Peter Tremayne - Dancing With Demons

Erc the Speckled rose from his wooden bench in the dungeon in which he had been incarcerated and stood with a woebegone expression as Fidelma and Eadulf entered with Abbot Colmán. He gave the appearance of a man resigned to fate — and that fate was like an irresistible force that was going to destroy him.

Abbot Colmán announced Fidelma and her status with a solemn tone.

‘Well, Erc the Speckled,’ Fidelma gave the man a smile of encouragement as she seated herself on a stool, ‘you appear to be in a sorry situation.’

The warrior sighed deeply. ‘I am at fault, lady,’ he said tonelessly. ‘I have no excuse.’

Fidelma pointed to the wooden bench and instructed the man to be seated.

Erc sat down nervously.

‘I am told that the facts are simple,’ Fidelma began. ‘On the night that Sechnussach was murdered, you were on guard at the main gates of the royal enclosure. Is that so?’

Erc nodded.

‘Tell me about the events as you know them to be.’

‘I have no defence, lady,’ he repeated. ‘I let the man who murdered the High King into the royal enclosure at a time when entry should have been forbidden.’

‘That is not what I asked you,’ replied Fidelma firmly.

‘I do not understand, lady,’ Erc said with a frown of bewilderment.

‘At what time did you go on guard that night?’ she prompted.

‘About midnight,’ the warrior replied slowly, realising what she wanted. ‘The watches are changed then and I was to take the watch from midnight until after dawn. The main gates are closed and bolted at that time and my task was to stand as sentinel by the gates. On no account are the gates to be opened — but for special people, there is a door set within the gate which can give one person access at a time.’

‘I understand. Now tell me, did anyone else come or go through the gate while you were on watch? I mean, before the arrival of the assassin?’

Erc shook his head. ‘No, lady.’

‘So — only the assassin came to the main gate?’

‘Yes. He arrived a short while before dawn. It was still dark but there was a hint of light on the eastern hills.’

‘What then?’

‘I challenged him, of course. Then he walked into the light of the torches so that I could see his features.’

‘You knew him?’

Erc nodded. ‘That is why I let him in. He was Dubh Duin of the Cinél Cairpre.’

Fidelma frowned slightly. ‘You let him into the royal enclosure simplybecause he was a chieftain that you knew? If I remember my protocol correctly, no one, not even a distant relation of a king, is allowed into a royal enclosure after the gates are shut and barred at night.’ She turned to Abbot Colmán. ‘This is a sorry state of affairs, that an assassin can come to the great complex of Tara, be admitted through gates that are usually bolted all through the hours of darkness. That he can then walk to the house of the High King himself, go through an unlocked door that has been left unguarded, make his way to the High King’s bedchamber, enter with a key provided and kill him.’

Abbot Colmán shrugged uncomfortably. ‘I admit that we must learn some lessons here. We must speak with Irél who is the aire-echtra, the commander of the Fianna. The only time that Dubh Duin has ever been admitted within these precincts has been when the Great Assembly was sitting.’

Erc’s features were even more woebegone than ever. ‘That’s not true,’ he said suddenly. ‘During the previous two weeks, Dubh Duin had been admitted several times into the royal enclosure after midnight.’

Fidelma glanced swiftly at Abbot Colmán, but he seemed as surprised as she was.

‘And who authorised his admittance?’ she asked sharply.

‘It was the lady Muirgel.’

‘Muirgel? You mean the High King’s eldest daughter?’

‘The same, lady. She had the authority to pass him through the guards. How could I question the orders of the daughter of Sechnussach?’

Fidelma regarded the man thoughtfully for a moment. ‘Let me get this correct in my mind,’ she said. ‘Are you saying that the lady Muirgel, daughter of Sechnussach, gave you orders to pass Dubh Duin into the royal enclosure after midnight, and on more than one occasion during the last two weeks?’

Erc nodded eagerly. ‘Exactly so. And the last time, she said that if I was ever on watch and she was not there to greet Dubh Duin, he should be allowed to pass unhindered at her word. That is why I did not question him on that night.’

‘Did you tell anyone this in your defence?’ demanded Fidelma.

‘No one asked me before I was brought here.’

Abbot Colmán added quickly: ‘He has not really been questioned on the matter before. He was only asked if he allowed Dubh Duin through the gates and when he admitted that he had, he was brought here to await examination by a Brehon.’

Eadulf leaned forward to Erc. ‘Did the lady Muirgel give you specific orders to permit entry to Dubh Duin on the night of the High King’s assassination? ’

‘No,’ said Erc, ‘but I thought my instructions from her were clear. As I have said, having let him in on so many previous occasions on lady Muirgel’s authority, I assumed he should be allowed to pass unhindered again. But I have already admitted that it is my responsibility,’ he added with resignation. ‘I was at fault that night. I should have demanded that the lady Muirgel be sent for, even though the hour was late.’

‘Did Muirgel give you any reason for her actions on previous nights? Why would she give her authority to the admittance of this man?’ asked Eadulf.

Erc smiled wanly. ‘I am a simple warrior, Brother Saxon. Who am I to question the order of a daughter of the High King and one, after all, who is at the age of choice.’

‘Yet had you questioned her, perhaps a High King’s life might have been saved,’ Eadulf snapped.

‘Are you suggesting that Muirgel had something to do with her father’s assassination?’ Abbot Colmán burst out. ‘For shame, Brother Eadulf … why, she is only seventeen years old!’

‘Girls of a younger age than seventeen have been known to harbour patricidal thoughts,’ Fidelma interposed quietly. ‘I am sure you will agree that Muirgel must be questioned on this matter which is, to say the least, curious.’

‘You are right, of course,’ Abbot Colmán said heavily. ‘Doubtless the girl will be able to present an explanation.’

‘Doubtless,’ commented Fidelma dryly before turning back to Erc. ‘When you say that the chieftain was admitted to the royal enclosure several times after midnight during the previous two weeks, can you be exact?’

Erc pondered aloud. ‘Exact? Oh, the exact number of times … I would say five times at least and perhaps more, well — no more than six times.’

‘Is that unusual?’ asked Eadulf.

‘Unusual? In what way?’

‘That a stranger to the palace be admitted to the royal enclosure after midnight? For example, how many other people were admitted to the royal enclosure after midnight during the same period?’

Erc hesitated, his brows drawn together, trying to remember. ‘You meanoutsiders to the royal household? Well, none who did not have a right to be there.’

‘And of those who had a right to be there?’ pressed Fidelma.

‘No one came after the gates were shut at midnight.’

Fidelma raised an eyebrow in query. ‘No one? Not even someone who had a right to be in the enclosure who was returning late?’

‘No one,’ asserted the warrior. Then he changed his mind. ‘Except … except for the Bishop of Delbna Mór. I recall now that he came in late one night. Ah, it was on the night before the assassination. The commander of the Fianna himself accompanied him. Orders also came from the High King to admit him.’