‘Haven’t got time to mess about with all that,’ Brocc said. ‘I need compensation now. She should be made to pay up.’

‘Let’s get this quite clear,’ said the prince. ‘Cliona, are you prepared to have Lady Sochla attend your farm and examine your dogs’ teeth?’

‘None of us has got spare time,’ said Cliona. ‘But if that’s what it takes to prove this fool wrong, then yes.’ She hesitated. ‘Nobody likes to lose their stock; nobody likes to see a sheep mauled. It’s a cruel way for them to go.’ She glanced at Lady Sochla. ‘Pity you can’t find out whose dogs really did this,’ she said. ‘Seems to me, my lord, that what matters is making sure it doesn’t happen again.’

‘Wisely spoken,’ said the prince. ‘I believe we have a choice. We can accept Lady Sochla’s offer to examine the evidence and give us an answer. That would mean the matter could not be resolved today and any compensation would be determined at a later date, probably at the next council. It would also mean that, should Lady Sochla find that Cliona’s dogs were not responsible, there would be no compensation payable unless the true culprits were discovered, and then only if their ownership was known.’ He drew breath; looked gravely at one party then the other. ‘Or we can compromise in the interests of maintaining goodwill in the community. Cliona sells Brocc his first choice of her ewe lambs next season, at a fair price. Niall compensates him for the second sheep with one from our home farm, with no payment required. Brocc, in his turn, ensures his fine breeding animals are not left out overnight in a pasture with walls low enough to admit dogs, wolves or other predators. If you do not do attend to that, Brocc, then you’ll have no justification for bringing any further complaints of this kind to the council. I’ll allow you a little time to think about this.’

Lady Sochla resumed her seat. She picked up the lap dog and settled it on her knee again. I found myself impressed by her forthright manner; it seemed that in her case, at least, power and privilege had not got in the way of common sense. As for the prince’s judgement, it was not at all what I had expected, and made me wonder if he knew something about this case that he was not making public. Had that last part meant Brocc had a history of bringing complaints? Perhaps an ongoing resentment toward this female neighbour who, for all his derogatory remarks, sounded to be doing quite well as a sheep farmer?

I imagined Mathuin of Laois confronted with the same issue. He’d have found Cliona guilty at the drop of a hat, made her pay, and laughed her out of the council while he was doing so. Or done to her what he had done to me.