Chapter 14: Firstborn
With the arrival of May, students were either forced to take their final exams for the Spring Semester or prepare for their class graduation at the end of the month. But for Merida, she was forced to think about her potential suitors after Anna didn't show any interest in them. Then after her finals were over, Merida's parents picked her up at school who were accompanied by her three brothers and Maudie the nanny. Together, they went to the airport and took the first available flight to Scotland.
Once they arrived at the DunBroch Castle, the three business partners met them there along with their sons. After a good nights' rest, everyone was up bright and early preparing for the games that were to be held that afternoon. So to commemorate this ancient tradition, all the castle's occupants were required to wear medieval clothing including Merida.
As she was being fitted into a sky-blue dress with golden embroidery, Merida's mother tightened the corset making Merida gasp. "I can barely breathe in this thing!"
"Well, that's how our ancestors wore such garments," Merida's mother stated, wearing a green dress with long sleeves and a gold circlet. "Now all we have to do is deal with your hair."
Though Merida objected to this, all of her hair was tucked underneath a white wimple that covered her head and the sides of her face. Then a medallion was placed around her neck, which depicted three bears intertwined with each other. Afterwards, she and her mother went to the throne-room where Merida's father his business partners and their sons all wore kilts of different colors. Even Merida's brothers were wearing small kilts, though they kept trying to lift them immaturely which Maudie prevented who was wearing a plain tan dress that showed off her enormous cleavage.
"My lords," Merida's mother announced, getting the mens' attention. "I thank you all for coming to our ancestral home, where powerful bonds were forged to make great kingdoms. Today, these bonds are present in the form of our successful business conglomerate."
"Yeah!" Shouted Merida's father and his business partners.
"With that said, we mustn't forget the past as it applies to the present," Merida's mother continued. "My daughter, Merida, has come of age to be married. As per tradition, the firstborn of every clan that's tied to our former kingdom has the privilege to compete in the games for Merida's hand in marriage. Of course, she and whoever wins won't actually get married until they both graduate from Disney Academy in two years' time. That way, they'll get to know each other better. Now, let's head out to the field!"
The men shouted in agreement and left the throne room while Merida her mother and Maudie followed behind.
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Taking place in a large field near the castle, the games consisted of several activities including caber tossing weight and hammer throwing. Then the final event was archery, which Merida requested to be the one that would truly determine who would marry her. So the three business partners' sons lined up to shoot the targets that were several feet across from them with their clan banners blowing in the wind behind them. Yet while everyone was distracted by the firing of the arrows, Merida left the platform her family sat on and grabbed her clan's banner which was a single sword facing down. In addition, she grabbed a black cloak to hide her face. Once Dingwall's son shot the bullseye, she approached the field.
"Who're you?" Merida's father asked, looking surprised.
In response, Merida lifted her cloak and wimple off. "I am Merida, the firstborn of the DunBroch clan and I would like to compete for my own hand in marriage!"
"Merida!" Merida's mother exclaimed, standing up in her chair. "Get back here!"
Ignoring her mother, Merida took out a carved bow and placed an arrow into it. But because her dress was tight, she had a hard time pulling the string back all the way. With enough tugging, though, the seams on the dress came apart around her hips and arms.
"This is unacceptable behavior!" Merida's mother shouted. "You're embarrassing yourself!"
"No, Mum!" Merida objected. "I'm standing up for myself!"
Firing her bow, Merida's arrow hit the first target right in the bullseye. She then did the same to the other two targets, even managing to penetrate through the arrow Dingwall's son fired. At the same time, her mother approached her.
"I taught you better than this," Merida's mother growled angrily. "If only your father never taught you how to use the bow."
Before Merida could respond, her mother grabbed the bow out of Merida's hands and walked over to the nearest fire pit. She then threw the bow into the fire, much to Merida's horror. Unable to speak, Merida ran to her Clydesdale horse got on it and galloped into the woods.
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Sometime later, Merida's horse abruptly halted.
