Chapter 4

Merida had been curious about the pendent that belonged to her great great grandmother ever since her father had given it to her. She was especially curious about the strange symbol carved into the back of it. She could not put her finger on why she was so curious about the symbol, or why it felt so familiar to her even though she'd never seen it before.

For the first time in her life she willingly went to the study to read about Dunbroch's long passed queen. She'd spent most of the last few days trying to find something, anything about the pendent, or even something more personal to her great great grandmother, a journal, a memoir, anything. But all she could find were basic history books about her.

She had learned many Interesting things about her namesake, all of which left her more intrigued then ever about the first crowned heiress to the throne. She learned that Mairead was the only child of King Haemish the first, and so destined to inherit the throne. The competition for her hand when she had come of age was what started the tradition of the Dunbroch games. She also learned that Mairead had married Callum II of the clan MacGuffin, but he left her a widow shortly after their second child was born. Despite opposition from the lords, Mairead remained unmarried for the remainder of her rule until her eldest son had come of age.

While everything Merida had learned of her great great grandmother was interesting, it all had left Merida no closer to uncovering the mystery about the pendent. It seemed that all she had discovered only left her with more questions then she had before.

She sat at her father's desk with her head resting upon her fist, just staring down at the opened book before her. She was feeling quite discouraged about her fruitless search. She sighed heavily as she closed the book she had been reading and leaned back lazily in the chair. She absentmindedly reached for the pendent and began fiddling with it as she contemplated where else she could possibly look for more answers.

As she was turning the pendent in her fingers, she felt a small click. She paused and looked down at the pendent curiously. She could see that half of the oblong pendent was flipped up slightly.

"What in the world," Merida muttered.

She quickly took the necklace off to get a better look at the pendent. She could see that the pendent was in fact cut diagonally in half. The cut line was practically hidden by the intricate designs on both sides giving it the illusion of being one solid piece of metal. She gently turned the piece a bit further. The piece continued to rotate upwards until it clicked into place. The pendent that was once an oval shape now looked like a heart. Merida gazed at it in amazement.

She held it carefully as she inspected it further. She could see a faint line around the edge of the now heart-shaped pendent.

"I wonder," she whispered. She carefully pulled at the pendent to see if it would open like a locket, but as hard as she tried it would not open. She sighed heavily as she thought for a moment. She looked at the pendent once more. With her thumb she pushed gently on the side of it causing the face of the heart to slide slightly to the side. She smiled at her discovery. She gently pushed the face until it opened completely revealing a hidden compartment. Tucked inside was a small braided lock of brown chestnut colored hair tied with a very thin piece of string. As she gazed at it curiously, she felt a chill go down her spine.

She thought back to what her father had told her about her grandmother.

...

"Once in a while, I would catch her looking out to sea, clutching this pendent with a sad, far off look in her eye. She never told me, but I imagined she may have been missing great grand-da."

...

Something odd occurred to her and she flipped back through the book she had just been reading. She paused when she found the picture of her great great grandfather King Callum II. The long past king was depicted with fair blonde hair.

She gazed at the picture curiously then looked back at the lock of hair. If the pendent was a gift from her great great grandfather, then who's lock of hair was contained within it. For a moment she thought perhaps the lock was from one of Mairead's children, but both Merida's great grandfather and great uncle had inherited Mairead's bright red hair as Merida had seen in their portraits. She thought back to what her father had told her about the strange symbol on the pendent when she had asked.

...

"Great nana never talked about it much. I assumed it was a gift from great grand-da. I figured she never mentioned it because she missed him and talking of it caused her heartache. Great grand-da had long passed before even my father was born. It could be that the symbol had a special meaning just between the two of them."

...

Perhaps the pendent and the symbol did have a special meaning to Mairead, but Merida began to suspect that neither had anything to do with her great great grandfather.

