Atonement of Blood(103)

‘Now is not the best time for a discourse on theology, Eadulf,’ she admonished. ‘However, when you cast a stone into a pond, the ripples are inevitable. It is important how you deal with the ripples.’

‘Which means putting ourselves in harm’s way?’

‘We were in harm’s way the moment that we entered the country of the Uí Fidgente.’

‘Our main task was to find out who the assassin really was and why he attempted to kill your brother.’

‘I have not forgotten that,’ Fidelma said irritably.

‘Then surely we should be about that task, not chasing after this Adamrae or Gláed!’

‘Eadulf.’ Her voice was patient, ‘I am sure that I don’t have to point out the connections. There is a link between all these matters.’

‘Do you never allow for mere coincidence?’ he countered. ‘This matter of Gláed and what he did at the Ford of the Oaks may have nothing to do with what happened at the rath of Menma or, indeed, at Cashel. We are merely wasting our time on it. Let Fidaig discipline his own son, if discipline is needed.’

Fidelma sat back on the rushes and soft branches that had been provided for a bed.

‘Tell me how you interpret the events of the attack on my brother.’

‘Easy enough. There was a warrior who seems to have been a member of your brother’s bodyguard. After the defeat of the Uí Fidgente at Cnoc Áine, he was sent into this country, as were many others, to keep the peace until the Uí Fidgente concluded the treaty with your brother. He stayed at the rath of Menma. For some reason he turned on his host and slaughtered him and his family. That included this woman, Liamuin.

‘Suanach had seen this warrior with a shield which bore your brother’s emblem on it. She did not know what it was but she described it well enough for it to be recognised. She certainly told someone else who recognised it. That someone knew or was very close to Liamuin. We are told that Liamuin was someone with whom men easily fell in love. That person came to Cashel and tried to kill your brother in revenge … seeking an atonement of blood.’

‘And what of the questions that arise?’ Fidelma asked with an indulgent smile.

‘Such as?’

‘Why would this lovesick fury wait four years to seek vengeance? Why take the name of Liamuin’s own brother, an apothecary killed on the slopes of the Hill of Áine? Why did he come to Cashel on the very night that Liamuin’s own daughter came there? Why did they go to the very same woodman’s hut, but at differing times? And what was Ordan’s role in all of this, having come from this very area … And from there we get into his connections with Gláed, who called himself Adamrae.’ She threw up her hands in a dramatic gesture. ‘Oh Eadulf, Eadulf! Don’t you see that this is not like following a single strand of string until we reach the end? It is like … like …’

She seemed on the point of exasperation and then Eadulf shrugged.

‘I know there are complications,’ he said. ‘It is just that I feel we are adding unnecessary ones.’

‘A search for the truth is like following a river. It does not always run straight,’ Fidelma replied. ‘It twists, turns and has many little tributaries. Show me a line that you think is truly straight and I shall show you the kinks in it.’

‘Even if we confront this Gláed, do you think that the truth will be revealed?’ asked Eadulf. ‘Remember, he tried to kill you once.’

‘Trying to kill someone in the dark and in secret is not the same as doing so in the open in front of his father.’

‘His father … whom we do not trust?’

‘My mind is made up,’ she declared firmly.

Eadulf had seen Fidelma in such obstinate moods before and he knew that no powers of persuasion could convince her that she was wrong.

At that moment the sounds of music came to their ears.

‘It seems Fidaig’s feasting has started,’ Fidelma said. ‘We had best go to join it.’

They left the tent and made their way to a square which had been laid out before the pupall of the chieftain. Branches, rushes and ferns, and bundles of sedge grass had been laid out in order to lessen the amount of mud that would be churned up on the ground where the feasting was to be. In the centre, a great fire had been lit and round this were makeshift tables and log benches that had been erected for those who would sit down to the feast.

To one side were a group of musicians with their instruments – those playing the pipes, trumpet players with wide-mouthed horns, and even chain men, who produced music from chains and bells by shaking them in rhythms, along with bone men who beat out their music.