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Then he pretended that he had just come round and went to rouse Garban with the news of his attack.”
    MacBeth suddenly smiled and pointed to a small bloodstain on the wall. It was shoulder high, where a man might have banged his head to make the abrasion. “I presume we do not have to explain that mark away?”
    The brehon sighed. “It is a stupid man who leaves such a trail of clues.”
    Just then Segan entered the chamber with Garban close behind him.
    He stared from MacBeth to the brehon with a slight flicker of puzzlement in his eyes. Then his glance fell on the bed and the pile of jewelry.
    “My lord, this…,” he began, taking a step forward.
    Then he froze, his eyes round in surprise. He half twisted and attempted to reach for something at his side. Garban withdrew the six-inch blade from the young man.
    He watched dispassionately as the servant fell to the floor.There was no need to examine the body. Segan was dead long before he hit the floor.
    “He was reaching for his knife,” Garban explained. “He meant to harm you, noble lord.”
    “A pity,” muttered Cothromanach. “Better to have him live awhile and receive his punishment as a warning to all thieves and murderers.”
    “Indeed,” MacBeth acknowledged grimly. “Have the body removed, Garban, and have those jewels gathered up and returned to the Lady Gruoch. I will walk a way with you, Cothromanach.”
    The brehon glanced at him. “You are still anxious, noble lord?”
    “There are still willing tongues to spread rumors. Many will be quick to lay the blame for this at my door.”
    “Have no fear. I shall write my account to my fellow brehons throughout the land. They shall know what has transpired here.”
    MacBeth smiled in thanks and, hauling his cloak more tightly around his shoulders, turned and made his way back to his bedchamber. Dawn now filled the castle with a gray, cold light.
    After the morning meal, while the light was still gray and cold, MacBeth found old Garban on the ramparts of the castle.
    He was standing in a quiet corner away from the scrutiny of the guards, leaning with his back to the ramparts. “A close call, noble lord,” observed the old man as he turned and peered over the ramparts, looking down into the rocky ravine below. “I had to kill him.”
    “Indeed you did,” agreed MacBeth, pleasantly enough. “Yet the plan was nearly ruined by not clearing away the extra candle stub.”
    “It is easy to make a mistake. But all ended well. After Lady Gruoch left her brother, I knocked on the door, and the prince opened it, knowing it was I. The problem was that his falling body was heard by Segan, who came and knocked on the door. Had I not opened, he would have roused the entire castle. So I let him in and gave him a blow on the back of the head. While he lay unconscious, I struck him on the temple, for I knew that this might arouse suspicion.Then I hid the jewels in his bedchamber, in case we needed evidence, and also spread his wall with his blood to make it look as though he had faked his wound by dashing his forehead there. Then, to confuse him over the time the deed was committed, I exchanged the burning candle with a new one, which would put his timing out by an hour or two.”
    “That was the mistake you made, in dropping the stub of the first candle on the floor and not taking it with you,” observed MacBeth. “It could have made the brehon suspicious.”
    “None of us are perfect, noble lord,” sniffed the old servant.
    “True enough.”
    “And now you stand one step closer to the throne at Sgain, noble lord. Prince Malcolm is no longer your rival, and the Lady Gruoch is there to support you.”
    “True again.”
    “You have much to thank me for, noble lord.” Garban smiled. “I trust I will be properly rewarded.”
    “That I have and that you shall,” agreed MacBeth, and turning swiftly, he gave the old man a violent push, sending him flying over the rampart. There was scarcely time for Garban