'Good morning, Laird MacKinnon,' she says, smiling, and her wrinkled old face beams with kindness.
‘Good morning, Forba. Do you have any news?’ I ask, as I know that if she has something to say she always waits behind by door until I get out. She is so polite, that she will never disturb me – only if something really urgent is needed and cannot be postponed.
‘Yes, Laird MacKinnon,’ she says in her croaky voice. ‘We have guests. Two young girls arrived five minutes ago, and they want to see you. They are waiting in the The living room, by the fireplace. Their coachman and carriage with horses are in the yard.’
'All right, Forba, thank you for notifying me,' I say, nodding. 'You go and tell them to wait, as I am going to meet them now.'
Forba also nods and turns to go. I go back into my room. Meeting two young girls requires a bit more time and attention to my looks, so I spend extra one minute in front of the mirror, where a handsome, tall, broad-shouldered young man is looking back at me with big brown eyes, his bushy brown hair falling carelessly onto his broad forehead. I pin the MacKinnon badge on my tonnag and complete the look.
I leave my room and go along the long hallways and down the swirling staircases towards the exit of the castle. I wonder who the visitors are – I remember that I do not have any meetings planned for today. Two young girls. Hmm, sounds interesting. All kinds of thoughts pass my mind while I am on my way to the main room of the castle. What if girls from other castles have visited because I have promised them something? No, that is impossible.
I hurry to see the visitors, even though I take my steps firmly and carefully. I do not want the visitors to notice me running and know that I am too excited to see them.
Arriving in the main room, I see the silhouettes of two young girls in beautiful tartan earasaids, standing a bit far from the fireplace. I remember the coachman waiting for them outside, so I assume it is to take them back. The scene doubles my interest.
I advance towards the girls, and it is then that they notice me. One of them starts slowly walking towards me, with a charming smile on her beautiful face. I smile back at her, as we stop in front of each other. I look at her earasaid, looking for a brooch representing her clan, but there is no such brooch on her earasaid. And her face is not familiar – I have never seen her or the other one that is standing a bit far from us.
'Good morning, Laird Sloan MacKinnon,' she says with a sweet voice and waits for my answer.
'Good morning,' I nod. She has an interesting way of looking right into my eyes, as if she knows me.
'I am Megan McLeold, and this is my younger sister, Elsie McLeold,' she says with a note of expectation in her voice. I assume she expects me to recognize her or her sister by their surname. I do. I know her father. Their surname is familiar to me, as I have had several conversations with their father a couple of years ago.
'Nice to meet you, Megan McLeold,' I say. 'I have had the honor to know your father.'
Her face lights up with my words.
'I am so glad that you remember him,' she says, her eyes sparkling. 'I really am. I just wanted to mention him, too,' she adds.
'Yes? Why?' I raise my eyebrows.
'My father died two years ago,' she says sadly.
'I am sorry, I did not know,' I say. She nods and continues her speech.
'Before he died, he told me something about you,’ she says. 'He told me that he had promised me to you, Laird Sloan MacKinnon,' she adds and blushes a bit. 'He told me that I would get married to you. So, we are here. We have come to fulfill his promise. If he were alive today, he would come with us.'
I listen without speaking.
'We decided to come ourselves, because we do not see any other solution. We are facing big problems at home with our uncle,' she explains. 'We could not stay at home anymore, so we decided to come to your castle to fulfill the promise.'
I remember the promise. I nod, saying nothing. So, here she is, telling me that she has come to become my wife. She is beautiful, courageous, and attractive. I instantly like her.
'What kind of problems are you facing at home with your uncle?' I ask her.
'All this time all he has wanted is the lands that I own. He has done everything to own the property, but did not manage. Now he has another idea. He wants to keep the property to himself, by marrying me,' she says, her eyes burning wildly with anger. 'And he wants to force Elsie marry his friend, so they can be allies.'