Author's Note: This is my first time posting on Wednesday, let me know if you guys like the two day postings or if just Sunday is ok. Reviews are always appreciated!

As always a special thanks to the fabulous MaidenoftheSummer on Reddit for reading and giving me her valuable opinion.

Culture Note: nothing specific!

Merida looked at the letters addressed to her. Lord Dingwall and his son were quick to write back to her. Lord Macintosh wrote but unless his son's letter was stuffed in with his, Ryan hadn't written back yet.

Three local landowners had written back to her.

She felt her happiness elate as she saw letters from her family. Her brothers had her name in sloppy handwriting on the outside of a letter now that they were learning to write; so hopefully more would be coming from them. Her dad even wrote as well and she couldn't wait to read them first. At the bottom of the pile was a letter from her mum.

While angry at her mother she thought of Ian's words. Maybe if she didn't engage with her for a little bit she would be up to talking to her.

So she separated her mail. Answer immediately would be the land owners along with her father and brothers.

This week was the lords and their sons.

Anytime was her mother. She didn't notice Vevina's eyebrows shoot up on her forehead at where she placed the last one. Merida saw the page that delivered the mail head out and paused. She excused herself saying that she needed a break and followed the boy.

"Hi," she said breathlessly as the page stopped for her. "There's a letter in there that I need to triple check, it's going to clan DunBroch."

The boy nodded and opened his bag. There were about thirty or so letters; people writing to loved ones or as far as the Dingwall clan. She skimmed over the names on the outside and found the one Vevina had addressed to her mother. She hoped that the letter was just about her and no other important information. Carefully she opened the seal and checked the letter. Yep. This one was about her progress so far and just about her.

"As I suspected no good," said Merida tsking and shaking her head as if she was the one who wrote it. "I'll have to rewrite and send another later. Go ahead and deliver the others. Thank you for your services."

The boy brightened up as he nodded and whistled as he walked away. She made sure she was alone before finding a comfy spot behind a tree facing the brook and bridge before she sat down to read. She didn't want her mother to know anything and she was determined to keep it up if she had to. She was also curious to know what Vevina had said about her.

Skimming over the formalities she got what she wanted to know.

Merida is a captivating and spirited young woman. Your training has evidently been effective, and I am confident she will have a positive impact on Una. Owen and Ewan appear quite enchanted with her, and it is clear that Ian is deeply taken by her; their union holds the potential to develop into a sincere and affectionate relationship akin to the one you and Fergus share. Kevin and I find great pleasure in her company and look forward to furthering our acquaintance with her. I have provided a detailed account…

Merida felt a slight elation of pride at those words as she touched the dried ink smiling. Her stomach clenched slightly when she reread great influence. Some influence, keeping the letter from being delivered. Maybe she'll send the letter in a few weeks.

Vevina also seemed to hint that she knew the marriage wasn't one of love and affection, but that seemed par for the course. A lot of young ladies in her position got married without even knowing their partner. Heck if she hadn't raised a fit she'd be in clan Dingwall instead.

Merida also paused at the words smitten and love match. She knew that she wanted love like her parents have some day. That's one reason why she asked to switch to begin with and have some say about her marriage. She could read between the lines and see that Vevina alluded to her parents not starting out in love. She'd have to be clever and sneak a question about that when they were alone.

She reread the line about Ian being smitten. If she was correct, smitten meant struck with strong feelings of attraction, affection, or infatuation. She pursed her lips and looked away from the letter at the fallen leaves. She'd only been here for a month and couldn't imagine how he could have strong feelings for her. Sure she'd chosen him and he had qualities she liked, but was it love? She liked him wasn't that enough? Was she the type of person he liked?

Merida put a hand on her head and groaned. It really shouldn't be this complicated. She already went this far as she read the rest of the letter.

Which was enlightening - while her mother seemed to only find fault in her boyish ways Vevina seemed to find them endearing and always had something positive to say. Even when she critiqued her in the notes such as when her mind wandered or got too far ahead of herself.

After reading the notes once more she pocketed the letter. She'd have to make sure to hide it well as she made a beeline to her room. Vevina probably wouldn't even notice if the return letter came back later or not. She was busy planning Annabel's birthday in the next couple of weeks.

"You seem to be in a hurry," said Ian as she saw him and she blushed.

"I just was going to take a nap while I had the time," she said, not exactly lying. She could feel a headache coming on and probably could lie down.

"Ok," he said, not looking concerned. "I can get someone to bring something for you to eat when you get up."

She blinked and gave him a smile as she nodded.

"That would be great, thanks."

He turned directions from the stables to the kitchens. Before she could stop herself she called his name to wait.

"Ian," she said slightly out of breath. "Mind if I go with you?"

"Of course," he said a blush on his face. "I'd love to spend more time with you."

++++++Meanwhile Back At Home++++++

At the head of the table sat Fergus playing with the dogs. They were yapping and watching the bone in his hand ready to grab it with their teeth. To his right sat Elinor with one of the triplets next to her. The other two across from them. Except for the chewing and the dogs barking, it was silent. Merida was sorely missing from the table, and it was weird to have Moira there.

