The wind howled ominously through the dungeon, setting the torches aflicker.
"You are to come with me, to make a deposition in front of the magistrate for the area concerning your deeds three nights ago," Donal declared.
Aidanna stared at him in utter disbelief and incomprehension. "Magistrate? Is this some sort of joke, Donal? We have always had the laws and customs of the Gaelic chiefs, the Brehon laws, to guide us in such matters! You can't even read or write!" she scoffed, convinced it was a new game he was playing.
Donal's face blackened like a thundercloud, but he pointed at the stranger and said, "Declan Burke here is the new tanaist of the sept. He has been living in England for many years, since his father, my elder brother, took him to live there as part of his wife's family. We have made submission to the English crown, and accept Henry the Eighth of England as our King."
"You must have taken leave of your senses, then, for no other clan in Connaught has submitted in so cowardly a fashion! Are you a traitor to your own clan as well as a murderer?"
By way of reply Donal's rock-hard fist hammered into her stomach, pitching her into the filthy straw and leaving her laying there gasping for air. His raised his arm again, but Declan restrained him with a warning glance.
Donal straightened stiffly, trying to stare the younger man down, and then spat, "Bring her, now!"
Aidanna was dragged up under the armpits, and her shins scraped against the stone stairs as she hung limply between the two guards. Eventually she was able to find her feet, and as she got to the top of the stairs, padded along silently, her head hanging low. All the time she pretended submission, her eyes darted to and fro as she tried to look for a way to escape.
Carrickmore was not her own castle, so she was unfamiliar with its layout. She saw herself being led into a small set of apartments, where a vast table was covered with papers, and a tiny man with rat-like features smirked at her. His beady eyes feasted on her greedily, though her auburn hair hung down in strings, and she was sure her face must have been disfigured beyond recognition with bruises.
"So lovely to see you, Aidanna," the rodent said with a smirk.
"I thought they told me we were coming to see a magistrate, Sean Burke, not a cattle thief like you."
"They strayed onto my land. They were mine by rights for damaging my crops, and your father had no right to fine me," the beady-eyed man whined.
"Just as you have no right to judge my case!" Aidanna hissed.
" Anthony St. Leger, the Lord Deputy appointed by Henry VIII himself, has appointed me magistrate."
"A fast rider from here to Dublin to get you the office so quickly," Aidanna remarked with a sharp look at both men. She saw at once she had guessed aright when Donal and Sean exchange glances uncomfortably. They had been plotting this for some time, their own ambitions knowing no bounds if they would go so far as to kill young Malachi and try to play on the side of a man even more ruthless than Donal, Henry of England himself.
"St. Leger is in Galway at the moment, looking for the submissions of other clan chiefs to the English Crown. We sent a fast rider with the dispatch," Donal replied too casually to the accusation which hung heavy in the air, as if the matter were of little concern.
Aidanna looked at Declan, who frowned. She then asserted boldly, "Well, in that case, since he is so close, and you wish to pursue this matter in an English court, take me to Galway to see St Leger."
"Sean will hear your testimony, and then refer it if the matter of your guilt is still undecided," Donal insisted.
Aidanna laughed. "I'm sure Sean will have no trouble coming to a decision. He is your puppet. Moreover, he hates my father for besting him at the cattle raid, and he's angry that his marriage suit concerning myself four years ago was rejected. And how can he refer the documents to the Lord Deputy in Galway, Dublin, or anywhere else for that matter, when Sean Burke cannot read or write either?"
"Declan Burke will take down the testimony you give, and we will all sign it. Then you will be judged innocent or guilty, and set free, or sent to prison in Galway to await execution," Donal said impatiently, eager to be rid of her and her troublesome questions.
Aidanna drew some small comfort from Declan's involvement, for surely he could not be bought so easily, unless of course he were just as greedy as the rest of them to own all the Burke lands. But the prospect of imprisonment or execution in Galway was terrifying.
Aidanna tried one last tactic. "You can't take me there! You know how they feel about the O'Flahertys in Galway! My public execution would disgrace the whole family. My clan will lose what little power it has left since my brother Cathal died, and the English will strangle all our trade, our livelihood, our very survival!"
"You forget, Aidanna O'Flaherty, with that stiff-necked pride of yours, that my brother, your husband, was declared tanaist of the O'Flaherty clan after his marriage to you. It is all Declan Burke's now. Your family name will be wiped out, your lands and ships confiscated if you do not submit to his authority, and his authority is derived from the English Crown!" Donal gloated.
Aidanna finally sank into the chair which had been provided for her, and put her head in her hands. She looked up at Declan, who towered over her, but said nothing. Damn them all, Aidanna decided. She was not going to grovel or show fear.
"Where is my father? I am only eighteen, and a mere woman," she declared, though the words nearly choked her. "I am not versed in such legal matters, and would have someone with more experience help me with my testimony."
