Heir to Sevenwaters (23 page)

“In the name of the gods, Clodagh, why didn’t you tell me about this at the time?” Father was holding back his fury, but it trembled in his voice.

“There was Mother, and the baby, and the trouble in the north,” I whispered. “This sounded like nonsense. I didn’t want to bother you with it, Father.”

“Tell us again about the night of the wedding feast.” Johnny spoke sharply. “What exactly was it you saw?”

“A figure down by the far end of the barn. Someone in a gray cloak.”

“And Cathal was out there as well.”

“He was, yes. But the figure—I couldn’t even be completely sure I’d seen it. I thought I did, but when I looked again it was gone. None of this was enough to justify troubling you with my fears and imaginings.”

“And in the woods, when you were riding?” Father’s eyes were on me, judging. My stomach was churning with tension.

“Eilis and Coll rode ahead; Cathal went after them. They came back, he did not. You know that’s a simple path. He turned up later at the lake and said he’d gone a short way down a couple of side tracks, but nothing more. It was a plausible explanation, Father.”

“But Cathal was gone long enough to have met up with someone in the forest. He could have exchanged information. Both times.”

“Lord Sean!” Aidan protested. “Cathal is no spy! He’s a loyal—”

“Enough,” Father said. “Men died at Glencarnagh last night. My son has been cruelly snatched. We will get to the bottom of this, and if Cathal is in any way responsible he will pay the ultimate price for his treachery.”

“Sean.” Johnny’s face was white under his raven tattoo. “There is no proof that Cathal was involved either in the attack on Glencarnagh or the abduction of Finbar. Clodagh’s first assessment could be correct; the odd accuracy of Cathal’s account may be coincidental. I find it almost impossible to believe he would be involved in this. My men are faultlessly loyal. The tests of skill and character they must pass to be admitted to my band are thorough and taxing.”

“Cathal never says much about his feelings,” Aidan said quietly. “But Johnny knows, and I know, what it meant to him to be accepted into the community of Inis Eala. Becoming one of Johnny’s trusted men wasn’t only being received into a brotherhood of peerless warriors, it was . . . it was like coming home for him. Finding a home he’d never had before. He could not have done this, Lord Sean.”

“He has been adept, perhaps,” Father said, “in deceiving even those who most trusted him.” He looked at Johnny. “You are quick enough to plead his innocence. If what Aidan says is true, Cathal owes you a particular debt for accepting him into the small number of your personal protectors—an elite within an elite. We know Cathal admires you. Like all your men, he strives to please you. We know also that his behavior is unconventional. Might not such a man decide to act unilaterally to remove someone he saw as a future threat to you?”

There was a pause. I clutched my hands together behind my back and tried not to see the way Johnny’s jaw tightened, or the anguish on Aidan’s features, or my father’s cold look of judgment. I knew what he meant and it made my heart shrink.

Johnny was the one who put it into words. “Sean, are you suggesting a plot to remove your son because he will in time be my rival for the chieftaincy of Sevenwaters? You believe Finbar has not been taken for ransom, but . . .” He did not finish the sentence; the alternative was too terrible.

“It’s not true!” Aidan burst out, speaking the words I was forcing back. “That’s wild speculation! I will not hear this—”

“Sit down.” Johnny sounded terrible; weary to the point of tears, though men like him do not weep. “Sean’s right. We must consider all the possibilities. In fact, Cathal cannot have been responsible for Finbar’s abduction, since Clodagh would have seen him carry it out.”

“The two events are not necessarily linked,” I ventured. “This attack on Glencarnagh and the baby’s removal, I mean.”

“Coincidence again? I think not,” said Father. “Someone seeks to undermine me on two fronts. To weaken my authority in any way he can. As for Cathal’s inability to seize the baby, there’s an accomplice, or so it seems—the shadowy figure Clodagh saw on at least one occasion. More than one accomplice, perhaps. Cathal may not have removed Finbar himself, but he provided the distraction that made it possible.” His eyes turned to me. “I would not like to think, Clodagh, that you were in any way trying to shield this young man. It seems the two of you were closer than anyone ever imagined. If there is anything that you have not told us, now is the time to disclose it. Your motives for holding back this information for so long must be suspect.”