"Why the long faces?" asked Elinor, watching her boys.

"I miss Merida," said Hamish, playing with his food.

"Me too," said Hubert, actively eating everything else but the haggis.

"She's coming back soon, right?" asked Harris, "I mean she's not dead, just married."

"It'll be a while, we need to let her settle in and we can go and visit. Or we can have her over for the Yule-" started Elinor.

"The Yule?! That's 6 months from now. Why," said the mixture of the three boys. Even Fergus looked a little down at hearing that.

"There's a lot to prepare before we travel that far," said Elinor calmly. "I promise that you'll be able to see her."

"But not too soon," said Grandmother Moira as Maudie put tarts on the table.

"That's dumb," said Harris. "Why couldn't we go with her?"

"Or have Young MacGuffin stay with us?" asked Hubert.

"Well, he's in training to be a lord by his own father and to do that, they need to be on their own lands. As for you, going with her wouldn't be right. You're going to be training one day to be Lord DunBroch. In a couple of years you'll be learning from your father and uncle Sean, that's why your grandmother is here."

"And you have been doing fabulous," said Moira, nodding at them. "Soon you'll be able to write many letters to her without any assistance. Hubert, you have such lovely handwriting already."

He scowled and mumbled something under his breath and Moira gave him a sharp look. He quieted down immediately and ate everything but his haggis. Their writing lessons were going well at least. Arithmetic lessons seemed to be a breeze. The reading lessons were a difficult subject for them.

"Ma'am here's the" said Maudie with a plate and the mail on it.

Throwing all sense of decorum out, Elinor grabbed the letters from the plate without so much as a thank you. Her mother admonished her for being rude but went unheard. Something from Lord Dingwall, several land owners, her brother, and one of her maids who was on leave right now. Nothing from clan MacGuffin about or from Merida.

She looked helplessly over to Fergus, her mother, and the triplets and shook her head.

"It's been a little over a month, let her settle in," said Grandmother Moira.

"It's not that, Vevina said that she's sending a progress report," said Elinor, biting her bottom lip.

Merida seemed to respect and like Ian not to cause fighting within his family. And Vevina was always good about sending letters when problems arose and when happy news happened. She should have a letter about Merida now.

"You think that's wise m'dear?" asked Fergus. "She might not appreciate being reported on."

"It's more for my benefit than hers."

"Elinor, Merida is a grown adult woman who has a new life now," chided Moira. "She's not a child who you can try to parent from another clan. Send advice if you must but do not expect reports. Respect her autonomy and trust that she is handling her new responsibilities as best she can. She's going through the same thing you did."

She silently fumed as she remembered they did not really go through the same thing. Merida was "persuaded" into a marriage. If Elinor could have, she would have gotten married a lot sooner as she shared a look with Fergus remembering how that went and their first alone time together.

"You want to get married sooner?" asked Fergus looking at her surprised and grinned. After all, she was very pretty eyeing her shapely hips and he would enjoy her company everyday. He had three brothers back at home and no sisters, so a woman's touch was something he needed in his life. "I guess I really impressed you then."

She didn't smile and instead she sighed looking back down at her letter. A little offended he just watched her work as she kept her eyes trained on the paper in front of her.

"Here's the thing," she said looking up at him finally. "I really want to leave home. My mother and I don't get along and the sooner I get away from her, the better. My mother wants us to court for a year and if I could shorten that I would."

"She can't be that bad," said Fergus thinking of the imposing woman as he thought about it and started to believe her. "What does she do?"

"It's what she doesn't do honestly," said Elinor. "She doesn't comfort me when I need it, she doesn't talk to me about my feelings, and she doesn't ask for my opinion."

That sounded unnecessarily harsh as Fergus reached out to hold her hand.

"I'd be happy to ask about your feelings, opinions, and give comfort. What are you thinking right now?"

Her cheeks turned bright pink at his sudden declaration. Fergus watched her with a grin on his face.

"I'm thinking that," she said, pausing and looking him up and down with a smile. "You surprise me."

"And that's a good thing right?" asked Fergus. "After all, we are going to be married and surprises are part of marriage right?"

She blinked wondering where he heard that. Perhaps that was something that was said in Clan DunBroch? Or he made it up right on the spot? Either way she was a little amused and giggled.

"You have a pretty laugh," he said, sliding closer to her. "And even prettier eyes."

"You're a flirt," she said, snorting a little in her laugh.

"Well we've been engaged for a week," he said defensively, "And I want to get to know you and show you that I think you're special."

Oh that was forward as Elinor felt flustered as something in her chest fluttered. She scooted down the table a little away from him all of a sudden feeling nervous. Elinor found herself playing with her hair; which probably made her look more coy then she really felt.

