‘But they are on horseback,’ objected Eadulf.
‘Ah,’ Bleidbara smiled brightly, ‘that is true. I was almost forgetting. They must keep their horses somewhere if they are conducting raids like this.’
It seemed little time passed before they came within sight of the small stone oratory.
Immediately Bleidbara halted the band and, without any words being exchanged, Boric slid from his horse and moved quickly forward. It was obvious to Eadulf that these men had worked together before and did not have to waste time exchanging orders.
The first task was to ensure that no one was in hiding in or around the oratory, and when all was clear, Boric bent to the ground checking the area around the grey stone building. Then he moved towards the nearby shoreline and down to the embankment. While Eadulf was impatient, Bleidbara sat leaning forward, resting on the pommel of his saddle. It was almost as if he was nodding in a doze but the half-shut eyes were still bright, watchful and wary of their surroundings.
Boric reappeared and waved them forward.
As they dismounted, he spoke rapidly to Bleidbara.
‘Several horses and riders have been here. It’s difficult to tell how many. The most recent group halted and some men dismounted. Four riders took the riderless horses and moved on northwards.’
‘How can you possibly know that?’ wondered Eadulf.
Boric smiled patiently, then enlightened him. ‘The earth always tells the story. Some horses came here; the depth of their imprint measures their weight. When they left, in that direction,’ he pointed, ‘only four of the horses impressed the ground with the same weight. The others were light. Then we found marks of boots, heavy shod of the type warriors wear. The wearers of these went down to the embankment and seem to have boarded a boat drawn up on the shore.’
‘Probably they went to join their friends on the ship,’ Bleidbara explained grimly.
Eadulf had to admit that the tracker knew his business well.
‘And those that continued on?’ he asked. ‘Where would they go to?’
Boric shrugged. ‘The only way to know that would be to follow them.’
Bleidbara was now all in favour of pushing on. He pointed out that Fidelma had wanted the attackers followed to their lair.
‘What is the point of coming this far, only to turn back?’ he pressed.
‘But the sea raider, this Koulm ar Maro, is hiding somewhere out there.’ Eadulf pointed to the Morbihan.
‘It might be that in following those that continued on land, we will find out where their secret harbour is,’ Bleidbara said.
‘How so?’
‘Why wouldn’t they all try to escape to the sea, if escaping they were? I think they also have a camp on land and that is where they stable their horses for these attacks. In that place, we may also find the harbour that shelters their ship.’
Eadulf thought carefully. ‘There is something in that logic,’ he agreed.
‘You sound doubtful?’
‘It’s just that I am wondering why we have not found the bodies of the slain bodyguards of Riwanon and her maidservant Ceingar?’
‘Perhaps we missed them,’ Bleidbara replied.
‘Or they could have been made prisoners,’ suggested Boric.
‘The answer is to follow and find out for ourselves.’ Bleidbara’s tone was determined.
With a reluctant sigh, Eadulf conceded to the warrior. He still felt uneasy, however, and worse still, remained unsure what it was that Fidelma had expected him to see.
Chapter Sixteen
There was an air of nervous expectation in the fortress of Brilhag. A warrior had retrieved the carcass of Macliau’s little dog Albiorix from the pigpen at Barbatil’s farmstead. Macliau, clearly stricken with a grief that Fidelma found surprising, had insisted on personally digging a little grave in the gardens of the fortress, observed only by Trifina and Fidelma. He had said nothing to them or they to him. After Macliau had interred his dog, he had retired to his chamber with a flagon of wine, moody and uncommunicative.
‘Does Iuna know Budic?’ Fidelma asked, as Trifina accompanied her slowly back to the great hall.
The other woman glanced at her in surprise. ‘I don’t think so. What makes you ask?’
‘I just had a feeling,’ Fidelma replied. ‘Had Budic visited Brilhag before? I thought Riwanon said she had been to the Abbey of Gildas in the past. I thought they might have met then.’
Trifina shook her head. ‘That was a long time ago, before Riwanon married Alain. Budic has never been here. However…’
Fidelma raised an eyebrow. ‘However?’
‘Iuna has accompanied my father a few times to the court of Alain Hir in Brekilien.’
‘I thought Brekilien was a forest?’
