Peter Tremayne - The Council of the Cursed

Bishop Leodegar took a step that brought him by her side again and held out his left hand, slightly above waist level. Beretrude placed her right hand on it and allowed herself to be guided down the steps, and in this regal fashion they began to move around the groups in the garden with Leodegar introducing the woman to first one delegate and then to another.

‘She’s looking at you,’ whispered Eadulf.

Fidelma was aware that Lady Beretrude had given some glances in her direction and then muttered something to Leodegar, who replied then began to guide Lady Beretrude towards her.

‘This is Fidelma of Hibernia, sister to a king in that country,’ he announced. ‘A kingdom called Moo-awn, I believe.’

The pronunciation seemed close enough.

Lady Beretrude gave Fidelma a lengthy scrutiny, from the top of her head down to her feet, as if she were some exotic figure that she had never encountered before.

‘The sister of the king of…I cannot repeat your outlandish names. But Hibernia, that I know of. I hear it is at the limit of the world, inhabited by a wild people who live a wretched existence on account of the cold.’

Eadulf’s jaw tightened as he waited for Fidelma’s explosive reaction.

‘Neither so wild nor so wretched, my lady,’ she replied, keeping a tight control of her features.

‘Ah, but I hear the people in Hibernia are cannibals as well as gluttons. Do they not consider it honourable to eat their dead fathers and to openly have intercourse with their mothers and sisters as well?’

Eadulf gasped loudly at the insult, but Fidelma was perfectly controlled.

‘Beretrude,’ she said softly, dropping the courteous form of address, ‘your ability to read Strabo does you credit. I did not think women in your culture read Greek, but your knowledge of it seems excellent. Mine, alas, must be of poor quality but, even so, I do recall that Strabo did point out that he made those observations never having been to my country, not having trustworthy witnesses to guide him. He admitted to basing his remarks solely on rumours that he heard about cannibalism among the Scythians.’

Lady Beretrude’s eyes narrowed as she realised that Fidelma would not be so easily insulted.

‘Of course, one shouldn’t base knowledge on one source,’ she said coldly, her expression full of venom. ‘Pomponius Mela was not well disposed to your people either and considered them unrefined, ignorant of all the virtues and totally lacking all sense of duty.’

‘I must congratulate you again on your knowledge of the Latin writers as well as the Greeks who served the old Roman Empire,’ Fidelma replied, smiling. ‘What is sad, however, is the fact that neither of those writers, as great as they were in their own time, which is now many centuries past, ever visited Hibernia, otherwise they would have seen the error of relying on gossip and rumour. It is good, Beretrude, that in this day and age, people of intelligence and learning no longer indulge in making judgements on information gained at secondhand.’

An angry flush had come to the Lady Beretrude’s cheeks as she also realised that she was unable to assert authority over Fidelma.

She opened her mouth, hesitated and then spoke again.

‘Bishop Leodegar informs me that you have some knowledge of law?’

‘The law of my own land,’ confirmed Fidelma.

‘How quaint. He tells me that the Hibernian delegates have demanded that you choose which of the two foreign clerics killed the Hibernian delegate?’

‘Bishop Leodegar,’ Fidelma replied, glancing at him directly, ‘has actually commissioned me to investigate the killing of Abbot Dabhóc of Ard Macha. In my office, as a minor judge of my own land, it is a task that I sometimes undertake.’

‘Indeed?’ There was still the underlying sneer in Lady Beretrude’s voice. ‘It seems to me to be a task most unsuited for women.’

‘An unpleasant task for everyone, since murder is a very unnatural thing,’ Fidelma responded stolidly. ‘However, once done, then someone has to undertake the discovery of the culprit-male or female.’

It seemed to Eadulf that Fidelma had purposefully left the sentence in ambiguous form as to whether the murderer or the investigator was male or female.

Lady Beretrude was about to speak again when Bishop Leodegar, looking uneasy during this exchange, took her by the arm and moved her on to introduce her to someone else.

‘Somehow, I do not think you have made a friend in Lady Beretrude,’ Eadulf commented as he and Fidelma drew away. It was then he saw how angry the woman had made her. Her eyes were like pieces of sparkling ice.

‘I swear, Eadulf, there are times when I would enjoy physical violence. That was one of them.’

‘I thought that you handled her insults well.’

‘Belligerence and ignorance are never handled well, especially when the person who delivers them revels in them as if they were a virtue.’

She looked around. The groups of delegates were still sipping wine and talking with one another. However, she noticed that each nationality tended to keep to itself, although her own people seemed to mix more freely with the Britons, Gauls and the Armoricans. They talked in excited groups with raised voices. The delegates from the Frankish kingdoms and from the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms seemed more subdued.

Lady Beretrude was continuing to move from group to group with Bishop Leodegar, who was still introducing the various officials.

‘Well, as everyone is busy, perhaps it is a good time to explore a little,’ Fidelma suggested. ‘If it is true that some of the women from the Domus Femini have come here, we need to find out why. For the time being, I do not think asking Lady Beretrude will be of benefit. I’ll go along that side of the villa, through the gardens towards the back,’ she said, pointing to the western side, ‘and you explore the other side. If any of the guards stop you, we can pretend that we were looking for…for…’

‘The necessarium ?’ Eadulf said wryly.

‘Just so.’

She turned and made her way slowly towards the area of garden that stretched along the western side of the villa, against which the sun was causing the white walls to reflect in a pink glow. Eadulf waited to ensure her departure had not been observed before he edged slowly to the side of the villa that was now fairly shadowy, being on the opposite side to the setting sun. He hesitated a moment and glanced quickly around before moving along the pathway out of sight of the main gathering. On his right-hand side was a high wall, and to his left was the villa wall itself. There seemed no windows on this side of the villa at ground level but there were several windows above, which obviously looked out over and beyond the high border wall.

He was unsure of what exactly Fidelma expected him to find. Did she think he would find a group of women or Valretrade in the villa? He would go as far as he could. If the passage ran around the back of the villa he could circumnavigate it, or if he found a door open, he could look inside with his ready excuse of seeking the latrina . The passageway was devoid of anything interesting except for a couple of tall wooden barrels. Some five metres beyond this he saw an iron gate that blocked the pathway. It was securely fastened. Just before this, to his left, there were some stone steps that led down to a door in the side of the villa below ground level. It was a plain, iron-studded wooden door. He was about to go down the steps to investigate when he heard a cry.

It was a child’s cry. There came the sound of a harsh command. Footsteps were approaching.

For a moment Eadulf froze in indecision. It was shadowy here but there was only one spot that afforded any cover. Hastening to the barrels, he crouched down behind them. He heard the clang of bolts being drawn on the iron gate, a chain being unfastened and a rough voice giving orders. The footsteps halted and there was a faint moan of a child before a scuffling sound.