The Rite of Spring: The Leader of the Red Band

The Rite of Spring: Fragment 32g

The Leader of the Red Band
in which the Council of Elders of the Rhiconaiach meets for the last time

Once again, old Ceathre had called us to a Council of Elders, but it was a very different group of people who sat on the carpet in front of the Chieftain's tent. A smaller group. Duiriach was missing, of course, but so was Braert. I asked Ceathre where he was; Ceathre did not know. I sat and waited. Mheadhonach strolled into the camp to join us. He too enquired for Braert, and got the same answer. We waited for some time, listening to the small noises of the camp. After a while I said that there was much that needed to be done, and if Braert was not going to attend, would we not be better to start without him.

Ceathre said that that was not possible, for the first thing we must now do was invest Braert as Chieftain, and for that he must be present. He went off across the dusty open space to Braert's tent, and called outside the door, as is customary. After a short while he returned. He told us that the woman of Braert's tent had told him that Braert had gone out to shoot buck with another warrior the preceding night, and had not returned. I at once said that indeed it had been I that had taken Braert out; I had left him not a dozen bowshots from the camp, to go back to where my own camp is sited. Had he not been seen since then? Various people were called. It transpired that, indeed, no-one had seen Braert since the previous evening.

Mheadhonach and I immediately called to gether all the warriors who were about the camp; that is to say, Aonach's household troops, my own escort troop, and Mheadhonach's. We formed a line abreast, and rode out from the camp towards the place where I indicated that I had parted from Braert the preceding night. We did not find him, but from the point I indicated, we found signs that at least two horsemen had galloped off rapidly in a direction rather away from the camp. We followed this trail for some way, but then it went over an area of exposed rock, and we lost it.

We started to quarter the surrounding area, in line abreast, cantering about a bowshot apart so that we covered the greatest possible area of ground. We did this for some time. At last a cry rippled down the line, and we gathered in on a little hollow. Braert and his hunting pony lay dead, with Coiremhiconicfhear arrows in both. Braert's body had been mutilated in the manner in which it is customary for the Coiremhiconicfhear to treat fallen enemies. Mheadhonach looked at me very curiously. He asked me whether I had seen any sign of the Coiremhiconicfhear. I was able to tell him quite clearly that I had not.

We bore up the mutilated body, and carried it in honour back to the Chieftain's camp. Then Mheadhonach and I returned to join Ceathre outside the Chieftain's tent. Mheadhonach reported what we had found, in a very measured voice. Ceathre exclaimed in shock. Mheadhonach commented that it was a remarkable coincidence that Braert should die on the eve of his investiture. I said that we were all in danger from the Coiremhiconicfhear now, and that Braert had not always been wise. Mheadhonach said, very coolly, that the conincidence was particularly remarkable when one considered that Braert had been out hunting with the next in line at the time.

I was about to anwer this insulting insinuation with some heat, when Ceathre intervened.

"Oh", he said, "but Fheardheach is not next in line."

I confess I was surprised to hear this, so that it was Mheadhonach who asked who, in that case, was? Ceathre mentioned Sunaerterch a'Sunaert a'Sunaertain a'Braeriach, but as Sunaerterch was of the Gold Band he thought that their defection rendered him dishonoured. I concurred.

Old Ceathre said that if that was so, then the line passed to himself, but as I had surmised, he said that custom debarred a shaman from taking the chieftainship. Thus, he said, it also debarred both his sons, as both had trained as shamen. In default of them, he said, the line must pass to the masters of his daughters. Now, as we knew, the master of his elder daughter Ceathrean was Aonach, who was dead, as were all his issue unless, perhaps, Aonan still survived. In any case we must assume they were all dead. That being so, the line passes through his second daughter, Dharian, to her master, Ardnain of the Long Spear. As Ardnain was now blind, and thus debarred from the chieftainship, the line passed to his son Dhomnuil a'Ardnain.

Mheadhonach at once said that if this was so, a message must at once be conveyed to this Dhomnuil. Of what age was he? Was he not serving with the young men, in the Guard? Ceathre reckoned up and said that the lad must be some twenty summers, and that indeed he was in his second year with the Guard. I said that this was ludicrous. Surely, at this time of crisis, we were not going to send another embassy on the perilous journey across the Rim, putting our Clan through another extended period of uncertainty and peril, to pass the Chieftainship to an untried lad who took the royal blood only through the intervention of a woman - and she descended from a younger son - when there were two tried and experienced warriors, myself and Mheadhonach, who had the royal blood through an untainted male line, even if those lines were from younger sons. One of us - whoever was deemed most suitable - should be made Chieftain at once, in order to end the uncertainty and put the Clan onto a sound defensive footing. If we continued to lose outlying camps at the rate we had been doing, we would find our people defecting to Duiriach's renegades. I appealed to Mheadhonach to support me in this.

Mheadhonach, to my surprise, disagreed strongly. He pointed out that he and I held out positions only on the strength of custom. If we allowed the principle that the line should pass to the best leader, then all the young warriors with a success under their belts would be challenging for the leadership, and perhaps we might even descend to the level of savagery where legitimate heirs of the line were being murdered in cold blood by those ambitious for high office. The only way to prevent such anarchy was the strict application of custom and tradition. If custom declared the line must pass to this Dhomnuil, then so it must be. In any case, the customs had been established by Rhiconic the All Seeing, who had no doubt forseen just this, and had intended Dhomnuil to inherit the line, in which case we would no doubt find the young man to be an inspired leader who would bring about the salvation of our people.

I said that I could not believe that this was indeed the true path of custom. The All Seeing One would not prefer blood tainted by the female over the true male descent. Clearly either Mheadhonach or myself must be chief, whichever of our great great grandfathers had been the elder; I said that my memory was unclear on that point. I would happily lead my Band behind Mheadhonach, I said, if it should prove that it was he who inherited the line. But I would not lead my Band behind an untried stripling whose line was tainted by female descent. That was surely not the custom of the Clan.

From this point our discussion descended into open argument, and indeed some very intemperate things were said. Eventually Mheadhonach made an insinuation about Braert's death which I could not ignore. I at once challenged him to settle the issue in combat.

A square was laid out on the practice field, and, with our men looking on, we fought, as is customary, with axes. It happened during the fight, that in blocking a blow my axe haft came across his fingers, causing the axe to fly from his hands. I at once stepped back, of course, to allow him to recover it, but Mheadhonach collapsed at that point from wounds which he had already received. His people at once started to call foul, saying that I had hacked him while he was weaponless.

This was more of an insult than my brave warriors could stand, they surged across the field to attack Mheadhonach's escort, and thus started the war between the true Rhiconaiach and the renegades led by Mheadhonain a'Mheadhonach, and the turncoat Ceathre. Still it give me some comfort to know that my Clan now has an tried and experienced Chieftain who will, once these renegades are defeated, be able to lead it to victory agains the Coiremhiconicfhearchaorusduadh.

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