Here Be Dragons - 1 (99 page)

12
ABER, NORTH WALES
April 1230
T
J. HE men came for Joanna the following morning. She had no warning; they entered without knocking, announced brusquely that she was to accompany them.
"Where are you taking me?" she asked, the composure of her question utterly belied by the tremor in her voice, and one of the men laughed.
"Did you not hear the hammering? Carpenters have been laboring since dawn to erect a gallows ... for two."
Even before she saw the startled looks on the other faces, Joanna was sure the man lied. If Llewelyn meant for her to die, she'd have died last night in her own bed. He would never hang her; she knew that with such certainty that she found the assurance now to challenge their authority. "I want to know where I
am to be taken."
"Do you indeed? Well, I'd not give a fig for what you want," he jeered, and
Joanna stiffened, for that expression had long since taken on obscene connotations. "You've no right to ask questions. You forfeited all rights the day you chose to play the whore for a Norman lord.
No one had ever dared speak to her with such contempt, and Joanna felt as if she'd been torn, naked and defenseless, from a cocoon of privilege and power, with no skills for survival in this harsh new world. But indignation was an indulgence no longer available to her. she could do was to salvage what dignity she could. "Very well, come with you as soon as I braid my hair." , Her tormentor stepped toward her, took the brush out of her a "No, you will come now," he said, and she had no choice but to ^ When Topaz sought to follow, he thrust the dog aside impatiently- a
*' * i <*j
Joanna had no choice but to accept that, too.
Just as they reached the door, a terrifying thought came What if he was not lying about the gallows? What if she was

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eht out to watch as Will was hanged? Merciful Jesus, let it not be so, was praying wordlessly, desperately, as they opened the antechamber door.
As early as it was, the bailey was thronged with men and women.
p. v watched in unnerving silence as Joanna emerged into the sunlight, t as she was led forward, they began to murmur among themselves.
eral gpat deliberately upon the ground; one bolder than the rest lied out loudly, "Norman slut!" Joanna flushed, suddenly seeing her-
lf through other eyes, hostile eyes. How she regretted dressing last ght in such haste; without stockings or chemise she felt half naked, slatternly, and with her hair loose, tumbling down her back, blowing untidily about her face, she must look as if she'd just been roused from a man's bed, a lover's embrace.
There was a sudden stir; Glynis broke through the crowd, ran toward Joanna. "I
did not do it, Madame," she cried. "I sent no message, I swear by Our Lady I
did not!"
"I know, Glynis, I know." Joanna's eyes swept the crowd. "Where is Senena?"
"Gone, my lady. She left nigh on an hour ago for Deganwy Castle." That came as no surprise to Joanna. Senena would want to tell Gruffydd with no delay.
Glynis was gazing at her in sudden comprehension. "Madame, you think it was she . . . ?"
"Who else? But you must go back now, Glynis, lest the others think you too sympathetic, lest they suspect you of aiding and abetting me in a liaison with
Will."
Glynis looked frightened, but she stayed resolutely by Joanna's side for several strides. "Go with God, my lady."
The crowd's anger was growing, and as Joanna feared, some of it was now directed at Glynis. But most of the abuse was reserved for Joanna, and as she heard herself called "whore" and "harlot," she began to comprehend at last the political implications of her adultery. Their outrage was in fact rooted in fear, the fear that she'd made Llewelyn ridiculous in the eyes of his English enemies. Nor was the fear illounded. The aging husband with a wanton young wife was a stock Sure of fun, found in innumerable comic tales and guild mummeries, Q for a Prince, nothing could be more injurious to authority than ghter, the mockery of other men. As Joanna came to this appalled erstanding, she realized, too, that her sin was twofold in the eyes of welyn's countrymen, for not only had she betrayed her husband, she etrayed him with a Norman, with one of her own. he faltered, and the heckling increased. She knew she must not en must not show fear. For Davydd's sake, she must be strong ° to endure their scorn. As a child in London, she'd once seen a