Donal crowed, "Your father won't come!"
Declan cut him off with a sharp look, and said softly, "My lady, your father has sent word that he has disowned you. I have sent for him, but he will not come. He says you are no longer an O'Flaherty, you are a Burke and have violated the laws of kinship, fosterage and hospitality."
Declan was obviously unsure of what he was saying, unfamiliar as he was with the concepts of Brehon law, but Aidanna knew all too clearly he was repeating the message exactly from memory, so it had to be true. Even her own father and family thought her guilty. She might as well give up now.
But if they judged her to be guilty under those terms, why this farce of a referral to English law? It had to be Declan's doing, and not only because he had come from London. Was this perhaps an attempt to help her, in spite of Donal's seeming command of the situation? Carrickmore was Donal's castle, and by right of Brehon law, he could do as he liked with a traitor to the clan.
Aidanna sighed, and then flinched as her fingers touched her swollen face and jaw. She pushed back her auburn tresses, dull with her lack of care over the past few weeks, and matted with straw from the dungeon. A thin ray of glorious sunshine lit up the room, and illuminated Declan's features. She could see his golden eyes resting warmly upon her, and she gave a barely perceptible nod by way of reply.
"I agree to give my testimony to you," Aidanna assented with quiet dignity, and then began the hours of endless questioning as Sean and Donal Burke tried to trap her into an admission of guilt.
"I keep telling you, my husband died of a putrid wound two months ago, and I never even attended him! He was at his own castle at Murrough at the time, with his own physician! I was with Malachi, Diarmuid, my cousin Morgan, and my sister Aine at my father's castle at Kilgeever," she defended herself stoutly.
"But he had been with you at Kilgeever!" Donal rumbled.
"Well, we were married you know! It's not unusual for a husband and wife to be together, is it?" Aidanna challenged, though she could predict Donal's response to this line of defence.
"You were married for the clan alliance, but never lived together by your father's wishes because you were too young, and your only duties were to foster and rear Angus' sons."
"But what if he had wanted more sons?" Aidanna pointed out boldly.
Donal whitened as though he had been struck.
"What if I'm with child now! You will not be allowed to execute me until after the baby is born, and
under English law, my son would be the heir to all this!" she added, as she gave a dramatic flourish with her hand.
Aidanna's threats were hollow, for she had been untouched by the husband twenty years her senior whom she had been forced to marry after her brother's death had thrown the O'Flaherty succession into confusion. She had been protected by her father's household, and her marriage partner had been just that, a partner in a business arrangement. He had only been interested in a step-mother for his sons, and a good political alliance for them for the future. But she could see her assertion had shaken Donal badly, and her wild guess had actually hit the mark.
Donal stared at her stomach under her loose gown and cloak as though he had seen a monster, and his jaw set tightly. "We will have to wait and see, won't we?" he said quietly.
Aidanna heard the threat just as clearly as if it had been spoken aloud.
Unfortunately, Declan had been too busy scribbling down her words to pay much attention to the exchange, and now looked up distractedly to ask a question of his own.
"But why are you in this castle now, if all of you were living with your father? Surely as a widow, with two young charges, you should have remained with your own family for help?"
"We came here at Donal's insistence. He said this was the largest of the Burke castles and halls, so it was only fitting that Malachi should be invested as chief of the clan here. We had only just arrived when he was stricken by a strange fever, and I nursed him ceaselessly. My sister and I and his brother were with him night and day, with countless servants and doctors. Why would I allow him to get well, only to kill him after?" Aidanna argued logically.
"To divert suspicion from yourself onto my household! It would have been far too obvious if he had died at Kilgeever," Donal accused.
"But why would I kill him at all? He was my step-son! I loved him, and had nothing to gain from his death!"
"You have just admitted you might be with child. You could have killed him to pave the way for your own brat. You could have got one of your family to look after the infant's interests, and then begun to take over the Burke lands!" Sean suggested, a nasty gleam in his eye.
"You mean, as you are now trying to take over the O'Flaherty lands!" Aidanna countered astutely.
This time there was no mistaking the look which passed between her two accusers. Even Declan caught it, and the ominous silence grew.
"If you were a man, you would eat steel for that remark!" Donal growled.
"As head of the O'Flahertys, I'm willing to lock swords with you to defend my honor and that of my family. Give me a weapon, and we'll go outside and settle this right now!" Aidanna demanded, rising from the chair.
It was no idle threat, but all three men laughed in a most patronizing manner that made Aidanna's blood boil.
But now was not the time to lose her temper. This was still a man's world, and Donal was nothing if not crafty. She needed to keep her wits about her if she was ever to survive this conspiracy against her.
Declan calmed the situation by asking, "Where is your sister now? Can she give testimony?"
"She had to go back to Father's. An urgent message came from my cousin Conn," Aidanna told them, and then frowned.
