Luathara - Book Three of the Otherworld Trilogy by Jenna Elizabeth Johnson Page A

skirts and grimaced.
    “Forgive me, Princess, I’m not looking my best.”
    “Princess!” the boy shouted.
    He quickly scuttled behind the older girl, clutching at her skirts and trying to hide.
    “Niall!” the girl hissed, kicking him lightly with her foot and nodding towards me.
    The boy, Niall, reluctantly let go of the girl’s skirts and stepped forward, sketching a bow that might have been featur ed at court.
    I hadn’t realized I’d been standing there gaping like an idiot until the older girl cleared her throat.
    “I’m sorry Princess Meghan, my name is Birgit, and this is my brother Niall and our sisters Oriana and Wynne.  Our father is Briant, the steward of Luathara , and our mother is Melvina the cook.”
    The two girls scuttled from where they stood to go press against their sister’s other side.
    Finally, my voice learned how to work again.  “No, don’t, I’m not-” I babbled.
    The four of them gave me an odd look, and somehow I managed to find my composure.
    “It’s very nice to meet you all, but please, just call me Meghan, or Meg.”
    I tried out a smile , but they looked even more frightened.
    “But mum says we have to always give respect to our elders.  What if I called you Lady MacRoich instead?”
    Birgit hissed at her brother again, and I couldn’t tell what shocked me more, the fact that he considered me an ‘elder’ or that he thought I should be called Lady MacRoich.  I’m sure I paled, and then flushed scarlet right after.
    I cleared my throat.  How had this strange encounter grown so awkward?  “Um, no, I’m giving you permission.  I’m not Lady MacRoich so you can just call me Meghan.  I’m not that much older than you.”
    “Why can’t I call you Lady MacRoich?  Aren’t you the one Lord Cade brought back from the mortal world?”
    “Niall!  Do I need to glue your mouth shut?” Birgit growled, giving him a look that would scare the audacity right out of me.
    Before I could let his question sink in, Birgit plastered her face with a smile and said, “Don’t mind my brother, he has this horrible habit of speaking without thinking, all the time.  Is there someone you were looking for Prin-, uh, Meghan?”
    I could tell Birgit wasn’t very comfortable using my name, but I was determined to show the people of Luathara that I was one of them.
    “No, I was just exploring the castle and Fergus took off through the fence.  I think I’ve seen everything, though.  Would you like some help with the garden?”
    Birgit’s eyes grew wide again.  “Oh no, you can’t be pulling weeds!”
    I arched a brow.  “Why not?  I used to do it all the time at home with my brothers.”
    The sudden thought of home and my brothers brought a pang to my heart, but I shrugged it off.
    Birgit looked like she was going to protest again, but I walked past her before she could speak and knelt down in the partially weeded flowerbed.
    “Um, you might want to show me which ones are weeds.  These don’t look anything like the plants in the mortal world.”
    I peer ed over my shoulder to find Birgit, frozen in place with Wynne and Oriana still clinging to her skirts.  All three of the girls resembled Melvina, but Birgit had her mother’s graceful posture, d espite the mud and dirt.  Niall, on the other hand, was a spitting image of his father.
    “I’ll show you!” he cried, instantly getting over his fear as he sprinted up to me.
    I studied him as he slid into place beside me.  His hair was dark with a bit of curl to it, and his dark brown eyes were flashing to gold as he pointed out the weeds and explained that they had to be grabbed at the base if you wanted to get them all the way out of the dirt.
    We had cre ated a nice little pile of discarded plants before Birgit joined us.  She remained silent, and I wondered why she was so quiet until I remembered that I was a princess to these people.  I sighed, but kept at my work.  Cade must have told them about me, but how much