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that she was to follow. She did, but gave Davydd one last despaj look over her shoulder, and Davydd cried out, "Wait!" §
Beckoning to the nearest man, he gave a terse, low-voiced ord one that earned him a look of surprise. But the man obeyed, haste ' across the bailey toward Joanna's lodgings, reemerging a moment lat with Topaz straining upon a leather leash.
Davydd stood motionless, watching as Joanna moved to claim h dog, as she was then escorted toward the gateway. He ignored th stares, the whispers. Even the most probing eyes could read nothing i his face, and many marveled that he could be so impassive a witness t his mother's banishment from his father's court, his father's life. None was close enough to see the tears welling in his eyes.
AS Joanna's guards carried the coffer chests into her bedchamber, Glynis said apologetically, "They would not allow me to take your jewelry, Madame. But I
was permitted to pack your clothing and your harp and your bath vials and"
"That is more than I expected, Glynis." And more than she deserved. During
Ingeborg's years of confinement at Etampes Castle, it was said that Philip had denied her warm blankets, a physician's care. But I, Joanna thought bleakly, I
am to do penance in my own bedchamber, with silver brushes and bath oils. Her guilt suddenly seemed more than she could bear. For the first time, she could understand why repentant sinners sought to expiate their wrongdoing with hair shirts, with sackcloth and ashes. Such gestures no longer seemed extravagant or suspect; theirs was actually the easier way, mortifying the flesh in order to mend the spirit.
As the men withdrew, Joanna moved toward the younger woman. "It was kind of you to come, Glynis. But you need not stay with me.'
"I know that, Madame. Lord Davydd said that if I did not want to come to
Llanfaes, he'd find another to serve you. But I told him it was my wish to be with you."
Joanna felt tears prick her eyes, but she blinked them back, fearing that if she started to cry, she'd not be able to stop. She hugged Glynis wordlessly, and the girl said shyly, "Madame, will you tell me how this came to be? I do not understand, for 1 know you love Lord Llewelyn-
"Yes ... I do. And I will try to answer you, Glynis. But there is something I
must do first. Did you bring parchment, pen and ink.
Glynis nodded sadly. "They were the very first items I packed, . lady." ^
It took Joanna most of the afternoon to compose the letter o ^ ^ husband.
Again and again she had to scrape the parchment clean,

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the words began to come She did not try to make Llewelyn under-
d her infidelity, she knew that was hopeless She gave him, instead, 5 f rtual account of the chronology of her brief liaison, swore that it was a jong before Will's foolhardy intrusion into her bedchamber She
Id him she loved him, would always love him, and she begged him to what he could for Davydd, and to find the right words when telling
Flen And then she sent Glynis in search of Bran
"Will you take this letter back to Aber, to Lord Llewelyn7" Seeing him about to refuse, Joanna hastily pulled a ring from her finger "I would like you to accept this garnet ring as a token of my gratitude "
He eyed the ring with longing, but still he hesitated, and Joanna realized that he feared to face Llewelyn, to be the bearer of an unfaithful wife's plea
"Take the letter to Lord Davydd Tell him I ask that he give it to his father "
He reached for the ring, and then the letter, and after that, Joanna could do nothing but wait He was back sooner than she expected, shortly after dusk At sight of the letter she felt a sudden throb of hope, for she'd not thought
Llewelyn would answer her What mattered was that he would read her letter, learn the truth But as she turned it over, she saw her own seal, unbroken, intact
Bran averted his eyes, made uncomfortable by what he saw now in her face "As you see, Lord Llewelyn would not open it, and Lord Davydd said he said it will avail you naught to write again He said his lord father will not read your letters "
JOANNA was standing at the window, gazing up at a spring sky as brightly blue as the Irish Sea, clouds drifted by like floating islands, trailmg fleece in their wake The meadows would be ablaze in gorse, a brilliant yellow flower she'd picked by the armful in springs gone by How strange that something so simple as a walk on the beach could suddenly mean so much
"Glynis, is this a Thursday or a Friday7 When I awoke this morn, I c°uld be sure neither of the day nor the date "
"This is a Friday, Madame, the third of May " May third," Joanna echoed, and then, "eighteen days " She Tied abruptly from the window A week from the morrow would be anniversary of her wedding Twenty-four years since that fourteen-
^ar-old girl had shyly clasped Llewelyn's hand upon the steps of St rt)urgh's abbey church, twenty-four years She almost spoke her th S a^oud to Glynis, caught herself just in time She was learning the ° ^le^ to memones was to embrace pain beyond endurance, was
SUfest route to madness

