Brother Cadfael 09: Dead Man's Ransom

prince and petitioner to stare at this loud accuser. Einon came round the high table in a few long strides, dropped from the dais so close as to send Griffri lurching back in alarm, and stabbed a hard brown finger at the pin that glowed in the drab cloak.
    'My lord, this, is mine! Gold out of my earth, I had it mined, I had it made for me, there is not another exactly like it in this or any land. When I came back from Shrewsbury, on that errand you know of, it was not in my collar, nor have I seen it since that day. I thought it fallen somewhere on the road, and made no ado about it. What is it to mourn for, gold! Now I see it again and marvel. My lord, it is in your hands. Demand of this man how he comes to be wearing what is mine.' Half the hall was on its feet, and rumbling with menace, for theft unmitigated by circumstances, was the worst crime they acknowledged, and the thief caught red handed could be killed on sight by the wronged man. Griffri stood stricken dumb, staring in bewilderment. Anion flung himself with stretched arms and braced body between his father and Einon.
    'My lord, my lord, I gave it, I brought it to my father. I did not steal... I took a price! Hold my father blameless, if there is blame it is mine only...' He was sweating with terror, great sudden gouts that ran on his forehead and were snared in his thick brows. And if he knew a little Welsh, in this extremity it did not serve him, he had cried out in English. That gave them all a moment of surprise. And Owain swept a hand over the hall and brought silence.
    'Sit, and keep closed mouths. This is my matter. I'll have quiet and all here shall have justice.' They murmured, but they obeyed. In the ensuing hush Brother Cadfael rose unobtrusively to his feet and made his way round the table and down to the floor of the hall. His movements, however discreet, drew the prince's eye.
    'My lord,' said Cadfael deprecatingly, 'I am of Shrewsbury, I know and am known to this man Anion ap Griffri. He was raised English, no fault of his. Should he need one to interpret, I can do that service, so that he may be understood by all here.'
    'A fair offer,' said Owain, and eyed him thoughtfully. 'Are you also empowered, brother, to speak for Shrewsbury, since it seems this accusation goes back to that town, and the business of which we know? And if so, for shire and town or for abbey?'
    'Here and now,' said Cadfael boldly, 'I will venture for both. And if any find fault hereafter, let it fall on me.'
    'You are here, I fancy,' said Owain, considering, 'over this very matter.'
    'I am. In part to look for this same jewel. For it vanished from Gilbert Prestcote's chamber in our infirmary on the day that he died. The cloak that had been added to the sick man's wrappings in the litter was handed back to Einon ab Ithel without it. Only after he had left did we remember and look for the brooch. And only now do I see it again.'
    'From the room where a man died by murder,' said Einon. 'Brother, you have found more than the gold. You may send our men home.'
    Anion stood fearful but steadfast between his father and the accusing stare of a hall full of eyes. He was white as ice, translucent, as though all the blood had left his veins. 'I did not kill,' he said hoarsely, and heaved hard to get breath enough to speak. 'My lord, I never knew... I thought the pin was his, Prestcote's. I took it from the cloak, yes.'
    'After you had killed him,' said Einon harshly.
    'No! I swear it! I never touched the man.' He turned in desperate appeal to Owain, who sat listening dispassionately at the table, his fingers easy round the stem of his wine, cup, but his eyes very bright and aware. 'My lord, only hear me! And hold my father clear of all, for all he knows is what I have told him, and the same I shall tell you, and as God sees me, I do not lie.'
    'Hand up to me,' said Owain,'that pin you wear.' And as Griffri hurried with trembling fingers to detach it, and reached up to lay it in the prince's hand: 'So! I have known this too long and seen it worn too often to be in any doubt whose it is. From you, brother, as from Einon here, I know how it came to be flung open to hand by the sheriff's bed. Now you may tell, Anion, how you came by it. English I can follow, you need not fear being misunderstood. And Brother Cadfael will put what you say into Welsh, so that all here may understand you.'
    Anion gulped air and found a creaky voice that gathered body and passion as he used it. Shock and