Mac Tire � Son of the Earth

Part 18 - The Accusers

** The funeral poem is one by that most famous and prolific of Irish poets, Anon, which I have adapted for my own purposes**


It had been approaching dusk when Cass had hefted his burden across a horse's back, and nearly dark when he got to the bottom of the hill. He spent the night in one of the lower duns that was empty of its occupants, putting Nekeb's body on an adjacent bed. It did not disturb his sleep. It was the living you had to watch... the dead left you in peace. Mostly.

Next morning Cass stood by the edge of the peat bed, looking into the hole that two obliging peat diggers had dug in the dark moist mud. It was right on the edge of the beds, in the place set aside for the burial of great warriors, and under a strong sapling so Cass knew he would have no trouble finding the spot for Lij and Dom to see later. No one would disturb Nekeb, there.

He drew off the cover and looked at the man lying peaceful in his last sleep. Cass felt a pull at his heart, and knew, as if Nekeb had himself told him, what he should do next. He obeyed this prompting and then the three men put the Egyptian respectfully and reverently into his resting place.

The two diggers waited patiently whilst Cassawn pondered on what he should do next, for he was not sure his own peoples' rituals would be appropriate for this stranger in a strange land. He thought of what Lij would wish for his friend, but knew nothing of Egyptian customs. A song from his youth came to him, and as it played through his mind, it filled his whole being with a sense of peace. He spoke the words aloud, glad to have found something befitting his new friend.

"I go down from the hill in gladness, and half with a pain I depart, Where the Mother with gentlest breathing made music on lip and in heart;

For I know that my childhood is over: a call comes out of the vast, And the life that I had in the old time, like beauty in twilight, is past.

I am fired by the love that I leave here, for that love has loves in the world, And my thought is no longer of battle, but peace is the flag I unfurled, And I pass from the cares of the earth and of men to a life that is purest light: And I bid to you stars and you mountains good morrow after the night.

I will come once again as a master, who played as a child in my dawn; I will enter the heart of the hills where the gods of the old world are gone.

And will dance like the bright Hound of Ulster with princes of earth and of sky For my dream is to conquer the heavens and live with my love on high."

One of the men cleared his throat and the other wiped his face with a grubby scrap of cloth. "Sure, that was a fine sending you gave him there, Captain," the smaller man said, hefting his peat cutter. "Would you mind, now, if we carried on with our work? That keep takes much cutting to fuel its fires."

Cass nodded, and wrapped his bundle up, placing the rich cloth under his arm. He thanked them and, leaving them placing the turves on the grave made his way to the hill again, lighter of heart. Nekeb would find his peace, he was sure of that.

He was leading the horses up the road when he saw Brian coming out of a dun at the bottom of the hill. The guard beckoned Cass over, smiling at him.

"Your lord is in here, Cass. He has been asking for you, and about his lover. Morne sent me down yesterday to find out if he'd know why Lij would want to kill off everyone in the family. I took my time about it, too - he is in no condition to object at the moment. The old healer here needed my help with his charge, but I must go now."

Cassawn raised his brows. "Morne is of the family?" Brian shifted his feet on the stony path leading into the dun. "Aye, he is. He is Ede's sister's son, and a mighty proud man as you know - long streak of misery that he is!" Brian spat contemptuously, and looked up at Cass with hunger in his eyes.

"I have missed you, my friend. Will you come to me tonight?" Cass nodded. He, too, had needs that wanted assuaging. "I will, so. After I have done for Dom and Lij what is needful, I will come. Prepare yourself for me." Brian touched Cass' arm hesitantly and smiled. "You can be sure of it!"

*

Dom had been promoted to a chair by the bed, after a restful, if drugged night, but had been refused permission by the old healer to try to walk. "You will only fall down, and then it is I that will have to pick you up. And I am afraid I am too old for such capering. So sit!" Dom sat and stared at the wall hanging. And thought. He would rather not have thought.

He thought of Lij cradling Nekeb in his arms, and remembered that he had seen only what his longing for Lij had allowed him to see, not what was. Lij was embracing his dying friend, not a lover, and the anguish that was visible on his face had been the anguish of loss, not discovery.

