The Dove of Death by Peter Tremayne Page B

ambush that Berran spoke of.’
    Abbot Maelcar was staring angrily at Brother Metellus.
    ‘I forbid you to leave this abbey,’ he said.
    ‘You may forbid Brother Metellus but you will certainly not forbid us from proceeding,’ Fidelma rapped out. ‘As sister to the King of my land, whose cousin, his envoy, was murdered, I invoke my right to claim the hazel wand of office from him and track down his murderer.’ As she spoke, Fidelma drew forth the hazel wand that she had been carrying in her girdle since she had picked it up from the deck where Bressal’s lifeless hand had dropped it. ‘I will appeal to the King of this land, who recognised the embassy of my cousin, and who was duty bound to protect him. I will assert my right. Now, if Brother Metellus will point us along the right path…?’
    Brother Metellus was gazing defiantly at the Abbot.
    ‘Not only will I give you directions but I will take you there myself,’ he said, addressing Fidelma while continuing to gaze at the Abbot.
    Abbot Maelcar seemed shocked.
    ‘Have you not learned humility yet, Brother Metellus?’ he asked. ‘Were you not sent to Hoedig to reflect and learn humility?’
    ‘Humility has nothing to do with this matter,’ Brother Metellus said.
    ‘The first degree of humility is obedience without question,’ returned the Abbot in a voice like thunder. ‘Does not the Rule of the Blessed Benedict say that as soon as anything has been commanded by the Superior of the abbey, no delay in the execution of that order is permitted. The order must be obeyed as if God Himself had commanded it. You will obey me without question.’
    ‘Obedience is never blind, Maelcar,’ the Brother said quietly. ‘Obedience requires the use of prudence in accepting rights and obligations. Decisions can only be made with knowledge, a free choice to do good and avoid evil. To ignore what has happened is to go down the path of evil and I will not tolerate it!’
    ‘Not tolerate…!’ exploded the Abbot, but Brother Metellus had turned to them and pointed the way.
    ‘It will not take us long to follow the path.’
    They left the red-faced Abbot opening and closing his mouth like a floundering fish and not knowing what to do.
    With Brother Metellus leading the way, Fidelma and Eadulf fell in step behind him. They said nothing, merely exchanged a glance as the monk strode before them, the hunching of his shoulders and bent head showing the angry tension in his body. For some time they walked on in silence until, finally, Fidelma remarked: ‘This will put you in bad standing in the Abbey.’
    Brother Metellus looked sideways at her and his angry expression broadened into a smile.
    ‘It puts me in bad standing with Abbot Maelcar and those sycophants who obey him without question. I am not of their number. I believe in rules, that the religious life should be bound by constraints and authority, and I believe that the true path of the religious should be a celibate one, free from carnal desire…’ Then he shook his head. ‘But I do not believe inblind obedience – obedience for the sake of obedience. If we pursue that path then we are denying God’s greatest gift, denying what has made us in the image of Him – which is the right of making our own judgements.’
    Fidelma regarded him with some approval.
    ‘I agree that we must reflect and make our own choices, for obedience without question leads to abuse of the power of the person giving the orders,’ she said gravely.
    ‘While commending you on your stand, Brother,’ Eadulf added, ‘it does mean that your time at the Abbey of Gildas will not be a prolonged one.’
    Brother Metellus replied with a thin smile, ‘The best service that Abbot Maelcar did me was to send me to the little island of Hoedig. I shall return there and continue as before with or without that man’s blessing.’
    ‘You do not hold the Abbot in high esteem,’ observed Eadulf.
    Brother Metellus grunted sardonically. ‘You have