Kushiel's Justice - Jacqueline Carey [62]
It was the first time I'd ever met man-to-man with the Cruarch of Alba. Drustan received me in his personal study at the Palace. I was surprised to find it cluttered with books and letters and writing materials.
"I was beginning to think everyone in Alba held the written word in disdain," I commented, taking a seat at his nod of invitation.
Drustan smiled briefly. "In Alba, I have the luxury of following Cruithne customs. Outside of Alba, it is different. I bear many responsibilities as the Cruarch.”
"So I understand," I said.
His gaze sharpened. "What did you wish to speak of?”
"The Maghuin Dhonn." I took a deep breath. "My lord, before I wed Dorelei, there are things I wish to know. Who are the Maghuin Dhonn? What is a diadh-anam and why did the Maghuin Dhonn sacrifice it? Exactly how widespread is the dissension in Alba? Is it merely tribal feuding or is it somewhat more?”
My words hung in the air between us. Drustan didn't answer right away. He rose and paced the room with his uneven gait, his hands clasped behind his back. When he was seated or riding astride, one forgot the disability of his clubbed foot. Still, he moved well despite it, steady and deft. I didn't find it so hard to see Sidonie as his daughter.
"It's ill luck to speak the name," Drustan said at length.
"You've spoken it," I pointed out. "Alais heard you.”
The Cruarch of Alba sighed. "She hears too much.”
"She has a right to know," I said. "So do I.”
"So be it." Drustan sat down to face me, hands on his knees. "You know that the Cullach Gorrym lay claim to being the first folk in Alba?" he asked, and I nodded. "So do the Maghuin Dhonn. And truth be told, no one knows who has the right of it. Like us, they came from the east, back when the world was young. Their lore holds they came from a more northerly clime." He shrugged. "Indeed, they say all the world was colder in those days, so cold the very Straits froze solid enough to cross.”
A shiver brushed my spine. "Do you believe it?”
"I don't know." His face was grave. "Of a surety, they are old. They were a powerful folk before they lost their diadh-anam, shapechangers and magicians." I opened my mouth to repeat a question, and Drustan forestalled me with a gesture. "The diadh-anam, the guiding and protecting spirit of a people. Theirs was the Brown Bear. It's a sacred word, from the mysteries. It would been taught you after the rites in Alba, when you truly became part of the Cullach Gorrym.”
"So the Black Boar is the diadh-anam of the Cullach Gorrym?" I asked slowly.
Drustan nodded. "Ever since Lug the warrior followed his diadh-anam across the Straits. There is a geas on me that I may never hunt boar lest I curse the Cullach Gorrym. When I die, the geas will fall upon Talorcan.”
I thought about the story in the Tiberian historian Caledonius' writings. "Somehow, my lord, I suspect that the Maghuin Dhonn did worse than hunt brown bears. Does this have aught to do with the bear that slew the Governor of Alba?”
"Yes." Drustan's hands tightened on his knees. He gave me a rueful smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I should have guessed Phèdre nó Delaunay's foster-son would know surprising things. The bear was raised in captivity and fed on human flesh until it grew to a vast size. The magicians of the Maghuin Dhonn did that, fed it on the flesh of their own children. And then they sold it to the Tiberians for sport.”
My stomach lurched. "Why?”
"No one knows," he said softly. "Not truly. The Maghuin Dhonn said it was to summon a curse on the Tiberians. Cinhil Ru said their magicians had gone mad. After it happened, a pox swept through the folk of the Brown Bear. Many, many of them died.”
"But not all of them," I said.
"No." Drustan regarded me. "A handful survived and their line continues. And they do not welcome change in Alba, and they do not welcome D'Angelines.