I am such a fool! I knew Lij was not capable of such behaviour. Has he not proved it time and time again over past years by refusing handsome men and wives and concubines offered him by the dozen? And I know he found some of them attractive, because did the dear man not tell me so, lying in my arms at night? And I thought...and I....I want him, so. And I misjudged him...again. I could have helped him...eased his pain. Poor Nekeb! Poor Lij! I am still a fool!

When Cass walked through the door Dom's face lit up. He tried to rise but remembered his orders. His first words were "how is Lij, Cass? Is he not with you?"

Cass sat and shook his head. He was shocked to see how pale and drawn Dom looked; how much sadness there was in his eyes. "He is well, but grieving. They would not let him leave his room not even to bury Nekeb. But I have marked the spot so you will know it later. How are you now, Lord, and who did this terrible thing to you all?"

Dom sighed. "I am better this morning, but I do not know, Cass, what has happened here. They say Ede is as sick as anyone else, and was almost despaired of herself. Otherwise I would have thought..."

Cass bit the skin around his thumb, thoughtfully. "They are saying it was Lij, Dom. You know this?"

Dom stirred in his chair impatiently. "That is nonsense! Why would Lij do such a thing? What reason could he possibly have?"

Cass coughed. "They are saying at the keep that Ede's eye has wandered in your direction once too often, Dom. And that Lij chose to kill her because of this."

"But why poison the others? Ede, yes, I can see why people might think that - but why would he kill the king? It makes no sense, does it?" Dom pulled the fur closer around his shoulders. He could not think clearly at the moment. It must wait until his head cleared.

The two men heard raised voices outside the room, and bluff tones that both instantly recognised. Cass and Dom smiled at each other. Here at least, was help.

"Old man," said the large figure brushing aside the healer's complaints with a kindly hand as he stepped into the room, "He will not take ill from seeing me, at least." The visitor cast the white haired man a shrewd look. "You know who he is, do you not?"

The white haired man bowed low. "I served his grandfather for many years. He has a look of the Monaghans' about him."

"So he does!" Gronya pushed past the two men and went up to Dom, placing a cool hand on his brow. "At least you have not succeeded in finishing off the Hope of Erin with your potions, Rory. You have done well." The healer bowed again, not without a trace of irony.

Dom accepted the old woman's kiss on his cheek, and looked up at Ultan of the Briocha standing at her side. "Make way, make way, woman!" Ultan chivvied, grinning at Dom and Cass. "The Hope of Erin will be better off for a drop of your cordial, Gronya, I'll be bound!"

Gronya bustled about the room, unpacking the two huge bundles a harried servant carried in. She muttered at the dust and tidied up as she went. The men sat and watched her, for a moment, grinning indulgently. Ultan turned to Dom, his smile now gone. "You do not need to tell me anything, Dom. I have heard it all already, and a sorry tale it is."

Ultan told the men that several of his - Dom's - supporters were gathering at the dun shortly. Ultan had passed discreet word that the King had returned. Dom and Cass learned that Meath, Connaught, Tyrone and Munster had said they were gathering at the coming feis to speak to the other minor kings to ask them to fight for the true High King.

No fight was now necessary. The usurper king was dead. Ede could not hold her wicked regime together without a male figurehead to appease the people. There had always been a king. The people expected to be ruled by a king. Poverty was their lot. Tyranny, rapine and murder, such as Ede had introduced, were things that they hopefully would survive. Living without a king, however, they would not countenance.

The cordial had been found and administered, and discussion was now taking place about what could be done with Ede once she was recovered enough to be moved, when a door slammed outside.

Dom and Cass both knew that Brian held an edict written by Ede ordering Ultan's death, so when Brian entered the room carrying a rolled parchment, Cassawn leapt to his feet to constrain the captain. Ultan's burly arm stopped him. "Sit, Cass. I know what I'm about." He turned to Brian, grimly. "Is this it, Captain?"

Brian nodded. "It is, so. But, you will be pleased to hear she has rescinded it...the death order. She must have realised that you can be more of a help to her alive. You are no longer in any danger from me." Ultan rose and clasped Brian around the shoulder, grinning. "And was I ever in any danger from you, my own fighting Brian Boru?"

Brian's face shone with affection, as he returned the embrace. "No," he said. "Of course not, father."

