Valley of the Shadow

Chapter Eighteen

They rode into the ráth of Laisre. The same two stable boys who had greeted them when they had first arrived were in attendance and took their mounts. It was only then that Orla addressed them again. There was a curtness in her voice.

‘Laisre and Murgal will want to speak with you immediately. They will be in the council chamber.’

Neither Fidelma nor Eadulf said anything as they followed her into the council chamber.

Laisre was seated on his official chair speaking earnestly with Murgal and Colla. They broke off their conversation to stare in surprise as Orla ushered Fidelma and Eadulf forward. Laisre did not conceal his expression of dislike as his gaze met Fidelma’s. Colla looked slightly bewildered at her appearance while Murgal’s countenance bore a look of cynical amusement.

‘So,’ Laisre said in quiet satisfaction, ‘you have caught our fugitives, Orla?’

Fidelma raised an eyebrow disdainfully.

‘Caught? Have you given orders for my capture then, Laisre? If so — why? And what is this talk of our being fugitive?’

‘I found her and the foreigner riding back here,’ Orla interposed hastily. ‘She said that had Murgal thought more deeply about matters then he would know why she had left the ráth when she did.’

Laisre glanced at his Druid.

‘Did you know that Fidelma was leaving?’

Murgal shook his head indignantly.

‘Not I,’ he protested. Then his eyes suddenly narrowed. ‘Ah, I think I do know … now. You went to investigate the ritual slaughter? You did not trust Colla’s information?’

‘You did not trust me? Why?’ demanded Colla, apparently affronted.

‘Because she is a dálaigh.’

‘What has that to do with it?’

‘Because it is the duty of a dálaigh to judge evidence forthemselves. What is the triad? Three duties of a good advocate: apprise yourself of the evidence not trusting to the opinion of others when you are able to form your own; a fair judgment and a strong advocacy. A good dálaigh would not trust another’s judgment if they could view the evidence themselves. Yes, I should have known, Laisre, that your refusal to allow Fidelma to investigate would have been ignored.’

Neither Colla nor Laisre appeared happy with the explanation.

‘I told you that I wished you to have no more to do with the affairs of Gleann Geis than can be helped,’ Laisre intoned in annoyance. ‘We could have conducted our business this morning and you could have been on your way.’

‘We will conduct our business after the matter of the murders is resolved,’ Fidelma replied firmly. Laisre seemed outraged at her contradiction of his wishes. He was about to speak when Murgal interrupted.

‘Are you saying that you can resolve the mystery?’ The Druid’s keen gaze had swept the features of Fidelma with a strange, unfathomable expression. Fidelma kept her features implacable.

‘I should be able to answer that question tomorrow morning. Tomorrow I shall name the killer of Solin and the cause of the other deaths in this place. Now, it has been a long day, we have ridden far, so we will return to the guests’ hostel. Does Cruinn still refuse to serve us? If so, perhaps you would ensure that our wants are seen to. Baths and food are the duty of a hostel under law.’

Her bright gaze swept the astonished company and then she turned from the chamber, motioning Eadulf to follow her.

Eadulf hurried to keep in step with her as she made her way across the courtyard.

‘Did you see the way Colla was looking at you?’ he asked breathlessly. ‘By saying that you will resolve the problem tomorrow, you are inviting Colla and Orla to act against you tonight.’

Fidelma smiled grimly.

‘I am hoping that they might. It would be a short cut to resolving the matter.’

Eadulf was unhappy.

‘It will be a long night before Ibor gets here.’ Then he paused and his face paled. ‘I hope you are not telling me that you have no other plan to resolve this matter than to frighten Orla and Colla into an attempt on your life in order to prove their guilt?’

‘Ecclesiastics in the book of the Apocrypha,’ she replied enigmatically.

‘Meaning?’ frowned Eadulf.

‘Do not reveal your thoughts to anyone lest you drive away your good luck.’

Eadulf snorted derisively but, wisely, said nothing further.

They made their way to the guests’ hostel. It was deserted. Eadulf took their saddle bags back to their rooms while Fidelma set to banking the fire in the kitchen to prepare hot water for the baths. She was struggling with the logs when Rudgal appeared bearing a basket with him.

‘Let me do that, Sister,’ he insisted at once, putting the basket down on the table.

Fidelma, who had been on her knees struggling with the fire, rose with a smile of gratitude.

‘I shall not be reluctant to hand over the task to you, Rudgal. I presume Cruinn is still displeased with us?’

