brave in the heart. vikings

CHAPTER 45

CHAPTER 45

The walls of the castle seemed to close in around them. Merida lead the way, crouched low out of caution, one had pressed close to the cool stones. Thyra held onto her furs, her eyes too clouded in the low light, the other two women taking up their backs. Until Ysra joined her side. 

"This is too easy," she said, fear evident in her voice.

"Maybe so, but who would they think would want to sneak into this wing now? They've killed or captured all of us. They think I'm in Kattegat. This far North, Wessex has no opposition," Merida said, she held her hand up so they would stop behind her. "Besides, they're spread thin. It's a large castle."

Ysra levelled her with a look she did not like. "This isn't your fault, you know."

Merida ignored her. "I should have been here."

"And what could one Princess do against an army that her father could not?"

Merida had no answer. 

They pushed on. Between her mother's room and her own, there was not much distance. Like the rest of the castle, the corridor was not well guarded. At the door, stood two men in red. Merida spotted them first, ordering the rest of the women back as she placed her back to the wall. 

Sif caught her by the wrist. 

"You take one, I'll take the other," she said, giving Merida a moment to consider. "Less noise, less risk."

Merida nodded once and they lept forward around the corner. At the same time as Sif swept her leg at the feet of the closest guard, Merida took the shoulders of the other man between two hands, forcing him back against her chest. There could be no witnesses. She pulled out her knife- the one Bjorn had given her- and plunged it beneath his chin. 

They waited a moment, breaths held, ensuring no one had heard, and then Merida pushed through the door, breaking the lock with a kick of her foot and the push of Sif's wide shoulders. For a moment, her eyes searched a dark room, seeing nothing. Then her gaze fell on something- like a skeleton in a chair. 

The woman was older, her hair speckled with streaks of grey like the rows of silt in a frozen lake and her face deepened with a frown that seemed to be made permanent by the carved wrinkles around her lips. But Merida knew her. She knew her by the quiet solemness of her eyes, the relentless sternness of her brow, and the straight, prideful way she held herself, even with her world crumbling around her.  

"Spirits save me."

The woman flew to her feet, not recognising them, it seemed, as she stumbled backwards, holding her hand to her chest. 

"Mother."

The Queen shook her head, eyes glazed as if seeing a ghost. "No, you fool me."

"Mother, it's me."

Elinor quietened, stepping forward from the shadow to stare at her face. The delirium was gone, the hopeless pessimism receding, and where disbelief had lain upon her face moments before, the Queen's face widened with hope. Her mother shook, placing one foot in front of the other until she stood in front of her, head bowed so she could take in each inch of her face. 

"Merida?" Elinor reached forward to place a hand on her daughter's cheek. "Merida? It's truly you?" 

With her hands covering each side of her face, the Queen finally seemed sure. "Oh, my daughter."

Merida let out a choked sob. "I never should have left."

"It's done now, my darling." Elinor placed her head against her daughter's, closing her eyes. "If anything I'm thankful you were not here. Your father..."