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“Magick,” Agnes offered, and despite myself, I grinned. Magick, indeed.
“Here you go, lass.” Hilda held out a bundle of dried thistle wrapped in twine, and Sophie took it with a worried look on her face.
“I’m not sure what to say?” Sophie asked.
“You’ll be repeating after me,” Archie ordered, and Sophie nodded quickly.
“Aye aye, Captain.”
Archie’s lips quirked, but he said nothing else as he stood, his gaze across to the loch.
“Go on, light it.” Hilda offered Sophie a lighter. Soon, a thin curl of smoke emanated from the bundle of dried flowers, and Sophie held it in front of her over the stone. Her stance was tense, her lips tight and, without thinking, I reached out and kneaded her shoulders. She didn’t look at me, but I caught the gradual loosening of tension in her back and hoped that I had helped a little bit.
“I, Sophie MacKnight,” Archie said, “the First Knight in the Order of Caledonia, announce my arrival.”
Sophie repeated his words, waving the bundle of smoking flowers over the stone.
“I accept the responsibility of protecting the Clach na Fìrinn and promise to restore the Order to its fullness. In doing so, I show myself worthy of the magick of Clach na Fìrinn.”
Sophie repeated the words, stumbling a bit over the Celtic language, but powering through, nonetheless.
“It is with these words I establish the Order of Caledonia as the first line of protection for the Clach na Fìrinn and alert the Kelpies to my arrival. I accept the power bestowed upon me.”
Once more, Sophie dutifully repeated Archie’s words, and then we all waited. When nothing happened, I glanced at Archie.
“All is well. On to the south.” Archie nodded once, a pleased look on his face as he stared across the still waters of Loch Mirren, and I realized then that something could have not gone well. Had we potentially been putting Sophie in danger? Annoyed with Archie and his lack of clear information, I moved to his side as we began the trek to the southern point of the property.
“What would have happened if the Stone hadn’t accepted Sophie?” I asked, keeping my voice low.
“Why ask questions that you don’t want to know the answer to?” Archie parried, and I narrowed my eyes, frustration twisting in my stomach. I didn’t like feeling defenseless against an unknown entity.
“I do want to know the answer.”
Archie stopped, turning to me, his eyes serious.
“No, lad. You don’t.” With that, he resumed walking, and I knew Archie well enough to know that was all I’d be getting from him.
We came upon a small stone hut situated at the far end of the property that had seen better days. Sophie paused, her face lighting, and ran a hand across the stone wall.
“This is so cool. I just love all the old stone walls and cottages that you have here. There’s just this sense of history to how things are built to last across time that you don’t often see in the States. I imagine this was for a small family. The father coming home from working the fields, the mother tending to the children,” Sophie mused, her eyes dreamy.
“It’s a loo,” Archie said, and Matthew snorted.
“A loo?” Sophie glanced at me, and I crossed to her, a smile on her face. I hated to ruin her charming little fantasy of what this cottage was used for.
“It was once an outhouse. A toilet,” I supplied, and disappointment flashed across her face.
“Oh, right. A loo. Ahhh.” Sophie beamed up at me, and I could have lingered there for hours so long as she kept smiling at me that way. “It’s where you go for a gobby.”
Archie choked and coughed into his palm while Hilda swatted him on the back. A soft chuckle came from Agnes while Matthew bent to Sophie with a pained look on his face.
“It’s not where I’d typically prefer to go for a gobby, darling,” I said, infusing heat in my voice and arching an eyebrow at Sophie. “But I’m willing if you are.”
“Um…” Sophie’s eyes darted to Matthew as he whispered in her ear.
That delicious pink flush that I was determined to be the cause of one day crept up her neck and over her cheeks as mortification filled her face.
“Oh. Oh, no.” Sophie wheezed, fanning her hands in front of her face. “Tell me I didn’t just proposition you for a blow job in an ancient toilet.”
