The Seventh Trumpet (41 page)

‘That’s not his fault. I ordered him to leave as I was not alone.’

‘And I instructed him not to leave your side, no matter who was with you,’ replied Fidelma with equal firmness.

‘I was with my betrothed, Fidelma. How dare you …?’

Dúnliath had controlled her shock and anger now. Her features had resumed their usual benevolent expression.

‘Come, beloved,’ she said to Colgú, ‘don’t be angry with your sister. That she is so concerned with your welfare is much to be praised. She was worried for your safety.’

‘Yet your worry was unnecessary,’ Colgú ranted at Fidelma. ‘Caol was outside and Ailill is in the next room. I had but to call, and either of them could have reached us if it were necessary. And why would it be necessary? The only way to surprise me in here would be an attack through this window, and that is a long climb from the courtyard. I doubt anyone would risk it. So now we have a splintered door as the result of your concern, and that must be repaired. You will have to apologise to Gelgéis and to her steward.’

Fidelma did not reply but stood looking around the chamber. She tried to keep her expression neutral as she examined the features of the fair-haired girl.

‘Alas, lady, I have some sad news for you and that precipitated my anxiety for my brother.’ She saw the girl’s face tighten, but she said nothing.

‘What sad news, Fidelma?’ Colgú asked curiously.

‘Dúnliath’s mother has been found dead.’

Apart from a further tightening of the girl’s face, she remained silent, immovable.

‘Dúnliath’s mother?’ Colgú was puzzled. ‘Found dead? Where? How do you know? I have no understanding of this.’

‘In a vault in this fortress,’ replied Fidelma.

Colgú remained bewildered. Then he looked at the girl. ‘Who is your mother, Dúnliath?’

The girl did not reply. She had become as rigid as a statue. It was left to Fidelma to supply the answer. ‘Étain of An Dún,’ she said quietly.

Colgú’s gasp of astonishment was louder than that of Eadulf and either Caol or Gormán.

‘I thought your mother had died a long while ago,’ he said to Dúnliath.

Fidelma did not take her eyes from the girl.

‘Dúnliath told me some time ago in Cashel that her mother’s name was Étain. Drón of Gabrán married twice. His second wife was the mother of Dúnliath, who left him. Dúnliath was then raised by his
dormun
, a concubine.’

There was a growing noise along the corridor and Spealáin and his guards were crowding at the door. Fidelma turned to Eadulf, who was the only one unmoved by the revelation, and asked him to assure them that Colgú was well and to wait at the end of the corridor. When he had done so, she found Colgú was staring incredulously at Dúnliath.

‘Is it true?’ he finally asked. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’

She spread her arms as if in surrender. ‘I cannot be blamed for who my mother was,’ she replied. ‘In truth, I had little knowledge of her except her name. She left when I was a baby.’

‘Did your father ever divorce Étain?’ pressed Colgú.

‘As your sister says, I was brought up by his
dormun
, my father’s concubine,’ the girl said defensively. ‘For many years I even thought she was my blood mother.’

‘But Étain had been married before she married your father, hadn’t she?’ Fidelma pointed out.

The girl nodded. ‘It was only a few days ago that I was told that my real mother had originally married a noble of the Déisi Muman, by whom she had two sons. When he died, my mother married Drón. Then, when she deserted my father, she left me behind and I understood she returned to the Déisi fortress at An Dún where she raised her sons. She never acknowledged me.’

‘When did you last see your mother?’ Colgú asked.

‘I saw her once some years ago when she passed through Osraige on her way to Gleann an Ghuail.’

‘You had not heard that she was condemned to incarceration in the Glen of Lunatics earlier this year after she had murdered one of her sons?’

‘I did not.’ Fidelma found there was little to learn from the fixed expression on the girl’s features.

‘You did not know that she had escaped and was leading a band of rebels in the west?’

‘As I did not know she was there in the first place, then I could not have known that she had escaped,’ replied Dúnliath flatly.

‘You did not know that she had been brought here, to Durlus, as a prisoner this very day?’

‘I did not.’

‘This is all hard to believe,’ sighed Colgú, having exhausted himself with his rapid questioning.

The girl’s chin came up defiantly. ‘I can only tell you the truth.’

Colgú suddenly remembered what Fidelma had said first of all. ‘You say that Étain is dead?’ he asked his sister. ‘How? Did she refuse to surrender?’

