Those big doors were pushed open and the two rulers of Mor'du walked in first. Queen Gothel made sure she was the first one to be seen, holding up her dress so she didn't walk on it. She had fairly tamed, black, curly hair that made its way to her mid back. Her dress was a deep, deep red for the main color. It had puffed out sleeves until her shoulder ended then it flowed down almost like a kimono sleeve but it had a slit, revealing her tighter under sleeve that was black with gold wrappings around it. She had a heart shaped collar that had a golden trim. Down her middle of her chest to her waist was a black strip of cloth with gold ribbon criss-crossing on it. At her waist was a golden rope with a circular red gem in the middle. Black heeled boots matched the underskirt of her dress. Around her neck was another gem of a deep red, so dark that it was almost black. Finally, adorned on her head was gold, spiked grown that surround the full length of her head and had a matching red jewel in the middle. A big grin stayed on her lipstick covered lips as she came to the other ruling pairs, "Oh so charmed. Thank you for having us." It was clear she liked being the center of attention. Her gray eyes finally looked behind her, searching for her husband that was following behind her.
Behind her, the King of Mor'du walked slowly. Probably the thing that most people noticed first, because it was the most odd, was his pale skin. It was so pale, it looked almost gray. Next would be his dark black hair that seemed to be the complete theme of him: dark. He wore a long royal cloak that was onyx with a golden trim. His spiky hair was slightly tamed with his golden, pointed grown that had no jewels on it. For those who caught sight of his eyes, were a bit shocked by the fact that the color was gold. Pitch walked down the aisle to stand beside his wife, his cloak pooled behind him like a shadow. Even though he walked, it never opened besides around his feet. Gothel let out a chuckle, "You'll have to excuse my darling; he is such a fan of black. I barely convinced him to add gold trim to his clothing." She then looked behind her and motioned for the two princes to come in.
The first to walk in was a slender male who had pale skin, but not as creepily pale as his father's. He had black hair that was lazily slicked back, some bangs still falling in front of his face. He wore a nice, red, silk top that had slightly puffed sleeves. Around the trim that went along his buttons was gold. He wore tight black pants, as if for horse riding, along with black, leather boots. A slanted, black leather belt crossed at his lower hips, being held together by a red jewel that had gold trimming, and held on it his sword. He took his place beside Pitch and glanced over at Gothel. She grinned as she looked at him then at the royals in front of her, "This is my youngest, Mal. Go greet your fiancé." She motioned him to Merida, who tried to hold back a look of slight disgust. As ordered, Mal took the few steps to stand in front of the Scottish princess and bowed slightly. From receiving a look from Elinor, Merida returned it with a curtsy, hoping that was all she had to do. He rose up and looked at her before commenting, "You look lovely, Princess Merida." Then he took his place back beside Pitch. Merida watched the prince curiously, wondering if he was detesting this ordeal as much as she was.
A showgirl grin came back to the Queen of Mor'du's lips and she then turned her attention back to the door for the next prince to come in. He was clearly had more muscle than his brother and was a lot tanner. He had brown hair, with flowing bangs and a goatee. He wore a grin as he strutted down the aisle in a teal coat, that's back went down to his knees, a white button up, a brown ascot, brown puffy pants, and brown boots that went up to his knees. He had a dark, brown leather sash that also was held together by a red jewel, which also held his sword. He finished his strut and took a place beside Gothel. The queen put her hands together, grinning still all the same, before announcing, "And this is my oldest, Flynn. Greet your fiancé, Flynn." Her gray eyes looked at him, to watch his action. The prince, still strutting, walked in front of the blonde princess. Rapunzel readied herself to curtsy, but was caught off guard as the oldest Prince of Mor'du grabbed her hand gently, bringing it to his lips. As he planted a kiss on her creamy hand, her cheeks flamed up and eyes widened. He smirked at her, "You look absolutely gorgeous, Princess Rapunzel." She blinked a bit at the way her name rolled off his lips and wasn't sure what to think of it, but she was relieved when he released her hand to take his place beside Gothel again.
