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

not. Just be thankful a Welshman's word is not as worthless as you Normans claim." Llewelyn turned to the closest man, said curtly, "Escort de Braose back to the castle."Will did not press his luck, held his tongue. But no one objected. Not evenGruffydd had seriously considered harming him, for it was understood that there were promises that could be broken and promises that must be kept; John might not have been so hated had he not blithely broken both kinds.Once Will had gone, they could give vent to their disappointment, their rage that their prize was to be so rudely snatched from their grasp. But they could not long afford to indulge their anger, not with an English army less than a day's march from Buellt. "Give the order to break cairip," Llewelyn said grimly. "We are done here. De Braose has won this time."ApTER raising the siege of Buellt, Henry and Hubert de Burgh continued"orth, feeding their troops with Welsh cattle, burning and pillaging. ByPtember 30, they had reached the border castle of Montgomery. Soon ereafter, they made use of their ultimate weaponthe Church of me- Llewelyn was excommunicated again, and warned that if he did capitulate, his subjects would be absolved of all oaths of allegiance.wh Llewelyn was not a man to repeat his mistakes; he'd learned n to fish and when to cut bait. He sent word to Henry that he and)

564IIthe other Welsh Princes would come to Montgomery on the eighth of October, submit themselves to the English crown.OCTOBER 8 was a Sunday, God's day. An autumn sun shone upon the surrounding hills with a mellow warmth, burning away the mists that had shrouded the valleys for days and revealing blazing oaks, maples dappled in russet and saffron. But the day's beauty only deepened Davydd's forebodings. His unease intensified with each mile that brought them closer to Montgomery. He could think of nothing but the tales he'd heard of his father's surrender atAberconwy. How could he watch as Papa humbled himself to Henry? What would theEnglish demand of Papa? Would men blame him, too, remembering he was Henry's kin, half Norman?When the sun-silvered waters of the Severn came into view, Davydd could endure no more. Urging his mount forward, he reined in beside Llewelyn. "Papa, do you have to do this? Is there no other way? Why can we not withdraw up intoGwynedd?"Llewelyn signaled for his companions to drop back. "Whilst it is true that my own domains are not endangered, that cannot be said of my allies. If we do not come to terms with the English, Maelgwn and Rhys Gryg and Owain risk losing all. And although Gwynedd is not yet threatened, my influence in Powys andDeheubarth is. By making peace now, we can still salvage something from this debacle. Henry has agreed to restore to the other Princes the lands they'd lost to Pembroke, and to""But what of you? You'll have to yield up those Shropshire castles, andCarmarthen and Cardigan, too! It's not fair, Papa, you know it's not!""I cannot pretend that I like losing those castles, Davydd. But I do not see that I have a choice . . . just the dubious consolation that we Welsh take as a tenet of faith, the understanding that no matter how grievous our troubles are, they can always get worse.""Jesii, Papa, how can you jest? You've told me how John sought to shame you, to""Is that what you fear, another Aberconwy? Ah, no, lad. This is no life-or-death struggle; we're talking about a couple of castles, a loss face, no more than that. Most importantly, Henry is not John."Davydd was still dubious, but upon their arrival at Montgomery discovered that his father was right, an astute judge of men. *v ^ Henry would later reveal his fair share of human failings, vindictive^ was never among them. He was genuinely glad to accept Llewe ^^ submission, had no intention of turning the occasion into an ugly °

565lesson for the Welsh. Llewelyn was his sister's husband and therefore entitled to err. Henry pardoned the Welsh with artless generosity, with an ingenuous simplicity that was both his strength and his weakness, that he would never entirely outgrow.Nor did Llewelyn's foes gloat openly over their victory, Pembroke because his antagonism toward Llewelyn was impersonal and thus without rancor, and Hubert de Burgh because he was dangerously dependent upon Henry's goodwill.The Archbishop of Canterbury had already restored Llewelyn to God's grace, lifted the Interdict from Wales. All that remained to be done was to acknowledge the supremacy of the English crown, and this Llewelyn did, kneeling and pledging oaths of homage and fealty to the sixteen-year-old King.It was nowhere near as painful as Davydd had expected, and he watched with great relief, grateful that Henry had not his father's vengeful nature, thatLlewelyn's English alliesChester, John the Scot, Jack de Braosewere there to lend moral support.As Maelgwn and Rhys Gryg came forward to swear fealty to Henry, Llewelyn crossed the hall, moved toward his son. "You see?" he said. "No lasting scars."Davydd nodded. "I'm learning, Papa," he said, and Llewelyn grinned, "I'm counting upon that, Davydd." But as he glanced about the great hall, his smile faded. "Where's Gruffydd?""He walked out, Papa."Llewelyn said nothing, for what was there to say? How long, he wondered, would he keep expecting more than Gruffydd could deliver? How long ere it stopped hurting?HENRY and Hubert de Burgh were planning to erect another castle atMontgomery, and construction had already begun at the new site, a mile to the south of the existing motte and bailey. As he wandered aimlessly about the bailey, Gruffydd heard the boisterous sounds of eh

566Eryri, fought the English on their own land, their own terms. Papa need not have yielded, need not have come to Montgomery. To Gruffydd this was a dishonorable and indefensible surrender, one he could neither understand nor forgive.He knew he could not remain indefinitely out here in the bailey and braced himself to