Here Be Dragons - 1 by Sharon Kay Penman Read Free Book Online Page A

he said slowly, "but I wonder if the madness might not be in the water they drink or the air they breathe. How else explain that four short years amongst them could have so scattered your wits?"
Llewelyn was amused. "Your faith in me is truly wondrous to behold, Ednyved.
Think you that I'm such a fool as to challenge my uncles on my own, with only
God on my side? I had a long talk this morn with my Uncle Gruffydd, and he has sworn to give me his full backing, men who know war well and the money to pay them; he even offered the services of no less a soldier than Gwyn ab Ednywain.
It is my intent, too, to join forces with my Uncle Cynan's two grown sons.
They were denied their inheritance just as I was, giving us common cause against Davydd and Rhodri."
"When you do put it that way, it does not sound quite so crackbrained,"
Ednyved conceded. "But how in the name of the Lord Jesus did you ever get your lady mother and stepfather to give their consent?"
Llewelyn hesitated. "Well, to be honest, I have not told them yet," he admitted, and flushed when they both laughed.
"Can you truly blame me?" he protested. "We'll be bound to have a godawful row. I know not with whom my mother'll be more wroth, me or my Uncle Gruffydd, for aiding and abetting me in this. As for Hugh, he's like to have an apoplectic fit. You see, he'd arranged for me to enter the household of a
Norman Earl."
Llewelyn shook his head in mock regret. "Poor Hugh, how he has struggled to make of me a proper Norman. I once overheard his brother grumbling about turning a sow's ear into a silk purse, and I daresay Hugh has had moments when he's in heartfelt agreement!"
This last was said without rancor. Llewelyn never doubted tha Hugh's fondness for him was genuine, but he'd come to understand that affection and bias could take root in the same soil. In this he had tn
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fa ere of Rhys and Ednyved, and they looked so offended that he advanwg<- -j
.11 i i j F
felt compelled to come to Hugh s defense.
"Yet he is a good man for all that. My mother has been quite content th him, and I"he grinned suddenly"I even did come to forgive vTm for his greatest sin, that of not being born Welsh!"
But here they had no common meeting ground; neither Rhys nor Fdnvved had
English friends, English kin. Both looked blank, and then Rhys dismissed what he did not understand, saying, "You'll not let them talk you out of it?"
"No." Llewelyn sat up, his eyes searching their faces with sudden ober intent.
"I shall have men to counsel me, men well lessoned in the ways of war. But no matter how much help I get from my Uncle Gruffydd or my cousins, I shall have to stand or fall on my own efforts. If I cannot convince people that my claim be just, if I cannot win their allegiance . . . nor can I expect my blood to count for aught should I fall into Davydd's hands. And the risks will be no less for those who follow me." He paused. "My Uncle Gruffydd has agreed to speak with your fathers, should you"
"You want us to help you overthrow Davydd and Rhodri, to fight with you?" Rhys could wait no longer, and burst out eagerly, "Jesu, Llewelyn, need you even ask?"
Llewelyn smiled. "What of you, Ednyved? Does Rhys speak for you, too?"
"I'd as soon speak for myself," Ednyved said, sounding quite serious for once.
"I want to be sure I fully understand. We'd be camping out in the mountains of
Gwynedd, harassing your uncles howsoever we could, living like outlaws, sleeping in the open, eating on the run, rebels with prices on our heads. Is that a fair summing up of what we could expect?"
"Very fair," Llewelyn agreed, and a slow grin began to spread over Ednyved's face.
"Who could possibly turn down an offer like that?"
"It is settled, then," Rhys said briskly, never having doubted what his cousin's answer would be. As he spoke, he was rolling up the sleeve of his tunic. Before Llewelyn and Ednyved realized what he meant to o, he unsheathed his dagger and, without the slightest hesitation, drew it swiftly across