Rudgal bent to the task of stoking the fire.

‘Cruinn is devoted to the chieftain and his family. I presume she is still angry at your accusation concerning the lady, Orla, and her husband.’

‘She is very opinionated for a hostel keeper,’ observed Eadulf coming down the stairs. ‘She should keep to her place and not pass opinions on those she is supposed to serve.’

Rudgal glanced up at him almost with a scowl.

‘Everyone should keep to their place, indeed,’ he muttered turning back to the fire.

Eadulf had almost forgotten Rudgal’s peculiar manner when he found the girl Esnad with him on the previous evening.

‘Have you brought us some food then, Rudgal?’ Fidelma asked brightly, turning to the basket, apparently not noticing Rudgal’s scowl.

‘Yes, Sister,’ Rudgal replied shortly. He had enticed the fire into a strong blaze. He stood up and moved to the basket. ‘The hot water should be ready soon. Do you want to eat before or after the bath?’

‘We will have our baths before eating.’

‘I will prepare them then,’ Rudgal offered. ‘Perhaps you will keep a watch on this kitchen fire for me while I do so?’

After he had disappeared into the bathing chambers, Eadulf grimaced towards Fidelma and whispered.

‘The man seems to bear a grudge about something and that something appears to concern the girl, Esnad. You don’t think that he is jealous or something? No, that would be nonsense.’

‘Perhaps you should discover what ails Rudgal,’ Fidelma reflected. ‘After we have eaten, I think you should seek out this Esnad and find out what it is all about.’

Eadulf looked uneasy.

‘I do not want to leave you alone until Ibor gets here. If you are going to put yourself in the position of lure to snare Orla and Colla, then you stand in great danger.’

Fidelma shook her head.

‘After we have bathed and eaten, I intend to go to Laisre’s feasting hall and make Orla and Colla feel uncomfortable. They can scarcely do anything to me in front of the assembly. It is my belief that if they intend to attempt anything they will do it in the night when all is quiet.’ She gave him a mischievous grin. ‘Maybe you will be in more danger from Esnad than I will be from Orla and Colla?’

Eadulf blushed furiously.

‘She is only a young girl,’ he muttered. ‘But you are right. There is something that needs to be explained about Rudgal’s behaviour.’

It was an hour or so later when Eadulf left Fidelma at the door of the feasting hall and went off in search of Esnad’s apartments. He knew where they were for he recalled that they were in the building where Murgal’s library was. The same building was shared by the apothecary, Marga, and by Orla and Colla themselves. Walking across the courtyard he saw the portly figure of Cruinn emerging from Marga’s apothecary and he greeted her brightly. The pudgy woman whirled round in the dusk, glared at him, said nothing but hurried away. It was clear that the hostel keeper was firm in her new-found dislike of him.

Eadulf turned into the building. He was surprised to find Laisre standing in the entrance hall. The chieftain also appeared taken unawares to see him and demanded, in a gruff voice, to know what he was doing there. Eadulf felt that he should not mention Esnad and made an excuse that he was going to Murgal’s library. Laisre merely gave a grunt and moved off without another word. He seemed as anxious to leave Eadulf’s company as Eadulf was for him to do so.

Eadulf climbed the stairs to where he had seen the entrance to Esnad’s apartments. He hesitated a moment to summon courage and then knocked on the door. The girl’s voice called for him to enter and he braced his shoulders and did so.

Esnad looked up from a chair in momentary surprise. Then she smiled, almost a proprietorial smile. Before her was a wooden table laid out with the Brandub board and pieces set ready. She was seated at the board and had obviously been examining it for a strategy of play. Eadulf cast a look round. The girl was alone. A fire burnt in the hearth for it was chilly in spite of the summer. A cool eveninggloom hung outside. The girl already had a lamp lit and suspended from the ceiling over the table.

‘Ha, Saxon! I heard that you had returned. Have you come to play Brandub with me?’ she greeted.

‘Er, not exactly,’ he muttered, wondering how to question her.

‘Do not worry, I will show you how to play it.’

Eadulf was about to refuse on an impulse when he realised that he would learn nothing from the daughter of Orla if he let his emotions get the better of him.

‘Come in and close the door,’ she instructed with all the authority of someone of mature years.

He entered and closed the door.

She looked at him with a speculative expression.

‘Have you never played Brandub before?’

