Merida's Perspective
She had gone up to her room to get ready for dinner. She had decided to brush her hair; the ride back had not been kind to her curls. She shuddered at the thought of attempting to rake the brush across her hair. It was a painful slow process and sometimes she wished she had her mother's hair. It was probably less painful to brush.
She decided on wearing her hair up to dinner and had tied it loosely in a ponytail. A few stray curls framed her face but overall she deemed it acceptable. She debated about whether to change her dress or not. In the end she pulled out a simple navy dress with small silver designs along the bottom.
Merida gave herself a once over before heading done to the throne room.
She walks down the stairs and can see her parents chatting away with the lords. She spots clansmen boasting to one another and telling tales of great victory and some of defeat.
Merida spots the one person she's been unconsciously looking for and heads over.
"Good afternoon" she greets.
Three heads turn her way. One looks at her before slipping off back into his own head. Two continue to look at her. The brunette is looking her up and down. She feels disturbed by the action. The blonde looks as if he's about to say something but is interrupted.
"My dear princess, you look beautiful this evening" comments Young Macintosh. "That dress does wonders for you and brings out your eyes. Why they sparkle like two clear blue crystals."
"Thank you" Merida curtly replies, resisting the urge to roll her eyes.
Young Macguffin moves over a bit and she takes the hint. She takes a seat next to him and under the table briefly squeezes his hand. She notices the small smile grace his lips before he takes a sip of his drink.
Young Macintosh stares at her a little to intently. He frowns at her and then asks "Do you not wear any jewelry? I thought ladies loved to wear trinkets."
"Not all ladies like trinkets." Merida replies as she grabs a small pastry.
Wee Dingwall speaks up "But weren't you wearing a pendant last time princess?"
Merida freezes and the pendant her mother had given her briefly flashes before her mind.
"What happened to it?" asks Wee Dingwall. "If you don't mind me asking?"
She looks up to find three curious pairs of eyes looking at her. She sighs and feels like getting up and walking out. She doesn't want to talk about this not after what had happened. Not after it was all her fault she almost lost her mother.
"Princess?" Young Macguffin says.
Merida hesitates before answering "I sold it…...for a spell."
She doesn't look up at them but she knows they're staring at her.
"A couple months ago, when you lot arrived I wasn't ready. I fought with my mother before running off outside the castle walls. I came upon a witch's cottage and thought if I could change my mother I could change my fate. I offered up the pendant in exchange for a spell …." Merida quietly finished.
"Well why not just get it back?" Young Macintosh asked her.
"I can't, if I could I would have gotten it back already!" She shouted at Young Macintosh. She noted his hurt expression and felt a bit bad just a bit. "It's not that easy to find the witch's cottage."
"Why not?" asked Wee Dingwall.
"You have to be led there by the wisps" she answered. Wee Dingwall nodded in understanding and Young Macintosh looked like he was ready to laugh.
He did laugh "You mean to tell me princess you followed the wisps? Without taking into account that they could have led you to your death or were merely out to trick you?"
"Nae a' o' us hawp a' body tae be ill (Not all of us believe everyone to be bad)" Young Macguffin spoke up.
"And that's the kind of foolish thinking that gets you in trouble. If you go around trusting everybody you're just asking for trouble and it proves you're an idiot" Young Macintosh sneered at Young Macguffin.
"Don't call him an idiot." Merida said to Young Macintosh.
"Oh? Why not?" He asked. "Tell me princess how do you know that he isn't after your crown rather than your heart? How do you know he's not using you? How do you know if anything that comes from his mouth is true? That is if you can understand anything at all"
"Because he's not you" she answered him.
Young Macguffin's perspective
Why that no good scoundrel! Thought Young Macguffin. He had stood up and was now towering over the lanky lad. He made a move to punch him but Merida's words had stopped him in his tracks.
He looked at her astonished. She had come to his defense and for that the lad felt many a thing shock, admiration but most of all love.
He felt a tug at his hand and he noticed she was leading him away from the others. He looked back at them. Young Macintosh looked unhappy for a moment before he smirked.
They made their way outside. She stopped as soon as they closed the doors behind them. He stared at the back of her head for a while waiting for her to say something anything so that he could reply. Instead he felt her tighten the grip on his hand and he noted that slight shaking of her shoulders.
"Princess?" he asked quietly. No response. He noted her shoulders slumped and she had let a frustrated sigh.
She was muttering again.
"Merida" He said a little more loudly. Still no response. He did the only thing he knew would get her attention. He wrapped his arms around her middle and rested his head against her shoulder.
"I can't believe that jerk said all those things about you! You! The one person who actually asked me how I felt about this whole situation. You the person who saved me and made sure I was okay when Macintosh tried to kiss me…that pompous ass."
He said nothing but smiled into her shoulder and tightened his hold on her. He felt her relax and she leaned into him.
"I still can't believe it?" she said.
"Whit? (What?)" he asked.
"That you picked me up like I weighed nothing" she said.
He chuckled and picked her up again. She let out a small noise of shock. He looked down at her and said "Ye dinnae weigh anythin' (you dont weigh anything)."
He noticed the blush that dusted her cheeks and leaned down pressing a kiss against her forehead. He then pressed kisses along her cheeks before he stopped inches away from her lips.
"That's not fair." She said.
He shrugged his shoulders and put her down.
She looked up at him and he grinned down at her liking the way she pouted at not being kissed.
She leaned against him and grabbed his face in her hands before pulling him in for a kiss.