*

Lij paced the room. He was not used to being confined, and it grated on his already overwrought nerves. He went to the door and asked the guards if Cass had returned. The guard had changed and the new men said they did not know. He sat in a chair and started counting the stones in the wall. He had reached one hundred and four when he noticed something pale lodged in between two of the grey stones. He stood on the bed and retrieved the thing. It was Nekeb's list.

Lij sat back in the chair his heart somehow gladdened by the sight of his friend's untidy scrawl. What does this mean? Lij thought, scanning the list carefully.

1. Purple...murex?
2. Emerald gem
3. Pearls
4. Frankincense and Myrrh.
5. Dates
6. Strange man
7. Best Samian
8. Silk
9. Lapis lazuli
10. Porphyry
11. Garlic

"Pearls" had been scratched out, but what did the other things mean? They were things that were as familiar to him as his own name. And who was the strange man? Was it the same man that he had seen in the Great Hall? The swarthy skinned, long haired man who looked as out of place as Lij sometimes felt in this place?

Orla scratched at the door, and came in to collect the dishes. She sniffed at the small amount Lij had eaten, then, remembering why, softened and asked what he was reading. Lij obligingly showed her.

"What, by all the hairs on Maeve's head, is that? she said, wrinkling up her nose and staring intently at the pictograms on the parchment as if concentration alone would reveal their hidden secrets to her. Lij read her the list.

"Hmm. Now I've heard of garlic, cos the head cook told me of it. And pearls are found in the sea, that I know. But apart from Porphyry, I have not an idea what the other things are, Lij. They are not words I know.�

Lij smiled, and glanced over at the fine vase adorning the table against the wall. He was amused that this little girl might know of the precious stone only used to make ornaments for kings. "Have you porphyry vases in your room, little Orla?" he teased. Orla huffed and stretched herself to her full indignant height. "And a fine vase he'd make, too, if I stuffed a daisy up his nose! Do you not tease me, now!"

Lij stopped smiling. She was not talking of the stone as he thought, but of a man. A Phoenician man - here in Erin. What did it mean?

"Do you know this man...Porphyry... well?" he asked with studied indifference. The girl had picked up the tray, but she put it down again. "No. I've just seen him about the place and asked someone 'cos he looked so...foreign. Is it to do with your friend's death, Lij?" Lij shook his head. "I do not know, little one. But it is a name I am familiar with. It is not an Irish name, Orla."

"Do I not know it?" The girl smiled. "Stupid outlandish name! Now we have nice easy to remember names like Sean-Adhamhnan for Dom, our rightful king, and Toirdhealbhach, his royal father..."

Orla stopped short, and pressed her hand over her mouth in shock. "And I promised I would not tell a soul, I did so. And now I am forsworn."

She looked a little frightened, but Lij was smiling, so her fear diminished. "But, there, you must know who he is, Lij, being married to him, an' all." She sat down and folded her hands on her knees. Her eyes glittered. "Tell me!"

Lij winced at Orla's mention of his marriage to Dom, a marriage he, Lij, had so recently and abruptly ended, but he obligingly recited all of Dom's titles, and Orla's mouth fell open. "He is king of an awful lot, is he not?" Lij laughed. "He is, mo chroi. But now you must promise to keep my secret better than you did the last one - whoever confided in you must've told you that, Orla. Who was it that told you?"

Orla sighed. "Sure, and it was...." The door flew open, and a flushed servant entered without knocking. Orla was surprised at how swiftly Lij's smiling face could be covered with a stern mask of one used to command. She stood, automatically, remembering with a start this was a king, as the servant relayed his message and retreated suddenly, as if contact with Lij was a poison in itself.

She sniffed at the lad's retreating back. "Can you find the way?" Lij shook his head, and raised an eyebrow at her. Orla forgot the king, and took his hand. "Sure, you're a helpless babe. Come, I'll show you."

The two new guards followed the couple as they made their way, hand in hand through the corridors. Orla remembered that her telling was unfinished. "Idiot that I am! I forgot! It was..." Lij stopped her swiftly. "Later," he gestured with his eyes to the two men behind them. Orla was young in years, but old in guile. She held her peace.

*

Ultan and Brian explained why Ultan and Gronya had decided to travel to Tara. Brian said he would have sent word to his father regarding Ede earlier, had there been anyone he could trust with the message. But there had not been until a chance meeting with a cloth merchant gave Brian the opportunity to send a cryptic message to his father that the carrier would not understand.

