Suffer Little Children

'Yes.'

'Did you share Dacan's motives for this research?'

Grella's face reddened and she hung her head.

'Then there is no insult,' Barran said, assuming her answer. 'Be seated, Sister Grella, lest you insult this court by your animosity.'

'But I know that this woman is trying to claim that I killed Dacan! She is playing like a cat with a mouse! Let her accuse me openly!'

'Are you accusing Sister Grella of the murder of Dacan?' asked the Chief Brehon of Fidelma.

Fidelma smiled wryly.

'I think that I may eventually clear this matter up, Barran, but by questioning Salbach, chieftain of the Corco Loigde.'

'Whatever accusations you make, Fidelma, you must substantiate them,' Barran warned.

'That I am prepared to do.'

Barran motioned to one of the warriors of fianna, the High King's bodyguard. A few moments later Salbach was brought, his hands bound before him. He stood somewhat defiantly before the assembly.

'Salbach of the Corco Loigde,' Fidelma began, 'you already stand before this assembly denounced as responsible for the actions of your bo-aire, Intat. Intat was responsible for the slaughter of many innocents in your name both at Ros na Serine and at the house of Molua.'

Salbach raised his chin belligerently but did not reply.

'You do not deny these charges?' demanded the Chief Brehon.

Salbach still did not speak.

Barran sighed heavily.

'You do not have to answer the accusation but some inference will be placed on your silence by this court. If you do not answer then the allegations must be considered as true and punishment must follow.'

'I am ready for your punishment,' Salbach said curtly. It was apparent that Salbach had reflected on the weight of the evidence against him and saw no alternative to admitting his culpability.

'And is Sister Grella also ready to accept punishment?' Fidelma asked, hoping that she had judged Salbach's feeling for the librarian correctly. If Salbach was reconciled to his punishment, she wondered whether he was as willing to inflict it on Grella? Salbach swung round to Fidelma, his expression impassive.

'She is not guilty of any of the misdeeds attributed to me,' he said quietly. 'Let her go.'

'Yet Sister Grella was your lover, wasn't she, Salbach?'

'I have admitted that.'

'It was either your cousin, Scandlan, or you—it matters not where the idea came from—who suggested that Grella might use her position as librarian to look through the genealogical books of Osraige, which are kept at the abbey, in an attempt to find Illan's heir. Isn't that true?'

'You are bound to reply,' instructed the Chief Brehon as Salbach hesitated.

'It is true.'

'Then came a coincidence. Grella told you, probably during your pillow talk, that her former husband, Dacan, had arrived at Ros Ailithir for exactly the same purpose. He, too, was searching for Illan's heir. Knowing him to be the better scholar, Grella persuaded him to work closely with her so that she could then inform you how he was proceeding. Isn't that so? You wanted to know who the heir of Ulan was as much as Dacan did. But whereas Dacan was interested in finding them to use him to serve Laigin's purpose, you wanted to find him to destroy the last of the family of native kings. That would forever safeguard the dynasty of the Corco Loigde in Osraige.'

There was a tense silence. No one spoke. All eyes were on Salbach. It was Sister Grella who broke the silence with a wail of fear as, for the first time, she finally realized the enormity of what had been done.

'But it is not true… I did not know that Salbach… I did not know he wanted to kill them… I am not responsible for the death of all those innocent children… I am not.'

Salbach turned and snapped at her to be silent.

'When Dacan discovered the whereabouts of the heir of Ulan,' Fidelma went on remorselessly, 'Grella ran to tell you. It was the day before Dacan's death. He had found that the Father Superior of Sceilig Mhichil, the monastery of Michael the Archangel, was a cousin of Ulan. He had discovered that Illan's heir had been taken there for safety. He wrote of his news and announced that he was about to set out for Sceilig Mhichil. He was killed before he did so.'

'How did he discover this information? Surely the records placed here would not announce the hiding place of Illan's heirs?' demanded the Chief Brehon.

'Curiously enough, they did. Dacan found Illan's will on some rods of the poets. The irony of this tale is that when Scandlan killed Ulan, he seized his fortress and goods. Illan's library was also seized. In that library was his will, which he had specifically chosen to write in Ogham on rods of the poets. The irony was that Scandlan, unable to read it, had sent it, with other books, as a gift to this abbey, the chief abbey of the Corco Loigde.'

'Even so,' protested Barran, 'surely any reasonable scholar could have read the Ogham of the will and ultimately deciphered the information?'

'Ulan was obviously a literary man, for the will was coded. I found a wand from the will in Dacan's chamber where he had carelessly left it. It went unnoticed by his murderer. I have only an extract from one rod. The others had been destroyed.'

She turned and retrieved the small piece of burnt stick which she had taken from the sepulcher the previous night.

'Only this piece now remains. This says 'the resolve of the honorable one determines the fosterage of my children.' '

'That sounds gibberish,' laughed Forbassach.

'Not if you know the code and the full text. The piece that I recall from the wand I found in Dacan's chamber stated: 'let my sweet cousin care for my sons on the rock of Michael as my honorable cousin shall dictate.' '

'Even more gibberish!' sneered Forbassach.

'Dacan did not think so. He knew that the rock of Michael was Sceilig Mhichil. It was easy to learn that the Father Superior was named Mel. The meaning of that name is 'sweet.' Mel was, therefore, Man's 'sweet' cousin!'

'You make the interpretation of the puzzle sound easy,' observed the Chief Brehon.

'Then allow me to return to it later. Sufficient to know at this time that Dacan deciphered the will's puzzle and wrote a report of his finding. Sister Grella saw that report and informed Salbach. Salbach dispatched Intat immediately to 'the rock of Michael.' But Man's sons were no longer there. Indeed, Intat learnt that there were two sons of Man on that rock but they had been removed by a religieux. This religieux was a cousin of Father Mel.'

'It is then that Grella entered the picture again to provide information to Salbach. Grella had become soul- friend to Sister Eisten at Rae na Serine. Eisten, by one of those apparent coincidences which are all too common in life, was the very person to whom the young sons of Man had been given for safekeeping after their removal from Sceilig Mhichil. They had been sent to her orphanage at Rae na Serine. Sister Eisten made the biggest mistake of her life. She confessed the intrigue to her soul-friend, Sister Grella.'

'Grella triumphantly informed Salbach. He thought he would lay a trap by inviting Eisten and her orphans to his fortress. Once he was able to identify her charges… well, Eisten accompanied Grella but did not take her children. There was plague in the village and she did not want to move the children unnecessarily. It was a decision which actually saved the lives of the sons of Man but which cost the village its existence.'

'In desperation, Salbach told Intat to go to Rae na Serine and destroy the children. The trouble was that Intat had no means to identify them. He decided, brutal man that he was, to destroy the entire village. When I and Cass came along, Intat tried to disguise the true nature of this crime by claiming that there was plague in the village and presenting himself and his men as frightened neighboring villagers burning out the plague. Sister Eisten and some of her children survived.'

'Eisten was shocked. I thought she was shocked by the death of the people and especially by the death of a baby she tried to save. However, in reality she was shocked because she had worked out the real reason for the killings. She even knew who had betrayed her. She asked me if a soul-friend could betray a confidence. I should have listened to her more closely for then she might not have been killed. I might have saved her. Do you follow the