The Heart of an Archer

Chapter 1

The day was young. The wind was calm. The sun was just barely over the tips of the trees. All young Princess Merida would usually wish to spend these early hours doing would be sleeping, but this wasn't any old day

No, it was the day that the lords were coming to have a meeting with her father, the king, as they always did at least once a year. In years past, this made very little significance for her. All it really meant to her was a day where, instead of lessons on princess etiquette, she could spend the day practicing her aim.

But this time, it was different. Last year, after the great adventure of reversing the bear spell, she had spent some time getting to know the eldest sons of the lords, as they had to spend a great deal of time together in feasts and such. She had gotten to know them all very well, but there was one who stood out to her the most.

Wee had been exchanging letters with the princess since his return home. She had grown very close to her pen pal through these messages and couldn't wait to see her gangly friend again.

Young Macintosh, better known to his friends (and fans) as Mack, and Young MacGuffin, or Boyd, had things to attend to while their fathers were away, but Wee had insisted on coming with his father.

"Good morning, Merida" her mother greeted as she entered the family's private dining room for breakfast.

"Good morning, Mum" the red-headed princess returned before sitting down at her seat and quickly gobbling up her breakfast.

"Merida, dear, you're going to give yourself a belly ache if you eat that fast." the brunette reminded her daughter.

The two had agreed that the queen could only correct the younger when it was exceedingly rude or a danger to her well-being as so long as Merida followed the rules of good manners to an extent. This just so happened to fall under the jurisdiction of the latter.

"Sorry, Mum, but I want to be there when Wee arrives." Merida apologized after finishing what was in her mouth, "May I be excused?"

"Yes, dear, go right ahead." she obliged.

With that, Merida rushed out the door, slid down the rail, jumped onto her Clydesdale, Angus and rode off towards the docks to meet Wee.

HALF AN HOUR LATER

The silhouette of three ships was visible on the horizon. The lords would probably be there in about four minutes but that didn't matter. Or at least not to Fergus's first born child.

No, what mattered to Merida was the son of one of the lords who was arriving. She couldn't wait to see her former suitor and friend, as it had been nearly a whole year since she had see him.

"You excited to see your boyfriend again, lassie?" he asked mischieveiously.

"Dad!" Merida expressed her annoyance with him trying to mess with her.

A few minutes had passed when the ships came into the dock. Merida immediately ran towards the ship with the green and yellow sails. On board that ship was Lord Busby Dingwall and, more importantly, his wayward son. When she saw him she grinned the biggest natural smile in her entire life.

"Wee, I've been so excited to see you again! Come on, I've got so much to show you!" Merida greeted as she gave a friendly hug to the clumsy teenager.

She then grabbed his hand and pulled him off to show him around the kingdom and surrounding area.

Fergus and Busby exchanged knowing looks.

"How long do you think it'll be before they are going kissy face at each other?" the king asked jokingly.

"I give it a day tops." the awkward looking lord replied in a similar tone.