The Devil's Seal
Copyright © 2014 Peter Tremayne
The right of Peter Tremayne to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, this publication may only be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, with prior permission in writing of the publishers or, in the case of reprographic production, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.
First published as an Ebook by Headline Publishing Group in 2014
All characters in this publication – apart from the obvious historical characters – are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Cataloguing in Publication Data is available from the British Library
eISBN: 978 1 4722 0833 0
Cover credit © akg-images/Rabatti-Domingie
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Table Of Contents
Praise for the Sister Fidelma Mysteries
Peter Tremayne is the fiction pseudonym of Peter Beresford Ellis, a well-known authority on the ancient Celts, who has utilised his knowledge of the Brehon law system and seventh-century Irish society to create a new concept in detective fiction.
An international Sister Fidelma Society has been established, with a journal entitled
The Brehon
appearing three times yearly.
Details can be obtained either by writing to the Society at: PMB #312, 1818 North Taylor Street, Suite B, Little Rock, AR 72207, USA, or by logging on to the Society website at:
www.sisterfidelma.com
Absolution by Murder
Shroud for the Archbishop
Suffer Little Children
The Subtle Serpent
The Spider’s Web
Valley of the Shadow
The Monk who Vanished
Act of Mercy
Hemlock at Vespers
Our Lady of Darkness
Smoke in the Wind
The Haunted Abbot
Badger’s Moon
Whispers of the Dead
The Leper’s Bell
Master of Souls
A Prayer for the Damned
Dancing with Demons
The Council of the Cursed
The Dove of Death
The Chalice of Blood
Behold a Pale Horse
The Seventh Trumpet
Atonement of Blood
The Devil’s Seal
‘The Sister Fidelma books give the readers a rattling good yarn. But more than that, they bring vividly and viscerally to life the fascinating lost world of the Celtic Irish. I put down
The Spider’s Web
with a sense of satisfaction at a good story well told, but also speculating on what modern life might have been like had that civilisation survived’ Ronan Bennett
‘Rich helpings of evil and tension with lively and varied characters’
Historical Novels Review
‘The detail of the books is fascinating, giving us a vivid picture of everyday life at this time . . . the most detailed and vivid recreations of ancient Ireland’
Irish Examiner
‘A brilliant and beguiling heroine. Immensely appealing’
Publishers Weekly
I intend to follow the Irish spelling of the River Siúr (pronounced ‘shure’) in this book and not the Anglicised spelling, River Suir. It is thought that this spelling came about by the mistaken transposition of the ‘i’ and ‘u’. This explanation is to avoid letters from well intentioned partisans of either spelling who, in the past, have sought to correct previous spellings no matter which form was chosen.
The Siúr means the ‘sister’ river. It rises in the Devil’s Bit Mountain north of Durlus Éile (Thurles) – see Chapter 16 of
The Seventh Trumpet
– and crosses south over the Tipperary Plain to swing east and, after its 185 kilometres journey, empty into the estuary by Port Láirge (Waterford). The actual Devil’s Bit, or Bite, was anciently called Bearnán Éile (Gap of the Éile).
The events in this story follow in chronological order those related in
Atonement of Blood
and are set during the period known as
Dubh-Luacrann
, the darkest days, which now correspond to the months of January and February. The story begins just before the ancient feast of Imbolc, now fixed in the modern calendar as 1 February. This was the festival that marked the time when the ewes came into milk and when the days started to become perceptibly longer. It was associated with the Irish Goddess of Fertility, Brigit, but soon after the introduction of Christianity, it became the feast day of St Brigid of Kildare. The year is
AD
671.
This one is for
Kate and Dave Clayton
with deep appreciation;
and may good fortune always follow the clan Clayton
Dan, James, William and Matthew
. . .
affuit inter eos etiam Satan. Cui dixit Dominus: Unde venis? Qui respondens, ait: Circuivi terram, et perambulavi eam.
. . . and Satan came also among them. The Lord said unto him: Where do you come from? Answering, he said: I have circled the Earth, and walked around on it.
Job 1:6–7
Vulgate Latin translation of Jerome 4th century
Sister Fidelma
of Cashel, a
dálaigh
or advocate of the law courts of seventh-century Ireland
Brother Eadulf
of Seaxmund’s Ham, in the land of the South Folk, her companion
At Cill Siolán, by the River Siúr
Gormán,
commander of the Nasc Niadh, bodyguards to the King
Enda,
a warrior of the guard
Dego,
a warrior of the guard
Brother Siolán
Brother Egric
At Cashel
Colgú,
King of Muman and brother to Fidelma
Beccan,
rechtaire
or steward to the King
Dar Luga,
airnbertach
or housekeeper of the palace
Ségdae,
Abbot of Imleach and Chief Bishop of Muman
Brother Madagan,
his steward
Aillín,
Chief Brehon of Muman
Luan,
a warrior of the guard
Aidan,
a warrior of the guard
Alchú,
son of Fidelma and Eadulf
Muirgen,
nurse to Alchú
Brother Conchobhar,
an apothecary
Visitors to Cashel
Deogaire
of Sliabh Luachra, Brother Conchobhar’s nephew
Abbess Líoch
of Cill Náile
Sister Dianaimh,
her
bann-mhaor
or female steward
Cummasach,
Prince of the Déisi
Furudán,
his Brehon
Rudgal,
an outlaw of the Déisi
The Venerable Verax
of Segni
Bishop Arwald
of Magonsaete
Brother Bosa,
a Saxon scribe
Brother Cerdic,
a Saxon emissary
Brehon Fíthel,
from the Council of Brehons
In Cashel township
Rumann,
tavern-keeper
Della,
mother of Gormán
Aibell,
friend of Della and Gormán
Muiredach,
a warrior of Clan Baiscne
At Eatharlach
Brother Berrihert,
a Saxon religieux settled in Ireland
Brother Pecanum,
his brother
Brother Naovan,
his brother
Maon,
of the Déisi
T
he three horsemen halted their mounts on the hillside and gazed down into the river valley. Below them, an expanse of trees formed a barrier between the hills and the broad, sedately flowing river to the south. The scene was a patchwork of greens, yellows and browns depending on the varied species and condition of the arboreal canopy and its foliage. The trees were mainly broad-trunk oaks, with their massive crooked branches and spreading crowns. Here and there were blackthorns, with tough yellow wood and long cruel thorns; and then appeared grey-brown rowans and even willows. They all crowded together, pressing towards the river as if seeking its nourishing waters.