‘The Evil One?’ Eadulf frowned.
‘The leper with the unpronounceable name.’
‘Uaman?’
‘That is he.’
Briefly, Eadulf told him the story. The healer from Jundi-Shapur nodded sadly. ‘He is, indeed, the Evil One.’
Eadulf saw beyond his immediate problems as a memory came back.
‘You were travelling with a brother from Ard Macha and you passed through Cashel a short time ago? A Brother Tanaide? I heard your names at the abbey of Imleach.’
‘That is so,’ agreed Basil Nestorios. ‘I came to this land to discover what cultures and beliefs lay on the western rim of the world. Through intercession from a bishop in the country of Gaul I was put in touch with a bishop in Fearna, the capital city of the land called Laigin.’
Eadulf knew Fearna well and had nearly lost his life there. He sighed as he thought of how Fidelma had saved him.
‘What then?’ he said, thrusting the memory from his mind.
‘It was the bishop who gave me Brother Tanaide as my guide and interpreter. When it was discovered that I was a physician, the bishop and the king of Laigin begged me to stay awhile and practise my arts.’ He shrugged. ‘I suppose it was news of my cures that reached the Evil One …’
‘Uaman?’
‘The name is difficult for my tongue and lips. Ooo-er-mon? Is that how it is pronounced?’
Eadulf smiled encouragement. ‘Good enough,’ he acknowledged. ‘But are you saying that Uaman heard of you in Laigin?’
‘Truly, my friend. He sent word to me there that he would pay a large sum if I came to his palace to try my skill at curing him of the disease that had struck him down. In Jundi-Shapur we know much of this disease that causes disfigurement, skin lesions and sensory loss. We have several means of treating it and I had brought with me a box of the cures we use.’
Eadulf was interested in spite of the surroundings and the dire straits they were in. ‘I have studied some of the healing arts but do not pretend to be a healer. Here, it is usual to pound burdock leaves in wine and cause the sufferer to drink it as a way of treating the disease.’
Basil Nestorios grimaced. ‘Where I come from we have a herb called gotu kala … it can be taken both internally and externally. It is an ancient cure for healing wounds and curing leprosy. I brought some with me.’
‘So you arrived here with Brother Tanaide at Uaman’s request?’
Basil Nestorios inclined his head. ‘Cursed be the day when I crossed the mountains to this place.’
‘Where is Brother Tanaide? In another cell?’
Basil Nestorios shook his head. His expression was a mixture of anger and sadness.
‘The Evil One had him killed.’
Eadulf felt a chill run through him, but he was not shocked, knowing the extent of Uaman’s treacherous soul.
‘What happened?’
‘He was run through by one of the Evil One’s swordsmen and thrown from the tower into the sea. He was dead before he fell into the water.’
‘But why? Why, if you had come to cure him? Why did he kill your companion and imprison you? I do not understand it.’
‘Understand this, my friend. The disease of his skin is reflected in the disease of his mind. He is evil. There is no redeeming quality in him.’
‘So he has saved your life only for you to tend to him? Are you treating him?’
‘I am prolonging my life, that is all. Twice a day I am taken from this cell to mix and prepare my medicines and then treat the man. So far as I can see, he is beyond cure, either physically or in the darkness of his mind, which seems to nurse dreams of revenge on all who challenge him.’
Eadulf rubbed his chin thoughtfully. ‘Twice a day? At what times?’
‘Something crosses your mind, my friend. What is it?’
‘Have you never thought to use your skills to escape?’
The physician frowned. ‘I am not sure what you mean.’
‘Simple. What can cure can also kill.’
Basil Nestorios looked shocked. ‘In my culture, my friend, a physician must do no harm. Many centuries ago there lived on the island of Cos a physician named Hippocrates who is regarded as the father of the physician’s art. He imposed an oath on his pupils which says that we cannot use our knowledge to inflict harm on people. We of Jundi-Shapur swear that oath even today.’
Eadulf smiled wanly. ‘So you would rather suffer from his evil, and allow him to inflict it on many other innocent people, than prevent it?’
Basil Nestorios raised his hands in a helpless gesture.
‘What can I do? The oath is absolute.’
Eadulf was thinking furiously.
‘When will you be called to treat him next?’ he repeated.
The physician glanced through the window, trying to estimate the hour. The sky was already darkening. At this time of year that implied that it was mid-afternoon.
‘The tide will be on the flow soon. Any time now the guard will come for me. I have watched their time-keeping for several days now.’
‘Then if you will not poison Uaman, surely you can make a brew that will render him unconscious?’
‘I could. But it would take some time for such an infusion to work. I will be brought back here and locked in. What then?’
‘I’ll be waiting behind the door when the guard brings you back. Get him to come into the cell on some pretext… I know … I’ll leave the stone out by the bed and if he doesn’t see it, draw his attention to it. Then I can jump him from behind.’ Eadulf began to get enthusiastic as he considered the idea.
‘But it would still take some time for the infusion to work on Uaman,’ Basil Nestorios pointed out again. Then he paused and said reluctantly, ‘I could increase the dose. On reflection, the sooner we take our departure the better.’ Then he sighed in irritation. ‘But when the guard comes to fetch me for the treatment, you will be found here.’
Eadulf shook his head and pointed to the tunnel.
‘I will slip into there and you will push the stone slab before it, not blocking it off, but allowing me hang on with my hands, for my legs will be over the edge dangling into the next cell. As the bed covers your tunnel, with luck the guard will not notice that the slab is not quite in place.’
Basil Nestorios was looking thoughtful.
‘It might work. But even so, if we can deal with one guard, when we escape then there are still five others.’
‘Let us deal with one thing at a time,’ replied Eadulf. ‘How do you propose to render Uaman unconscious? Do you have any gafann?’
The physician looked puzzled as Eadulf, momentarily, could only think of the word used by the people of the five kingdoms.
‘Henbane,’ he said, trying to think of the Latin word. ‘Mandragora’ he added, knowing that the plant was related to the mandrake. ‘That is what I would use. In infusions it yields a potion which, if given in undiluted form, will cause a loss of speech and physical paralysis.’
Basil Nestorios smiled agreement.
‘You have some knowledge, my friend. Left with no alternative, I would say that it is a good choice. Yet I have, among my medicines, a distillation of a plant that grows in parts of my country which is called papaver and which will be far stronger and quicker in its effect. It is a white poppy that we use at Jundi-Shapur which is a powerful narcotic and sometimes relieves pain, sometimes stimulates the mind. But it can also be dangerous in large doses.’
‘A white poppy?’ Eadulf frowned. It was a new plant in his experience.
‘We make an incision in the seed head that ripens once the plant has flowered. The cuts secrete a thick juice, which we scrape off and leave to dry. From this we take our medicinal potion. It will dull the Evil One’s brain and induce a deep sleep. That I am prepared to do, but I will inflict on him no more than sleep.’
Eadulf shrugged. ‘Well, sleep is better than nothing. If he is not able to order and co-ordinate his warriors, perhaps we have a chance. Are you sure there are no more than six guards in this fortress?’