Tis a Long Story
Disclaimer: I am not BRAVE enough to claim that I own Merida, the Suitors, or anyone else.
Summary: Wee Dingwall returns home after the Betrothal Games. Dingwall/OFC. A slight prequel to 'A Merry War'. Complete. Two-shot.
The chamber was still when he entered; weary after travel and the long drawn out process of the betrothal that never happened. Ennis Dingwall heaved a sigh and dropped his ruck sack by the door. Not bothering to light a lamp he crossed the stone floor he knew by heart, littering his path with clothes until he was dress in not but his tunic. He and his father and their clansmen had returned late to the castle Dingwall and his mother had insisted on hearing every detail of every moment of every day that he had been gone. The moon was high in the night sky before he was allowed to retire to his room.
The entire conversation he had wanted but two things – for it to be over and to go to bed. Slipping under the thick furs he smiled for the first time since he left the castle a week prior. He rolled over to a more comfortable position, his lean arm snaking around the soft waist beside him. He pulled the petite figure flush against his chest, his nose burying deep into her golden crown. The towheaded laird inhaled deeply of the rosewater and lily that was his lover and pressed his lips gently to her scalp.
"Ennis?" Her voice was whispered disbelief, she turned in his arms. The youth gave her a sleepy smile and a lazy kiss.
"Yes, mo chroí?"1 Her thin fingers traced his features as if she was certain he was a dream. He kissed her fingertips as they ghosted over his lips to tell her he was certainly real.
"How did the games go? The betrothal? Why were you gone so long?" Her head cocked slightly with question, her hair fanning over his pillows in ribbons of gold, gleaming in the moonlight. He ran a hand through the strands, relishing their softness.
"Tis a long story, Love."
"Will you at least tell me who won?" She pressed, amethyst gaze glowing. He had never been able to deny her when she looked at him with such affection.
"I did."
1 mo chroí – My Heart