Suddenly Merida was distracted from her thoughts by the faint sound of whispering seemingly coming from the other side of the closed study door. Thinking she had caught her brothers trying to sneak up on her, she smirked slightly, then tip-toed quietly toward the door. She slowly turned the door knob and then quickly yanked the door opened.

"Ah-ha," she yelled, "caught...you..." Her voice trailed off as she found the hall completely empty.

"That's strange," she murmured to herself, "I could have sworn I just heard..." She stepped forth from the door and turned to her left to look down the long corridor, but there was no one there as far as she could see. She paused instantly when she once again heard the soft murmuring directly behind her. She stiffened in suspense as she slowly turned around. Her eyes widened as she came face to face with a small blue flame floating a mere foot from where she stood. She could feel her heart skip and her breath catch in her throat.

"Will O' the Wisp," she whispered in surprise. She hadn't seen one of the mysterious blue spirits since the 'bear incident' years ago. It was strange and surprising to see one within the castle walls and she wondered the significance.

"Okay," she said softly, "lead me where ye will spirit...but so help me if ye lead me to another witch." She gulped and stepped forward. Just as before, the wisp vanished when it was nearly within reach. It reappeared instantly a few feet further down the hall. She followed down the long corridor. This time the wisps did not form a trail but continued one at a time through the corridors of the castle. They led her up a flight of stairs to the next floor up. They turned down another long hall and then finally stopped in front of a door.

The door, Merida recognized, was the door to what was once her great great grandmother's sitting room. As Merida approached the door, the wisp vanished and did not reappear.

"In here," she questioned in confusion. She took a deep breath as she reached for the doorknob. She slowly pulled the door opened and peeked inside. The room had mostly been left untouched since Queen Mairead's passing and, besides a heavy coating of dust and cobwebs, it looked as if she had only just left it.

Merida stepped inside and glanced around curiously. Nothing stood out to her, and there seemed to be nothing significant about the room at all.

"Okay," she called out, "what is it ye brought me here for?" She heard the murmuring whisper once again which caused her to whip quickly around. She did not see a wisp but a faint blue glow flickering behind a tapestry that hung beside the fireplace. Merida walked forward and studied the tapestry. It merely depicted a map of Dunbroch and nothing significant stood out to her about it. On the map itself were pictures of significant places in Dunbroch, such as, Dunbroch castle, the village, the Fire Falls, Dragon's Loch, and the ancient standing stones. Though she saw nothing unusual, the tiny blue flickering glow persisted from behind the tapestry.

"I don't understand," Merida called out, "what is it that ye want me to see?" The wisp materialized suddenly in front of the tapestry, startling Merida and causing her to jump back. The wisp then slowly faded into the tapestry until it had completely vanished behind it once more, giving off it's eerie blue glow from behind the fabric. It suddenly dawned on Merida.

"Behind the tapestry," she muttered. She quickly grabbed the edge of the tapestry and lifted it away from the wall. The wisp was floating in front of one of the stones in the wall. Still perplexed Merida leaned closer to the stone just as the wisp vanished completely. Upon closer inspection she notice a small carving on the very corner of the stone. Her heart nearly froze mid-beat in her chest when she realized it was the same strange upside down key symbol that was carved into her pendent.

"What in the world," Merida muttered. She reached her hand out to touch the stone and realized it was loose. She tediously pulled the loose stone from the wall and found a hidden space behind it. There she found some sort of journal and a leather bound sketchbook. She carefully pulled the items from their hiding spot. Each book was covered in what seemed like a centuries worth of dust. She brought them out from behind the tapestry and set them upon the writing desk at the other end of the room. She plopped down in the desk chair to get a better look at them. As she brushed the layers of dust from their covers, she noticed the journal had the same Celtic symbol as was on her pendent etched into its cover. She wondered if these items both belonged to her great great grandmother. She then turned her attention to the sketchbook. On it's cover she noticed three letter H's scratched into the top left corner. She gently traced the letters with her fingers as she pondered their meaning. She opened the cover of the book and began to leaf through its yellowed pages.