"Why don't you tell me more about you?" asked Elinor, straightening herself out. "What's your family like? We could make it a game, I ask you a question and then you can ask me a question. No rules and total honesty. Deal?"

"Deal," he said standing and helped her stand.

Suspiciously she took his hand and he helped her up out of her seat.

"So my first question is am I allowed to touch you?" asked Fergus, a tinkle in his eye.

"I suppose so," she said, a little suspicious.

"Great," he said as she felt him smack her butt as a surprise and escaped her lips. "You have a cute rump m'dear."

She couldn't help but laugh as her face turned scarlet. Elinor ran a hand across her face to cover her smile showing him that she liked it.

"Ask away."

Elinor sighed as she rubbed her head. She had other duties to attend to before turning to the letter from Lord Dingwall and then read it twice. Finally a third read as a small smile spread across her face.

"You look pretty happy, m'dear," said Fergus. "What did Dingwall write?"

"He said that Merida has sent him a letter starting a correspondence with him and his family. Saying that it's a way to strengthen clan bonds and get to know each other. Vevina's idea I assume, she writes to everyone."

"Good influence," said Moira, nodding approvingly at the act.

"At least I'll have some idea of what she's up to in the meantime. Although it's not much, just that she's learning a lot and Vevina's a good teacher."

"She'll learn plenty," said Fergus. "Vevina is a fine shot from what I remember."

"What are you talking about?" asked Moira, giving him a questioning look.

"Nothing," he said innocently.

"Fergus," said Elinor impatiently.

"She's a good shot," said Fergus, "she's a warrior's daughter and great with a dagger. Vev's even beat me a few times. Merida'll fit right in."

Elinor put her hand on her forehead, she had completely forgotten that detail about Lady MacGuffin. The lords didn't have to worry as much about marrying at their station. As long as the person was of good breeding, it wasn't as important.

In fact, the longer that she thought about Vevina the more she could remember of her, she felt something twist in her. Something that felt like jealousy as she tried to brush that off. Vevina MacGuffin did a lot of things that she knew Merida would admire.

"What else do you know about her?" asked Moira as the triplets seemed to have stopped paying attention.

"She's good with a sword too," he said, making a face to think about.

"Personality wise?" asked Moira, exasperated.

"All I know is that she bested all of us with a dagger before. My dad was impressed by her."

"Your father is impressed by many things my dear," said Moira. "Do you think Merida is in a good clan or not? I mean I'm impressed with Lord and Young MacGuffin but I unfortunately have not met his wife."

"If I had to pick Merida's suitor myself I would have picked him," said Fergus, throwing his hands up frustrated - first it was just Vevina now it was about the clan. "Clan MacGuffin has the next strongest army besides our own. Vevina is friendly and agreeable."

"You would have picked him?" asked Moira, mildly surprised. "Well that explains a lot. I hear women marry men like their fathers and you must have seen something in him. Fergus, was MacGuffin the one you'd spend time giggling over axes and swords?"

"We did not giggle, it's a chortle, a manly chortle."

Across the table Harris, Hamish, and Hubert's eyes went from watching their grandmother, father, and mother all either banter or argue all of a sudden interested in what they were saying. They weren't exactly sure what was going on. They definitely weren't exactly on the friendliest terms though.

"You spent your time laughing together," said Moira as she could vividly remember the games for her daughter's hand.

"Vevina is," said Elinor as her mother turned to look at her and even Fergus looked at her. "Vevina is agreeable and friendly, yes. She didn't grow up the most traditional way with five older brothers. She's a bit of a gossip but she gets the information she needs, I'm told that she is good at picking out lies."

Moira looked at her as Elinor shrugged. She had to dig in her mind about her personality. They had met once when they were younger when Kevin married her. Briefly she wondered if Merida could replace her with her mother-in-law. That wasn't possible right, she shook her head no, as if that was possible.

"Now can we talk about anything other than Merida or Clan MacGuffin right now," said Fergus.

"Really about what?" asked Elinor, ready to be enlightened with a small smile having an idea where this will go.

"Maybe how you and I can spend more time together," he said, giving her a wink and leaned in to whisper. "Merida is gone, your mum is teaching, why don't you and I have a little fun ourselves."

The triplets pretended to gag making faces at their parents for being lovey dovey in front of them.

"Please no flirting at the table," said Moira, pursing her lips putting down her spoon.

"It's my table," said Fergus, turning to her looking annoyed. "I can flirt with my wife as much as I want. You can't always control her or us."

Moira looked taken aback and the triplets turned to look at their father. He was never this way with their grandmother and didn't go looking for a verbal fight. Elinor flushed as she reached over and put a hand on his shoulder. He was only trying to defend her.

"Well I never…"

"That's it, I'm declaring the next three hours as time for my wife and I," said Fergus as Elinor giggled.

He had lifted her bridal style and carried her away from the dining room. The triplets only looked at each other with wide eyes before simultaneously muttering an "ew" under their breath. Then finished their eggs and sincerely hoped that Merida wasn't doing anything like that.