They moved forward cautiously and, at a silent signal from Bleidbara, they spread out left and right to encircle the camp which announced itself by the sound of a crackling fire in the clearing ahead of them. As they drew near, Eadulf could see through the undergrowth the light of the blazing campfire. Two raiders were squatting before it, their weapons at their sides. There was no sign of the third man nor of the female prisoner. The two men were talking to one another in loud voices, and now and then glancing towards the far side of the small clearing and laughing lewdly. Eadulf raised his eyes and saw a movement from the bushes at which their glances were directed.
He reached forward, tapped Bleidbara on the arm and pointed.
The warrior nodded to indicate that he had understood. Then he held up his dagger, gesturing at himself and then at the bush. Bleidbara’s men were highly trained. The young commander was already moving silently and rapidly, skirting the camp, making directly for his target. Eadulf kept close behind him.
They came on the scene that Eadulf had already suspected might meet their eyes. The girl, Ceingar, was stretched on the ground. Her dress was raised. She lay without struggling as the man panted and heaved on top of her.
In a couple of strides Bleidbara had moved across the intervening distance, grabbed the rapist by the hair and yanked him backwards. The man’s reactions were quick. He gave a cry of alarm as he was wrenched off by Bleidbara’s strong arm but, at the same time, he was grabbing for the dagger in his belt. Bleidbara had no choice but to use his own weapon, plunging it under the man’s ribcage.
From the camp, Eadulf could hear the cries of alarm as Bleidbara’s men closed with the other raiders. The inert form of the girl now came alive; screaming, she scrambled up, pulling down her dress and staring wildly about.
Eadulf moved forward.
‘Have no fear!’ he yelled. ‘We are your rescuers. You are free!’
She was staring at him like one demented and, to his surprise, she lunged forward, clutching at the warrior’s discarded knife and raising it. For a moment Eadulf froze. The girl would have struck home but Bleidbara, having dropped the dead form of the assailant, took a pace forward and grabbed the girl by the wrist, twisting it slightly so that she was forced to drop the knife.
He said something to her and she slumped forward as if in exhaustion and sank to the ground again.
‘It’s all right,’ Bleidbara said to Eadulf. ‘The girl did not know who we were and acted out of instinct. Let her sit still for a moment.’
Boric suddenly appeared. His face was grim with satisfaction.
‘They are both dead,’ he said, jerking his thumb across his shoulder.
‘You killed them?’ Eadulf felt disappointment. ‘We could have questioned them.’
‘I am afraid not, Brother Eadulf,’ replied Boric without remorse. ‘They fought like demons and had no intention of allowing themselves to become prisoners. They had the battle fever on them. There was nothing else we could do but meet their steel with our own.’
Eadulf glanced to where the girl, Ceingar, was huddled on a log, her knees drawn up to her chin, arms clasped around them, rocking back and forth. Her eyes were wide and bright, gazing in horror at the body of the man who had violated her.
‘Does she know that she is safe?’ he asked Bleidbara.
The warrior gave an affirmative gesture. He spoke to the girl and she eventually raised her head and stared from Bleidbara to Eadulf.
‘She recognises us.’
‘Ask her what happened,’ Eadulf instructed.
‘She says that they had been out riding, her mistress, Queen Riwanon, and her party. Suddenly, arrows flew. Two of the warriors were cut down. Riwanon and Budic galloped off but, as Ceingar made to follow them, one of the members of the ambush party leaped out and caught her horse’s bridle and thus she was trapped.’
‘What happened to the bodies of the warriors who were slain?’
There was some hesitation on the girl’s face, a look of distaste before she spoke.
‘The attackers put their bodies on one of the horses and took them away.’
‘And what happened to her?’
‘They told her that she was a prisoner and for a while they bound her wrists. They released her only when…’He gestured silently to the spot where they had found her.
‘How many were there in this attacking party?’
‘About half-a-dozen.’
‘What happened after she was captured?’
‘They rode along the track and over a hill until they saw a farmstead. The leader…’
‘Who was the leader?’ interrupted Eadulf. ‘Did you recognise him?’
The girl pointed at her slain assailant. Eadulf was disappointed, as clearly this man was not the ‘Dove of Death’.
‘And what did he do at the farmstead?’
‘They rode down on it and killed the farmer, then set fire to the buildings. Then a group of people appeared on the hill and came running towards them, bearing weapons. They were a large crowd, too large for them to fight off. So they rode away.’
‘To the oratory?’
The girl frowned uncertainly.
‘We saw your tracks there,’ he explained. ‘Was that where the ship was waiting?’
Again her eyes were wide. ‘There are no tracks on water,’ she said hoarsely, obviously still in shock. ‘How did you know that?’
‘A logical deduction — from the tracks,’ Eadulf smiled. ‘Three of your captors went on board the ship and then the other three took their horses with you and came here. Is that right?’
Ceingar sighed deeply. ‘We came here and camped and…’ She shivered violently.
‘Well, it’s all over now,’ Eadulf said. ‘Do you know where you were heading? Why did some of the attackers go aboard the vessel?’
As he expected, she did not know. ‘They said nothing to me and I heard nothing of their plans,’ she replied.
‘We might as well take their horses and ride back to Brilhag,’ Bleidbara said. He turned to the girl. ‘Are you fit enough to travel?’
‘I think so.’
Bleidbara was examining the sky. ‘If we leave now, we should get to Brilhag by nightfall.’
At a signal, his men doused the fire, gathered the weapons of the raiders and some few items they found on their persons, and tied their horses together on a lead rope. Then they remounted and started back along the track at a swift canter.
‘Bleidbara has returned,’ Iuna announced as she moved to the doors of the great hall. Those gathered there had already heard the call of the trumpet from the main gates.
Even before Iuna spoke, the gates had swung open and the warriors, closely followed by Eadulf, came in. Behind them was the pale figure of Ceingar, looking dishevelled. She gazed quickly around, saw Riwanon and ran to her, casting herself on her knees before her and speaking rapidly, sobbing as she did so. Riwanon replied sternly and turned to Iuna, saying something. Iuna moved forward and helped the girl to her feet and, after a few words from Riwanon to Ceingar, led her away.
‘The girl is distraught,’ Riwanon told Fidelma, ‘so I have sent her to clean herself and rest.’
‘I would like to question her,’ Fidelma said. ‘We need to find out as much as we can about these attackers.’
‘It will have to be later when she is more composed,’ the Queen replied firmly.
‘Very well.’ Fidelma turned to Eadulf with a warning look to convey that she did not want him to discuss his observations in front of the others.
Bleidbara, however, recounted what had happened.
‘Thanks be that you were able to save poor Ceingar.’ Riwanon looked sad. ‘I can only imagine the fate that those beasts had in store for her. But my warriors, ah…it distresses me. Both killed, you say?’
‘We were unable to recover their bodies. Ceingar said that only she was taken alive in the ambush,’ Bleidbara replied. ‘She was not sure what the captors did with the bodies, but they took their horses. We have, of course, brought all the horses back to the fortress with us.’