The Faithful Heart (25 page)

 

"I'll leave you then." She gave a small wave, told the guards that
no one was to go near Ruairc except herself, and climbed the stairs
with a lighter spring to her step. She felt like she could take on
the world so long as she had ber beloved's support.

 

 

And it might just come to that if they didn't find out who was
plotting against them soon.

 

 

 

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

 

 

Once breakfast was out of the way, the O’Donnells went hunting and
fishing with some of the other men in the village, while Morgana
headed out into the fields with the farm workers and staked out the
lands that were to be ploughed.

 

 

The ploughs were harnessed to the horses’ tails, and with a
ploughman, a driver for the horse, and a man to stand on the plough
to keep it in the earth, the teams set off.

 

 

Morgana then returned to the castle precincts to fire up the
smokehouse. Then she and some of the experienced butchers in the
village carved up the carcasses expertly.

 

 

“We will keep two pigs for the next few days, and smoke the other
two,” Morgana instructed the men.

 

 

Then she helped gut the fish the O’Donnells had caught the day
before, and smoked most of them as well.

 

 

“Keep those for our use.” She pointed to the last barrel, and then
she went down into the dungeons with some lunch for Ruairc.

 

 

“How are you? You look tired all of a sudden,” she said quietly when
they had at last broken off their lingering kiss.

 

 

“I barely slept a wink all night, and now what you've told me about
Conor and Mary weighs heavily on me,” Ruairc sighed. “Morgana, I
know what all of this looks like, but...”

 

 

“Sush, my love, you don’t have to defend yourself to me, and there
is no sense in getting upset over things that can't be changed. We
were both lied to, deceived,” Morgana soothed.

 

 

“All my pleading and badgering two years ago got me nowhere with
you, Morgana. What has made you suddenly change your mind?”

 

 

“My father was convinced of your innocence, darling, which is why he
sent for you. Plus, it was something Ronan O’Donnell said to me at
Belleek about being deceived by appearances. He never thought you
did it either.

 

 

"Up until now, all appearances have been against you. But the point
is, you’re a clever man. If you really had murdered my brother or
father, you would have made sure the blame was placed elsewhere. You
certainly wouldn’t have been so foolish as to leave your unusual
dagger behind. The very fact that all the evidence linked you to the
deaths shows that someone is out to do you harm deliberately,”
Morgana said.

 

 

"And someone who knew you well enough to make a copy of your dagger,
Ruairc, but didn't know the jewel had broken off only a couple of
days before."

 

 

At his surprised look, she nodded. "Father told me. It didn't
register with him at the time, only later. And by then he thought it
was too late."

 

 

"So who could have gotten the copy made?"

 

 

"Anyone here who had got close enough to you to see it regularly and
know you never went anywhere without it."

 

 

“Aofa, Mary, or my brothers? But why?” Ruairc ground his teeth in
frustration.

 

 

Morgana shook her head. “And why kill Father, now of all times? None
of it makes sense.”

 

 

"They clearly wanted the power balance to change two years ago when
they killed your brother. Morgan became a shadow of his former self,
we didn'y marry, and you left. Something has made them feel they had
to remove Morgan now. What could it be?"

 

 

She reached her hand through the bars off the cell to stroke his
cheek lovingly. “I don’t have any answers for you, Ruairc. All I
have is a fake dagger and a fortune in treasure and pirated goods
which were stolen from the O’Donnells, and from a woman wealthy
enough to have been a princess, as evidence of what has been
happening here. But Aofa may be guilty of no more than piracy.
Perhaps Fergus committed the murders?”

 

 

“No, he was here in the dungeon yesterday,” Ruairc reminded her.

 

 

“He could have paid someone to do it,” Morgana sighed, but then
shook her head again. “No, it couldn’t be. We all loved my father
and loathed Fergus. I doubt anyone would have done it for Fergus’
sake, no matter how much of a bribe was offered.”

 

 

“So all we are left with is a series of questions, and no hope of an
answer,” Ruairc stated tensely.

 

 

She sighed, and stroked his cheek tenderly. “As we do when we are
out hunting, we must simply watch and wait, and with any luck we
will bag our quarry. Now, are you going to be all right here? I need
to see how things are at the farm, and prepare for the funeral
meal.”

 

 

“Go on, only the next time you come back, could you bring some
books, pen, and paper?”

 

 

She nodded. "I'm sorry I didn't think of it sooner. And I'll also
bring some food and wine and some warmer clothes,” Morgana promised.

 

 

"Thank you, love. I'll see you soon."

 

 

She hurried upstairs to do her errand, and returned shortly
afterwards with all he needed.

 

 

"Well, I can't say I'm happy to be here, but I'll enjoy the solitude
to sit and think and puzzle through our problem," he said, laying
out his supplies in one corner.

 

 

"I'll let you out just as soon as I feel like we are on solid ground
again."

 

 

"I know. Just keep in mind that the longer Aofa is out there, the
more mischief she can do."

 

 

Morgana nodded. "The only trouble is, if the two of you switch
places, especially in the middle of Father's wake, there could be
hell to pay.

 

 

"You're right, she could easily accuse me, and my power base is not
yet stable enough, for all I have the O'Donnells helping me. I love
all you've done to try to help, darling, but I need even more
supporters if I'm ever to become and be able to remain
tanaist
.

 

 

"Aye, I know. With any luck, your cousins will be here soon." He
moved over to the bars of the cell. "Just be careful, all right?"

 

 

"Oh aye, I have so much to live for now, remember. And I always keep
my promises."

 

 

He grinned.

 

 

With one last warm kiss she took her leave of Ruairc.

 

 

 

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

 

 

The only bright events during the next two days was the arrival of
two shiploads of supplies from Sligo and Assaroe. With the valuable
provisions came her cousin Finn, and an entire crew from one of the
Maguire’s missing ships.

