The Big Four - One Life

Epilogue

"Is that it?" Benalban whispered. "Is there not more? I thought there was more!"

"Your mind is playing tricks on you my dear," her grandmother smiled, her voice slightly hoarse now. "I must have told you this story so many times now -"

"But it's the best one," she mumbled again, a small smile creeping over her young face. "What happened to them all? What about the dragons? I've never seen a dragon!"

"The dragons died out when I was young, child," her grandmother sighed, the fire twinkling in her old, wide eyes. "They were loyal until the end, but the trappers became too powerful and there was too much money to be gained from killing them."

"I would never kill a dragon," the little girl said stubbornly. "What happened to everyone else? What happened after Hiccup told Merida about how much he loved her?"

"Well," her grandmother smoothed down the furs beneath her as she spoke, "Jack and Rapunzel ended up married and they both ruled Corona together when Rapunzel's parents, the King and Queen, died when they were very old. They had children too, who continued to rule after they died. They visited Merida and Hiccup very often and they were always the greatest of friends."

"What about them?" Benalban whispered. "Merida and Hiccup? What did they do? What happened to them?" At this, her grandmother's smile widened even further.

"They were the happiest anyone could have hoped for," she said with a twinkle in her shining green eyes. "They lived to marry, then rule Scotland side by side. They had children, and then their children married, and finally, a new baby was born. They both lived to see the little girl, their grandchild, grow to fifteen years before they died. They died together, in each other's arms, as they slept."

"Who was the great-grandchild? Who were they?" Benalban's eyes were wide and eager to learn more. Her grandmother merely smiled.

"I think that's enough for one evening my dear. You get some sleep now."

Benalban closed her eyes with a smile, clutching her furs around her as she drifted to sleep, dreaming of princesses of flowers, boys made of ice, of times lost long ago and flying above the clouds. Her grandmother smiled.

Sitting at the end of her granddaughter's bed, she turned and looked around the room she knew so well. She picked up a long box, covered in dust. She blew it off gently, opening the lid. Out of it she drew a splendid,, handmade recurve bow, with beautiful knot work carved on the riser and the finest leather wrapped around the handle. The paintwork of it was still intact, beautifully bright.

"Oh grandmother," the old woman whispered, talking to a woman who could no longer hear her, a tear in her eye but a smile on her face, "oh, how you'd have loved to meet Benalban. You always told it better than me."

She placed the bow back into it's box, blew out the candle by her granddaughter's bedside, and when she fell asleep that night, she dreamt of the dragons of her childhood and her own grandmother's stories. She hoped that Merida Dunbroch would be proud of her.