This felt like being whipped. “Why would I protect someone who meant harm to my brother?” I choked. “How can you think that of me, Father?”

“It occurs to me,” he said, “that your wild story of changelings might have been concocted to allow your friend to make good his escape.”

“That’s crazy—” Aidan began, but Johnny silenced him with a sharp gesture.

“It was not a wild story, Father,” I managed. My heart was hammering and my skin felt clammy. “I did believe it. I still believe it was not worldly forces that snatched Finbar, but uncanny ones. I’m convinced that unless you search in a different way you will not find him. As for Cathal, there’s no reason why I would lie to protect him.”

“He gives you a very particular warning, with information included that could, if passed on, incriminate him. He enters an area of the house where he has no business in order to bid you farewell. He embraces you passionately. You prove to be the only member of the entire household whom he told of his impending departure. And you expect me to believe there is nothing between you.”

“I can’t tell you what to believe, Father.” It was becoming harder and harder to get the words out. He was looking at me as if he despised me. “I understand that you must find out who is responsible for the attack on Glencarnagh. Cathal’s actions do seem incriminating, though why he would be involved in that I can’t imagine. I have to tell you that I did speak to Deirdre not long before Finbar was taken. It was at Mother’s request, to tell her the good news of the baby’s safe arrival.” My throat was tight. “I mentioned that Gareth had been sent away on a mission, and Deirdre questioned me about it. I stopped answering after a bit, but I did let slip that it involved the northern chieftains. It is possible she might have thought that your sending a party north could leave Glencarnagh undermanned. But you know Deirdre. She’s never been interested in these things.”

Father sat frozen. Into the silence, Johnny said, “Anything you told her, Clodagh, would have come far too late to influence what happened at Glencarnagh.”

His kindness was almost my undoing. I met Aidan’s gaze for a moment, then looked hurriedly away before my tears spilled.

“That may be true,” said Father. “It doesn’t alter the fact that if you had come to me as soon as Cathal gave you that first description of a hypothetical raid, we’d have been in time to stop it and lives would have been saved. Illann. Can that possibly be true? Why in the name of the gods would he do such a thing? Glencarnagh’s right on his border.”

“Father,” I said, “I don’t believe Finbar’s abduction has anything to do with the raid and the fire. The way it was carried out, the figure in the cradle, the impossible timing—it must be the work of the Fair Folk. Nobody else could have got him out so quickly or so invisibly.”

Another charged silence. “Clodagh,” said my father in that quiet tone that sent shivers down my spine, “I hope you were being honest with me earlier today when you admitted to being mistaken on this particular matter. I hope you are not about to tell me again that someone has left a living, breathing creature in my son’s place. You’ve already shocked and disappointed me today with your wayward disregard for common sense. Your negligence in the matter of Cathal has proven costly indeed.”

“I’m sorry, Father.” I held myself rigidly straight, clenching my jaw tight, but my lips trembled and my voice shook. “I’m truly sorry if those men died at Glencarnagh because of me. I’ve tried to do the right thing. That’s all I’ve ever tried to do.”

Father did not respond by so much as a nod. It seemed to me he was having as much difficulty holding himself together as I was. The old Clodagh, the girl I had been yesterday, would have put her arms around him and offered words of comfort. I stood very still, blinking back my tears. I would never be that girl again.

“I think we might allow Clodagh to leave us, Sean,” Johnny said. “We can call her back if we need her. We have some decisions to make quickly.” He took my arm and walked me to the door, which he opened for me. He said nothing more, but as I stepped out he put his hand on my shoulder for a moment, and when I glanced at him, he gave a little smile. I turned away abruptly, the tears starting to stream down my face, and heard the door shut behind me.

