The Dove of Death (29 page)

‘The girl is distraught,’ Riwanon told Fidelma, ‘so I have sent her to clean herself and rest.’

‘I would like to question her,’ Fidelma said. ‘We need to find out as much as we can about these attackers.’

‘It will have to be later when she is more composed,’ the Queen replied firmly.

‘Very well.’ Fidelma turned to Eadulf with a warning look to convey that she did not want him to discuss his observations in front of the others.

Bleidbara, however, recounted what had happened.

‘Thanks be that you were able to save poor Ceingar.’ Riwanon looked sad. ‘I can only imagine the fate that those beasts had in store for her. But my warriors, ah…it distresses me. Both killed, you say?’

‘We were unable to recover their bodies. Ceingar said that only she was taken alive in the ambush,’ Bleidbara replied. ‘She was not sure what the captors did with the bodies, but they took their horses. We have, of course, brought all the horses back to the fortress with us.’

‘And you say that this attacking party split into two – that some of them went on shipboard while the others, together with the girl, rode towards the north-east?’ asked Fidelma.

‘That is so, lady,’ Bleidbara agreed.

‘It is a pity that you didn’t take one of those men prisoner,’ commented Trifina, ‘then we should have found out the truth about this
Koulm ar Maro
.’

Bleidbara seemed a little irritated by the criticism.

‘Lady, they did not want to surrender,’ he replied stiffly. ‘They fought to the death, with a fanatical zeal that I have not seen before.’

‘You found that curious?’ Fidelma was interested by the comment.

‘It was unusual,’ agreed the warrior. ‘Our warriors might not contemplate surrender to the Franks, but with our own people, they know they would not be badly treated.’

‘And you gave them the opportunity to surrender?’

‘I am not in the habit of slaughtering men who would rather live, lady,’ he replied firmly.

‘Of course not. I just wanted to be sure that I had the facts.’

‘But we are no further forward than before!’ Trifina said petulantly. ‘My brother still stands accused of murder. These brigands still attack unarmed farmsteads, kill merchants, even attack and
capture foreign ships on the high seas – and we
still
do not know who they are or who is behind them.’

‘We know one thing – that they do so under the flag of the
mac’htiern
of Brilhag,’ pointed out Riwanon.

‘That is just a ruse to mislead people,’ snapped Trifina, colouring hotly.

Riwanon spread her hands and smiled.

‘But it must be proved, must it not?’ This last question was aimed at Fidelma.

‘That is so,’ agreed Fidelma. ‘The people of this peninsula need to be shown, in a way that leaves little doubt, that these brigands and their leader are not connected with this household.’

‘So it is a pity, Bleidbara, that you were not able to bring one of them here, even if they were wounded,’ ended Riwanon.

Bleidbara coloured. ‘I have already explained that we did not have the opportunity, lady.’

‘But a pity, nevertheless,’ she sighed.

Later, in their chamber after the evening meal, as Fidelma sat combing her long red tresses and preparing for bed, she was able to talk over the matter with Eadulf. She asked him to describe everything that had happened.

‘And you are sure that Bleidbara gave every opportunity to the brigands to surrender so he could take one alive?’

Eadulf confirmed it.

‘We were worried about the fate of the girl, Ceingar,’ he explained. ‘That was why we decided to attack the camp. Our original plan was simply to track them back to their lair. We thought that they would take the horses overland to some secret harbour where we might find the
Koulm ar Maro
, moored somewhere on the eastern side of the Morbihan.’

‘It was certainly a logical plan,’ agreed Fidelma.

‘Then when we saw one of the brigands having his way with
Ceingar…’ Eadulf shrugged. ‘Well, Bleidbara gave the signal to attack. I thought the other two, who were probably waiting their turn with her, poor girl, would surrender when they saw the odds were against them. But they refused and fought with such a fury that it could only have ended with their deaths or our own.
Deo adjuvante
, Bleidbara’s men were good and the raiders paid the price for their sins.’

‘It is a pity that I am not able to question Ceingar until tomorrow. She might have had some information about the leaders of this band by which we could track them.’

‘She has suffered much, that one,’ Eadulf reflected. ‘Best that she have a good rest to recover from her ordeal. Then her mind will be clearer.’