The temperature in the room started to drop some as Jack watched the stunt Flynn pulled with Rapunzel. He gripped his arms tightly as they were crossed and glared daggers at the prince. Hiccup felt it starting to get cold and glanced at the guard, seeing the ice starting to appear on his arms through his gloves. He quickly nudged his friend with his elbow, "Jack, calm down." The white haired male blinked a bit before shaking his head, controlling himself. He only gave a slight nod to the brunette to let him know he was okay.
King Marcus was not too pleased to see this man kiss his daughter, even if it was only the hand and in mostly romantic fashion. He blinked a bit when he felt the room start getting cold but his attention was torn from it as King Fergus spoke up, "Close the doors and start the music! We are having a party are we not? Grab some food, drink, someone to dance with and everyone be merry because my daughter is to be married!" The Scottish king let out a hearty laugh as the doors shut and the musicians started a tune. Merida groaned at her father's comment and was about to slip away but Gothel stopped her, Mal in tow. She gave a grin, which the princess could've sworn was wicked, before saying, "How about you dance with Mal? Being able to dance in sync is a perfect sign that you're meant to be." She put Merida's hand into Mal's then danced away to be someone's center of attention. Merida frowned a bit as she looked at the prince in front of her. She blinked as she took in his, honestly, weird looking eyes. As she was thinking about how odd the color was, he placed a hand on her back and started to lead her. "Oi!" she exclaimed as she quickly put a hand on his shoulder and did her best not to trip over his feet or her large bloody dress. "Have you lost your head or something?" She growled lowly at him. A very slight smirk came to the prince's lips before answering, "The quicker we do what she wants, the quicker we can do whatever we want. Get it?" The redhead blinked a bit and then grinned a bit, "So you don't like this either? Quite smart there. She's rather pushy, eh?" Mal nodded in response, "More than you would know, princess." Seeing that the man was not in the mood to talk, she focused on dancing, wondering if Rapunzel was having a better time than her.
Rapunzel was happy to hear the sound of strings playing and stepped back, going into the forming crowd. She wanted to see Jack, even though she knew he would have been aggravated about Flynn; though she figured it was only because Jack has always protected her, from everything. The blonde made her way through the crowd and as she spotted her knight, she smiled brightly but then she felt someone grab her hand and spin her towards them. Her emeralds held confusion as she looked up to see her fiancé. Flynn gave a dashing smile before lifting her hand to his lips once more to place another peck on it. Rapunzel felt her cheeks heat up once more but gave him a puzzling look, "Yes, sir Flynn?" She spoke to him like a proper royal. The brunette let out a melodic chuckle as he kept hold of her hand, "No need to be so formal with me, Rapunzel. But is it too much to ask for a dance from my fiancée?" A sweet smile came to her full lips and she nodded, "I suppose not. But I have to do something after, okay?" "Of course," Flynn grinned before leading her, hand on her lower waist. The princess wasn't too fond at how low his hand was, but bared with it.
Jack watched as the oldest Prince of Mor'du danced away with his blonde, and then blinked at the fact that he claimed Rapunzel as his. He sighed and leaned against a large pillar, looking over at the small blacksmith. Hiccup was watching Merida dance with Mal and was quite surprised that she could dance well. He chuckled a bit to himself before looking over at Jack. He sighed, "Jack, if you're so upset about the prince dancing with Rapunzel, go cut in." As Hiccup noticed that Jack was going to protest, he pushed Jack into the crowd who easily went since he was off guard. The knight shot a glare at his friend, who only grinned in return. Jack sighed and then spotted the blonde goddess. He slowly made his way over then tapped on Flynn's shoulder, "Mind if I cut in?" At the sound of her personal guard's voice, Rapunzel lit up a bit and looked over at him. She then looked back at her fiancé, "Please excuse me, Flynn. I'll continue this dance later tonight?" Flynn looked between the two before grinning, nodding, and then kissing Rapunzel's cheek, "Alright." He then walked off into the crowd. Jack glared at the brunette's back before feeling a small hand take his and another hand be placed on his shoulder.
