Chapter Seven
"And where were you?"
Hiccup was sitting by the study table, charcoal in hand and a giant sketch of a reptile in front of him. He looked at Merida with disapproving eyes, his mouth a thin line from what Merida perceived as concern. Still riled up by the sudden almost encounter with the soldier, Merida said nothing and fell onto the bed. For the past few days, the predicament that the Mathias had already noticed her escape daunted her. To think it was so soon made cold sweat break out. Merida rolled over onto her back and stared aimlessly at the bland wood ceiling above.
"Fine, don't tell me then," Hiccup grumbled, resuming sketching harshly onto the paper.
"I was out with Rapunzel," Merida confessed, then she blinked, "Shit, Rapunzel!"
She sat up violently which caused Hiccup to yelp and fall out of his chair. He groaned and pushed himself up with the help of the table, "Who's Rapunzel?"
"Gothel's daughter," Merida replied hurriedly as she stuck her head out the window.
There was a part of her thought that jumping out of the window again was a good idea (since she didn't want to go back downstairs), but really, even though Rapunzel had healed her wounds, the pain from her feet and elbow tingled. Almost reprimanding the very thought. Unfortunately, her position probably looked like she was going to reenact the incident from the previous night and Hiccup launched himself from the desk, latched onto Merida screaming.
That of course, gained the attention from the people outside and Artair, who happened to enter the room that very minute. He didn't even look remotely pleased by what he was seeing.
By then, Hiccup released Merida and sat awkwardly on the edge of the bed, staring embarrassed at his feet. Merida, on the other hand, simply stayed by the window, knelt and smiled awkwardly at her host. Ignoring the uncomfortable air, Artair welcomed himself inside anyway.
"What were you two doing?" he raised his eyebrow.
"I-I thought, Merida, Merida was going to jump," Hiccup babbled, in which made Merida roll her eyes. Hiccup noticed her eye roll and glared, "Well, sorry for being concerned for your wellbeing."
"I appreciate it, but you don't need to scream like a girl," Merida clarified, clearly upset by the ruckus they created.
They just childishly glared at each other while Artair stood there rubbing his temples. The bickering between the two youngsters began and soon escalated and eventually, Artair rose his voice, "Right, about the soldier!"
There was immediate silence. Merida dropped her hands which were that close to strangling Hiccup, and Hiccup slowly sat back down from his 'about to feebly tackle Merida' stance. Their attention all averted their attention to Artair now as he rocked back and forth on his heels patiently.
"Is he gone?" Merida said quietly.
"He said he'll return with his men tomorrow to make sure we weren't hiding anything else suspicious," Artair stated blatantly, not once blinking, "By that I assume he wishes to search the whole smithy including the place where you have stayed."
"What does this mean?" Hiccup narrowed his eyes in deep thought, "Why would they bother searching here? It's not like we hold anything valuable they need. Unless it's weaponry I guess."
"It's not a matter of 'anything', it's more of an 'anyone' situation…"
Hiccup gaped at him, "You've kidnapped someone important from the castle?!" when Artair didn't indulge Hiccup with a response, he started going berserk, "Oh, yeah, that is totally a grand idea isn't it? Why don't we just steal someone from under the King's nose?!"
"We're not really stealing per se," Artair began, "We're merely borrowing her."
"Her?"
It was as if a bell was tinged in his head and Hiccup turned his head slowly to Merida - who smiled a big toothy grin at Hiccup with so much awkwardness that it made her cringe on the inside. Speechless, Hiccup became something of a statue and was fixed in this one position of shock. Merida bit her lip and tried to smile wider, only to worsen the situation by making Hiccup gravitate away from her.
"W-Wait," Hiccup started as he shook himself out of his trance, "Then, who are you?"
"Well, I'm Merida DunBroch and am married to Mathias Gallach," Merida announced, letting out a weak chuckle, "I escaped the castle, thanks to Annette, and stayed here for a few days."
"So you're a princess?" Hiccup queried, extremely uncertain, "How do I know you two aren't messing with me?"
Artair sighed, "Gobber has the poster of Merida that the soldier left behind. If you want proof, I believe that's proof enough for you."
A blush flushed across Hiccup's cheeks, "Wow, anything else we should know? Since, you know, I'm now mentally prepared for any shock you'll throw at me."
"Gobber and I decided Merida should leave tonight to prevent any mishaps occurring when the soldiers arrive tomorrow morning. And Hiccup, you'll have to go with her."
