Thank you to my guest reviewer. I'm glad you are enjoying the story so far, and I hope you continue to do so. Yes, somebody has indeed caught Ezekiel's eye, although I do think your wording may be more accurate!

For anyone who is interested, Kenneth Mackenzie, a.k.a Coinneach Odhar, was more famously known as the Brahan Seer. Many stories surround his birth and life (I picked the one I grew up with), but they all seem to agree that he met his end head first in a barrel of flaming tar, by order of a jealous wife who didn't like what he told her about her husband. It just goes to show: sometimes you really can know too much about your future!

Episode 7: For the Stone, Chapter 5

Jacob held the gate open for Cassie as they left the red-walled courtyard. He turned to close the gate behind him and, by the time he turned back, she had picked her way across the path and field to a series of dips and stonewalled hummocks in the ground.

"What are these?" Cassandra murmured, feeling the familiar warmth of his arm wrap around her shoulders. "They look as though they should go somewhere."

"They're the original foundations," he replied, turning her to look back to the great round tower of the donjon. "The castle was started by Walter of Moray some time in the late thirteenth century. He laid the foundations for one of the largest and most impressive castles in Scotland, right here. He ran out of money though and had to make do with just the donjon and rectangular courtyard you've just seen. The outbreak of war probably didn't help much either. These earthworks never got beyond where they are now."

"This pair of circles is marked as the gatehouse," she mused. "What's that one?"

Cassandra pulled away from him and headed over to a single circle almost level with the eastern corner of the castle, but as far distant from it as the gatehouse had been from the entrance. This time the circle was marked "Site of Well". She turned, took in the full view of the earthworks, and let her mind build the castle in the same stone and style as the walls that remained.

"This would have been a tower in the wall," she told Stone, who was already at her elbow. "It keeps the well inside. Fortifies it as a part of the castle. You would have fresh water to drink, even in a siege."

"Shame they never finished it before the first siege hit then!" Stone joked. "A good water supply could make or break a siege. Not much use against siege engines though."

Cassandra looked back at the circle of the well. She stared at it, envisaging the reinforced walls of the great hole below. She had used her synaesthesia to examine buildings and landscapes before, but now she became aware of something odd happening. A wave of dizziness hit her and she stumbled. Stone, close by as always, caught her and set her on her feet.

"What was that?" Jacob asked her, the worry obvious in his voice.

"Nothing," she assured him. "I'm fine. Just a little dizzy is all."

"You don't get dizzy," Jacob reminded her. "Not since before..."

There was never any need to complete that sentence. Both he and she knew exactly what it meant. Cassandra knew what his tone meant too.

"It's nothing, honest," she repeated. "Just a feeling, when I concentrated, that there was something here. Like a distant ping on a radar map. I felt something like it when... Well, not long ago, when I was around a lot of magic. It was like that, but more sudden. And I wasn't expecting it. It threw me a little, is all."

"You can sense when magic is around?" Jacob looked at her through narrowed eyes. "How long has that been a thing?"

"Not long," she shrugged, turning away from him. "I wasn't really sure it was a thing until now. I wondered if there might be any, well, side effects from being cured the way I was. Eve told me the alternate me had used magic to cure herself and it had affected her oddly."

"Oddly how?" Jacob pressed, grabbing her hips and turning her towards him.

"She could use magic," Cassie shrugged, unable to avoid the worried blue eyes any longer. "And I think maybe I can too, a little, when there's enough of it around."

"Like at ley lines?" Stone frowned.

"I guess," she shrugged. "Or around magical objects."

Stone looked from Cassandra to the grass filled circle. His eyes fell on the small nameplate labelling the mound. In the back of his mind, something clicked.

"Well, not wall," he muttered. "The burn took out the 'e' and I assumed it was an 'a'."

"What?" Cassandra asked watching his face with a wrinkled brow.

"The book I was reading," he cried jubilantly, looking back round to her. "The bottom of the page was burnt so that I couldn't make out all of the passage. I said I wasn't sure about the word 'wall'. That's because the way the page had burnt, the second letter of the word was missing. 'Wall' made sense in the context of the rest of the sentence, so I just assumed it was that. It wasn't. It said 'below the castle well'! The stone is here! We just need to get it out!"

