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On our way into the castle we meet Kaithria, who is also heading in. I guess she has finished her conversation with Sloan, and now he is off training with his men, and she is probably going to tell her mother about me talking to her future husband.
‘Ah, look at those two,’ Kaithria says as soon as she sees us. ‘What, you have not had time to make your hair up? It is really ugly, to be honest. I would die if I had hair like that,’ she adds, sneering at my braids. ‘And you, little sister, could have done with a better dress, otherwise I am confusing you with the maids. I barely kept myself from ordering you to bring me some fresh water.’
‘No one is asking for your opinion, lady Kaithria,’ I say angrily before she marches off into the castle, quick enough, so that we will not be able to insult her back.
But when we are close to Elsie’s bedroom, suddenly the door of their room opens, and Lorna appears with Kaithria behind her back. It seems to me that Lorna has been pressing her ear onto her door to hear our footsteps; otherwise she would not know exactly when we were getting there.
‘I have heard the coachman of the laird is a kind man,’ Lorna says, looking right into my eyes and raising her eyebrows.
‘So what?’ I shrug, surprised at her strange sentence. I thought she was going to say an insulting comment instead.
‘Don’t you see it?’ She gets genuinely surprised, while Kaithria sneers behind her mother’s back. ‘You can get married with him and satisfy your needs.’
I feel anger sweeping up into my face. Have I not had manners, I would slap her in the face.
‘I do not have any needs to satisfy, Lady Lorna, and you are not the one to tell me who I should marry,’ I say through gritted teeth.
‘Do not tell me that you do not have any needs to satisfy - it is easy to see,’ she says, grinning. ‘And the coachman can be a good husband for you. Very suitable. You are of the same low level, as it seems to me.’
Kaithria bursts out laughing, while I am trying hard to contain myself and not to give in to the obvious provocation. Elsie opens her mouth to say something, but I pull her by her sleeve and enter her room, closing the door behind us.
‘They are not worth the fight, Elsie,’ I say, panting. ‘They want to make us look bad in Sloan’s eyes, and that is why they are trying hard to enrage us.’
‘Yes, you are right, but I can hardly keep myself from slapping both of them,’ Elsie says angrily. ‘I wish Sloan could see who they really were. What do you think? Will he believe you when you tell him the truth about them?’
‘No, not only he will not believe me, but also, he will think that I am doing it on purpose so that I can get to him eventually,’ I say at once. 'I do not want him to think that I am jealous that he is getting married with another girl.'
“I see,” Elsie agrees. ‘The only thing that is left to do is to be ourselves, and hopefully everything will be all right,’ she adds, ‘also, I want to helpI in the castle. Let’s see what I can do for them.’
‘You are so kind, Elsie. That is why everybody loves you,’ I say, looking adoringly at my sister, as we start walking towards the exit of her room.
‘They love you, too, because you are also nice and kind to everyone,’ she replies, smiling.
The moment we open the door of Elsie's bedroom, we see Lorna and Kaithria standing behind it again.
'Not again,' I murmur, rolling my eyes. 'What this time?' I ask loudly, giving my voice a bored tone.
'We were wondering, why would Sloan give you and your sister two separate bedrooms, when he gave me and my daughter only one for the two of us?' Lorna asks slowly, raising her eyesbrows.
'Why don't you ask your stupid questions to the Laird himself?' I ask.
'Because we already know the answer,' Lorna says. 'So that you can have nighttime visitors without interrupting your sister's sleep.'
'How dare you!' I say through gritted teeth. 'If you every talk to me like that, you are going to regret it!'
I take Elsie's hand, and we march down the corridor, leaving Lorna and Kaithria laughing by their bedroom door.
'Elsie, I cannot handle this calmly anymore,' I say, panting. 'They are trespassing all the boundaries.'
'They wonder how long you can stay calm,' Elsie says. 'They are eager to find out how long they still have to provoke you. The thing is they are wanted guests here, as Kaithria is going to become the Lady of Domnhall soon. The number one plan on their list is to make us look bad, so that they can convince the Laird to throw us out of the castle.'
