Dancing With Demons

‘I am sorry.’ Seeing that the girl was unhurt, he asked: ‘Since I have bumped into you, so to speak, could I ask a question?’

Báine waited with an expectant expression.

‘What is your opinion of Brónach? I was wondering if she is well-liked.’

Báine laughed. ‘Brónach? I think you have been talking to Cnucha. It’s not that she is dislikeable — she has high standards, that is all, and her temper can be sharp. Don’t get me wrong. It is hard to find oneself ordered about all day. Cnucha does not like her, that’s for sure.’

‘And you?’

‘You do not enter service in a great house and expect to be treated as the wife of a lord. Anyway, I shall soon be leaving here … ’

Eadulf was surprised and said so. ‘I thought you had been here some years?’

‘That I have. But it is time for me to leave. This period in my life seems to have ended with the death of the High King. I do not think I could serve another.’

‘Where will you go?’

‘Home.’

‘Which is where?’

‘You would not know it.’

‘Try me.’

‘A little place under the shelter of a mountain to the north-west. The mountain is called Sliabh na Caillaigh.’

‘The Hag’s Mountain?’ asked Eadulf.

The girl smiled and nodded.

‘It sounds a forbidding place.’

‘A place of wisdom much favoured by the ancients,’ replied Báine solemnly. ‘There are sacred buildings set up by the ancients that still stand on the top of the hill. It is a beautiful place. A holy place.’

‘So when will you leave?’

‘None of us can leave until after the investigation that you are conducting. The Great Assembly has to meet and hear the conclusion of that investigation before anyone can depart.’

‘Won’t you have any regrets at leaving Tara? In leaving your friends — say Cnucha, for example? She seems a pleasant girl to have as a friend.’

Again the girl smiled. ‘Cnucha? Everyone thinks she is such a timid luchóc.’

‘A what?’ Eadulf had not heard the expression before.

‘A little mouse. She is a strange one. Be advised, her meekness is superficial. I once made a joke at her expense and she threw a jug of water at me. I swear, she could have killed me. No, she is not my choice of friend.’

‘Oh. But you must have made some friends here?’

Báine shook her head.

‘Not with Brónach?’ teased Eadulf, making it into a joke but hoping to guide the girl back to information about the voluptuous senior maid.

‘Certainly not. She prefers friends of the male variety anyway.’

‘Indeed?’ Eadulf arched an eyebrow. ‘Oh yes, I heard that she had ended some kind of an affair recently.’

Báine stared at him for a moment. ‘I do not know where you got that from,’ she began, and then said suddenly. ‘Ah, from Cnucha?’

‘Is it not true, then?’

‘Perhaps. You can see for yourself, Brónach is very attractive still and you can tell by the speculative gaze in her eyes when she meets men that she is not averse to amours. You must have noticed it yourself, Brother Eadulf. You are a handsome, red-blooded male.’

Eadulf actually found himself blushing but the young girl’s remarks were not displeasing to his ego.

‘Any idea who she was having an affair with?’ he asked.

Báine shrugged. ‘If it is gossip that you want, Cnucha did tell me that she thought it was someone with access to the royal enclosure.’

‘Why did she say that?’

‘I suppose because Brónach never leaves here, to our knowledge. Anyway, you don’t need me gossiping about Brónach, surely?’

‘You were saying that you are going to leave here. Won’t you regret anything? Don’t you get on well with Muirgel, for example?’

He asked the question slyly and, for a moment, Eadulf thought he detected a spark of fire in the girl’s eyes and then it vanished quickly.

‘What gave you that impression?’

‘I thought you were often asked to attend her?’

‘That is my task here. I am a servant. Muirgel is not the best of people to serve. You might have noticed that if you were ever in her company.’

Eadulf chuckled. ‘It is the one thing I have noticed, Báine. So you will not mind leaving her service?’

For a moment, a longing look came over the features of the girl.

‘There are many things I regret, Brother Eadulf. But that will not beone of them. I long for the open countryside where one is not stuck behind forbidden walls with warriors patrolling up and down. I long for the hilltops where one can touch the stars and be in tune with nature. There will be no regrets when I pass through the gates of Tara and go on my way to the north-west to rejoin my people and comrades.’

‘Feeling like that, I wonder you ever came to Tara to take service at all?’ mused Eadulf.

The girl opened her mouth, closed it again and then smiled.

‘We often do things we think are for good reasons at the time we do them. Do not the ancients say that it is at the end of the year that a fisherman can tell his profits?’

‘Tempus omnia revelat,’ intoned Eadulf unctuously, supplying a Latin equivalent.

‘Just so,’ Báine agreed with bowed head. Then she straightened and smiled. ‘And time will reveal that I am dilatory in my work unless I return to the guesthouse to prepare the meals for you and the lady Fidelma.’

She turned and walked away, leaving Eadulf gazing thoughtfully after her.

‘Brother Eadulf!’

He turned at the call and saw Gormán striding towards him.

‘Gormán! I was just about to look for you or Caol. Is there any news of Cuan yet?’

The young warrior shook his head immediately. ‘No word as yet. Personally, I think he has gone from the royal enclosure. There is nowhere left that he can hide, if hide he wants to. Where is the lady Fidelma?’

‘Gone to search the souterrain beneath the pantry.’

‘Alone?’ Gormán asked disapprovingly. ‘Is it wise, in view of what has just happened? We heard about it from Abbot Colmán.’

Eadulf did not take offence at the implied censure.

‘Can you tell a fish to walk on land?’ he replied moodily. ‘She sent me to look for you or Caol and discover the news about Cuan.’

‘Perhaps we should go and find her, now you have accomplished your mission, Brother.’

Together they turned their footsteps to the Tech Cormaic and walked around it to the kitchen area at the back.

Fidelma was just emerging from the pantry building and seeing Eadulf and Gormán, asked immediately: ‘Any sign of Cuan?’

‘None, lady,’ replied Gormán.

‘And your search?’ asked Eadulf.