I own not a thing, all characters and franchises used in this work of fiction are the property of people who are not me, seriously, not even one of them is me.
Many thanks to my beta HungryDemon who takes the slop I write and turns it in to something readable.
Chapter two
As soon as the Viking raider was out of sight, King Fergus ordered his forces to check on the two towns they had used as a way to escape. Once done, both monarchs watched silently as the ship shrunk in the distance. They were suitably surprised when they saw twin fireballs emerge from the ship and race off in opposite directions.
The queen was suddenly reminded of a slip-up the Viking made that sounded much too deliberate to be one. So don't be surprised if the next wave of raids is done on the backs of dragons. At the time she dismissed it as the barbarian trying to be poetic, mere posturing; gods knew the lords loved making outrageous claims, but now a seed of doubt was planted in her mind. Had she not been turned into a bear just six month ago? Still, if that was a possibility, why did he merely hint at it instead of pushing aggressively as any other Viking would? She gave a very un-royal sigh. All her questions only led to more questions. She needed more information.
Her husband looked at her with concern. "Are ye fine love?"
"I just want to go home, my king."
"Aye." He nodded and started barking orders in case the Vikings returned.
Queen Elinor heard none of it, too engrossed in her own thoughts. How am going to break this to Merida? She and her daughter had undoubtedly gotten closer in the months following her incident, and while Merida had gotten better at thinking before acting, her daughter still possessed a fiery temperament and a stubborn streak a mile long. She would also have to calm down the lords, who would certainly throw a fit over an alliance with hated enemies, even if it was only one of the tribes.
"… an woot the heck happened to Sheamus? Forget it A donae want to know anymore, tell me about it tomorrow!"
The Queen smiled despite herself, regardless of the situation, nothing brought her husband down.
Nighttime, Castle Dunbroch.
The first thing Elinor did when she was welcomed home by her children was to envelop her daughter in a bone-crushing hug. "My darling Merida, you have grown in to a wonderful beautiful person right before my eyes!"
The redhead was caught off guard by the sudden affection, but returned the hug nonetheless.
"Mum?"
The Queen's mind was already elsewhere talking to a vassal. "I need to talk to Seacht as soon as possible. Arrange a meeting, you know what to do."
"At once, my Queen."
Merida just stood there dumfounded, staring at her dad. "Woot the heck was that!?" Then winced as she heard, "A princess does not curse, honey," from further in the castle.
"Yer mother is jus tired dear, we'll tell ye all aboot it tomorrow," Fergus told her.
Next morning Fergus watched his wife calmly brushing her hair by the window, apparently deep in thought. At least she didn't looked so worried anymore, he knew over thinking any situation could be problematic, leaving yourself open to doubt when simple action was necessary was dangerous. He himself wasn't too worried as he was sure things would work out in the end. Sure, they might end up in a war with bloody savages, but it wasn't as if they were on friendly terms anyway. Nothing would change, a good Scott would never run away from a fight and if the Vikings came, the clans would beat them again.
"Woot are ye thinking love?"
"I believe the situation it is not as dreary as I imagined it yesterday. I'm more concerned about Merida and how she will react to the news. She is a strong girl, brave and willful, but she is still too impulsive. I failed to realize that last time and it almost caused a war."
"Bah, she's a good lass, an things will be fine. We'll put up with some smelly Viking for a little while an' kick him out when she doesn't pick him. At worst he'll try to kidnap her or she'll pump him full of arrows, no loss there."
"You speak of this as if it were a laughing matter."
Fergus laughed. "If someone tries anything with Merida, a sword in his gut is the least of his worries."
When Merida and her brothers sat down to have breakfast, she felt glad that her mother looked like she was over what was bothering her last night. She strolled confidently to the table to hear what it was her father was making faces about.
"…do we really need Seacht fer this?"
"He is one of your most loyal men. I will never understand why you do not like him."
"Because he keeps making googily eyes at ye!"
The queen rolled her eyes in a most undignified manner. "Honestly Fergus. He is just being friendly."
"Aye, being friendly with me wife!"
