‘So you are claiming that Abbot Nannid was behind this?’ intervened Prince Donennach. ‘He is of the bloodline and yet was the person stirring up the dissension?’
‘He certainly became the obvious suspect,’ Fidelma said. As the abbot started to rise from his seat, his face choleric, she smiled cynically and went on, ‘But he was too obvious. Abbot Nannid is not a subtle man. It is true that he is a descendant of the Ui Choirpi Aebda and therefore could claim to be a legitimate successor to Prince Donennach. But, as we know, Nannid is also a religious fanatic. He holds these new Penitential concepts dear. He has demonstrated that he does not accept the laws of this country – therefore why would he accept its laws of succession?’
‘I protest!’ shouted Nannid.
‘Your protest will be noted but, for the moment, it is the truth that we are after,’ replied Brehon Faolchair. He motioned Fidelma to continue.
‘We now know that Nannid was dismissed as Abbot of Mungairit six months ago after the first conspiracy was discovered at that abbey. At the same time, Brother Cuineain was also dismissed as steward. I had not judged them guilty of involvement in that conspiracy but only being ignorant of it. The council of the abbey later decided that this brought the abbey into disrepute and thus they were both dismissed from office and sent into exile. But note – the council only dismissed them because of bias and incompetence, not because of conspiracy.
‘The council at Mungairit also imposed a fine on you, Nannid. Let me guess. Was it not a fine which you then raised by demanding monies from the community of Nechta here? You arranged to take the sum to Brother Feradach of Mungairit at a rendezvous – the Hill of Truth.’
Brehon Faolchair leaned forward with a quick motion. ‘Are you saying that Nannid told the truth about his encounter with Glaed?’ he asked incredulously. ‘He intended to meet Brother Feradach but Glaed had arrived there by chance?’
‘Sometimes even a liar will tell the truth,’ Fidelma replied. ‘He actually intended to pay the reparation to Mungairit so that he could declare himself free of constraints, should Mungairit raise questions as to what he was doing here. Brother Feradach, however, saw Glaed encamped on the hill and, wisely, decided not to proceed. Nannid did meet Glaed by chance and saw that he held Gorman as a prisoner. It was then that his fanaticism overtook his long-term ambition: Nannid’s zeal to show his new power by keeping his promise to execute Gorman overcame his desire to pay off the reparation to Brother Feradach, who was waiting to take it to Mungairit.’
‘But why would Glaed hand his prisoner to him? Just for the gold? He could have killed Gorman and taken the gold anyway.’
‘Because one of Glaed’s men, the very man who had been a guard here and was involved in this conspiracy, had probably drawn Glaed’s attention to the fact that the execution of Gorman for the murder of Abbot Segdae was an essential part of starting the unrest that would topple Prince Donennach. It was a key element of the plan of the noble who was employing Glaed as a mercenary in the plot.’
‘This doesn’t make sense. Are you arguing that this conspirator helped Gorman escape the first time and then wanted him recaptured the next?’
‘When Gorman escaped with Aibell, it was intended to emphasise his guilt. But it was anticipated that he would be swiftly recaptured and brought back. Gorman was to be the focus of the conflict.’
‘You say that the money Nannid paid Glaed for giving Gorman to him was money he intended to give to Mungairit in payment of fines?’
‘It was money falsely raised from the community of Nechta,’ affirmed Fidelma. ‘We should thank Deogaire that the money will now be returned to the community.’
‘It will be returned to me!’ cried Nannid, standing up. ‘I am still Abbot of Nechta.’
‘I doubt that you will even be that when this matter is known,’ Fidelma pointed out coldly. ‘You imposed yourself on the community by virtue of an office you no longer held. Now you are neither more nor less than an ordinary member of the community. You know how office is awarded. The derbhfine or council of the community must meet and elect its leader. Judging from what I hear, I doubt whether it will be worth you or your steward even attempting to put yourself forward for the office after Brother Eladach has summoned the council of the community.’
‘My voice is still powerful among the Ui Fidgente. I will ensure that they obey me,’ Nannid blustered.
Socht left his position and actually placed a hand on Nannid’s shoulder. ‘Your voice will fall silent, Nannid, especially a voice which conspires against his prince.’ His voice was firm and authoritative and Nannid found himself sitting down, blinking.
‘But you were saying that Nannid was too obvious as a conspirator,’ Brehon Faolchair prompted Fidelma. ‘Do you say that he was not in this conspiracy?’
‘You have my exact meaning,’ affirmed Fidelma. ‘I will say that as pedantic as Nannid is, with his rigid ideas and adherence to alien religious concepts and laws, he was not one of the conspirators. However, he was actually used in this conspiracy. His character was assessed accurately by the conspirators and he was manipulated so that it would deflect suspicion from them as the real culprits.’
‘I confess, Fidelma, I am now finding this hard to follow.’ The Brehon was shaking his head.
‘It is simple. Ambition, power and the need for revenge on Mungairit played a dominant role in Nannid’s intentions. He and his steward were exiled from Mungairit and came here hoping to open an abbey in the principal township of the Ui Fidgente. He wanted to claim the abbacy of this community and make it as powerful as Mungairit. It sounds impossible, but stranger things have happened. However, the community here was an intrinsic part of the township: it was not what they call a cenobium or closed community. So Nannid had to fall back on the authority of Mungairit – which he no longer had – when he ordered walls to be built around it and make it into a close community, as well as fraudulently demanding gold from them.’
‘So Nannid was simply being manipulated. But by whom?’ demanded Brehon Faolchair.
‘I have said it is a complicated plot and one that sadly led to several deaths, beginning with that of Abbot Segdae. Nannid had been persuaded to invite Abbot Segdae here by those conspiratorial interests. It had probably been suggested to him that if he invited Abbot Segdae here, it would help assure his prestige. In short, Abbot Segdae was lured here to his death.’
‘You are saying that Nannid was merely a tool, used to bring Abbot Segdae here. So he was as much a victim as Gorman.’ Brehon Faolchair sighed. ‘It is a story that is hard to digest, let alone believe.’
‘I trust that I shall lead you into the belief,’ Fidelma replied solemnly.
‘You have to account for the deaths of Ciarnat and Brother Mael Anfaid,’ Prince Donennach interposed for the first time. ‘You also have to account for the false story that Ciarnat told her friend Aibell, which was passed on to Gorman and then caused them to engineer Gorman’s escape – which confirmed, in most of our eyes, that he was guilty.’
‘That I shall do,’ Fidelma said. ‘False stories are easily spread. It is a human weakness that untruth is more readily believable than truth. Brother Mael Anfaid was told the story by someone he trusted and whose word he believed implicitly. He was informed that I had decided to abandon the defence of Gorman. He repeated this to Ciarnat who, as it was expected, immediately told her close friend Aibell.’ Fidelma smiled encouragingly across at the girl. ‘Aibell is a person of quiet determination, and when it was also whispered that the guard was susceptible to bribery, she seized the chance to seek his help – the irony being that he was in fact part of the conspiracy and had already been ordered to engineer the escape of Gorman from his prison.