The Council of the Cursed sf-19 Read online

  ‘Before we start, I think we should like to be shown something of the abbey,’ Fidelma said. ‘It would help us.’

  Brother Chilperic looked uneasy. ‘I do not know,’ he said hesitantly.

  Fidelma’s brows came together. ‘Come, come, Brother Chilperic. It is useless our being here if we do not know where we are exactly.’

  The tour was a cursory one, but at least it helped Fidelma and Eadulf to orientate themselves. The abbey was larger than they had expected and was bounded on two sides by the tall city walls. There appeared to be one main building, then a large chapel and several smaller structures interspersed with little courtyards and gardens. From the anticum, in the main building, they exited into a large courtyard with its entrance to the great chapel on the opposite side. To the south side of the courtyard was a small building entirely on its own which housed the apartments of Bishop Leodegar. Trees of apple, pear, plum and quince surrounded it. Separate to this was the house of the physician, with an infirmary and the physician’s garden for herbs and healing plants.

  The main building contained the work rooms of the community-the bakehouse, brewery and kitchens next to the refectory-and beyond that, the latrina were housed at ground level. There was also a common room for the brethren called the calefactorium which, in winter, was heated by flues under the floor fed from the kitchen fires, and next to this was a scriptorium or library. There was also a vestiarium for the storing of clothes, because the warmth of the calefactorium helped preserve them and also kept the manuscript books of the scriptorium at a reasonable temperature.

  Above this main building were the dormitoria for the brethren. The individual chambers were for the more senior members of the community. Then there was a second storey with other chambers and the hospitia, which were more ostentatiously furnished for guests of importance.

  Brother Chilperic had paused in the main courtyard to point out some of the focal points of the abbey. He spoke with some enthusiasm.

  ‘We are in a corner of the old city, bounded on two sides by the ancient walls. The western wall runs behind the chapel and the southern wall is beyond the bishop’s house. Beyond the southern wall, through which we have access by means of a gateway into a tunnel made though the wall, we have our farmstead. There are cow sheds, goat sheds, pigsties, sheep, hen and duck houses and another garden for our vegetables-such as garlic, onions, cabbages, lettuce and celery.’

  ‘And do the brethren take turns in looking after the animals and produce?’ Fidelma asked.

  Brother Chilperic shook his head. ‘The farmwork is done by the slaves and supervised by the brethren.’

  ‘Slaves?’ Her eyes widened.

  ‘We don’t allow slaves in the abbey,’ went on Brother Chilperic, as if he had not noticed her shocked expression. ‘They only work on the farm. We have twenty field slaves who belong to the abbey.’

  ‘The chapel is quite spectacular,’ Eadulf remarked, trying to give Fidelma a warning glance not to pursue the matter of slaves again.

  Brother Chilperic turned to him with pride and said, ‘It was once a temple of the Romans before being consecrated to the use of the true Faith.’

  Attending prayers on the previous evening, they had already observed its large interior. It was a tall building, with a semicircular apse at the southern end in which stood a high altar. It was unlike the churches that Fidelma and Eadulf were used to. To the west of the altar was a smaller one dedicated to Apostle Peter and, on the opposite side, another dedicated to Apostle Paul. The congregation stood before the altar while the officiating priest performed the rituals. There were wooden screens, which they had noticed separated the women from the men. The women from the Domus Femini entered the chapel, apparently by some underground route through the vaults that stretched as far as the Domus Femini, and took their places unseen behind these screens.

  Brother Chilperic told them that the Domus Femini stood to the east side of the abbey, separated by a large courtyard and a wagonway. It was up that wagonway that Brother Budnouen had taken his cart to unload his goods when they had arrived on the previous day. These women’s quarters had once been part of the main abbey buildings, but now all other entrances had apparently been blocked off so they were isolated from the brethren of the abbey, apart from the underground passage to the chapel.

  Fidelma and Eadulf were certainly impressed by the size of the complex of the abbey. It was like a small town in itself and almost self-sufficient. One could lose oneself quite easily in the numerous halls, chambers and corridors.

