Dancing With Demons

CHAPTER TWENTY

Their welcome back was not as warm as Fidelma and Eadulf had expected. When news of their return had reached the Chief Brehon, Barrán, he lost no time in sending for them and was pacing his chamber when they entered.

‘Well, what news?’ he asked without preamble. ‘Have you solved this riddle?’

Fidelma smiled faintly at his obvious anxiety.

‘The reason why Dubh Duin killed Sechnussach?’ she said as she seated herself without waiting to be asked.

Brehon Barrán looked taken aback. ‘What other riddle is there?’ he demanded.

‘There are many riddles in life, Barrán. There is a boy named Assid who presents a riddle.’

‘I don’t follow,’ said the Chief Brehon.

‘It seems that Assid was captured and held prisoner by sea-raiders some years ago. He was probably travelling with a group of pilgrims to the Holy Land. His name and tongue indicate that his parents might have been from some Connacht religious group. Such things happen. From my own land there is the story of the Blessed Cathal who studied at Lios Mór. He went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land some years ago and on the return voyage, his ship was wrecked in the Gulf of Taranto. Now I hear he is considered as a great miracle-worker in that area and renamed Cataldo … ’

Brehon Barrán made a cutting motion with his hand.

‘I fail to see how this story, interesting though it is, relates to the death of the High King!’

‘Everything in life relates, one thing to another,’ replied Fidelmaphilosophically. ‘This poor mite sought asylum here, the land he came from, from a harsh slave-master who had bought him.’

‘You helped the boy escape?’ The Chief Brehon said irritably. ‘That cannot be. We cannot interfere in the customs of others.’

‘The boy escaped by himself,’ interposed Eadulf. ‘Cenn Faelad had warned his master, Verbas of Pequini, that if the lad escaped and sought sanctuary, he would be granted it.’

‘Cenn Faelad wears his heart on his sleeve,’ Brehon Barrán muttered. ‘I should have been consulted before the law of sanctuary was invoked.’

Fidelma raised an eyebrow. ‘Are you saying that the interpretation of the law is wrong in this respect?’

‘I would have advised both Cenn Faelad and you, Eadulf, to let well alone,’ Barrán said heavily. ‘Other peoples have different customs and it does not do well to interfere. Since you have taken action, it is now something that has to be decided by a Brehon. I presume the merchant you mentioned, Verbas of Peqini, will lodge a complaint?’

‘He might, but I doubt it,’ Fidelma replied with satisfaction. ‘And there is no way we can hand one of our own people back into slavery.’

‘I would not be so worried over a small boy when you have the matter of the High King’s death to consider,’ snapped Brehon Barrán.

‘Are we not a Christian land?’ Fidelma snapped back. ‘Is it not said that Christ exhorted us to look after one another, saying: “Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, you have done it unto Me”. Or am I mistaken? I thought the words were written in the Holy Scriptures.’

‘Are you seeking to lecture me, Fidelma of Cashel?’ Brehon Barrán’s face was red.

‘Far be it for me to lecture the Chief Brehon on law. Perhaps my own interpretation is at fault. I was merely quoting from the religious writings that we now accept.’

Barrán snorted and then suddenly shrugged as if dismissing the entire matter.

‘Well, the boy must remain confined here in the safekeeping of Brother Rogallach until the matter is decided. I have no time to consider the case at the moment so I will give it to the care of my deputy, the Brehon Sedna. The important thing is this question of a report on the causes of the death of Sechnussach. Abbot Colmán told me that before you left Tara, you had said that you would make your report within a week. Wecannot allow the matter to drift on for ever! Cenn Faelad needs to be installed formally in office before the five kingdoms fall apart in argument and conflict. The kings and nobles have already begun to arrive for the Great Assembly.’

‘I agree that the sooner the matter is resolved, the better for the five kingdoms,’ Fidelma conceded. ‘However, justice cannot be rushed. As to the exact date I can appear before the Great Assembly, I have a few more enquiries to make. When I have satisfied myself, I will let you and Cenn Faelad know.’

Brehon Barrán sighed impatiently. ‘You have spent much time here, Fidelma of Cashel, and you have been allowed a great deal of licence. But time is pressing. Justice must be rushed, lest a greater injustice fall upon the people. If you feel that you are unable to resolve the matter, stand aside. We will pronounce it unresolved but state the known facts — that Sechnussach was slain by Dubh Duin who then took his own life; the motive remains unknown.’