The queen hid a smile, that particular vassal being one of the few things she could tease her husband about. She greeted her children and scolded the triplets for trying to feed their breakfast to the dogs.
"Merida." She put aside the salmon she was eating. "Your father has something important to tell you."
"Now?" Fergus looked surprised and went thru a series of expression as he tried to figure out how to break the news to his daughter before turning to his wife for some help. The calm look on her face told him he was alone in this. Finally, he decided to carry on as delicately he could, counting on his many years as King to tell his daughter the news with tact and subtlety.
"Yer getting another suitor!"
Elinor palmed her face.
"What!" Merida immediately leaped out of her seat; her head darted between her parents, eyes asking for an explanation. She got one from the Queen.
"Yesterday," She began in a tone Merida immediately recognized as her 'royal tone', "A Viking ship was sighted just off the coast of Invernes. Instead of an attack, we found that the Vikings came looking for an alliance between our kingdom and their tribe, as you already know, such political moves usually involve a marriage contract between the parties involved."
Merida covered her face with her hands. "This is a nightmare. Tell me yer joking, Dad!"
"Yes, well, ye see… it's like this, umm…"
She turned to her mother. "How can ye do this to me? Wasn't last time enough? A already have three suitors, ain't that plenty already!? An' now yer telling me A have to marry some Viking?
"Merida!" The Queen responded with some fire in her voice "You do not have to marry anyone! The deal we made still stands with the lords and it will stand with the Vikings as well," Her tone softened. "Not a thing we do is without consequences-" Merida flinched at that. "-Postponing your decision will make more people try to win your hand."
"Well it's nae fair!" She responded.
"I know, but that is the way it works; and for now the consequence is that we will have to put up with this Viking until he either grows bored or you choose whom you will marry."
Merida tried to imagine what he would look like, and the image that came to her was of a hulking muscle bound brute wearing a bearskin and holding an axe, a few flies seemed to be circling him as visible stink lines wafted from him. Merida shuddered and the caveman like figure belched loudly before disappearing.
"Absolutely nae! Why do we even need to have peace with them, we can jus' fight 'em off when they come!"
"Merida," Elinor chastised lightly. "This is not just about you; it will be a trying time for us all and we will weather with dignity because we love you."
"Jus' donae kill the lass when he gets here." Fergus started laughing.
"Ah'em nae gonna kill him Dad!" She said in a huff.
XxX
It would be weeks before something even remotely interesting happened from Merida's point of view, seeing as everything continued exactly as it had before. She went riding, had classes, and exchanged correspondence with the lords; mainly with young Macintosh though, as he was the only one that wrote back legible letters, since the McGuffin heir's writing was just as indecipherable as his speech and wee Dingwall only ever sent back sketches and drawings.
On that particular day, in the middle of holding court, a messenger arrived and her parents cleared the throne room of people, herself and her brothers included, to hold a private audience. That was sufficiently out of the ordinary that instead of going riding and exploring which she often did as soon as she had a chance, Merida used one of the many secret passages in the castle to spy on the meeting.
She blushed when she saw a man wearing a kilt with the colors of the Dunbroch clan striding purposefully towards the throne; he had dark hair, thick eyebrows and a clean handsome face, not to mention that it looked as if he had a bear skin rug strapped to his chest! The man kneeled before his rulers before winking at the Queen, and just like that his charm vanished.
That cheeky bastard!
"Odhran Onchu Seacht, reporting for duty. How may I service you, your Highness?"
The Queen nodded, acknowledging the greeting. "Like you probably already know, we will soon begin peace negotiations with the Vikings, this move not only will cause some instability within the kingdom but it will also most likely change the political landscape between the Viking tribes; we need to know more in order to plan how to proceed, we would appreciate any information you have on the northlands."
"Could you be more specific?"
"Tell us about Berk, ye goof!"