I waited in the hall, unwilling to retreat to my bedchamber in case Father called for me. If he sent someone to find me they’d almost certainly stumble on Becan. I paced nervously as serving people and men-at-arms came in and out on their various duties, their glances touching me, then sliding away. I made pleats in my skirt; I poked the fire and set on more wood; I fiddled with the empty ale cups on the little table. My whole body was on edge. Who could hate Father so much that they would burn the lovely house of Glencarnagh and kill so many men? Why would Cathal be involved in such an undertaking? Why would he warn me about the attack when to do so must suggest he was in some way implicated? For it seemed to me he could not have known the precise details without a link to the perpetrators. If he wasn’t spying for Johnny, then he must have been allied with the other side, whether they were Illann’s folk or someone else’s. Why? Why throw away his position with Johnny, the home and profession he had apparently longed for? It didn’t make any sense at all. My mind raced from one unlikely explanation to the next. All the while, my heart was sick with the memory of Father’s stern face, his cold voice as he interrogated me.

I could hear raised voices in the council room, but not the words. A moment later the door slammed open and Aidan strode out, followed by Johnny.

“I’m not going!” Aidan shouted. “He’s my friend! You can’t ask me to do this!”

They had not seen me. Four paces into the hall, Johnny put a restraining hand on Aidan’s shoulder and the other man whipped around to face him, fists clenched. I shrank back into the shadows.

“Are you refusing an order?” Johnny asked, his voice deadly quiet.

“I can’t do it!”

“Take a breath,” Johnny said. “Calm yourself. We are professionals; we do not allow personal loyalties to interfere with the missions we undertake. If you cannot respect that, you have no place among my men, Aidan.”

“Maybe I don’t want one,” Aidan snarled, wrenching away from Johnny’s touch. “Not if it means hunting down my best friend and dragging him back to face an inquisition.”

“Aidan.” I heard in Johnny’s voice that he was fighting for calm. “Believe me, if there were anyone else to whom I could entrust this, I would ask him in your stead. You are the only man I have left right now.”

“Since you’re so ready to believe Cathal guilty,” Aidan growled,

“go after him yourself. Have you no sense of loyalty, that you would ask me to do this?”

Momentarily, Johnny closed his eyes, and I saw my father’s face in his, the face of a leader who must bear burden upon burden and remain strong. I was about to alert them to my presence, for this was certainly not for my ears, but Johnny spoke first. “I cannot go,” he said. “I must head straight to Glencarnagh and find out what party was responsible for that act of violence. We must be ready to retaliate without delay. And the search for Finbar must be maintained; Sean will continue to coordinate it from here, but his own men must undertake it without my assistance for now. We need Cathal found and apprehended. If there is a link between the two events, the abduction and the attack, he is the key to it. Select two or three of the Sevenwaters men and track him down with all the skill you have. Take the dogs. And don’t speak to me of loyalty, Aidan. When Cathal is brought in I’ll give him the opportunity to explain himself. I have not made an arbitrary decision as to his guilt or otherwise. The question remains: if he’s innocent of any involvement in this, why isn’t he here?”

“You are ready to point to Cathal,” Aidan said grimly. “Have you considered that others may point to you?” He was keeping his voice down now, though the anger vibrated through every word.

For a moment Johnny did not answer. When he spoke, it was with remarkable restraint. “I have considered it. Perhaps the perpetrator of these ills has acted with the sole purpose of casting suspicion on me, of setting a wedge between me and my uncle. Someone believes me capable of harming my infant cousin and of destabilizing Sean’s rule by destroying one of the jewels of his holding. They imagine I view Finbar as a threat. Or at least, they believe others will think that credible. My father was not well loved in these parts. There are folk who fear my influence on my uncle.” There was something new in his face; something deeply unsettling.

I saw Aidan’s gaze flick toward the doorway of the council chamber and back to Johnny. A moment later, the door was quietly closed from the inside.

“Surely
he
does not doubt you,” Aidan said, and the anger was gone from his voice.

“I don’t know,” said Johnny. I had never before heard such a note of uncertainty in his tone, and it shocked me. “I wish Gareth was back. I wish I did not need to ask this of you, Aidan. But I must. The sooner Cathal is found, the sooner he can account for himself. If your faith in him is justified there’s nothing to fear. But we may have a major undertaking on our hands very soon and I need to be prepared for it.”

I cleared my throat, and both men spun around to face me where I stood to one side of the hearth. “I’m sorry,” I said. “There was no good moment to interrupt. I was waiting in case Father needed me.”

Johnny gave me a nod of acknowledgment. “Well?” he asked Aidan.