The year is 1409.
It has been nine years since Owen Glendower, Prince of Wales, instigated the devastating Welsh Revolt against the rule of King Henry IV of England.
Despite initial revolutionary success, the Welsh forces are now faltering against t...
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THEY REACH SHREWSBURY a week later, a day's ride away from the Welsh border, but the prince had wanted to make sure everything was settled within the castles he has captured. Catrin grudgingly admires his thoroughness, but it does not mean that she is happy about their delay. Mother and Alys claim it to be for the better, but if the English king is to mock and humiliate them, Cat would rather he do it and get it over with — the sooner, the better.
As they ride across the plains of her homeland, it is painfully clear that Wales has given up on resistance. Their country is beaten, bruised, war-torn — the people are tired. Father, to Cat's mind (and her mother's, as well), has terribly misjudged the attitude of their countrymen. All they want is safety and security, plentiful food and a fire to warm their hearths. 'Tis all anyone wants, and Cat cannot bring herself to fault them. During the siege, 'twas all she had wanted as well.
The English soldiers gloat — they mock the exhausted, terrified looks on Welsh faces as they pass by. Most cannot recognize the Glendowers by sight, but the few who do look horrified for them. A man (wonderful, brave man) tries to run in front of the army to stop them, but his shaking wife barely manages to hold him back. One of the soldiers tries to skewer him nonetheless, and 'tis only a barked, angry order from Prince Henry that puts a stop to that.
This week (and the ones before it) have brought Catrin to a very unpleasant realization — this Lancastrian prince is treating her, Alys, and mother better than father likely would have, had they been English noblewomen.
The Welsh thought process is very self-serving: use every advantage you can get to further the one cause, the only cause that matters — liberation. Owen Glendower is not above hurting ladies to attain his goal, and his eldest daughter is well aware of it. It does not prevent it from being a bitter medicine to swallow anyway.
