Chapter Nine
Annette was not a fragile person. She felt the rusty and cold chains grated at her wrists as she tried to wriggle out of them. Her back almost glued onto the metallic pillar, she knew it was almost impossible to break free. The woman who had captured her, Gothel, was leaning against the cell's cage door, swinging her dagger around her fingertips.
"Screaming is pointless," Gothel drawled.
She was right. As much as Annette loathed the idea of her vulnerability, she knew, the moment she would open her mouth to protest, a dagger would be lashed right at her. The scene played in her head over and over until cold sweat broke out from her pores. It was obvious Gothel noticed, otherwise her blatant smirk wouldn't be evident on her face.
The cell door clang closed. Gritting her teeth Annette hung her head in defeat, her hands balled up in fists. Moonlight seeped from the small barred opening on the wall, drenching her and the golden object that shimmered from the pocket her poofy dress under the impending light.
Night had already fallen. Merida was sat down by the bar where the candles flickered. Jack hadn't allowed her to move anywhere from the brothel since due to the previous event, the soldiers were patrolling the premises and nobody dared to wander about. Therefore, it was expected that they'd have basically no customers visiting the brothel this night and that Jack had grown slightly paranoid over Merida's safety. Moreover, the quiet atmosphere was almost overbearing as even Rapunzel's usual chatter didn't lift up the mood.
Jack had went into the private room to find a map and other appliances needed to execute their plan to rescue Annette. He had been gone for a two hours already. Tooth had come in and out from the room, but she ended up shaking her head signalling them that Jack was still searching.
"So you're a princess eh?" Bunnymund, who was perched on one of the beds, broke the silence.
Slowly, Merida nodded. Bunnymund's growing agitation fizzled in the air as he rubbed his head in exhaustion, "Why don't we just turn her in?"
"No!" Merida exclaimed, but winced when all heads were turned to her as if expecting a thorough explanation, "I can't go back…"
"Well, you coming here has already caused us trouble!" Bunnymund argued as he stood up and stomped towards Merida, "If you don't go back to where you belong, then they're going to burn down this village. They're going to burn down our home mate."
"You don't understand! You don't understand what it's like to be trapped in a tower and not being able to do anything, and to not see anyone! To have to be sealed away forever!" Merida screamed, shoving Bunnymund as she stood, "I won't go back!"
"To what extent will you be a brat?!" Bunnymund raised his voice, "Until you have us all homeless and killed? Will that satisfy you, will it?!"
At this point, Merida could feel a large lump in her throat. Her jaws clenched as she forced tears back and she struggled to breath. When Bunnymund was about to lay his final blow, Hiccup and Rapunzel intercepted and wedged themselves in between the two. With a determined glare, Rapunzel pursed her lips while Hiccup tried to sooth Merida who was trying stabilise her breathing.
"I don't think this is the time to be fighting," Rapunzel stated, arms out in defense.
Hiccup pursed as his lips and stammered, "I - I don't think handing her in will make a difference. If they find out we've got Merida, they'll burn this place and us down for treason."
Bunnymund growled, but uttered nothing afterwards. Quietly, Tooth sighed and motioned back to the private room for the fifth time to check on Jack's progress. In the corner, Sandy stood peering outside the window. There were a few human shadows outside. They were moving closer to the brothel and when Sandy moved the curtain a little, he spied a long sheath and black metallic armour. Blood drain from his face as he dashed over to the arguing quadrant. He tugged harshly on Bunnymund's shirt, but the man was too preoccupied by the heat of the silent argument. He turned to Rapunzel, but she was also caught up with glaring at Bunnymund and Hiccup was no good as he was focused only on Merida.
Eventually, it was the knocking that stopped everything.
"Is the Overland family here?" a muffled, deep voice resonated.
Quickly, Sandy pulled out his drawing pad and charcoal. He scribbled a rough, stick figure-like drawing of a gruff soldier and shoved it in Bunnymund's face.
"You've got to be kidding me," Bunnymund grumbled, he turned to the trio and whispered loud enough for them to hear, "Quick, get her into the other room!"
"I will repeat-"
"Yeah, yeah, we're here!" Bunnymund shouted after the trio hastily piled into the other room.
