The King's Priest by Martin J Bird

Author:Martin J Bird [Martin Bird]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Martin Bird
Published: 2022-06-28T00:00:00+00:00

15

Friends and Enemies

Calm before the storm

Iseult watched the scene and worried. Aodh stood beside her grim-faced. There was a light in his eyes that she’d not seen in years. The muscles in his jaw worked.

“Take your time and go through it again. Start at the beginning,” said Aodh, trying to control his impatience.

Mahon stood on the shore. He was the focus of attention at the centre of a ring of figures illuminated by weak light from a lamp placed on the ground between them. The currach he’d rowed had been left unsecured. It grated on the pebbles of the beach a few paces away.

He began again. “Aibhne asked me to go and check on the eel traps before coming out to receive word of what you intended. They are upstream from the settlement and away from the main tracks. When I’d finished, I heard shouting from the church, so I diverted back.”

“When was that?” asked Aodh.

“About mid-afternoon. I stayed to help put the fires out before coming here.”

“How many men did you see?” asked Lorcán.

“I don’t know, ten or twelve. Might have been more, I didn’t count. There were two groups.”

“Irish or Viking?” asked Fionn.

“Mostly foreigners, judging by their dress. But not the leader.”

He was nervous and upset. Iseult could see that the style of questioning wasn’t helping. “Mahon, just tell us what you remember, but first can you say if everyone’s alright. What about your family?”

He relaxed a bit. “All are safe, but a few have cuts and bruises. There’s been no more sign since of the raiders, but I should get back as fast as I can.”

“You shouldn’t go in the dark, your parents will understand. Stay with us till morning. I’m sure they’ll be fine without you.”

“Someone needs to go for help,” he protested. “We’re defenceless.”

“Aibhne will have had word carried to An Fhairche by now. Don’t you worry about that,” said Aodh.

Mahon’s shoulders slumped in acceptance. “Why would they do that? It was like they didn’t care at all about it being a church settlement. By the time I could see what was going on, they were in the enclosure, riding around chasing people and throwing torches on roofs. There were six or seven in the first group, all dressed for war. The leader shouted for Aibhne to come out of the chapel. He was threatening to kill Sorcha, the woman who made your breakfast. When Aibhne came out, they dragged him towards the gate and hit him over the head. I didn’t know what to do.”

“It’s not your fault,” said Iseult. “There was nothing you could do, and everyone’s fine apart from bruises. The houses can be rebuilt. You did the right thing keeping out of trouble.”

“They wanted to know where you were. Aibhne said he didn’t know, but they beat him. In the end, he said you’d ridden through, and were heading around the lough and down towards Thomond.”

“It’s a good job you moved the horses,” said Lorcán. “Thank you for that.”

Mahon smiled. “When they left they rode over the bridge and out west.

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