A Royal Match (Mericcup)

Elinor's Plan

Merida's POV

Hiccup and I went back into the castle. Mum was about to go in to dinner. The triplets, Dad and Hiccup's dad must have already been in there. No sign of his cousin. "I'm really sorry Hiccup, but I have to talk to Mum. See you at dinner?" Normally I wouldn't say that to a boy. Normally, I'd just say, 'See you later, have to go find Mum so we don't get married.' Or something like that. He nodded, and went in.

"Merida?" Mum asked.
"Mum, can I talk to you? In private?" She nodded, and we went upstairs to go talk in her room.
"Are you trying to set me and Hiccup up together?" I asked as soon as I knew no one was listening.
"Merida, I told you. You can make your own decision. And while it would be nice if-"
"You're trying to get us to like each other."
"Merida, a princess does not interrupt." So it's true.

"You're not denying it, Mum."
"Even if I was putting you two together, what would be so bad about that?"
"Hiccup is... Hiccup is... better than the Lords' Sons... but I don't want to be married purely for your convenience!"
"But you like him!"
"He has a girlfriend! Otherwise, I would have just shown him around the castle and then left him for the triplets."

Mum sighed, and looked away. "He won't always have a girlfriend, Merida. And one day, you will need to unite the kingdoms..." 
"Like I was supposed to unite the clans?! Maybe I should just find another way to turn you into a bear again!"
"Merida, listen! We have been at war with the Vikings for years- it will not kill you to help us form an alliance!"
"You already have an alliance! That's why they're here!" I responded.

"Merida, sometimes alliances don't last forever! It would just be better for everyone if you and Hiccup get married!" She replied.
"You promised me I could choose for myself!" I yelled.
"And you can! But it would just be best if you chose him!"
"And what makes you think he'd choose me, anyway?! He could be madly in love with his girlfriend you know!" I ignored what she said about it being best. It wouldn't... would it?

"Merida... let's just go downstairs." She said finally.

Hiccup's POV

I sat down at the table. Dad and Merida's father were already there, along with three identical triplets. Merida's brothers, I'm guessing. "Where's Snotlout?" I asked, looking around.
"He uh, got ill. He had to go back to Berk." Dad said. The triplets snickered. What did they do?

They all looked at me. "We thought you'd be like that firstborn sons of the clans." One said.
"Excuse me?" I asked.
"Where do we start?" Another asked, tapping his chin.
"Archery contest!" The others yelled joyfully.
The first one nodded. "So Mum told Merida she had to make a choice about what contest the clans had over her..."

"Except she didn't phrase it very well." Another said.
"So Merida chose archery." The third one said.
"Have you seen Merida in action?" The first one asked me shrewdly.
Merida's dad chuckled. "If he has, he'll know exactly what Merida did." Dad shot him a look, as if to say, tell me, but Merida's dad shook his head and nodded to the triplets.

"First, was MacGuffin." The first one said, standing up in his seat, before mumbling something, and pulling back an imaginary arrow. He facepalmed himself, with an expression of, that didn't go well at all. "Merida did not think much of him." He continued, before sitting down.

"Second was MacIntosh." The second one said, standing up in his seat like the last one. However, this one mimed pulling back an arrow, then looked over his shoulder dramatically, before letting the imaginary arrow fly.
"It almost hit, so..." The first one said, before the second one yelled, "No!!" As though he was about to die. He started whacking his imaginary bow on the ground everywhere.
"Merida was even less impressed." He said, before pretending to be Merida: "'That's attractive'."

He sat back down, and the third one stood up. "Third was Wee Dingwall." He pretended to scatter arrows everywhere, and had a vacant expression on his face. The other two snickered.
"Dad got mad at him." Third one said.
"He said, 'oh come on, shoot boy!' If it hadn't been for Merida, she would be married to Dingwall now." First one agreed. Dad shot King Fergus a look.
"So what happened?" I asked.

