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Walking slowly and bent over, I approach the gates and enter. The guards do not notice me, as they are busy playing cards under the wall. Good. I will try to get some information without getting noticed. I sneak under wall and stop when I am within the distance of an earshot.
'Hey, take this,' one of the guards says, putting a card on the table.
'Ehh, you seem to be winning again!' The other one says.
'There is nothing left to do when things are getting out of control,' the third one adds. 'Not when the daughter of the previous laird is locked up the dungeon.'
I strain my ears. The daughter of the previous laird? Locked up in the dungeon? That must be Elsie!
'Hey, look, there is someone lurking there,' one of the guards notices me. It must be because maybe I sticked my head to hear well. Immediately they throw away their cards and jump up. Getting to me, they grab my arms and put a sac on my head.
I do not struggle. I am a simple peasant and need to find out more about what is happening in this castle. I do not need to fight with the warriors. They may give me more information. Or maybe they will take me straight to Uncle Murgan, which is also not a bad option – I will have the chance to kill him in place.
'No, here,' one of the warriors says the others, as they are taking me somewhere. They speak in a whisper, and I sense that they do not want to be heard. It seems strange to me.
The warriors take me somewhere and take the sac off my head. I look around and am surprised that I am not taken to Uncle Murgan. It is just a barn, with nothing special about it – just some hay inside.
'Who are you? And what are you doing in those lands?' One of the warriors asks me. I look at him – he seems to be the senior one. Having lived with warriors all my life, I know how to communicate with them and I know how they behave in certain situations.
First of all, I suspect that something is wrong, because they did not take me to Uncle Murgan at once, but brought to this barn, which is not a normal thing to do when you have a lord. It means that they are hiding something from him. And if they do so behind the back of their present lord, then I might benefit from it. I decide to take a chance and see what happens.
'Listen, there is something that I need to tell you quickly,' I tell them. They stand in front of me, looking interested.
'Go on,' the oldest one says.
'When I was visiting my good friend Laird Sloan MacKinnon in his castle of Domnhall I met a beautiful girl. Her name was Elsie McLeold.'
I wait for a reaction on their part. The warriors frown and look at one another.
'I fell in love with her, and she liked me. I asked her to marry me, and she agreed,' I say, missing her so much as I speak about her. 'We left the Domnhall castle to go to the castle of Laird Darah McDougald, whose right hand warrior I am. We were planning to get the consent of Laird Darah McDougald and get married in Gherland Castle, which belongs to Laird Darah McDougald, and receive some lands as a present from him.'
The oldest warrior raises his eyebrows. The warriors stay silent, listening with interest.
'I am a warrior. While I was hunting with my three warriors, Elsie was left with her servant and my other three warriors. When I returned from hunting, I found the warriors dead, the servant badly wounded, and Elsie missing. I realized that she was kidnapped. I came to rescue her because I am sure that she is here.'
The warriors are astounded. The look at one another, obviously getting tense.
'And, what about Megan? How is Megan?' The oldest warrior asks.
'She is married to Laird Sloan McKinnon and is living happily in his castle,' I say. 'I saw her during my stay – she is really happy there with her beloved husband in the castle that is now hers, as well.'
'Thanks goodness,' the warriors say together. I look at them – it is obvious that they were worried about the sisters. It is a good sign – it means that they may be worried about Elsie as much and will gladly help me rescue her from her horrible uncle.
'Megan McLeold was your mistress,' I tell them. 'How is it possible that you do not know what has become of your mistress and are asking for information about her from me? She is the heir to this land. You had to know about her already. You are her warriors. What if something bad had happened to her, and she needed your help? Where were you? How would you be able to help her if you did not even know where she was? What if someone was killing her? Where were her warriors? Why weren't they by her side?'
