The Falcon and the Flower by Virginia Henley Read Free Book Online

oxen comes to trample the boar but it swims across the water and escapes. The ox submerges into the water to await the boar at a future date … now comes a jackal to devour the dead lion. It is not satisfied and seeks out another lion’s carcass to swallow it whole. The jackal has a pup to feed … they seek out the carcass of the third golden lion and rend it to pieces and devour it … still their greed is not satisfied … they look toward the water and see the boar on the far shore … yes, they are going after the boar. They know it is weak and vain, caring for only the jewels in the crown rather than the power the crown represents. All is fading … come back, come back …”
    Dame Estelle opened her eyes and shuddered. “Did you take down everything I said?” she asked anxiously. Jasmine helped her to a chair by the fire and handed her the parchment. Estelle read it carefully, considering the images she had spoken of. “I know what most of it means, but I will sleep on it and my dreams will interpretthe rest. Tomorrow I will translate what is written and foretell the future.”
    “Is it good?” Jasmine asked hopefully.
    The old woman shook her head. “It is like everything in life—good and bad, kind and cruel, happy and sad. However, in this case there will be a veritable surfeit of bad before the ultimate good.”
    Jasmine pondered her grandmother’s words as she undressed for bed. There was only one question to which she desired the answer. Would she go to court? She shrugged philosophically; tomorrow may give her the answer. She picked up a large chunk of amethyst crystal quartz that contained all the cosmic energy of earth and heaven. She pressed it to her forehead and to her heart and made a wish. Before she got into bed she took Quill, the little hedgehog that was curled into a ball on the hearth, and put him into her slipper for his own safety. She did not want a red-hot coal from the fire to fall onto the little creature and singe him.
    The beautiful May sunshine was in direct contrast to the fateful picture Estelle was painting. Jasmine set the dish of luscious strawberries aside as Estelle’s words affected her appetite.
    “The three golden lions are on King Richard’s shield. As we all know, the black ox is the symbol of death. King Richard is already dead, it is simply that the news has not had time to reach England yet. The lion’s cub with the crown is, of course, Richard’s nephew, Prince Arthur, Geoffrey’s son, who is next in line to be king. The wild boar who drags the cub into the dark cave and takes the crown must be Prince John of Mortain. The boar under cover of the dark cave must kill the lion cub in order to succeed.”
    “Grandmother, you are saying that John will murder Arthur! You did not see the wild boar kill the cub!”
    “You are correct, I did not. A great mystery will surround the disappearance of the cub, and it will be a long, long time filled with rumor and disbelief before anyone has the courage to charge John with the heinous crime.” Estelle took a deep breath and continued. “The boar takes the crown across the water, which means he will bring it to England and dwell here as England’s king.” She paused, hating to put the thought into words. “The jackal is Philip of France, his pup is his son Louis. By devouring the three lion carcasses they will swallow whole the Angevin possessions of Anjou, Bordeaux, and Gascony, then Brittany and finally even Normandy. Then because of King John’s weakness they will covet England itself and eventually try to invade us.”
    Jasmine was shocked at the black picture Estelle had painted of John. After all, he was half brother to her father and thereby her uncle. According to Estelle’s prophecy he was to be the new King of England. “Is he truly so evil?” she whispered.
    Estelle’s laugh cracked out. “Innocent one! All kings are evil. How else would they attain their high position and sustain it? Mayhap you have