21- Chalice of Blood by Peter Tremayne

Author:Peter Tremayne [Tremayne, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: _NB_fixed, _rt_yes, blt, Clerical Sleuth, Fiction, Suspense, Medieval Ireland
ISBN: 9780755347254
Publisher: Headline (UK)
Published: 2011-11-01T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

Fidelma found Brother Seachlann in the bróinbherg treating a member of the brethren who glanced up shame-faced as she entered.

‘Am I disturbing you, Brother Seachlann?’

The physician shrugged. ‘I am just finished with this one,’ he replied. Turning to the obviously embarrassed man, he gave him a small earthenware jug. ‘Take this mixture and drink a small cupful at frequent intervals and if there is no relief you must come back to me.’

The man nodded quickly, rose and left the chamber.

Brother Seachlann grimaced. ‘A case of food poisoning, I think. He is suffering the buinnech. When he first came yesterday I treated him with meadowsweet but it was not strong enough, so I have made an infusion of agrimony which is stronger and should work within three days.’

‘Buinnech?’ Fidelma queried. ‘That’s … flux.’

‘Diarrhoea,’ agreed the physician. ‘Since no one else has succumbed, I suspect the Brother has been eating something that he should not have been. Some of the brethren do tend to cheat on the meals as laid down in the rules drawn up by our resolute steward Brother Lugna. He believes in frugality.’

‘Agrimony has a bitter taste,’ commented Fidelma. ‘I much prefer boiled sorrel with red wine.’

‘Fine for those who can afford red wine,’ the physician retorted. ‘Now what can I do for you? I hope Brother Eadulf has not taken a turn for the worse.’

Fidelma offered him a reassuring smile. ‘I came to thank you for all that you have done for Eadulf.’

‘It was no more than my profession calls on me to do.’

‘But it was lucky that you were passing by where he lay.’ When he did not respond, she went on, ‘How did you come to be there so late at night?’

The physician frowned and began to clear away the dishes in which he had been mixing his last patience’s medication.

‘I always like to take a walk before preparing myself for repose,’ he said. ‘It helps to clear the mind.’

‘But so late?’

‘I am no slave to the motions of the sun and moon,’ he replied shortly. ‘If I were, then I would not be a physician because sickness and injury do not take account of night or day.’

‘That is true. What made you become a physician? Are you descended from one of those families of hereditary healers?’

Brother Seachlann flushed. She saw a glimpse of some emotion she could not recognise cross his features.

‘I went to study the healing arts when I saw there was a need of them among my people.’

‘That is very laudable, Brother Seachlann. It is this abbey’s good fortune that you decided to leave your people and come here.’

‘The physician should serve all people, irrespective of who they are.’

‘So you saw there was a need among your people but, having qualified, you decided that others had greater need of your talents?’

‘That much is obvious as I am here,’ he replied waspishly.

Fidelma merely smiled and waited.

‘I qualified among the religious and thereafter I considered them my people,’ he tried to justify himself.

‘Indeed, so you came here to my brother’s kingdom,’ she said, reminding him that she held power in the land.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.