‘I believe that Macliau still sleeps as he was late to bed,’ she explained when Fidelma asked where everyone was. ‘Iarnbud left in the night. He never accepts the hospitality of the fortress but prefers to sleep on his small boat…if he ever sleeps.’
Fidelma’s eyes narrowed at the comment. ‘What do you mean?’
‘The bretat is a strange man. He was raised in these islands,’ the girl gestured with a hand. ‘He sails the Morbihan at night when seamen fear to sail the dangerous waters. It is said that he is of the old religious and communes with the Otherworld. He wanders the woods and forests and islands almost as a recluse, and yet he appears here whenever lord Canao has need of him.’
‘More superstition,’ muttered Eadulf in the language of Éireann.
‘And where is the lady Trifina?’ asked Fidelma, ignoring the comment.
‘She left the fortress before first light.’
Fidelma was surprised. ‘Is that usual?’ she asked.
‘It is not my place to comment on what the Lady Trifina does,’ replied the girl softly.
‘Of course. And Brother Metellus?’
‘He was late to bed as well. I believe that Macliau and Brother Metellus were slightly the worse for drink.’ Iuna’s voice was disapproving.
‘And the girl, Argantken?’
‘I have no idea where Macliau’s guest is.’ The voice this time held an obvious meaning. ‘She is a local girl and may come or go as she pleases. Now, is there anything you desire for breakfast?’
Fidelma had the passing impression that it was Iuna who was in charge of them rather than being the servant fulfilling their wishes.
They chose a frugal breakfast of barley bread, some cheeses and cold spring water. And when they had finished, Fidelma asked: ‘Will there be any objection to our leaving the fortress?’
The girl’s eyes narrowed slightly.
‘You are guests,’ she replied. ‘You are free to come and go as you will. But what should I tell lord Macliau and your companion, Brother Metellus, when they discover that you have gone?’
Fidelma was patient.
‘I hope we shall return before they are even awake. It was my desire merely to take a stroll along the shoreline below us.’
‘Then it might be advisable, lady, to take one of the guards for your protection.’
‘We will be within sight of the fortress, just along the inlet below.’
The girl opened her mouth as if to protest and then seemed to realise it was not her place to do so.
‘As it pleases you, lady,’ she said tightly.
They left the great hall and walked down to the main gates that were opened, although two warriors stood guard by them. One of the warriors greeted them and Fidelma responded before passing on. They were not questioned and no one objected to their passage, which Eadulf had been expecting, fully believing they were prisoners. Now he began to wonder whether his fears about Brilhag were valid. He silently followed Fidelma along a winding pathway that led across the headland to make a rapid descent to the shore.
The sun was higher now, and slightly behind them. The mist had cleared from the stretch of water before them, which was now reflecting the blue of the sky. The nearest islands stood out clearly, although they became hazier in the distance.
Halfway down the path, Fidelma glanced back across her shoulder towards the fortress. Then at the shoreline before them.
‘This is where we saw those lights last night, along this stretch,’ she said. Then she added quietly, ‘Don’t look round, but we are being followed.’
Eadulf stiffened a little. ‘Followed? By whom? The guards did not seem to be interested in us.’
‘I think it is Iarnbud. I am not too sure.’
Eadulf compressed his lips in annoyance. He had been about to dismiss his fears about their being prisoners and now they swam back into his mind again.
‘Is it just he who is watching us?’
‘Just he,’ she replied, turning and moving quickly on, following the steep path as it wound down to the sandy shore. Then she halted. She had been expecting to find a line of fishermen’s huts or other buildings from which the lights had emanated. There was nothing. Stepping onto the white sands of the beach, she looked up and down. There was nothing to be seen in either direction. Eadulf regarded her with a puzzled expression as she began to walk along the beach, eyes down, concentrating on the sand, going 100 metres or more before turning back and then walking the same distance in the opposite direction.
‘What are you doing?’ he asked.
‘Does anything odd catch your attention?’
‘Apart from our friend sitting on that hill watching us?’ he replied.
Iarnbud was now sitting on a rock on the hill from which they had descended and trying to look inconspicuous.
‘I mean about this place,’ Fidelma replied.
Eadulf shrugged. ‘What should catch my attention? It’s just a normal sandy beach with nothing else.’
‘Exactly. No fishermen’s cabins, no sign of boats. And look at the sand. There are no footprints or signs of disturbance; it is as if nothing has been here.’
‘Perhaps this was not the exact place where we saw the lights,’ Eadulf suggested, as baffled as she was.
Fidelma jerked her head towards the distant fortress. ‘Look again.’
Eadulf realised that this was the only shore that could be seen from the window of their chamber in the fortress. He looked about him more carefully, then shivered superstitiously as he remembered the story Iarnbud had told.
Knowing him of old, Fidelma reassured him. ‘The intention of the story was to frighten us from investigating this beach. Look, Eadulf — they were so worried that they have eliminated all traces of whatever activity has gone on here! That confirms there is a mystery — and that mystery will lead us to the sea raiders.’
‘Eliminated all traces?’ Eadulf was sceptical. ‘You are surely guessing.’
Fidelma controlled her irritation.
‘After all this time,’ she responded quietly, ‘you should know that when I am putting forward a hypothesis, I say that I am doing so. When I make a statement of fact, then it is a statement of fact. Look at this.’
She crossed the sand to the treeline and pointed. Following, Eadulf looked at the object she had indicated. It was a short branch of horse chestnut, snapped off but leaving its thick foliage on it. It was only now that Eadulf realised what the curious patterns across the dry, grainlike sand were.
‘Someone used that branch to sweep away any marks in the sand,’ he noted.
‘Just so. And don’t pick that branch up in case our friend on the hill sees that we have spotted it. We will walk along the shore as far as that rocky outcrop there.’
Eadulf pulled a face but followed her, thinking out loud.
‘There are, of course, several innocent reasons as to why people should be loading boats by torchlight here. Bleidbara said his men were taking supplies to the ship.’
‘Of course,’ agreed Fidelma in conciliatory fashion. ‘This is a natural landing-place by the fortress and, as Trifina said last night, they have a similar dwelling on one of the islands. Why shouldn’t they be transporting things to and from and at whatever time of the day or night they think fit? Bleidbara was quite open about it, once he had permission from Trifina. You did not see the looks passed at the table last night?’
‘No.’ Eadulf glanced at her uneasily.
‘So why did they alert our attention to the fact that they wanted to keep this hidden?’ she went on. ‘They surely cannot think we would be so stupid as not to see through all their storytelling?’
They walked along the beach deep in thought for a while. Fidelma suddenly halted.
The beach was intersected by a stream coming down through the woods from the hill behind the fortress before trickling across the sands to the sea. Beyond it was a large outcrop of rocks that acted as a natural breakwater and as a wall between the sandy shore and what lay on the far side of the rocks. Between the stream and the rocks the sand seemed to change its colour and texture a little. Eadulf knew that he had seen something similar before, but he could not remember where.