‘Yes, although sometimes a fresh remembrance of things is more helpful than letting a person rest on the memory. After a time, the mind begins to rationalise, make interpretations of the memory and thereby time distorts it.’

‘It seems that we are no further forward to a solution to all this,’ Eadulf said, rather wearily. ‘We have been dragged into some local mystery not of our own choosing – and, to be honest, we don’t understand the half of it. What makes it worse is that we know almost nothing of the language and have to rely on others for interpretation.’

‘We know a little of the language of the Britons, thanks to our time in the Kingdom of Dyfed. So we have some idea of what is being said.’

Eadulf was moody.

‘A little knowledge is dangerous,’ he grumbled. ‘The words might be similar here but we still have to look to others for detailed information. I do not think we should have become involved in this business. At least, I think Riwanon’s commission to you was ill-advised.’

Fidelma’s mouth tightened.

‘We became involved when my Cousin Bressal was murdered, when our friend Murchad was cut down. We
are
involved and I will
stay
involved until I have resolved this mystery.’

Eadulf was about to respond but thought better of it. It was no use arguing when Fidelma was in this kind of mood.

‘Well, I am for bed,’ he said. ‘It has been another long and tiring day, and I am exhausted.’

Annoyed at Eadulf’s lack of understanding, Fidelma did not reply. She sat for a long time by the window looking out onto the shimmering moonlit waters of the Morbihan with its dark shadows of islands. Carefully, she turned over the events of the last few days in her mind. There was something there which nearly made sense…but not quite. She was sure that the answer was almost within her grasp; almost, but not quite. It needed something, some simple key, to make everything fit into place.

‘There is no sign of the girl Iuna this morning,’ remarked Riwanon. ‘Do we have to fend for ourselves?’

Fidelma and Eadulf had come down that morning in a sombre mood to find Riwanon already seated at the table. Macliau was sitting in a corner by the hearth, staring with moody unseeing eyes at the embers of a fire that had not been attended to for some time. He neither raised his hand nor acknowledged anyone. Brother Metellus had returned to the abbey on the previous afternoon as matters there needed his attention. As they came down the stairway into the great hall, the door opened. Bleidbara entered and stood looking about uncertainly.

Fidelma noted the peevish tone in Riwanon’s voice, but she understood that the Queen had been through much these recent days, with the attack on her and her entourage, and must be feeling the strain.

‘Where’s Budic?’ asked Riwanon now. ‘I seem deserted by my bodyguard, as well as my maidservant.’

‘Budic is in the stables, practising his swordsmanship with Boric,’ Bleidbara said.

‘And Ceingar? Is she still abed?’

‘I’ll go to the kitchens to see if she is there with Iuna, shall I?’ he suggested.

‘It would be helpful,’ Fidelma intervened, noting that Trifina was also missing. ‘Meanwhile, I’ll check that she is not in her room. There is an excuse for everyone to have overslept this morning.’ She turned to Eadulf: ‘Throw some logs on the fire before it goes out.’ She raised her eyebrows, indicating Riwanon. From her expression, he understood that it fell to him to keep the company distracted in some way so that the heavy atmosphere could be lifted.

Fidelma ran lightly up the stairs. Instead of going straight to Ceingar’s room, she made her way along the corridor to Iuna’s chamber and knocked gently on the door. Iuna was always up early and her absence puzzled Fidelma even more than Ceingar’s did. There was no answer. She knocked again, this time a little louder, then waited a moment before she tried the handle. The door swung open. The room was in semi-gloom but Fidelma saw that the bed was empty. The bedlinen was rumpled almost as if a struggle had taken place there. Then she noticed the pieces of a broken clay bowl on the floor beside the bed and a spoon, as if someone had been eating from the bowl and dropped it, breaking it. Certainly Iuna had left the room in a hurry.

Fidelma quickly examined the chamber. She noticed that the door to the adjoining chamber was slightly ajar and remembered that Iuna had said she slept in the room next to Trifina.

She walked across the chamber and pushed the door open. Again she saw that the bed was empty – but here the bedlinen had been pulled back as if in haste. A jug had been overturned near the bed; it had fallen onto a thickly woven carpet,
spilling some water, but obviously the carpet had cushioned it so that it had not broken, nor would it have created any noise as it fell.