The sketches she found within were amazingly detailed and strikingly beautiful. They depicted some foreign land she had never seen before. There were small wooden buildings and strange people. The people almost reminded her of the pictures she'd seen of Vikings in her history books, except these people didn't look like crazed evil lunatics out for blood. Rather they looked like normal everyday people going about their normal everyday business. There were many landscapes, some of Viking longships, and even some sketches of dragons.

Suddenly she was distracted by the sound of her mother calling her from the hall. She quickly collected the items and ran to the door clutching them behind her back. She opened the door quickly, just as her mother walked by.

"Oh," Elinor jumped in fright. She relaxed at the sight of Merida, "oh, Merida, ye scared the daylights out of me!"

"Sorry mum," Merida grinned cheekily.

"I've been looking all over for ye dear," Elinor said, "what are ye doing in here."

"Nothing," Merida replied quickly, "I just..I've been curious about great great nana, so I thought I'd look around in her sitting room."

Elinor smiled at her daughter.

"Well," she replied, "I'm glad to see ye are taking such an interest in Dunbroch history."

"I found quite a bit about her in the study," Merida replied, "from what I read she was very interesting."

"Aye she was quite the inspiration.," Elinor replied.

"Did ye know, that she ruled alone for many years after she was widowed young," Merida went on.

"Aye," Elinor smiled," her first born son was far too young to take the throne so she ruled until he came of age."

"She is certainly more interesting then I thought she'd be," Merida replied.

"Did ye find anything of interest in her sitting room," Elinor asked.

"Uh, no," Merida replied clutching the items she'd found tighter behind her back," not really." She smiled nervously. Elinor gazed at her daughter curiously for a moment.

"Well," Elinor sighed,"I know it's yer free day today, but I'd like to spend the morning with ye before ye head off with Angus. Why don't ye come down to breakfast."

"Sure mum," Merida replied, "I'll be right down...uh, but I forgot my bow. It's in my room, I'll go and get it and I'll be right down."

She quickly exited the room and headed down the hall in the opposite direction while keeping the items she'd found hidden from view.

Elinor took a step inside the old sitting room and glanced around curiously. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, Elinor shrugged and walked out pulling the door shut behind her.

Merida ran into her room and quickly shut the door behind her. She quickly shoved the two books into a satchel, she then grabbed her bow, quiver and cloak and quickly headed to the dining hall. She took her usual route through the kitchen grabbing a few shiny red apples for Angus along the way.

As she made her way to her place at the table, Merida found her mother reading letters from the neighboring clans, her brothers looking bored and playing with their haggis and her father was slipping table scraps to the dogs. Merida sat down without a word and grabbed a sweet roll for herself.

"Fergus," Elinor said as she handed her husband the letter in her hand, "it seems there's been another report of a dragon like creature flying around near Dingwall's territory.

"A dragon," Merida replied with a full mouth of food. She swallowed the bit of food in her mouth quickly," Mum, did ye just say clan Dingwall saw a dragon?" Fergus chuckled.

"Tall tales I'm sure lass," the king replied, "and knowing Dingwall, an apparition brought on by too much ale."

"I don't know Fergus," Elinor replied, this is the third report of such a sighting, there could be something more too it. This time Lord Dingwall claims one of his guards thought he saw a rider on the back of the beast."

To this Fergus burst out laughing, "a rider; they're drunkards, the whole lot of em!"

"Fergus," Elinor scolded.

"There hasn't been a dragon in Dunbroch in nearly three hundred years," Fergus chuckled," let alone one with a rider. The last of the beasts were wiped out when my great nana was still a young lass."

"Great great Nana saw real dragons," Merida asked curiously.

"Aye," Fergus replied, "she used to tell me stories about the beasts. Mindless devils they were, terrorizing the countryside, stealing livestock, burning down villages. They were like...like Mor'du with wings and fiery breath. No mortal man could tame one let alone ride one!" He chuckled again in spite of himself.