‘So it is, but within it is the location of the royal court, near the Abbey Pempont, which King Judicael founded some years before his death. It is our great religious and royal centre.’
At this point, Trifina bade Fidelma farewell and retired to her own chamber. Fidelma herself went on to the great hall, but found only two occupants. At the far end of the hall, Riwanon and Budic were standing together before the fire locked in earnest conversation. What caused Fidelma to stop in surprise was the proximity of their bodies to one another; too close for the normal relationship between a Queen and the commander of her bodyguard. Budic was very close, staring down into the upturned face of Riwanon. Their voices were low and urgent.
Fidelma closed the door behind her, perhaps with a little more force than necessary, and the two sprang apart.
‘Fidelma.’ Riwanon forced a smile. ‘Any news?’
‘Bleidbara has not returned yet,’ Fidelma said, moving forward to the fire. Although it was summer, the great hall seemed cold. ‘And Macliau has just buried his dog.’
Budic sniffed disparagingly.
‘Do you still think him innocent?’ There was the familiar sneer in his voice.
‘It matters not what I think,’ replied Fidelma. ‘It is what the bretat will judge when he hears the evidence.’
‘It is no justice when one has to wait so long for it,’ replied Budic. ‘He should have been tried at once.’
‘I did not think it was your law to try someone without a qualified judge present? No one, surely, should be tried by an emotional mob.’
Budic was about to respond but then he merely shrugged and moved away to sink in a chair before the fire. Riwanon looked at her guard commander with irritation at his rudeness.
‘We are a little tense waiting for news…waiting for what might be an attack on this fortress by these brigands,’ she said, almost in apology.
‘Indeed,’ agreed Fidelma. ‘But we must all try to relax as best we can. From what I have seen of this fortress, we are well protected.’
‘I hope your Saxon friend and Bleidbara can say the same,’ muttered Budic from his chair.
Eadulf was seated on his horse, his heart pounding as Boric, the tracker and scout, came galloping back along the path to the clearing where he, Bleidbara and the others had halted.
‘A horseman is coming!’ He cried a warning in a low voice. ‘A single rider, coming at the gallop!’
With one motion of his arm, Bleidbara signalled his men to take cover on either side of the forest path, ensuring that Eadulf followed him into the cover of the thick undergrowth. Indeed, no time seemed to pass before they could hear the thudding of hooves along the muddy track. The rider was bent low over the straining neck of the beast. He was clearly in a hurry. Before he drew near, Eadulf saw that he was no ordinary warrior. He was well dressed with a multi-coloured cloak snapping in the air behind his shoulders. He had an ornate polished helmet, and a saffron-coloured tunic with designs that Eadulf could not clearly make out. The man wore a sword but carried neither shield nor spear.
As he drew near, Bleidbara urged his horse forward to block the rider’s path while his comrades came up behind him. For a second or two, the rider’s horse shied and kicked
the air with its forehooves.
‘Out of the way!’ roared the rider angrily, his hand falling to his sword. ‘In the name of the King, out of the way!’
‘Who are you?’ Bleidbara demanded.
‘A messenger from King Alain on his business. Now move!’
‘I am commander of the guard at the fortress of Brilhag,’ replied Bleidbara. ‘You ride in dangerous country, my friend.’
‘Not if the mac’htiern of Brilhag is loyal to my King,’ the man declared haughtily.
‘Brilhag is loyal but there are enemies that lurk in these woods.’
‘You do not have to tell me that. I was nearly caught by a band of cut-throats not far back along this track. They loosed some arrows at me but my horse was faster than they were. Are you seeking them?’
‘You saw them?’
‘Three men were all I saw.’
‘We are in pursuit of them.’
‘Then follow this path. I came on them making camp in a small clearing near a stream.’
Bleidbara was puzzled at the news. ‘Camped already? But it is several hours until nightfall. Why, we could ride back to Brilhag from here and arrive before it grows dark.’
‘And it is there that I have to go, on King Alain’s business. Is the Queen Riwanon there?’
‘She is,’ asserted Bleidbara.
‘Good. I am to inform her that her husband, Alain, will be at Brilhag by dusk tomorrow. He rides together with the lord of Brilhag and an escort of his warriors.’
‘Then continue on your way, my friend,’ Bleidbara said, moving his horse aside.