"What was the message?" asked a curious Cass, biting hungrily into a leg of chicken as they spoke. Brian grinned. " "Your niece is getting above herself at Tara. She is putting on the airs of a queen. Please come and chastise her. She is a willful brat. I despair of being able to control her. Brian." "

Cass choked on his meat. "Ede is your niece?" Dom stared at Ultan, trying to take in all the news he had heard that day. "My only niece", Ultan commented dryly.

"Did you know this before Brian sent the message? That Ede was queen...again?" Ultan shook his head. "I have had no contact with Ede or her family since her father, my brother, died. I disliked the girl...the woman perturbed me. There was always something dark about her. I remember telling you this in your younger days, Dom - but like a youth you took no notice." Dom bowed his head in silence. He had allowed lust to overcome his judgement, then. He had only ever done that once since...with Lij. And lust, in that case so swiftly turned to love. He sighed deeply, remembering his spouse...his spouse no longer.

Cass finished his meat. "How was it she did not know Brian was her cousin?"

"I made sure she never saw him after he was nine. No one...no one was safe from her machinations. And I took my family far away from her schemes and plottings. She is..."

"...totally evil" Dom finished, staring at the wall.

Gronya peered carefully at Dom. there were deep shadows under his eyes. "Come away, now. Let the poor lad rest. You may speak more of this later."

They left him in peace. Cass returned to the keep to report to Morne at last, and to take a message to Lij from Dom.

*

"Here we are!" chirped Orla, standing outside the door to which she had led him. "Shall I wait?" Lij shook his head. "No, you go and play, now, Orla. I will see you later."

The girl cast a scornful look at him. "Play? Aye, chance would be a fine thing! I have to help the cooks peel the vegetables for dinner, get water for the boiling of them, feed the pigs, collect the eggs....ach! What chance do I have to play? You are a man...and a king at that. What would you know about real work...sitting on your throne all day...ruling?"

Lij laughed softly. "Go to, you pert little thing! But you will come to see me later?" She nodded. "I will, so!" She tripped off down the corridor, her shabby shoes two sizes too large, scuffing the floor. He stared after her, realising that apart from Dom and Cass, this was the only friend he had in the place. His heart wrenched as he thought of Dom, sick somewhere, needing him and Nekeb alone in his grave. He breathed deeply, straightened his shoulders, tapped on the door, and went in.

"You sent for me, my lord?" Lij had on a face both Orla and Dom would recognize. His king's face. Morne, sitting in a chair, his legs covered by a fur, reluctantly rose to his feet. Lij looked up at the handsome man, who was at this moment very pale and sweating freely.

"Please sit down, I can see you are still far from well." Lij requested and Morne sat, gathering together the shreds of whatever authority he possessed or had been granted.

He pointed to a chair. "Will you not be seated...um..." the man hesitated. "What do they call you at home?" Lij raised his chin and looked down his nose at the discomforted man. "Great One. Exalted One. God of Gods. Father. Lord. Master. King of Kings. Any of those titles I freely give you leave to use," Lij smiled, but it was not a pleasant smile. "How may I help you?"

Morne cleared his throat. "Um, my aunt has asked me to question you closely concerning the...incidents lately occurring."

"Your aunt?"

Morne swallowed. "The Lady Ede."

Lij nodded. "Ah! I see! You may ask what you will. I will answer if I can."

Morne shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "You are the only one who rose unpoisoned from our last meal together, Lord. What say you to this?"

Lij leaned back in the chair, and folded his hands, displaying a calm he was far from feeling. "Do you mean to infer that I somehow poisoned the food? How am I supposed to have accomplished this? You were there, Morne. I touched nothing except the cheese. How am I supposed to have introduced noxious substances into dishes I did not touch?"

Morne made a sweeping motion with his hand. "You need not have done the thing yourself, man! You could have bribed servants, cooks...you have wealth...jewels - gold coin and silver a plenty..."

Lij's face grew grim. "And how do you know this, my lord? Have you sent people to search amongst my things?" Morne's face went a dull red.

Lij stood. Morne stifled an urge to rise with him, so strong was the air of power this man possessed.

"And how would I have engineered it so that each of you ate a portion of the poisoned food, if I touched nothing? We all ate from different dishes, man. Think! If you have a brain, that is. It was not me, Morne. I swear it upon the lives of my children, who are the dearest things on earth to me...but one..." His eyes became moist, but he would not allow himself to break before this idiot.

