'Elsie, I cannot believe it!' I start jumping up and down after Elsie closes the door again. 'I am so excited! I think he has at last made up his mind and wants to talk to me. And the most private part of the castle during daytime is the stables, so that is why he wants to see me there. Oh, Elsie, I cannot believe that this is at last happening.'
'Be careful not to meet Kaithria or Lorna on the way,' Elsie warns me as she stands there, smiling.
I nod, straighten my earasaid in excitement and rush towards the door without straightening my braid. Some hair flying loose, I walk quickly along the corridors, with a big smile of anticipation on my face. I do not have time to make my hair – I need to see Sloan as soon as possible.
I am so happy, that even if Kaithria or Lorna meet me right now in the corridors, I will kill them with my wide smile. I am not afraid to meet them – I am on my way to my upcoming happiness, and no one can ruin that special moment for me.
At last, I am out of the main doors and on my way to the stables. The shortest way to the stables goes through the barns. I quickly enter the barns and start walking through it.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, someone jumps at me and pushes me to the floor, into the hay. I shriek, fall down on my back, and that someone falls onto me. I take a second to look who it is – it is a young man, working at the barns. Someone that I do not remember to have seen often.
'Who are you? What do you want from me?' I shriek, but he does not reply. Instead, he quickly takes off my earasaid, leaving me in my underwear, and starts kissing my neck, holding me very close to him and pinning me to the ground with his feet.
I shriek and scream, trying to free myself, but he pins me to the ground again. I do not understand what is happening. Why is he doing this to me?
'Let me go! Let me go!' I scream. He keeps kissing my neck, trying to get to my lips. I turn my head away and push him away from me.
Suddenly I hear screaming and see Kaithria appear from the shadows, screaming and crying. I get up instantly, as the man who was trying to rape me backs off and stands to the side, watching.
My hair undone, straw in my hair, my clothes off, me only in my underwear, I am standing there, looking shocked. Kaithria keeps screaming and crying, and people start coming to see what is all the noise about.
'What has happened?' Everyone asks, equally shocked, as new people keep arriving on the noise.
'You will not believe it!' Kaithria says screaming. 'Megan beat me when I caught her frolicking with this man. I was just walking, and had no intention to catch her on it. I do not care about what she does. And she beat me!' Kaithria says, screaming and crying, as tears spill down her face.
My shock doubles at what I hear.
'What?!' I ask, my eyes getting wider. 'What are you talking about, Kaithria? This man was trying to rape me. Kaithria is lying!'
'She beat me when I saw her having fun with this man,' Kaithria keeps screaming, as new people arrive on the noise.
Sloan also arrives, sweaty and frowning. Kaithria runs and throws herself into his arms, sobbing. Then comes Elsie, eyes big with horror.
'She thought I would tell everyone about it, so she beat me! She was having fun with this man in the barn, and I saw them! So she beat me!' Kaithria keeps repeating, making sure that everyone hears.
'It is a lie!' I say loudly, 'she is lying! I have never seen this man before, and he tried to rape me!'
People look at Kaithria – her face is beaten up. They look at me – my hair is tangled, with stray in them, my earasaid is somewhere on the ground, and I am only in my underwear. I look at Sloan – he is looking at me with wide-open eyes and mouth.
'We have seen this girl flirting with other men, too,' Lorna says calmly. 'And she knows that we know it, too. And this time she tried to make sure no one knows about it, by beating my daughter. My poor girl, look at Kaithria. Does it hurt?'
'Yes, mommy,' Kaithria says through tears.
'It is a lie!' I scream, shivering with shock.
My feet are trembling, I am scared of what just happened to me, and I am in shock from what Kaithria is lying about me.
'I do not know this man,' I say. 'He came out of nowhere, trying to rape me.'