‘He is still in the bed, Aunt.’
‘No, Kaelin,’ she said softly. ‘All that lies in this bed is the coat of flesh that Calofair wore. And we must bury that coat, you and I.’
Ten years on, and even now the memory brought a tear to Maev’s eye. Angrily she brushed it away and rose from her seat. She gazed around the kitchen, at the furniture crafted from pine and the iron stove set upon a bed of slate in the hearth, at the windows with their leaded panes of clear glass, at the floor with its neatly fitted flagstones. Pots and pans hung from brass hooks in the beams, and the larder had food aplenty.
Kaelin walked into the kitchen and sat down at the bench table. ‘Shula is sleeping,’ he said. ‘I left Banny with her.’
‘She should have come to me sooner,’ said Maev sternly.
‘Aye, she should,’ he agreed. ‘Banny said she went into Eldacre to the poor house to ask for food. She was turned away.’
‘Where did she get the cuts and bruises?’
‘Banny says it was Morain, Galliott’s wife. She and several other women beat her as she was making her way home.’
‘There is a deep well of bile in that woman,’ said Maev. ‘It shames us all that Morain has Rigante blood.’
‘Will Banny’s mam be well again, Aunt Maev?’
‘We will do our best for her, Kaelin. We will feed her and keep her warm. Do you still have that chailling Jaim gave you?’
‘I do.’
‘Then go to the storeman and buy a dozen eggs and three jars of honey. Then go to the butcher and tell him I want double the amount of beef for Holy Day. Then . . .’ She paused. ‘Can you remember all this, Kaelin?’
‘Aye, a dozen eggs, three jars of honey, double the beef. What else?’
‘Go to Apothecary Ramus and tell him I need some powders for fever and a potion for the cleansing of the blood. If he has any fat hen weed I will take that too. The woman has a festering wound on her lower back. Tell him that.’
‘Is that all?’ asked Kaelin.
‘Aye. Is Jaim still in the front room?’
‘Yes, Aunt.’
‘Send him in to me, and then be on your way.’
Kaelin smiled at her, then swung away. Maev walked to the larder and lifted down the stone milk jug. She filled a cup, then sipped the creamy liquid.
‘You wanted me, Maev?’ said Jaim Grymauch. She finished her milk, leaving the huge, one-eyed warrior standing in the doorway. Then she turned and looked at him. Jaim normally radiated a physical power that was almost elemental, but he was nervous now under her gaze.
When she finally spoke her voice was hard and cold. “Tis said that one of the Moidart’s men was killed when two raiders made off with his prize bull.’
‘Whisht, woman! No-one died. ‘Tis a terrible lie.’
‘It is also said that the Moidart has offered a five-pound reward for the naming of the criminals.’
‘Five pounds. That is a lot,’ said Jaim with a grin. ‘By heaven, I’m tempted to hand myself in for such a reward.’
‘Wipe that smirk from your face!’ snapped Maev. ‘Will you be smiling when they take Kaelin and put the rope around his neck?’
Instinctively Jaim touched two fingers to his lips, then tapped them upon his chest in the sign of the Sacrifice. ‘Do not say such things. Not even in jest. Kaelin wasn’t seen. When I took the bull to the Finance I made the boy stay back in the woods.’ He stepped closer. ‘Now tell me the truth. Are you angry with me for stealing the bull, or for carrying the sick woman here?’
Maev was shocked. ‘Do you think so little of me, Grymauch? Bringing her here was to your credit. No, I am angry because of your stupidity.’ She sighed. ‘It is more than the bull, Grymauch. I think you want to die. I don’t pretend to understand it, but there is a need in you to spit in the eye of the devil. Had I known you were planning to rob the Moidart I would have refused Kaelin permission to go with you. All cattle owners know that some of their stock will be lost. Largely they accept it. Not the Moidart. He will not rest until the thieves are found and hanged. You will take Kaelin on no more raids. You understand?’