Chapter 1

"Once upon a time, there was a lovely princess. She was stolen away by a dragon sent by an evil witch. She was locked away in the highest room, of the tallest tower, in a castle far away from her home. The castle that was her prison was guarded by the terrible fire-breathing dragon."

...

Three red-haired boys lay piled in one bed, listening intently as their mother told them a bedtime story.

...

"Many a brave knight had attempted to free the poor helpless maiden from her dreadful prison, but none prevailed. So the princess waited in the dragon's keep for the day her prince, a knight in shining armor would come to slay the beast and set her free."

...

"Aye!" The bedroom door suddenly burst open, causing all three boys to jump and nearly tumble from the bed in sudden fear. All three breathed a sigh of relief as their sister entered the room and took over their mother's story.

"But her prince proved a wee lamb in the face of the dragon. The dragon burned him alive right where he stood. So the princess had to escape on her own."

Merida leapt atop the bed and ripped the sheets from under the boys causing them to tumble over in a fit of giggles. She quickly looped the sheet over the hanging chandelier and dramatically swung to the bed across the room.

"She escaped from her tower..." Merida carefully walked along the edge of the bed as if it were a thin wall.

"She leapt from the high wall and landed in the courtyard!"

Merida leapt from the bed and landed in the middle of the room on one knee. The boys giggled excitedly as they all tumbled forward to see what their sister would do next.

Elinor shook her head in amusement of her daughter's dramatic antics.

"There she was, in the midst of her terrible scaly captor! The dragon glared at the princess, but the princess glared right back!" Slowly Merida stood glaring defiantly at her invisible foe.

"Just as the dragon went for her, the princess rolled out of the way." Merida instantly acted out her tale.

"She pried the sword from the prince's cold dead hand and slayed the beast!" Merida plunged her invisible sword through the imaginary dragon's heart. The boys hooted and hollered with excitement.

"Merida," Elinor interjected firmly while trying to hold back a laugh, "must ye rile them up before bed?" Merida looked to her mother and then to her brothers who were now slaying each other in dramatic fashion with their own imaginary swords. Merida stifled a giggle.

"Sorry mum," she replied in amusement, "I'll get the wee devils to bed." Elinor smiled at her daughter.

"Thank ye dear," Elinor replied as she stood and headed for the door.

"Oh and Merida," she went on.

"Aye mum," Merida said.

"Meet me in the study when yer finished," Elinor replied, "yer father and I have something for ye." Merida nodded as her mother exited and closed the door behind her.

"Alright boys," Merida said firmly, "that's enough bloodshed for tonight, to bed with ye now!"

—

Later that night

Merida headed to the study as her mother had instructed, but she found the room empty at the moment. She lazily walked about the room, glancing at the shelves of books and the paintings and tapestries that lined the walls.

She paused as she passed the completed tapestry of her family and smiled. It had been almost four years since the bear incident and a lot had changed since the bond between mother and daughter had been mended. Merida and her mother had never been closer. Though they still had their squabbles here and there, they now were far and few between.

Of course she still had to suffer through princess lessons in preparation for her eventual and hopefully distant assent to the throne. But she had found that her mother was much more lax in her lessons and much more accepting of who Merida was. Elinor was less intent on molding Merida into someone that she just wasn't meant to be.

Though Merida still was somewhat hesitant of her inevitable future as the Queen of Dunbroch, she had come to accept her fate. She was intent on ruling in her own way when the time eventually came.

She sighed heavily as she paused before the grand fireplace. In her boredom she grabbed the poker from it's holder and began to stir the ash of the fire. She turned suddenly with poker in hand as if it were a sword. She quickly dodged and parried her invisible opponent with expert precision. She paused suddenly, pointing her "sword" straight at the large painting above the fireplace.

The painting depicted her great great grandmother, Queen Mairead the first born queen of Dunbroch. Merida dropped her arm at her side, stood up tall and bowed her head slightly.

"M'lady," she said politely as she dropped the poker back in it's place.

The image of the past queen in her younger days was beautiful. Mairead was regal and elegant, the perfect image of a lady and queen. It was a wonder to Merida that she had been named for her. She was nothing like her namesake aside from a striking resemblance and the same fiery red hair.

Merida simply could not see herself being even half as lady like or proper as her predecessor seemed to be.

