The Council of the Cursed

‘You are a key witness.’

‘I saw nothing,’ replied the young man.

‘On the contrary, you saw a great deal by discovering the scene of the murder.’

The young man’s jaw came up. ‘I was not there when the Hibernian abbot was killed.’

‘We did not say that you were. But we would like to find out exactly how you came to Bishop Ordgar’s chamber that night. It was in the hour before dawn, I am told.’

Brother Sigeric sniffed slightly. ‘I explained everything to Bishop Leodegar.’

‘And now you will explain to me.’

‘I was just passing…’

‘In the middle of the night?’ intervened Fidelma. ‘Tell me, where is your chamber in relationship to Bishop Ordgar’s?’

The young man seemed unwilling to speak for a moment.

‘The rooms of the hospitia are on the second floor of this building,’ Fidelma prompted him. ‘Surely the dormitoria are on the first floor?’

‘As scribe I have my own chamber. It is on the second floor…’

‘Where exactly?’ she pressed.

‘It is on the eastern side of the building overlooking the courtyard between this building and the Domus Femini.’

‘Then it still does not explain why you were just passing Bishop Ordgar’s chamber in the middle of the night.’

The young man sighed deeply as if suddenly resigned. ‘The women here live separately to the men,’ he muttered.

The sentence surprised Fidelma. ‘I do not see the connection.’

‘When the Blessed Reticulus became the first bishop here, or the first we know of, as many claimed Amator preceded him, this was a mixed house. But Bishop Leodegar is of the faction that believe men and women should be separated and, indeed, that the clerics should adopt the code of celibacy if they wish to serve the New Faith. Yet we still have free choice on the matter. Rome has not decreed it as the Rule.’

‘So you do not agree with Bishop Leodegar’s Rule? There is no need to be defensive on this matter,’ Fidelma assured him. ‘Eadulf and I share not only a union in our Faith but a union in marriage. There is no Rule of celibacy in our churches either.’

The young man was nervous. ‘You will understand, then,’ he said, almost pleading.

‘We can only understand when we know what it is that you are trying to say, Sigeric. Now, explain why you were abroad that night before dawn.’

Brother Sigeric bit his lip. ‘I went to meet a girl.’

He paused and Fidelma had to prompt him to continue.

‘Who was this girl?’

‘Her name is Valretrade. She is one of the religieuse who serve in the Domus Femini beyond the wall. We became friends when this was still a mixed community. She also had a talent for copying the old texts and so we met here. After the bishop separated the communities, we contrived to meet regularly.’

‘And that night you were on your way to an assignation with Valretrade?’

‘I had received a message from her urging me to meet her.’

‘How did you receive such a message?’

‘It was a crude method. My room, as I said, looks across the courtyard that separates us from the Domus Femini. Almost exactly opposite to my window is the chamber occupied by Valretrade. We arranged that when either one of us needed to see the other urgently, we would place a lighted candle in the windows.’

‘And that night you saw the candle?’

Brother Sigeric nodded quickly. ‘I was not sleeping comfortably and I awoke. That was when I saw the candle. I lit an answering one in my window. Once it was seen, the arrangement was that Valretrade raised her candle and moved it from side to side three times. I then did the same. If she then extinguished the candle, it meant that she was on the way to our meeting place. This happened that night and so I left to go to our prearranged meeting point, having also extinguished my candle.’

‘What if you had not awoken and seen the candle? It was not a guaranteed way of communication.’

‘I grant you that,’ the young man said. ‘But it was the best we could do in the circumstances. Usually, there was never urgency in the meetings. We knew, more or less, on which nights we would meet. That night was different. The signal meant it was urgent.’

‘And where did you meet?’

‘The pre-arranged meeting spot is by a certain tomb in the catacombs beneath the abbey. It is an old necropolis and where all the old bishops of this abbey are buried.’

‘So you went and met Valretrade?’

‘I never reached there. I was passing by Bishop Ordgar’s chamber when I noticed the door partly opened and saw what lay inside: the Hibernian and the Briton, lying in blood on the floor, and the Saxon unconscious on the bed. I struggled for a moment between loyalty to the abbey and concern for Valretrade, then I realised that I should rouse the bishop-and that is what I did. After that, it was an hour or more before I could get away. I finally proceeded to the catacombs, but Valretrade was not there.’

‘What did you do?’

‘I returned to my chamber and re-lit the candle, but although I waited until dawn there was no answer to my efforts. I was puzzled until I remembered that while, after the signal, her candle seemed to be extinguished, the light had actually moved away from the window as if the candle was placed elsewhere. At the time, I just thought that she needed the light. By dawn I thought perhaps the signal had not been fully observed and she had changed her mind.’

‘So a week has passed since then. What has Valretrade told you about her urgent desire to see you that night? And, of course, your candle mystery?’

Brother Sigeric turned a woebegone expression to them.

‘She has told me nothing, for I have not seen her.’

Eadulf was frowning. ‘Are you saying she made no attempt to contact you again through your rather cumbersome method?’

‘None.’

‘Have you not contacted her?’

‘I tried on the subsequent night without success.’

‘Well, we can surely get a message to Valretrade on your behalf. I presume she was angry that you did not turn up at the meeting place.’

Brother Sigeric shook his head sadly. ‘On the fourth day I summoned up the courage to go to Abbess Audofleda and request to see Valretrade. I saw her stewardess, who turned me from the door.’

‘What did this stewardess tell you?’

‘She told me that she could not help me even if she wanted to, and claimed that Valretrade had left the abbey and run away.’

‘Run away? Did you know of any cause why she would do so?’

Brother Sigeric looked as if he were in physical pain. ‘She would never have run away before she had spoken to me.’

‘But she tried to contact you and you did not turn up.’

He hung his head and made a sound like a sob. ‘If things were so desperate, she would have waited. I know her. She would have sent a note to me, some message.’

Fidelma leaned forward and patted the young man comfortingly on the shoulder.

‘We will do our best to find out more for you, Sigeric. We will have a word with this Abbess Audofleda and if there is a mystery there, we shall uncover it. In the meantime, try not to worry and-’

Just then, the library door opened and Brother Chilperic entered.

‘I have informed the bishop,’ he said, without preamble. ‘He will await your findings on the matter as soon