Eadulf was about to admit that he had played hardly anything else with his fellow students at Tuam Brecain. However, he caught himself in time and shook his head.

‘I will follow your instructions,’ he announced gravely, as he took the seat opposite her. It was a good opportunity. As the game proceeded he would be able to put his questions to her.

She did not drop her eyes to the gaming table.

‘You know what Brandub means?’

‘That’s easy. Black Raven.’

‘But do you know why we call the game so?’

He had heard the explanation several times but feigned ignorance.

‘The raven is the symbol of the goddess of death and battles. It is the symbol of danger. The purpose of this game is to survive an attack from the hostile forces of the other player — one player attacks and the other defends. Therefore we call the game after the symbol of danger.’

Eadulf tried to appear engrossed by the information, as if he had not heard it before.

‘There,’ the girl gestured with her hand to the board on the table, ‘you see a board which is divided into forty-nine squares, seven squares by seven squares. In the centre square you have one large king piece, you see it?’

He nodded automatically.

‘That symbolises the High King at Tara. Around the High King are four other pieces. Each one represents a provincial king. There are the kings of Cashel in Muman, Cruachan in Connacht, Ailenn in Leinster and Ailech in Ulaidh.’

‘I understand,’ he said gravely.

‘On each side of the board there are two attacking pieces, eight in all. The attacker moves them across the board unless checked by a combination of the provincial king pieces. The purpose is to drive the High King piece into a corner from which he cannot escape. When that happens, the game is won. You follow? But if the attacker cannot overcome the defenders then he loses the game.’

‘I understand.’

‘Then I shall attack first,’ the girl smiled with forced sweetness. ‘I like to attack more than I do to defend. You will defend. Are you ready?’

Eadulf nodded compliantly.

The girl began her moves with Eadulf countering in the required form. He had to admit that the girl attacked with determination and while she lacked a carefully thought out strategy she took chances which sometimes paid off. Force before strategy seemed her technique.

The girl was soon frowning in concentration as he played automatically, having quite forgotten that he was supposed to be a novice at the game, once he had been absorbed in it.

‘You catch on fast, Saxon,’ she finally said begrudgingly as Eadulf continually parried her moves.

‘Merely luck, Esnad,’ he replied, suddenly realising that he’d better allow himself some mistakes in case of angering the girl before he could extract any information from her. He was gratified when she responded to his poor play with a happy smile as she rushed her pieces to capitalise on his ‘errors’.

He gave her a crooked grin.

‘What did I say?’ he said, after he conceded a defeat. ‘The earlier play was mere luck. Let me take my revenge with a second game. I do not mind defending again.’

‘Very well.’ The girl was smiling at him now with a coquettish expression. ‘But let us play for something to make the game interesting.’

Eadulf frowned.

‘A wager? What shall we wager on?’

Esnad placed the tip of her finger between her teeth, chewing gently. Her smile widened.

‘If I win, you must do what I tell you to do.’

Eadulf was hesitant.

‘That might not be a good wager. Without knowing what you have in mind.’

‘Oh, I shall not order you to do anything that will harm you or other people,’ she replied winsomely.

Eadulf shrugged.

‘Then if it is not harmful, I accept. But if I win, what then?’

‘You have but to name your wager,’ the girl replied, still wearing her flirtatious smile.

‘Lay out the pieces,’ Eadulf said gruffly. ‘And I shall think about it.’

The game started again.

‘Why are you so friendly with me when your mother is set against Sister Fidelma and myself?’ Eadulf suddenly asked in the middle of a move.

Esnad did not look up. She appeared totally disinterested.

‘My mother’s quarrels are not mine. Anyway, she is more angered by your companion, Fidelma, than with you. I would not worry about my mother’s attitudes. I don’t.’

‘Your father is tanist and your mother is his wife. Their wishes surely count for something?’

‘Why should I be concerned?’

‘Are you not interested in their affairs?’

‘Not at all. I am more interested in enjoying life than the affairs of Gleann Geis.’

Eadulf paused to consider a particularly dangerous move. It was plain that Esnad did not like his response and she pouted in disapproval as she found that he had countered her attack.

‘Perhaps one day you might marry a chieftain, then you might have to be interested in such matters,’ Eadulf suggested as he moved his king piece into a new position.

The girl laughed dismissively.

‘Perhaps,’ she conceded. ‘But if I married a chieftain, then I would ensure that I did not have to take an interest because the affairs of the clan would be his, not mine. I would have other interests.’

