‘Normal,’ I shrug. I try to keep my sadness from him, but I do not think that it is possible to hide all of it, and he also sounds a bit sad. I have no idea what to talk to him about, as there is a bit awkwardness between us. I look at him, hoping that he will continue talking and will not go away, seeing that there is no normal conversation between us.
‘I hope that you and Elsie feel yourselves at home at my castle,’ he goes on, to my happiness. ‘You must feel free as if you are at your own home. Only then I will feel good.’
I smile. ‘I appreciate your kindness, Laird,’ I say, nodding. ‘We do. Your castle is warm and hospitable. Your clan are nice people. And the maids are kind. They are really nice. I and Elsie like everyone in the castle.’
‘They also like you,’ he says. ‘The maids are happy that sometimes you help them. They say that both of you are angels,' he adds, smiling. 'My clan also respect you and talk highly of you, saying how good personalities you have. Everybody thinks that you two are really likable.’
‘I am glad to hear that,’ I say, nodding. ‘It really means a lot to me. I appreciate that they have seen who we really are.’
‘Ah, here you are, my future husband!’ a loud voice is heard, and I see Kaithria appearing behind Sloan’s shoulder. She has just turned the corner around the wall and seen us. She looks outraged, but puts on a kind smile in front of Sloan. ‘I was looking for you through the entire castle, can you imagine? I even went up the stairs to the top of the tower,’ she adds, giggling innocently. ‘Oh, I see you are not alone. I apologize for interrupting you…,’ she adds but has no intention to leave us alone in case she has interrupted us. She just stands there and waits for a response from her future husband, looking innocent.
‘No, it is all right, Lady Kaithria,’ Sloan says, apparently surprised to see her here. 'You did not interrupt.'
'Well, in case I interrupted, I am sorry,' she says, shrugging. 'I just wanted to see you, Sloan… I missed you. You left the dining-room so quickly. Also, while we were having breakfast, I wanted to sit next to you, but there was no place next to you, because I and my mother arrived late to the dining-room. Please, next time leave a free space beside you, so that I can sit next to you while eating, and I will not have to miss my future husband,' she adds in a baby voice and looks at Sloan with a smile. Sloan swallows.
‘I was just leaving,’ I add and walk away hurriedly, my heart thumping inside my chest. I can no longer bear hearing that absurd that she says. I wonder if Sloan likes when she talks like that. I walk some time until I go and find Elsie in the garden, where she is admiring the colorful flowers.
‘Meg? Is everything all right?’ She asks. I guess I do not look too happy, and that is why she asks that.
‘We were just talking about his relatives and the maids, nothing special, and then Kaithria showed up,’ I say angrily. ‘Not that she does not have the right to spend time with her future husband,’ I add, ‘but she made it look like we were hiding from everyone else and meeting in secret. And then she went on about how much she missed him,’ I add angrily. 'As if I needed to hear her say it, especially in a stupid baby voice.'
‘Oh,' Elsie chuckles. 'Do not pay attention to that one – she did it deliberately, to see if she could make you jealous. And regarding what she made look like - we do not care what she made it look like,’ she adds flatly. ‘There were only three of you, and if she made it look like that to Sloan, then he knows it better what it was before she showed up.’
‘Yes, you are right,’ I agree with my clever sister. ‘And I do not care about her anymore.’
Well, that one is a little lie. I do care. She is going to marry Sloan, a man towards whom I feel warmness and secureness, and also, maybe a bit of nice feelings of other nature, which I do not want to confess even to myself. And the most pleasant part of it is that I feel the same feelings from Sloan’s part, which I hope is not my imagination. I am afraid to think about it, as it is the most wrong thing to me, however pleasant it feels.
‘Let’s go in,’ Elsie says. ‘It is getting really hot here.’