Fergus had jumped from his chair when he spied an arrow speeding towards the target. He couldn't believe his own eyes, then again the lads did train for seven years, it wasn't that much of a surprise was it? When the target returned and all of the archers had aligned themselves before the royal family, the arrow that had split Merida's had a feather patterned after a peacock with the blend of green and blue at a darker hue. "Who's arrow-"

The voice was drowned by Merida's who looked at the young Lords with surprise. Whipping the arrow from the spokesman inspected those before her. The very arrow had belonged to the one yielding the smallest stature, and ironically all the young Lords had tied in at the same ring; the ring before the bulls eye.

Fergus felt the tension and called the young lad who looked about sixteen judging by his height, "Step up lad, don't be shy." He had read the fearful posture of the character and decided to set the boy's nerves at ease. Brows arched when he found out the boy was blind, "You have a good arm there, what's your name?"

By then a taller lad, about Merida's age by the sound of his voice stepped up. This young man had chestnut brown hair, and crystal blue eyes. Watching as this other knelt down in a low bow, "I'm sorry if my brother had caused any trouble your majesty."

Chuckling heartily looked up at the humble lad , " No trouble at all."

Merida seemed enchanted by this peasant boy, for she'd never seen him before. Hearing her mother clear her throat turned to the crowd, " It seems to be another stalemate." Her voice carried that youthful amusement, yet her posture and leading tones were very respectful. And as she looked to the three suitors she smiled playfully, "Better luck next time lads," she winked with a broad smile. The young men just smiled back, for once they didn't squabble amidst themselves for they had actually planned the outcome. They wanted to get to know her on a first name basis so to speak, in their own ways of course without having to fight the way their fathers always did. As each of them bowed they politely they took their leave.

And as everyone else turned to return to the festivities Merida approached the peasant boy who had stood up for his brother. "That was quite admirable" she complimented as she folded her hands behind her form gracefully. "What's your name?"

Feeling his cheeks burn he bowed deeply, " Derek your majesty."

Merida smiled warmly and bowed as well to meet his eyes, "Please, call me Merida."

Caught off guard by the Princess' informal invitation blushed as he straightened up. Feeling a nudge cleared his throat and straightened up. "This is Malik"

All the while Fergus had been sitting lost in thought. "She did it again," he mused dreamily only to notice his only daughter walking off with that peasant boy and elbowed his wife. "Hey Elinor look at that."

For once since that day the graceful Queen had raised a quizzical brow. Chuckling stood up and looped her arm through her husband's and led him away, "Let's leave them to their own devices shall we?"

While Malik had trailed off behind Merida and Derek the duo managed to spark up a conversation.

In the distance Mac had been sitting on a bench with Coal who was hitting it off with the ladies as usual. From this angle he could see Merida clearly, she looked like an angel with the sun bouncing off her form, her soft curls bouncing as she laughed, kind energetic eyes that always hit a spot in his heart every time she looked at him. His eyes seemed to be glued on the Princess and as he saw her bright sapphire eyes turn to meet his and couldn't help but look away feeling his cheeks burn and smiled.

"What's up with you lad?" Coal quizzed noticing his best friend and comrade turn a shade of pink. Looking over his shoulder noticed Merida who had been glancing their way and couldn't help but feel happy. She'd actually taken notice of them and it looked like the bashful Mac couldn't take the weight of her impish stare. Elbowing the gentle giant whispered, "Looks like we have competition," he chuckled. Coal's eyes soon lit on the figure trailing after the duo and raised a quizzical eye brow. There was something strange about that young boy, it wasn't the long hair that seemed to bother him more than the fact that this blind folded twit bested all of them. Eric at that time had seated himself to Coal's left and noticed Mac's disposition. "What happened to him?" he asked in a hushed tone. Following Coal's eyes managed an "Ohh.." and nodded at his plate of salted ham and vegetables. Smiling to himself chuckled inwardly. Mac was never really good with girls, and the fact he'd had a crush on Merida for so long never really helped his social skills.

