Bond of Blood Read Free Page A

her lord would stay.
    "This night and perhaps another. I would not have come at all except that it was agreed that the betrothal should take place on the morrow." Lord Radnor stopped suddenly and became conscious that he had been extremely rude and tactless. "I should not have said that, I suppose, but I do not mean that I did not wish to meet you, of course. These are dangerous times in Wales, and if a full-scale rebellion is to be averted I must keep close watch on my men and lands. I can ill spare even these few days … although I am glad now …"
    "I hear very little of these matters, my lord."
    "And you are little enough interested, I warrant." Radnor smiled, wondering briefly what most women thought about, if they thought at all.
    "No, no, I am interested,” Leah protested. “If you would but have the patience to pardon my ignorance and explain simply. I do, indeed, wish to know what is happening in the world, but my father never speaks of aught but hunting and gaming and my mother is so glad to be at peace that she will say no word of war. I remember when I was a little girl that there was much fighting and the house was full of strange knights always and my mother wept all the time. Why are these dangerous times?"
    Lord Radnor passed a hand across his face, gently touching the scar near his mouth, seeking for simple terms to explain a complicated situation to this child who was watching him with an expression of eager interest. There was no need for him to tell her anything, of course, and he had not the smallest expectation that she would understand him since women, with the exception of she-devils like Joan of Shrewsbury, never did understand anything. He was amused, however, by her eagerness, like a child begging for a story, and it could do no harm to tell her.
    To Leah, hearing of what was happening in the country around her was almost as great a marvel as reading a new romance, for news traveled very slowly and, since Pembroke stayed very seldom at the keep to which he had banished his wife, often missed them completely. Leah's life was filled solely with the household chores of the castle, and perhaps that should have been sufficient for her, but Lord Radnor like everyone else underestimated how much her wits had been sharpened by living with the father she had. She was very capable of understanding, and she longed for the stimulation of information beyond her household chores.
    "When old King Henry died—no, I must go back before that, I guess, if you are to understand. King Henry had but one son born in wedlock. That prince, unfortunately, was drowned in a crossing from France. When the prince was drowned, King Henry, wishing to keep the throne for his own blood and having no other legitimate son, bade the barons do homage to his daughter, the Empress Matilda."
    "Do you mean, my lord, that a woman could rule this land?"
    Well, she had picked that up keenly enough. "Wait, let me go my own way or we will become enmeshed in explanations that take us nowhere. Many barons were willing to take her as queen, many were not, but after the pledge was made, even those that were willing regretted what was done."
    "Why? Because she was a woman?"
    "Not that so much. It is more that she is proud and overbearing. In a man a high stomach may be borne, but in a woman it is insufferable. When Henry died, therefore, some sent messages secretly to Stephen of Blois, the king's nephew. He was pleasant, well liked, and a strong fighter—also weakminded, which was discovered later, but that is treason to say, so do not repeat it."
    "I will repeat nothing you tell me, unless you bid me especially to do so."
    Lord Radnor was startled, but he realized almost immediately that she responded to an order like a good, obedient child and continued his tale. "At first all went well except for a few disaffected—Robert of Gloucester, the king's natural son, held by his sister's right to the throne—and, although my father hesitated long,