Dancing With Demons

High King?’ asked Fidelma.

‘Not at the time,’ Brother Céin said. ‘It was afterwards, after poor Brother Diomasach’s death, that he took me into his confidence and told me that he had discovered in the chamber a circle of silver metal, intricately worked. It had the ancient symbol of the sun in the centre and was surrounded by twenty heads around the edge.’

‘It was a relatively small disk by all accounts, and now you say it was made of silver?’ Fidelma queried. ‘The stories about the wheel of destiny — the Roth Fáil, if ever it existed — would not place it so small, and it would have to be a great wheel of gold. Is it not also referred to as the Roth Gréine — the great celestial wheel? So are you telling me that Bishop Luachan thought this small object was the Roth Fáil?’

‘You leap to the wrong conclusion, Sister Fidelma,’ Brother Céin reproached her. ‘Bishop Luachan merely believed it was the key to the Roth Fáil, and without this key the Roth Fáil could not be deciphered. That was why he felt that he should give it to the High King.’

‘If it were a key, where is the object it opens?’ Eadulf wanted to know.

Brother Céin shrugged. ‘That is the mystery — and a mystery that no Christian would seek the answer to, for we are taught that the Roth Fáil is an engine of destruction that will destroy the Christian world.’ He paused.‘That is the belief, anyway,’ he added firmly, as if embarrassed at expressing the idea.

‘Well, let us deal with facts, not legends,’ Eadulf said, practical as ever. ‘Bishop Luachan was implying that Brother Diomasach was killed because of this find. But it had already been given to the High King … ’

‘Who has also been slain,’ pointed out Brother Céin. ‘And you tell me that the disk is now missing?’

Fidelma was thoughtful. ‘As is Bishop Luachan,’ she said. ‘Did he tell you nothing else about this matter? Why would he believe that the disk had a connection with the legend?’

‘All he told me was that an evil was loose in the world and that the disk was the key. It brought death in its wake. He had hoped that Sechnussach would order it to be melted down, for only he had the authority to do so. With the news of the death of Sechnussach, he said that we must constantly be on our guard. When we found poor Brother Diomasach slain, he said that our enemies were near and told me the story.’

‘Did he identify those enemies?’

‘No. He just said that they were people who wanted to destroy the Faith of Christ in this land.’

‘He never mentioned names? Did he not speculate on their identity?’

‘He did not say. But he felt they were close by. As I said, there are indications that many isolated communities have been attacked and these attacks are now increasing. He thought the attackers were growing in strength and that they were being helped by some of the clan chiefs.’

‘Such as Dubh Duin of the Cinél Cairpre?’ she queried.

‘Dubh Duin was certainly mentioned. He seemed to cling to the old ways but Bishop Luachan felt that within his clan, he kept his views in check.’

Eadulf frowned. ‘How would that be possible?’

‘You know how things work among us, Brother Eadulf? The derbhfine chooses a chief from the bloodline but he must be worthy. He must promote the welfare of his people. He has to govern under the law and, should he not conform to the wishes and welfare of his people, should he become negligent or despotic, then he could easily be replaced. Only the most worthy can succeed and remain as chief.’

Eadulf knew the system but it was not what he meant.

‘Do you mean that Dubh Duin held views about religion that were not support by the Cinél Cairpre? I have heard that they too clung to the old traditions.’

‘I have not travelled in the country of the Cinél Cairpre for some years now,’ Brother Céin said, ‘but when I was there last, most of those I encountered were Christian, while only some of the older folk still adhered to the gods of Danú.’

‘The Old Faith?’ pressed Eadulf.

‘The Old Faith,’ confirmed the steward. ‘It is often difficult for some to leave the old path for the new.’

Fidelma was silent. If chieftains like Dubh Duin or his successor Ardgal were involved in backing these raiding bands, and were connected with Sechnussach’s assassination, then she was looking at what had already developed into a rebellion against the High King and perhaps the onset of a civil war. But it would be a civil war like no other, for its terms would be defined by which religion the people supported. It was a frightening thought.

‘Yet with all his fears, Bishop Luachan went alone to answer the call of a sick farmer’s wife,’ Eadulf pointed out.

‘Bishop Luachan is a kind man, a generous man and one who takes his calling as both priest and healer seriously,’ replied Brother Céin.

Fidelma held out her hand for the oil lamp.

‘You brought us here to examine this chamber. Having come thus far, I shall look at it.’

Brother Eadulf immediately shook his head.

‘I shall go in — who knows what wild beasts may have found this entrance and decided it was a warm nest? Wolves and even bears, perhaps. This is the time for brown bears to hibernate.’

‘We don’t often see brown bears in this country now,’ Fidelma told him. ‘But there are certainly wolves about, though they hardly make their lairs in human habitations — even deserted ones.’

‘Nevertheless, I’d prefer to go first,’ insisted Eadulf.

Fidelma decided not to argue. ‘Very well, you go first and I will follow.’

Eadulf moved down into the narrow passageway and began to crawl along, one hand holding the spluttering oil lamp before him. The floor was of sandy clay but it was quite dry and hard. The ceiling was low, the walls narrow — definitely not the place for anyone with claustrophobia. He remembered that Brother Céin had warned him that the passageway would drop to another level, and he thought this just in time, for he had been so busy looking up at the narrowing roof that he almost came to the drop before he noticed. He paused and called back a warning to Fidelma. He could hear her scrambling along behind him.

As he looked cautiously at the drop he suddenly noticed that a candle stub stood on a stone by it. Bishop Luachan had doubtless left it on his excursion into this peculiar uaimh. Eadulf lit it from his lamp so that Fidelma, following him, would be able to see the drop. Then he descended to the next level which was more easily negotiated than he had anticipated, since, albeit awkward, the drop was only a waist-high one. He turned along the new tunnel and found it sloping upwards slightly before emerging into the curious stone- walled chamber. As Brother Céin had said, it was a beehive shape, almost conical, and he was able to stand up in it quite easily. A moment later, Fidelma joined him.

The flickering light of the oil lamp caused a myriad of shadows to dance on the walls as they peered around. The walls were filled with strange carvings, lines of spiral patterns and odd symbols.

‘This place is very ancient,’ Fidelma observed, finding herself whispering.

‘What would it be used for, if not as a storage place for some nearby dwelling?’ asked Eadulf.

Fidelma had moved forward to a place where stones had been grouped to form a box-like area on the ground at one end. A large flat stone was discarded nearby and it took her only a moment to see that this was the lid. She had seen ancient graves formed much the same way, but this was too tiny to hold any human remains.

‘I think that is where Bishop Luachan must have found the silver disk,’ she said.

Holding the lamp high, Eadulf bent down to examine the receptacle.

‘Are you saying that we are in some ancient pagan temple?’ he asked, a little apprehensively. Eadulf had been converted to the New Faith when he was a youth, but emotionally still felt the power of the old gods and goddesses of his people.

‘I think it was a sacred place. Perhaps not a place for people to worship. Have you noticed that some of these walls have carvings on them?’

Eadulf had certainly noticed the strange motifs that spread around the interior. The shadows were not simply cast by the lamp but came from deep grooves in the rocks, depicting curious faces and symbols.

‘Do they mean anything?’ he asked, suppressing a shudder.