‘Does your mother or father care that you are not interested in the affairs of Gleann Geis?’

‘I never speak about such matters to them.’

Eadulf glanced sharply at her and decided it was time to press home the pertinent question.

‘Why does Rudgal follow you about so jealously?’

Esnad raised her eyes. Her gaze was one of amusement. She pouted at him.

‘You are asking a lot of questions, Saxon. Why don’t you concentrate on this game? There is much to play for.’

‘It is just that Rudgal seems to have taken a dislike to me after you came to the hostel the other day. I wondered why?’

‘Oh, ignore him,’ sighed the girl. ‘He thinks he is in love with me.’

Eadulf was surprised at the flippancy with which she dealt with the matter.

‘I thought that much was plain,’ Eadulf conceded solemnly. ‘And, of course, you do not love him?’

‘No. He is too old and without means to make my life secure. Anyway, his so-called love is the love of a dog for the sheep not the salmon for the river. If I ever marry someone it will be for other reasons. In the meantime, I want to indulge myself before I grow old and settled.’

‘But Rudgal is not much older than me,’ Eadulf pointed out.

Esnad laughed.

‘But you are much more interesting than Rudgal, Saxon. Now, let’s get on with this game.’

Eadulf kept quiet. The girl was certainly hedonistic. Life seemed to mean no more to her than pleasure seeking. There did not seem to be any mystery here. He would have to finish the game and extricate himself from the embarrassing position as best he could.

In the feasting hall, the musicians were still playing lively tunes, the instruments making a noisy counterpoint to the laughter and conversation of the guests.

Fidelma had sought out Murgal and seated herself beside him. She could see Orla and Colla on the far side of the hall and among the others she noticed were Rudgal and Ronan. There was no sign of Laisre or anyone else she recognised. Murgal glanced uneasily up at her as she joined him.

‘I did not expect you to join these festivities this evening, Fidelma of Cashel,’ he observed.

‘It may well be my last night in Gleann Geis,’ she replied gravely.

‘Do you really believe that you can clear up everything tomorrow morning?’ Murgal asked dubiously.

Fidelma refused the offer of mead but did not reply to his question. He was about to say something else when the musicians ceased to play and a quiet descended in the hall. Ronan stood forward and began to sing with a surprisingly good tenor voice for the rough calloused farmer who preferred to spend his time serving Laisre’s bodyguard. He sang a song of warriors and warfare.

‘My straight spear is of red yew -

vanquisher of polished spears -

it is mine by right and no warrior dare

affront it.

‘My sharp sword is of white polished iron -

cleaver of the opposing armour -

it is silent in its sheath of bronze for fear of

shedding blood.

‘My hardened shield is of golden bronze -

it has never been reproached -

for it protects me from all aggressors and their

weapons.’

He sat down to a resounding applause and Murgal glanced at Fidelma with amusement.

‘You sang a good song the other night. Will you sing something else to entertain us?’

Fidelma declined gravely.

‘A song must swell out of the soul for the moment and not be summoned from a tired mind merely for entertainment’s sake, to while away the passing of the hour. Perhaps you have another song about Cashel to set the diversion?’

Murgal chuckled disarmingly at her gentle taunt.

‘Not this time,’ he admitted. He hesitated and then he asked: ‘Do you feel the apprehension in this hall tonight?’

‘Apprehension?’ she asked.

‘The news that you will name the killer of Solin and the others tomorrow morning has spread through the ráth. Many people wonder who you will name. There is much tension here.’

‘Only the guilty need feel anxiety,’ replied Fidelma.

‘There are many who feel that you will name the innocent merely to escape the guilt yourself. They remember that you only cleared your name on a technicality of law and not by revealing who actually murdered Solin. Many think you still killed Solin because you were rivals in your Faith. Many have not forgiven you for trying to put the blame on Orla, for she is popular among our people.’

‘I suppose that I also killed Brother Dianach and made Artgal disappear? Or, indeed, perhaps I slaughtered those thirty-three young men myself?’

Murgal was not perturbed.

‘Anything is considered possible about a person in minds that are antagonistic to that person.’

‘To your mind?’

‘Fidelma, I am a Druid and a Brehon. At first I was prepared to dismiss you as I have most of your Faith. Small, bigoted people, intolerant of the beliefs of others. They will not bear anyone who does not think as they do. I found you unlike those others of your Faith that I have encountered. I trust you. I believe that you are free from any guilt. Perhaps you will trust me to help you?’

