The Monk Who Vanished Read Free Page B

The princes of the Uí Fidgente had been enemies to her family for as long as she could remember. True, Colgú had taken his personal bodyguard, but could harm really threaten him? She became aware that Eadulf was asking something.
    ‘How is it, then, that he is called Ailbe of Imleach? Not Ailbe of Cashel? And what is this Law of Ailbe?’
    Eadulf was always eager to pick up what information he could about the kingdom of Muman.
    Fidelma brought her gaze back to him and smiled apologetically for her drifting.
    ‘The Kings of Cashel accepted that only Ailbe held ecclesiastical authority in our kingdom. Armagh, which is in the northern Uí Néill kingdom of Ulaidh, is now trying to assert that it is the primacy of all Ireland. We, in Muman, maintain that our primacy is Imleach. That is what makes Ailbe important to us.’
    ‘But you said that the primacy was Cashel,’ Eadulf pointed out in confusion.
    ‘It is said that as Ailbe grew old, an angel appeared to him and told him to follow to Imleach Iubhair, which is not too far distance from here, and there he would be shown the site of his resurrection. This was symbolic because Imleach was once the ancient capital of the kingdom before King Corc chose Cashel in pagan times. It takes its name from the sacred yew-tree which is the totem of our kingdom.’
    Eadulf made a clicking sound with his tongue to express his disapproval of pagan symbolism. A convert to Christianity himself, he, like most converts, had become vehement in his new belief.
    ‘Ailbe left Cashel and went to Imleach and built a great abbey there,’ continued Fidelma. ‘There was an ancient sacred well which he blessed and converted to God’s use. He even blessed the sacred yew-tree. When Ailbe’s abbey was set up there, a flourishing community sprang up. When Ailbe’s work was done, the saintly man passed to heaven. His relics still remain at Imleach where he is buried. There is a legend …’
    Fidelma paused, smiled and shrugged apologetically. If the truth were known she was really talking for the sake of keeping her thoughts occupied against the anxiety that kept gnawing in her mind for the safety of her brother at the Well of Ara.
    ‘Go on,’ pressed Eadulf, for he enjoyed the effortless way Fidelma
recalled the legends of her people, making the ancient gods and heroes seem to come to life before his fascinated eyes.
    Fidelma glanced across the valley again, towards the road which led across the great River Suir and then further across the valley where the road led towards the Well of Ara. There was no sign of any movement on the road. She turned her attention back to Eadulf.
    ‘It is a fact not to be approved of, but many of our people believe, with an extraordinary faith, that should Ailbe’s relics be stolen from us, there would be nothing to save this land from falling to our enemies. Ailbe’s name in ancient legends was given to a hound which guarded the borders of the kingdom. Some say that Ailbe the saint was named after that mythical hound so that the people look to our saint as being the embodiment of the hound, always protecting our borders. If his relics were taken from Imleach, then the Eóghanacht dynasty would fall from Cashel; the kingdom of Muman would be rent in twain and there would be no peace in the land.’
    Eadulf was clearly impressed by the legend.
    ‘I had no idea that such beliefs were still held by your people,’ he commented, with a slight shake of his head.
    Fidelma grimaced wryly.
    ‘I am not one to countenance such superstitions. But the people believe it so strongly that I would hate to put it to the test.’
    She glanced up and caught sight of a movement at the edge of the distant forest. She focused carefully and then her features broke into a broad smile of happy relief.
    ‘Look Eadulf! Here comes Colgú and the Prince of the Uí Fidgente with him.’

Chapter Three
    Eadulf peered through the window, towards the expanse of green cultivated fields which lay