“In the tea leaves, lassie,” said the stout woman who must be Mrs. Prinn. “Did yer grandma never show ye? Ah well, nae everyone can see things the way we do, can they Annie?”
For some minutes they talked and laughed about tea leaves and fortune telling, especially the mysterious journey by boat that Mrs. Prinn was now anticipating.
“Ye do have a nephew on Arran,” her companion pointed out finally, before returning to the ovens again to turn several trays.
“It was a very big boat for ferryin' to Arran,” Mrs. Prinn answered, her expression dubious. “Now, drink up Beatrice Whitmore and let's take a look at yer dregs too."
Beatrice sipped the last of the liquid away and let Mrs. Prinn take the mug from her hand.
“Ooh, look at that Annie,” she marveled at whatever she saw at the bottom of the mug.
“Aye, well, that says it all,” agreed Annie cryptically.
“I’d say that too and then some,” Mrs. Prinn remarked further.
“What are ye talking about?” Beatrice laughed, as her two companions ratcheted up the suspense as to what they saw in the leaves. “What do ye see?”
“There’s somethin' forcin' yer hand,” Mrs Prinn said, still studying the bottom of the mug. “Ye’re being pushed into somethin' ye thought to escape.”
“Marriage,” Beatrice suggested.
Both women nodded.
“Aye, and there’s more than that,” added Annie, exchanging a glance with her friend. “Ye’ll be married and to the Laird nay less…”
“She kens that already, ye daft old fool,” scolded Mrs. Prinn with a laugh.
“…but nae for the reasons ye might think,” Annie finished triumphantly.
“Family? Debt? Safety?” Beatrice proposed, not really very convinced that these women were doing anything other than passing on likely castle gossip.
“Let me see that,” demanded Mrs. Prinn now taking back the mug, “Nay. Ye’ll be married to him for a simpler reason than ye think, Beatrice."
“For love, lassie,” Anne told her with such great conviction that Beatrice nearly choked on her oatcake, sending the two older women into another fit of laughter.
For love? Nay, they cannae be serious. He doesnae want me love, nor anyone else’s.
“She didnae expect that one, did she?” chortled Mrs. Prinn.
“Nay, I suppose she didnae.”
“I’ve never believed much in fortune telling,” Beatrice told them.
“Ye daenae have to believe for it to be true, lassie,” Mrs. Prinn assured her without offense. “Yer future is there, whether ye believe it or not. Now, take yerself another oatcake and get to bed. That’s me advice.”
Her stomach settled and heart warmed, with tea and laughter if not any belief that she would marry for love, Beatrice thanked them for their hospitality and took her leave.
Back in the dark castle corridors, Beatrice let her mind wander again. She had never been cynical about love itself, unlike Laird MacSween, but she’d always somehow doubted that she would experience love herself. Her cousin Eloise had been the lucky one there, and it was too much to hope that Beatrice could have the same good fortune.
Beatrice smiled to herself as she remembered the old ring she and Eloise had once found, and how the superstition tied to it seemed to guide and mirror Eloise’s exact life path once it was in her possession, leading her towards true love. Now that ring belonged to Beatrice.
Fairy stories and tales for children! Eloise fell in love and married, but the ring was just a coincidence. Wasn’t it..?
Yes, it was only a fairy story but no easier to put from her head for that. Her father used to tell her that the truth was the truth, whether she believed it or not. If that old ring was leading her to her destiny, she didn’t need to believe in it. It would happen anyway.
But marrying Laird MacSween for love?! That was too preposterous to entertain. She chuckled to herself as she thought of the two old cooks in the kitchen. Maybe they wanted a fairy story too, where the laird of their castle fell in love and married a beautiful young woman…
While daydreaming, Beatrice found that she had entirely lost her bearings once more. She was now in an entirely foreign hallway. The corridors behind her looked too dark for her to have just come down that way.
