Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Disney/Dreamworks/Game of Thrones characters, locations, and/or terms. I am just a humble weaver unraveling cloths of stories to thread together and create a new pattern. If you would like to read the info and details of this fic, or if you are confused about some characters' names, you may go to the Preface section. Thank you!

MERIDA

She felt bliss. She felt alive. Most importantly, she felt free. This was not some escorted ride in the woods. For the first time since their arrival, Merida had forgotten that she was in Thronos. It almost felt like home.

Angus soared over the fallen tree as she nocked another arrow on her bow. She let it loose, and it flew straight at one of the small targets she had hung during her first unsupervised ride in the woods. The arrow lodged into the midst of the countless ones already there. Merida grinned and laughed. In Thronos, she was Lady Merida Dunbroch of the Highlands, daughter of Lord Fergus and Lady Elinor. In the woods, she was just Merida.

She pulled Angus to a stop. A loud thumping reached her ears, and was slowly becoming louder. "Bloody stars," she swore, and almost clamped her hand over her mouth. She had forgotten that she was in the woods where her mother could not hear her.

From the thicket to her left a gray horse jumped out and landed nearby, its rider giggling uncontrollably. Merida rubbed down Angus on the neck, calming him, while she stared wide-eyed at the little girl on the back of the gray. She was astounded; even when she was already three and ten her mother still forbade her on Angus. This girl looked barely ten years.

The girl noticed her and her smile faded. She muttered something Merida couldn't understand, and bowed her head numerous times. It dawned on Merida that perhaps the girl was apologizing.

"It's fine," Merida spoke slowly, wondering if the girl spoke Common Tongue.

"Fine," the girl repeated, and her smile returned. She placed a hand over her heart. "Zhen."

"Merida," she said, and did the same.

A shout came from the area of trees where Zhen had emerged. The girl bit her lip, giggling again. "Mama!" she called.

Another horse shot out of the trees and stopped beside the gray. Merida's breath hitched. She couldn't believe her eyes. "Lady Mulan."

The lady of Jun paid no attention to her, and was gently scolding the girl on the gray. Zhen stuck out her tongue, and Mulan pinched her playfully on the arm. "Mama," Zhen whispered.

Lady Mulan turned to Merida's direction and bowed her head. "Apologies for the ignorance. Good day to you, Lady Merida Dunbroch."

Merida could only nod; Lady Mulan remembered her. A croak escaped her, and she cleared her throat. "Merida… Merida is fine, my lady."

"If I am to address you without your title then you must call me by only my name as well," said Mulan. "Since I am of lower rank than you."

"Lower rank? But you're the exalted princess! So named for being-"

"Exalted princess?" Mulan laughed. "Do the singers call me that? Exalted, maybe. But I am no princess."

"No princess…" Merida echoed. "Yet Linna…"

"Yes," Mulan smiled, and led her horse to stand beside Merida's, the girl following closely behind. "The Linna faction is known for styling their ladies and lords by princesses and princes, though they are not the ruling members of the realm. So named because the Linna believe that the castle by the shooting star was inhabited by the first rulers of Animare, a council of highborn and smallfolk alike, who called themselves princes and princesses. So in a way, you are also a princess of Linna."

"I've never heard that before." Merida frowned.

"You were not taught that?" Mulan tilted her head slightly in amusement, a puzzled expression on her face. "Would you like to ride with us?"

"Gladly!"

"I have not yet introduced my daughter," Mulan gestured to Zhen as they coaxed their horses into a trot. "Zhen Li, of Jun. She's still learning to speak the Common Tongue, but she can understand." Her eyes flitted to the bow in Merida's hand. "Are you an archer?"

Sitting full height on Angus, Merida declared proudly, "Yes, I am. You are actually one of the reasons why I am one."

The lady's laugh sounded like bells ringing. "I am honored. Were you at the tournament yesterday? I don't think I saw you."

"My mother will not let me," slouching in her seat, Merida pouted. "She tells me that ladies are not supposed to have bows, that I am supposed to earn callouses from embroidering, and not nocking arrows."

"My mother and father told me that I was supposed to know how to prepare, brew and serve the perfect cup of tea. It's not that I didn't learn. I suppose fate has a way of opening up a path to you, and you just have to find the courage to take it."

In the late afternoon sun, the exalted princess had changed. She who had once been only a hero now became a guiding light for Merida. "So you chose your own path because you did not want to brew tea?"

Mulan shook her head. "I chose that path because I didn't want my father to walk down it. It just happened to be one that I would love. Besides, being someone so prim and proper does not to suit me." Zhen giggled at that, and Mulan pinched her daughter again.

"Zhen seems to think so too." Merida said, laughing. "Is Zhen learning how to be prim and proper as well?"

"No!" Zhen cried adamantly. "No, no, no!" She continued to speak in the foreign language, making gestures that looked like swinging a sword and shooting arrows.

Mulan spoke softly, and Zhen fell silent with a sheepish grin. "Forgive her. Unfortunately, my daughter got her sense of humor from her father. We train her in etiquette, and also how to wield a sword, shoot arrows, fight with her fists. We merge what we have learned and teach them to her, including how to brew tea." Mulan glanced at Zhen accusingly. "Although she has yet to master it."

