'You've outwitted or outfought two English Kings, unified your people, secured the sucession for Davydd and engendered a sence of shared identity among the Welsh, an awareness of their common destiny. Llwelyn, those are remarkable achievements.'

'Yes,' he said, 'but will it last?.

Joanna had been able to find a curious sort of comfort in that courtyard scene at Aber, in that sudden glimse of Davydd in a new and unnerving guise, as a man utterly intent upon claiming a crown. She opened her mouth now, ready to reassure Llewelyn that Davydd would triumph, and then realised he was not speaking of Davydd's succession, but rather of Wales. …

She very much wished she could foretell for him the future of Gwynedd, assure him that the Welsh would continue to thrive in the shadow of a stronger neighbour.

'                        Here Be Dragons'     Sharon Penman (1986)