He looked over to the beaming princess that he would lay his life down for, and couldn't help but smile back at her. He put his hand on the middle of her back and held her hand back before he started to lead her. Rapunzel smiled at him as she followed him, "You've never danced with me before. You're really good." Jack gave a nervous chuckle, "Well, Hiccup kind of pushed me into it…literally." She frowned a bit, "I don't want you to do anything you don't want to, Jack." He quickly tried to recover from his mistake, "That's not what I meant. I just didn't want to step between you and your fiancé. Also, I need to stand guard on the side line, in case anything happens." He continued mumbling out excuses, causing the princess to giggle. Once Jack stopped talking, Rapunzel spoke up, "But you're my knight, so aren't I the safest right beside you?" What seemed like instinct, Jack pulled her closer to him by her waist and gave a nod. She smiled at how close she was and took in his relaxing scent and enjoyed the dance the two shared. Jack did the same. As the song ended and moved into another one, Jack slowed the dance and then led her off to the side before finally letting go of her. The princess missed his touch but didn't let that phase her smile as she clasped her hands in front of her, looking up at the white haired knight with complete adoration. The guard rubbed his arm nervously before saying, "You should probably get something to eat, Punz." She nodded and then offered her arm, "Will you come with me please?" Jack knew he probably should, but he couldn't deny her smile. He took her arm into his and walked her to the buffet table.
Once the song had ended, Mal had promptly stopped the dance and let go of Merida. He bowed to her, "She'll want us to dance again, but for now we can have a break." With that, he turned and went off into the crowd. The Scott grunted as she thought, 'He's like a puppet…' She shook her head but then quickly picked up her dress and went to the glass doors that went out to the garden. What she would do to just be shooting her bow right now. She sighed as she looked out at the sky before turning to a familiar voice that spoke up, "So you can actually be a well behaved princess?" Hiccup grinned at her as she chuckled at his joke. "Only because so much is at stake. I can't believe you didn't dress up for my special day." You could hear the sarcasm in her voice as she said 'special day' which she also accompanied with rolling her eyes. Hiccup gave a nervous chuckle as he scratched the back of his head, "Well, I got distracted with my work and then the next thing I knew, Jack was dragging me here. But I did set up a surprise yesterday. Think you can sneak out to the garden for a little bit?" Merida looked at him curiously but nodded, "Sure thing. Anything to get away from the spotlight." They looked around before quickly slipping out the glass doors, being sure to close the doors behind them. A tiny blush came to the brunette's cheeks before he grabbed Merida's hand, "Follow me." She blushed a little herself, but nodded as she followed him through the hedge maze the Corona's had in their garden. "Hiccup, my maw will kill me if we're gone too long," the redhead said, biting her lip. He nodded, "It's okay." He stopped and let go of her hand, "We're here anyway." He started to dig into the hedge causing a puzzled look to come to the princess's face. "I had to go through a few sketches and this is only the proto type, but…" He pulled out a really nice bow, quiver, and some arrows, "I figured this might be the last time I'd see you, so I wanted you to have it." Merida's face brightened at the bow, falling a bit when he mention it could be their final time meeting, but didn't let that quiet her excitement to much. She took the bow and started to inspect it.
