‘At first light.’
‘And what is this oratory? I hope that it is not the same one in which Macliau was found?’
‘No, it’s on this side of the peninsula — a little chapel where it is said that one of the saints stayed during some pilgrimage.’
Fidelma shook her head in dissatisfaction. Then she glanced at the remains of the food on the table.
‘It looks as though everyone else has been up before us.’ Eadulf had sat down and was helping himself to bread and cold meats, but Fidelma excused herself. She did not feel at all hungry. Instead, she decided to go in search of Iuna. She found the girl in the kitchens.
‘I was told that you met old Aourken from the village yesterday,’ she opened immediately.
Iuna regarded her in surprise for a moment.
‘You make that sound like an accusation of something,’ she countered defensively. ‘Yes, I did see her yesterday. We often meet when I go to buy oysters. She used to teach me when I was younger and when she was with the religious at the abbey. That was before-’
‘Before Abbot Maelcar took over and changed the Rule at the abbey?’
‘Just so. Abbot Maelcar changed so many good things.’
‘I gather you did not like him?’
‘How could anyone like him? He would insult me by calling me a provincial servant, when my family…’ She took a deep breath. ‘Maelcar was a lecherous old man who shrouded prurience in piety. He preferred to look at women from cracks in curtains. When I was at Brekilian recently, he-’
‘Go on,’ Fidelma invited when the girl suddenly stopped and a flush came to her cheeks.
‘I hear stories, that’s all,’ Iuna muttered.
‘And Iarnbud? I had the impression that you did not like him either.’
‘Am I to take it that these questions have some relevance to the death of the Abbot?’ Iuna said rudely.
Fidelma was unperturbed by the aggression in her tone.
‘You may. You may also assume that I am still carrying out the commission Queen Riwanon gave me.’
‘I was raised at Brilhag. The mac’htiern fostered me when my parents were killed in a Frankish raid. Iarnbud is always about the place.’ She shuddered suddenly. ‘He is a sinister old man, as far as I am concerned. Always creeping about the place, always peering and prying. No, I do not like him one little bit.’
‘What was the nature of the argument that I saw you having with him yesterday?’
Again the girl looked at her in surprise and said nothing for a while. Fidelma decided to prompt her again.
‘I was coming to speak with you when I saw you at the door which leads out to the path down to the small cove where some boats are moored,’ she explained.
Iuna was still defensive. ‘If you were that interested, why did you not come to speak to us and enquire then?’
‘I had to fetch Eadulf, and by the time we came back, you had both vanished. We went down to the cove and saw a boat sailing towards Govihan.’
Iuna smiled grimly. ‘That was Iarnbud.’
‘But you had also vanished. I thought you might have gone with him?’
‘I have my rowing boat there and was on my way to collect the oysters. So I left Iarnbud sailing to Govihan while I rowed along the coast to the oyster beds in the little bay beyond.’
Fidelma had already guessed as much after Aourken had told her of the meeting. She was still irritated that she had made a mistake in thinking Iuna and Iarnbud had sailed off together. So she and Eadulf had been on a wild-goose chase. She grimaced at the dark humour of the expression. They were, indeed, chasing the Barnacle Goose.
‘And the argument between you?’ she added.
‘Iarnbud was asking too many personal questions.’
‘Personal questions?’
‘About Macliau, about Riwanon, even questions about you.’
‘I don’t understand. What sort of questions? For example, what would he want to know about Macliau? He has surely known him since birth.’
‘He wanted to know about Macliau’s friends. He was always going off hunting with them, even though there was no need for meat for the kitchens, and sometimes he would return without any game. Iarnbud seemed curious, for it was unlike Macliau to take an interest in hunting.’
‘Why was this a subject of argument with Iarnbud?’
‘I told him that there was a reason for Macliau’s desire to hunt.’
‘Which was?’
‘Hunting was a euphemism used by Macliau. It disguised his pursuit of the local women. I am afraid my foster-brother is…’ She finished with an eloquent gesture of her shoulders.
‘You have heard the story of what happened yesterday. Do you think your brother murdered Argantken?’
Iuna’s mouth became a stubborn line and she vehemently shook her head.
‘Macliau is a fool, a profligate and reckless with women. He is also weak and he should never succeed his father as mac’htiern. That does not mean he is a killer. He has a horror of blood. Of course,’ she added, ‘there is no accounting what a weak man will do when there is a prospect of being denied the power he thinks he is entitled to.’
‘You say he should not succeed as Lord of Brilhag. Who would become mac’htiern then?’
‘When a suitable male is not available to become chieftain or king,’ the girl replied, ‘then it is time to stand aside for a woman to take over.’
‘Meaning Trifina?’
Iuna’s eyes flashed for a moment and then she seemed to catch herself and smiled without humour.
‘Perhaps,’ she replied shortly. ‘She is the only other child of Lord Canao. One must not only be of the bloodline but be perceived as the best person for the task.’
‘I presume Iarnbud was asking about me because he is suspicious of all foreigners?’ continued Fidelma.
‘He wanted to know if you had known Riwanon before you came here.’
This answer puzzled Fidelma. She asked: ‘How did he think I would have known her?’
‘Perhaps because your Cousin Bressal had been sent as envoy to King Alain and you were on your cousin’s ship when it was attacked?’
‘Why would that follow? Oh, he might not have realised that I only joined Bressal at Naoned. I suppose he thought that I had come to this kingdom with my cousin and had been at Alain’s court?’
‘Iarnbud is a strange man,’ Iuna said, almost to herself. ‘He has never liked Riwanon.’
‘Any reason?’
‘Only that he was once patronised by Riwanon’s predecessor as Queen.’
Fidelma was trying to work that out.
‘Do you mean that Riwanon is not the first wife of this King Alain?’ she asked.
‘Correct. She is his second wife. King Alain is twice her age, you see.’
‘What happened to his first wife?’
‘What happened to half of the population a few years ago? The Yellow Plague, alas.’
‘And then Alain married Riwanon?’
‘He did.’
‘And where was she from? Domnonia?’
‘No, she was of Bro-Waroch. Her father was Lord of Gwern Porc’ hoed on the edge of the great forest of Brekilien.’
Brekilien again, thought Fidelma. This name cropped up so many times.
‘So is Riwanon related to your foster-father’s family?’
‘The Lord of Gwern Porc’ hoed was one of the chieftains who owed allegiance to the kings of Bro-Waroch, but he was not of the royal family.’
‘And you think that Iarnbud dislikes Riwanon for no other reason than that she married Alain Hir?’
‘He needs little excuse for his likes and dislikes,’ the girl replied. ‘And now I think I have gossiped enough. Excuse me — I have my duties to perform.’
With a quick jerk of her head to indicate that the conversation had ended, she turned and walked away, leaving Fidelma gazing thoughtfully after her. Perhaps, she thought, the family relationships were entirely irrelevant to the matter, but they were certainly complicated.
On her return to the great hall, Fidelma found that some of the others had arrived and were sitting morosely around the fire. Macliau was seated on one side of the hearth apparently recovering from his travails, while Trifina sat opposite him, both their gazes seemed concentrated on the flames. Brother Metellus had apparently made the early-morning journey to the fortress to report on conditions at the abbey after the near-riot. He sat near them, drumming his fingers uneasily on the wooden arm of his carved chair. Bleidbara was standing before the fire, hands clasped behind him, while Eadulf remained at the table, having finished breaking his fast. He raised his eyes in a meaningful expression as Fidelma entered, as if to indicate the awkward atmosphere that permeated the room.