A short time later, Boric, who was scouting ahead again, returned.
‘The messenger was right. There are three men camped in a small clearing ahead.’
‘But why so early?’ Bleidbara queried. ‘That I really cannot understand. They could make more time before nightfall.’
Boric grimaced. ‘I am afraid that they have their reasons,’ he replied. ‘The men have the female with them – the maid of Queen Riwanon.’
‘Then Ceingar is still alive?’ Eadulf’s question was unnecessary.
The stout tracker nodded.
‘It was my intention to just follow them until we find their lair,’ Bleidbara said reflectively. ‘Now I do not think we have a choice.’
‘Agreed,’ Eadulf said, ‘there is no choice. We must rescue the girl.’
‘How far ahead are they?’ Bleidbara asked and, when the position was outlined, he turned to his men. ‘We will leave the horses here and move quietly forward on foot. We will surround their camp and come on them suddenly. Hopefully, they will give up without a fight. But be careful – these men are ruthless and they kill.’
He glanced at Eadulf. ‘Do you want to stay here to look after the horses?’
Eadulf shook his head firmly. ‘I’ll come with you, of course.’
They moved forward cautiously and, at a silent signal from Bleidbara, they spread out left and right to encircle the camp which announced itself by the sound of a crackling fire in the clearing ahead of them. As they drew near, Eadulf could see through the undergrowth the light of the blazing campfire. Two raiders were squatting before it, their weapons at their sides. There was no sign of the third man nor of the female prisoner. The two men were talking to one another in loud voices, and now and then glancing towards the far side of the small clearing and laughing lewdly. Eadulf raised his eyes and saw a movement from the bushes at which their glances were directed.
He reached forward, tapped Bleidbara on the arm and pointed.
The warrior nodded to indicate that he had understood. Then he held up his dagger, gesturing at himself and then at the bush. Bleidbara’s men were highly trained. The young commander was already moving silently and rapidly, skirting the camp, making directly for his target. Eadulf kept close behind him.
They came on the scene that Eadulf had already suspected might meet their eyes. The girl, Ceingar, was stretched on the ground. Her dress was raised. She lay without struggling as the man panted and heaved on top of her.
In a couple of strides Bleidbara had moved across the intervening distance, grabbed the rapist by the hair and yanked him backwards. The man’s reactions were quick. He gave a cry of alarm as he was wrenched off by Bleidbara’s strong arm but, at the same time, he was grabbing for the dagger in his belt. Bleidbara had no choice but to use his own weapon, plunging it under the man’s ribcage.
From the camp, Eadulf could hear the cries of alarm as Bleidbara’s men closed with the other raiders. The inert form of the girl now came alive; screaming, she scrambled up, pulling down her dress and staring wildly about.
Eadulf moved forward.
‘Have no fear!’ he yelled. ‘We are your rescuers. You are free!’
She was staring at him like one demented and, to his surprise, she lunged forward, clutching at the warrior’s discarded knife and raising it. For a moment Eadulf froze. The girl would have struck home but Bleidbara, having dropped the dead form of the assailant, took a pace forward and grabbed the girl by the wrist, twisting it slightly so that she was forced to drop the knife.
He said something to her and she slumped forward as if in exhaustion and sank to the ground again.
‘It’s all right,’ Bleidbara said to Eadulf. ‘The girl did not know who we were and acted out of instinct. Let her sit still for a moment.’
Boric suddenly appeared. His face was grim with satisfaction.
‘They are both dead,’ he said, jerking his thumb across his shoulder.
‘You killed them?’ Eadulf felt disappointment. ‘We could have questioned them.’
‘I am afraid not, Brother Eadulf,’ replied Boric without remorse. ‘They fought like demons and had no intention of allowing themselves to become prisoners. They had the battle fever on them. There was nothing else we could do but meet their steel with our own.’
Eadulf glanced to where the girl, Ceingar, was huddled on a log, her knees drawn up to her chin, arms clasped around them, rocking back and forth. Her eyes were wide and bright, gazing in horror at the body of the man who had violated her.
‘Does she know that she is safe?’ he asked Bleidbara.
The warrior gave an affirmative gesture. He spoke to the girl and she eventually raised her head and stared from Bleidbara to Eadulf.
‘She recognises us.’
‘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.’
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