Everyone turned to see a strange man in black approach them. Well, he was a stranger to all but one person.
"What are you doing here?" Merida asked Kylo, shocked by his presence. He extended his hand, and the bow and arrow flew out of Elinor's hand and into his.
"Here, this is yours," he told her, handing her back her weapon. "I am here for the same reason you are." Merida's eyes bulged as Kylo addressed Fergus.
"King Fergus, I would like to enter the contest of winning your daughter's hand in marriage," he explained.
"And you are?" Fergus wondered.
"I am Kylo Ren, the only child of Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan."
"I never heard of Princess Organa..."
"Yes, you have. She belongs to the Elder Houses," Kylo stated calmly, as he waved his hand.
"Oh, yes. Princess Organa of the Elder Houses. Now I remember."
"Fergus!" Elinor exclaimed nervously. Merida approached Kylo.
"What are you doing?" she demanded. He saw the anger in her eyes.
"Trying to save you and your family," he whispered softly. He faced Elinor and waved his hand.
"You will tell your husband to allow me to compete in the game," he confidently mentioned.
Elinor turned to her husband and said,
"We should allow Prince Kylo to compete in the game."
"No!" Merida screamed. To Kylo, she barked,
"Do you hate me, Kylo? Is this why you are doing this?"
"No, my fiery princess," he answered her.
"I am not your fiery princess!"
"Gentleman," Lord Dingwall said to Lord MacGuffin and MacIntosh. "The king and queen are distracted. We can strike them down now, and seize Princess Merida for ourselves!"
"What about the man in black? He uses magic!" Lord MacIntosh worried.
"We will kill him, too. The princes should be dead by now. Let's go!"
Lord Dingwall slowly crept until he was behind Elinor. She was distracted, pleading with Merida to calm down. Dingwall pulled out a knife, and raised it to strike the queen. But Kylo focused, and froze Dingwall's hand, so that he could not deliver the killing blow.
Fergus turned around and saw Dingwall with the knife in his hand. He pushed Elinor to safety and attacked the man.
"How dare you!" the king screamed, as he wrestled with his wife's would be assailant. Young Dingwall went to help his father, but Merida shot her arrow in his direction.
"Don't!" she snarled at him.
Kylo pulled out his lightsaber and turned it on. Everyone was terrified of the weapon. He pointed it and declared,
"The sons are innocent. But their fathers, they are guilty of conspiring to murder the royal family!"
"That is a bold face lie!" Lord MacGuffin denied. He turned to Elinor and pleaded,
"My queen, we have known each for years. Would you believe this madman over us?"
Elinor was about to reply when she felt a tug on her dress. She looked down and saw Hamish.
"He's a bad man!" Hamish shouted, pointing his finger at MacGuffin.
"Bad man!" Harris and Hubert shouted, as they ran towards the elders with torches in their hands.
"Retreat!" Lord MacIntosh cried fearfully. He, along with Lord MacGuffin and their sons, ran away from the boys.
"Mother, they wanted to kill us!" Hamish blurted, tears brimming in his eyes. Elinor tightly embraced her youngest.
Fergus placed Lord Dingwall in a headlock. Kylo had the rest of the clansmen dangling a few feet off of the ground. Harris and Hubert were jumping, trying to set the men on fire.
"I order the immediate execution of the Dingwall, MacGuffin and MacIntosh clans!" Fergus snapped angrily.
"Father, no!" Merida pleaded. "Kylo said the sons are innocent. You cannot make them pay for their fathers' sin!"
"She's right, Fergus," Elinor interjected. Fergus narrowed his eyes. He wanted them to be punished for trying to destroy his family.
"Merida, make sure Lord Dingwall behaves himself," the king instructed his daughter, before tossing Dingwall to the ground.
"Don't even think about it!" Merida warned, as she aimed her weapon at him.
"I declare that Young Dingwall, MacIntosh and MacGuffin are no longer eligible to compete for my daughter's hand in marriage," Fergus began. "The clans are to return to their homes, with the fathers relinquishing their royal titles to their sons. If I hear this has not been done, or if I see the elders in my land, I will declare war!"
Between the furious look on King Fergus' face and the dangerous sword Kylo held in his hand, the men had no choice but to agree. Kylo dropped them to the ground. Harris and Hubert went to set them on fire, but Kylo waved his hand and extinguished the torches.
"Hey!" the boys complained.
"If they come back, then you can set them on fire," Kylo promised, giving them a wink.
The royal guards escorted the clansmen back to their ships. Merida breathed a sigh of relief. She ran over to her brothers and hugged them.
"I am so glad that is over with!" she gasped joyfully. The hairs on her arms stood when Kylo said,
"We're not done yet."
Fergus and Elinor glanced at each other. Kylo turned off his lightsaber, faced Merida and added,
"The competition still needs to happen."
"No, it does not!" Merida growled. "I am the only contestant left. Therefore, I win by default!"
"Merida," Fergus uttered softly, as he approached his eldest. She looked at him and begged,
"No! Please do not allow him to compete!"
"Lassie, I must..."
"No!"
"It is only fair. He saved our lives!"
"No!"
"Merida, calm down!" Elinor told her.
"Don't tell me to calm down!"
"Don't yell at your mother, young lady!" Fergus scolded his daughter. "You need to do this!"
"No, I don't!"
Merida quickly prepared to aim her arrow at Kylo. But before she could fire, he called the weapon out of his hand.
"No!" she moaned bitterly. Her nightmare was coming true! She faced Elinor, who now stood by Fergus' side, and complained,
"I can't beat him if he uses his magic. It would be unfair!"
"Fergus, she does make a good point," Elinor admitted.
"Hmm," Fergus uttered. He had an idea of how to resolve this conflict. He called for Kylo and the boys to join him, Elinor and Merida.
"Kylo, my daughter is concerned that you will use your magic to an unfair advantage," Fergus explained. "Therefore, I am going to call for a vote, whether you and Merida should be wed, or if Merida should be free from the marriage obligation."
"Fergus, no!" Elinor interjected her disapproval.
"Elinor, it is not your decision. Kylo, Merida, do you agree to abide by the results of the vote?"
"I agree," both Merida and Kylo vowed, confident that they were going to win.
"Ok. Merida, you go first."
"I vote to be free from the marriage obligation," she stated, her arms crossed in front of her.
"Kylo?"
"I vote to be wed to Merida," he softly replied, his eyes focused on Merida.
"My love, it is your turn."
"I vote for Kylo and Merida to be wed," Elinor said.
"Of course you would!" Merida snarled. She was surprised when her father nodded his head in agreement.
"Father!" she moaned in disbelief.
"Merida, the man that is willing to defend my family is worthy to join my family," Fergus argued. He turned to his sons and said,
"It is up to you, boys."
Merida smiled. She had a close relationship with her brothers. Surely, they would side with her!
Harris and Hubert joined Merida, saying that she should not have to get married.
"Ok, Hamish. It is your decision," the king told his youngest son.
Hamish closed his eyes. Tears streaked down his face. Whatever decision he made, someone was not going to be happy. But he had to do what he felt in his heart was right.
He opened his eyes, gazed up at Merida, and cried with sadness in his voice,
"I'm sorry, Merida!"
She dropped her mouth in shock as the little boy added,
"I vote for Merida and Kylo to be wed."