"So soon? Merida are you sure?" Her eyes wide, Eleanor was nearly pleading with her daughter at the moment. She didn't have the strength right now to fight with her on it. She expected that it would happen before they left, but not nearly the day after Stoic got there.

"I am sure mum." Moving from Hiccup's side, Merida went and sat next to her mother as she smiled and took her hand. "Mum it isn't like they are going to hang around and visit for a year after everything happens. They will be leaving soon after. So we are only delaying it at best a week and a half if we wait. It still isn't going to be a long enough wait for you then."

Seeing his wife's look, Fergus smiled as he stepped up behind his daughter. "It's alright love. Doing it now, she can still wear the dress that you have had made for her since she was a baby. If you wait then she may not have time to do it."

Looking back and forth between her parents, Merida blinked then gave her mother a curious look. "What dress?"

With a sigh, seeing that they were indeed right and wanting to see her in the dress, Eleanor moved for the edge of the bed. "Hiccup get out of here. You will not be seeing this until she is in it." Letting her daughter help her to stand, Eleanor was pleased that he put up no fight on this. "To the big closet dear."

Once inside she dropped to her knees and pulled a small wooden box from under a heap of blankets. "The day you were born, as your father announced that a princess had been born, I was already picturing this in my head. I did not finish it until last year because I wanted my daughter's wedding day to be as perfect as mine was."

Standing again she held the box and went back out to the bed and opened it. "You have always had fine and soft dresses Merida. But this, while you will only wear it once, I wanted to be the best. The highest quality silks went into this. I sewed every stitch and every border."

Watching with wide eyes as her mother peeled away several layers of soft cloth that laid on a bed of soft hay, Merida's eyes went wide when she finally saw the snow white dress as her mother lifted it. It fit much like the dress she had on, but there were no shoulders. There was an embellished belt that had their crest all over it bound about the waist. Along the edges of the sleeves and bottom of the dress were swirls of sky and dark blue. And then the one thing that really made it pop was the delicate red swirls that were around the top of the dress. "Mum its beautiful."

Smiling as Merida took it and moved to stand before the mirror with it, Eleanor smiled as Fergus moved to her side. "I am glad that you like it. I wanted something that came from my family. That is the swirls of light blue and dark blue. Every girl in my family had them on their dress when they married. Your father's family is the belt that had been handed down from mother to daughter each generation for their wedding. Your father never had a sister, so it was given to him the day we married for his daughter."

Turning her head to look at her mother, Merida blinked again. "The red along the top?"

"Something to make it you. The first thing everyone noticed about you were those fire red locks you got from your father." Smiling brightly Eleanor sighed. "Tomorrow it is then. Only if you agree to stay here and spend some real time with me while everyone else works on getting everything ready for it."

Gently laying the dress on the bed, Merida nodded as she flew into her mother's arms. "Thank you Mum! I promise!"

Laughing, Stoic nodded. "Well now that is settled. I will let Hiccup know that he will see you tomorrow morning." He then lead the way out of the room and left mother and daughter to sit and spend time with each other. After all, once they dealt with Macintosh, then she would be leaving to live on Berk.

X

"Did you hear it? Oh it is so joyous."

"What are you talking about?"

"The princess! She has chosen on her own to marry one of the suitors. Hiccup. The one that flies on the black dragon."

"Oh thank goodness. She always seemed happy when we would see her with him."

"The other clans had something about them that didn't seem to fit our spitfire of a princess."

"Indeed. When is it going to happen?"

"Tomorrow. Everyone in the castle is in a hurry to get things done for it. I do hope that they let us watch it as well."

"Right. Princess Merida is very fond of us though, I am sure that the people will be able to watch her marry. It is exciting!"

X

With his dark eyes in a glare, Clyde stood in the shadows between two buildings as he waited and listened for what was going on. He knew that his Lord wouldn't like what was going to happen tomorrow. But he knew it wouldn't change what they needed to do.

Rushing through the backways and shadows, Clyde eventually found his way out of the city and to his horse and flew across the countryside. It would be two days before he reached his Lord, but this was something that they needed to know.

X

The day seemed to go by pretty fast for Hiccup. They didn't fuss over what he needed to wear for the wedding. Which was good because he wouldn't feel too comfortable in anything but what he was in at the moment. But he would do what he needed to do so that he could marry her tomorrow. But then he was going to change things some. Soon as they ceremony was over, Astrid, Eret and the others were going to go out and search to see signs of the Macintosh fleet and where they went too. Then they would take the fight to them. He was going to take no chances where Merida was concerned ever.

"You know you are going to have to do another one at Berk too right son?"

Looking up from where he sat working on a new saddle for Fire, Hiccup saw his dad walking in with a smile. "Yeah I know. Mom will want one so she can see me get married. I figured that one already."

Sitting down next to his son, Fergus gave him an odd look as he sighed. "Son I understand the getting married tomorrow. However not knowing where he is you need to keep…."

"We are only doing the married part dad." Keeping his eyes on the new saddle that he was engraving with her family crest, Hiccup took a deep breath. "Everything else is going to come after we get back home to Berk. We already talked about that. The only thing that is going to be different tomorrow night verses tonight is I will be in her room with her but that's it."

Pride filling him as he watched his son work, Stoic took a deep breath. He was early and small when he was born. He wasn't as buff as some of the other people of Berk. But he was by far the strongest, smartest and most honorable one that ever came from Berk.

But then he sighed. "About Macintosh."

"I am not going to sit around and wait for him to show up. It could take days, it could take weeks, or even months. I won't just sit and wait and wonder. He may be blowing smoke as well. I am going to go to him and do what needs to be done. I won't leave him to be a ghost in the shadows for her."

"That's a good idea." Standing as he stretched, Stoic headed back for the door. "I am going to go and let Fergus know what is going on. Don't stay up too late son. You have a wedding to be in tomorrow."

"I know dad." Shaking his head as he smiled, Hiccup took a deep breath. "I wouldn't miss that for anything."