"Taste like…" Zhen trailed off, clicking her tongue. She looked at her mother and spoke a word.

"Swamp water."

"Swamp water!" Zhen repeated with glee.

"That's a bit harsh, is it not?" Merida asked, although she too was laughing. "Though who am I to say, we don't have swamps in the Highlands."

"We should invite you to tea. Zhen would gladly demonstrate her brewing skills so you could taste the finest swamp water Jun could offer."

"Mama!"

Merida stayed silent as she watched the mother and daughter tease each other. Her heart ached, she could not fathom why. It wasn't until the words Please take me home with you crossed her mind and were almost spoken that she realized the reason.

"Merida! Merida!"

She looked up. Zhen was grinning from ear to ear, slightly hunched over on the saddle. "Horse race?"

"Horse race?" Merida repeated, confused.

"Race the horses!" the girl's tone was slightly annoyed, but still excited. "We race the horses! To castle!"

"She wants to race you to the castle," Mulan explained.

Tossing her head back, Merida replied, "See you at the gates, then," before pressing her heels against Angus and taking off like an arrow let loose.

She heard a garbled shout behind her followed by more giggling, but she didn't stop nor look back. Angus may have been an old warhorse of her father's, but he still had verve left in him. She heard her name being called, and she looked over her shoulder to see Zhen and her gray closing in, Mulan not far behind. A laugh bubbled up from Merida's mouth. She truly felt like this could have been home, and they could have been her family, and for a while she let herself believe so.

In the end Zhen beat her by only a fraction. Both girls were out of breath as they dismounted and led the horses to the stables.

"Very fun, was it not?" Zhen wheezed. "Hope we can race again."

"You're a very good rider," Merida ruffled the girl's short dark hair. "How old are you?"

"Seven!" she piped, and Merida flinched. Beaten by a child, how tragic.

"It was an honor spending time with you," Mulan said, putting her fist to her hand and bowing, the Jun manner of respect. Zhen followed suit. "I hope we will get to do so again."

Merida copied their bow. "It will be my pleasure. Thank you."

Mulan smiled at her, then led her daughter to the part of the castle reserved for the foreign highborn guests. Merida stared at them disappear through the doors before finding her way to the Dunbroch rooms. She chewed at her lip, thinking over what Lady Mulan had said about choosing their own paths. Merida wanted to be an archer, maybe join the army too. She could be as effective as any soldier on her father's army, if not more. She stopped at the door to her parents' chambers and was about to knock. Her father's gruff voice stilled her hand.

"Does she know already?" Fergus sounded tired, as if he had wanted to go straight to bed but was forced not to.

"She is out riding. Again." Elinor was more composed. "That has to stop, Fergus. A maiden must not be riding alone in the forest."

"When did you know?" He had ignored her comment.

Her mother sighed. "Just this after noon, when we were walking in the garden. Lady Chanda was there as well. From what I have heard around court, Naga was House Mu's candidate."

"And Toothiana for Sigurd."

"Quite. But the decision was ultimately the king's and his council, regardless of Lord Nicholas being there. Merida is to be Prince Hiccup's betrothed."

Merida's hand dropped to her side. Had she heard wrong? Was it true?

"When will it be made official?"

"On the last day of the celebration. The king will announce it. Our daughter will be the next queen." Merida could hear the pride and joy in her mother's voice.

She shook her head violently, her curls turning more into a tangled mess around her. "No," Merida whispered, her eyes wide in horror.

The door swung open suddenly. Merida jumped back, staring at her father's bewildered face. "Merida?" he exclaimed. "How long have you been there?"

"Be-betrothal?" Merida sputtered, looking from her father to her mother and back.

"Please, my dear, may we talk?" Elinor gestured to the seat across her.

With rigid steps Merida entered the room and sat down. She glanced at her father, who dipped his head and left the room, closing the door behind him, then turned to her mother. "Betrothal, mum? Was that why we came to Thronos so early? To present me as Hiccup's betrothed? Why me?"

"Linna has no fit candidate to unite with Lusine," replied Elinor, her tone not betraying anything.

"What about Rosalind Dysme?" Merida remembered the young daughter of Lady Aurora and Lord Phillip. The girl was roughly her age. She strained her mind as she went through the list of ladies she had met before. "Melody Myrddin? Any of the Desmond girls?"

"All of them belong to houses who are already sworn to Lusine."

"Oh! The ladies of Arendelle! Are there not two of them? What were their names?"

Elinor shook her head. "Arendelle has sequestered itself from Animare, and perhaps even Linna, for a long time, just like Corona. They are having enough trouble as it is. From what I have heard, Lady Elsa has been missing, presumed dead. Lady Anna… well there is no one to speak to, or for, them.

"My daughter, please. It is your duty, and an honor. This is what you've been preparing for your whole life."

"No, it's what you've been preparing me for my whole life!" Merida rose to her feet. What infuriated her more was her mother's expressionless face. "I will not be some puppet in this bloody mummer's farce!"

"Merida-"

"No!" She had to get away.

She stormed out and ran to her room. Slamming the door behind her, Merida threw herself on her bed and buried her face in the furs, inhaling their scent and calming her as the familiar smell of home washed over her. She felt like she would cry, but found that she could not.

A/N: Reviews would be lovely :) Thanks!