"Berk, uh? That's a tough one; let me see…all the information I have on Berk is secondhand at best since I've never been there before. Nobody wants to go there. The only explanation I could find was that it was dangerous to stay there for too long, so no one bothers." Seacht shrugged. "Let's start with the basics: Berk is an island smack in the middle of nowhere, it is populated by the Hairy Hooligan tribe and its warriors have a reputation as being one of the fiercest of all the Viking tribes, which is strange since they don't actually raid all that much. Even their involvement in the old war was minimum at best."
Seacht crossed his arms and briefly looked away; clearly uncomfortable with what he was about to say "Everything I say after that is rumors and whispers, mostly tavern talk and sailor tails. I have not been able to determine what is true and to what extent."
Fergus laughed loudly. "Ye mean the great Odhran Onchu Seacht has nae gotten the drop on these islanders? That's rich!"
The Queen glared at her husband before nodding at the man and motioning him to continue.
"According to these stories, Berk is the closest settlement to a place called Helheim's Gate; which is supposed to be a passageway to the underworld, so the people of that place have to deal with all manner of otherworldly beings. Some rumors say that they protect us by battling the creatures that spill forth from the Helheim's Gate, others that they are constantly at war with tribes even more savage than the Vikings, from even further north; were the snow is constant and night and day occur but once a year."
"And that's all ye have? Drunken slurs an' old wives' tales?" Fergus looked frustrated; none of what he had heard was of any use to him.
The vassal shrugged. "It is as I say. I never managed to set foot there, and besides the myriad of treaties all Viking tribes have with one another in order to keep them from tearing each other apart, they pretty much keep to themselves."
The Queen who had been listening attentively the whole time decided to bring the conversation back to more tangible matters. "Tell me, do you believe they could use the negotiations as a cover to stage an invasion?"
From behind her cover, Merida gasped.
"Doubtful," Seacht said, "To be frank I believe it to be the opposite," he explained, "News of Viking raids have been steadily decreasing over the last year, until they suddenly skyrocketed these last few months for reasons unrelated to this matter."
Queen Elinor nodded. When dealing with that Viking she had noted an undercurrent of desperation in his actions. If his tribe was modifying their ways to a more peaceful existence, a raider like that man would be anxious to prove he was still useful the times are changing she remembered him saying. If the alliance becomes a reality he will take credit for it, and if it fails and we end up at war it will mean more battles for him.
She was taken out of her reverie by her husband's voice. "Wot is the cause of those raids?"
"From the information I've been able to gather; the leadership of the Berserker tribe has been passed down in typical Viking fashion, from Oswald the Agreeable to his son, Dagur the Deranged who is just as pleasant as his name suggests. And let me tell you, the kid seems to be on the warpath. As soon as he took the leadership he assembled an armada and started attacking anyone who could give him a good fight."
"Are we at risk?" The Queen had to know.
"Of raids? Most likely. An invasion? Probably not. No single Viking tribe could gain a solid foothold on our lands; he would need a legitimate reason in order to drag the other tribes…"
"Like refusing a treaty with a brother tribe." Interrupted Fergus, surprising the other two.
"It is possible," confirmed the vassal. "Failed talks of peace are usually followed by successful declarations of war. Does his Majesty wish for me investigate the situation further?"
"Nae," Fergus said, shaking his head. "Yer not me only pair of eyes. A have another job for ye. A have reports that a Roman physician, south of Hadrian's Wall, is close to recreating an ancient Greek weapon. Yer mission is to find an' stop this Dr. Julius No. Go find yer Quartermaster; he'll give ye more details an some gear. Ye can go now."
Seacht nodded and turned to the Queen. "My lady, it is a pleasure to assist in any way I can." He turned back to the King. "I'll take my leave, Majesty."
As she watched the man called Seacht leave, Merida slumped against the wall she was hiding behind. This simple alliance pact was more complicated than she could have imagined, is this how things would be for her when she became Queen? For the first time in her life she felt inadequate.
Be the first to find the not so hidden movie and get a mention.
After some serious soul searching I have come to a very important discovery about myself: I'm an egotistical jerk. So drop a line in the review box at the bottom of the chapter to let me know you're reading, and I'll make sure to keep writing.