Merida could hear the low muffle of the conversation from the other side of the door. In order to distract herself from the anxiety thumping in her veins, she focused on Jack who was suddenly inches away from her face. His eyes filled with concern, he eventually took a step back when Tooth pulled them apart and tsked him about personal boundaries. This made Jack flush like a candle.
"The soldiers are here," Hiccup pointed out.
"Already?" Jack fretted in disbelief, "I still haven't found the map yet!"
"We don't have time to search for it now!" Hiccup said tensely, "This place is no longer safe for Merida to stay. There's literally soldiers everywhere."
"But without the map, we won't be-"
"We can improvise, Jack," Rapunzel interjected, "You've always said that things aren't worth doing unless there's room to improvise, right?"
Jack cast his eyes to Merida, "But I can't screw this up."
"Aw, wee lamb, are you scared for me?" Merida smiled as she slung her arm around Jack's shoulders, "We can do this. Even though I was trapped there, I can still remember the important places."
When Jack didn't reply, Merida hesitantly dropped her arm from his shoulders. There was an invisible force that stabbed her appendix. The overflowing questions in her mind all revolved around: Was she being selfish? And Bunnymund's query: How far would she go to savor her freedom?
She glanced at Jack and found him watching her with concerned eyes that glittered with a slight hint of hope. Shifting her attention away from Jack, she recognised the same determined expression found in Hiccup and Rapunzel as well. A thrill of warmth thumped in her chest as Jack slipped his hand into hers. His hand contrasting with the warmth of her skin, he held on tight before sending Merida a confident smirk.
"Sorry to break the bubble, but the soldiers are advancing," Tooth squeaked as she peeked through the keyhole, "Merida, go hide, now!"
Panic sizzled and Jack hastily pulled Merida over to his desk. He shoved her underneath it and pushed the chair in so it didn't appear overly suspicious. The creak of the floorboards by the heavy weight of the soldiers sent Merida on high alert. In her musky, dark spot under the table, she heard the soldiers interrogate Jack who replied coolly back every time.
Rapunzel, Hiccup and Tooth were also questioned, but their answers all corresponded with Jack's. However, when the soldiers asked to investigate the room, the atmosphere went stagnate. Merida heard the soldiers begin to wander around and just as the footsteps grew more daunting, a loud BANG and thud echoed. After it happened three times, Merida could hear heavy breathing and a loud clang as an object tumbled to the floor.
Sensing that it was safe, Merida pushed the chair and crawled out. There stood Bunnymund heaving with focused eyes, around him were the three soldiers who were now unconscious. A frying pan laid by his feet.
"You want to save that Annie kid right?" Bunnymund grunted as he chucked a folded piece of paper at Jack, "Got it from the soldier's belt. Don't thank me kid."
Merida watched as Jack's eyes lit up, "Hey, you're not that bad when you're not arguing all the time," Jack teased despite the bemused face Bunnymund had as he said this.
"Oh, ha-ha, you think you're so funny," Bunnymund remarked, "You're wasting your time joking with me mate. Didn't you have some friend that needs saving?"
Merida snatched the map from Jack's hands, "So what's the plan now? We can't enter the castle without passing the guards."
"Who said we need to go through the front entrance?" Jack smirked, "I doubt there'd be many guards at the back or around the sides, right?"
"Oh yeah, and the backside of a castle totally wouldn't be heavily guarded," Hiccup drawled, earning him a glare from Jack, "What? There will be guards everywhere. If you want to get in, you may as well disguise yourself as one!"
That was when they all stared at Hiccup with such euphoria that it was like he had just sprouted out the most beautiful flower ever on his face.
Glancing from Hiccup to the unconscious soldiers and back to Hiccup again, Hiccup eventually realised what he had done and his face gradually began to drop. Merida and Rapunzel smiled charmingly at him, lifted the soldier up and dumped him on Hiccup who wheezed weakly at the weight.
"Hiccup, Gobber was right!" Jack laughed, "You're a genius!"
From that, Hiccup just groaned in exasperation.
"Urgh, I'm starting to get grey hairs again!"
