Peter Tremayne - Dancing With Demons

‘He did. You see, it was in the chamber down there that Bishop Luachan and Brother Diomasach made another discovery.’ He paused as if waiting expectantly for a question to be put but when no one spoke he went on: ‘Have you ever heard of the Roth Fáil?’

Fidelma started abruptly and then quickly controlled herself. The reaction was not lost on Eadulf.

‘There are many legends about it,’ she said. ‘Why do you ask?’

Her mind was already thinking of the circular object that BishopLuachan gave to Sechnussach. She tried not to race ahead of what the man was telling her.

Brother Céin seemed pleased by her initial reaction.

‘Bishop Luachan found something circular in the chamber. He brought it in secret back to our little abbey. He examined it and then the very next morning he despatched Brother Diomasach with a message for the High King Sechnussach at Tara. When Brother Diomasach returned, he spent some time with Bishop Luachan but refused to tell any of the brethren why he had been sent to Tara or what had transpired there. Also, after he returned, within a day or so, an important warrior from Tara arrived here. Bishop Luachan told us that he would be gone only a few days, and rode off with him. It was observed that he carried this circular object wrapped in cloth in his saddlebag and allowed no one else to see it. When he returned, he was without the object.’

‘So this find was obviously the gift that he gave to the High King,’ Eadulf observed thoughtfully.

‘Did he really offer no explanation at all about what he had discovered and why he had sent news of it to the High King?’ asked Fidelma.

‘Not at the time,’ Brother Céin said. ‘It was afterwards, after poor Brother Diomasach’s death, that he took me into his confidence and told me that he had discovered in the chamber a circle of silver metal, intricately worked. It had the ancient symbol of the sun in the centre and was surrounded by twenty heads around the edge.’

‘It was a relatively small disk by all accounts, and now you say it was made of silver?’ Fidelma queried. ‘The stories about the wheel of destiny — the Roth Fáil, if ever it existed — would not place it so small, and it would have to be a great wheel of gold. Is it not also referred to as the Roth Gréine — the great celestial wheel? So are you telling me that Bishop Luachan thought this small object was the Roth Fáil?’

‘You leap to the wrong conclusion, Sister Fidelma,’ Brother Céin reproached her. ‘Bishop Luachan merely believed it was the key to the Roth Fáil, and without this key the Roth Fáil could not be deciphered. That was why he felt that he should give it to the High King.’

‘If it were a key, where is the object it opens?’ Eadulf wanted to know.

Brother Céin shrugged. ‘That is the mystery — and a mystery that no Christian would seek the answer to, for we are taught that the Roth Fáil is an engine of destruction that will destroy the Christian world.’ He paused.‘That is the belief, anyway,’ he added firmly, as if embarrassed at expressing the idea.

‘Well, let us deal with facts, not legends,’ Eadulf said, practical as ever. ‘Bishop Luachan was implying that Brother Diomasach was killed because of this find. But it had already been given to the High King … ’

‘Who has also been slain,’ pointed out Brother Céin. ‘And you tell me that the disk is now missing?’

Fidelma was thoughtful. ‘As is Bishop Luachan,’ she said. ‘Did he tell you nothing else about this matter? Why would he believe that the disk had a connection with the legend?’

‘All he told me was that an evil was loose in the world and that the disk was the key. It brought death in its wake. He had hoped that Sechnussach would order it to be melted down, for only he had the authority to do so. With the news of the death of Sechnussach, he said that we must constantly be on our guard. When we found poor Brother Diomasach slain, he said that our enemies were near and told me the story.’

‘Did he identify those enemies?’

‘No. He just said that they were people who wanted to destroy the Faith of Christ in this land.’

‘He never mentioned names? Did he not speculate on their identity?’

‘He did not say. But he felt they were close by. As I said, there are indications that many isolated communities have been attacked and these attacks are now increasing. He thought the attackers were growing in strength and that they were being helped by some of the clan chiefs.’

‘Such as Dubh Duin of the Cinél Cairpre?’ she queried.

‘Dubh Duin was certainly mentioned. He seemed to cling to the old ways but Bishop Luachan felt that within his clan, he kept his views in check.’

Eadulf frowned. ‘How would that be possible?’

‘You know how things work among us, Brother Eadulf? The derbhfine chooses a chief from the bloodline but he must be worthy. He must promote the welfare of his people. He has to govern under the law and, should he not conform to the wishes and welfare of his people, should he become negligent or despotic, then he could easily be replaced. Only the most worthy can succeed and remain as chief.’

Eadulf knew the system but it was not what he meant.

‘Do you mean that Dubh Duin held views about religion that were not support by the Cinél Cairpre? I have heard that they too clung to the old traditions.’

‘I have not travelled in the country of the Cinél Cairpre for some years now,’ Brother Céin said, ‘but when I was there last, most of those I encountered were Christian, while only some of the older folk still adhered to the gods of Danú.’

‘The Old Faith?’ pressed Eadulf.

‘The Old Faith,’ confirmed the steward. ‘It is often difficult for some to leave the old path for the new.’

Fidelma was silent. If chieftains like Dubh Duin or his successor Ardgal were involved in backing these raiding bands, and were connected with Sechnussach’s assassination, then she was looking at what had already developed into a rebellion against the High King and perhaps the onset of a civil war. But it would be a civil war like no other, for its terms would be defined by which religion the people supported. It was a frightening thought.

‘Yet with all his fears, Bishop Luachan went alone to answer the call of a sick farmer’s wife,’ Eadulf pointed out.

‘Bishop Luachan is a kind man, a generous man and one who takes his calling as both priest and healer seriously,’ replied Brother Céin.

Fidelma held out her hand for the oil lamp.

‘You brought us here to examine this chamber. Having come thus far, I shall look at it.’

Brother Eadulf immediately shook his head.

‘I shall go in — who knows what wild beasts may have found this entrance and decided it was a warm nest? Wolves and even bears, perhaps. This is the time for brown bears to hibernate.’

‘We don’t often see brown bears in this country now,’ Fidelma told him. ‘But there are certainly wolves about, though they hardly make their lairs in human habitations — even deserted ones.’

‘Nevertheless, I’d prefer to go first,’ insisted Eadulf.

Fidelma decided not to argue. ‘Very well, you go first and I will follow.’

Eadulf moved down into the narrow passageway and began to crawl along, one hand holding the spluttering oil lamp before him. The floor was of sandy clay but it was quite dry and hard. The ceiling was low, the walls narrow — definitely not the place for anyone with claustrophobia. He remembered that Brother Céin had warned him that the passageway would drop to another level, and he thought this just in time, for he had been so busy looking up at the narrowing roof that he almost came to the drop before he noticed. He paused and called back a warning to Fidelma. He could hear her scrambling along behind him.