Chapter 14

Merida pov

It's been some time since my….outing with Hiccup. In between the lessons or Hiccup being busy with forging away for the boys, we made sure to spend some time together. Although, we haven't met outside of the forge though, Hiccup wanted to finish up the weapons before there was any trouble. Well that and it was the only place where we could get any alone time around here.

I had walked into the forge just as he had put the finishing touches on the weapons. The weapons forged from Gronckle iron were a sword for Macintosh, a spear for Dingwall and an ax for MacGuffin. Just like my bow Hiccup put as much effort in making them shine. Really the quality of these weapons was something else.

While wiping some sweat from his brow he said. "Well that's that. Sadly this was all the Gronckle Iron that I had."

"I know that you needed to create weapons for the boys, but why the others?" I inquired. As I looked at a nearby table there rested two swords, an ax, and a spear.

"I figured I would make them for the lords and your father as well. The happier they'll be, the less inclined to bother me, giving me some free time. Well for us that is." I smiled warmly at the thought that he did that for us.

"Well it's already past supper, I better go give them their weapons" Hiccup said as he began to wrap them up. "Would you mind going ahead of me?"

"Sure, I'll see you there" I said as I kissed him

As I made my way into the castle I thought about the times when we kissed. It always felt right when we did. Not sure why it just did. When I walked through the halls I felt anxious for Hiccup. Even if he's training their sons, the lords and their clansmen were still distrustful of Hiccup. Well hopefully these weapons will fix that.

"Merida"

I stopped and turned to see Mum walking towards me. She stated "Where have you been, I've looked everywhere for you?"

"I was over in the forge"

"Again? Weren't you just with Hiccup this morning?" she asked

I stated nervously "Yes, but Hiccup just finished the weapons and wanted me to tell everyone"

"Excellent. The lords have been grumbling about it for days" she sighed with relief.

"So why were you looking for me?" I asked

"Ah, I wanted to ask you why you've acted strangely for the last few days. It's almost as if you have something to hide" she stated. I froze. It wasn't possible, she couldn't have figured out about me and Hiccup. Oh god what if she did? What if she knew? She was smart enough to figure something like that out.

I rolled my eyes at her while trying to calm down "Honestly Mum, when have I ever tried to hide something from you?"

"Well, there was the time when you didn't tell me that the pastry was enchanted!" she stated crossly

"Oh for the thousandth time Mum I'm sorry!" I said

"Sorry? I got turned into a bear!" she argued

"Well I got you changed back didn't I?"

"At the last possible second!" she countered

"Uh, am I interrupting something?" we heard.

Mum and I turned to see Hiccup standing there awkwardly with the weapons, while looking nervously between us. Mum straightened up "Nothing of importance Hiccup. Those are the weapons I assume."

"Yes Queen Eleanor" he replied

"Well then let us continue on our way then" Mum said she turned down the hall and continued to walk toward the throne room. When Hiccup was beside me he asked "Turned into a bear?"

"I'll tell you later"

When we entered the throne room Mum called for everyone's attention so that Hiccup could give them their weapons. One by one he presented them with their arms and they were surprised that Hiccup went to the trouble of creating weapons for Da and the lords as well.

"This sword has near perfect balance" Lord Macintosh marveled as he examined his own sword

Lord MacGuffin stated as he whirled around his axe "Aye, but these weapons seem lighter than they should be. This new metal of his seems mighty peculiar to me."

Hiccup reassured "I assure you Lord MacGuffin these weapons are far stronger than any other within this hall" The men around us mumbled in disbelief. Many of them said that Hiccup was trying to cheat them.

Dingwall scoffed "These weapons better than our own? Our weapons forged by DunBroch hands with DunBroch iron in the land of DunBroch, I highly doubt that." I heard many hear, hears from that.

Da said "Well Dingwall, let's put your money where your mouth is"

Da walked over to a nearby empty table with the sword Hiccup made for him. He then withdrew his own sword and threw it on the table. With Hiccup's sword in hand he raised it above his head and brought it down upon his own blade. When the two blades collided Dad's sword one moved and no one said anything. When he brought it down I expected Da's sword to be cracked, dented, or even bent. I didn't expect Da's sword to shatter into a thousand pieces! The sight of one of the greatest swords DunBroch had to offer break like thin ice shocked everyone in the room, everyone but Hiccup that is. He actually seemed pleased with his work.

