Peter Tremayne - Smoke in the Wind

‘Is my brother still alive?’ demanded Cathen.

‘Let me tell this story as best I can,’ insisted Eadulf. ‘Clydog’s major mistake was raiding too early.’

Prince Cathen was shaking his head. ‘In what way was a mistake made? I am not sure I follow this well.’

‘No sooner had Clydog removed the brethren from Llanpadern than first Brother Cyngar and then Idwal arrived and found Llanpadern deserted. There was no sign of an attack on the community. They went off to relay the news of this mystery disappearance. Clydog did not realise this.

‘It was not until the next night that the Hwicce ship, pursuing Morgan, sought shelter in a nearby bay. Nearby, Clydog’s men were watching for its arrival. They had taken seven of their prisoners down to the shore.’

‘Are you going to be able to prove any of this, Saxon?’ interrupted Clydog.

‘Oh, yes.’ Eadulf turned to him with a quick smile. ‘As the Saxon ship anchored, two men came ashore from her. You and your men attacked them and succeeded in taking one of them prisoner. This was an unexpected bonus. You had a real Saxon warrior in your hands.

‘You and your men waited until dawn, hiding nearby. As you hoped or planned, some local people came along and spotted the Saxon ship which then set sail. It was then, Clydog, that you ordered seven of your prisoners to be slaughtered and left on the foreshore. Proof that they had been killed by Saxons was placed by their bodies. Are we correct so far, Clydog?’

The Ceredigion prince was disdainful. ‘You do not need my approbation, Saxon, for your fanciful tale. Where is your proof?’

‘Prince Cathen,’ Fidelma interrupted, speaking to the prince of Dyfed. ‘I wish to make an unusual request. I would like Clydog taken to the back of the court and gagged so that he cannot interfere until I am ready.’

‘That is not legal. .’ protested Cathen.

‘But necessary, I assure you,’ insisted Fidelma, glancing meaningfully to Eadulf who nodded briefly.

Cathen sighed and gestured to Cadell to cut off the voluble protest that had arisen from Clydog.

‘What now?’ Cathen demanded when Fidelma’s request had been fulfilled. She turned to Eadulf and gestured for him to continue.

‘Bring forth Sualda,’ he called.

A moment later, the thin, pale-faced man whom Eadulf had treated when he had been near death at Clydog’s camp came cautiously into the hall.

‘Give Prince Cathen your name,’ invited Eadulf.

The man was hesitant. ‘I am Sualda, in the service of lord Clydog of Ceredigion.’

‘Do you recognise me?’ asked Eadulf.

‘We spoke last night.’

‘But before that?’

‘I do not recall, except that last night you said you were the man who treated my wound when I was near death in the forest camp.’

‘How did you get that wound?’

‘A Saxon gave it me.’

‘This Saxon was a sailor whom Clydog’s men had captured one night when he came ashore from a Saxon boat near Llanferran?’

The man hesitated and then nodded.

‘We have heard,’ Eadulf said, ‘how Clydog had taken some of the religious from Llanpadern to that spot and had them killed.’ He prayed that Cathen would say nothing to disabuse Sualda of the false impression that the matter had been established.

‘I was not one of those who killed the religious,’ muttered the man quickly. ‘I was guarding the Saxon prisoner when that happened.’

Eadulf exchanged a triumphant glance with Fidelma. The ruse had worked. A confession had been made.

‘So tell us what happened. After the religious were killed, what then?’

‘We were ordered to march back to Llanpadern. Clydog told us that we had to make it look as though the Saxons had attacked the community there.’

‘But you did not. Why?’

‘Lord Corryn was waiting for us and he was angry when he saw us. He said that the bodies of some religious had to be left at Llanpadern. He had the old priest, Father Clidro, with him. We. . that is. . well, he hanged the old man in the barn while Clydog and his men went off to fetch the rest of the prisoners we had left under guard in the forest.’

‘And the Saxon sailor?’

‘He had been brought with us to Llanpadern.’

‘How did he die?’

‘It was while the lords Clydog and Corryn were arguing about the bodies of the religious that the Saxon escaped. I was told to go after him. That was when I was wounded. I chased him into the room where the religious ate. He seized a meat knife and cut me and I killed him with my sword. As I was being carried back to camp with lord Corryn’s warriors, I heard that our men had killed the rest of the prisoners and were taking them by cart back to Llanpadern. By then, I was beyond caring. I had gone into a fever.’

Eadulf was smiling. ‘Clydog did not appear to be aware of the fact that time was important. By the time he returned to Llanpadern to fake the scene of the attack, he found another problem. Sister Fidelma and myself.’

Prince Cathen called for the release of Clydog, and Sualda was removed to one side.

‘Well, do you wish to deny anything, Clydog of Ceredigion? What I have heard is a twisted plan arising from a twisted mind,’ Cathen observed. ‘It was diabolical.’

Clydog stood in defiant humour. ‘My first instinct was to kill the Saxon and the Gwyddel. I should have obeyed my instinct.’

‘Your plan did not work,’ Cathen replied coldly. ‘There was confusion and, above all, King Gwlyddien has not raised a host to march on the Saxons. Brother Eadulf seems to be telling us that it was your mistakes that caused this.’

‘You are right,’ agreed Eadulf. ‘However, King Artglys of Ceredigion was increasingly frustrated that no movement was happening, no calls for vengeance against the Saxons. He had already sent one of his men to meet with his son Clydog. That was the meeting observed by Elen in the forest. It had been agreed then to leave some of the brethren with Morgan of Gwent in case just such a contingency should arise, and now Artglys decided to prompt matters by sending the same messenger to order Morgan to put some more slaughtered brethren of Llanpadern in a conspicuous place. It was sheer coincidence that Elen saw him again as he was passing through Llanwnda on his way to Morgan’s ship.

‘Morgan had enticed the Hwicce vessel into pursuit, but the Saxon ship had lost its mast in a storm during the chase. It put in here to cut a new mast, and by another coincidence I was able to witness Morgan’s ship put into the bay and toss the dead bodies of the brethren overboard, with items which would lay blame on the Hwicce.’

Clydog started to laugh harshly. ‘This Saxon is trying to absolve his fellow Saxons from blame. Don’t listen. The Saxons killed these religious.’

Prince Cathen smiled coldly at him. ‘You already stand convicted out of your own mouth and that of your man Sualda. But tell me, Brother Eadulf, why did the Ceredigion not slaughter all the religious prisoners at once? Why divide them into groups?’

Fidelma moved forward again.

‘To use to mislead people. Some were left dead on the shore; some would have been left at Llanpadern itself had Eadulf and myself not been present to frustrate the plan; and others were kept in reserve to fabricate just such a drama as they presented to stir the people to hatred against an imagined enemy. Brother Eadulf and I have estimated that Morgan may still hold captive half a dozen of the brethren of Llanpadern.’

‘Indeed,’ added Eadulf, ‘it was lucky for us that Morgan neglected to ensure that all the religious were dead when he tossed them overboard. One of them was still alive.’

Eadulf did not lie. He merely did not explain that the poor religious had died before he could identify those responsible for the deed.