Disclaimer: I don't own Hiccup or Merida, obviously. I'm not making any money off this. Both characters and the movies they come from belong to Dreamworks and Disney, respectively. If you really want to see something to blow you away, go watch the movies. Then think about these two interacting. Then you'll see what I mean.
Lightning and Death
Sima found the princess at last on the rooftop of the highest tower in the castle of DunBroch just as Kincaid predicted. It was twilight but the sky looked much darker. In the distance, ominous clouds drifted against the umber sky with all the terrible slowness of sinking ships. The wind bit through Sima's simple servant's shift and chilled her bones. There was barely any light to see the top of the tower—only a waning moon that would soon be swallowed up by the coming storm. If Sima hadn't been paying attention, it would have been easy to miss Merida amongst the crenellations of the tower.
But Kincaid's words had proven wise and the servant caught her breath at the sight of her mistress. Merida reclined amongst the crenellations, hair and skirt stirring in the wind like a bird readying for flight while her fingers toyed with a pendant around her neck. Sima felt a moment's panic. Her first instinct was to warn her mistress; it would only be too easy for the princess to fall to her death. But Sima already knew the answer Merida would give—a laugh and a shrug. If Sima persisted, Merida would tease Sima. "Worry much more and you'll turn into Maudie," Merida warned once, her laughter and smiles easing the caution in her words.
"Here you are, milady," Sima said, her words coming out in pants. She tossed her sweat-stained brown hair away from her forehead. She was hot from trekking all through the castle looking for her wayward mistress, but knew that the storm would soon steal away what warmth she had. "I've been looking everywhere for you." Sima tried, but it was hard to hide the rebuke in her words. Merida was supposed to be resting from her recent trip "visiting all the clans." Elinor had given Sima strict instructions to keep the princess indoors and away from all exertions. Sima supposed this was a victory. Technically, the princess was sitting in the castle.
Merida shrugged one shoulder and Sima knew it was as much of an apology as she was going to get for the night.
Sima never dreamed that princesses could be like Merida. As the child of a free landholder and later the slave to Clan MacGuffin, Sima often dreamed that princesses were delicate, lovely creatures with sweet smiles and demure glances. Merida was lovely, to be sure, especially when she wasn't trying. Over the past year, Sima had witnessed the Queen dress her daughter in fine gowns and dance in parties, but Sima thought Merida was prettiest when she wore her own gown and didn't care for the state of her hair or her face. Like now for instance. The moonlight turned Merida's skin ivory pale and her fiery hair darkened to the dusty bloom of a rose. Her brows weren't contracted in anger or concentration; they were smooth in repose. The intense energy Merida exuded had dimmed from the scorching heat of the sun into something like the warmth of candles at night.
It troubled Sima more than she thought it would.
Merida wasn't a delicate, demure princess. She was forthright, willful and stubborn as an ox if she set her mind to it. She spoke her mind and her heart with little regard to rank or propriety. "I don't care if she's a slave," Merida snapped heatedly to Niall Dingwall's mother once. "Sima's my friend and she can be my lady-in-waiting if I say so." Upset, joyful, worried, excited—Merida radiated emotion and drew people in whether she meant to or not. So when Merida fell silent, that was when Sima knew something was truly wrong.
The brown-haired servant twisted her fingers together, a nervous habit that she'd inherited from her mother, before squaring her shoulders and walking as close as she dared (though never too close). "Storm's coming," Sima said.
The princess nodded, still stroking the pendant in her fingers.
Sima realized with a start that it was the pendant the Viking boy had given her—the one with the kind eyes and smile. Sima felt foolish for not recognizing it sooner. It had caused such a furor when the Viking boy, Hiccup, had presented it to the princess as a gift during her last birthday.
"Merida, uh, I mean, Princess Merida," Hiccup said, stumbling over his words. He was the center of attention of the whole court and Sima felt badly for the boy. Sima liked the attention as little as he did. Color rose in his cheeks, but he did not pay attention to the disdainful glances of the ladies or the cold stares of the warriors and lords. He kept his gaze on the princess who watched him with all the solemnity and formality the occasion required but for the small, secret curling of her lips. "I know… I don't have any treasure to give you. If I did, it couldn't compare to what you already have." The Viking youth looked down once then offered a small bundle to the princess. She took it, but her light blue eyes were trained intensely on him. "Even so…" he drew a deep breath and straightened up, "I made this with the help of a friend."