"What did they do," Haemish chimed in.

"Aye, Dad," Hubert asked, "how did they get rid of all the dragons?"

"Well, your great great great grand-da, King Haemish," Fergus replied, "knew of a clan of Vikings who were well known for their skills at fighting and killing dragons. So he sent a messenger to ask them for their help."

All three boys gazed at their father in awe.

"He asked vikings for help," Merida questioned skeptically.

"Aye," Fergus replied, "according to great nana, King Haemish and the Viking Chief of Berk were friends. As a favor to Dunbroch the Berkians came to rid our land of the beasts." As her father spoke Merida's mind drifted to the sketchbook she had just found in Mairead's sitting room, in particular the sketches of the Viking like people. She wondered if the drawings were of the Vikings of Berk.

"For a long time Dunbroch and Berk had an alliance," Fergus continued, "they were as close to Dunbroch as Dingwall, Macintosh and MacGuffin; but it wasn't to last."

"What happened Dad," Merida asked curiously.

"Well that part is a bit foggy," Fergus replied, "from what I can remember, great Nana said that there was some some sort of disagreement between great great grand-da and the chief of the Vikings that could not be resolved."

"What sort of a disagreement could have caused them to dissolve their alliance," Merida questioned.

"I don't rightly know," Fergus shrugged, "whatever it was, it must've been pretty bad, because King Haemish declared the Vikings banished from ever returning to Dunbroch."

"Banished," Merida questioned in surprise.

"Aye, I've looked many times for the answers myself," Fergus replied but alas the only thing written about the whole ordeal was the decree of banishment by King Haemish itself, there was no mention of why the decree was made."

"So nobody knows why the Vikings were banished," Merida questioned.

"Aye," Fergus replied, "great nana was the last alive of those who'd have known anything about it, the last of those who were actually there and she never spoke of it. I could never find anything on my own," Fergus continued, "I imagine if ever anything was written about it, it's been long lost to history."

"What happened to Berk," Hubert asked, "after they were banished?"

"Dunbroch cut all ties with Berk," Fergus replied, "till this day nobody knows."

...

Later

Merida rode until she reached the standing stones. She didn't know why the wil o' the wisp had led her to the hidden items behind the castle wall and she was seeking answers. Having first seen the wisp in the stone circle and knowing it was considered sacred ground, she figured it was a good place to start. If anything, maybe the wisps would be more likely to reappear to her there. It was a long shot but she had to try something.

When she finally arrived, she brought Angus to a halt and leapt down from the massive horse. She removed her satchel and walked into the middle of the circle.

"I have the items ye led me to," she called out into the empty air, "what do I do now?" She waited a few moments but nothing happened. She huffed as she plopped down beside on of the large stones.

"I'll sit here all night if I must," she called out. She reached into the satchel and pulled out the sketchbook. She leaned her back up against the stone as she once again began to flip through its pages gazing at each beautifully detailed picture. She paused when she came across a surprising sketch.

It depicted a young maiden sitting at the edge of the bluffs of Dunbroch, gazing out at the horizon. Her long curly hair blowing behind her and a dreamy look in her eyes. Merida recognized the place immediately.

There was no question this maiden was Mairead, but this sketch was much different than her much more regal portrait that hung upon the castle wall. Mairead looked happy and free in this sketch. Merida wondered who had drawn it with such admiration behind their pen.

"Angus," she exclaimed, "this is a picture of great great nana, I'm sure of it!" The horse huffed in response.

"Oh what do ye know," Merida replied as she quickly shut the book. She put it down beside her and then searched her bag for the apples she had packed earlier. She handed one to Angus.

"Here boy," she said as she took a bite of her own apple. She wiped the juice from her mouth with her sleeve as she reached into the satchel once more and pulled out the other book.

"I'm sure this journal is Nana's she muttered to herself. She leaned back upon the stone pillar once more, opened the book and began to read.

