Mochta nodded. ‘Yes. He had the appearance of a professional archer. He told me that he had a message from my brother, Baoill, who wanted to meet me. He stressed that because of certain matters, which he left unexplained, Baoill wanted to meet me alone and in secret. The archer was staying in the inn run by Cred. Intrigued by this approach, I went to Cred’s inn. She opened the door and, thankfully, I did not see anyone else. For the Father Abbot frowned on that place. His anger would have been great if he knew that I was visiting anyone there.’
‘Go on.’
‘Cred told me that the archer was waiting for me in an upstairs room. And so was my brother, Baoill. After we had exchanged greetings, as only two brothers who had not seen each other for a long time could do, we fell to talking politics … church politics mostly. It was then that I became aware of his views. Once he knew mine, he suddenly avoided the subject. He was a clever man, that brother of mine.
‘He turned the conversation by saying that he had heard that I was one of the scribes working on the ‘Annals of Imleach’. I confirmed that I was. He asked me what date had I given to the foundation of Armagh. I told him that its foundation I had accorded to the year of Our Lord Four Hundred and Forty-Four. He then asked, on what date I had placed the repose of Patrick. So I told him the Year of our Lord Four Hundred and Fifty-Two. These dates were not in dispute.
‘It was when he started to ask about the dates accorded to St Ailbe and the foundation of Imleach that I saw what he was after. He toldme that the northern scribes were placing those dates nearly a hundred years after Patrick.’
‘I saw the notes you had made on the subject for the “Annals”,’ Fidelma said. She drew the vellum out of her
‘I stand by what I say. When I told Baoill that it was absurd for Ailbe’s dates to be made so much later because he preached the Faith in Muman before Patrick and, indeed, had jointly baptised the King of Muman — your own ancestor Oenghus Nad Froích — with Patrick at Cashel, Baoill began to argue with me again.’
‘But what does this bickering about dates mean?’ demanded Eadulf, trying to follow but succeeding only in being bewildered.
‘I understood from my brother that he was trying to persuade me to record Ailbe as someone who came after Patrick. To state that Ailbe and his followers founded Imleach after Armagh had been established. He even wanted me to assert that Ailbe should not be regarded as patron of Muman and that Cashel be accorded the title “The Rock of Patrick”. He wanted my writing to support the claims that Armagh had the historical right to claim to be the primacy of the Faith among all the five kingdoms.’
Fidelma looked grim. ‘I know all about the ambition of Ultán of Armagh. He is not the first Comarb of Patrick who has wished for Armagh to be established as the primacy in all five kingdoms and the churches to be brought under the Rule of Rome. To do that he must first ensure that Imleach’s claims to be the primacy of Muman are discredited. But, surely, this is not what these events are all about?’
‘I scarce know myself, Sister,’ confessed Brother Mochta. ‘All I know is that my brother turned to the subject once again and this time to the Holy Relics of Ailbe. How clever he was. He played on my vanity. I had told him that there was a date on some of the Relics which would prove the date when Ailbe was made bishop. He said he would believe if he could see the Relics. I told him to come to the abbey but he refused, saying that it was not seemly that my twin brother should be seen at Imleach with the tonsure of Rome. It was a silly excuse but I did not think more of it. Instead, I suggested that he came in secret to the gate which led into Bardán’s herb garden one evening and I would show him the Relics. He agreed and said that this would resolve the dispute between Armagh and Imleach.’
Fidelma looked thoughtful. ‘It was naïve of you to believe him.’
‘He was my brother. Even then I did not suspect his devious mind.’
‘So what happened?’
‘The following evening, at the appointed time, I went to the chapeland, unobserved, took down the reliquary box. I was about to take it to the assignation when something made me pause. Perhaps I had begun to suspect him, so I decided to take only Ailbe’s crucifix as a token of proof, for there is a date inscribed on the back. I brought the crucifix from the reliquary to the gate of the herb garden. There was my brother outside with the archer … God forgive Baoill! He snatched the crucifix from my hand and demanded to know where the rest of the Relics were. When he realised that I had not brought them, he became uncontrollable. He struck me so that I fell against the gate and blood poured from a wound.’
‘That explains the dried blood on the gatepost,’ Eadulf said.
‘It was then I realised that my brother’s intention had been to steal the Relics all along.’
‘Do you think that it was his own plot or had someone put him up to it?’ asked Fidelma. ‘Ultán of Armagh, for example? The plan to discredit both Ailbe and Imleach seems clear.’
‘All I know is that my life was in the balance. I think my brother would have killed me. Then Brother Bardán came along. He had come to gather herbs. He saw the attack and used a staff to beat back my brother and his companion. They had Ailbe’s crucifix. As Bardán secured the gate my brother threatened that others would come and take what I would not give.’
‘Then surely it implies that your brother, Baoill, and his archer friend were not acting on their own account?’
Brother Mochta inclined his head in agreement.
‘That is true. I was in too great a state of shock to take such matters in at that time. Bardán helped me back to my chamber and I told him the story as I knew it. He told me to tell Abbot Segdae at once that the crucifix of Ailbe had been stolen. I could not bring myself to do so because I wanted to give Baoill time to reflect on his crime and return it. I still could not believe that my own brother had turned into such an evil person.’
‘But he did not return it, obviously,’ Eadulf pointed out.
‘Some days went by. He did not return with it. I decided to go in search of him.’
‘Wasn’t that dangerous?’
‘I asked Brother Bardan to come with me. We went to Cred’s inn. There was one of the Cashel merchant’s drivers there, looking strangely at me.’
‘That was because he had seen you come to the inn several days before,’ murmured Eadulf.
‘I did not see him.’
‘He saw you.’
‘Well, Cred came out and I told her that I was looking for the archer and his companion.’
‘She said that she knew nothing of a companion …’
‘Which is true,’ asserted Fidelma. ‘Your brother, being your twin, could not afford to show himself openly in the township because of his likeness to you. He would be remarked upon. He stayed outside.’
‘Cred said that the archer was hunting in the hills,’ Brother Mochta continued. ‘Bardán and I walked on a bit, rather aimlessly, in case we discovered the archer. Then we returned to the abbey. Bardán usually left the side gate open and we returned towards the herb garden. We were in the stretch of yew-trees before crossing the heather field, not far from the gate, when my brother suddenly appeared. He had, apparently, been waiting for us.
‘I demanded the crucifix that he had stolen and he demanded the entire reliquary and its contents. He threatened me. I refused and he laughed and said that he only sought to make things easy. We would not like the next visitors to Imleach.’
‘What then?’
‘I told him that he was mad. He replied that he had the backing of a powerful prince and that it was Muman that was mad not to bow down to the inevitable. There would be one primacy for all five kingdoms and one power ruler over the whole.’
Fidelma brightened. ‘Those were his exact words?’
‘Yes. Those were his exact words.’
‘I think I see the hand of Mael Dúin, King of Ailech, in this plot. What the Comarbs of Patrick seek for Armagh, the Uí Néill kings seek for their dynasty. They want to turn the High Kingship of Eireann into a strong central kingship, like the emperors of Rome. This mystery is dissolving. Go on, Mochta. What then?’
‘We turned in disgust, Bardan and I, and left Baoill to his ranting. We began to walk across the field to the
