Peter Tremayne - Chalice of Blood

‘Uallachán is coming here?’ asked Fidelma in surprise.

‘We are an advance party to hold this crossing in case Cumscrad and his lying tribe attack us. I suggest that we all dismount to await his arrival in the fortress.’

Gormán looked questioningly at Fidelma but she shrugged her acceptance of the inevitable. Everyone dismounted and the horses were led into the abandoned fortress. Guards watched over them while others went to strategic points. The leader of the warriors then came to stand uncomfortably by them while Brother Temnen sat down with Fidelma and her companions.

‘What brings you here into the country of the Fir Maige Féne?’ she asked.

Brother Temnen’s expression was serious and he made a helpless gesture. ‘I wish we could have met in more pleasant circumstances.’

‘What makes our meeting here unpleasant?’

‘I have been asked to accompany Uallachán’s war band.’

‘War band?’

‘He means to raid Fhear Maighe as a punishment.’

Fidelma’s eyes grew hard. ‘Means to raid it? Are you saying that he has not done so already?’

The librarian looked surprised. ‘I do not understand your question.’

‘We have just come from Fhear Maighe. While we were there yesterday, some warriors carrying the same emblem that you carry,’ she indicated the man still carrying the clan totem, ‘raidedand burnt the library there. Dubhagan, the librarian, was killed. Many priceless manuscripts have been destroyed.’

‘These are lies put out by our enemies the Fir Maige Féne,’ snapped the leader of the warriors.

‘Then we are liars too,’ Fidelma riposted. ‘Because we were there and saw the raid.’

‘It was not my men nor any warrior of the Uí Liatháin. Uallachán rides an hour behind us, so it was not he.’

‘It is true, Fidelma,’ Brother Temnen chimed in firmly. ‘He tells no lie. I have been with the Uí Liatháin and they have raided no one.’

‘Among your warriors, do you have a bánaí , a thin man with snow-white hair and skin?’

‘Not among my men,’ replied the Uí Liatháin warrior immediately. Then a frown appeared on his features. It was clear that he recognised the description.

‘But you know of such a man?’ Fidelma asked quickly.

‘I have seen such a man at the head of a band of warriors,’ admitted the warrior, ‘but not in Uí Liatháin territory. I saw them weeks ago landing from a ship in the bay below Ard Mór.’

‘Landing from a ship?’ repeated Fidelma thoughtfully.

‘The fact that he was accoutred as a warrior yet was also a bánaí drew my attention. He wore a golden circlet round his neck but not of the style our warriors wear, such as that one.’ He pointed to Gormán.

‘I don’t suppose you can tell us more.’

The Uí Liatháin shrugged indifferently. ‘Little more to tell. A dozen men disembarked with him. They were all warriors. The ship had arrived from Britain, so I was told. Some outlandish kingdom — ah, a place called Kernow.’

‘What happened to them?’ asked Fidelma.

‘They bought horses from the local traders and rode off north. They carried arms with them. I suspect they were dílmainech .’

‘Mercenaries?’

‘Exactly so.’

‘What were you doing in Ard Mór?’

‘Some of us often go there to see what foreign ships come in and what goods may be bought.’

Fidelma gazed hard at the warrior and then at the religieux and realised that their puzzled expressions were not false.

‘Will you explain how you came here and for what purpose?’

‘To teach Cumscrad and his fellow liars a lesson,’ snapped the warrior.

‘I will explain,’ Brother Temnen intervened in a more moderate tone. ‘Our abbot, Rian of Ard Mór, who is a kinsman of yours, contacted Dubhagan, the librarian at Fhear Maighe, with a commission. As you know, the library there has many works that are not to be found elsewhere among the great libraries of the Five Kingdoms.’

‘And the commission was?’ prompted Fidelma.

‘To copy two works, one a collection of the poems of the great bard Dallán Forgaill, and the other a foreign work by a writer called Celsus.’

‘And why would your abbey want to spend money on getting a copy of a book attacking the Faith?’ queried Eadulf.

Brother Temnen said, ‘So you know this work? One of our scholars had read a criticism of Celsus by Origenes and thought it could be improved on. He did not want anyone beguiled by the pitfalls Celsus had prepared.’

‘Very well, continue.’

‘Dubhagan accepted the commission and all was agreed by us in good faith. Then we heard word that the copies had been placed on one of the river barges which was due at Ard Mór. Not only did they not arrive but we also heard rumours that Uí Liatháin warriors had attacked the barge and stolen the books. Uallachán was summoned to the abbey but denied this. He claimedthe Fir Maige Féne were liars. This war band is to demand reparation from Cumscrad and the Fir Maige Féne for spreading such lies.’

‘And why are you, a librarian from Ard Mór, accompanying these warriors on this raid?’

‘Uallachán believes that the books were never sent and that Cumscrad has engaged in some deception,’ said Brother Temnen. ‘He wants me to search the library during the raid and identify the books that he claims were stolen. I am to be a witness.’

‘How could you tell who was the liar?’ demanded Fidelma. ‘Either chief could be lying.’

‘When Abbot Rian called Uallachán to the abbey, he made the chieftain take oath before the High Altar that he spoke the truth. He did so and therefore we believe that no warrior of the Uí Liatháin has done this thing. Uallachán believes that Cumscrad is spreading lies to provoke a war in the hope of seizing the lands of the Uí Liatháin.’

‘If that were so,’ Fidelma smiled thinly and gestured to the warriors around her, ‘Cumscrad has been successful. However, I don’t think it is that simple, Brother Temnen. If you had witnessed the destruction of the library of Fhear Maighe, the near death of Cumscrad’s own son who worked in the library, and the death of Dubhagan … I do not think Cumscrad or his men had a hand in it. Furthermore, the bánaí was killed when he tried to escape with the others.’

Brother Temnen shrugged. ‘We will have to await the arrival of Uallachán. After speaking to him, perhaps you will be able to ascertain where the truth lies.’

‘That is my intention,’ Fidelma replied. ‘If the Uí Liatháin did not attack either the barge or the library, then someone is trying to create a problem between Uallachán and Cumscrad. But why? Who would that benefit?’

Eadulf had been thinking. ‘Who knew about this commissionfrom your abbot to the library of Fhear Maighe?’ he asked. ‘I mean, who apart from your abbey and Dubhagan?’

‘I suppose several people.’

‘But would they know the titles and the nature of the books that were to be copied?’

‘That was a matter that only we in Ard Mór and Dubhagan and his copyists would have known. But isn’t there a saying that to tell a secret to three people makes it no longer a secret?’

‘How did you learn that Fhear Maighe had these books?’ asked Eadulf.

‘I checked with them.’

‘How?’

‘I sent a messenger to find out. But that was a long time ago. It took many months to make the copies. It was only last week that we received word that the books were ready. We were to pay thirty seds .’

‘A large price to pay.’

‘Extortionate,’ agreed the librarian, philosophically. ‘But the Celsus book is very rare. I am told there is not another copy known in the Five Kingdoms because of the nature of the book.’