Ibor replied without hesitation.
‘Warriors from Ailech itself. Chosen men from Mael Dúin’s own bodyguard, with sworn allegiance to him and no one else.’
‘Did you witness this slaughter?’ demanded Eadulf.
‘No; we did not witness it otherwise we would have done our best to prevent it,’ Ibor replied quietly.
‘How then do you know that it was men of Ailech who did the deed?’ pressed Eadulf.
‘Easy enough. Our small band, there are twenty warriors and myself, were following Brother Solin and Brother Dianach. We knew that they would lead us to the substance of Mael Dúin’s plot. We followed them from Armagh on their journey south for many days. Then Brother Solin met up with a strange cavalcade. There was a band of warriors from Ailech. They were escorting the column of prisoners. Each man of them was …’
‘Shackled in leg-irons?’ interrupted Fidelma.
‘How did you know?’ Ibor asked. ‘I saw the bodies after the slaughter and the men of Ailech had removed all signs of identification; leg-irons, clothes, anything which might have identified the perpetrators of the deed.’
‘I saw the chaffing and scars left by the irons on the ankles of the slaughtered. I also saw the soles of their feet. They were covered with blisters and abrasions. That told me that the men had been forced to walk a long distance.’
The lord of Muirthemne did not seem astonished by her deductions.
‘They had, indeed, marched all the way from Ailech. May the place now be cursed. They must have been special hostages rounded up by the tyrant, Mael Dúin, and marched south specifically for the purpose of this appalling crime. With the warriors were men on foot controlling several large hounds, presumably as a precaution against escape. An interesting thing, which puzzled me at the time, was that this strange procession was followed by two empty carts, large farm carts used for transporting hay.’
‘Ah yes.’ Fidelma nodded. ‘The carts. I would have expected them to be there. What exactly happened at this rendezvous which you witnessed?’
‘Brother Solin and the commander of warriors from Ailech greeted each other in friendly fashion and they camped together for a day before Solin continued on with Brother Dianach …’
‘Did you identify the commander of these warriors?’ interrupted Eadulf.
‘Not by name, although I do not doubt that we will find him in Mael Dúin’s shadow. One person with these warriors I can tell you more about …’
He paused, obviously to make a better impact but when he saw Fidelma’s irritation he hurried on.
‘There was a woman who rode into their camp. She was obviously expected and greeted with courtesy. I have seen such a woman in Gleann Geis. A slender woman of commanding appearance.’
Fidelma raised her head with a satisfied smile.
‘Was it Orla, sister of Laisre?’
‘I can think of no other woman in Gleann Geis who bears resemblance to the person I saw meeting with the men of Ailech and with Brother Solin,’ replied Ibor gravely.
Chapter Seventeen
‘Orla!’ breathed Fidelma in satisfaction. ‘I was sure that it was her who I saw outside the stable.’
‘Let me be absolutely correct,’ Ibor hastened to add. ‘I could not swear to the fact that it was Orla meeting with Solin and the men of Ailech. We were spying on this scene from a distance, don’t forget. I did not know Orla at that time. But I saw no one else at Gleann Geis who had the same style of dress and authority of command as the woman I saw. One interesting fact I should point out. There was a disturbance during this meeting. It seemed that one of the hostages had managed to escape. The men with the dogs made ready to hunt him down and the woman spoke with their leader. It appeared that she requested to lead the hunt herself, for the next moment she set off on horseback with three huntsmen and their hounds.’
‘Did you try to rescue the escaped prisoner?’ Eadulf asked.
Ibor shrugged resignedly.
‘It was impossible without betraying our presence. It was only a matter of an hour before he was caught and brought back again. It was then that we noticed that he was a priest because he wore a tonsure. The possible fate of the shackled men did not cross my mind at that time otherwise we would have attempted to rescue them all. I was more concerned with following Solin and, to my shame, I left them to their fate not realising what horror would later be perpetrated against them.’
‘Indeed, no one would have guessed the terrible slaughter that was about to take place,’ Fidelma reassured him. ‘There is no blame on you. What did you do then?’
‘It had hardly taken her any time to track the poor hostage down. After the woman returned to the encampment, she spoke a while and then left with Brother Solin and Brother Dianach and two warriors of Ailech. They rode for Gleann Geis.
‘Brother Solin and Brother Dianach went directly through the gorge but the woman did not do so. With the two warriors from Ailech she went across the valley to the point where the bodies were later placed. It could be that the woman showed the warriorsthe place. These warriors rejoined the rest of their company while the woman vanished into the hills.’
‘That is a pity,’ Fidelma sighed.
‘What?’
‘That is a pity,’ repeated Fidelma. ‘A pity the woman did not enter Gleann Geis with Solin and Dianach.’
‘Why so?’
‘Because we could have easily confirmed that this was Orla by finding out, from the sentinels, who it was that escorted Solin and Dianach into the glen.’
‘I was wondering why Brother Solin had gone on into Gleann Geis,’ went on Ibor, ‘not yet having worked out all the permutations of the plot. Pondering this, my men and I found this hiding place and decided to make it our base until we could discover more details. Then two things happened.’
‘What?’
‘Firstly, while we were hiding in the hills, my scouts reported that the warriors of Ailech had slaughtered the hostages. The slaughter had been done in the shallows of a stream back in the hills, presumably to hide the deed for the water would have dispersed the blood. By the time my scouts alerted me, the bodies had been stripped, placed on carts and taken across the glen — as I say, to the spot where the woman had previously accompanied the two others. We were about to follow them when we observed the empty carts returning with the warriors of Ailech. There were no bodies. We saw that one cart was piled with the bloodied clothes of the victims. Then both carts proceeded northward with their escort.’
He passed his hand over his mouth distastefully as he remembered the scene.
‘Go on,’ urged Eadulf, intrigued by the horror.
‘Then my scouts reported your arrival on the plain and that you had halted where the bodies had, as my scouts reported, been dumped. After a while, from our vantage point in the hills, we saw you and Brother Eadulf crossing the plain and then being greeted by a band of warriors with a woman at their head. By her appearance, it was the same woman who had met Mael Dúin’s warriors earlier.’
When he paused again it was Fidelma who urged: ‘Then what happened?’
‘I was considering what plan I should adopt when my men saw the warrior I now know to be Artgal ride to the spot where the bodies were and examine them. You two and the woman had disappeared into the gorge. I was not sure, at that time, who you were or whatArtgal was looking for. I did not know even then what exactly had happened. Only after Artgal and his men had left did we venture to the spot.’
He shuddered involuntarily.
‘I have seen many vicious acts in war, all made while the battle fever gripped men’s minds, but there are none that I recall which approached this horror. I went with my scouts and saw that the hostages had been mutilated — the old Threefold Death of which storytellers used to frighten us as children. Only when I saw how the bodies had been arranged did I realise the significance.’
‘Why didn’t you tell me what you knew when you came to Gleann Geis instead of pretending you were a
