Chapter Four
It was a waning moon that night. The room was cold as the wind reminded everyone that winter was on its way. Cuddled up in a ball of woollen blankets, Merida sat against the wall on her bed. She stared absentmindedly at the moon which peeked over the neighbour's house's roof. The candle beside her flickered whenever a medium breeze gushed by.
A quiet knock on the door interrupted Merida's trance. The door creaked as Artair stepped into the room. He held a blue glowing lantern, inside seemed to be a blue flame knocking on its glass cage. Merida merely turned her head as Artair pulled out a chair from under the messy study table and placed the lantern gently down. Sitting a few metres away from Merida, he crouched forward and twiddled with his thumbs before opening his mouth. Merida just sat there with anticipation and curiosity.
"About this morning," he began, looking at everything except Merida, "I apologise for my rude behaviour, but as you can see, being a blacksmith is not exactly an easy job."
Merida blinked, "And what made you think I was upset?"
He finally turned his eyes towards her, "Well, you stomped off somewhere and then got yourself injured," he clarified in an 'a matter of fact' tone.
"I certainly did not stomp!" Merida exclaimed dramatically, the blankets drooped from her head. There was a pause and the crickets outside grew unhelpfully louder. Merida wrapped the blankets around her more securely and stared at her big toe which popped out from under the blankets, "Why am I here?"
When he didn't reply, Merida grew fidgety, "I was locked up in a castle like a damsel in distress and now that I've 'temporarily' escaped, I don't have my bow and arrow, and I am invisible to my own people!" Merida pursed her lips and bit her tongue, "I deserve to know what's going on."
The only sound that came from Artair was an exasperated sigh. He rubbed his temples, "You're not ready yet," he said bluntly, "None of us are actually."
Without uttering another word, he got up and trudged to the door as if he had given up on life. Merida sat agape, her mouth hung open like she was paralysed in a permanent state of shock. As the door closed quietly, Merida grabbed the closest thing next to her and launched it at the door frame. The pillow slid pathetically onto the floor and lay sadly beside the door. Hugging her knees, Merida rested her forehead on them as she breathed deeply. The breeze outside gushed past which sent Merida almost off the bed and basically exterminated the fire on the candle.
Sea blue engulfed the room. Artair had forgotten to take the lantern, and it glowed like a million fireflies had been crammed inside it. Merida winced, her arms covered most of her face from the brightness of the light as she kicked off the blankets and crept closer towards it. It began whispering and the flickering of the fire caused the light to waver which created waves and ripples in the light.
Carefully, Merida gripped the top of the lantern and wedged the glass door open. She grabbed a cloth and the stale cup of water from the table, ready to extinguish the fire. Closer and closer, she was about to dab the fire until it whispered hoarsely and vanished. Merida gasped, tossed the cloth aside and spun around, her eyes examined the room. Out on the window, the blue fire glimmered against the shadows outside. It whispered yet again and danced on the spot. Gradually, another flame appeared, and another, and another. Eventually there was a long line of blue individual flames lined up from Merida's window.
"Wisps…" she breathed.
Feeling the chill prickle her skin, Merida hastily grabbed the blanket and wrapped it over her shoulders and hugged it against her. From the window, Merida stared down. There was a cart full of hay underneath and a long ledge that stuck out from the smithy. Closer to her, there was a clothes line made of rope. Merida breathed in and breathed out before she crouched out the window and jumped onto the rope. Unable to balance, she frantically waved her arms about, only to slip and fall violently onto the edge of the ledge. Crying out in pain, Merida fell backwards and landed with a thump onto the hay filled cart which sent hay flying everywhere.
With a pained groan, Merida pushed herself up. Her hair and blanket littered with hay. The bandaged elbow, thankfully, was still intact, but it stung when Merida moved it as she realised she must have knocked it against the wooden ledge during the fall. Blood stained the bandages and against the sleeves of her white night gown. However, the whispers of the Wisps persisted.
Frenetically, Merida rose and followed the Wisps' trail. Into the moonlight, Merida paid no heed to the Wisps that disappeared behind her and thoughtlessly followed them into the ominous woods.
It was odd to hear only the sound of the owl hooting in the spiderweb-like jumble of branches above, and see only a line of dotted blue flames that beckoned in the blackness. Merida clung onto the blanket, and shivered. After a long while walking, tripping over the unseen roots and twigs which scratched her bare feet, Merida could make out a light shimmer of reddish orange fire in the distance behind the trunks of trees. The nearer she got, the more vehement the laughter and cries became.
By then, Merida was perched on a large protruding root of a tree and watched the commotion from behind the trunk. There was a large bonfire where men and women were dancing and laughing. Some of them stumbled, slurred aimlessly, and some walked about like living corpses. Their skin red from either the light of the fire or the capacity of alcohol. Merida spotted the grey haired man from earlier that day, preparing his fiddle and other various instruments. An encouraging cheer erupted from the people around him and he sent them a cocky smile.
