Peter Tremayne - Dancing With Demons

Eadulf explained about Cenn Faelad’s invitation to accompany him, and his meeting with the arrogant merchant, Verbas of Peqini, and his young slave, Assid.

‘Poor lad,’ Fidelma said at once. ‘We hear several tales of pilgrim ships being attacked on their way to visit the Holy Land. People are sometimes taken as slaves by marauders. The boy is obviously one such victim. I approve of Cenn Faelad’s motives.’

‘It is not the motives that concern me but the duplicity,’ Eadulf pointed out. ‘Someone who is that devious needs to be watched carefully and their truths questioned.’

Fidelma smiled and patted his arm.

‘We shall be extra-watchful. But I do hope that the young boy can find his freedom. As a foreign visitor, this Verbas cannot be admonished. Cenn Faelad is right in what he has said. The boy can demand sanctuary once he escapes.’

Eadulf nodded slightly and then asked: ‘And what of your news?’

Fidelma quickly told him the result of her meeting with Gormflaith, announcing her intention of going straightway to verify matters with the Chief Brehon, Barrán.

‘I saw him and Muirgel go to the stables but then he returned to the royal house.’ She glanced awkwardly at Eadulf. ‘It may be better for you not to attend this meeting either. It will be unseemly for me to berate Barrán for withholding pertinent information before a witness — yet berate him I must. He is, after all, the Chief Brehon of the Five Kingdoms and if Gormflaith speaks the truth, he should have known better than to withhold this information from me.’

Eadulf had no objection to being excluded. He had already assumed that it would be a contentious meeting.

‘Perhaps I can make myself useful by going to the hall of the Great Assembly to see if there is anyone there who might have cause to know Dubh Duin. I was interested to hear Cenn Faelad refer to the views he expressed in the assembly. If he regularly attended as a representative of his people, there may be some who knew him well. We need to learn more about him, not merely information from someone who was enamoured by him.’

Fidelma approved his intention.

‘You are right, Eadulf. You will make a dálaigh yet. That is certainly something we must pursue in this matter. We need to get a clearer understanding of the character of this assassin. It seems that poor Gormflaith is flying in the face of the witnesses when she doubts it was his hand that struck Sechnussach down.’

‘Gormflaith is misleading herself to think otherwise, Fidelma.’ Eadulf nodded sadly in agreement. ‘It occurs to me that perhaps that is not the only thing she was misleading herself about.’

‘You suspect that Dubh Duin was merely using her to get to Sechnussach?’

‘There might have been no question of love on his part at all,’ Eadulf pointed out. ‘But your expression tells me that you do not agree.’

‘It would make sense if he had not known that Gormflaith and Sechnussach lived apart, albeit in the same royal enclosure. But the path to Sechnussach clearly lay elsewhere, and not through an estranged wife.’

Eadulf looked disappointed. ‘I suppose you are right,’ he admitted reluctantly.

‘It was a good point to consider, though,’ she smiled encouragingly. ‘Now, don’t forget to keep a sharp lookout for Cuan. I just hope that he has not been warned as yet.’

Eadulf inclined his head in acknowledgement and went off about thistask. He saw Gormán with the Fianna commander, Irél, by the stables and crossed to them.

‘Any sign of Cuan yet?’ he asked at once.

‘No,’ Irél said, ‘but that is not unusual. He is not due on watch duty until later today so he may well have gone hunting or even walked down to the market. He is certainly not in the royal enclosure or at the Tech Láechda. ’

Eadulf understood this, literally the ‘house of heroes’, as the name of the military barracks of the Fianna.

‘Well, at least he has to return to take his watch,’ Eadulf observed brightly. ‘I was going to walk to the place where you have the Great Assembly to see if there is anyone there who might have known Dubh Duin. I need someone to enlighten me about what sort of man he was.’

‘There is no one about at the place of the Great Assembly at this time,’ Irél told him. ‘What sort of information were you looking for, because I knew the chief of the Cinél Cairpre to some extent.’

Eadulf was surprised and said so.

‘I thought I had mentioned it before,’ Irél said. ‘Part of the duty of the Fianna is to provide guards at the Great Assembly. I met Dubh Duin there many times. I do not say that I knew him well, but I did have a few conversations with him. He was a man of firm opinions.’

Eadulf grinned. ‘Is that a way of saying that he had set ideas and would not bend with discussion?’

‘Just that, Brother Saxon.’ Irél chuckled. ‘I suppose it is a quality that is necessary for a chieftain, especially one whose territory lies on the borderlands.’

‘Borderlands?’

‘There is Connacht to the west and Bréifne to the north, and neither have much respect for the Cinél Cairpre who, if truth be known, are too out of step with them.’

Eadulf cocked his head. ‘In what way, out of step?’

‘The Cinél Cairpre have always been … shall we say, traditionalists? They don’t like change.’

‘Do you speak of a change in religion?’ asked Eadulf.

Irél examined Eadulf with a soft smile of amusement. ‘You have been listening to gossip, my friend.’

‘And is there no truth in gossip?’

Irél shrugged. ‘There have been such stories, and Dubh Duin has beenaccused of being obsessive among those in the Great Assembly. Indeed, surely his actions have now proved it?’

‘You use the word fraoch to describe him,’ Eadulf said. ‘I am not entirely fluent in the language. Is there another word with which you could help me to understand it?’

‘Very well. He could be called a fanatic about the past customs and traditions of his people,’ explained Irél.

‘Fanatic to what degree?’ asked Eadulf after a few moments’ thought.

‘To what degree?’ Irél chuckled again. ‘You may have heard stories about the dibergach, the brigands who have been creating some problems throughout the kingdom, claiming that they act in the name of the old gods and goddesses?’

‘We did see the result of their handiwork on our journey to Tara,‘Eadulf recalled. ‘Some brothers of the religion were slain at a tiny chapel on the road that passes the Plain of Nuada. What has Dubh Duin to do with that?’

‘He was once accused in the Great Assembly of defending the dibergach. My men and I once chased a small band of them into the territory of the Cinél Cairpre, which was Dubh Duin’s clan.’ He shook his head. ‘There was nothing to link them with the clan. I do not think Dubh Duin would be as fanatic as that. He merely argued that the New Faith was denying rights to those who would follow in the traditions of their fathers. He suggested to the Great Assembly that the same rights and freedoms of worship should be given to those who did not want to accept a new and foreign God and Faith. I think the argument was that withdrawing the cause of the raids would end them. Of course, he distanced himself from those involved by saying that he was only the mouthpiece for those who asked him to plead their cause to the High King.’

Eadulf raised his eyebrows in surprise. ‘And how was that plea received?’

‘As I have said, not with any degree of enthusiasm, you can be sure,’ Irél grunted. ‘You can imagine the outcry from the abbots and the bishops in attendance. But it did get support from some of the chieftains of the north-western clans. In spite of the New Faith being preached here for two centuries, there are still many who prefer the old gods and goddesses.’