Here Be Dragons - 1

by Sharon Kay Penman

  243 nt " 'Even amongst the Welsh/ we do honor those who gave us me) The slurs you cast upon Cristyn can as easily be turned against your mother, can they not?" He did not wait for her response, but °^ed and walked out. Joanna's anger ebbed away, to be replaced by desolation. She sank trembling, upon the nearest stool. Llewelyn was right. In seeking belittle Cristyn, she had indeed besmirched Clemence, too. Far rse she had affronted Llewelyn beyond forgiving. He would hate now, would never want her as his wife. So caught up was she in her own misery that it was some time before she became aware of Alison. The girl was kneeling by her stool, looking up at her with eyes full of fear. "Ah, Madame, what have you done?" she whispered. "Go after him, beg his forgiveness ere it be too late!" "It is already too late," Joanna said wretchedly, but Alison shook her head. "He is angry, yes, but his heart has not had time to harden against you- You must seek him out ere it does. Madame, listen to me. 1 do know what it is like to live in a house without love. My mother had too sharp a tongue, and then, too, my father blamed her for failing to give him a son ... Well, the reasons count for naught. What does is that he did not use her well, Madame, made of her life a Hell on earth. A man can do that, my lady, can treat his wife no better than the meanest serf, and who is to gainsay him? She is his, after all, to be lessoned as he chooses. And in this we all are sisters. High birth did not spare Philip's Danish-born Queen Nor your grandmother, Queen Eleanor of blessed memory. And your husband is a Prince, is a man to expect obedience above all else. I was astonished, in truth, that he did not take his hand to you, but you're not likely to be so lucky a second time. Go to him, tell him you're sorry. Would you have him hate you for all your married life?" "No," Joanna said. "Oh, no!" And before she could repent of her resolve, she snatched up her mantle, ran from the chamber. The bailey was now astir with people; they turned^to stare as Joanna passed. There was no one at all, however, in Llewelyn's outer chamber. Joanna leaned for a moment against the door, sought to catch her weath. She'd not yet thought what she was going to say to him, knew that if she dwelt upon it, she'd lose her nerve. Tapping lightly on the d°or, she said, "Llewelyn, it's Joanna. May we talk?" She heard footsteps, and then the door swung open. Joanna stiffe"ed at sight of Cristyn. She'd not dreamed Cristyn would still be ere; surely, if the woman had any decency at all, she'd have within at once. Yet Cristyn had not even bothered to dress, was clad y in a linen chemise. This was the first real look Joanna had gotten at

  244 her husband's mistress. She saw before her a tall, poised woman in he mid-twenties, with rather unusual and striking coloring. Cristyn had very white skin, masses of dark gold hair, and brown eyes. She was not beautiful; her mouth was too large, her nose too tip-tilted, but there was about her an unstudied sensuality, a provocative earthiness more allur. ing than mere prettmess. Joanna could understand all too well the appeal Cristyn might have for a man, for Llewelyn. For a heartbeat they stared at each other, and then Cristyn said, m passable French, "Llewelyn is not here. He was to meet this morn in Bangor with Bishop Robert and the Bishop of St Asaph, rode out directly after he did talk to you." Turning away, she moved back toward the bed. "You will excuse me whilst I finish dressing?" she said, reaching for her stockings. "I do not recall giving you leave to sit in my presence," Joanna snapped, saw a resentful flush rise in Cristyn's face and throat. She came reluctantly to her feet, making it quite clear that she thought Joanna was not playing fair. Joanna did not care; fairness was the furthest concern from her mind. If she'd thought her command would have been obeyed, she'd have banished Cristyn then and there into English exile, even unto Ireland if she could. Cristyn was waiting, brown eyes suddenly wary. "Madame?" she said icily, and Joanna felt so much hatred that it frightened her. She stared past Cristyn at the bed; it was still unmade, rumpled and warm where they had lain, Llewelyn and Cristyn, making leisurely love through the night. Whirling about, Joanna crossed the threshold, beckoned to one of the men loitering without. "Madame?" "Take that bed out into the bailey, and there burn it," she said, saw the man's jaw drop. "Jesii, Madame, I cannot do that! It is my lord's bed, is worth" "And I am your lord's wife, am I not? I have just given you a cornmand, so see to itnow." Cristyn had followed Joanna to the doorway of the antechamber; she, too, looked dumbfounded. The man's eyes flicked from her to Joanna, and then he nodded. It took four men to wrestle the mattress out into the bailey; cursing and panting, they dragged it a safe distance from the building. By now a large, curious crowd had gathered. Someone brought forth a torch; there were loud murmurings among the onlookers as the bed coverings ignited, burst into flame. Joanna stood motionless, watching as the bed burned. After a time the wind shifted, blew smoke into her face, and she coughed, turned away.

  245 "What of the bedframe, my lady? Shall we torch that, too?" The OJce was young, the face friendly, lit by an engaging grin. "No," Joanna said, startled to see that most of the other faces were ndly/ too- She'd not expected that. They were watching her with uised interest, even approval, seemed to take her action as a great ke To Joanna, it was anything but that. She was just beginning to alize what she'd done. She must have been mad, in truth, for LleweIvn would never forgive her now, never. ALTHOUGH Alison had managed to infect Joanna for a time with her panic, it soon passed. Llewelyn wanted an alliance with her father, would do nothing to jeopardize it. He'd not send her back to England in disgrace. Nor would he ever abuse her as Philip abused Ingeborg. She felt sure that was not Llewelyn's way. He might well beat her for burning the bed, though. Even the most indulgent husband was likely to react with rage to folly of that sort. Each time Joanna thought of facing him with such a sin on her conscience, she shivered. She'd once seen a knight strike his wife in the great hall at Westminster, before a score of wellborn witnesses; blood had gushed from the woman's nose, stained her gown and wimple. And while the man's action had been greeted with almost universal disapproval, it was not his brutality that earned him such scorn, but rather that he'd been so ill-mannered as to punish her in public. Even men who never hit their wives would still, Joanna knew, defend in principle their right to do so. Women were the lesser sex, after all, and even Holy Church said they were born to be ruled by man. Alison was right; she had indeed been lucky that morning. But what she feared far more than a beating was the loss of Llewelyn's friendship. How could she bear to have him look upon her with distaste, to shun her company, treat her with chill politeness? And how could it be otherwise now? Even when he finally took her to his bed, it would be without affection or tenderness; he'd not make love to her, would make use of her to beget an heir. He might even install Cristyn openly in his bed, at his table. And it was her fault. She had allowed her lealousy to rob her of that which she most wanted. HE six-mile ride from Aber to Bangor Fawr yn Arfon had done much to °°1 Llewelyn's anger, as he'd known it would. He'd always had a appy facuity for concentrating upon one problem at a time, and by the 'me he arrived at the great cathedral church of St Deiniol, he had as his

  246 primary concern the upcoming meeting with the Bishops of Bangor a ri St Asaph. He was never able to put his quarrel with Joanna cornplet ] from his mind, but he did succeed in focusing his attention upon tv, matters at hand, and by day's end he was satisfied with what he had accomplished. It was dusk as he made ready to return to Aber. His escort va augmented by Ednyved's force, for the latter had been a guest of Bishop Robert's, and was now planning to move on to his own manor at Llys Euryn in Creuddyn. "I assume you can find me a comfortable bed for the night at Aber?" Giving Llewelyn a mischievous, sidelong glance, Ednyved added, "or should I be offering you a safe bed at Llys Euryn?" Llewelyn could not hide his surprise. "What have yousecond sight?" Ednyved grinned. "Just an ear for choice gossip. One of your menwho shall remain mercifully namelesswas kind enough to tell me about all I missed this morn. Did your girl-wife truly walk in on you and Cristyn? Jesus wept! What did you do? Mind you, this is not mere morbid curiosity, t>ut in case I ever find myself in a like predicament!" "I did what arty man would do when he's caught in the wrong.
1 lost my temper." Ednyved laughed, then nudged his mount closer to Llewelyn's, "Does Joanna knovv, Llewelyn, that you've given her grounds for ending the marriage? Is there any chance she's on her way home to England even as we talk?" Llewelyn shook his head. "Joanna knows naught of Welsh ways, even after some rtionths in our midst. Moreover, Joanna knows that John wants me as a.lly, and as hard as it may be to fathom, she has found in him much to lov-e." LLEWELYN was aw^re that he was a magnet for all eyes, but it did not bother him unduly; he'd lived most of his thirty-three years at center stage. He was bothered, however, by Joanna's failure to appear for the meal. Each time h^ glanced at her empty seat, he felt a twinge of guilt; nor was his conscience eased to be told she'd eaten nothing all day, had not ventured from her chambers since the morning. He sent a servant to the kitchen, and b»y the time dinner was done, a platter was waiting, mead and wafers a T,d venison pasty. Ednyved sauntered over, drawled, "As peace offerings go, you'd get better results with moonstones and amethyst," accompanying Llewelyn as he departed the hall, stepped out into the icy da%k of the bailey. "My lord . . .'""A man emerged so unexpectedly from the shadows

  247 they both started, instinctively dropped hands to sword hilts. But he stepped closer, Llewelyn recognized Aldwyn, his silentiary. a "jvty lord . . . after you rode out this morn, your wife did go to your mbers in search of you. The Lady Cristyn was there and they had C rcis." He paused, said unhappily, "My lord, I know not how to tell you, but '" "But what?" Llewelyn said sharply. "princess Joanna . . . she ordered us to burn your bed." "She did what?" Turning, Llewelyn looked at Ednyved, and then, of one accord and to Aldwyn's indescribable relief, they were shouting with laughter. "Lord Jesus," Ednyved gasped, wiping his eyes. "Just count yourself lucky you were not in it at the time, my lad!" Sobering somewhat, he said, "I've a confession, one that'll make me sound an utter ass. But when Aldwyn gave that pregnant pause, the damnedest thought crossed my mind, that Joanna knew more of Welsh law than you thought, knew that, catching Cristyn in your bed, she had the right to claim Cristyn's life without paying a blood-fine!" "Ah, but only if she did it with her own hand. Can you truly imagine Joanna stabbing Cristyn ... or anyone else?" After a moment, Llewelyn began to laugh again. "But then, I never thought her capable of burning my bed, either!" LLEWELYN found himself hesitating before the door of Joanna's bedchamber. He was perfectly willing to placate his young wife, to offer her the balm of smiles and soft, soothing words. He was not so willing to humble his pride, to play a role for which he'd had so little practice, that of penitent, and it was with an unexpected sense of unease that he beckoned to his servant, reached for the door latch. He forgot his reluctance, however, with his first sight of Joanna. Her face was pinched and drawn, a mirror for such misery that he no longer begrudged her an apology, would give it gladly if that would but heal her hurt. He gestured for the servant to put down his burden, waiting until they were alone to say, "I was told you'd eaten nothing all day, Joanna." Joanna was staring at the platter in disbelief. "You . . . you are not angry with me?" "Ah, Joanna . . . I'm sorry, love, I swear I am." To be offered absolution when she'd been expecting damnation Was, to Joanna, nothing less than miraculous, and when Llewelyn took

  248 a step toward her, she more than met him halfway, flung herself into his arms with a choked cry. "I thought you'd never forgive me, never. Llewelyn, I am so sorry. I had not the right to speak to you as I did, no right to reproach you. It is not a wife's place to question her husband's actions. I know that. But I... I was so jealous, so very jealous . . ." Llewelyn stroked her hair, tightened his arms around her. "Joanna, you had every right. Let's sit on the settle and talk about it." Joanna accepted a cupful of mead and, when urged by Llewelyn, even took a few bites of a cheese-filled wafer, but she tasted none of it. She still could not quite believe Llewelyn was here, sitting beside her on the settle, sharing her mead cup, for the first time calling her "love" as if he meant it. "I think you need to know how we look upon women. It is true, lass, that a Welshwoman cannot inherit her father's lands, whereas she would have a right of inheritance in England. But that is for the same reason that our laws do exclude men maimed, deaf, crippled, or stricken with leprosy. It was feared, you see, that women and such men could not hold their lands against attack. But we do not claim that womanly weakness on the battlefield should make her subordinate in all else, too, as you Normans do. Our women cannot be wed against their will, and a Welsh wife has no less right to walk away from an unhappy marriage than does her husband." "But Llewelyn . . . the Church does recognize only three grounds for voiding a marriage: a previous plight troth, kinship within the seventh degree, or spiritual affinity such as acting as godparent." "Well, to tell you true, Joanna, when the Church's teachings conflict with the old customs, we tend to go our own way. As in our preference for marrying cousins. We have a saying, love: 'Marry in the kin and fight the feud with the stranger.' So when it comes to interpreting the marriage bond, we follow Hywel the Good rather than the Pope." Llewelyn laughed suddenly. "I've been told that some Norman churchmen see my success as divine proof of the power of legitimacy. My father lorwerth was a child of Owain Fawr's first marriage; when Owain later married his cousin Crisiant, the Church refused to recognize the union, and when he would not abjure Crisiant, Thomas a Becket excommunicated him. So they see my triumph over my uncle5 Davydd and Rhodri as ordained, they being sons of the so-called incestuous marriage. The only flaw in that theology is that my mother and father were themselves first cousins!" He handed Joanna back the mead cup, said, "But we were talking ° how we end a marriage. It may always be done by mutual consent. An then, a husband may disavow his wife if she claims to be a virgin and

  249 d'scovers on their wedding night that she was not, or if he finds her promising circumstances with another man, of course, or if her mi . e portion fell short of what was promised." Llewelyn had been, for some moments now, playing with her ha fne feel of his fingers on her throat was so delightfully distracting i Joanna that she was not fully concentrating upon what he was sayin But at that, she smiled up at him, murmuring, "Then you do have « for better or worse, since my father handed Ellesmere Castle over to y« months ago, I would never be unfaithful, and I am indeed a virgin." "For much too long, I think," he said softly, dark eyes promising enough to bring a blush to Joanna's face. "But do you not want to knot how a wife may shed an unwanted husband? There are four grievanc that will gain her freedom: if the man contracts leprosy, if he has fd breath, if he is incapable in bed ... or if he does three times dishorn their marriage vows." Joanna all but choked on her mead. "Now you are teasing me!" "No," he said, "I am not, love. The first two times that a Welsh wif discovers her husband has bedded with another woman, she has tit right to demand from him payment of a gowyna fine, if you willfi his adultery. With his third fall from grace, she may leave him, althouji if she does not, she then has no further cause for complaint." Llewelyn paused. "There is one more reason for ending a marriagi Joannaif a husband does ever bring another woman under his wife' roof." "As you did with Cristyn?" Joanna whispered, and he nodded. "Yes, as I did with Cristyn. Amongst our people, that is one of th three great scandals, and the wife may at once disavow the marriagi disavow the husband who has so wronged her." "I. . I would never do that, Llewelyn." Joanna was stunned; in he world, laws such as these were more than radical, they were revolution ary. She was silent for a time, trying to take in this astonishing ne» insight, that Llewelyn, not she, had been in the wrong. "I thank you for telling me. You did not have to, you know . . ."It came to her then, the reason for Llewelyn's remarkable restraint, and e cried, "Now I do understand why, as angry as you were this morn you did not touch me! It was because I was in the right, was it not?" Joanna, I've never hit a woman in my life. You've not been listen 8 to me, love. Did I not tell you we do not treat our women as th °nnans do? Amongst my people, we do not take out our bad temper P°n our wives just because they happen to be handy. Welsh law doe w a husband the right to discipline his wife for three offenses only
: it 15 unfaithful, if she gambles away the family goods, or if she cast

  245 a step toward her, she more than met him halfway, flung herself into his arms with a choked cry. "I thought you'd never forgive me, never. Llewelyn, I am so sorry ] had not the right to speak to you as I did, no right to reproach you. It ;s not a wife's place to question her husband's actions. I know that. But I... I was so jealous, so very jealous ..." Llewelyn stroked her hair, tightened his arms around her. "Joanna you had every right. Let's sit on the settle and talk about it." Joanna accepted a cupful of mead and, when urged by Llewelyn even took a few bites of a cheese-filled wafer, but she tasted none of it She still could not quite believe Llewelyn was here, sitting beside her on the settle, sharing her mead cup, for the first time calling her "love" as if he meant it. "I think you need to know how we look upon women. It is true, lass, that a Welshwoman cannot inherit her father's lands, whereas she would have a right of inheritance in England. But that is for the same reason that our laws do exclude men maimed, deaf, crippled, or stricken with leprosy. It was feared, you see, that women and such men could not hold their lands against attack. But we do not claim that womanly weakness on the battlefield should make her subordinate in all else, too, as you Normans do. Our women cannot be wed against their will, and a Welsh wife has no less right to walk away from an unhappy marriage than does her husband." "But Llewelyn . . . the Church does recognize only three grounds for voiding a marriage: a previous plight troth, kinship within the seventh degree, or spiritual affinity such as acting as godparent." "Well, to tell you true, Joanna, when the Church's teachings conflict with the old customs, we tend to go our own way. As in our preference for marrying cousins. We have a saying, love: 'Marry in the kin and fight the feud with the stranger.' So when it comes to interpreting the marriage bond, we follow Hywel the Good rather than the Pope." Llewelyn laughed suddenly. "I've been told that some Norman churchmen see my success as divine proof of the power of legitimacyMy father lorwerth was a child of Owain Fawr's first marriage; when Owain later married his cousin Crisiant, the Church refused to recognize the union, and when he would not abjure Crisiant, Thomas a Becket excommunicated him. So they see my triumph over my uncle Davydd and Rhodri as ordained, they being sons of the so-called in cestuous marriage. The only flaw in that theology is that my mother an father were themselves first cousins!" / He handed Joanna back the mead cup, said, "But we were talk"1? how we end a marriage. It may always be done by mutual consent. A then, a husband may disavow his wife if she claims to be a virgin an