The Cause {A Mericcup Novel}

Chapter 18

As the three descended down the glowing stair case, Sop repeatedly held up his unhinged arm every couple of steps, signaling for them to stop. At first, Hiccup was grateful that the tattie-bogle was warning them of danger; however, after only one spiral of stairs, Sop's caution grew a little obnoxious. But when he remembered how sorrowfully Sop had reacted to negative critism, he decided to try a new approach to hurry him along. Settling on a parental approach, the Chief treated him like a child in need of some encouragement.

"I say, Sop! How very brave you are," Hiccup started.

"Thank you," Sop answered, stopping them for the seventh time.

"But do you know what would be even braver? A silent, surprise attack," he added.

Sop shook his head, saying, "If you keep talking, you'll blow our cover!"

"But a surprise attack needs to be quick, so that the bad guys don't expect you. Can you be quick and silent, little guy?" the Viking pursasively urged on the scarecrow. The Princess was quite impressed with this new tactic of the Chief, and both Hiccup and Merida put away their weapons, preparing for a hurried descent.

Sop paused for a second and thought.

With enthusiasm, he exclaimed, "We could slide down the railing!" At that, Hiccup was taken aback.

"What a great idea, Sop," said the Princess, "Everyone climb on. And on the count of three, we slide." The Chief shook his head, but Merida only nodded a 'yes' in reply.

Thus, the Chief of Berk reluctantly pressed his back against the railing. His shaking hands felt the cold steel as he grabbed a firm hold and lifted himself onto it. Due to all three of them sitting on top of the hand-rails, the metal shook beneath the weight of them all. He swallowed and attempted to calm his thoughts from the picture of falling down the void of darkness.

"Ready...," Merida stated, "One...Two...Three!" And they all began to slide down the winding stair case.

Because of his diminutive weight, Sop was far ahead of the pair, having slid easily along. But Merida struggled, not to fully push Hiccup down with her own body, for the Chief was going an unnecessarily slow pace. Soon enough, however, she was forced to press directly against his side, coming to a complete stop. She tensed as her side settled against his toned arm, and her hip met his own while gravity pulled her closer to him. Because of their drastic height differences, as Hiccup was over six feet tall (1.8 meters), Merida had to lift her head to see his face, and he looked back at her with a mischievous grin.

Merida thanked the Saints for the darkness that hid her blushing cheeks. Never had she been so close to one of the suitors, not even while dancing, that she experienced a mature favoritism to the position. And before she could ponder further upon this new awareness, Hiccup forced her out of her fantasy.

"I have an idea," Hiccup whispered, "But you need to trust me in order for it to work."

Having noticed her words to be stolen, the Princess carefully nodded. She did trust him. And what a wonderfully awful trust it was to have on a Viking.

He continued, explaining, "I'll slide down the railing first. When I do, wait five seconds before you follow me. I'll tell you the rest of my idea when you get down there." Merida stared blankly at him.

"But I-" she began to protest, but he interrupted her, mercilessly drawing her attention even stronger.

"Trust me?" Hiccup asked with hope laced in his words. Gingerly, he placed his unsteady hand upon her own. The warmth from his skin was a comfort to her.

"Yes," Merida breathed out, wishing herself to have a more tenacious resistance.

'It has been but a single day! How can you so easily trust a supposed enemy with such little experience?' Merida inwardly scolded herself.