‘She was murdered.’

The King’s eyes widened a little. ‘Murdered? I don’t understand. She escaped from her confinement and …?’

‘She did not escape: she was released. I suspect that whoever released her tried to persuade her to come here and murder you. They failed because Étain had become hopelessly deranged. She was impossible to control and more of a hindrance than a help to the conspirator, and so they had no choice but to kill her. I will speculate, although it is not in my nature to do so, that they hoped that her body would remain undiscovered until they could come to your chamber and kill you.’

All eyes had turned on to Dúnliath. The girl was trembling.

‘It is not so. I did not … it is all a fabrication!’

Eadulf spoke quietly. ‘You will be interested to know that when we found your mother, she was not quite dead. She said two words before she expired.’

‘She identified her killer?’ Colgú asked.

Eadulf regarded Dúnliath sadly. ‘Your mother had two sons by her first marriage. That we know. How many daughters did she have?’

‘As far as I know, I was her only daughter,’ the girl replied, puzzled.

‘The two words that she spoke were –
my daughter
.’

Dúnliath staggered and would have fallen, had not Colgú caught her and lowered her to a chair.

‘Get water quickly,’ he ordered as he tried to massage her hands.

Eadulf handed him a goblet from the side table, but Fidelma suddenly struck it from his hand. She smiled apologetically.

‘Let us take all precautions,’ she advised and then asked Gorman to go for fresh water.

The girl was moaning and coming back to consciousness by the time Gorman returned.

‘Are you charging her with being part of this conspiracy, Fidelma?’ asked Colgú in a hollow tone.

To everyone’s surprise she replied, ‘Not yet. It is late now. I suggest that we ask Áedo, as Chief Brehon of Muman, and Brocc, as Gelgéis’s Brehon, to convene a court in the Great Hall tomorrow so that they may judge my explanation of these events.’

‘Very well,’ Colgú agreed, almost in relief.

‘Tonight, my brother,’ Fidelma said softly, ‘you must heed my advice and be very well-guarded.’

The morning heralded a bright, crisp and clear early-autumn day. There were no clouds in the azure sky but the sun was weak and high and there was a chill in the air. That morning, the news arrived that Fidelma had been waiting for. It came in the persons of Enda and Tormeid. Spealáin conducted them directly to Gelgéis’s personal reception chamber where she and Colgú were breaking their fast with Fidelma and Eadulf. It was clear both newly arrived warriors were excited.

‘Well, it seems that you have good news for us,’ Fidelma observed as she welcomed them.

‘Good news, indeed, lady,’ Enda confirmed with a smile. ‘Cronán is dead and Spillán is among the prisoners, and all the Uí Duach that were forced to serve Cronán have been released.’

‘Including Ségnat?’ Fidelma asked immediately, and then relaxed with a smile at Tormeid’s affirmative.

‘Were there many casualties?’ Colgú asked after the murmurs of satisfaction subsided.

‘Very few, considering. A company of us entered the fortress—’ began Tormeid.

Enda interrupted immediately. ‘We followed Tormeid’s plan. We were to sneak into the fortress through the underground tunnels and then open the gates for Dego’s men.’

‘I merely showed the way through the tunnel that led into the bowels of the fortress,’ Tormeid said modestly.

Enda interrupted again: ‘No – Tormeid commanded us. We were joined by some of those Uí Duach whom Cronán had kept as
daer-fuidir
. We surprised the defenders. They were watching from the walls, observing Dego’s main force, who had lit fires and taken up positions to act as a distraction while they waited for our signal. We came up into the courtyard and a group, led by Tormeid here, fought their way to the gates and opened them. Then Dego and his men rushed in.’

Tormeid was looking embarrassed. ‘It was almost too easy,’ he said. ‘Surprise was on our side.’

‘Tormeid came upon Cronán and bested him in a single combat,’ added Enda.

‘I gave him the opportunity to surrender, but when he saw all was lost he ran on my sword and even with his dying strength tried to take me with him to the Otherworld. I would have liked to have captured him alive,’ Tormeid added ruefully. ‘As soon as they saw that their leader was dead, the others began to lay down their arms. Sillán among them preferred surrender to death. Once he surrendered, the fortress was ours.’

Colgú rose smiling and held out his hand to Tormeid. ‘Then this was well done, my friend. You have saved the lives of many of my warriors and, I hope, have restored peace to this kingdom.’

