The Dove of Death

‘Ask her what happened,’ Eadulf instructed.

‘She says that they had been out riding, her mistress, Queen Riwanon, and her party. Suddenly, arrows flew. Two of the warriors were cut down. Riwanon and Budic galloped off but, as Ceingar made to follow them, one of the members of the ambush party leaped out and caught her horse’s bridle and thus she was trapped.’

‘What happened to the bodies of the warriors who were slain?’

There was some hesitation on the girl’s face, a look of distaste before she spoke.

‘The attackers put their bodies on one of the horses and took them away.’

‘And what happened to her?’

‘They told her that she was a prisoner and for a while they bound her wrists. They released her only when…’He gestured silently to the spot where they had found her.

‘How many were there in this attacking party?’

‘About half-a-dozen.’

‘What happened after she was captured?’

‘They rode along the track and over a hill until they saw a farmstead. The leader…’

‘Who was the leader?’ interrupted Eadulf. ‘Did you recognise him?’

The girl pointed at her slain assailant. Eadulf was disappointed, as clearly this man was not the ‘Dove of Death’.

‘And what did he do at the farmstead?’

‘They rode down on it and killed the farmer, then set fire to the buildings. Then a group of people appeared on the hill and came running towards them, bearing weapons. They were a large crowd, too large for them to fight off. So they rode away.’

‘To the oratory?’

The girl frowned uncertainly.

‘We saw your tracks there,’ he explained. ‘Was that where the ship was waiting?’

Again her eyes were wide. ‘There are no tracks on water,’ she said hoarsely, obviously still in shock. ‘How did you know that?’

‘A logical deduction — from the tracks,’ Eadulf smiled. ‘Three of your captors went on board the ship and then the other three took their horses with you and came here. Is that right?’

Ceingar sighed deeply. ‘We came here and camped and…’ She shivered violently.

‘Well, it’s all over now,’ Eadulf said. ‘Do you know where you were heading? Why did some of the attackers go aboard the vessel?’

As he expected, she did not know. ‘They said nothing to me and I heard nothing of their plans,’ she replied.

‘We might as well take their horses and ride back to Brilhag,’ Bleidbara said. He turned to the girl. ‘Are you fit enough to travel?’

‘I think so.’

Bleidbara was examining the sky. ‘If we leave now, we should get to Brilhag by nightfall.’

At a signal, his men doused the fire, gathered the weapons of the raiders and some few items they found on their persons, and tied their horses together on a lead rope. Then they remounted and started back along the track at a swift canter.

‘Bleidbara has returned,’ Iuna announced as she moved to the doors of the great hall. Those gathered there had already heard the call of the trumpet from the main gates.

Even before Iuna spoke, the gates had swung open and the warriors, closely followed by Eadulf, came in. Behind them was the pale figure of Ceingar, looking dishevelled. She gazed quickly around, saw Riwanon and ran to her, casting herself on her knees before her and speaking rapidly, sobbing as she did so. Riwanon replied sternly and turned to Iuna, saying something. Iuna moved forward and helped the girl to her feet and, after a few words from Riwanon to Ceingar, led her away.

‘The girl is distraught,’ Riwanon told Fidelma, ‘so I have sent her to clean herself and rest.’

‘I would like to question her,’ Fidelma said. ‘We need to find out as much as we can about these attackers.’

‘It will have to be later when she is more composed,’ the Queen replied firmly.

‘Very well.’ Fidelma turned to Eadulf with a warning look to convey that she did not want him to discuss his observations in front of the others.

Bleidbara, however, recounted what had happened.

‘Thanks be that you were able to save poor Ceingar.’ Riwanon looked sad. ‘I can only imagine the fate that those beasts had in store for her. But my warriors, ah…it distresses me. Both killed, you say?’

‘We were unable to recover their bodies. Ceingar said that only she was taken alive in the ambush,’ Bleidbara replied. ‘She was not sure what the captors did with the bodies, but they took their horses. We have, of course, brought all the horses back to the fortress with us.’

‘And you say that this attacking party split into two — that some of them went on shipboard while the others, together with the girl, rode towards the north-east?’ asked Fidelma.

‘That is so, lady,’ Bleidbara agreed.

‘It is a pity that you didn’t take one of those men prisoner,’ commented Trifina, ‘then we should have found out the truth about this Koulm ar Maro.’

Bleidbara seemed a little irritated by the criticism.

‘Lady, they did not want to surrender,’ he replied stiffly. ‘They fought to the death, with a fanatical zeal that I have not seen before.’

‘You found that curious?’ Fidelma was interested by the comment.

‘It was unusual,’ agreed the warrior. ‘Our warriors might not contemplate surrender to the Franks, but with our own people, they know they would not be badly treated.’

‘And you gave them the opportunity to surrender?’

‘I am not in the habit of slaughtering men who would rather live, lady,’ he replied firmly.

‘Of course not. I just wanted to be sure that I had the facts.’

‘But we are no further forward than before!’ Trifina said petulantly. ‘My brother still stands accused of murder. These brigands still attack unarmed farmsteads, kill merchants, even attack and capture foreign ships on the high seas — and we still do not know who they are or who is behind them.’

‘We know one thing — that they do so under the flag of the mac’htiern of Brilhag,’ pointed out Riwanon.

‘That is just a ruse to mislead people,’ snapped Trifina, colouring hotly.

Riwanon spread her hands and smiled.

‘But it must be proved, must it not?’ This last question was aimed at Fidelma.

‘That is so,’ agreed Fidelma. ‘The people of this peninsula need to be shown, in a way that leaves little doubt, that these brigands and their leader are not connected with this household.’

‘So it is a pity, Bleidbara, that you were not able to bring one of them here, even if they were wounded,’ ended Riwanon.

Bleidbara coloured. ‘I have already explained that we did not have the opportunity, lady.’

‘But a pity, nevertheless,’ she sighed.

Later, in their chamber after the evening meal, as Fidelma sat combing her long red tresses and preparing for bed, she was able to talk over the matter with Eadulf. She asked him to describe everything that had happened.

‘And you are sure that Bleidbara gave every opportunity to the brigands to surrender so he could take one alive?’

Eadulf confirmed it.

‘We were worried about the fate of the girl, Ceingar,’ he explained. ‘That was why we decided to attack the camp. Our original plan was simply to track them back to their lair. We thought that they would take the horses overland to some secret harbour where we might find the Koulm ar Maro, moored somewhere on the eastern side of the Morbihan.’

‘It was certainly a logical plan,’ agreed Fidelma.