With that, he tossed Frederick into a group of men seated several feet away, and the entire collection crashed to the floor with Frederick on top of them. Devlin leapt onto the feasting table and beat at his chest.
“I am Devlin Mac Niall de Bermingham,” he roared. “I am Black Sword and any man under my command will follow with complete and utter obedience, or I will destroy him. Is this in any way unclear?”
The men roared in return, approval and support shouted back to Devlin, who was showing distinct signs of fury at this point. “I fight for Ireland and for you and your families,” he shouted. “I fight for freedom for our people. Do you fight with me?”
“Aye!” they cried.
“Do you fight with me?”
“Aye!
Devlin had managed to work the men up more than Frederick ever could; he was a great leader, a man of tremendous charisma, and his men loved him for it. Frederick had the ability to interest men but it was Devlin who had the ability to capture their minds and hearts. As Devlin jumped off the table, he moved back to his chair and collected his falcon. Then he turned to Iver and Shain, standing nearby.
“Put a few men on watching this group to see that they don’t get out of hand,” he said. “Freddy has them so worked up that I am concerned they will form a mob and kill the English prisoners when my back is turned.”
Iver nodded, snapping his fingers at a couple of men standing a few feet away and motioning them over. Meanwhile, Shain moved closer to Devlin.
“What about Freddy?” he asked, his tone low. “What do we do with him?”
Devlin looked at him. “Do you really want to know?”
“Indeed I do.”
Devlin lowered his voice; his dark blue eyes were deadly. “I have had enough of him,” he muttered. “I grow weary of him questioning my command and I fear we are on a path for Freddy’s personal rebellion. He is increasingly vocal against me and that makes the men uncertain. This I can no longer tolerate. Put him on the back of your horse and take him someplace far and dump him.”
Shain liked that idea a great deal. “Finally, Devlin,” he hissed. “You give the command I have been waiting for. But if you do not kill him, he will come back for you. You cannot leave him alive.”
Devlin knew that. Although he was reluctant to order the man’s death, he knew that Shain had a point. Frederick was a good enough warrior that he could very well come back to try and kill him. If it was a choice between ordering the man’s death or looking over his shoulder for the rest of his life, he knew what he had to do.
“Then make it quick and dump his body in the sea,” he whispered. “Do it now while he is still unconscious and cannot fight back.”
Shain was gone, commandeering a few men to carry Frederick’s still-unconscious form out of the hall. Devlin watched them go, not feeling the least bit remorseful for thebrutal command. This was survival, in his opinion, and he would do all he could in order to survive.
As Shain quit the hall with Frederick’s limp body, Iver came to stand next to Devlin. “Where are they going?” he asked.
Devlin glanced at Iver before motioning the man to follow. “Come with me.”
He did. The pair of them headed up to Devlin’s chamber above the feasting hall, the chamber that Emllyn had stayed in during her days at Black Castle. It still looked as if a woman lived there with hides on the bed, the table and chairs in the corner, and other items that had been brought in to make her more comfortable.
Once they entered the room, Devlin shut the door behind them and perched the falcon on the back of one of the chairs. With a heavy sigh, he pulled off the black glove he always wore to battle, the one that Neart perched on, and tossed it onto the table. Outside, the thunder rolled and the waves crashed. It was a night of evil tidings.
“Where did Shain take Freddy?” Iver asked again, watching Devlin pour a measure of wine from an old earthenware container.
Devlin handed him the wine. “I can no longer tolerate the man’s attitude,” he said, watching Iver drink deeply from the cup. “Freddy borders on rebellion more and more every day. I am afraid that one of these days, he will turn my own men against me with his lies. He has the ability to manipulate and most of these men are fairly simple minded. They love me, that is true, but if Freddy works them into madness, they will follow the crowd. They will not think for themselves. I have therefore ordered Shain to kill him.”
Iver sighed faintly and drained the rest of his cup. “We have been telling you that for quite some time, Dev,” he said. “Freddy is no longer content to follow. He wants to lead.”
“I know,” Devlin sighed, pouring himself some wine as well. “He has good ideas and he is ambitious, but I am finally forced to agree that his ambition is to replace me. He is a cousin on my father’s side, after all, and I did not want to believe a relative could be out to destroy me. But….”
He was interrupted by a loud thump. Turning around, he saw Iver on the ground. Rushing to the man’s side, he watched in shock as a white foam spilled out of Iver’s lips. The man twitched and twitched some more, and then he fell still. Devlin searched frantically for a pulse but there was none. Iver was dead.
Seized with shock, with disbelief, Devlin shook Iver as if to bring the man back from the dead. He began to look for a puncture wound or some other kind of injury that would kill him but as he did so, his gaze came to rest on the empty cup of wine the man had just finished. It was still sitting on the table where Iver had put it. Devlin’s astonished gaze returned to Iver and the white froth coming out of his mouth and nose. And then, it began to occur to him.
Poison.
Filled with grief, Devlin stood up unsteadily, his gaze still on Iver. Someone had meant that poison for Devlin, someone who was clever and bold. It had to be someone the servants trusted because he knew for a fact Enda or Nessa would not have done it. They had served Devlin for years and Enda had helped raise him. Nay, it wasn’t them; but in order to put poison in his room, it had to be someone the servants trusted. No one else would have been able to gain access.
His commanders.
