, did you? And now you tell me y0 know how I feel. Well, that just makes your failure all the mor unforgivable!""Elen, I could not argue against this marriage. I believe it is right for you.John can offer you a good life, can offer you all I've ever wanted for you, and more. And he""But what of me? What of what I want?""You're fourteen, Elen. You're not in a position to make a decision that will affect your entire life. Nor was I, at your age. A young mj cannot choose her own husband. Darling, you know that. This is how marriages are made. This is how it's always been done.""Just because something has always been done a certain way does not make it right. But you cannot see that, can you, Mama? You'll not talk to Papa. You'll not try to change his mind.""No, Elen," Joanna said softly. "I cannot do that."Elen dropped her veil, watched as the wind carried it away, an incongruous splash of color against the drifting sand. "Then we have nothing more to say, have we? I'll marry your John the Scot, Mama. And you may be right; I may in time be reconciled to it, to him. But what if I'm not? Have you thought of that? What if you're wrong?"LLEWELYN and