The Spider's Web by Peter Tremayne

sign of the other warrior, Crítán. They hesitated a moment before walking slowly in the direction of Eber’s apartments.
    ‘One cannot blame Dubán,’ Eadulf tried to act as conciliator. ‘And remember, this poor creature, as you call him, did kill Eber, his chieftain.’
    He almost winced as Fidelma’s green eyes suddenly blazed at him with an angry fire.

    ‘Móen’s guilt has first to be proved. He is a human being and has the same rights before the law as everyone else. In the meantime there is no excuse to treat him as if he were less than an animal.’
    ‘True,’ conceded Eadulf. ‘He should not be treated in such a way but …’
    ‘He has a right of defence before being judged guilty or not.’
    Eadulf raised a shoulder and let it fall in an expressive gesture.
    ‘Deaf, dumb and blind, Fidelma. How can one communicate with such a being in order to find out what defence they can present?’
    ‘If there is a defence, I shall find it. But he will not be condemned without a fair trial. On my oath as an advocate of the laws of the five kingdoms, I shall ensure it.’
    There was an awkward silence and then Eadulf asked: ‘Is there really a law imposing penalties on anyone who mocks the disabled?’
    ‘I do not make up laws,’ Fidelma replied stiffly, still irritated. ‘Heavy fines can be imposed on anyone who mocks the disability of any person from an epileptic to a lame person.’
    ‘It is hard to believe, Fidelma, even though I had studied in this land of yours, I am still a prisoner of my own culture. In our society we recognise that man is a cruel creature and that God often ordains him to live short and brutish lives. It is in the holy order of things that, in the violence of nature, man has a violent path.’
    Fidelma stared at him in surprise.
    ‘You have seen the alternative in our society, Eadulf. You surely do not believe that the Saxon way is the only way?’
    ‘Any way is only transitory. Life is subject to sudden change. On every side there is pestilence, famine, oppression, violence from personal or political enemies. We resign ourselves to the dispensation of the inscrutable will of the Father in the heavens where all our security lies.’

    Fidelma shook her head.
    ‘Time to argue such a philosophy later, Eadulf. Our laws and the way we conduct our lives is surely an argument against the manifold misery of life you accept in your land? But before we debate the subject, there is this matter to be resolved. And it is a difficult one, Eadulf, and I need your support. Once I have gathered the evidence, and if the blame does lie at the door of this unfortunate then I will have to decide whether he has any legal capacity in law. Such a disabled person is not subject to distraint and one has to act against the legal guardian. So we must discover who is the legal guardian of this creature, Móen. Ah,’ she paused and rubbed her head, ‘I must try to recall the words of the text Do Brethaib Gaire …’
    ‘What is that?’ demanded Eadulf.
    ‘On the judgments of maintenance which is a tract on the kin’s obligation to care for its incapacitated members. The first part deals with the care of the deaf, blind and dumb.’
    Eadulf was always bemused by the Irish laws of compensation to the victim and their family even for murder. In his land of the South Folk, the death penalty was enacted even for thieves and those who harboured and supported them. Murderers, traitors, witches, absconding slaves, outlaws and those who protected them could be hanged, beheaded, stoned, burnt or drowned, while lesser penalties consisted of mutilations; the cutting off of hands, feet, nose, ears, upper lip or tongue, even blinding, castration and scalping as well as branding and scouring. Eadulf knew that the Saxon bishops preferred to mete out the punishment of mutilation rather than death for it gave the sinner time to repent. But these Irish with their refusal to accept the satisfying concept of revenge but who