Peter Tremayne - The Devil's seal

‘Time to take the little one to his morning game of fidchell ,’ she announced. Fidchell , or ‘wooden wisdom’, was a popular board game played throughout the Five Kingdoms. Alchú was proving himself very adept at it.

Eadulf gave her a glance of both relief and thanks then took his younger brother by the arm and guided him from the chamber. Egric was silent as they walked through the corridors of the fortress, avoiding the rainswept exteriors. It was curious how much of a stranger Eadulf now felt with his brother. The intervening years seemed to have severed them emotionally as well as by experience.

‘Things have changed quite a lot over the years, Egric,’ Eadulf finally said, in an attempt to break the awkward silence.

‘No man remains the same as they grow older,’ replied his brother.

‘I never thought that you would enter the religious. You always wanted to be a warrior. Our father named you Egric after the Warrior King of our people.’

‘I remember King Egric and his brother Sigebert. They were both killed in battle when the Mercians invaded our land. Sigebert was killed even though he had spent years in a monastery and went on the battlefield alongside his brother with only a staff in his hand.’

‘I can hardly remember that, but I remember the years when Ana became King, and that was after Sigebert and Egric were killed.’

‘I should say, then, that I do remember the stories,’ explained Egric, a little on the defensive. ‘I remember Ana driving the Mercians out of our land. We became powerful then. Why, even Cenwealh of the West Saxons sought asylum in our land when the Mercians threw him out of his own kingdom.’

‘Surely you were too young to remember all that?’ Eadulf was astonished.

Egric smiled thinly. ‘I remember a lot, brother. I was old enough to remember when we received news that Ana, too, had been killed in battle against the Mercians. That was the day I decided that I should be a warrior.’

‘You were only about thirteen years old.’

‘I was. But I recall those dark days when the Mercian King, Penda, was overlord of the East Angles. He was a godless tyrant.’

‘Penda lived and died a pagan,’ agreed Eadulf. ‘But we all, at that time, followed the old gods until the word of the New Faith came to us.’

‘Oswy of Northumbria challenged Mercia in the rain and mud of Winwaed where Penda perished,’ Egric continued enthusiastically. ‘We were free again and Athelwold seized our kingdom back, driving out the remaining Mercians and their placemen. The God of Battles was with us! They were great days, Eadulf. Do you remember them?’

For a moment, Egric had become animated and the light of excitement glowed in his eyes. Eadulf wondered whether to point out that his tone hardly reflected a religious calling.

‘Of course,’ he replied quietly. ‘I was older than you.’

‘So you remember how we went with our father to the great court of King Athelwold at Rendel’s Ham?’

Eadulf sighed at the memory. ‘And how we ran off on our own to see the royal burial site nearby, a place where only members of the royal line were allowed to enter, to witness the ancient rituals?’

‘They were thrilling times, Eadulf.’

‘Soon after that, I left Seaxmund’s Ham to pursue my studies. I came here to the Five Kingdoms as directed by Fursa.’

‘You abandoned the role of gerefa , which should have been yours when our father perished.’ Did Eadulf hear a rebuke in the voice of his younger brother?

Eadulf shrugged. ‘Learning from him something of the role of a lawgiver has stood me in good stead. What he gave me has not been abandoned. But when I left Seaxmund’s Ham to pursue the Faith, why didn’t you take on the role?’

Egric laughed sharply. ‘Me? A gerefa , a lawgiver? I was still pursuing the dream of being a warrior defending our people. You left our village — did you ever go back?’

‘A few times. I was even a witness at Rendel’s Ham when King Swithhelm of the East Saxons converted to the New Faith and was baptised at the royal court there, with Athelwold acting as his godfather. That was when I asked what had become of you. I attended the Council at Streonshalh and then I returned to Rome in the company of Wighard, the archbishop-designate of Canterbury. He had gone there to receive the blessing of the Bishop of Rome. He was murdered there and it was Fidelma and I who helped resolve that.’

‘And you never returned to our home after that?’

‘Once more. Do you remember my old friend, Botulf? He, too, converted to the Faith and went to serve at the Abbey of Aldred. Five years ago, Fidelma and I went to see Archbishop Theodore at Canterbury, and while there, we received a message from poor Botolf. He wanted to see me urgently. We went to the Abbey of Aldred, but arrived too late. Botulf had been murdered and we had to discover the culprit. Thankfully, the forest around Rendel’s Ham proved a sanctuary for Fidelma and me when we were in danger of our lives. That was the last time I enquired for you.’

‘And what were you told?’

‘People who remembered you assumed that you had gone away to serve as a warrior in the King’s army. A local farmer, Mul. .’

‘Mul? Mad Mul of Frig’s Tun?’ Egric chuckled. ‘He never would convert to the New Faith! He swore that he had followed Woden all his life and would never change his allegiance.’

‘That was he,’ confirmed Eadulf. ‘He remembered me, but didn’t remember you converting to the Faith.’

Egric shrugged. ‘I did not stay in Seaxmund’s Ham after I decided to follow the Faith, nor did I return as you did. But you say that you have not been there for five years now?’

Eadulf shook his head. ‘I am settled here and happy.’

Egric was cynical. ‘Truly happy? A foreigner in a strange land?’

‘I am accepted,’ Eadulf replied defensively. ‘My wife is here, my son is here. I have friends. Is that not enough?’

‘There is no longing in you to see the places of your childhood and youth?’

‘Those places remain in the memory only. It cannot be otherwise, for the motion of the days continue and things must change with them. Is it not said that there are no footsteps that go backwards?’

‘Perhaps,’ Egric said softly. ‘But if that is what you want, brother, so be it. I mean no insult to your decision. It is just strange to meet up after so many years and find our life paths have diverged so widely. In spite of all, I trust you are happy.’

‘It seems our paths have not diverged so widely. You have also become a religieux. Also, oddly, you seem to have grasped some of the tongue of these people in your travels and, indeed, here you are in Cashel. A curious coincidence.’

‘It is a coincidence nevertheless,’ his brother said curtly.

Eadulf paused to glance out of a window. The rain had ceased. It was still cloudy but the clouds were lighter in shade and beginning to move quickly as the wind gathered strength.

‘Alas, I have matters to attend to, Egric. I will introduce you to one of the King’s bodyguards, a warrior called Dego. He was one of those who found you on the river. He will show you the township below the palace and explain something about this place and its history since you are a newcomer.’

The truth was that Eadulf had no matters to attend to. He felt guilty that he had suddenly made the excuse to leave his brother’s company and tried to reason why. Of course, it was easy to explain that the great changes in Egric since Eadulf had last seen him were a cause for the alien feelings that now caused him unease. The eager young man, who enjoyed life, had an ambition to be a warrior — albeit as all young men do at a certain age — who enjoyed the company of girls, feasts and dancing, seemed to have vanished. Eadulf was not sure he liked the surly self-contained man with his unfriendly look and his open condemnation of Eadulf’s chosen lifestyle. Yesterday, Eadulf had been happy to find his long-lost brother. Now he was trying to avoid his company.