"Sharon K. Penman - Here Be Dragons" - читать интересную книгу автора (Penman Sharon K)

you'll return to Gwynedd, lay claim to the lands ┬░a' uncles now rule You
must be ready to win back what is yours by y┬░" ancj above all, to deal with
the English
'''We are not a numerous people For every Welshman born, the
H God has seen fit to beget twenty of English blood Our princes
been forced to accept the English king as their liege lord But we
not been subjugated as the Saxons were, we have not become a
hon of serfs and bondsmen These Norman lords who rule England,
d would rule Wales if they could, hate us above all others And still
we live free, with our own princes, our own ways and customs "
Llewelyn nodded eagerly, intent on a lesson he'd long ago learned "This is
because when the English come onto our lands," Morgan continued, "our people
drive their livestock up into the hills and then they hide themselves The
English burn our houses, but we are not bound to the land like the English
peasants, and when they withdraw, our people rebuild Nor do we despair when we
fight the English and find ourselves outnumbered When we see ourselves losing,
we retreatand hit them again on the morrow When they send armies into our
land, we fade away into the woods, and they cannot find us
"If you understand this, Llewelyn, you must understand, too, that you've no
reason to reproach yourself, no reason to feel shame "
It seemed nothing less than miraculous to Llewelyn that Morgan could heal the
worst of his hurts with so little effort, and he gave the pnest a grateful
smile Morgan smiled back and then said briskly, "Now is it your wish that I
tell the Corbets about this boy7" Llewelyn hesitated Although he was feeling
more and more cornfortable about the role he'd played in that frightening
encounter by Yokethul Brook, he still did not relish the prospect of confiding
in his Corbet km "No," he said slowly "No matter what they did to him, he'd
just take it out on Stephen afterward I'd rather we let it he, Morgan " For
now, he added silently Walter de Hodnet Not a name to be forgotten
Morgan watched as Llewelyn touched his fingers to the puffy, discolored skin
over his eye, to the swelling bruise high on his cheekbone, Almost as if he
were taking inventory of his injuries And that, the priest new' was precisely
what the boy was doing, making a private acknowlgrnent of a debt due Morgan
sighed Vengeance is mine, saith the rcl On that, Holy Church spoke quite
clearly But his people parted pany with their Church on this issue, they did
not believe in forgivlng a wrong^ forgetting an injuryever
Here," he said, handing Llewelyn a brimming goblet "The Lady a nuxed some
bryony root in wine, to ease your pain and help you
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sleep. Drink it down and I'll stay with you till it does take effect. I hay
something of great importance to tell you. We learned this noon of death, a
death that will change the lives of us all." Llewelyn sat up. "Who, Morgan?"
"Young Henry, the English King's eldest son and heir. We had word today that
he died in France on the eleventh of June, of the bloody flux. He knew he was
dying and pleaded with his father to come to him so they might reconcile ere
he died. But Henry did not believe him fearing it was a trick. They are an
accursed family, in truth, the Devil's brood." He shook his head, made the
sign of the cross. "What will happen now, Morgan?"
Ordinarily the priest would have insisted that Llewelyn be the one to tell him
that. But it was late and the boy was bruised and sore, in no condition to be