Solam’s excitable voice grew in strength. He flung out his arm for dramatic effect.
‘The Prince’s party rode into the market square in the town below this castle’s walls. Unsuspecting of the fate that had been planned for him, my Prince rode forward. Without warning, the arrow from an assassin’s bow struck him. God be praised! The bowman’s hand was ill-guided. Perhaps the breath of God blew on the flight of the arrow … perhaps the eye of the Almighty One …’
Brehon Rumann raised a hand in exasperation. ‘I would suggest that the advocate leaves aside speculation on the actions of God in this case and concentrate on the actions of men,’ he advised.
Solam swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing nervously.
Fidelma lowered her eyes and compressed her lips for the sight of the blinking, confused Solam was comical.
‘Er, just so. Just so. The bowman’s hand … the arrow did not strike its intended target. The arrow hit Donennach in the thigh. A bad wound, yes, but not life-threatening and, as you see-’ he gestured to where Donennach was sitting impatiently in his chair — ‘my Prince recovered.’
‘Well, it would seem obvious that he did not die,’ remarked Brehon Dathal loudly. A ripple of amusement spread through the Great Hall.
Solam paused and blinked. Then he struggled on.
‘There was pandemonium. Donennach had fallen from his horse and thus prevented the assassin getting a further shot. Gionga, the captain of Prince Donennach’s bodyguard, ever alert, had seen the direction from which the arrow had been fired. He rode his horse across the market square and found two assassins who had placed themselves on the roof of the warehouse. They were attempting to escape to their horses. Gionga, faced with two implacable enemies, was forced to cut them down with his sword.
‘The two bodies were brought before my Prince, and before other witnesses. The truth of the identity of the assassins was to be seen ontheir bodies. One of them wore the collar of the Order of the Golden Chain which everyone knows is the elite bodyguard of the King of Cashel …’
Solam was apparently fond of dramatic pauses but again he was met in total silence for nothing he had said so far was new to anyone in the Great Hall.
‘The second man was a brother of a senior cleric of the abbey of Ailbe, the primacy of this kingdom. This man carried with him one of the Holy Relics of Ailbe, the Ailbe crucifix, to be precise. Our contention is that the Keeper of the Holy Relics had given the crucifix to him, for this Holy Relic was to be symbolic that this assassination had the blessing of the Comarb of Ailbe. I shall demonstrate that the assassin carried this crucifix during this nefarious work as a talisman. The Holy Relic could only have left the abbey of Imleach with the approval of the Comarb of Ailbe. This compounds that both the King and his religious head were involved in the assassination attempt on the Prince of the Uí Fidgente.’
This time there was a murmur of mingled anger and surprise from the people. Abbot Ségdae gave an audible gasp and started to rise from his seat. Colgú reached forward and laid a hand on the elderly abbot’s arm, shaking his head in warning not to interrupt the proceedings.
The Brehon Rumann rapped the table with his gavel to call for order. ‘Continue,’ he instructed Solam.
Solam gestured nervously. ‘I have little more to add in this opening statement. All I can say is that Muman never wanted peace with the Uí Fidgente and sought to eliminate its Prince, perhaps to send an army into the country of the Dal gCais in the wake of the turmoil that such an act would provoke. They would take control of the Uí Fidgente and exert the vain claims that Muman have maintained over the centuries — that they are Kings, by right, over our people.’
He sat down abruptly.
The Brehon Ruman turned to Fidelma. ‘Are you prepared with your opening counter-plea, Sister Fidelma?’
Fidelma rose. ‘I am. Learned judges, it is my intention, during these proceedings, not only to reject the claims of the Uí Fidgente, but to demonstrate where the real culpability lies.’
‘Are you challenging the facts that Solam has laid before us?’ Rumann asked in an unfriendly tone. ‘Do you question his truth?’
‘At this stage, I will say,’ replied Fidelma, ‘that Solam has told you only one aspect of the truth but not the entire truth. He did not relate to you the fact that when the King of Muman and his guest, the Prince of the Uí Fidgente, rode into the market square of Cashel, the first arrow fired by the assailants was fired at the King of Muman. It would havestruck him in the heart had he not suddenly bent forward to greet me as his sister. Because of that lucky action, the arrow struck him in the arm and badly wounded him. Why did Solam not mention this?’
Solam sprang to his feet, his face flushed and sneering. ‘I am here to represent the Prince of the Uí Fidgente,’ he snapped in his excitable fashion. ‘Fidelma will speak for her brother.’
‘Did you know this fact and withhold it?’ demanded the Brehon Rumann, showing disapprobation.
‘I knew the fact but also knew that Fidelma would make it known. It is not incumbent on me to present her arguments for her.’
Solam’s excitable temper was working against him for the Brehon Rumann began to frown. ‘Sometimes economy with truth is no better than a lie, Solam. Be warned. I shall not tolerate a half truth.’
Solam bowed his head penitentially.
Fidelma surprised everyone by saying: ‘I do not blame Solam, learned judges, for attempting to find his truth by leaving aside what he feels unnecessary to state. Would we could all find truth as easily as we can uncover untruth.
‘However, the facts are that the King was also injured and was struck down first in the attack and in the furore that ensued may lie the true reason why the assassin was not able to find a fatal target in the body of the Prince of the Uí Fidgente. Or, perhaps, he did not want to?’
‘That is a conjecture!’ cried Solam, springing to his feet. ‘It is an insult and a charge against the Uí Fidgente!’
‘No more a conjecture than Solam’s interpretation,’ rejoined Fidelma calmly. ‘Further, it is true that Gionga, captain of Donennach’s bodyguard, chased after the assassins. But so did the tanist of Muman, Donndubháin. Both men had a hand in the death of the would-be assassins.
‘My contention is that there was no plot by the King of Muman to assassinate the Prince of the Uí Fidgente. This I shall prove.’
Solam was once again on his feet. ‘That proof will be interesting. I will now add to my initial outline of the case against Muman. I have shown that one of the assassins was a member of the elite bodyguard of the King of Cashel …’
‘You have shown no such thing!’ Fidelma challenged. ‘The fact that he carried the emblem of the Golden Chain does not make him a member of the Order.’
‘We will judge that in the weight of the evidence,’ Brehon Rumann assured her.
‘The evidence will show another link,’ went on Solam triumphantly. ‘I have said that the other assassin was the brother of the Keeper of the Holy Relics at Imleach. On the evening before the attemptedassassination, the Keeper of the Holy Relics disappeared from Imleach with the Relics of Ailbe. He faked his departure from the abbey so that it looked as if he had been carried off by enemies. He was to make it appear so, in order that blame was put on the Uí Fidgente for this action. Learned judges, I have managed to secure the person of this conniving religieux, Brother Mochta, whose twin Baoill was the assassin to whom I refer. He sits waiting to be called as a witness and, I am pleased to say, that Gionga of the Uí Fidgente recovered the reliquary of Ailbe, hidden here, in Cashel, whose theft was going to be blamed on the Uí Fidgente.’
Fidelma was on her feet, flushed and angry. ‘Learned judges, this is a travesty of the truth.’