The childlike sign that said 'Overland's Brothel' hung awkwardly on top of the entrance. Merida couldn't help but chuckle at that. Silently, Merida slipped from behind one trunk to another till she was able to hide by the side of the brothel. Unfortunately, Merida could hear the screams and moans of the clients on the other side of the wall, and that made her turn bright pink. She pulled the blanket over her head, covered her ears as well, and tried not to whimper as she walked on the rocky and hard ground with bleeding feet.
Searching around, the Wisps had vanished. On her own, Merida went out into the open, surprised by the fact that nobody took notice of her. Calmly, Merida reached the entrance. She eyed the sign before taking a deep breath and pushed the door into the brothel.
It was extremely loud inside. Fortunately for Merida, who was inexperienced in the world of intercourse, there were long, thick, dull cream veils that hung from ropes situated near the ceiling. This covered most of what was happening from other customers. Merida spied the bar and half limped half waddled towards it. Behind it was a stout, blond man with spiked up hair which resembled ten triangles along his scalp. He was wiping a clay mug with a rag and was nodding vigorously at the brunette man who sat in front of him.
Merida sat one seat away from the man, and kept the blanket over her head. She stared absently at the shelves that were now organised. Bottles among bottles of wine and other alcoholic beverages lined up on the shelves alongside small baskets of sweets and sacks of things Merida didn't want to know. Out of nowhere a wonky, hand made looking glass was put in front of her.
The blond haired man from before gave her a chubby smile. He did some hand gestures and Merida stared cluelessly at him. His shoulders dropped and his expression bemused, he pulled out from under the bar some paper and charcoal. He scribbled on it, a beach with an arrow pointing to the coast and beside it a picture of an averagely drawn man. When he was done, he pushed it to Merida.
"Sand..? You like the sea?" Merida tried which only resulted in the man face palming himself. He gently placed a finger on Merida and then placed it on himself. He mouthed something and Merida tried again, "So it's your name?"
The man nodded eagerly, a smile stretched broadly on his face. Happy that she was on the right track, Merida proceeded to guess, "Sand… Sand… Man?"
He tilted his hand, which was flat in the air, side to side indicating she was close. Fervently, he swooped under the bar again and pulled out three sheets of paper and began scribbling again. This time he sketched a picture of the sun and then drew a bold arrow linking it to the other picture of the man. Merida bit her lip and thought long and hard until the brunette man beside her interjected.
"Look, as much as it's entertaining watching you two struggle to communicate…" he turned to Merida with amused eyes, "His name is Sanderson, just call him Sandy. Oh, and must I say, aren't you the looker," he cat meowed and sent her flirtatious eyes. Merida wheezed on the inside.
Sandy glared at him, retrieved his sketches back, placed them under the bar and resumed his job, cleaning the jugs and mugs. Merida sent the man beside her a disapproving glance and was about to leave, but he gripped onto her arm and forced her sit down, "I'm Rider. Flynn Rider," a cocky grin greeted Merida.
"I'm not in the mood to talk to you," Merida replied blatantly as she shifted away from him on her stool, yet Flynn continued to cling onto her, "What is it-"
She turned her head and came face to face with Flynn doing some sort of cute face impression of a puppy that Merida thought seemed more like a horse with bowel problems. He only proceeded to get closer to Merida with that face and Merida cried out. Without realising it, she felt her fist collide with Flynn's cheekbone. Then there was the sound of Flynn crashing to the floor, and a deathly silence as the clients stopped their activities to see what had happened.
Sandy covered his mouth in shock and concern before rushing over to Flynn. He hoisted Flynn up and dragged the man into a room beside the shelves. That meant all eyes were on Merida, and she felt hot blood explode in her cheeks.
The people outside probably heard them too, well heard the unusual silence that shouldn't be there at a brothel, and the grey haired man stormed in. His small eyes skimmed the room and landed on Merida was sitting awkwardly beside a fallen stool, trying not to appear guilty. Unfortunately, the clients who had their heads popped out from behind the veil all pointed accusingly at Merida.
"You, loony one from the markets! I can see your red hair from under 'em blankets!" he pointed out as he stomped over, "Ya causing trouble 'round here are ya?!"
As he confronted her, Merida raised from her seated position and narrowed her eyes. They stood inches apart with domineering auras, "He brought it upon himself!" Merida exclaimed.
Bright green eyes flashed dangerously, "You do realise what this place is about do ya, Firehead?"
Merida glared, "I do, but he should at least back away if a woman said no," she hissed, her arms crossed, "Makes sense huh, Rat-face."
The man's eye widened dramatically, "What did you call me, Bonfire?" he leaned in menacingly, "My name's Aster Bunnymund. I ain't no rat."