  A bell started to toll and Brother Chilperic started nervously.

  ‘I think we should begin your work, for the day is passing rapidly,’ he ventured.

  ‘We have already begun our work,’ Fidelma said mildly. ‘But let us now see where Abbot Dabhóc met his death.’

  Looking relieved, Brother Chilperic set off up the stairs of the main building to the hospitia, but led them to chambers on the far side of the building from where their own were situated. Their guide paused before a door and announced: ‘This was the chamber where Abbot Dabhóc was killed.’

  ‘And it was Bishop Ordgar’s chamber?’ queried Eadulf.

  ‘It was,’ replied the steward. He opened the door. There was a single window facing them that lit the room well in spite of the fact that it was facing north across the sprawl of the city. It was not a bright day but the light was enough to reveal a scene that caused them to halt in surprise on the threshold.

  ‘This room has been ransacked.’ Eadulf stated the obvious.

  Bedding was strewn on the floor, blankets and bits of broken furniture were scattered here and there, two cupboard doors hung off their hinges while loose bricks had even been prised out of the wall.

  ‘Destructive but thorough,’ muttered Fidelma. ‘Someone appears to have been looking for something.’

  Brother Chilperic was in a state of shock.

  ‘It was not done last evening,’ he said.

  Fidelma turned to him with a frown. ‘So you looked in this room last evening?’

  The steward appeared suddenly awkward.

  ‘I just…I wanted…wanted to see if it was ready for your inspection.’

  Fidelma replied patiently, ‘My inspection was to see if anything had been previously missed. I did not want the room made ready or tidied before it.’

  ‘Well, you certainly got your wish,’ Eadulf said ruefully, indicating the mess.

  A thought struck Fidelma.

  ‘When exactly did you come here and observe that there was nothing amiss?’

  ‘When?’

  ‘You said that this had not happened last evening. What time were you here?’

  ‘After the evening prayers.’

  ‘After Bishop Leodegar announced in the chapel that we would be investigating the matter of Dabhóc’s killing?’

  ‘After that,’ agreed the steward.

  Eadulf was nodding thoughtfully. ‘So someone was scared that something might be found…’ he began.

  Fidelma silenced him with a sharp look.

  ‘There is nothing to be gained here,’ she said. ‘If you would be good enough to indicate Brother Sigeric’s chamber or tell us where we might find him? Then I think, as steward, your duty would be to inform the bishop about this matter.’

  The young man replied, ‘At this hour Brother Sigeric will be in the scriptorium, Sister. I will take you there.’

  ‘One moment.’ Fidelma was looking at the doors to the individual chambers in the corridor. ‘If this was Bishop Ordgar’s original chamber, tell me who occupied the rooms on either side.’

  ‘His steward, Brother Benevolentia, is in the chamber to your left,’ Brother Chilperic indicated. ‘Bishop Ordgar has now been moved to the chamber on his left.’

  ‘Whose chamber is that, on the other side to Ordgar’s original chamber-to the right?’

  ‘That is now unoccupied,’ replied Brother Chilperic.

  ‘And unoccupied on the night of the mu
rder?’

  The man shook his head. ‘No, that was occupied by Lord Guntram.’

  ‘Lord Guntram? The local governor?’

  ‘He had come to the abbey to see the bishop and stayed late so that he was in no condition to ride back to his fortress.’

  ‘Ah, he was the visiting nobleman of whom Bishop Leodegar spoke. How do you mean-he was in no condition?’

  Brother Chilperic looked uncomfortable. ‘He is a rather profligate young man, I am afraid, and the bishop keeps a good wine cellar.’

  Fidelma was quiet as they followed the steward to the scriptorium. Leaving them at the door, he hurried off to convey the latest development to the bishop, his leather sandals slapping on the flags of the corridor.

  Fidelma and Eadulf watched him go. Then Eadulf said in a whisper, ‘You think that someone in the chapel, on hearing we were investigating the matter, hurried to the chamber to search it?’

  ‘And why would that be?’ countered Fidelma. ‘If there was something incriminating in that chamber, why not retrieve it during the week that has passed since the killing of Dabhóc?’