Da's laughter boomed through the hall curing us from our shock. He shouted "Now this is a sword! I'd say you lost that bet Dingwall."

All of a sudden the lords and their sons looked at their weapons in wonder and their clansmen crowded around them to get a better look at them. To prevent Hiccup and I from being trampled we moved over to the wall and watched them show off their new weapons to each other.

"You did pretty well Hiccup" I commented and he smiled back at me

Da came over to us and said "Aye laddie she's right. If I didn't know better I'd say that your craft is better than our own royal blacksmith"

"Thank you King Fergus" he said

Da waved it off "Forget the formalities already lad. You're among friends here." He looked over back to the men who had begun to eat and drink merrily. Lord Dingwall yelled to him "Hey Fergus, how about a drinking contest?"

"HA! It's no contest with you as an opponent" Da said as he walked over to him.

As we watched the clansmen eating and drink I had an idea. I whispered "I think we just got our alone time"

He smiled "Agreed, let's head out while they're not looking"

Eleanor Pov

After I noticed that Hiccup and Merida were sneaking out of the room I contemplated following them to find out what was going on. But that would have been rude so I decided to tend to the family tapestry. All those years ago Merida mended this tapestry and I find again and again I have to go over the stitching. We'll I didn't mind. It was a reminder that a relationship must always be maintained. I stopped for a moment when I heard the door open.

"You're muttering again"

I gave Fergus an annoyed look as he sat in front of me. "Shouldn't you be drunk from your little contest" I inquired

"Nah, Dingwall was always a light weight, but I'll admit I am a bit tipsy" he answered. I huffed at him and returned to my work.

"Alright Eleanor what's eating you? Are you worrying over her dragon again?" He asked

I lowered my needle and sighed "No. Something seems different between Hiccup and Merida, and I can't put my finger on it."

Fergus agreed to my surprise "Aye, your right. Something is different; I'd say they became good friends. They bonded quite a bit thanks to their dragons. Which is a great thing; she didn't have many friends growing up"

"Well yes but….I don't know how to explain it. Something's nagging at me and I can't help it." I said exasperated.

"What is it? A mother's intuition; or animal instinct?" he joked

I cuffed his shoulder "Oh Fergus. Ever since I became human again, you've teased me about being animal."

He pointed out "Only since you've changed since you've changed back. After all, you've loosened up quite a bit compared to when Merida was growing up."

I agreed "Aye, I supposed I have. Since that time I never wanted what happened to happen again. Still…"

Fergus stopped me "No still. You being over protective of Merida, you think she's going to in some terrible danger because of these dragons. She's strong and for pity's sake she's an adult now. You can't protect her forever."

I chuckled "Aye I suppose your right. Though there is a change in them, I just don't know what."

He stood up and patted my shoulder "Ah you'll figure it out eventually. Though I doubt it's anything of importance." As he left the room he said "You're talking about this like they're in some secret relationship."

When he left I chuckled at the thought. Merida sneaking around, hiding a relationship with a boy from the kingdom. It was preposterous. Merida has always been upfront about her feelings. Never in a thousand years would she go to all the bother of that. Sure she was secretive about the pastry, but it was only because she did not want to get married.

When I was finished, I decided to head off to bed. At this time of night there was no one wandering about, seemed like everyone but I was sound asleep. As I walked through the halls I pasted the Lords rooms only to hear snoring loud enough to wake a hibernating bear. I turned the corner and I stopped in shock. I was looking down the hall to Hiccup's room, but it wasn't his door that startled me.

It was the wisps that stood before.

In the hallway floated over a dozen wisps looking at Hiccups door. Before my eyes one by one they disappeared. The last one however turned to me and waved its….limb at me, as if saying 'move along, nothing to see'. It then turned back to the door and disappeared like its brethren.

After what I saw I left with a quickened pace to my chambers. My reason for doing this, well I am obviously exhausted and imagined the whole thing (hopefully). Or even worse there really were wisps in the castle. Wisps were spirits that guided you to your fate, but at times they would warn you about what awaited and then and only then would they ever gather in a human home.

To see them here and now would mean that a danger greater than these dragons was coming

Oh please, let it be exhaustion