"Whoa, wait, I was not mentally prepared for that," Hiccup pressed his head to his hands and groaned, "Why is it me?"
"I don't need a body guar-" Merida began, only to be cut out completely.
"Because you know this region better than Merida does, and it's only for tomorrow," Artair reasoned logically and rather coldly, "You don't want the same thing to happen here do you?"
It was that ambiguous threat at the end that made Hiccup jolt and nod almost automatically. Artair smiled - which shocked Merida as it happened rarely - and left after he told them that there was food downstairs, which they should hurry up for just in case Gobber was feeling peckish. When they heard the pang of the door, Hiccup spun around like a wooden-top and Merida could already feel the vibrations of the questions the boy was about to peg at her.
Merida decided she'd risk jumping out the window again to avoid the interrogation she didn't want to have at this moment. When most of her body was out of the window, she accidentally tumbled out, screeching loudly as she did so. Hiccup yelled, his arms stretched out to grab her, but he missed by a centimetre and watched with horror as Merida fell.
Fell into a heap on top of a somebody who groaned in agony.
"Ow…" they both chorused before turning to see who the abused and the abuser was.
"Jack!" Merida said with volume which made Jack wince and press rub his hands on his ears.
"I keep bumping into you," Jack laughed lightly as he tried to get up, "Uhh.."
Snapping out of it, Merida wobbly stood up. She lent a hand which surprised Jack as he took it with pleasure. They grinned at each other in thanks and Jack turned his attention upwards where Hiccup was leaning out with an expression of apology and humiliation. Of course, Jack simply waved at him, but Hiccup for some odd reason, ignored Jack and left. Jack frowned and seemed to withdraw into his own world. Merida clicked her fingers in front of his face.
"Well, are you going to dwindle here or are you actually going to go somewhere important?" Merida questioned curiously, her face inches away from Jack's.
"No, I'm just doing some errands for Gretel, the physician's assistant," Jack said, a basket filled with green plants and herbs as well was dirty and slightly hairy white mushrooms hung from his hand. He bent down to retrieve the mushrooms that strayed from the basket when he collided with Merida, "I'm almost done though," he stated, about to leave, "Want to come?"
"Sure."
Merida followed Jack from the gap and back out into the open. Cautiously, Merida searched around for Rapunzel who should be by the well, but wasn't. Concern rained on her as she scanned around everywhere for a brunette girl with plaited hair and pastel pink gown, only to find a blur of people confusing her vision. However, there was a man who was dressed in chain-mail and wielded a sword who caught Merida's sights. Swiftly, Merida pulled Jack closer.
"Jack," Merida whispered, "Can I use your cloak?"
Jack chuckled, "Why?"
"Just give it to me!" she ordered, harshly tugging at the cloak.
Submitting to her demands, Jack sighed, gave the basket to Merida to hold, untied the thread that held the cloak together around the neck, and shrugged it off. Carefully, he wrapped it around Merida and gently tied a ribbon and made sure it was in place. Quickly, Merida flung the cloak from the tips which made a swoosh over her head. Feeling certain that it had covered most of her hair, Merida grabbed Jack's hand and head butted everybody out of her way as they went to the physician's.
"You know you look really weird like that," Jack pointed out in amusement.
He was about to pull the cloak off of her head, but Merida yelped, "No, no! I like it like that! Just because you don't like the way I dress doesn't mean you should force me to comply to your way of dressing!"
"Whoa, whoa, it was just a suggestion," Jack help his hands up to the height of his chest in surrender, "No need to take it so aggressively."
As they entered the physician's house, Merida uttered nothing and pouted. There were a line of people coughing and sneezing on the chairs by the door as they faced into a lavatory filled with thick books and medication (roots, herbs and mushrooms, the like). It was like walking into a jungle of old books and jars. In the centre were four wooden beds stood on blocks of hay. An old man was examining a patient's mouth with a long, thin stick-like object while the other two patients were waiting somewhat patiently on their beds, staring at the concave ceiling.
The woman from the other morning waddled up to Jack, a smile plastered on her face, "Ah Jack my boy, ye got my herbs."
"Yes ma'am, Meadowsweet, Bloodroot, Nettles and White mushrooms?" Jack recalled smartly which made Gretel beam happily.
"Aye boy! Oh, why must you work in that ghastly brothel when you have such a talent for herbs?!" Gretel exclaimed passionately as she took the basket from Jack's hands, "Here, your reward."
