Brehon Sedna was frowning. ‘But what you are now describing, Fidelma, is not the kind of person who would stab her sleeping lover in the heart and kill him.’
‘With respect, Brehon Sedna, I disagree,’ Fidelma said. ‘Cnucha is a plain-looking girl, quiet and overlooked by many. Her fellow maids thought of her as being timid as a mouse. Eadulf overheard her speaking to Brónach about Sechnussach early on, and it was very obvious that she had no high opinion of the High King’s attitudes. That was interesting. How did she know his attitudes?
‘In reality, Cnucha was far from being a quiet mouse. That was shown on two occasions, when she showed a flash of temper towards Brónach and then confessed that she got angry when people thought they could insult her because she seemed so meek and mild. Báine even told Eadulf. that Cnucha had thrown a jug at her once in a fit of temper. So, a passion was simmering there behind that quiet exterior.’
Brehon Sedna was having none of it. ‘These are merely circumstantial arguments, Fidelma. We need proof that places Cnucha in the High King’s bedchamber that night with the knife in her hand and then all these arguments might back your case.’
Fidelma turned to the girl. ‘I have a question to put to Cnucha.’
The girl slowly stood up. The pale eyes that stared at Fidelma were like ice; the face was a mask.
‘Do you recall a conversation with Brónach in the guesthouse in which you were discussing a time, just after Sechnussach’s death, when the lady Muirgel caught you searching his chambers?’
‘I cannot recall all conversations that passed between us.’
‘This one was interesting. Muirgel had struck you. You told Brónach that you had been searching for something that you had lost. Muirgel and Barrán actually thought you were spying on their conspiracy.’
A slight look of uncertainty came into the girl’s eyes. She made no reply.
‘Why were you searching there?’
‘I had lost something, that is all,’ Cnucha said hesitantly. ‘A personal possession. I noticed that I had lost it after I had been cleaning the chamber.’
‘Brónach cleaned the High King’s chambers after his death. I think you had lost this possession beforehand. You told Brónach what it was, didn’t you? It was valuable, wasn’t it?’
The girl mumbled, ‘It was valuable to me.’
‘Because a special person gave it to you? Come, Cnucha. We no longer have time to play games.’
‘It was a bracelet. That’s all.’
‘A bracelet worth a lot of money,’ added Eadulf.
‘It was a bracelet made up of silver Gaulish coins,’ Cnucha replied defensively.
Fidelma reached forward and held up the silver bracelet that she had taken from Cuan.
‘Where would you have dropped it? In the secret passageway, perhaps?’ she asked softly.
The girl’s eyes started as they looked at the bracelet.
‘Of course not! I was careful when-’ She suddenly realised what she was saying and then, without warning, she rushed towards Fidelma withoutstretched hands. ‘It’s mine! Give it to me! Give it to me! It’s the only thing he ever gave me … it’s mine!’
Two members of the Fianna caught her flaying arms before she reached Fidelma and held her tightly.
‘So,’ sighed Brehon Sedna, ‘you seem to have proved your point. You found the bracelet with the knife in this passageway?’
Fidelma surprised him by shaking her head.
‘Cuan will confirm the details. He stands confessed of Mer’s death and the wounding of Brother Rogallach, so has nothing to gain by lying now. When he and Lugna entered Sechnussach’s chamber, he saw the bracelet by the bed. Cnucha had discarded it, probably during that last night of lovemaking, before she killed her lover. While Lugna was distracted, Cuan picked it up, saw it was valuable and stole it. Cnucha had told Eadulf it was a bracelet of Gaulish coins. Eadulf is blessed with a good memory for detail and when he noticed that Cuan was wearing such a bracelet, he told me his suspicion. It was easy to get Cuan to confess how he had really come by it.’
Brehon Sedna sat back. ‘You have argued that Cnucha was the mistress of Sechnussach, and Cnucha’s actions here have now betrayed her. But what was her motive in killing the High King, her lover?’
‘A motive as old as the mountains, Brehon Sedna,’ replied Fidelma. ‘Love and hate can be two sides of the same coin. Perhaps Cnucha would like to explain?’
But the girl had relapsed into silence.
After waiting a moment, Fidelma turned back to the Brehon.
‘While Sechnussach saw Cnucha as merely a girl to have his way with, a timid thing whom he could summon to his bed at will and who would make no demands on him, like some pet dog to come at his beck and call, Cnucha truly loved him. Perhaps Sechnussach made her promises. He certainly gave her this valuable bracelet of Gaulish coins. Maybe one of those promises was that he would marry her, if only he was able to.
‘Then Cnucha probably learned, how does not matter, that Gormflaith was divorcing Sechnussach. She went to him, fully expecting him to say that he would marry her. He-’
‘Laughed at me!’ came Cnucha’s cold voice. ‘Laughed at the very idea of marriage to me … a mere servant. I could go to bed with him but I could not appear in public with him. That was when I took the knife fromthe kitchen and, after he had had his way with me, as he lay sleeping, I stabbed him in the heart. The pig will betray no one else again.’
After the tumult that greeted this declaration had died down and everyone was leaving the chamber, Eadulf turned to Fidelma and said privately, ‘I have to say, she was the last person I would have suspected. So quiet, so outwardly shy. You would hardly notice her in company. I felt sorry for her — I still do. It’s hard to think that she could rise to such passion that would make her into a killer.’
‘You should remember the old Roman saying — altissima quarque fiumina minimo sono labi,’ replied Fidelma philosophically.
‘The deepest rivers flow with the least sound,’ translated Eadulf.
‘However, you are right,’ she continued. ‘In a way, you must feel sorry for her. Sechnussach abused her. Yet I admired Sechnussach as High King. Indeed, I helped him come to the throne some years ago. We all have our faults, but his was a grievous fault in his attitude to women.’
‘What will happen to her?’
‘To Cnucha?’
Eadulf nodded.
‘She will be charged with duinetháide — secret killing. For she sought to hide her guilt.’
‘And if found guilty, as she will be?’
‘She or her family will have to pay Sechnussach’s honour price. That is twenty-one cumals.’
‘And if they can’t?’
‘At best, she will be consigned into service more or less as she is now, serving as a maid until the debt is paid or until she dies.’
‘At worst?’
‘At worst, and it rarely happens, she could be put into a boat with one paddle, food and water for a day and set adrift on an offshore wind. But I think a good defence will point out the circumstances of her case and how she was driven to her action. I will speak to Brehon Sedna and ensure she is well represented. The honour price could be greatly reduced in the circumstances, but she will have to pay or serve until such time she has paid off the debt.’
EPILOGUE
‘ Si finis bonus est, totum bonum erit,’ sighed Eadulf as they sat together a few days later with Cenn Faelad’s newly appointed Chief Brehon in the library. of Tech Cormaic.
Brehon Sedna smiled indulgently. ‘If the end is good, everything will be good,’ he repeated, translating the Latin saying. ‘Yet it was truly a complicated matter and one that might well have led to bloodshed and war, or even brought about the devastation of the five kingdoms. You both are owed much. You have but to ask.’