I cannot help but gasp.
'Megan, I cannot imagine my life without you,' he says, still on his knees. 'Please, Megan, will you marry me? Will you agree to become my wife, the Lady of Domnhall? I am asking you, in front of all these people, to become my wife. I love you, Megan. I cannot hold it in anymore.'
I cannot believe that this is happening in reality. I cannot believe how happy I am right now. A few minutes ago I was shaking from anger and now I am shaking from happiness.
'Sloan, are you going crazy?' Kaithria shrieks. 'Stop talking that nonsense! You are my future husband, and we are going to get married! Stop talking like that to this woman! She is no one! Megan, do not dare accept the proposal!' She turns and starts shrieking at me, her eyes bulging out with rage.
I look at Kaithria and narrow my eyes. This is exactly the moment that she needs to be punished. And I will punish her by going after my dream. My dream is Sloan, and he is right in front of me, kneeling and begging me to marry him. I decide to forget about Kaithria and not to let her ruin this beautiful moment for me and Sloan. I smile at Sloan.
'Yes, I will marry you, Sloan, with big pleasure!' I say loudly. Sloan gets up and hugs me. I hug him tightly and close my eyes, as all his clan start applauding and cheering.
'Be happy!' I can hear them say. I hug Sloan even tighter, almost not believing that this is really happening. This seems like a fairy tale that I was sure was never going to happen to me. Not after what I learned this morning. But things turned out a totally different way.
Sloan is holding me tightly, as if afraid that I will fly away. I feel secure and safe in his embrace. I can feel his heartbeat against my chest – it is as fast as mine. It is the heartbeat of happiness.
Chapter 17
Kaithria
What just happened? I watch in disbelief how Sloan and Megan hug under the noise of applause of his clan members. The look of happiness on Megan's face is killing me. She does not even bother to look at me – her eyes are closed, and she is smiling, just like her stupid sister who is standing to the side and beaming. No one is paying attention to me anymore. As if I am an invisible ghost. Everyone is obsessed with Sloan and Megan hugging and planning their marriage. I cannot stand this anymore.
I walk away from everyone and start running. The hallways are empty, as everyone is gathered in the main hall, sharing the happiness of Sloan and Megan. My footsteps echo wildly in the dimly lit corridors. I run towards my bedroom where my mother is. She still does not know what happened a minute ago. Tears are spilling down my face. I open the door and throw myself inside. My mother looks up, surprised.
'Kaithria? You are crying? What has happened?' She gets up from the chair and comes forward. 'Tell me!'
'Mother, everything is lost!' I say, sobbing. 'Right now, Sloan proposed Megan to marry him, and she accepted the proposal! I was there and I saw everything with my eyes.'
My mother stands for a second and slaps me. The pain is terrible. I touch my cheek, barely keeping myself from shrieking.
'Mother, I did whatever I could!' I say through tears.
'What did you do? Did you at least try to stop him?' My mother looks scary right not. Her eyes are bulging and turning red with rage.
'Yes, I tried. I tried to stop Sloan, and I tried to threaten Megan, but she accepted the proposal,' I reply. 'He hugged her, everyone cheered, and I ran away from them.'
My mother sighs.
'Kaithria, there is nothing that I can do now. There is nothing else left to do,' she says. 'I did everything I could to get you married to the Laird. I drugged Sloan's drink last night to make him dizzy, so that he would let you stay in his bed at night, and still, no use.'
'Mother, but I stayed in his bed last night!' I say. 'I even told him in the morning that he had taken my virginity! What else could I do?'
'You had to do everything to make him fall in love with you, Kaithria,' my mother says. 'If he fell in love with you, he would not want to hurt you. But Megan made him fall in love with her. She is cleverer than you. Hell slap it intae ye!'
I look at the floor. I could not make him fall in love with me. I do not know how to do that.
'It is too late to change anything about him now, Kaithria,' my mother says. 'He certainly will not change his mind. He is going to marry Megan, and you are pregnant. I will have to make a special concoction for you that will cause abortion.'