"Says the man with buck teeth," Merida retorted.
Just as things started to get aggressive, Jack burst in from the other room, "Stop, STOP!"
Bunnymund growled, "This loony here is stirrin' up a commotion. I'm tryin' to get my stuff prepared, but no, Miss. Bonfire here had to cause a problem!"
Merida felt rage bubble inside her, but also a thumping feeling in her chest intermingled. With the blanket still over her head, Merida pulled it down, revealing the state it was in. A single gasp came from the audience, but it was immediately dissipated. Jack heaved a loud sigh and looked at her in thought while Bunnymund just tapped his foot on the ground in impatience.
"So what ya gonna do with her, Frost boy."
With pleading eyes, Merida gazed at Jack. He heaved yet another sigh, "Fine, do you have any payment?" Jack asked, his eyes slightly more tolerant and gentle than before.
"No…" Merida shook her head, feeling more and more like a nuisance, "I can pay tomorrow?"
Jack chuckled, he grabbed her wrists and pulled her away from the disbelieving eyes of Bunnymund, "It's fine, I was only joking with you," he pulled her into the room where Flynn was dragged into, "Just stay here, I'm doing some work," he hesitated for a minute, "And don't run away this time."
Merida nodded in understanding and felt a pang of guilt, but ignored it and focused on exploring the room she was in.
The room was relatively small. There was a desk crammed in the corner with a large candle sitting beside a pile of paper. Next to the desk was a stack of paintings, a cage of baby chicks sleeping on a bundle of cloth, and some books scattered in the corner. There was a blue wool rug on the floor and a low table placed on top of it. Four beds were situated on the other side of the room, one was where Flynn was lying unconscious with Sandy caring for him. There wasn't much in the room other than that and the ridiculous amount of teeth contained in jars lined up in a towering bookshelf by the beds. Merida sat on the other side near the door and watched Sandy tuck Flynn in as if the man was a child.
Jack was tediously doing his work on the desk. The piles of paper made him look childlike and out of place. Merida couldn't help but laugh to herself at the sight. Jack stared at her in question, his eyebrow raised and a cheeky smile on his face. Sandy turned around and blinked. He examined her and jumped up in fright. Merida cocked her head, looked down at her cracked and blood dry feet, and felt stinging wash over her legs.
Abandoning all his work, Jack rushed over to her, "Shit, I didn't see you were injured!"
"No, it's fine-"
"Sandy, get the bandages and some ointment!" Jack ordered. Sandy quickly went to get the items while Jack massaged around the wounds and pulled out a cloth from his pocket and patted the wet patches of blood off, "I think you might need to see a healer or physician."
Merida groaned, "What?! But I already saw the healer today!"
Jack chuckled, "Will you go if I go with you?"
Red matted across Merida's face, "What makes you think I'll go if you do?" she said stubbornly, "Besides, it's just a scratch."
"Uhh, I would say there's multiple scratches," Jack laughed quietly, "You came like I told you to," a smirk formed on his face, "Come, midnight," he recalled a grin so evident on his face it made Merida shift uncomfortably on her seat.
"T-That was a coincidence!" Merida defended herself without much success as Jack gave her a knowing look before Sandy returned with a small bottle of ointment and a roll of bandages.
Cold hands rubbed the ointment over Merida's feet. She pulled the blankets around her closer, Jack jerked his head up at her action,"Oh, sorry, my hands are weirdly colder than everybody else's," he laughed to himself, but continued to gently dab ointment on the wounds.
Sandy returned to Flynn, but seeing that he was okay, Sandy decided to take a nap on the bed beside Flynn's one. Eventually, he escaped to the world of dreams and left Jack and Merida alone. They didn't say anything to each other as Jack began to wrap the rough bandages around Merida's feet. In the midst of his concentration, he didn't realise Merida reach out for his hair.
He snapped out of his trance when he felt a warm hand run through his hair.
"Is this real?" Merida questioned in wonder.
"What? This romantic moment we're having, or my hair?" Jack teased, still carefully wrapping her non wrapped foot, "I guess this could be a thing," he said slyly.
Her hand froze, "No Jack, I'm married I can't."
There was no response from Jack as he finished wrapping up her feet. He didn't say a word to her and avoided her eyes until he put away the ointment away on his desk. He looked at her with a blank and polite expression, "You can stay here for the night if you want. We'll go to the healer tomorrow morning."
With that, he returned to his pile of paper and scribbled over them. Feeling the awkward tension between them, Merida obeyed despite the urge to retaliate and wobbled to the bed next to Sandy. Merida glanced at Jack, but he continued to ignore her and worked constantly. She slipped into the bed sheets, her elbow stiff from the dried up blood soaked up by her bandages, and snuggled into her blanket and the bed sheets as well before she laid down.
