The Shapeshifter's Lair by Peter Tremayne

Author:Peter Tremayne [Tremayne, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781448304547
Publisher: Headline
Published: 2020-07-09T06:00:00+00:00

FOURTEEN

When Fidelma and her companions, led by the young steward, Scáth, entered the feasting hall later that evening, they were surprised to find it almost empty except for Teimel and Dicuil Dóna. They appeared to be deep in animated conversation. The two men seemed to break apart almost in a guilty fashion as the others entered.

‘You startled us,’ the lord of The Cuala snapped at his steward.

‘For which I am sorry,’ replied Scáth, slightly truculently and apparently out of character. ‘You were concentrating very hard on your conversation and did not hear the bell to announce the feasting.’

‘The fact is that I have not seen Teimel for a long time,’ the lord of The Cuala replied in a measured tone. ‘We have business to discuss, so I decided that we would confine ourselves to a small, intimate meal. I have given orders to the housekeeper, and invitations to my other guests have been cancelled.’

He then indicated for them to be seated. Attendants emerged to ensure that each guest had a lamh brat – a linen napkin – as well as a knife. Among the richer nobles, the provision of a knife by the host was considered a courtesy so that guests did not have to dirty their own knives.

The meal began with a ritual: the lord of The Cuala was required to make an announcement.

‘We will eat, drink and listen to soothing music and then turn our thoughts to the problems that now face us.’ He nodded to his steward. The boy clapped his hands. Three male harpists took up their positions at the far end of the hall and began to play softly so that, while providing background music, it did not disturb conversation and digestion. At the same time attendants, called dáilemain, the distributors, filed silently into the hall, bearing trays of food. These worked alongside the deogbhaire, or cupbearers, whose duty was to those who wanted beer, cider and, in a rich noble’s house, wine. As for the hot meat, this evening, at the central fire, two attendants were standing by a small simmering cauldron, taking turns to stir its content now and then with an áel or three-pronged flesh fork. Then they would select pieces of meat, which turned out to be goat and pork, and place it on to plates for waiting attendants to take to the individual diners.

Eadulf, particularly, noticed that the lord of The Cuala was not skimpy when it came to his food. There were cold beef dishes, and also fish from the rivers, which had been prepared outside on a griddle. Boiled goose eggs also appeared. Mecon, or parsnip, with cabbage, seemed a favourite side dish. Fidelma saw that her favourite, craibechan, boar chopped up small with vegetables into a hash, was also served. Salads of folt-chep or leeks, apples, rowan berries, onion and hazelnuts were available.

While there was a selection of fruit, from apples to various seasonal berries, Eadulf had noticed a plate of biscuits, obviously made with buttermilk, on

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.