‘There are other matters to be resolved before peace can be declared,’ Gelgéis reminded them.

‘Oh … you mean the Laigin army gathered on our border?’ Colgú asked.

‘I do not think that we need fear them,’ Fidelma pointed out. ‘As I said before, I doubt they will attack now that both Étain and Cronán have been defeated. Laigin has no excuse to invade us now. But Gelgéis is right: there are other matters to be resolved.’

‘We know that Étain was in league with Cronán to create disturbances in this kingdom and that the King of Laigin was awaiting his chance to interfere. What more do we need to know?’ demanded Colgú.

Fidelma knew that Colgú was not usually so obtuse. She guessed that he was trying to protect Dúnliath. It had been a shock for him to learn that she was actually the daughter of Étain of An Dún.

‘We need to know who killed Drón and who killed Étain,’ she returned. ‘We also need to know who killed Bran Finn of the Déisi – and why. It is the enemy within that we must identify.’

‘Are you blaming Dúnliath for these deaths? Come now.’ Colgú’s voice was tense. ‘I am beginning to think that your dislike of the girl has led you astray in this matter, Fidelma. You surely can’t believe that because she was the daughter of Étain she—’

‘You have never done me an injustice before, brother,’ Fidelma interrupted. ‘Nor me, you. Last night I promised that today I would reveal everything before your Chief Brehon. I trust that you will allow him to judge what I say before you condemn me?’

Colgú’s face coloured a little as he said, ‘True. You have never let me down before, sister. Very well – you must do what you must.’ He then left the chamber with Caol. It was clear that he was angry, but was making a conscious effort to control himself. Enda and Tormeid appeared discomfited, but Fidelma did not bother to enlighten them. Instead, she turned to Gelgéis, who also appeared uncomfortable at the King’s departure.

‘Last night I sought your permission to use your Great Hall, lady. Can we call all the relevant parties together there at the time of the midday bell?’

Gelgéis inclined her head. ‘I have already made the arrangement.’

‘Then you will excuse us until then.’ Fidelma rose and went to the door, followed by Eadulf and Enda. Gelgéis and Tormeid watched them go with troubled expressions.

The Great Hall of Gelgéis of Durlus, Princess of the Éile, was abuzz with excitement. It had never been so crowded. There was, however, only a small proportion of the inhabitants of Durlus present, compared with the warriors of both the Éile and Cashel. At one end of the hall was a raised platform on which stood a central chair, occupied by Colgú. Next to him sat Gelgéis, while on the other side of the Princess of Éile sat her Brehon, Brocc. Bishop Daig of Durlus sat alongside him. By the King’s other side sat the Chief Brehon Áedo and Abbot Ségdae, as senior bishop of Muman. Spealáin, as steward of the fortress, stood ready behind Gelgéis. To one side of the platform, Tormeid was stationed with half-a-dozen warriors of Éile; at the other side were Caol, Gormán and Enda, with several Cashel warriors.

Fidelma and Eadulf had already taken their places facing the King, having made sure that Dúnliath was present in the hall. Ailill, commander of what was now her bodyguard, stood close by. Fidelma noticed that even their erstwhile host, the smith Gobán, had deserted his forge to become an interested spectator at the back of the hall. It was apparent that Colgú’s mood was restless, a sign of his irritability. The Chief Brehon of Muman opened the proceedings by asking Fidelma to speak.

‘I do not wish to take up much of your time,’ she said. ‘Much of what has happened in these few days has already been explained. But I must reiterate some matters so that we may come to a better understanding of them.’

She paused and waited for a signal from her brother for permission to proceed in her own way.

‘Some days ago, the body of a noble was found not far from Cashel, and it was on that matter I was sent to investigate. At first it was thought that the dead man was a Laigin envoy. Eventually, he was revealed to be Bran Finn of the Déisi Muman. The discovery of his body began to unravel a conspiracy against this kingdom. To make it simple, there were four leading conspirators. These were Étain of An Dún, Cronán of Gleann an Ghuail, and the King of Laigin, although we can only infer his participation by his actions rather than be able to prove it with the evidence which was destroyed by the murderer of Bran Finn. That murderer was the fourth conspirator.’

Colgú heaved a tired sigh. ‘And you will of course name that conspirator?’

‘Of course.’

‘And you will prove to us beyond doubt that person’s participation in this conspiracy?’