  Eadulf looked disappointed. ‘It is a mystery,’ he admitted.

  Fidelma chuckled. ‘We are here to solve such mysteries,’ she reminded him, before reaching forward to turn the handle of the door into the scriptorium.

  There was only one person inside-a young man poring over a scroll that was spread on the wooden table before him. He looked up as they entered and nervously started to rise in his seat. When Fidelma began to introduce herself, the young man made a motion of his hand.

  ‘I know who you both are. I saw you in the chapel last night.’

  ‘Be at ease, Brother Sigeric,’ invited Fidelma. ‘I understand that you were first on the scene in Bishop Ordgar’s chamber. You are a scribe in this abbey, I believe?’

  The young man sank back into his chair and carefully laid his quill down on the desk before him.

  ‘I write a fair hand,’ he said, almost defensively. ‘I have good Latin, passable Greek and some Hebrew. Therefore, in kindness, I am scribe to the bishop.’

  ‘And are you a Frank?’

  ‘I am a Burgund. I was born and raised in this city.’

  ‘Have you served long in this abbey?’

  ‘Since I was fifteen years old.’

  ‘So that would be…?’

  ‘I have seen four and twenty summers.’

  ‘Nine years,’ reflected Fidelma. ‘You must know this abbey well.’

  The young man shrugged but said nothing.

  ‘I would imagine that there has never been a mysterious death at the abbey before,’ she continued.

  ‘None that I am aware of.’

  ‘And now you have played a central role in the matter.’

  Brother Sigeric looked alarmed. ‘I don’t know what you mean.’

  ‘You are a key witness.’

  ‘I saw nothing,’ replied the young man.

  ‘On the contrary, you saw a great deal by discovering the scene of the murder.’

  The young man’s jaw came up. ‘I was not there when the Hibernian abbot was killed.’

  ‘We did not say that you were. But we would like to find out exactly how you came to Bishop Ordgar’s chamber that night. It was in the hour before dawn, I am told.’

  Brother Sigeric sniffed slightly. ‘I explained everything to Bishop Leodegar.’

  ‘And now you will explain to me.’

  ‘I was just passing…’

  ‘In the middle of the night?’ intervened Fidelma. ‘Tell me, where is your chamber in relationship to Bishop Ordgar’s?’

  The young man seemed unwilling to speak for a moment.

  ‘The rooms of the hospitia are on the second floor of this building,’ Fidelma prompted him. ‘Surely the dormitoria are on the first floor?’

  ‘As scribe I have my own chamber. It is on the second floor…’

  ‘Where exactly?’ she pressed.

  ‘It is on the eastern side of the building overlooking the courtyard between this building and the Domus Femini.’

  ‘Then it still does not explain why you were just passing Bishop Ordgar’s chamber in the middle of the night.’

  The young man sighed deeply as if suddenly resigned. ‘The women here live separately to the men,’ he muttered.

  The sentence surprised Fidelma. ‘I do not see the connection.’

  ‘When the Blessed Reticulus became the first bishop here, or the first we know of, as many claimed Amator preceded him, this was a mixed house. But Bishop Leodegar is of the faction that believe men and women should be separated and, indeed, that the clerics should adopt the code of celibacy if they wish to serve the New Faith. Yet we still have free choice on the matter. Rome has not decreed it as the Rule.’

  ‘So you do not agree with Bishop Leodegar’s Rule? There is no need to be defensive on this matter,’ Fidelma assured him. ‘Eadulf and I share not only a union in our Faith but a union in marriage. There is no Rule of celibacy in our churches either.’

  The young man was nervous. ‘You will understand, then,’ he said, almost pleading.

  ‘We can only understand when we know what it is that you are trying to say, Sigeric. Now, explain why you were abroad that night before dawn.’

  Brother Sigeric bit his lip. ‘I went to meet a girl.’

  He paused and Fidelma had to prompt him to continue.

  ‘Who was this girl?’