Fidelma was about to walk out of the room when she noticed a dark stain on the linen sheet. She moved across and peered at it, wishing there was more light, then she put forward a finger and touched it. It was damp. She raised the finger, examined it and realised that it was blood.

She stood undecided for a moment or two before leaving through the main door into the corridor. She was about to go back to rejoin the others when she remembered the object of her mission – to locate Ceingar. Riwanon’s maid had been allocated a nearby chamber.

Fidelma paused and knocked upon the door. She was not expecting an answer and so, when none came, she merely opened the door and looked inside.

She was expecting another empty bed. In that expectation, she was unfulfilled. For Ceingar lay in the bed. She lay on her back, her white face turned to the ceiling, her mouth open slightly, and her eyes wide and staring. There was a knife buried in her chest and the dark stains of blood were all over her body and over the sheets.

Fidelma did not have to examine the knife too closely to see that it was a dagger – with the emblem of a dove on its handle.

There was a sense of shock in the fortress after Fidelma had told the others about her grim findings. Only her own quiet authority stemmed the mood of panic among them. There was much disquiet among the servants and the guards at the news. Macliau had retired to his chamber in his now usual uncommunicative mood. His dazed features seemed genuine enough, and Fidelma saw that he had taken a small amphora of wine with him. Only Riwanon and Budic remained in the great hall.

‘I just pray that my husband, Alain, reaches here safely,’ Riwanon confided to Fidelma. ‘There is much evil here in Brilhag and I do not think we will be safe until he arrives.’

‘I agree that there is much evil,’ Fidelma replied quietly. ‘And with your continued permission, I shall try to make what sense I can of these events.’

Riwanon made a small gesture with her hand.

‘I am afraid, my Hibernian sister, there is little you can do here. I was foolish to suggest that you could help. After all, you are in a foreign land and do not speak our language. Best stay here in safety and pray for the safe arrival of my husband. I was wondering if we should send a messenger to hasten him.’

‘While it is wise to be cautious, his messenger said he would be here before dusk today. I feel I must do what I can, however limited my means of doing so,’ insisted Fidelma. ‘But, by all means, send one of your men to find your husband.’

Riwanon smiled softly.

‘You have a good heart, Fidelma. If you feel you must persist in your enquiries, then carry on. You have my authority to do what you can to resolve the mysteries that beset this place.’

‘Your authority?’ pressed Fidelma.

‘My full authority,’ confirmed Riwanon. ‘But I will remain here with Budic as my bodyguard until my husband comes.’

Outside the great hall, Eadulf said: ‘I don’t understand this. Is there a logic that Ceingar be killed and Trifina and Iuna abducted?’

‘Even in the most bizarre set of circumstances you will find a logic, Eadulf,’ Fidelma replied. ‘From what you have told me of your finding of Ceingar, I think there is a reason why she was killed. But the abduction of both Trifina and Iuna is more puzzling. Let us see if we can trace how they were taken from their rooms and by what method transported.’

It was at that moment that Bleidbara approached them. His features were set hard.

‘We’ve found another body,’ he announced.

‘Is it Trifina or Iuna?’ asked Eadulf immediately.

‘Neither. It is one of my men who was on watch at the small harbour below. His throat was cut. I think that Trifina and Iuna were removed by boat.’

‘Kidnapped on the
Koulm ar Maro
?’ Fidelma asked.

‘Without question,’ asserted Bleidbara. ‘You know that I have been scouring these islands under the orders of Trifina for the last week, searching for this
Koulm ar Maro
? Yet I have not found its hiding-place. They must have raided the fortress last night.’

‘But why kill Ceingar? Why abduct Iuna and Trifina?’ Fidelma was thoughtful. ‘It doesn’t make sense unless…’ She paused and then asked: ‘What is the last place you would look for Trifina, if she was abducted?’

‘The last place?’ Bleidbara looked puzzled. ‘I do not follow your logic, lady.’

Fidelma pointed across the headland, saying, ‘You would not look for her in her own villa…on Govihan?’

‘But there are servants on Govihan – Heraclius the apothecary and others. Why would she be taken there?’

‘Because, as I have said, that is the last place they would think that we would look. Come on, let us sail for Govihan. You have your ship ready, it should not take long.’