Annette watched from under her lashes as Gothel made a face of disgust at her reflection on her oval, hand held mirror. As if so revolted by the hideousness of the one strand of gray hair, Gothel tossed the mirror behind her and let it shatter into a million little pieces on the concrete ground. She then, spun around to face Annette with a superficial smile stitched on her lips.
"Well, you've been awfully quiet," she said in a tone of boredom as she flicked her prisoner on the forehead, "Thought you'd be more of a valiant one really. Obviously, I was mistaken."
"You don't know me!" Annette spat.
"And it speaks!" Gothel announced in amusement, "Here I thought it'd get boring."
Gothel sauntered around Annette like a cat while Annette merely made the attempt to seclude herself from her offender. Of course, Gothel noticed and reveled in the torment, but it was not in her character to simply play with her victims, rather she preferred to gain information from them beforehand. However, as she was about to question Annette's motives on snooping, a flash image of Pitch ran through her mind and Gothel startled herself slightly.
"Have you heard of fairies?"
"They grant you any wish."
"You'll get your longevity, and I'll get her back."
"Do you believe in fairies?"
The question surprised Annette as she stared up at Gothel who was gazing off into space, her hand on top of the pillar, "No, they don't exist. Only children believe in them."
It was as if her reply snapped Gothel back to to the realms of reality. She watched cautiously as Gothel walked away from the pillar and leant against the metal door. Arms crossed, she sighed, "Then am I merely acting like a child?"
The question went unanswered and both of them resided in their pondering.
It was so incredibly stuffy in the suit of armour. Merida struggled to simply bend her arm, and her untamed hair revolted, constantly sneaking into her mouth or her eyes. She could hardly see through the slits in the helmet and wobbled as she stiffly walked about. From the corner of her eyes - and through the abnormally tiny slits - Merida watched as Jack moved awkwardly, but steadily nonetheless while Hiccup had Rapunzel to hold his hand as he tried to lift his immobilised leg up in the heavy metal boots.
Tooth and Sandy had gone to fetch the horses which Rapunzel will take care of when the other three enter the castle. It was decided that Rapunzel, since she didn't have a disguise, should coax the horses silent as she made sure to always be prepared to get the horses ready just in case they needed to flee. Also, they agreed that her hair would make good traps for anyone who tried to steal or attack the horses.
Buzzing around excitedly, Baby Tooth had come due to Tooth's whistle. It zipped around, confused about what was happening and why there were giant metallic things stumbling about. Hiccup had posed the problem of communication between Rapunzel and the rest of them. That was when Tooth suggested that Baby Tooth would play messenger as it was small and fast enough for the deed. Since Baby Tooth couldn't talk, Sandy made a miniature notepad and miniature charcoal for it to carry around. There were symbols that were needed to be accounted for:
The flower referred to Rapunzel, the arrow referred to Merida - as she suggested for herself -, a wonky drawing of a snowflake for Jack, an extremely simplified drawing of a Viking helmet for Hiccup, and a little braid for Annette. A cross would mean danger, a circle meant someone was missing, a vertical line meant success, and a horizontal line meant 'flee'.
"Hey, you're looking hot in that."
Jack was grinning idiotically, his helmet off his sweaty head. Merida waved him off, the blush brighter than her hair was concealed behind her helmet.
"You look stupid in that. What, are you going to carry that stick around too?" Merida retorted, hiding her embarrassment as she wobbled away and made the attempt to sit down, only to have her knees buckle due to the weight of the armour.
With a raised eyebrow, Jack glanced at the stick in his hand and back at Merida, "This isn't a stick, it's a staff," he corrected in full seriousness.
"Stick, staff same thing," Merida scoffed as she stumbled upright again.
A loud whinny came from outside. At first they were concerned that the soldiers outside might have heard the blatant cry, but to their relief it was clear and barren outside. Bunnymund ordered them to follow him to the back of the brothel where Tooth and Sandy were with the horses. Aside from the odd crunch of the dry leaves, Merida could hear the voluminous chatter of the groups of soldiers and see the glow of red of the campfire in the heart of the village.