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There was a knock upon the bedchamber door. Bran opened the door but did not enter; instead he stepped aside, allowed Ednyved to stride into the room.
Ednyved was brutally blunt. "I've come to tell you that Will de Braose was hanged yesterday at Aber." He was watching Joanna intently, but whatever reaction he might have expected, it was not this; she merely looked at him, showing no emotion at all, and he said curtly, "You did hear me?"
"Yes." He seemed to be waiting, and Joanna wondered what he wanted her to say.
Was she supposed to show surprise? She'd known from the moment Llewelyn walked into her bedchamber that Will was a dead man. Was she supposed to grieve for
Will? Mayhap one day she might, that he should have died at four and thirty, died so needlessly. But she would have to forgive him first, and she could find no forgiveness in her heart.
Ednyved moved farther into the chamber. "I think he did not truly believe it, up to the last expected Llewelyn to relent. But when he realized there was to be no reprieve, he died well, with courage."
"Yes," Joanna said again. Will had never lacked for courage. If only he had, he'd still be alive, and she'd be at Aber with her husband and son. She swallowed, said softly, "Ednyved . . . tell me. How is Llewelyn?"
"Bleeding."
His answer was so graphic, so unexpectedly expressive that Joanna shuddered.
Turning her back upon Ednyved, she moved blindly toward the window. He followed, grasping her shoulders and compelling her to face him.
"What would you have me do, sugar the truth for you? Nay, no tears. The time for tears is past. Ere I go, I want you to tell me why. You weep for Llewelyn and not for de Braose. You did not love him?"
He was hurting her, his fingers digging into her flesh, but she neither protested nor pulled away. She shook her head and he released her, stepped back, staring at her in baffled bitterness.
"That only makes your betrayal all the more unforgivable. Sweet Jesus, woman, why? I've watched as you struggled and schemed and fought to secure the succession for Davydd, only then to play into Grutfydd's hands like this! And for what? A tumble in bed with a swaggering cock, a rakehell not worthy of
Llewelyn's spit!"
"What . . . what do you mean that I've played into Gruffy^8 hands? Whilst I
daresay he is taking great satisfaction in my fall "* shame is mine, not
Davydd's."
"You think not? When you've given Gruffydd's supporters

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weapon they'd never dreamed within their grasp, an opportunity to cast doubts upon Davydd's paternity7"
Joanna gasped "But but that is the most outrageous of lies' And utterly impossible Will was just a lad when Davydd was born, could not possibly"
"You truly do not see, do you7 A woman's honor is verily like her maidenhead, in that once it is gone, it cannot be regained Now that you've been taken in adultery with one man, there will be those who'll think de Braose was not the first, that there must have been others "
"My God " No more than a whisper "My God, what have I done7"
"Madame Madame, sit down " Glynis was beside her, putting a protective arm around her shoulders "Just sit there and I'll fetch some wine "
A cup was hastily thrust into Joanna's hand, the stem felt cool to her fingers, wet and sticky with wine She drank deeply, without tasting, holding the cup with both hands "Llewelyn Llewelyn does not believe this7 Tell me he does not, Ednyved," she pleaded "Tell me he knows Davydd is his1"
"No he does not believe it I am sure of that " Answering her unspoken question then, he added, "Nor do I Nor would most people, I'd wager Given your extreme youth at the time of Davydd's birth, I think it unlikely that such a suspicion would gam widespread belief " His voice hardened "But do not deceive yourself
There will be some who'll give it credence, if only because they want to believe it Davydd's enemiesand he does have themwill seek to use it against him, as they'd use any weapon at hand "
"And I I gave it to them," Joanna said, sounding so dazed, so devastated that
Ednyved felt a flicker of unwelcome pity But he did not contradict her
"Well, I've had my say," he said, thinking Llewelyn was wise in refusing to see her, to spare himself yet more pain For as easy as it was to hate what she had done, it was not as easy to hate her, not as easy as it should have been
"Ednyved, wait There is something you must know I did allow myself to enter into an intrigue with Will de Braose, in a moment of Weakness, of madness if you will, during that time Llewelyn and I were es'ranged, whilst he was waging war in Cen But I ended the affair Almost ere it began I did not ask Will to my chamber that night, and ft°thing happened between us, nothing "
When he did not reply, she fumbled for her crucifix chain "You do

