‘Heavy?’ Eadulf queried.
‘You could tell that by the way he carried it.’
‘What shape was it? Can you recall?’
Irél thought for a moment. ‘The shape may have been distorted by the wrapping of the cloth, but I think it was circular. It was about a troighid in diameter but very thin, like a plate.’
Eadulf quickly calculated the Irish measurement to something like the average foot in length.
‘So it was not too large, but it was heavy. It must have been made of metal or stone — probably metal.’
‘Perhaps.’
‘And you have no idea what it was?’
‘None.’
‘Thank you, Irél. You have been most explicit. I may want to speak with you again.’
The warrior rose and raised a hand to his forehead in half-salute before turning and leaving them alone in the study.
Eadulf sighed. ‘That really does not help us much.’
Fidelma glanced at him. ‘One nut does not help a squirrel pass through a winter,’ she replied. ‘But the squirrel, each day, continues gathering a nut here and another nut there until he has built a pile of nuts which are his store that will help him survive.’
Eadulf regarded her blankly.
‘We are the nut gatherers,’ she relented and explained. ‘We gather the nuts until we have our store, and looking at the store we come to the solution. One thing I should explain to you is that Delbna Mór is not that far away from the territory of the Cinél Cairpre whose chieftain was Dubh Duin. Now let us go in search of Muirgel.’
But the girl was difficult to find. Returning to the High King’s house, Fidelma asked the guard outside where she was but he expressed his lack of knowledge in a disinterested tone and suggested that one of the servants might know. The couple passed inside but found little sign of the servants or anyone else.
Undeterred, Fidelma started up the stairs towards the apartments above. Eadulf followed nervously.
‘Is it the custom to wander around the High King’s house unannounced in this fashion?’ he whispered.
‘I see no one to challenge us on the matter,’ Fidelma replied determinedly.
At the top of the stairs she paused and then stepped towards the door of the apartment in which the High King’s family stayed when in residence. She halted, knocked and listened. There was no response or movement from inside. She waited a moment more and then glanced at Eadulf before reaching to turn the handle.
The room that met their gaze was almost as bare as the High King’s own chamber.
Fidelma and Eadulf gazed around in surprise.
‘Well, it seems as though none of the High King’s family reside here, and I would say that they have not done so for some time,’ Fidelma observed. ‘Abbot Colmán said that Gormflaith and her daughters had another residence within the royal enclosure but it is certainly strange that there is no sign of an occupant of this apartment.’
She went round the room, noticing the layer of dust on the empty shelves and boxes.
‘Who are you?’ cried a commanding voice suddenly. ‘How dare you enter these chambers without permission?’
The pair swung round and saw the figure of a woman standing in the open doorway, regarding them with suspicion. She was not young, like Báine or Cnucha, but she still had a voluptuous beauty, a figure that was mature but eye-catching even with the drab clothing of a house servant. She had dark hair, a pale skin and bright eyes whose colour was indiscernible in the shadowy light of the room.
Fidelma studied her for a moment or two before replying: ‘I am Fidelma of Cashel, the dálaigh investigating the manner of the death of Sechnussach. That is the right by which I dare enter these chambers, and with the approval of Cenn Faelad and the Chief Brehon.’
The woman blinked and her features altered a little in what seemed to be a look of apology.
‘I am sorry, lady. I did not know you. Of course, I have been told that you have arrived at the royal enclosure and are investigating this matter.’
‘And you are?’
‘I am Brónach. I am in charge of the female servants. Is there anything that I may help you with?’
‘Ah, Brónach. Of course. Well, this chamber does not appear to have been cleaned in some while. Why is that?’
The woman moved further into the light. Eadulf regarded her movement and poise with appreciation. As handsome as she was now, she had probably once been a great beauty.
‘There is no need to clean it regularly, lady,’ replied Brónach. ‘It is not used. It would have been a different matter if it were occupied.’
‘It is obvious that it is not occupied,’ agreed Fidelma. ‘But I thought these were the chambers of Sechnussach’s wife and family.’
‘Not for some time,’ the woman replied, but there seemed a reluctant tone in her voice as she admitted the fact.
‘For how long?’
The woman did not reply and when it was obvious that she was not going to, Fidelma said: ‘I am looking for Muirgel, the High King’s daughter. Where would I find her?’
‘There is a house to the south-east corner of the royal enclosure. You will find her there. It cannot be missed as it has a white-painted lintel. It is called Tech Laoghaire.’
It was then Fidelma remembered that Abbot Colmán had made a passing reference to the fact that Muirgel lived in another house in the royal enclosure. She was annoyed with herself for forgetting.
‘Has the family of the High King lived there for long?’
Once again Brónach shook her head. ‘I am sorry, lady, I am merely a servant in this house and am not allowed to talk about the High King and his family without direct permission of the Brother Rogallach, the bollscari.’
‘Even though you know I am a dalaigh?’
‘Even so, lady,’ the other returned tightly.
‘I am told that you were here on the night of the assassination.’
‘As you were told it, I will not deny it, but-’
‘You can answer fully, Brónach,’ came the voice of Abbot Colmán as he ascended the top stair and crossed the landing to join them. ‘You have full permission to answer all the questions that the dálaigh asks of you.’
The woman shrugged as if she did not care one way or the other. Fidelma recognised that she was the ultimate loyal servant, never offering information without the approval of her superior.
‘I was here on the night of the assassination,’ she repeated, almost in a wooden fashion.
Fidelma nodded briefly at the abbot as if to indicate her thanks and then turned back to Brónach.
‘Tell me about it.’
‘Nothing to tell. I was asleep and then I was awakened by people shouting. I went to my door and-’
‘Your room is where?’ Fidelma interrupted.
‘Just along the corridor here.’
‘Did you hear a scream? Was that what awakened you?’
The woman shook her head. ‘I heard no scream but people were shouting. I went to the door and saw Torpach and Maoláin in the corridor with the girl Báine. Brother Rogallach was coming from his room.’
‘I presume that it was they who were shouting?’
‘They were speaking loudly, it is true,’ Brónach said. ‘However, I think the shout had come from one of the guards who had already entered the High King’s chamber. Someone said that Sechnussach had been killed. We all moved to his door to see whether it was true. Then Irél came running up the stairs.’ She turned to the abbot. ‘I think the abbot arrived then and took charge. That is all I know.’
‘Very well,’ Fidelma said. Then: ‘One other thing. I presume you or the other servants cleaned the High King’s chambers after … after his body was taken away?’
Brónach seemed to stiffen a little. ‘We did nothing until we had full permission from the abbot here, and he was acting with the authority of the Chief Brehon.’