The third panel was at the front, concealed beneath the large rusty latch that Malcolm had been tugging at. My fingers only had to brush against this one and I heard a click. I smiled and returned to the back of the chest and another drawer slid open easily. This one was both wider and deeper and when I pulled it all the way out and peered inside the gap into the centre of the chest, I knew I’d hit the jackpot.

I rested on my heels and gazed up at the others. Even in this dim light, their auras were still clear. Byron’s was a rich purple, Aifric’s was a sharp scarlet. I could see flickers of the same red colour in both Dorienne and William’s auras, although they weren’t so pronounced, and I wondered if red was a chieftain thing. When I spotted it flickering against Malcom’s grey aura too, however, I wasn’t so sure.

I looked at the Foinse. It had an aura as well, as if it were as alive like us. The Foinse, which wasn’t like a fountain at all and was actually more of a sparkly orb, had a sickly yellow aura that wasn’t far off the colour of bile. It was definitely sick; even I could work that one out.

‘What is it?’ William Kincaid demanded. ‘What can you see?’

I reached inside. It was warm to the touch and, when I cupped my hands round it, I felt a flicker of soothing energy. I pulled back and stood up, displaying it to the others. Then I grinned.

‘Take that, bitches.’

Chapter Twenty Three

There was considerable debate about what to do next. Most of the discussion took place between the three Chieftains, William, Dorienne and Aifric, with Malcolm occasionally interjecting his opinion. The rest of us stood back.

‘We don’t have the means to solve the problem here,’ Aifric said. ‘We should take the Foinse back to the Cruaich and deal with it there.’

‘If it goes back to the Cruaich,’ Dorienne pointed out, ‘then by default the Moncrieffes end up with the ownership of it. We cannot allow that to happen.’

‘My dear, the Cruaich belongs to us all. It’s not as if I’m scurrying away with it to the Moncrieffe Clan lands. You’ll know where it is.’

‘That’s all very well, Steward, but the Cruaich is hardly close to Kincaid lands. We have a lot of skilled people in our Clan who will be well placed to heal it.’

‘I’m not giving that kind of power to the Kincaids!’

The argument went round and round in circles. I eyed the Foinse that was now being cradled by Aifric. If I looked closely, I could swear that its sickly aura now had a slightly different tinge.

‘How long has the Foinse been held here?’ I asked Byron in an undertone.