Merida sat through the ceremony welcoming the clans and their leaders and their sons and everyone else... Too many and's kept flowing through her head, confusing her, making her ask more questions to which she might never know the answer.
She was so fed up with everyone and everything she could scream. All she wanted was to ride away, to far away kingdoms, to the lands of free reign where there were no tight fitting dresses and she could love Hiccup for who he was, not for his status. She made a pact with herself, if she was to get married and Hiccup was to return, she would apply for a divorce, faking abuse from her husband. She could easily use her sword to make scratches and she was good at acting. Well, reasonably good anyway.
So these games didn't actually matter anyway. Whatever happened to her, as long as Hiccup returned she would be able to get to him. All that she needed now was for an excuse to get Hiccup back home. But if she could - she didn't want to get married. She didn't want to stoop that low yet. Just the thought of it made her flinch.
But for now, she had to keep her head down until the last day of the games when she had a trick planned. The last day's event was to be detirmined by Merida and the victor would win her hand... This was the only thing she was looking forward to since Hiccup had left.
But the day before the games, a letter arrived. A letter for Merida. She could have kissed the messenger she was so happy, but focused instead upon opening the letter as carefully as she could. Hiccup's words washed over her, soothing her, kissing her skin like he would do if he was there. She placed it on her desk, after having read it so many times she knew it by heart, and made sure nothing could get to it. That letter immediately became the most precious thing in her life; Elinor saw her open it and her reactions. She knew it was from that soldier boy, Hiccup. She smiled.
The last day arrived, finally. Merida was squeezed into another tight-fit dress of turquoise silk but she tried to grin and bear it, remembering what she was going to do. When she was asked what challenge she was going to set the suitors, she very calmly and in the most ladylike way possible, said:
"Archery."
MacGuffin was first. He didn't even hit the target.
"Ah bet he wishes he was tossin' cabers," Merida smirked to her father who was sitting next to her.
"Or holdin' up bridges!" Fergus chuckled. Elinor gave them the death glare though and they both shut up to see MacIntosh's attempt.
The dark haired boy swished his head, sending his hair out of his eyes and making the ladies in the crowd scream. He fired the arrow and it hit the outer circle of the bullseye. This would normally be considered a pretty good result but he obviously wasn't happy. He threw the bow to the floor and began a tantrum.
"Oh THA'S attractive!" Merida grinned.
Lastly it was Dingwall. He seemed to have quite a lot of trouble loading and firing the arrow, making Merida mock him. However he eventually managed it when Fergus yelled -
"SHOOT BOY!"
It took him by surprise and he shot without looking. It hit the bullseye. Fergus was stunned; he turned to face his daughter but he was greeted by the family dog. A cloaked figure had walked out onto the archery range. It pulled off the hood, revealing a wild mane of red hair.
"Ah am Merida! Firs' born descendan' of Clan Dunbroch! And Ah'll be shootin'," Merida turned to her mother, glaring, "fer mah OWN HAND!"
She proceeded to walk behind the shooting line, past the targets, shooting them as she went. Bullseye on MacGuffin's target. Bullseye on MacIntosh's target. That just left Dingwall's.
Merida took a breath and ignored her mother who was yelling at her to stop. She focused and narrowed her eyes slightly. She released the arrow. It span through the air, spiralling, spinning furiously until...
It split the arrow. There was a thunk of arrow hitting wood as Merida's arrow went through the fabric target and hit the supports at the back. Merida smiled, then scowled as she turned to face her mother.
Her mother hurled her inside in a rage, pushing her into her room.
"Yeh embarrassed them. Yeh embarrassed ME!"
"It's not fair! Yeh spend yehr whole life tellin' me wha' ter dae, wha' nae ter dae, well, Ah'm nae goin' ter be like yeh!"
"Yeh don' knae what yeh've done!"
"Ah followed the rules!"
"Merida, I tried ter warn yeh. Ah tried ter teach yeh hae ter be, hae ter behave!"
"Jus' like yeh!"
Merida raised her sword to the great family tapestry.
"Ah'd rather die than be like yeh!"
The sword sliced through the fabric, cutting off Elinor from the rest of the family. Elinor cried out, but anger eventually got the better of her and she took Merida's weapons away forcefully and threw them onto the floor.
"Merida. Yeh are a princess. Ah expect yeh ter ACT LIKE ONE!"
She picked up the immaculate letter on Merida's desk and threw it into the fire. The paper curled and the ink glowed with the heat. Flames licked Hiccup's up as Merida felt her heart break clean in two. She shook her head disbelievingly and ran out of the room crying.
"Merida! MERIDA!" Elinor shouted as her daughter ran away, but it was no use. She suddenly realised what she'd done, and tried to use the poker to salvage the letter back, but it was no use. It crumbled into ash at her every touch.
"Wha' hae Ah done?"
YOU ARE READING
Crusade
Fiksi PenggemarMerida is an unusual princess. Hiccup is an unusual soldier. When they meet, it seems like their dreams have come true. But there's just one problem. Hiccup could be sent out to war any time and Merida's been told she must marry one of her clan lead...