For a wild moment Fidelma found herself about to tell him all she knew. She had even opened her mouth to respond when she realised the danger. She shut her mouth with a snap. Murgal had suddenly become too friendly. Perhaps there was another motive for his change of attitude?

At that moment she realised that Laisre had entered the chamber. He had a cloak around him for it was a chill evening outside. He had walked across to the fire where his chair had been placed, just before a carved wooden screen. The screen stood at shoulder height, providing a barrier to the draughts. He went behind the screen for there was a small table beyond it where cloaks and weapons were placed during the feasting.

Fidelma let her eyes follow him quizzically across the room and watched his head atop the screen as he discarded his cloak. He turned. Then she realised that Laisre was looking directly at her across the top of the wooden screen. She could not see his lower face. Only his eyes and the top of his head so that she was unsure of the expression on his face. But for a moment their eyes met. She felt the malignancy of his expression. A cold shudder went through her. Then she inhaled softly and calmly. She turned back to Murgal.

‘I am sorry,’ she said, ‘what were you saying?’

‘I was saying that you should trust me, Fidelma of Cashel, for I might be able to help you. Tomorrow you must explain your suspicions or finish your business with Laisre and be gone back to Cashel. If you return to Cashel without offering an explanation for what has transpired here then there will be many suspicious minds left behind. You will still be blamed for Solin’s death.’

Fidelma studied Murgal thoughtfully for a moment.

‘You and the people of Gleann Geis will have the resolution of this matter tomorrow morning. That I swear.’

She caught sight of Eadulf entering the hall and noticed that his face was flushed and he looked anxious. She made her excuses to Murgal, rose and went across to him.

‘What’s wrong, Eadulf?’ she asked curiously. ‘You have a melancholy expression.’

‘Wrong?’ He asked indignantly. He seemed to have difficulty keeping control of his ire. ‘That girl Esnad is wrong. Even Nemon, the prostitute, is more honest than she is.’

Fidelma laid a pacifying hand on his arm.

‘Walk with me back to the hostel and tell me about it.’

‘Do you know that the girl tried to lure me into her bed?’

Fidelma shot him an amused glance.

‘She is youthful and attractive,’ she pointed out.

Eadulf made an inarticulate sound.

‘I presume that you were not attracted by the offer?’ Fidelma added with a mischievous grin.

‘She had me play a game of Brandub and demanded a wager be set. If she won she was going to demand I go to bed with her. If I won she expected me to make the same demand of her.’

‘Did you?’

Eadulf looked aghast.

‘Did I go to her bed?’ he asked in horror.

‘No, did you win the game?’

Eadulf shook his head vehemently.

‘I saw where this matter was leading and was able to win but did not fulfil her expectations. Anyway, that did not stop her trying to persuade me. I barely escaped her seduction.’

‘More importantly,’ Fidelma said, as they entered the guests’ hostel, ‘did you find out whether she was involved with her parents’ politics? What is her connection with Rudgal?’

‘All she cares about is carnal pleasure.’ Eadulf sniffed in disgust. ‘She knows little about anything else. As for Rudgal, I think he is smitten with a passion which comes close to unquestioning adoration of the little wanton. I feel sorry for the man.’

Fidelma lit the lamp.

‘Well, an early night is called for. We have done all we can for now. Hopefully, Ibor will be here before dawn.’

Eadulf’s expression changed to one of anxiety.

‘We play a dangerous game here, Fidelma. It is one thing to secure this ráth but we must be able to solve the mystery.’

Fidelma seemed happy enough.

‘I think I can … now,’ she added with emphasis. ‘But the main danger is tonight. If someone is to take action against me, it will be tonight. We have to be vigilant.’

Eadulf was worried.

‘I will not sleep tonight,’ he vowed. ‘Have no fear.’

It was still dark when Eadulf was roused from the slumber intowhich he had fallen almost as soon as he clambered between the blankets.

He struggled up in bed his heart beating fast, aware of a figure bending over him.

He recognised Fidelma’s scent in the shadows. She bent forward and whispered: ‘There is someone outside the hostel. I heard them trying the door. They are downstairs. Stand ready. I think they are going to come up here.’

As Fidelma moved silently back to her room, Eadulf swung out of his bed, hurriedly hauling on his robe.

He could hear the footsteps quietly ascending but betrayed by a creaking on the stair.