"Beautiful isn't she." Merida turned to find her mother standing beside her.

"Aye," Merida replied gazing once more up at the painting.

"A fair and noble queen she was," Elinor replied.

"Did ye know her," Merida asked.

"No, she passed long before yer father and I were betrothed," Elinor replied,"but from what I've read of her she was quite an inspiration. Ye should feel proud to be of her bloodline."

"Bet she was a proper lady," Merida replied.

"Aye, that she was," Fergus' voice echoed into the room, "and a feisty one at that." He walked up beside his wife and daughter and gazed lovingly up at the painting of his beloved great grandmother.

"That woman would tell ye like it was, whether ye liked it or not," Fergus chuckled, "even when my father was king, she wouldn't hesitate to call him a dunce if she didn't agree with him." Merida marveled.

"Even though I didn't know her long," Fergus replied, "my memories of her will last a lifetime."

"Were ye close then," Merida questioned.

"Aye," Fergus replied, "I loved her so."

"I loved her stories best of all," Fergus replied, with a nostalgic look on his face, "they were exciting and full of adventure...I thought that woman would live forever." Fergus turned from the painting and gazed lovingly at his daughter.

"Ye remind me of her so much lass," Fergus smiled.

"Because of my red hair," Merida replied.

"Aye," her father chuckled, "and yer fiery spirit!" Merida smiled brightly at her father's comment.

"We have something for ye, Merida," Elinor interrupted.

"Aye," Fergus remembered. He walked over to a wooden chest at the opposite end of the room. He opened it and carefully pulled forth a small wooden box and brought it over to Merida.

"This was your great great nana's most prized possession." He opened the box, revealing a hand carved oblong silver pendent. Merida gazed at it as she carefully lifted the pendent from the box. The pendent shone like silver but it was much heavier, it was forged in iron. Upon it was carved an intricate symbol of two hearts interwoven into a celtic knot. She recognized it as the Celtic symbol for soul mates. As she turned the pendent over in her fingers she found a second symbol carved on the back that was foreign to her. It looked almost like an upside down key.

She furrowed her brow in curiosity as she traced the symbol with her finger.

"What is this symbol Dad," she asked as she looked up at her father.

"That I'm not sure lass," he replied, 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." Merida gazed at the strange symbol as her father spoke, tracing its intricate lines with her finger. For some reason the symbol intrigued her and seemed strangely familiar as if she had seen it a hundred times before but had forgotten it until this very moment, and yet its meaning eluded her. It felt almost as if she were recalling something she had once seen in some long forgotten dream.

"When I was just a wee lad," Fergus said, "sometimes great nana and I would ride to the bluffs to have a picnic. 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."

"How sad," Merida sighed glancing up at her father briefly. She turned her attention back to the pendent.

"She gave it to me when she passed, and now I'm giving it to ye," Fergus replied with a smile.

"Really," Merida smiled. Fergus nodded.

"Consider it a belated birthday present," he replied. Merida turned and held her red curls up as her father draped the chain around her neck and clasped it behind her. When she turned to face him, her father beamed.

"There," he said lovingly, "if she isn't the spittin' image." Merida smiled as she clutched the pendent.

"It's lovely on ye dear," Elinor said, "of course I had hoped it would be a wedding present."

"Oh mum," Merida playfully huffed.

"Hush now dear," Elinor replied with a smile, "I just want ye to be happy."

"Well I don't need to be married to be happy mum," Merida replied. Fergus just chuckled at their usual banter.

"Ye know Merida," Elinor replied, "someday ye may feel differently about marriage."

"Not any day soon," Merida replied. Her mother just smiled and shook her head.

She walked up to her daughter and gently brushed her unruly curls back from her face. She gazed at her daughter for a long moment. It seemed almost as if she wanted to say something but was heavily weighing the words to choose.

"Well it's late," Elinor said, "ye should get to bed if ye want to be up bright and early for yer lessons.

"Mum," Merida whined, "I thought ye changed yer mind after the bear incident!"

"Aye," Elinor smiled as she headed for the door, "ye can marry who ye choose in yer own time, I didn't say anything about relenting on yer lessons."

"Goodnight mum," Merida moaned.

"Goodnight dear," Elinor replied. Elinor left the study pulling the door closed behind her. Merida sighed heavily as she turned back to her father.