Why had her cousin been so insistent Aine come with him, almost as if he had known trouble was coming? He had also asked for Diarmuid to go, but Aidanna had foolishly insisted he stay in case Malachi were well enough for the investiture ceremony to proceed.
"And where is Diarmuid now, more to the point? No sooner is our leader dead than the next in line to the succession disappears! Have you killed him too? Who did you suborn to murder him?" Donal stormed.
He stepped forward and slapped Aidanna so hard her chair toppled and she was sent flying backwards and landed hard against a heavy oak sideboard with a grunt, winded.
Declan hurled his pen down and slammed both his palms on the tabletop. "That's enough! If you can't control yourself, Donal, I shall put you out of the room, and that goes for you too, Sean Burke!" Declan thundered, as the rat-eyed little man took advantage of Aidanna's fall to run his hands all over her slender body possessively, like a miser counting his gold. Set for death she might be, but Sean was determined to do his best to take advantage of the situation as soon as the big dark stranger's back was turned.
"I'm just making sure the poor girl is all right," Sean whined.
This unwise comment earned him a withering look from Donal. Sean scurried back behind the protection of the large table, as Aidanna struggled to get up.
Aidanna found her voice again, though the pain in her side was excruciating, and gasped, "Once again, I have nothing to gain from Diarmuid's death. I see Declan Burke there, a complete stranger, sitting in that chair as the new tanaist, while I grovel here on the floor, beaten, under threat of execution, disowned, and I ask myself who benefits! Who would want to kill my husband Angus, and now his son Malachi?"
Aidanna finally managed to stand fully upright, and looked Declan straight in the eye. She lifted her chin. "I hope you enjoy where you are sitting now, Declan Burke, but if I were you, I wouldn't stay in this castle too much longer if I wished to live to a ripe old age."
Donal moved to silence her, but Declan rose to his full height, sending his own chair flying as he swiftly grabbed the older man's hand and flattened it to his side.
"I think that's enough questioning," he commanded, with a sneering emphasis on the last word. He turned to Aidanna.
"My lady, we will return you to the dungeon for the moment, while the magistrate and I go over the last details of these depositions and others we have taken. Then we can send to Galway to present the details to Lord Deputy St. Leger for advice on how to proceed."
"Thank you, my lord Burke," Aidanna replied.
Donal wasted no time, but began to drag her away himself.
Alarmed at his palpable fury, she cast a desperate look over her shoulder at the only person in the entire castle who seemed to have any sympathy for her.
Declan caught her pleading look just in time before they disappeared out the door.
But Donal's breakneck pace increased, and as they came to the bottom of the spiral stairs, to a large stone landing just above the dungeon cell, he pretended to stumble.
Aidanna went flying with a gasp. Her nails tore as she frantically grabbed for any hand-hold on the slippery cobbles. She yelled for help, and screamed even more loudly as Donal stamped on her right hand. She clung on in terrified desperation, her toes scraping the wall for support as she hung suspended over the twenty foot drop.
Suddenly Donal was slammed violently out of the way. Declan grabbed her left wrist and pulled. Her flesh was torn away as it scraped against the rough stone. For an agonising moment Aidanna was convinced Declan was going to let her fall.
But no, he reached for her other hand, and pausing to take a deep breath, he gave a huge tug and pulled her up into the safety of his arms. She clung to him for a moment, taking comfort from his strong frame as his arms held her tightly. Then she was abruptly released as Donal came back up the stairs and challenged Declan.
"There was no need to be so rough! I was helping her!" Donal lied.
The tension crackled between the two men. Declan seemed to grow in height as he said quietly, "I acted on instinct, and did not mean to push you away so roughly. I apologise. Now, can you ask your servants to bring her some food and water, and I shall lock her up myself."
Donal hesitated, and Aidanna retreated a step, so that her back was pressed up against Declan's front. She blushed as she felt his arm go around her slender waist and hold her to him protectively, her bottom pressed firmly against Declan's fashionably prominent bejewelled codpiece.
"You are the Burke now. I must do as you say," Donal conceded gruffly.
Declan's only reply was to pull her to his body more tightly. He rested his own back against the wall so Donal could go past him on the landing.
She could only guess at the expression on her new-found ally's face. Bu
t it was all too clear what her enemy was thinking. Aidanna saw Donal's eyes glitter dangerously as he skirted past them and back up the stairs. She knew it was only a matter of time before Donal would get his revenge.
Once they were alone, Declan took Aidanna to the bottom of the stairs, and stood her in a corner while he raked out the filthy straw from the cell, and laid down fresh rushes which were in a pile in one corner.
"He'll get even with you for that," Aidanna commented quietly. "Why did you bother to save me? I'm going to die anyway."
"Don't say that! I won't let you, not if I can help it," he rasped as he pulled her into the cell and pressed her into the corner furthest away from the stairs.
The Sea of Love Page 2
