Sacrifice by Philip Freeman Page A

like.”
    â€œDon’t be too eager. It isn’t going to be a cordial meeting. Dúnlaing is furious at the druids for letting this happen. Since, for better or worse, I’m the best-known druid in the province of Leinster, I’m afraid his anger is going to be focused on me.”
    â€œMaybe I can mollify him. I think he’s always liked me.”
    â€œYes, but liking you isn’t going to make up for two dead subjects at the hands of some deranged druid. He knows these murders threaten his power as king. He’s going to be looking for people to blame. You might become a target of his rage as well.”
    â€œI can bear that. But what do we tell him?”
    â€œWe can say that the killer is a druid,” she said. “We can say that there are more sacrifices coming if we don’t stop him. None of this betrays any druid secrets.”
    â€œBut which druid could be carrying out these murders?”
    â€œWhat do you think, Deirdre? I have my ideas, but you’ve always been a clever girl.”
    I thought for a moment.
    â€œMy first guess would be someone from one of the fundamentalist factions. They don’t have many followers, but those they do have are committed. Ever since Patrick arrived, there have been a few druids who have seen Christianity as a threat to their way of life. There have never been any deaths or even violence, but there has been resentment building for a long time. Honestly, though, I don’t know why they would be worried. In the decades since the Gospel arrived on this island, Christianity has barely managed to survive. The monks at Armagh like to say Patrick converted thousands to the faith, but I doubt he baptized more than a few hundred during all the years of his mission. A few whole clans, like Saoirse’s family, have become Christians, but mostly it’s been a single person here and there.”
    â€œAnd of those who do convert,” Grandmother added, “the most sincere often become celibate monks and nuns. Not exactly a recipe for growth. You need children for a religion to be successful.”
    â€œThat’s true. And there aren’t even that many monks and nuns in Ireland. Kildare has no more than a few dozen.Armagh has more than us, but not many. There are maybe a half dozen other monasteries scattered around the island, but there can’t be more than a few hundred of us—of them—in total. Maybe there are two thousand Christians in Ireland all together, but we’re not exactly growing by leaps and bounds. I don’t know how long we can survive as a faith before people give up and return to the old ways. And now, as if we weren’t failing on our own, someone is killing nuns. I don’t think that is going to help our recruitment efforts.”
    â€œThat may be the point,” she said. “The killer may be hoping to bring Christianity to an end in one grand and horrible bloodbath.”
    â€œIf it is one of the fanatical druids,” I said, “Finian would know—if it isn’t Finian himself.”
    She took a sip from her own wine cup.
    â€œThat was my first thought as well. That young man is a gifted sacrificer and deeply committed to the old ways. He’s also a lightning rod for the miscreant and malcontent druids on the island. Most of them don’t have the brains to organize these killings, but Finian would.”
    â€œWhat if it isn’t Finian or his followers?” I asked. “What if someone else is pulling the strings? Maybe these murders are a political attack aimed at the king but disguised as a religious crusade. It would be a clever way to bring Dúnlaing down, by attacking his credibility to control events in his own kingdom.”
    â€œThat would be devious. Dúnlaing has many enemies, as does any powerful king. Are you thinking about the Uí Néill?”
    â€œYes. They’ve pushed our border back to the Liffey in the north. Their