At the back of the brothel, four finely muscled stallions stood nodding and flicking their tails among the shadows of the trees. As Merida approached them mutely and slowly, Hiccup was already cuddling up to one of them while Rapunzel was awkwardly trying to get on; her leg on the side of the horse and her arms choked it. Jack on the other hand was having trouble making the horse oblige to his demands. It whickered and technically whipped Jack in the face with its mane as he got on. Except for Hiccup, it was like watching some terrible comedy performance. Thankfully for Merida, due to years of experience on Angus, she gracefully flung herself onto the horse. The armour still weighed her down but it felt better now that she was sitting.
"You ready?" Jack called.
"Oh I'm so excited!" Rapunzel squealed.
"We are so going to die," Hiccup groaned.
Clutching her reins, Merida kicked the sides of the horse and charged past Jack, "Oh just shut up already and let's get on with it!"
With that, they all jammed on their helmets, except Rapunzel, and galloped into the darkness of the woods. Well, with Jack shoving Merida out of the way in an attempt to take lead and Merida yelling at him while Hiccup moaned unhappily at the bumpiness of the ride. Additionally to that, Rapunzel's high pitched squealing that might as well given them away the minute they descended.
Bunnymund, Sandy and Tooth simply glanced at each other and shook their heads, snickering.
A feeling of deja vu set in when Merida found herself staring at the dark building that she had been obligated to live in for the past year. The howling of the wind was almost calling her as it flew fast from behind, beckoning her forward. As dread plummeted in her stomach, she gripped onto the reins till her knuckles flushed white and her nails dug into the flesh of her palms.
Under the moonlight, the armour shone dark silver, but Merida half panicked when Jack disappeared into a shadow, only to find that their armour melted into a black haze when away from the light. When they were at the edge of the woods in full view of the front of the castle, Rapunzel lingered at the back and avoided any contact with the prying moonlight.
"I'll stay behind now," Rapunzel announced, Baby Tooth perched on her shoulder, "I'll be near the entrance with the horses."
They slid off the horses, well Hiccup stumbled and Jack was almost bucked off, they handed the reins to Rapunzel who was still mounted.
"Send Baby Tooth when you've found a spot to hide and stay," Jack ordered, but it sounded muffled behind the metal of the helmet. Rapunzel nodded and began to silently lead the horses into the woodland again. As Rapunzel's pink gown gradually was engulfed by the dark silhouettes of trees and shadows, they marched their way towards the castle entrance.
There were two guards in the same style of armour. Merida inhaled sharply as Jack took the lead and walked past in an aloof manner past the guards towards the main gates. Her heart stopped when out of nowhere one of the guards shot his arm out in front of Jack and pushed him back which sent him knocking into Merida. Calm down Merida, everything will be fine, she repeated in her mind.
"Why are you back so early?" the guard questioned, suspicion laced his tone, "Didn't Prince Mathias order all private soldiers to stay at the village?"
Merida heard Jack breath in sharply. With uncertain hands, he hesitantly showed the guard his staff, "This was found at the place Princess Merida was hiding, we were uncertain to whether or not this was the device the Prince was looking for."
"Why bring it here when you can show him at the village?" the guard narrowed his eyes.
"Uhh…"
Before Jack could say anything unnecessary, Hiccup barged in, "I-It's under investigation, the object looks like what the Prince is looking for."
"Oh, is it?" the guard sounded uncertain, "Alright, you may proceed."
It was like a boulder was lifted from her shoulders, and Merida struggled to contain her sigh of relief. Feigning confidence, she marched after Jack who gripped on his staff tightly and listened to Hiccup's shallow breathing that was loud enough for Merida to hear. Thankfully, the guard retreated back to his stiff stance by the entrance and seemed to turn into stone.
They crossed the turning bridge from the entrance to the main gate - which were surprisingly still wide open. However, at all sides, there were guards strolling about with spears rested upon their shoulders and a sword attached to their belts. Though less heavily armoured than the guards outside, they still wore chain mail and pieces of metal around the joints. Also, the sheer number of them could hurdle three measly, inexperienced people like Jack, Hiccup and Merida. So, caution was appropriate.