Fidelma flushed angrily. ‘I have not said I am unable to resolve the matter, and will not lend my name to any obfuscation of the truth! Understand me, Barrán. I mean to get to the bottom of this murder and demand to be allowed to do so. If you prevent me, I shall speak before the Great Assembly and tell them the reasons why I refuse to be bullied into an arbitrary resolution.’

Brehon Barrán looked for a moment as though he was going to lose his temper. Then he forced a smile to spread across his features as he replied.

‘You possess too much of that Eóghanacht temper to be a religious, Fidelma of Cashel. Leave it and devote yourself entirely to the law. You will serve it better.’ Then, seeing her eyes harden, he added: ‘Very well. You may have one extra day but beyond that, no more time can be allowed. A kingdom without a strong figurehead is no kingdom at all but a place that descends into anarchy and warfare as each group struggles for power. Cenn Faelad must be acknowledged within the next few days.’

Fidelma sniffed angrily. ‘I am fully aware of the circumstances. I will return to you as soon as I can.’ With that she turned on her heel and, accompanied by a worried-looking Eadulf, left his chambers.

Outside, Eadulf was nervous.

‘Dubh Duin assassinated the High King because of his link with the pagan raiders. The evidence is there. Should we not simply accept whatBrehon Barrán has advised — report just that fact? It will surely satisfy the Great Assembly.’

Fidelma shook her head firmly. ‘But it will not satisfy me, Eadulf. There is evidence that Dubh Duin was connected with this return to the old religion and that can be presented. But I personally believe there is something more to this. I have all the strands in my hands but cannot, as yet, tie them together to make a complete tapestry. But I think I can, given time. Yes, I think I can.’

Night was falling as they walked slowly back to the guesthouse.

It was Brother Rogallach who welcomed them and offered to fill their baths in preparation for the evening ablutions before the main meal of the day. He was apologetic that the female servants had been needed to help at some feast Cenn Faelad was giving that evening for those kings and nobles attending the Great Assembly, who had arrived in their absence. He was, he told them with a smile, fully recovered from his injury and able to attend to their needs. Fidelma allowed Eadulf to bathe first. After the experience of Eadulf’s capture and her desperate attempt to rescue him from the Hag’s Mountain, she had come to realise just how much she really did care for the Saxon, and to be aware of how ill she had often treated him. She sat for a time, tapping her fingers on the tabletop in an unconscious rhythm, torn between feelings of guilt about Eadulf and irritation with herself, for she knew she was missing some vital clue about the death of Sechnussach.

‘Something ails you, lady?’ asked Brother Rogallach as he re-entered the room, having left Eadulf to his bath.

Fidelma grinned apologetically. ‘I am sorry, I was distracted for a moment. I was trying to solve a riddle.’

The bollscari looked eager. ‘I am good at riddles.’

‘I doubt if you could solve this one,’ she replied gravely.

‘Try me.’

‘Very well, then.’ Fidelma chuckled. ‘I was wondering what the formula was for a happy marriage.’

Brother Rogallach pulled a face. ‘Oh. As you say, it is not a question I give much thought to. I have decided to follow the ways of celibacy which many in our Faith now argue is the best way to be.’

‘Quite so,’ smiled Fidelma, still grave.

‘However … ’

She looked up as Brother Rogallach paused thoughtfully. ‘However?’ she prompted.

Brother Rogallach actually blushed. ‘Nothing, lady. At least, nothing that is appropriate to your question.’

‘Tell me,’ pressed Fidelma, intrigued.

‘It was a favourite saying of the late High King. I believe it was an epigram from the poet Marcus Martialis.’

‘And it was?’

Brother Rogallach looked embarrassed. ’Sit non doctissima conjux.’

Fidelma snorted. ‘May my wife not be very learned? That is not a good attitude towards my sex, Rogallach.’

Brother Rogallach smiled nervously. ‘I have to say that Sechnussach utterd it many times recently, after … ’He stopped suddenly. ‘I will set about heating more water now, lady.’

He left Fidelma sitting thoughtfully at the table.

‘May my wife not be very learned,’ she muttered. Then she leaned back and sank into a meditative silence.