"Don't mind yer mother Merida," Fergus said, "she only wants ye to find happiness."

"Well, I am happy Dad," Merida replied.

"Ye know what I mean lass," Fergus replied, "she wants ye to find the kind of happiness that she and I have, she wants ye to find love."

"I know, I know," Merida sighed. Without thinking she clutched the pendent that hung around her neck, as if it were a habit she'd had for years. She sighed once more and looked up to her father.

"It's not that I don't want those things at all," Merida replied, "I mean, I do, eventually, some day, maybe. I mean, I do think about it sometimes but I definitely don't think it's something I'll find with any of the lords sons." She huffed as she flopped down into a cozy arm chair beside the fire.

"Aye, that may be true lass," Fergus chuckled, "they are a bit full of themselves, aren't they."

"That's an understatement dad," Merida replied. Fergus chuckled again. He sat down in the armchair beside her.

"And that's not even the worst part," Merida groaned, "whenever they visit they just treat me like I'm some stupid girl that should be impressed with all they say and do." Fergus chuckled.

"Believe it or not, I was the same way," Fergus chuckled, "I was always tryin" to impress yer mother.

"What did ye need to impress her for, ye were betrothed weren't ye," Merida replied. "Betrothed or not I still wanted her to like me, I was lucky my betrothed was the most beautiful woman in all of Scotland. Yer mother weren't so lucky she got me!"

"Dad," Merida laughed, "don't say that, mum was just as lucky, she could a got a ego driven jerk."

"Well I probably did seem like that at first. I tried like mad to impress her with my brute strength any chance I got," Fergus went on, "until I realized she didn't care at all for brute strength. She just wanted someone to connect with, she wanted me just to treat her as equal. That's when I realized how special she truly was, she wasn't like any of the other girls at all. I got lucky with a one in a million." Merida smiled up at her father.

"So instead of doing all manner of stupid things to impress her, I just became her friend, and we only grew closer from there."

"I never had a friend," Merida said thoughtfully, "besides Angus. I guess I never thought about it much before."

"Well ye've always followed yer own path. lass," Fergus replied, "Yer independent, self reliant, those are all very good things, but someday ye may want something more, ye may find ye want someone to walk the path with ye. Someone that cares for ye, that ye laugh with, someone that challenges ye, and is not afraid to tell ye yer wrong." Merida sighed as her father spoke.

"Yer not a wee lass anymore," Fergus went on, "ye may find that day come sooner than ye think."

"Maybe," she sighed.

"Now I know ye can be as bullheaded as any Scotsman" Fergus replied, "but to find love ye need to keep yer heart opened to the possibility. Merida sighed once more as she silently pondered her father's words. He leaned forward and grasped her hands gently in reassurance.

"So what yer sayin' is now that I'm grown I need to change myself" Merida replied, "I'm just supposed to pander to a boy so I don't end up alone!" Fergus chuckled.

"Not in the least," Fergus replied, "You stay the same fiery, free spirit ye've always been lass, since the day ye were born, and the boy should pander to ye!" Merida gazed at her father as she pondered his words.

"All I'm saying lass, is to just live with an open heart. If ye keep yer heart opened to at least the possibility, then love will be sure to find ye in time, maybe even when ye least expect it." Merida sighed softly as she absentmindedly fiddled with the pendent around her neck.

Fergus smiled at the sight. It was true how much she resembled his great nana, both in looks and mannerisms.

"Alright lass," he sighed finally, "off to bed with ye, I don't want yer mother cross, Lord knows I'll never hear the end of it." Merida giggled as she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around her father's neck in a quick hug.

"Thanks Dad," she said as she stood from her chair, "for everything."

"I love ye lass," Fergus replied.

"I love ye too dad, she replied as she headed toward the door.

"I do sympathize with him though," Fergus called out. Merida turned back to her father with a befuddled look on her face.

"Who," she questioned. Fergus chuckled.

"The poor sap that wins yer heart," he replied, "whoever he be, Lord knows he has his work cut out for him." Merida smiled as she put her hands on her hips.

"As well he should," she replied boldly. Fergus laughed heartily at her comment.

"Aye," he replied, "any lad worthy of my daughter ought to be put through the ringer."

...

footnote: Inspiration for Merida's pendent is from The Illusionist's locket.