Scanning the premises, Merida spotted a blob of blue and green by the side of the castle wall on the left where, from Merida's memory, the path led to the bailey (courtyard) where Mathias usually sparred with the knights. It also triggered her memory as she remembered that by the bailey were small rectangular, barred openings that served as windows to prison cells lined up against the bottom of the stone walls.
"There's a tale about this thief who stole a crown. "
"Why are you telling me this story before bed, Annie? I'm not a little girl anymore."
"Oh, shush, I'm in the mood to tell a story alright? Anyway, it was said this thief was imprisoned here in Gallach's kingdom."
"And?"
"And… It's said that he escaped without a trace, and he was never to be seen. Said he was some sort of phantom, a supernatural being! Lurking in the dark and slithering past the guards and evaded all human sights and consciousness. When the guards returned to send him to his execution, he had vanished!"
"It's just some silly story, Annie, go to sleep will you?"
"But I know how he escaped! There's a cell room that has a trapdoor that leads to a tunnel to the way out of the castle!"
"Sure, sure, whatever you say, Annie."
A link clicked in Merida's mind and she turned to Jack and Hiccup, "Follow me," she whispered.
Smoothly, Merida strode through the seemingly unassuming guards and only attracted the attention of a few curious ones. Otherwise, they appeared nonthreatening and the rhythm of the clanking of the metal boots of the armour from Jack and Hiccup soothed Merida as she finally felt in control. Baby Tooth was buzzing quietly and moved around as if it was merely a leaf blown in the wind.
On the mini notebook, Baby Tooth had drawn a picture of a flower and a vertical line beside it. All three of them heaved a heavy sigh of relief. There were no guards around currently and so they took a few minutes to discuss what was happening. Merida explained to them softly about the prisons and the story Annette had told her in the past year. Although Jack and Hiccup glanced at each other in questioning, they replied with a simultaneous shrug and nodded, insinuating that they'd follow Merida.
"Baby Tooth, tell Rapunzel we're safe and inside the castle walls," Jack ordered softly.
It nodded vigorously and zipped off over the walls like a dart. Hiccup was the one with the map folded neatly and tucked away on the underside of the belt. Merida could feel Hiccup's restlessness by the way his hand constantly brushed against the belt as if fearing the map would slip out and hence leave them stranded.
"So where is this prison?" Jack asked.
In the distance, Merida spotted a guard walking along the crenulation, "Just follow me, okay?" she whispered before she turned and proceeded to the bailey where she hoped there would be less to no guards as it was essentially the heart of the castle.
The bailey merged into view as a moonlit delight. The metal pots and scraps glittered under silvery light and the grass although dull, was long so when it swayed it was like watching a sea of green scattered with lumps of silver. It was like the moon was guiding them. The light streamed to a barred window at the end of the building. There were no guards around nor any knights wandering about so Merida beckoned Jack and Hiccup beside her so they could converse more coherently.
"Those there," Merida pointed to the small barred windows lined up across the very bottom of the building wall, "Are the prisons. They're underground, and they'll probably be guards by the prisons too."
"So you're saying, we should bust ourselves in there like we own the place and punch them down?" Hiccup said wearily, "Great plan you got there."
"Well, do you have any better ideas?" Merida retorted.
"Why don't we just lure the guards out?" Jack suggested eagerly, "All we need is bait."
Hiccup stared at Jack in utter dismay, "No no no no no no no no no, for the hundredth time no. I am not going to be bait for you again."
"Come on, just one more time," Jack begged, but Merida could hear the burst of giggles Jack had from the memory of whatever he made Hiccup do, "Do it for Merida?"
There was a pause and after that a loud irritated sigh as Hiccup succumbed, "Fine, tell me what to do."
Hey there :D. I apologise for the late update, but it was Christmas sooo, :P hehe. Merry late Christmas to you all! Also I watched Frozen, which really got me inspired and hyper so that may also contribute to my late update.
By the way, a crenulation is the top of the wall of a castle (check google for a better explanation).
Replies:
Guest: Umm, I don't know what your OTP is or anything, but Hiccup and Astrid is sorta canon, and I like the characters together... Sorry, if they're not your OTP, but either way, the story is mainly focusing on Jack x Merida's relationship (romance-wise).
Thanks for reading ~