I nodded. ‘It’s like my blood hums or something and I just … know.’

Speck whistled. ‘Cool. Lie detectors can be beaten but Truth Seeking as a Sidhe Gift? Just think about the applications it could have.’

‘Mm,’ I murmured non-committally.

‘For now, I’m more interested in this prophecy business,’ Taylor said.

I grimaced. ‘I was hoping you’d know something about it.’

He shook his head. ‘I’ve never heard of such a thing.’

‘I’ll have to talk to Angus about it,’ I mused. ‘I still can’t believe he swore fealty like that.’

Speck deepened his voice. ‘Clan Adair. The return of the Sidhe.’

‘I always preferred The Empire Strikes Back.’ We shared a grin.

‘As nerdy as that might be, you’ll have to watch for the Sidhe striking back,’ Brochan said. ‘They’ll be trying even harder now to make sure you don’t win.’

I sighed. Buzzkill. ‘I know but we can’t worry about that now.’ I nibbled my bottom lip. ‘I’ve got a promise I need to keep.’

He gazed at me quizzically but I didn’t elaborate. Instead I shooed them all out of the cabin before calling on Bob. The genie emerged in his usual flash of blinding light. He had a deliberately casual expression on his face and a shiny gold medal round his neck. I ignored both.

‘Well,’ I said, ‘I promised you a gold bikini.’

Bob frowned and leaned in. ‘What colour?’

‘Gold,’ I replied flatly.

He cupped his hand to his ear. ‘Pardon?’

‘If you don’t want me to…’

‘No, I do! I do! I just wanted to highlight what a pretty colour gold is. It’s the colour for winners, you know, Uh Integrity.’ He held up his medal.

‘So I hear. Can we get this over with before the others get bored and come back?’ Bob grinned and pointed to the medal. I sighed. ‘What?’

‘Medal. Gold.’

‘I see that.’

He beamed. ‘You know why I’m wearing it?’

‘Why don’t you just tell me?’

‘Because, Uh Integrity, I am a winner.’ He leaned forward and enunciated carefully. ‘Winner.’

I clearly wasn’t going to get anywhere until I played along. ‘What have you won, Bob?’

He pouted. ‘Isn’t it obvious? I have won the hearts and minds of the Sidhe. After all, I rescued them from certain death.’

‘You told the stupid ones to stop taking the long way across the frozen loch,’ I said. ‘And, I might add, at my behest.’

‘But,’ he said dramatically, ‘now everyone knows who I am. Forget Robert the Bruce. I am Bob the Brave!’

I wondered how bad things would get if I told him that no one had been interested in his name. ‘Yes,’ I said, ‘you did very well.’ I paused. ‘Who gave you the medal?’

He puffed out his chest. ‘I gave it to myself. It’s a shame you didn’t come to the medal ceremony. It was quite something.’

‘I’m sorry I missed it,’ I said drily.

‘You bet you are!’ He continued to admire the medal.