"We can't dig up an historical monument in daylight," Cassandra reminded him. "Let's just find a nearby, and convenient, door, then call Eve and fill her in. Flynn too."

XXXX

"Are we sure this is a good idea?" Jenkins queried as the two men made their way back to their door.

"We'll be fine," Flynn brushed aside the old man's concerns. "Eve says they found nothing much up on Skye anyway."

"Oh, did they not?" Jenkins asked lightly. "Really?"

"Your friend there had some information about Robert the Bruce, and what he wanted from his time on the island," expanded Flynn. "She and Eve seem to be getting on like a house on fire. Eve said something about her having hundreds of old stories to tell."

"Really? That many?" Jenkins replied, keeping his voice high and offhanded. "How, uh... How is she getting on with Ezekiel?"

"Oh, he's got his own distractions," Flynn chortled. "Eve says he's quite taken with a young lady there. She says she's never seen anything like it, not in Ezekiel. Following her around, tripping over his words, smiling at nothing. She thinks he might be in love!"

"That can't happen," Jenkins' voice dropped to a more urgent tone. "Not good. She needs to send him back to Leo immediately. He can help us here instead."

"Oh-kay," said Flynn slowly. "Eve mentioned your friend wasn't too happy about it either. Seemed to think it had something to do with you. Anything you want to tell us there, Jenkins?"

"All you need to know is that women of that bloodline are cursed," he replied seriously. "If Ezekiel's new 'bird' is a descendent of Flora, especially if she is the eldest of her generation, she has a calling far greater than falling for a Librarian. A calling that brings a great responsibility, and with that great responsibility comes great power. Power that must stay with the castle."

"Why?" Flynn frowned. "What'll happen to the castle if she leaves?"

"It's not so much the castle as its contents," said the Caretaker. "Dunvegan Castle is the oldest inhabited castle in Scotland for a reason. It contains the some of the relics of one of the most deeply magical cultures on the planet. The Celtic races brought together the druidic magic, the lore of the Gaels, the Picts, the Norse, the Celts and the Scots. They even included the myths of the Anglo-Saxon races that moved gradually northward. All over huge clusters of ley lines. The fairy folk, selkies, kelpies, brownies, pixies, boggarts, elves, all the magical races, peaceful or otherwise, found homes around their shores. From island machair to mountain tundra, from calm lochs to swirling ocean maelstroms, there was a habitat there for every kind of magical creature. They crowded there! Some of them made contact with the humans. Magical artefacts began popping up all over the place. The Stone of Destiny was one. The Fairy Flag another. We're on the track of the former. We already know where the latter is. It's sitting in Dunvegan Castle being watched over by a woman who can trace her bloodline back to the fairy princess who gave them it! And that's not all! Every magical item that has been found in this part of the world is housed in one of two places: the Library and Dunvegan Castle. Items on display elsewhere in the country, that are associated with legends, are just copies of the real ones held there. Every time my travels brought me here on the track of something, it almost became a diplomatic incident! At least in the magical world! Especially once Flora took over as Cailleach. That's her real title. And there are always three! The eldest daughter of the youngest generation, her mother - trained to take over should the title move down the bloodline - and the Cailleach herself. The maid, the mother, the crone."

"Power of three?" Flynn wondered aloud.

"Power of three," Jenkins nodded. "And the further apart they are, the weaker they are and the more vulnerable the castle is. That girl must stay with her castle all her life. When she marries, her husband will take her name and stay there with her. He can't possibly be a Librarian, you see: it wouldn't work!"

"So we'll tell Ezekiel and keep him busy and he'll get over it," Flynn shrugged. "He's a young man, who's had his head turned by a pretty girl. How serious can it be?"

"MacLeod women have fairy blood," rumbled Jenkins. "Don't underestimate the strength of their charms. Especially to a Librarian! They will let their magic seep into you like poison from nettle sting. At first you barely feel it, then before you know it they've taken over your life and you can see nothing but them. Librarians are more susceptible than most to magic, and have more cause than most to avoid its clutches. The world needs them with their head in the game and their remarkable brain focussed on their mission."

Flynn looked over at the old man as they reached their door. He tipped his head to one side and studied the lined features. "So was it Flora or her predecessor?"

"Hmm?" Jenkins looked round, one hand on the door handle.

