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Out in the distance, three giant boats were making there way across the water. These boats belonged to each of the three clans.

Standing at the front of one of the boats was a man with wild black hair and blue body paint.

Another boat came up next to him and a large, blonde, burly man with a big beard was standing at the front of it.

"MacGuffin!" The large man shouted.

"MacGuffin!" The men in the boat repeated.

Another boat came up beside the two, with a short man with white hair at the front.

"Dingwall!" The short man shouted.

"Dingwall!" The men repeated.

The man with blue paint didn't want to be outdone. "Macintosh!" He shouted.

"Macintosh!" His men repeated.

...

Inside the castle, Elinor was getting her son ready.

She attempted to brush his hair, which only resulted in it being pulled, and stuffed him inside a light blue shirt with white pants and blue boots with a white head piece that went over his head completely covering his red hair. Elinor put a necklace on him with the DunBroch symbol on it and tucked a red curl under the head piece. Elinor stepped back to admire him.

"You look absolutely handsome." She said.

"I can't breathe." Merid told her.

"Och, shush! Give us a turn." Elinor demanded.

Merid struggled to move in a full circle.

"I can't move. It's too tight." He complained.

"It's perfect." Elinor sighed.

Merid let out a long groan.

"Merid." Elinor started.

"Mum?" He replied.

"Just...remember to smile." She replied.

A knock on the door could be heard.

"Come in!" Elinor called.

(Y/n) entered the room and Merid's jaw nearly dropped. She was wearing a beautiful (f/c) dress. It wasn't super fancy and was still considered a maids dress, but Merid still thought she was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. He couldn't help but stare at her.

"Sorry to interrupt my Queen, but the lords have arrived at the docks." (Y/n) said.

"Oh! Well we must hurry then. Thank you (Y/n) dear." Elinor replied, before exiting the room.

(Y/n) approached Merid.

"So, how tight is that thing squeezing you?" She asked, gesturing to his suit.

"Ugh, I feel like my ribs are about to collapse." Merid whined.

"Awe, poor baby. But for what it's worth, you do look handsome." She said.

Merid smiled at her. "Thanks love."

(Y/n) reached under his head piece and pulled out a strand of his curly red hair. "There, now it's perfect."

Merid let out a chuckle and looked her up and down. "You look beautiful by the way." He told her.

"Why thank you my prince." She playfully curtsied.

"Ugh, you know I hate it when you call me that." Merid rolled his eyes.

"I know. That's why I do it." She smiled smugly.

Merid playfully glared at her before his face softened and he stared into her beautiful (e/c) eyes. She stared back into his and they both slowly started leaning in.

"Come along you two! We're going to be late!" Elinor's voice rang out snapping the two out of their trance.

They looked over and saw Elinor had appeared in the doorway.

"Come on, come on. They'll be here any minute." She told them before exiting the room again. (Y/n) quickly followed after her, throwing Merid a smile over her shoulder. Merid frowned deeply at being interrupted by his mother. He was so close, to getting what he wanted. He sighed before following his mother to the throne room.

...

In the throne room, a guard was leaning against a wall sound asleep. One of the triplets pulled his mustache out while the other two held an axe and chopped it off. The three disappeared out of sight as the guard shot awake for a moment before falling back asleep.

Another guard was peeking out the main door. "Aye, they're coming!" He announced.

"Places, everyone. Places." Elinor called out.

Everyone scrambled into position, while Merid struggled to sit down on his throne because of his suit. He finally managed to do it and his mother motioned for him to straighten up. She also moved the curl that (Y/n) had pulled out back into place.

Elinor sat next to Fergus and started brushing his cape with her hand.

"I look fine woman. