Here Be Dragons - 1

by Sharon Kay Penman

  553 "No neM.^ l eiWed mXself thoroughly!" "Y d i/alve on turmoil, I'H grant you that. Llewelyn, I want to go , rV?ey. If this night does not end soon" ^a //]S, jei. I've a surprise for you." Ignoring her protests, he put ' YA her waist and escorted her across the hall, into the solar, his a ,t stairwell. As she followed him, still objecting halfheart- tovvar a ine , herself thinking of her stairwell encounter with Will de edry/ n Wondered how long it would take for that memory to Braose, and sh ° y A th /ched the top of the stairs, the door swung open. "Mor- , re/as utterly baffled by now. "What are you doing up here? gan. J0^, **% broke off, gazing about her in wonder. The chamber M . ^4 light, with scented wax candles. The floor rushes were vvas . ... A across the bed coverlets were scattered the last flowers fresn y / an .arjgolds, lilies of the field, even a few Christmas roses. of the season- r °, . , , , , T, , , , . , , "T 1 k ' *)'e a bridal chamber, Llewelyn, Joanna exclaimed, and ,,r j />rd, it is! This is the chamber in which we passed our then, Good L/, r We 11 I 'as 'au8hing. "I decided it was time to rectify a wrong. -ro we neglected to get the nuptial blessing for our bed. ef ^ , ,e over here with me, breila, Morgan is prepared to remBut if you II cor> ^ Llewelyn's hand, knelt with him by the bed as Morgan ' . . ° ^ the cross, rapidly intoning a brief prayer to God Eter- ma e , . , c blessings upon His servants, Llewelyn and Joanna, that nal, seeking Hi# 5 , . . ,. . , , ., . ., . ,, ' ht I 'n 8°°" accora m s divine love, and that their off- i_iVe-tease till the end of the ages. He then sprinkled holy spring might jj/ *>.*,. r °, . je a discreet departure, water about, mr . , . , , , . , ,.,->* .. . as. started to help Joanna to her feet. Breik? Are you Llewelyn t(> r , ,a shaken laugh. "Hold me," she entreated. "Just hold Joanna gav . ,, . , . u - v /n i i , «mme could not have been better. You 11 never know me close. Your v e u i- tu rfans to me, never . . . how much thjs r , , ... . . , . . T. , jjed off her veil, began to loosen her hair. It was not a Llewelyn pf ° , . . . , ^ j was jf?" good night for v , , , . , /

  554 "Joanna?" Llewelyn propped himself up on his elbow "r not sleep?" ' an you "I was thinking of you, of our belated nuptial blessing i A know you as well as I thought I did, never suspected you had a r n°' streak." mantl<: "Just make sure no one else suspects," he warned. "There ar secrets to be shared only betwixt man and wife, and only in the d ^ only in bed." Joanna laughed softly. "Ah, Llewelyn, you do know how much love you?" "I might have an inkling or two." Her hair was caught under h arm and he shifted so she could pull free. "But you were not thinking f me, breila. You were worrying about Elen." "Yes ... I was. How did you know?" "Because," he admitted, "so was I." LUDLOW CASTLE, ENGLAND July 1223 T 1 HE Earl of Pembroke had been attending to his Irish estates since November of 1222. Early in the new year, Llewelyn took advantage of Pembroke's absence and struck at the Earl's alliesiin Shropshire, capturing castles from Fulk Fitz Warin and Baldwin de Hodnet. Hubert de Burgh persuaded the young King to mount a punitr>« expedition into Wales, and by March 7 they were assembling an army ^ Shrewsbury. But the Earl of Chester now interceded upon Llewe yn^ behalf, persuaded Henry that Llewelyn's dispute with Pembroke co be settled by peaceful means. . ^^ The Earl of Pembroke thought otherwise. Arriving back'nrdlgan Wales in mid-April, he laid successful siege to the castles of a' , and Carmarthen, which Llewelyn had held since the winter cal^ffyd

  555 rrny south After taking and burning the Norman town of Kid- 1 Gruffydd and his men clashed with Pembroke at Carmarthen , vVhat followed was a bloody day-long battle in which many men "I"/but neither side could gam the advantage At this point Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, mter- . Henry was now in his sixteenth year, and although not of a ^e I nature, he had his share of Angevin ambition But his dreams of uest centered upon the recovery of Normandy, not all-out war with C ister's husband, and he was quite willing to heed Langton, to act as cemaker While Llewelyn was skeptical, he yielded to Henry's re- est agreed to attend a July council at the border castle of Ludlow. IN an upper chamber of the castle keep, Llewelyn was meeting with Henry, Stephen Langton, and Hubert de Burgh, while Joanna awaited tos return in the great hall Although Henry had welcomed them with genuine warmth, Joanna was not comfortable at Ludlow This was unfnendly territory, the great hall filled with hostile Marcher lords, men with extensive Welsh holdings, with very strong reasons for wishing Llewelyn ill But Joanna was not alone for long Within moments her young sonin-law approached, holding out a wine cup She smiled, touched that he should feel the need to look after her in Llewelyn's absence "Thank you, John Did I telloh, no1" John swung about, but could see no cause for alarm "What is amiss7" "Across the hall Ralph de Mortimer and Thomas Corbet just walked up to Gruffydd " Seeing that he did not comprehend, Joanna added impatiently, "I know Thomas Corbet He's up to no good, means to bait Gruffydd into a fight And believe me, it'll not take much!" "You need not fret, I'll see to it," John assured her, but then he smiled "It seems the Bishop of Winchester has the same idea," he said, and they watched as Peter des Roches adroitly herded the malcontent 'archer lords safely away from Llewelyn's son lhank Heaven for Peter's sharp eye," Joanna sighed "My father ^ en )°ked that Peter might not be as innocent as the dove, but he was h* y as guileful as the serpent1 John, tell me I could not help but notice ha7 C°rdlal Peter suddenly 1S toward your Uncle Chester The Welsh ,f p Pr°verb The enemy of my enemy is my friend I was wondering e « might not be taking that to heart " re]Uct 6re Was surprise in the look that John gave Joanna, a startled and jf a wa reaPpraisal It had baffled him that Llewelyn would make use °man for delicate diplomatic maneuvenngs, that Joanna so often

  556 acted as his envoy to the English court. But her questions sh 'Owed shrewd perception of political undercurrents, and suddenly T a presence here at Ludlow did not seem so inexplicable after all u9 S much, he wondered, did she cull from careless male speech? How °W many men would think to guard their tongues, to be wary of a } comelv woman? "Peter des Roches is not the only one with a sharp eye," h ceded. "You are quite right. Des Roches is a man quick to tend t h° own pastures, and he suspects Hubert de Burgh of grazing on th$ wrong side of the fence. There is no love lost betwixt them these d But de Burgh still holds the ear of the one who matters most, our yon King." "8 Joanna nodded. "John ... I do not mean to interfere between a ma and his wife. But I've gotten a disturbing letter from Elen. She wrote that you forbade her to visit us" She stopped in mid-sentence. "You did not?" "Indeed not," he said indignantly. "I would never act to cut Elen off from her family. I did tell her that I did not want her to go into Wales this summer, but only because war seems imminent. I know how homesick she is, but I had to put her safety first." "Yes," Joanna agreed slowly. "Of course." If this youngster was not speaking the truth, he was as skilled an actor as any she'd ever seen at Christmas mummeries. And Elen had ever been capricious and headstrong. But however Joanna sought to rationalize, one fact still stood out starklythat some seven months after her marriage, Elen was not happy with the husband they'd chosen for her. At that moment there was a sudden stir; Henry and Llewelyn were reentering the hall. Joanna hastened toward her husband. Gruffydd and Ednyved were also converging upon Llewelyn. He met with all three ot them in the center of the hall, gave them the bad news they could already read in his face. "Shall I tell you their terms for peace? I am to yield up the castles took from Fitz Warin and de Hodnet. But Pembroke gives up nothing, gets to keep my castles of Cardigan and Carmarthen." y, Gruffydd swore under his breath. "What did you tell them, Papa^ "What do you think I said?" Llewelyn paused, looked directly^ Joanna. "You'd best go and bid your brother farewell. I told him we leaving Ludlow within the hour." r^g{[ Joanna was dismayed, but she knew better than to argu Llewelyn sounded like that. She nodded, did as he said. ^ ^er Henry gave her no chance to speak, took her arm an j toward the window recess. "Joanna, you must talk to your must get him to see reason."

  557 "Henry/ there is nothing I can do " "[ do not want war with the Welsh, you must know I do not But I choice, Joanna Cardigan and Carmarthen have too much strate- ^3 portance to leave them in the hands of a Welsh P
rince Surely you ?« see that " "Yes of course I can Why should a Welsh Prince have any right to t]es on Welsh soil?" Henry had vivid blue eyes, a drooping left eyelid that gave him a wsv appealmgly vulnerable look But both eyes opened wide now, h vved so much hurt that Joanna was at once remorseful "I am sorry, Henry I do love you," she said softly "But I love my husband, too, and I am so very tired of always having to choose Henry watched as she moved away, back to Llewelyn When Hubert de Burgh joined him, he said, "I never meant to hurt my sister, Hubert I was so sure I could make her understand You said she would " "It cannot be helped, my liege It is no easy thing to be a King, to tind the courage to make difficult decisions You must be strong, lad, must" "I am1" Henry cried, stung "I'll do what must be done But that does not mean I have to like it " GWENWYNWYN'S two young sons had been living in England as wards of the crown On the same day that Llewelyn rode away from Ludlow, Henry ordered the boys to be brought to his court at Gloucester in hopes of winning away from Llewelyn the allegiance of the men of Powys He then sent the Earls of Pembroke and Salisbury into Wales While Llewelyn sought to cut off their supply lines, Gruffydd sprang a lethal ambush in a hilly pass of Carnwylhon But Pembroke and "I were able to fight their way free, began to lay waste to the counfrvside of Dyfed Once more, Wales was at war a[rELYN S Slege °f BuelU CaStIe WaS m lts second week The Welsh had Waj.S ^en able to cross the deep wet moat, to breach the outer curtain

  lad? 560 actually fear masqueradinnifcding as fury, and he said, still laboring -*- ~g for breath "Let it lie, Gruffydd" "Christ, Papa, he coujo~ould have killed you! What if he'd mis^aassed, if he'H hit you instead?" Llewelyn preferred b?d not to dwell upon that. "What's y3^ your name lad?" The bowman swallooJUllowed. "Trefor, my lord," he mumblsMloled. "Trefor ab Alun." "You're a good shot ionot, Trefor. I'll remember." Trefor beamed, but Jjjut dared not linger. Gruffydd's anger ca - counted for more at that moment thsrfJthan Llewelyn's approval, and he hurri_rwied to rejoin his comrades. Ednyved picked up qi-ap the broken sword, flung it out into tH± the moat. "It seems to me, Llewelyn,,nvn, that you're the one who needs the eg nursemaid not your Davydd1" Llewelyn's smile v s was wry, faintly discomfited. "I s~e should have known better," he admi/rumitted. "But it did prove one thing, thai^^at I was right about these Norman ha srfhauberks. Without it, I'd have been ske=_o.ewered like a stuck pig." "Papa . . ." Davyoy^ydd was standing several feet away. ~ He'd lost all color, was so shaken t m that Llewelyn knew at once he'd vwitnessed the fight. As Llewelyn climbfmnbed down the scaling ladder, he bega_ =.esn to appreciate the extent of his inni injuries; his muscles were already exr^=»ppHingly sore and tender. But he knerrznew how very lucky he had been, and _ as soon as he and Davydd were stanexanding on firm ground, he said, "I'm 53 glad you saw that, lad. I hope to GoD God you remember, for it might save - your life one day. I did something grig very foolish up there. I saw a man r~ lying on the wall, just took it for g -r granted that he'd been killed in the n morning's assault. But on the battMrt*ttlefield you can take nothing for gran. /ited, Davydd, nothing. Careless meie/nen do not make old bones, lad." "I was so scared b d for you, Papa. Were . . . were you sc.^5~ared, too? Llewelyn turned bsd, looked into the hazel eyes upturr*_med to his, Joanna's eyes. "Not wlw "whilst we were fighting, Davydd. Yov-r^rn do not have time to be afraid dunu uring a battle, are too busy trying to ^s stay alive. DU afterward, when youwoou think about it, about all the loathsorrrme ways ther* are to die, I suspect n 11 most men feel fear. I have, for certes. . ." , Davydd no long«griger met his eyes. "I've heard men say that Grutty knows no fear" y "Do not measuni/iare yourself against Gruffydd, lad. I ct-*_rriose you as . heir because I saw in v in you qualities of leadership." Llew^^-elyn hesi a ^ for it was not easy t.j v to say. "I did not find those qualities - in Grut y

  561 trust you not to repeat that to anyone else But I trust you, t member it " "Llewelyn1" Ednyved was leaning over the wall embras Braose wants to talk, says he'll send his son out if you'll wa safety " "Agreed " Llewelyn looked at Davydd and then grinned I'll even invite him to dinner'" THE tents of English kings were opulent, even sumptuous, , enough for privacy as well as comfort Llewelyn s tent was of modest scale, for even if he'd had the resources to indulge hirr Welshman could have respected a commander who went to ^ feather mattresses and silver plate Llewelyn contented himsel] pallet, and when dinner was served, he and his guests sat in a c the ground, just as his men did around their campfires If Will de Braose thought Llewelyn's accommodations spa did not show in his face The Marcher lords tended to be a hard robust and tough-minded as the Welsh they fought and befriend< Will ate with gusto, even knowing that he was being served on< own beef cows As much as it irked Gruffydd to hear Normans i his tongue, it offended him even more to hear one speak such Welsh, and he was hard-pressed to manage even a semblance liteness He would never understand how his father could bring ^ to eat and drink with their enemies, never ' It scarcely seems fair to repay your hospitality with what 1 r, tell you now " Will reached for another piece of bread "But my and I thought you had a right to know Your daughter Gwladys is i *e castle " There was a moment's silence Then Llewelyn laughed den ar|d Gruffydd spat, "Liar1" My son speaks bluntly, but true which is more than you d you think I'd besiege Buellt without first making sure of my daugi Hereabouts, her safety? Gwladys is many miles to the north a CourtontheisleofM6n " Will did not seem at all abashed He shrugged, said with an ( fcntant grin, "Well, you cannot blame a man for trying, can you? f Llewelyn shifted his position with unwonted care, neither mi n n°r a lanolin ointment had done much to ease his discomfort } I e here lest you had an offer to make What is it7" Seven hundred head of cattle if you ride away on the morrow hat was a fair offer But there was more to consider than pr

  560 actually fear masquerading as fury, and he said, still laboring for breath "Let it lie, Gruffydd." "Christ, Papa, he could have killed you! What if he'd missed, if he'd hit you instead?" Llewelyn preferred not to dwell upon that. "What's your name lad?" The bowman swallowed. "Trefor, my lord," he mumbled. "Trefor ab Alun." "You're a good shot, Trefor. I'll remember." Trefor beamed, but dared not linger. Gruffydd's anger counted for more at that moment than Llewelyn's approval, and he hurried to rejoin his comrades. Ednyved picked up the broken sword, flung it out into the moat. "It seems to me, Llewelyn, that you're the one who needs the nursemaid, not your Davydd!" Llewelyn's smile was wry, faintly discomfited. "I should have known better," he admitted. "But it did prove one thing, that I was right about these Norman hauberks. Without it, I'd have been skewered like a stuck pig." "Papa . . ." Davydd was standing several feet away. He'd lost all color, was so shaken that Llewelyn knew at once he'd witnessed the fight. As Llewelyn climbed down the scaling ladder, he began to appreciate the extent of his injuries; his muscles were already exceedingly sore and tender. But he knew how very lucky he had been, and as soon as he and Davydd were standing on firm ground, he said, "I'm glad you saw that, lad. I hope to God you remember, for it might save your life one day. I did something very foolish up there. I saw a man lying on the wall, just took it for granted that he'd been killed in the morning's assault. But on the battlefield you can take nothing for granted, Davydd, nothing. Careless men do not make old bones, lad." "I was so scared for you, Papa. Were . . . were you scared, too?" Llewelyn turned, looked into the hazel eyes upturned to his, Joanna's eyes. "Not whilst we were fighting, Davydd. You do not have time to be afraid during a battle, are too busy trying to stay alive. But afterward, when you think about it, about all the loathsome ways there are to die, I suspect most men feel fear. I have, for certes." Davydd no longer met his eyes. "I've heard men say that Gruffyd knows no fear." "Do not measure yourself against Gruffydd, lad. I chose you as ni heir because I saw in you qualities of leadership." Llewelyn hesita^ > for it was not easy to say. "I did not find those qualities in Gruffy0

  567 trust you not to repeat that to anyone else But I trust you, too, to remember it " "Llewelyn1" Ednyved was leaning over the wall embrasure "De graose wants to talk, says he'll send his son out if you'll warran
t his safety " "Agreed " Llewelyn looked at Davydd and then grinned "Tell him I'll even invite him to dinner1" THE tents of English kings were opulent, even sumptuous, spacious enough for privacy as well as comfort Llewelyn's tent was of a more modest scale, for even if he'd had the resources to indulge himself, no Welshman could have respected a commander who went to war with feather mattresses and silver plate Llewelyn contented himself with a pallet, and when dinner was served, he and his guests sat in a circle on the ground, just as his men did around their campfires If Will de Braose thought Llewelyn's accommodations spartan, it did not show in his face The Marcher lords tended to be a hardy lot, as robust and tough-minded as the Welsh they fought and befriended, and Will ate with gusto, even knowing that he was being served one of his own beef cows As much as it irked Gruffydd to hear Normans pervert his tongue, it offended him even more to hear one speak such fluent Welsh, and he was hard-pressed to manage even a semblance of politeness He would never understand how his father could bnng himself to eat and drink with their enemies, never "It scarcely seems fair to repay your hospitality with what I have to Ml you now " Will reached for another piece of bread "But my father and I thought you had a right to know Your daughter Gwladys is within the castle " There was a moment's silence Then Llewelyn laughed derisively and Gruffydd spat, "Liar1" "My son speaks bluntly, but true which is more than you do Do you think I'd besiege Buellt without first making sure of my daughter's whereabouts, her safety7 Gwladys is many miles to the north, at my c°urt on the isle of Mon " Will did not seem at all abashed He shrugged, said with an unrePentant grin, "Well, you cannot blame a man for trying, can you7" Llewelyn shifted his position with unwonted care, neither mutton at nor a lanolin ointment had done much to ease his discomfort "You'd °t be here lest you had an offer to make What is it7" 'Seven hundred head of cattle if you ride away on the morrow " That was a fair offer But there was more to consider than profit,