...

Father has invited the Viking clan of Berk to our kingdom in hopes they may help to rid us of the dragons that plague our land.

Mother is concerned about the whole idea. She says Vikings are nothing more than unruly drunkards and troublesome hooligans who chase women and start fights. Honestly they sound exactly like Scotsman if ye ask me.

...

As she read her grandmothers words, Merida chuckled nearly spitting out the bite of apple she had just taken. She continued to read.

...

Dad says he knows the chief of Berk. He says they fought together once and have been friends since. He says the clan of Berk is different than most Viking clans. I guess they don't raid or pillage. But they are known for hunting dragons.

...

"Just like Dad said," Merida mumbled to herself. She flipped forward a few pages in the journal and began to read another entry.

...

The Vikings have arrived! I have to say, they are much different than I expected. To hear my mother speak of them, ye would think them to be a bunch of bloodthirsty mercenaries with poor hygiene and murder in their eyes, but they seem to me to be fairly normal people. The have strange clothes and strange names but they are really just like us. They are boisterous and loud much like most Scots I know.

Their chief, Halvar the Terrible, reminds me a lot of Dad. I think even mum was surprised by these Vikings.

The chief's son is about my age. His name is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock. What a mouthful his name is, but he is quite handsome though. He is well-mannered and polite and seems very nice. Imagine that, a well mannered Viking! Dad said it would be good if he and I could get acquainted. Especially if our people are to have an alliance. Tomorrow I'm to show him around the kingdom.

...

"Hiccup Horrendous Haddock," Merida muttered. She picked up the sketchbook and examined the three H's scratched into its cover.

"This must've been his book," she thought aloud, "he must've been the artist." It made sense, the book was filled with pictures of a foreign land, Viking like people and dragons.

"He must've been showing great great nana his home," Merida said to herself. She put down the sketchbook and turned her attention back to the journal. She flipped further ahead and continued to read.

...

Today was the first day in months that I was allowed to go riding, now that the dragons are finally under control. Baylor was thrilled to get out of his stable and run at full gallop again. We rode to the bluffs and to my surprise I came upon Hiccup practicing archery. He showed me how and even let me shoot some! Mum would be beside herself if she knew. She thinks it's not lady like to own a bow let alone shoot one! Hiccup said in his clan women know how to fight as well as the men. What I wouldn't give to see that.

...

Merida smirked as she read Mairead's words. Perhaps she and her were more alike than she had previously thought. She turned ahead a few more pages.

...

Hiccup is the opposite of everything I've ever been told about Vikings. He is charming and sweet and practically a gentleman. He treats and speaks to me as an equal instead of just an inferior girl, which is more then I can say for Callum. My betrothed barely takes notice if me. He is far to busy sucking up to my Dad all the time. I swear the only interest he had in me is the throne.

Hiccup on the other hand, actually listens to me. He doesn't just pretend to care about my opinion either, he actually takes interest. He is just so different than any boy I have ever known, not to mention handsome. His smile is infectious and his eyes are as green as the highlands in Spring. Whenever he looks at me, I swear my knees go weak. The way he looks at me makes me feel like I'm the only girl in Dunbroch. Every time I see him I just feel so nervous, my heart beats fast and it feels like there are a million butterflies fluttering around in my gut! He sees me for who I am and not just what I am. It's so nice to spend time with someone who actually listens to me and takes an interest in what I have to say.

...

Merida could feel her cheeks flush as she read her great great grandmother's words. She sighed dreamily as she closed the book. Angus nuzzled her looking for another apple.
"Ye know Angus," she said, "if I didn't know any better, I'd say great great nana had a wee crush on this viking boy. The horse whinnied impatiently.

"Oh what do ye know," Merida huffed. She pulled another apple from her bag and tossed it to the ornery horse. She chuckled as she watched Angus happily munch his apple. She then picked up the journal and continued to read.