He moved behind the door and seized one of the heavy iron candlesticks, resolving that as soon as the intruder had passed his door towards Fidelma’s chamber he would hurry out and come on them from behind. He had hardly determined this strategy when he heard the steps falter in the passage outside and then — then the latch of his own door was lifting.

He pressed back against the wall with a pounding heart, automatically raising the candlestick defensively.

The door creaked open.

A shadow entered the room. It was burly and that of a man. There was a sword in his hand.

Eadulf waited for no more. He swung the candlestick. It contacted with the figure’s head with a sickening thud. There was a soft grunt. The figure collapsed and fell to the floor, the sword clattering out of its hand.

Eadulf stood trembling for a moment.

He heard Fidelma exclaim in alarm and come hurrying from her room.

‘Where are you, Eadulf?’ she demanded anxiously.

‘Here,’ mumbled Eadulf, retrieving the candle and stick and reaching for flint and tinder to light it. It was a difficult task in the gloom and took a time. For he had to find the metal box of rotten beech wood, the wood almost powdered by the action of fungus, and then hold his flint over it and strike at it with a sharp piece of metal to cause the spark. Once the spark caused the wood to smoulder, he could light the wick of the candle.

Once it was burning they could examine the figure on the floor.

‘Rudgal!’ whispered Fidelma.

‘I gave him a hefty blow,’ confessed Eadulf. ‘His skull looks as though it is bleeding profusely. I’d better dress his wound.’

‘But not before you bind his hands together,’ Fidelma pointedout. ‘He did not come here, sword in hand, in the middle of the night out of friendship’s sake.’

Eadulf went in search of a stout piece of cord, finding it in the kitchen of the hostel and returned to bind the warrior’s hands. As he did so Rudgal began to moan as consciousness started to return. Eadulf heaved him on to the bed and then found water and a bowl and started to bathe the bloody area of his skull.

Rudgal’s eyes flickered and opened. They glanced round quickly and he flexed his arms.

‘Stay still!’ snapped Eadulf. ‘Your hands are tied.’

Rudgal immediately relaxed.

Fidelma stood, hands folded before her, examining the warrior carefully.

‘You have some explaining to do, Rudgal,’ she observed. ‘Were you sent here to kill me or was it your own idea?’

Rudgal stared at her in bewilderment.

‘Kill you, Sister?’ he gasped. ‘I do not understand.’

Fidelma was patient.

‘I presume that it was not for my health that you came to seek me in the darkness of the night with a naked blade.’

Rudgal blinked and then shook his head slowly.

‘You, Sister? It was not you that I sought but …’ he jerked his head towards Eadulf, ‘but that foreigner. Him I meant to kill.’

Eadulf was shocked.

‘Why would you want to kill Brother Eadulf?’ asked Fidelma.

Rudgal glowered.

‘He knows,’ he replied tightly.

‘I do not,’ averred Eadulf. ‘What have I done?’ Then he groaned. ‘Do not tell me that it is to do with that silly little girl?’

‘You have tried to take Esnad from me!’ cried Rudgal, trying to struggle forward. ‘She told me that you were with her last evening. I will kill you.’

Eadulf easily pushed him back on the bed.

‘You must be mad,’ the Saxon said slowly. ‘I am not interested in that child.’

‘Rudgal, listen to me,’ Fidelma said, interrupting the fair-haired man’s sobs of torment. ‘Eadulf has no interest in Esnad. Whatever your relationship with her is a matter for you to sort out.’

‘But he was with her last night.’

‘At my instructions,’ replied Fidelma, realising the logic in his madness.

Rudgal flushed.

‘Why would you tell him to go to flirt with Esnad?’

‘In Christ’s Truth!’ snapped Eadulf. ‘If any flirting was done, it was that young girl who was doing it. You must know, man, what she is like.’

‘I love her!’

‘But is the girl in love with you?’ Eadulf snapped.

It was clear from Rudgal’s features that he was not confident to answer this question.

‘Rudgal,’ Fidelma said, ‘there is no need for anyone to shed blood over a capricious girl.’

The warrior was reluctant to be persuaded.

‘Esnad told me that he was in her apartment. She made fun of me saying …’

Fidelma held up her hand to quiet him.

‘Aegra amans!’ she muttered. Only Eadulf understood. Indeed Virgil had spoken of possessive love as a disease.

Eadulf looked towards her sourly.

‘Amantes sunt amentes,’ he responded, pointing out that lovers were lunatics.