"Why'd you stop, Angus?" Merida asked, drying her tear-stained eyes.
In front of her stood a large circle of stones that were monolithic in size. But what drew Merida's attention more was a small blue flame that seemed to hover in the center.
"A Wisp!" Merida exclaimed, climbing off of her horse. "I remember seeing them when I was younger, but Mum claimed they were just my imagination."
Approaching the stones cautiously, Merida came upon the blue flame and reached out to touch it. But in mere seconds, the Wisp vanished only to reappear nearby with several identical flames creating a makeshift path. Merida followed these Wisps up to an ordinary stone cottage.
"Why would the Wisps lead me here?" Merida wondered, while her horse neighed nervously. "It's okay, Angus, I'm sure whoever lives here is harmless."
Merida then tugged at the wooden door handle and found it unlatched. Inside, the cottage was full of wood carvings of every shape and size though most of them had to do with bears. There was also a crow sitting perfectly still to where Merida thought it was stuffed.
But when Merida touched it, the crow screeched, "Another customer, Carver!"
"Shut up, birdbrain!"
As the crow was knocked down by a flying piece of wood, Merida looked toward a fireplace and saw an old woman sitting there with a big face and eyes that looked like they were going to pop out of their sockets.
"Sorry about that, Dearie," the old woman apologized, approaching Merida. "I'm Moira Carver, famous woodcarver around these parts with bewitching good deals on all my stock! Is there anything in particular you would like?"
"I'm not sure," Merida replied. "The Wisps led me here and—
"Ooh, this mantlepiece would look great for any home," the old woman interrupted, picking up a carving of a bear standing on its hind legs. "Or maybe this doorstop or…"
While Moira prattled on, Merida was distracted by the sight of a broom that was sweeping the floor by itself nearby.
"Is that broom moving on its own?" Merida said, pointing to it.
Moira's eyes widened and she snapped her finger which caused the broom to stop. "No, it isn't."
"You're a Witch!" Merida realized.
"Not at all!" Moira claimed. "Just because I'm an old woman living in the woods doesn't mean I'm a Witch."
"But you made that broom stop moving."
"It's an automatic broom! Ever heard of those?"
"No."
"That's because it's brand-new, ordered it straight from the Yen Sid Emporium."
"Liar! Carver's a bonafide Witch!" The crow cried, getting back on its feet.
"You're not helping!" Moira yelled, waving her hand which caused a knife from the kitchen area to fly right at the bird almost cutting off its tail feathers.
"Care to explain that?" Merida said snidely.
"I don't have to," Moira replied, redirecting the knife till it floated in front of Merida. "Who sent you here?"
"N-No one," Merida insisted.
"Was it Merlin?" Moira questioned. "That nosy wizard's always making us Witches look bad, after what he did to Madam Mim!"
Looking at the floating knife nervously, Merida responded, "If I buy your whole stock, will you do me a favor?"
Moira paused. "What will you give me in return?"
"This medallion," Merida answered as she removed the bear-inscribed medallion from her neck. "It's been in my family's possession for generations, back to when we ruled DunBroch Castle."
"You're from the DunBroch family?" Moira's eyes widened as she took the medallion from Merida's hand. "This reminds me of a medallion given to me by a young man long ago who asked me for a favor."
"And he got it?" Merida guessed.
"Yes, but it was more than he bargained for," Moira explained. "Now what do you want?"
"I want you to…change my Mum's mind, about getting engaged to someone prematurely," Merida stated.
"Let's see what I can do." Moira went to a large cauldron by the fireplace and picked out several bottles with different-colored liquids in it.
As she added these bottles to the cauldron, the front door was shut and the room grew dim except for the eerie green light coming from the cauldron itself. Merida watched Moira with interest, and then was surprised when Moira presented her with a freshly baked cake made with an unknown fruit inside.
"Take this to your Mum," Moira advised. "And once she bites into it, she'll change."
Without hesitation, Merida took the cake from Moira's hand.
End of Chapter 14