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

have died ere he'd yield up so much as a handful of Norman soil to Philip. You can scarcely say the same for John!"Joanna had not meant to confront them; girls of thirteen did not challenge their elders. But with Maude's taunt, she forgot all else, grabbed for the door latch. The women within turned startled faces toward her; even Maude looked somewhat disconcerted. Recovering quickly, however, she said curtly, "Itrust you were not eavesdropping Joanna.""I need no lesson in manners, Madame. Not from you."Maude's mouth tightened. "If you were my daughter, I'd slap y011

273for that," she snapped "No child of mine would dare speak so lolently to her elders""But I am not your daughter, Madame I am the King's daughter,"na said, and saw that she'd achieved the all but impossible, had theI t word m an argument with Maude de Braose Never had she been soAe to an adult, but now she turned her back upon Maude, crossed to coffer chest No one spoke, watching in silence as she knelt, retrieved a willow basket She could feel their eyes upon her, all the way to the doorThe lower bailey was awash m sun A postern gate in the north curtain wall opened out into the gardens, and it was toward this door that Joanna hastened, almost running in her need to put the bedchamber scene behind her Reaction to her rage had set in, and she was flushed, trembling But she was proud, too, that she had stood up to Maude de BraoseJoanna had long since passed the stage where she thought every adult was all-knowing Some were quite clever Others were not And some could be remarkably shrewd and yet surprisingly foolish, too Joanna was slowly realizing that her young stepmother was one such, insightful about that which interested herrelationships between men and womenand unabashedly uninformed about all else Now, as much as she disliked Maude de Braose, Joanna did not dismiss Maude as a fool No, Maude and Isabelle were reverse sides of the same corn Maude was quick-witted about that which interested Isabelle least She could add up long columns of figures in her head, knew the names of all her vassals, could talk of Welsh border warfare as well as any man But she had no understanding of people's heartsJoanna smiled Precisely because she was so ignorant of emotional needs, Maude would be sure Joanna would repeat all to her father, would have some uneasy moments in consequence, for even Maude, who prided herself upon her outspoken, careless candor, even she would not want such a tale to reach the King's earsNot that she would ever tell Papa He had burdens enough, needed no more He wasJoanna calculated rapidlyonly in his thirtyseventh year, but his hair was increasingly flecked with grey, and there were lines around his mouth that had not been there a year ago Worst °' all, his temper was honed to a sharp edgeHe rarely shouted, as his rather and brothers had done, but sarcasm, too, could scar Even in8°od humor, he'd always trod that fine line between jest and mockery, and these days he was all too quick to turn upon others the sardonic lash of an unbridled tongueJoanna sighed Papa was so good to her, so good to Isabelle And he as very clever, in truth he was So why, then, did he offend people so

174needlessly? For he did, he was too suspicious, too quick to read tK worst into men's motives. Not, she added loyally, that he had no cau^ for mistrust. Many of the Norman barons had gone over to Philip at tne first chance.Joanna had spent much time in the past year seeking to puzzle j( out, how her father's luck could have soured so swiftly in the months after Mirebeau. She'd even attempted to discuss it with John, but had been rebuffed with unwonted sharpness. And Isabelle had been no help whatsoever. She was interested only in consoling John for his loss, not in analyzing the whys and wherefores.It was from her Uncle Will that Joanna had gotten most of her answers. He'd admitted that John had blundered in freeing Hugh <3e Lusignan and in alienating William des Roches. But he'd told her, too, that John's mistakes were threads woven into a larger pattern. "In some ways, Joanna, John is reaping the crop Richard sowed. Mayhap Richard could have held on to the lands for a while longer, but that is all. What is writ is writ. You remember that, lass, whenever you hear ignorant tongues wag."Joanna did remember, sought now to dismiss Maude's mockery as her uncle had advised. But anger was not so easy to subdue; resentment remained, and regret that others could not see into her father's soul, could not know him as she did. Yet there was, as well, a realization that had no place within the borders of childhood, that was rooted in an adult understanding: that her father could make mistakes, could suffer from uncertainty and indecision, could share all the failings of mortal men. He was not a saint, after all, not the all-powerful knight without peer, Lancelot and Roland and Gawain, a child's champion in the lists, her favor on his lance and her name on his lips."He was a burning and shining light," Joanna murmured, with some self-mockery, but not much. Why should she scorn the bedazzled child she had been? She had loved Papa when, in her innocence, she'd thought him to be perfect, and she loved him no less now that she knew he was not.WINCHESTER had been a favorite residence of Joanna's grandfather, the oldKing, and in days gone by, when he'd still cared about pleasing his Queen, he'd built for Eleanor vineyards to remind her of her native Poitou, chains of fishponds, a garden arbor. It was to these gardens tha Joanna retreated.From her basket she fished out her lesson tablet and the bone styW5 she used to mark the wax