‘I had a right to be there,’ the girl replied sulkily. ‘One of my tasks was to attend the chambers and keep them clean.’
‘The lady Muirgel did not think so.’
‘She shouldn’t have lost her temper and struck me! Bitch! Then Barrán came in and supported her, saying I had no business to be there.’
‘And he was right. Sechnussach had been assassinated. The chambers should have been closed.’
‘Brehon Barrán said as much, but …’ Her voice trailed off.
Eadulf heard the other woman sigh impatiently.
‘I don’t know what possessed you. Whatever were you doing in the High King’s chambers? Come on — the truth now. Surely not cleaning.’
Cnucha seemed to hesitate. Then: ‘If you must know, I was looking for something, that is all. I probably lost it elsewhere. It was … personal. A bracelet.’
‘I see. Well, I know jewellery can be of sentimental value, but-’
‘It was also valuable,’ the girl protested. ‘It was a bracelet of silver Gaulish coins. I must have lost it when I was cleaning. I did not want to lose it.’
‘Well, if it hasn’t turned up during the last ten or more days, I think you will have to resign yourself to its loss. It seems an expensive sort of thing for someone like you to come by.’ The voice was suspicious.
‘It was a gift from … a friend.’ The girl’s voice was defiant.
‘Well, wealthy friend or not, it still doesn’t absolve you from work, Cnucha. And with Báine not here, I suggest you get started on your duties.’
‘Then why doesn’t Báine go to Muirgel and be her attendant, so that we may get another person to help us in our work?’
‘All will be changed when this investigation is over and Cenn Faelad becomes High King. He will then choose his attendants as he considers fit.’
Eadulf heard the girl sniff.
‘And will you be staying on then, Brónach? Will you be in charge?’
‘Brother Rogallach is in charge. I am only the senior female servant.’
‘I doubt whether Cenn Faelad will want Brother Rogallach to continue to be in charge of his household. Cenn Faelad is a real man and not so outwardly pious as Sechnussach was.’
‘That is no way to talk about the late High King.’ The voice was stern with disapproval.
‘Why not? Anyway, I am comparing Sechnussach to Cenn Faelad. Sechnussach may have surrounded himself with pious religious, but he was no more than-’
‘You should have a care what you say about Sechnussach, my girl!’ Brónach hissed. ‘Especially now you have a dálaigh in this guesthouse who is investigating his assassination.’
‘Huh! Another so-called pious religieuse with her Saxon lover!’ Cnucha sneered.
‘Watch your tongue. They are married and well-respected. She is also sister to the King of Muman. Now, for the last time, get about your chores! When I see Báine, I will discuss this matter with her. She should let us have more notification if she has to attend to other duties.’
Eadulf heard a door closing and reasoned that the woman, Brónach, must have left by the side door. He paused for a moment and then decided to continue his mission to find water for washing. Cnucha was alone in the kitchen preparing oatmeal cakes for breakfast. She looked up with a start of surprise as he entered.
‘I did not know you were up, Brother.’
Eadulf pretended to stifle a yawn as he saw the girl flush guiltily.
‘I have only just risen. I am looking for water to wash. Was there someone else here before me? I thought I heard a voice.’
‘Oh, it was only Brónach. She is in charge of us.’
‘Ah. I don’t think we have met her yet.’
Cnucha shrugged and went on kneading oatmeal. She gestured with her head towards the wash room. ‘The water is heating ready for you.’
‘Thank you.’
Her tone had been dismissive and so the opportunity to develop theconversation was thus lost. Eadulf, with a sigh, accepted it with good grace.
Abbot Colmán arrived, as promised, as they finished their morning meal and took them to the royal residence called Tech Cormaic. It was a large rectangular building of two storeys with several outhouses, standing inside the ramparts of the royal enclosure, well away from the defensive system that surrounded the buildings of the nobles who dwelt at Tara. The High King’s house was built of a variety of woods, but chiefly of oak and yew. The slinntech darach, the overlapping boards of polished oak, which comprised the roof, shone in the morning sun.
The abbot led the way to the massive double doors of thick oak. A guard with a drawn sword resting against his shoulder saluted Abbot Colmán and stood to one side.
‘It would appear that the assassin entered this way in the dead of night,’ explained the abbot as he opened the doors.
‘And these doors are never locked or bolted?’ Eadulf enquired, seeking confirmation of what they had been told the previous night.
The abbot gestured at the ramparts that surrounded the royal enclosure. ‘To get here, one has to come through many guarded gates, and the main gate to the royal enclosure is always bolted and guarded on the inside.’
‘But the assassin did reach here,’ Eadulf pointed out softly.
Abbot Colmán flushed but did not respond.
Fidelma made no comment either as they passed into the dimly lit hall beyond, for there was only one window providing light. This, called a forless, was placed above the door. Its glass panel was thick, opaque, and the light it emitted was little enough. The main light came from pungent-smelling oil lamps.
Again Eadulf pursed his lips thoughtfully. ‘It was a lucky coincidence for the assassin that the guards were not where they should have been, on guard within this hall. They were not here because they had heard a suspicious noise in the kitchen — is that right?’
The abbot nodded.
Eadulf raised his eyebrows a fraction. ‘Perhaps the assassin had more than luck on his side,’ he muttered.
‘We will question these guards when the time comes,’ Fidelma said, smiling acknowledgement at Eadulf for picking up the point. ‘Certainlyit seems that the assassin had exceptional luck. Is there an entrance to the kitchen area from here?’
‘The kitchen is a separate building at the rear. There is a door at the back of the hall and the meals, once cooked, are carried into the High King through it. It is usually locked during the night. The commander of the guard has a key.’ Abbot Colmán hesitated and then pointed up the stairs. ‘From here, the assassin would have gone up these stairs.’
‘Are all the bedchambers above the stair?’ Eadulf asked.
‘Not all. The High King’s apartments are there. There are rooms for his family and for his personal attendants. On this floor, the ground floor, there is a room for the commander of the Fianna, the High King’s bodyguard. When Cenn Faelad stays in the royal house, he has a chamber on this level also. There are rooms for some of the servants here as well. There is a private chamber for the High King’s meetings with his advisers which also serves as a library, a small room for meals when there is no great feasting to preside over, and the remaining rooms are given to storage and bedchambers for the maids.’
‘Very well,’ acknowledged Fidelma, following the layout as the abbot indicated it. ‘So we shall follow the steps of our assassin, through these main doors, across the hall, which is luckily empty of the guard, and up the stairs. Proceed.’
The abbot led the way up the broad wooden staircase and halted on the landing.
‘To the left is the High King’s apartment, through that door. The next door enters into the apartments reserved for his family when they stay here. Needless to say, they are residing elsewhere in the royal enclosure at the moment.’
‘And those other doors?’ Fidelma queried, indicating the ones in the corridor leading to the right off the landing.