  ‘Her name is Valretrade. She is one of the religieuse who serve in the Domus Femini beyond the wall. We became friends when this was still a mixed community. She also had a talent for copying the old texts and so we met here. After the bishop separated the communities, we contrived to meet regularly.’

  ‘And that night you were on your way to an assignation with Valretrade?’

  ‘I had received a message from her urging me to meet her.’

  ‘How did you receive such a message?’

  ‘It was a crude method. My room, as I said, looks across the courtyard that separates us from the Domus Femini. Almost exactly opposite to my window is the chamber occupied by Valretrade. We arranged that when either one of us needed to see the other urgently, we would place a lighted candle in the windows.’

  ‘And that night you saw the candle?’

  Brother Sigeric nodded quickly. ‘I was not sleeping comfortably and I awoke. That was when I saw the candle. I lit an answering one in my window. Once it was seen, the arrangement was that Valretrade raised her candle and moved it from side to side three times. I then did the same. If she then extinguished the candle, it meant that she was on the way to our meeting place. This happened that night and so I left to go to our prearranged meeting point, having also extinguished my candle.’

  ‘What if you had not awoken and seen the candle? It was not a guaranteed way of communication.’

  ‘I grant you that,’ the young man said. ‘But it was the best we could do in the circumstances. Usually, there was never urgency in the meetings. We knew, more or less, on which nights we would meet. That night was different. The signal meant it was urgent.’

  ‘And where did you meet?’

  ‘The pre-arranged meeting spot is by a certain tomb in the catacombs beneath the abbey. It is an old necropolis and where all the old bishops of this abbey are buried.’

  ‘So you went and met Valretrade?’

  ‘I never reached there. I was passing by Bishop Ordgar’s chamber when I noticed the door partly opened and saw what lay inside: the Hibernian and the Briton, lying in blood on the floor, and the Saxon unconscious on the bed. I struggled for a moment between loyalty to the abbey and concern for Valretrade, then I realised that I should rouse the bishop-and that is what I did. After that, it was an hour or more before I could get away. I finally proceeded to the catacombs, but Valretrade was not there.’

  ‘What did you do?’

  ‘I returned to my chamber and re-lit the candle, but although I waited until dawn there was no answer to my
efforts. I was puzzled until I remembered that while, after the signal, her candle seemed to be extinguished, the light had actually moved away from the window as if the candle was placed elsewhere. At the time, I just thought that she needed the light. By dawn I thought perhaps the signal had not been fully observed and she had changed her mind.’

  ‘So a week has passed since then. What has Valretrade told you about her urgent desire to see you that night? And, of course, your candle mystery?’

  Brother Sigeric turned a woebegone expression to them.

  ‘She has told me nothing, for I have not seen her.’

  Eadulf was frowning. ‘Are you saying she made no attempt to contact you again through your rather cumbersome method?’

  ‘None.’

  ‘Have you not contacted her?’

  ‘I tried on the subsequent night without success.’

  ‘Well, we can surely get a message to Valretrade on your behalf. I presume she was angry that you did not turn up at the meeting place.’

  Brother Sigeric shook his head sadly. ‘On the fourth day I summoned up the courage to go to Abbess Audofleda and request to see Valretrade. I saw her stewardess, who turned me from the door.’

  ‘What did this stewardess tell you?’

  ‘She told me that she could not help me even if she wanted to, and claimed that Valretrade had left the abbey and run away.’

  ‘Run away? Did you know of any cause why she would do so?’

  Brother Sigeric looked as if he were in physical pain. ‘She would never have run away before she had spoken to me.’

  ‘But she tried to contact you and you did not turn up.’

  He hung his head and made a sound like a sob. ‘If things were so desperate, she would have waited. I know her. She would have sent a note to me, some message.’

  Fidelma leaned forward and patted the young man comfortingly on the shoulder.

  ‘We will do our best to find out more for you, Sigeric. We will have a word with this Abbess Audofleda and if there is a mystery there, we shall uncover it. In the meantime, try not to worry and-’

  Just then, the library door opened and Brother Chilperic entered.

  ‘I have informed the bishop,’ he said, without preamble. ‘He will await your findings on the matter as soon as you are ready.’