Merida peered at the tiny bronze sculpture. It seemed nicely polished, and gleamed under the light. Narrowing her eyes to focus better on the object, Merida realised it was a snowflake carved with great detail and patience. When she glanced away, Gretel stared at her. Assuming that it was the cloak over her head that was attracting unwanted attention, Merida slowly pulled it down.
"Ah, you!" Gretel exclaimed, pointing her finger right at Merida's face, "You're from this mornin', and that sold-"
Impulsively, Merida slapped her hand over the old woman's mouth to prevent her from saying anymore. Gretel panted for air and Merida grimaced as the woman tried to lick her hand, but even the warm saliva didn't faze Merida, who was too concerned about getting caught. Jack gaped with wide eyes and attempted to pull Merida off of Gretel. Unfortunately, Merida whined and latched on.
"Merida, what are you doing?!"
At this point, the patients were all watching, mind boggled by what was happening. The physician marched into the scene and yelled at them for disturbing his concentration. Gretel was finally released and all the blood in Merida drained out of her as the old woman basically shouted.
"GET OUT YOU FIEND!" she spat as she shoved Merida. Jack jumped behind her to break her fall, only to be pulled away by one of the patients, "WE DON'T WANT YOU ROYALTY HERE!"
Merida knew that if she were to fight back like her instincts screamed at her to do, the soldier just outside would have a higher chance of seizing her while she wasn't thinking clearly. So, she suppressed her urge to yell and yelped as Gretel jammed her onto the door. A knock made Merida inhale sharply. All her nerves went on high alert.
"Under the Prince's command, we demand you, Merida DunBroch, to return to the castle with no objection."
"N-No, let me go," Merida murmured, her hands balled up into a fist against the door as she clenched her eyes shut like she wished it were all a dream.
"Merida DunBroch, if you do not comply we will have to force open this door."
A cold hand clasped over the her clenched ones. She looked up and met Jack's sympathetic blue eyes. He smiled at her mischievously and leaned in to her ear.
"Do you believe in me?"
Merida nodded statically, "Y-Yes," she whispered.
Jack grinned widely, "Okay."
Within seconds, Jack took the hand Merida had unclenched and grabbed it. He pulled her through the room, dodging the shelves, benches and beds. They ignored the yells of the physician, the gasp of Gretel and the uproar of the patients. Merida heard the bang of the door swung open and the raging of the two soldiers who sprinted after them. She gripped Jack's hand and ran for her life.
There was a door ahead that led to the physician's bedroom. They aimed for that, slipping in just before the soldiers and wedged the door shut. A hook for the keys was built close to the door knob. Jack took out his bronze snowflake, placed it onto the hook and pulled out a roll of rope from his pocket and wrapped it through the gaps of snowflake, then around the doorknob. The soldiers were aggressively turning it, but the rope was tied too tightly for it to move, but Merida knew it wasn't strong enough to withstand the soldiers' tearing the door down and it'd snap soon.
"Quick, here," Jack took Merida's hand again and they ascended the flight of stairs that went up to the physician's bedroom.
They reached the bedroom and jammed that door closed too. There was a nothing but clothing littered across the floor, as well as knickers, and Jack without thinking, grabbed two hand fulls of linen cloth and forced them under the crack of the door. Merida hastily grabbed for the chair and hung it on the door knob and later helped Jack push the heavy table from the other side of the room against the door.
"Now what?" Merida panted heavily.
"How do you feel about flying?" Jack asked, a smile still on his face as if this chase was merely a game for him and he was reveling in the adrenaline.
Merida furrowed her eyebrows, "What do you mea-"
The door looked like it was about to convulse and the table was struggling with the pressure of the soldiers attacking on the other side. There was no time to converse, so Jack once again, took Merida's hand and led her over to the window. His eyes scanned the outside, and Merida felt like her life would be flashing before her eyes soon. Jack turned to Merida, his eyes warm and begging for her trust. It was either this or confinement, and Merida chose this.
Thus, they leapt from the window.
Hey there :D. So, in this one, I realised there were lots of window jumping *kids, do not do that at home*, but hey, I enjoy writing about jumping out of windows :P.
Replies:
CopperandBoom: Hey Rae! Yeah, I've written a few, so far no nose-bleeds or immature giggling (unlike last time haha). So I guess that's an improvement :). Thanks for reviewing and helping me through this *thumbs up*