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not believe me? I'll swear it, then, swear it upon the lives of my childre upon their very"
"That is not necessary. I think I do believe you, if only because y0l] version makes more sense. I've known men like de Braose; they scom the merlin hawk nesting free in the heather, must have the one unde guard in another man's mews. But women rarely share that lust for risk taking, and I could not see you bringing a lover into Llewelyn's bed, not unless you were love-blinded ...
or bewitched."
"Will you tell Llewelyn, then? Will you tell Davydd?"
"I will tell Davydd. I cannot tell Llewelyn."
"But why? I am not asking this for my sake; I know he cannot forgive me. But if he knew the truth, his grieving might not be so great Can you not see that?"
"It is you who do not see, Joanna. Llewelyn is not about to believe anything you say, not now. Yours was the one betrayal he never expected. I truly think he'd have killed any man who dared come to him with suspicions, would never have believed it of you. And now ... now he will not allow your name to be spoken in his hearing. Only once has he mentioned you, saying you were dead to him . . . and the measure of his bitterness is the measure of the love he once bore you."
13
DOLWYDDELAN, NORTH WALES
May 1230
LEAVING Aber soon after Will de Braose's hanging, Llewelyn began a wide circuit of his domains, maintaining a hign. visible presence to discourage speculation and set gossip at rest. He w at Dinbych Castle by mid-May, where he was overtaken by a Cister Abbot who'd often served as an emissary of the crown; the Abbot vbearing letters from the English King and his Chancellor, and Llewe. agreed to meet with the Chancellor at Shrewsbury in June. From ^
bych, Llewelyn moved south into Powys, and then on to the Ciste kt,ey of Strata Florida. He did not linger, however, and the last days of -jay found him back in Gwynedd, in the heartland of his realm, the mountain citadel he most loved, his castle at Dolwyddelan.
He'd been traveling so rapidly, spending so many hours in the sadi\e that he'd outdistanced most couriers, and the table in his bedchamber was strewn with letters that had only recently caught up with jjm. He was sorting through them, dictating responses to a scribe, as pavydd entered the chamber.
"Papa ..." Davydd was unsure how to identify Richard, but after a nioment's reflection, he realized it was immaterial; announcing him as Richard Fitz Roy would not make him any the less Joanna's brother. "Papa, my Uncle Richard has just ridden in. Are you willing to see him?"
Llewelyn was not, but he was even less willing to admit it, so he nodded.
The exchange of greetings was awkward for them all. Richard looked fatigued, and not a little embarrassed. "It is good of you to make me welcome."
"You are Davydd's uncle," Llewelyn said dispassionately, but Richard was not deceived, saw Llewelyn's courtesy for what it was, an icy exercise in self-control.
Richard had given much thought to what he would say to Llewelyn, but he realized that was time misspent. To offer this man sympathy would be to offer a mortal insult. Although he'd never lacked for courage, he did not find it easy now to make mention of his sister's name. "Davydd tells me that Joanna is at Llanfaes. Have I your permission to see her?"
"Yes," Llewelyn said, still in those dangerously soft tones, and Richard thanked him, thinking all the while that Will de Braose must have been one of
God's great fools . . . second only to his sister.
"I'll see that my uncle and his men are fed and bedded down in the great hall," Davydd offered, and when Llewelyn nodded, he ushered Richard toward the