Merida unwrapped the bundle and lifted up a rough pendant. It was a curious stone—dark but glossy. The present looked entirely unremarkable but for the etchings on either side. On the one side was a bow and arrow and the other was that of a dragon with a broken tail. Sima didn't recognize the design but apparently Merida did. The princess gasped, her eyes snapping to Hiccup's face.
"To help you remember the story of the boy and the dragon," Hiccup said, such a gentle look in his gaze, "and to remind you … of who you are."
To Sima's shock, tears filled the princess's eyes. In one smooth motion, Merida jumped down from the small dais and threw her arms around the Viking. Hiccup was as much surprised as the rest of the court. He staggered under the surprise weight, but his arms around here were just as firm and fierce. Unheeding of the gasps and Queen Elinor's, "Merida!" the two clutched each other, murmuring and laughing in tones far too low for the others to hear. When the two finally broke apart, the princess was smiling as brilliantly as the sun. She apologized to the court and to her mother for the delay, as polite and delicate as you please, then turned around and asked Hiccup to fasten the necklace around her. The princess even gathered her rich red curls to one side as he did so, smiling at him over her shoulder.
Sima remembered the storm of words exchanged between mother and daughter that night, finally escalating in Elinor's command, "Throw that pendant out!" Sima should have known Merida wouldn't have given it up. "Was it worth it, then?" Sima asked, twisting her fingers. As warm and friendly as Merida always had been, Sima tried hard to remember her place. The last time she'd let herself love a highborn, allowed herself to think of herself as not a mere slave, she'd been given away as a gift to strangers. But this one, just this one time, for Merida… Sima recognized the hidden hurt lingering in behind the princess's eyes. "To visit him in his home… one last time?"
Merida's lips curled into a fierce grin. Her eyes danced in the gloom of the night and Sima knew she was remembering past adventures with the Viking boy—adventures she'd only told Sima in brief descriptions and snippets. She'd jealously hoarded her stories close to her chest, though Merida always confided in Sima in times past. That was the first and only time Sima ever felt resentment to the Viking boy.
"The Queen says you will marry one of the young lords," Sima said then hated herself for the sudden tension in Merida's body. It was just… Merida seemed so far away sometimes. Sometimes, she seemed more fey spirit than princess, more feral hunting cat than girl. Sima realized with a stab of irony that when Merida got in one of her wild moods, it had been Hiccup the household had relied on to sway Merida when Merida's mother was gone on state visits.
"So what?" Merida said, interrupting Sima's thoughts. Her fingers tightened on the pendant. It was the first time Merida ever admitted that marriage to one of her suitors was less a possibility and more an eventuality. Sima knew it cost Merida to say the words.
"You can't just sit here waiting for him," Sima said. She put a hand on Merida's shoulder. Even through the cloth, Merida felt cold to the touch. Who knew how long Merida had been sitting out there. "You don't know even know that he's coming."
The princess shook off Sima's touch and stood up. Sima's breath caught in her throat as Merida stood tall amongst the crenellations. Merida ignored the height and the wind and the incoming storm. "I wait for no one," Merida said, something of Queen Elinor in her tone. "I know what my choices are; I know what my choice must be."
"What are you doing then?" Sima asked, despair in her voice. "If you're not waiting for him and if you're promised to another, what are you doing here?"
Merida was quiet for so long that Sima thought she ignored her. Then Merida cocked her head to the side and said, "D'you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Sima asked. She could only hear the rumble of the coming storm and the wind. Lightning flashed and Sima cowered. Drops of rain spattered the battlements. Merida tilted her face up to the sky.
"That sound… the wind whistling followed by the crack of thunder and the shaking of the earth."
"Yes," Sima whispered. "Lightning and death. That's what my father used to call it."
The wind howled again and nearly snatched away the princess's words. Joy and pain lined every syllable and seemed to make the words crack as she whispered, "I'm being close to him."
"Milady?" Sima asked, confused and frightened.
When Merida looked at Sima, her face was wet with rain or tears, Sima could not tell. "I'm not waiting, Sima. I'm saying goodbye."
Author's Note: So, whoa. This turned out way sadder than I intended it to be. I apologize for the long hiatus! Things had been really rough for the past few weeks (months), but things are getting better. On the upside, I am really hitting my stride with the entire work as a whole :) Things should be going a lot faster now and hopefully I'll post the first chapter soon.