I look around frantically. Who could have kidnapped Elsie and why? I try to think fast and understand who would want to have her. And then I remember her stories about her Uncle Murgan and start suspecting him. What if he has sent people to kidnap Elsie? According to the stories that Elsie told me about her uncle, I can expect anything from him – any stupid move on his side just to put his hands on the land that belongs to Megan and Elsie. Fury swirls inside of me like a hurricane.
'Achaius, you need to take Skena to a nearby village,' I tell him urgently. 'Find a kind person to take care of her wounds. Skena will receive treatment there until I find Elsie. Then we will think what to do with her. When you have finished with Skena, hurry to the castle of Bedigalhall immediately and wait for me in the woods.'
While Achaius helps Skena up and onto a horse, I turn to the other two warriors and shout at them: 'Baigh! Camron! Get ready! We are leaving!' I cannot recognize my own voice – it is shaking with rage, while it sounds as loud, as a thunder.
My warriors are always ready. They nod and mount their horses. I mount mine, and it starts galloping immediately. I do not know exactly where the castle of Bedigalhall is, but there is nothing that can stop me. I am going there by all means, and I will find my Elsie, my ray of sunshine.
Chapter 8
Elsie
The carriage comes to a halt. As it does not have any windows, except for one on the ceiling, I have no idea where we are. One of the men opens the door, and I try to look out to see anything that could give me a clue as to where I am. I gasp audibly when I see the familiar gates close behind us.
'Laird McLeold, here she is,' one of the men says, as he roughly brings me out of the carriage. The others stand beside me to make sure that I do not attack my uncle who is standing in front of me, looking at me happily.
'Oh, yeah…' he says. 'Take that cloth out of her mouth - I want her to greet her uncle the way that she is supposed to.'
The men roughly take the cloth out of my mouth. It hurts so much that my mouth feels like a fresh wound.
'Laird? What are you talking about? Do you think you are the laird of the lands that has never belonged to you?'
'You wish! Soon these lands will be rightfully mine,' he says, sneering, as he starts walking towards the yard.
His men push me towards the yard, as well. There is nothing left for me to do than to walk willingly and look around my beloved house, where I have spent my childhood. Yes, I have missed the place awfully, but the memories of my dreaded uncle are inseparable with the memories of the house, so I do not feel pleasure while looking around.
I have not seen these men in my lands before – apparently he has brought them from somewhere else to serve him while I and Megan were away.
'You can leave us alone now,' Uncle Murgan barks at his men, who shrug and go away.
'So, first of all, you cannot imagine how angry I am with you and your stupid sister,' he says, sounding angry, though he looks very proud of himself.
'You do not deserve to live on this land, in this castle! I can't believe that you have made those people call you a laird!' I scream at him.
'Haud yer wheesht! Stop screaming. There is something that I am going to tell you,' he says, coming a bit closer to me.
I calm down a little, to listen to what he has to say, even though, I know that most probably it will not be something worthy to hear.
'First of all, I am very angry that you and your sister ran away from home like two crazy girls who had no idea what they were doing,' he starts, making me angry all over again.
'Yes, we knew what we were doing! And it was the best decision that we had ever made – to run away from such a bad man as you are!' I scream in his face.
'Shut up, girl. I have not finished yet,' he says calmly. However hard I want to slap him and run away, I stay and stop screaming. There is no point in screaming – it will certainly not help me.
'When I learned that Megan had got married to that Laird, I got very sad,' he continues in his calm manner that is getting on my nerves. 'I got sad because I was planning to marry her.'