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the limestone rock to form impregnable fortifications. The tall wooden gates were closed, but at a shout from Caol they swung open and the riders passed inside where the
gilla scuir
, stable lads, came running forward to help them down and take charge of their horses. Eadulf exchanged a brief word with Caol, and then he departed for the chambers that he shared with Fidelma.
    Muirgen, their nurse, opened the door and surveyed his sodden form with disapproval.
    ‘You need to be out of those rags, Brother Eadulf, before you catch a chill. I will get my man to prepare a bath.’
    She had barely finished speaking when Fidelma came forward and smiled ruefully at his bedraggled appearance.
    ‘Muirgen is right. Get out of those clothes immediately while she prepares a bath.’
    Muirgen had hurried off to find her husband, Nessán, who for some months now had been devoted to the charge of taking care of them and their little boy, Alchú. Eadulf shuffled to the blazing fire while Fidelma went in search of a towel and a woollen cloak. Within a short time, Eadulf was seated by the fire wrapped in the cloak and sipping mulled wine, explaining to Fidelma the nature of the business that Miach of the Uí Cuileann had summoned him for.
    Fidelma listened more or less in silence, only asking a questionhere and there for clarification’s sake. When he had finished, Eadulf noticed that her face wore a thoughtful expression.
    ‘You seem pensive,’ he ventured.
    ‘It just seems strange that these Saxons have arrived here at this particular time.’
    ‘Strange? In what way?’
    ‘They said that they had come south because of the problems in Abbot Colmán’s community on Inis Bó Finne. That this abbot from Ard Macha had created dissension among them, causing some of the community to break away and start a new community on Maigh Eo, the plain of the yew?’
    ‘That is so.’
    ‘Did they tell you what made them come here, to the glen of Eatharlaí of all places, and at this time?’
    Eadulf shook his head. ‘To be truthful, I think Caol asked the question.’
    ‘And their reply?’
    ‘Only that God had guided their footsteps here.’
    ‘Which is no reply at all. Are you sure Abbot Ultán was the name of this influential abbot from Ard Macha?’
    Eadulf was puzzled by her questions.
    ‘I may be guilty of many faults but my hearing is still good,’ he replied testily. ‘Ultán is such a simple name that I could not mistake it. Why do you ask?’
    Fidelma sighed, deep in thought.
    ‘This is either coincidence or something else,’ she said finally.
    Eadulf was still irritable. ‘Perhaps I might agree if I knew what you were talking about.’
    ‘There is only one Abbot Ultán linked with Ard Macha – Ultán of Cill Ria, who is also bishop of the Uí Thuirtrí. He acts as envoy to the Comarb of the Blessed Patrick, one of the two premier abbots of the five kingdoms. I have seen him once, at the council where it was agreed that I become part of the Cill Dara delegation to Witebia to offer advice on law. He is, as your Saxon friends described him, a man of arrogance, and somewhat overbearing.’
    Eadulf shrugged. ‘I still do not understand what you mean by a coincidence.’
    ‘A rider from Imleach came here this afternoon and among the news he brought to my brother was that Abbot Ultán of Cill Ria had arrived at Imleach with a small delegation. He is demanding recognition for Ard Macha as the primatial seat of the Faith in all the five kingdoms. Furthermore, Abbot Ultán and his delegation are coming here – here to Cashel – to protest against our marriage.’
    Eadulf stared at her in astonishment. ‘Why?’ he demanded. ‘I mean, what is there to protest about?’
    Fidelma lifted a shoulder and let it fall eloquently. ‘He is of the small group that believes that there should be no marriage among the religious.’
    Eadulf relaxed and chuckled. ‘Well, I do not think the day will come when that will become a reality. Why does