It was made of super smooth, white wood. She looked closer and noticed that he carved wonderful designs in it. At the handle of it was a layer of cloth with a dragon head on it, causing her to chuckle. She held it firmly then pulled back the string, "Great resistance and…" Before she really thought about it, she grabbed an arrow out of the quiver Hiccup was still holding and shot it. "Perfect!" She exclaimed and grinned at the DunBroch's blacksmith before hugging him tightly. "I love it Hiccup. Thank you, really, It's quite braw and is pure barry," she said softly before resting her head slightly on his shoulder. Hiccup was a bit taken back, but smile lovingly as he returned her embrace, "I'm just glad it's too your liking…" She pulled back, wiping her eye a bit as tears threatened to fall, "And I noticed you put your own touch with the dragon." He gave a goofy smile, "Well, I guess that's my signature." Merida returned the bow and accessories back into their hiding place and then looked back at her beloved friend, "Well, Hiccup, we should probably head back in before my maw comes out here. I'm getting hungry anyway." She grinned at him before walking back to the party with him. Even though there was a smile on her face, her heart was aching unlike it had ever before.
As they came in, Merida spotted Rapunzel and Jack dining at a table with some empty seats. The redhead smiled and started walking over. Jack looked up and sent a smirk to Hiccup and a knowing look, which he only returned with the roll of the eyes. The DunBroch princess hugged Rapunzel before taking a seat beside her, "You grab me anything?" Hiccup took a seat beside Merida, chuckling a bit. Rapunzel giggled and sipped her wine before handing Merida a glass, "I didn't know what food you wanted, sorry." The other princess laughed in return, "Oh that's fine, I'll just steal some from your plate." With that, Merida took the fork that was by Rapunzel's plate and started to eat some food off it. "Oh! Hiccup, how's the foot?" Merida asked with her mouth half full. Hiccup gave a nervous laugh, "Oh fine. Like you know, it's a bit harder to walk in a boot, but it's better than getting weird looks at my metal peg leg." Jack rolled his eyes, "People are idiots, Hiccup. You shouldn't care if people think it's weird." He then glanced at Flynn making his way over and sighed a bit. He put his hand on Rapunzel's shoulder, "I better get with the other knights. Have a nice time, Punz." Slight sadness flashed into Rapunzel's eyes but she smiled at him. As he stood up, she did too before hugging him, "I want to see you again before I leave, Jack." "Of course, princess," Jack said before walking off to the outskirts with the other knights. Just as he left, Flynn came up and gave a smug grin to his fiancée before taking her hand and kissing it. Merida glared at the tanned male but bit her tongue so she wouldn't say anything that would cause a scene.
The blonde gave a smile to her fiancé, "Have you ate yet, Flynn?" He nodded in return, "And I was wondering if we could continue our dance?" The Corona princess looked over at her friend and smiled, "I'll see you later, Merida." She rose up, holding up her dress as she followed Flynn back to the dance floor. The Scottish princess grunted as she slumped down to her chair, "Rapunzel needs to learn not to be so nice…She is such a sook…" Hiccup chuckled and nudged her as he teasingly said, "Or maybe you need to learn to act more like a princess? And be more formal?" When Merida glared at him he gave another nervous chuckle and held up his hands in surrender, "Sorry, sorry." The redhead rolled her eyes the noticed Mal going through one of the doors and away from the ballroom. "What is that laddie up to?" Merida wondered aloud before standing up. She looked at Hiccup, "Keep my maw busy. I'm going to see what this Prince of Mor'du is up to." Hiccup sighed a bit, "Always nosy." She waved him off before going out the door that Mal just went out of.
So I finally updated! Yay! How happy are you guys? Or are you mad at me for taking a year ^^" Sorry, I was working and was in my first semester of college so I had barely any time to draw .3. And that's my favorite thing to do. But I finally sketched out Pitch's design [I'll finish it later and post it on my profile] but since I knew what I wanted, I continued finally! I was going to make it at least 4000 words to make up for the year delay, but I ended up getting at a good place to stop after 3000 .3. Anywho! I did give you some Merricup and Jackunzel fluffy moments so does that make up for it? :D
Well I'm going to start using Scottish slang for Merida, but I'm not Scottish so if it's grammatically incorrect, I'm sorry. If you are Scottish and want to correct me, that would be greatly appreciated! I'll put translations at the end of each chapter for the words I used :)
maw: mum/mom
sook: big softie
laddie: a male
braw: beautiful
barry: fantastic