Rudgal was scowling at them both, not understanding.

‘There is nothing between Esnad and I,’ Eadulf repeated. ‘Now why don’t you sort out your problems with Esnad?’

Rudgal glowered.

‘It is sound advice, Rudgal,’ Fidelma added. ‘If you feel so much in love with Esnad then you should speak with her. Surely her opinion is more important to you than anyone else’s opinion?’

The man was still angry.

‘Can it be that you know she does not love you in return and so it is easier for you to blame other people, saying that they are taking her from you?’ Fidelma continued. ‘Was she ever yours to take?’

Her words struck home. The warrior and wagon-maker flinched as if she had struck him.

‘It is not our business what you do, Rudgal,’ Fidelma went on, ‘but I would be wise and consider matters more calmly. You would do well to see if you actually loved Esnad apart from being in love. These are two different things. And if you loved Esnad you would care for her opinion and her happiness.’

‘What do you mean to do with me?’ growled Rudgal, ignoring her advice.

‘You have broken the law by launching a murderous attack on Eadulf,’ Fidelma pointed out. ‘What if you had killed him? What do you think we should do with you?’

‘I claim justification on my side,’ the man said stubbornly.

‘There is no justification at all.’ Eadulf was outraged by the man’s persistent attitude.

Fidelma laid a hand on Eadulf’s arm and motioned for him to follow her into the corridor.

‘What do you suggest?’ he whispered once they were outside.

‘We cannot release Rudgal before tomorrow. It might well be that he is just insane with jealousy over Esnad. However, in case there is something more to his love sickness, we should keep him here until morning. We’ll leave him in your room and you can change to another. Is he securely bound? Good. We can sort out his real motives in the morning.’

They returned to find Rudgal struggling with the bonds.

‘Stay still,’ instructed Eadulf in a harsh tone, ‘unless you wish for another clout on your skull.’

Rudgal glowered at him.

‘If my hands were free, foreigner …’

‘That is why you will continue to be bound,’ interrupted Fidelma. They used more cord and had difficulty in tying Rudgal’s feet together for he flayed around with powerful motions. Even when his feet and hands were secured, Rudgal started to cry out and Eadulf seized a towel and wrapped it around the man’s mouth, silencing him.

It took a few minutes more for Rudgal to accept that escape from his bondage was impossible and relax on the bed. It was only when he had quietened down that they heard a movement on the lower floor of the guests’ hostel.

Fidelma and Eadulf exchanged a look of alarm. Then Eadulf seized Rudgal’s discarded sword in one hand and took the oil lamp in the other, moving quietly to the door. Fidelma came behind him, peering over his shoulder. They moved cautiously along the corridor to the landing overlooking the stairs leading to the lower floor of the hostel.

A figure stood there below them in the darkness.

Eadulf raised the lamp.

Colla stood revealed in its rays at the bottom of the stairs.

‘What do you want here?’ demanded Eadulf, feeling angry that his voice cracked a little with emotion. Here stood the very person whom they had been expecting to attempt to harm them this very night.

Colla stared up at them in surprise. He blinked as he caught sight of the sword in Eadulf’s hand.

‘Is there anything wrong?’ he faltered.

‘Wrong? Should there be anything wrong?’ inquired Fidelma quietly.

‘I was just passing by when I heard a noise like someone calling for help. So I came in.’

Fidelma examined the tanist carefully. It was a plausible story for after all Rudgal had made considerable noise before they had gagged him.

‘It was Eadulf,’ she lied blandly. ‘He cried out in his sleep and I went to see if he were ill. Then we heard a noise below and thought someone had broken in …’

Eadulf nodded hurriedly, wondering what penance he would have to pay for the falsehood.

‘It is true. A nightmare,’ he added quickly.

Colla hesitated, then shrugged.

‘The door was wide open,’ he said. ‘I’ll shut it as I leave.’

He stared up at them for a moment and then turned and left the hostel, shutting the door behind him. Outside they heard him greet someone and there was a muttered conversation. Eadulf moved swiftly to the upper window and peered out into the courtyard and listened to the whispered conversation.

‘It is Laisre,’ he whispered to Fidelma. ‘He was apparently passing the hostel, saw Colla coming out and asked what was wrong. He and Colla have both left now.’

Fidelma heaved a deep sigh.

‘I do not think anything else will happen before dawn now,’ she observed with a tone of satisfaction. ‘I think our mystery comes finally near a solution.’