"The MacLeod woman who broke your heart," the Librarian smirked. "Nobody gets that worked up about somebody else's love life if it doesn't ring a bell with their own."

"I don't know what you mean," sniffed Jenkins, and turned the handle.

XXXX

"That was Flynn," Eve told the women around her, and the unheeding Ezekiel. "He and Jenkins think they've found something. They're going to go back without their local escort to check it out alone. Apparently all they need to do is steal a boat and dig up a ruined castle all by themselves, so..."

"Perhaps they could do with an extra pair of hands," suggested Flora, watching Ezekiel like an owl watches a mouse. "Especially for the first part of that."

"You know, I think that might be a good idea," agreed Eve warily. "It's about time we were both on our way, really."

Over in the corner of the room, Seonaidh and Ezekiel stood by the window, the girl pointing out the landmarks that could be seen and teaching him their names. His eyes dutifully followed her guidance to identify the item, then darted back to her as he repeated their names. Eve watched a hand reach out towards the golden hair.

"Jones!" Baird barked, in her loudest army voice. The young man jumped and looked round. Momentarily snapped out of his dream world. "Time to go! Flynn and Jenkins need us back home."

"But..." Ezekiel wavered, indicating inelegantly that he would like to stay with his new friend.

"Time to go!" Baird repeated sternly, indicating inelegantly the door.

With hurried goodbyes and thanks between the three women, and lingering sad gazes between the two younger members of the group, Eve finally succeeded in removing her charge from the buildings and grounds of the castle. They returned to their door.

"Honey, I'm home!" Eve called as she re-entered the Library office.

"And very welcome home you are too, my love," called down Flynn's voice from the mezzanine. "Come up and join us."

With a smile, Eve headed to the stairs, a downtrodden Ezekiel following behind.

"Not you," growled Jenkins from behind them. Ezekiel stopped and turned. The old man looked him over, then continued. "I see you met Seonaidh. I think we need to have a little talk about that."

An hour later, Eve Baird sat at her desk, one eye on her phone, another on the table seating plan she had been working through since the three men had left for Threave, this time bearing shovels and an excellent lock pick. Well, an excellent lock picker, anyway. She had heard from Stone and Cassandra that they were on their way, and that they had a lead, but that was all. It had been enough to make her decide to wait for the couple instead of leaving with the trio, but it had been a while ago now and she was starting to worry. She picked up her phone. The door flashed into life. Stone and Cassandra tumbled through.

"Where the heck have you been?" Baird remonstrated immediately. "I've been worried sick!"

"Do you have any idea how far our door is?" Stone complained. "Seriously! We haven't walked that far since Collins Falls!"

"Did you set up a marker closer?" Baird asked serenely.

"One, but it's in the castle and our possible site isn't," interjected Cassandra. "Is Ezekiel around? If they lock the front door after dark we might need to pick the lock."

"He's with Flynn and Jenkins," replied Baird, ignoring a grumbling Stone in the background. "We'll just have to do our best. I got the shovels. Can't be that long to sundown now?"

"Not long," Cassandra shook her head. "I think we should wait a bit longer anyway, though. I don't think we should risk drawing the general public into this. The stone feels very powerful, but there's something else about it too. It feels almost like it's... Like it's glowing, you know? Like kyrptonite? From the comics?"

"I thought that only glowed when Superman was nearby?" Baird frowned, more surprised by this than Cassandra's ability to sense the stone's magic. She had discussed the redhead's growing magical abilities with her at length at every dress fitting and wedding planning session.

"It did, but that's still the image that comes to me," Cassandra murmured, lowering her voice. "I haven't been able to do more than sense magic here, so far. What if someone like Morgan is after the stone too? We can't fight her!"

"I still have her app on my phone," suggested Baird. "We could use that. You for your magic, me for my punches. I'm sure I still owe that woman a black eye or something."

"I thought you burst her lip last time?" Cassandra frowned.

"That was before I knew she knew about the Loom and didn't tell us," retorted Baird. "Besides, a split lip is hardly sufficient payback for almost killing an entire roomful of kids."

"True," sighed Cassandra. "Here's hoping it's just reacting to us though. If it does know when magically linked people are around, it might react to Jacob and myself as much as anyone else."

"Or it might be reacting to someone else entirely," added the Colonel.