However, sleep wasn't on her side. Merida felt the itchiness of the hay lightly scraping her scalp causing a tickling sensation. With her back turned towards Jack, she gathered up her courage, "Jack…"
The scribbling stopped briefly, "What?"
Merida gulped, she didn't know what to ask, "Why do you own a brothel?"
Jack didn't reply for a while, resuming his scribbling until he put the sharpened charcoal down, "I don't know, you better ask my father. Though he's not here anymore," he said casually, "Why?"
Shrugging, Merida still had her back to Jack, "I've never been to a brothel before. Father always told me not to, and my husband didn't allow me either," Merida knew she was treading on thin ice here, "Though I didn't know why 'till now."
"My father always prided in his work," Jack announced, Merida could hear him get out of his chair and walk to the door, "And I've always been invisible until now," there was a hint of bitterness in his tone, "Don't go around forcing your opinions on me."
After that, Merida heard the door close shut, leaving her to wallow in her own misery.
Back at the castle, Annette was eavesdropping on a conversation regarding King Gallach's next plan on invasion. So far, the only progress that has occurred was Gallach's intention to invade Burgess which was the kingdom situated beside Berk. Gallach had caused terror on Berk, drove the people out and set the whole kingdom on fire, leaving the ground desolate. According to Annette's sources, almost all of the people from Berk were killed or sold into slavery.
This incident had caused alarm throughout the country. Ironically, this also caused issues within the kingdom too as more and more foreigners sort to become citizens of Gallach's kingdom in order to stay out of the King's wrath. This posed a problem as competition within the kingdom rose. Annette preferred to steer away from politics, but due to her Uncle's ambitions, she persevered.
She hid silently in the guest room next door where a crack was conveniently there. She rested her ear against the crack and frowned.
"But Sire, Burgess is ripe for the picking!" the general said as he tried not to sound too annoyed, "You know, Prince Mathias will not concede with your ambitions to invade DunBroch. Not whilst the Princess is here."
"Will you shut your trap?!" Gallach yelled.
The general said nothing after that and Gallach dismissed him. After a while, tapping could be heard and a man strolled in. He spoke with an educated accent and a slight seductive purr. Curious, Annette peeked her through the crack. A grey skinned, black cloaked man stood like a shadow in the dull room. Gallach who had veil over his face, but had brown wiry hair uncovered greeted the man with great eagerness, for Gallach that was. Annette stared wide eyed as they conversed.
"Kozmotis Pitchiner," Gallach greeted.
"Oh please," the man laughed darkly, "Kozmotis is dead. It's Pitch Black."
Gallach laughed with Pitch and ushered him to sit down, "What brings you here?"
Pitch crossed his legs and took a cup of tea from the table of the room, "I'm here for a favour."
"A favour," Gallach queried in disbelief, "I thought you preferred to work alone?"
"I do, but you see," Pitch leered, taking a sip from his cup, "One of the villagers have something that belongs to me. Now, I can't just barge in there, as much as I desire to, that would waste precious time and energy."
"What do you want me to do?"
"I need you to retrieve it for me," Pitch stated, "Do you know the girl with bright red hair, blatantly Scottish in heritage and walks like an uneducated adolescent boy?"
Annette inhaled sharply as realisation dawned on Gallach. Pitch merely sat there sipping his tea and staring in demand at the King. Annette panicked as Gallach mumbled 'Merida' under his breath and violently rose from his seat which sent the table toppling to the floor. Pitch raised his nonexistent eyebrow and smirked.
"I presume it's someone you do know then?" he drawled.
In a raging fit, Gallach yelled, "MATHIAS GALLACH GET DOWN HERE NOW!"
Feeling dread run through her veins, Annette rushed towards the door. She opened it it only be confronted by a curly, black haired woman with a dagger in her hand which aimed at Annette.
"Where do you think you're going darling?"
Hey there :D. I've been re-reading the previous chapters... them typos and mistakes.. *cringe*. On a more optimistic note, I'm happy to say that Bunnymund, Sandman, Eugene/Flynn have made their appearance! YAY! Anyway, Jack and Merida already have their little fight, though I wouldn't say is too unexpected seeing that their personalities and backgrounds are rather different here... Pitch is as always, an arsehole and I pathetically enjoy writing the parts with him in it T.T.
Replies:
Rae: That is a very helpful suggestion! Thank you :), but the only person I know that can write smut without being awkward is the person I'm writing 3COD for, and that would spoil everything for her haha. But thank you for suggesting it though :D. In regards to reading the more experienced erotica writer's stuff... Maybe I should stop skipping those parts of the story eh? *Feels embarrassed by my own immaturity*
amazonefighter: I plan to continue it :D. Thank you for reviewing :)
Guests 1 + 2: Thank you for reviewing!
P.S. By the way, I'll be posting weekly, usually on Sunday (Aussie time) :). Thank you for reading and all that!