The first triplet stood up again, and mimed pulling back a hood. "Do you want her full speech, or just the gist of it?"
"Full speech." I said.
"I am Merida, first born descendant of Clan Dunbroch, and I'll be shooting for my own hand." He said dramatically. He mimed walking and pulling out arrows, shooting them.
"Bullseye on MacGuffin's target. Bullseye on MacIntosh's target. And she split Dingwall's right down the middle!" He sat back happily.

I raised an eyebrow. "So Merida is..."
"The best archer in Scotland! Yes!" The triplets said in unison.
"Being better than MacGuffin or MacIntosh doesn't make me the best. And Dingwall just had good luck." She said, walking into the room, her mother following her. The triplets shared a look, but didn't say anything. "Anyway, let's talk about Hiccup now." She said, changing the subject. I shot her a look. Where was she going with this?

"Hiccup has a dragon." She told the triplets. Their eyes got wide. Instantly, I was bombarded with questions. King Fergus and Dad chuckled, and Merida sipped her drink. I will get her back for this. "Boys, you can ask him about his dragon after dinner." Merida's mom said to the triplets, who instantly became quiet. I think that's a bad sign.

-The Triplets-

"What's next on the list?" Harris asked Hubert after dinner.
"Make her hate him." He replied.
"After that, we steal his clothes so he can't go see her. I think he's starting to like her, Hubert." Hamish added.
Hubert frowned. "Then we have to work quickly. How long did it take the clans to get here last time?"

"Three days, after we got the letters." Harris responded.
"How fast can we get them here now?" Hubert asked.
"Four days. Two to send the letters, two for them to get here."
"Hey, are you three coming?" Hiccup asked them. They nodded dutifully. They had found out that the dragon's name was Toothless, and he is a Night Fury.

---------

There wasn't much they could do- it's not Toothless's fault his owner is a Viking. And they knew that Toothless would just come back if they lured him away. And they knew after meeting him that Toothless would never let them ride him. Without at least Hiccup's consent, of course. When they were sure Hiccup, Hiccup's dad, their parents and Merida were asleep (not to mention Maudie) they snuck into Hiccup's room. He was snoring away.

Hubert rubbed his hands together, smiling evilly. He and Hamish quickly gathered up all the clothes they could find that Hiccup wasn't wearing, while Harris stood guard. Suddenly, Harris made a noise, and Hubert and Hamish dived under the bed, soon joined by Harris. Someone was coming! Luckily, they just passed by.

Hiccup turned over in his sleep, and the triplets looked up, praying for him not to wake up. Fortunately for them, he didn't. They all slipped out from under the bed, carrying away Hiccup's clothes. "Where do we put these?" Harris hissed to Hubert.

"Hmm... we can't dump them off the tower, they'll be brought to him immediately. We have to hide them. Uh... let's dump them somewhere Merida will never look, and somewhere Mum will never look. The forest." Hubert said.
"Hubert, Merida is in there everyday. She knows it better than us." Hamish said, unimpressed.

"Ah, let's just hide them in the North Tower!" Hubert said.
"No one ever checks it, Dad was once locked out of it and it would have taken him forever to get back down if the lords and their men hadn't been with him... good idea, Hubert." Hamish said. They all scurried up to the tower and hid the clothes in separate places.

Hubert nodded at his brothers. "We've done well."
Hamish nodded. "Merida's not going to marry the Viking."
Harris looked contemplative. "His girlfriend was mentioned... is she here?"
Hubert smiled. "I believe not. Thank you, Harris. Hamish, Harris, we've done well tonight. I'd like to congratulate you both. Have you written the lord's sons?"
Hamish nodded. "The dramatic son of MacIntosh." He handed Hubert a letter.

"The son of Dingwall." Harris said, before putting the vacant expression back on his face and miming putting a bow on his head. Hamish and Hubert giggled, and Harris handed Hubert his letter.
Hubert nodded. "And I have completed my letter to the inunderstandable MacGuffin. Remember, these are a last resort- and so is the girlfriend."
"Is 'inunderstandable' a word?" Harris wondered.
"Who cares?" Hamish replied.