Morne sneered at him. "I would not trust your oath if you wrote it in blood in the sky. You wished to kill us all, and this was nearly accomplished. Connor is dead!..."

Lij stared at him incredulously. "I wished... to kill Dom? To kill my beloved spouse? You are mad, man. The poison has affected your mind!"

Lij moved to the door, and opened it. "Tell the Lady Ede of my oath. Tell her I am innocent of this thing. And Morne..." The Irishman looked sullenly up into Lij's flaming eyes. "..next time you wish to have speech with me, you will not summon me like a servant. You will come to me. I answer to no man's bidding, let alone to an insolent lordling who knows not his place. Good day to you!"

The two guards outside the door stepped back a pace. They had heard Lij's parting shot at Morne and were secretly glad the upstart had been brought down a peg or two. The three men walked down the long corridors back to Lij's room.

He stopped suddenly. He recognised this place. "I will ask after the noble Cormac if you will wait here for a moment." The guards nodded. Lij tapped the door, and a servant opened it. The girl looked at him with frightened eyes.

"Will the Lord Cormac see me?" Lij asked softly.

"Lij? Is that you? Come in, my Lord! You are welcome here, despite of what others may say!� Cormac's voice seemed strong. Lij was glad that the lad seemed well. The girl pressed herself against the door in fear. Lij stared at her. What ailed these people?

Cormac lay in his bed still, for all his voice was strong. He was very pale, and had purple shadows beneath his eyes, but the eyes were clear and sparkling. Lij's heart lifted as they met his. "Sit, my Lord. I see you are well. Have you had news of Galnach? Is he well?"

Lij shook his head. "I do not know, Cormac. They will not let me leave my rooms to see him. I go nowhere unescorted by guards. I beg you, if you have influence here, ask your Lady Mother..."

"Gods of my fathers!" Cormac exploded. "Are there guards outside now?"

Lij nodded. "Girl...send them in and wait in the antechamber. I will call you if...when...I need you. Go!" Cormac glowered at her, but winked as well. The girl fetched the guard, who stood to attention at the foot of his bed. Cormac waited until the door had shut behind the servant, then raised furious grey eyes to the two uncomfortable men.

"Tell me, now, by whose orders has the puissant Lord of Egypt here been prevented from visiting his lawful mate?"

One of the men answered quietly. "By order of the Lady Ede through the Lord of Morne..."

Cormac shook his head. "The king is dead, man. There is no one here, now, whose word can constrain such a king as this. Do you not see this, you brainless dolts? You have no authority over him."

The man spluttered, "but Lord, he killed the king..."

"Nonsense! I tell you this man is no more likely to have killed Connor than you. Less likely in fact," he remarked, surveying them with a jaundiced eye. "Get out. And go and tell Morne and my lady mother that I will answer for Egypt's future good behaviour. Oh, get out!"

The two men left the room hastily, and Cormac, paler still than he had been, looked around the room frantically. "Bowl!" he burped, and Lij rushed to get the receptacle under the boy's chin in time. He found a damp cloth and wiped his friend's face, and took the bowl away, passing Cormac a beaker of water as he did so.

Cormac sipped the water gratefully. "You have a gentle hand, Egypt. I remember...you have children. The taste! Whatever poison was used on me it tastes foul! Pity it was that we tasted nothing as it went in," he muttered. Lij could smell the acrid fumes in the air. "It is not the same poison that killed my dear Nekeb, Cormac. I am sure of that."

Cormac put the beaker down on the bedside table and stared at Lij. "How do you know that?" he asked, not a trace of suspicion, even now, in his voice.

Lij sat on the bed. "Because I held Nekeb as he died." His face showed his grief. He made no attempt to hide it from Cormac. He did not know why he trusted this young man, but he did.

"The peach kernel poison which was used on him is sweet. I have smelt it before. Even to touch it is lethal. This smell is different. Bitter. More...earthy. Do you know even you skin smells still of this...agent of death? "

Cormac settled himself wearily against the pillows. He smiled at Lij, however, as he wiped his mouth with a small linen cloth. "That is most interesting, Lij. I hope you can bear the odour, for I must understand why it is you know so much about poisons. Tell me immediately!"




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