~ by Amanda Pizzolatto

Merida stomped off to her room, where had he been? He said he’d be there. So, where was he?! She wiped a furious tear off her cheek as she neared her bedroom door. Now she was married to that stupid Dagur, and her parents didn’t care one bit. She slammed the door behind her before sitting at a desk and collapsing into tears. She pulled off her wedding ring and tossed it aside, then pulled out a knife from one of the drawers. She grabbed a handful of her hair and was about to cut it when she was startled by a voice. 

“There’s a shortage of lovely red curls such as yours, it would be such a waste to cut it.” She spun around on her chair; she knew that voice. There was Hiccup, laying on her bed! With a little cry, she rushed to him. 

“Where were you? I’m now ‘happily’ married to Dagur!” 

“Really? Just now?” She crossed her arms and nodded. “Hmm… that was a bit fast. Are you sure you actually had a wedding?”

She blinked, “I-I don’t know, I don’t think so, actually, now that you mention it. We skipped an awful lot; I didn’t even say I do.”

Hiccup grinned, “Then you’re not married, you didn’t say yes.” Merida’s mouth dropped open before it reshaped into a broad grin. 

“Something that’s easily remedied.” Merida jumped at the voice but turned on its owner with a glare. 

“Oh? And how exactly is that, my dear?” Dagur sighed and rolled his eyes. Merida gasped, “You were already planning on killing me.”

Dagur shrugged, “Hey, it’s for a good cause. The people absolutely adore you; they would go to war for you.” 

“Is that what this was all about? You wanted some stupid reason to go to war?”

“Hey, he’s Dagur the Deranged for a reason,” muttered Hiccup.

“Oh, he is, is he? Well that’s news to me; that’ll probably be news to my parents as well since you conveniently left that part out.” She glanced at Hiccup, “And why exactly aren’t you moving?” 

“Would you care to tell her, Dagur?”

“Because you’re supposed to be dead, but I’ll make sure of it this time,” stated Dagur, unsheathing his sword.

“What? He tried to kill you? Alright, that does it!” Merida unsheathed Hiccup’s sword and battled it out with Dagur. Hiccup couldn’t help but cheer when she unarmed Dagur and very slowly moved to her to take the sword from her. 

“Thanks, Mer, that saved me from a problem. Why don’t you go tie him up, and you can do it as tight as you can. Whoa.” Hiccup caught himself on the bedpost, and leaned up against it, watching Merida tie-up Dagur. A red-headed knight burst into the room.

“Uh, who are you?”

“Oh, I’m Justin, I’m helping Hiccup invade the castle for you. Um, Hic, have you seen Shrek?”

“No, I thought he was with you. Whoa!” Hiccup nearly fell over again, but Merida, now done tying the ropes, rushed to help him when a voice from outside caught their attention. 

“Hey! Hiccup! Justin!! …Hiccup!! Justin! Where are you guys?” The three moved quickly to the window, down below stood a large man and four white horses. He glanced up and grinned, “Ah-ha, there you are! I was hoping to run into you! I found some horses for a great getaway, figured you’d find the princess. Hi, princess!” Merida grinned and waved. 

“Great! Good thinking, Shrek!”

“Don’t worry, I won’t let it go to my head,” he grinned. 

Justin laughed, “Oh, I think you can let this one slide, just this once. Ladies first.” He and Hiccup helped Merida climb onto the window sill. She jumped and landed in Shrek’s arms. Hiccup motioned for Justin to go next. He moved to the sill, then paused. 

“You know, I’ve been after Heraclio for so long that I don’t know what to do with myself now.”

“Have you ever considered piracy?” quipped Hiccup before jumping out. Justin gave a quick thought to it and shrugged before jumping after Hiccup. The group mounted their horses and rode off into the night. It wasn’t until they were safely on-board Hiccup’s ship that Hiccup pulled Merida in close for a kiss. They separated, but Merida went back in for another one. 

“Are you happy now, princess?”

She smiled at him, “The happiest I’ve been for years.” They kissed again before turning to watch the sun rise over the open sea. 

 

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Image Credit: Pixabay