 

 

“We were in Galway, when the authorities impounded it for lack of
duty. We've had to march all the way from there to Sligo. We had
hoped to get a ship from there to at least Belleek, but there were
none to be had," Finn explained as he stripped off his heavy
travelling cloak, and moved to embrace Morgana. "Worse than the
march, we lost our cargo of wine to the English as well, adding
injury to insult!”

 

 

“But what are you doing here? You look so pale,” he suddenly
remarked, as he remembered she was meant to be at the convent at
Kilgarven. “What is it, Morgana. What has happened?”

 

 

Morgana explained hurriedly in a hushed voice.

 

 

Finn immediately moved to the great hall to pay his respects to his
dead foster-father. His shock was palpable—for a moment she was sure
he would faint.

 

 

That answered her question—he was guiltless of any conspiracy
against Morgan.

 

 

Morgana watched the tall, muscular brown-haired man with pale blue
eyes as he wept inconsolably by the bier, and moved to his side to
take his hand.

 

 

“If only I had been here, I might have saved him,” he groaned
tearfully.

 

 

She led him away to a more private corner of the hall and whispered,
“I doubt that. Whoever wanted Father dead would have found a way to
kill him in the end. I am only glad that had and I got a chance to
sort out our differences before it was too late.

 

 

"Now, come, Finn, I need you to be strong for me. I also need your
help with a particular problem,” Morgana confided, as she led him up
the stairs to her study.

 

 

Once inside and with the door locked, Morgana repeated the story of
Morgan’s death and reveal all that had taken place between herself
and Ruairc.

 

 

“So Ruairc was really innocent all along. I'm so glad.” Finn smiled
gently.

 

 

“Yet now the finger points at him again thanks to Aofa. I need you
to keep an eye on him, make sure no harm comes to him from either
Aofa or Mary. But I also need his help.I can’t have him locked up in
the dungeon for much longer. I want the two of you to be my right
hand, overseeing, helping. If I am ever to get Tulach and Ma Niadh
in order again, I must have support, and above all secrecy. I was
hoping you and Patrick would both be back by now, but there's still
no word of him.”

 

 

His brows knit for a time, but there could be any number of reasons
for the delays. “He must be on his way home from Scotland, if the
messages came through,” Finn said hopefully.

 

 

“They might not have, since we've had so much trouble with the
O’Donnells,” Morgana explained, as she highlighted the recent
situation in Belleek and the accord she and Ronan had finally
reached.

 

 

"Well, that explains why we had so much difficulty in Galway, Sligo
and Belleek. No one wanted to help us for fear of the O'Donnells
taking it amiss. They aren't as volatile as some other clans in the
area, for Ronan has a good head on his shoulders and a fairly even
temper."

 

 

"Aye, that's pretty much the only thing that saved us."

 

 

"That and his love for you and regard for Morgan," Finn added with a
fond smile. "But if it had been one of the other clans, well…. And
Ronan was prepared to give you all the benefit of the doubt, and not
retaliate. Otherwise, it ccould have been full-scale war."

 

 

"Mayhap who ever caused the trouble was hoping he would lose his
temper, so they could offer to help my father deal with hosilities?"

 

 

Finn nodded slowly. "Or worse still, look forward to the clan being
still further weakened or even decimated if you had been attacked."

 

 

"As for trouble at the ports, well, there's something else you need
to know.

 

 

"Oh God, what now?"

 

 

When she told Finn about the duty on their trade, he exclaimed,
“That is impossible! We have never done that volume of trade!”

 

 

Morgana shook her head. “I'm beginning to think it might be possible
after all. It could represent the value of the cargoes, rather than
the volume. All that gold and silver. All it would have taken was
one or two ships to lie about their cargo, and the authorities would
have exacted heavy penalties when they caught them in a lie,” she
speculated. "Believed that all of our ships were carrying the same,
and that we had been lying all along. Thus they would have levied
the duties, plus fines."

 

 

Finn looked outraged at the very idea.“But all of your captains are
honest!None of us would....”

 

 

“Aye, you and I both know that, however, the fact remains that the
O’Donnells said they were attacked by Maguire ships. Yet we also
know that this was unlikely to be the case both because of our
regard for them, and the fact that so many of our ships are
missing."

 

 

He paced up and down in front of her desk, tapping his left fist
against his thigh impatiently in a gesture she remembered of old.
“So someone is making it seem as if they are our ships, and through
their lies we have incurred these heavy penalties,” Finn said, his
eyes lighting up as he made the connections.

 

 

“Which is why I had the O’Donnell minter make me a new official
seal, and it will be registered at every port,” Morgana revealed
with a grin. “We have changed the colours on our pennants too, to
blue and yellow check. The O’Donnells and O’Connors know of these
changes as well, so if any phantom Maguire ships reappear bearing
our old colors of red and white, they are to challenge them.”

 

 

“You are a clever woman, my dear,” her cousin praised, as he fondly
ruffled her hair.

 

 

“It’s going to take more than brains to win this battle, as well you
know, Finn,” Morgana sighed.

 

 

“I am sorry about Morgan, but at the same time, you're about to
fulfil your destiny, Morgana Maguire, and I know you will be up to
the task.”

 

 

“It is as the Lord wills,” Morgana said resignedly, and rose from
her desk to show her cousin to his room.

 

 

“I will help you with the castles," Finn reassured her before they
stepped out of the room. "I don’t think anyone has seen the stores
or the whole crew yet, so if you go down now, we can give them
instructions to go get everything started at the other two castles.”

 

 

“I’ll do it now,” Morgana agreed. “There will be some things already
there, but if there isn’t enough to go around, they will just have
to make do. How many men are there?”