Meanwhile, Malik had decided to give Derek and Merida some space and had taken a seat across from them on a far corner of the edge of the pond. Smiling pointed soulful blindfolded eyes to the sun. It had been long since a break like this was had. Slowly pulling off the blindfold undid the clip which constricted the long fringes behind his head and smiled. His hair was a mesh of dark brown with natural red highlights. Eyes closed gently took a deep breath enjoying the moment. The soft feel of the crisp light breath of wind caressing his long hair seemed to put all tension at ease.

Not ten feet away Derek looked on at the form sitting away from them and smiled. His eyes seemed to follow the form for the longest time which in turn drew Merida to follow his gaze. "You seem pretty close."

Blushing Derek chuckled quietly and looked at the Princess, "We're all we have," his tones were dreamy in a way. He really wanted time to freeze and stay like this, smiling was one thing he really missed for he'd often painted a poker-face to hide all emotion. The thought of her always seemed to put him at peace, and as his eyes drifted to his right he found Merida staring up at him. He was one who knew his place, yet he couldn't help but lose tension around this Princess and reached out and pushed a strand of her hair out of her face which in turn made Merida blush and turn away smiling. As Derek's eyes darted over to Malik he felt a weight upon his shoulder and turned to find Merida leaning in as she took a deep breath. A heavy weight seemed to linger upon his heart, and as he turned to face the form in front of them he sighed deeply too. He really didn't think things would play out the way they did; and didn't really expect to fall for anyone-how much more for someone to fall for him.

"I feel like I've known you my whole life.." Merida uttered in a quiet soft tone making Derek's heart skip a beat. He really didn't want to lie, he did feel comfortable around her, and deep in his gut he did feel the same way somehow. "There's something I want to tell you." He began in that comforting quiet voice that would make a wave of security fall. It wouldn't be fair if things carried on the way they were, but at the same time he really didn't want to ruin the moment. Looking up met the eyes of Malik and felt his heart drop. Seeing him smile felt bittersweet and he had to drop his gaze.

"What's wrong?" Merida asked as she looked up at him. Following Derek's eyes turned to find Malik looking at both of them smiling and felt quite shy. Waving back shyly turned to Derek and tipped his chin up to see his eyes who didn't want to meet hers.

Taking a deep breath decided to just come clean, "I'm sorry, I can't-" he began only to cut his sentence as he felt Merida's hands grasp his. Looking into her eyes paused for the longest time, "There's something I want to show you." Holding Merida's hand walked over to Malik and knelt in front of him. " I really don't wish to deceive you Merida." Meeting Malik's closed eyes and light frown said, "It's all right, you can open them."

Apprehensive at first, didn't budge and just turned to where he'd expected Derek and the Princess' face to be. Only when the soft touch of Derek's hand was felt as he held gingerly onto the right cheek did any reaction play. Tearful eyes slowly opened as Derek withdrew his hand and looked to Merida.

Merida gasped finding a pair of two different colored eyes, one blue and one green and looked to Derek. As the form in front of her shed the archer's coat a female form seemed to be drawn, allowing Merida to learn that the two of them had been on the run. Because of Malik's different eye coloration everyone kept thinking her to be a witch. The two weren't related but had been childhood friends for a long time, when they landed on the shores of DunBroch they had decided to start a new life and were easily integrated into the Kingdom. And being as young as they were they were at the time, about ten years ago, got adopted and were accepted.

A weight was felt in Merida's heart, their story was quite sad, and somehow deep inside she felt that Derek felt for Malik a lot more than any friend would, why else would he reveal everything? But at the same time she admired him even more for taking a risk and entrusting her with all that was revealed. Squeezing Derek's hands looked him in the eyes feeling happier than she ever felt before. "Thank you."

Derek met Merida's eyes and smiled, and Malik once more felt like she was the third wheel in a cart. Not wanting to break the duo's stare slowly got up and walked to the bank and just sighed. She really didn't want to have to move again, nor did she want to be called a witch. Looking over at her shoulder she smiled at the pair, they really did seem to complement each other very well. Her time here in this world would soon be up one day, and she dared not break their happiness. Derek really deserved to be happy, because of her he'd been through so much hardships. She owed him that much she figured. Eyes closed as she allowed herself to fall backwards onto the soft grass as she exhaled happily. She definitely wanted to remember this day.

Merida smiled and leaned her head upon Derek's shoulder which felt more relaxed at this time and closed her eyes.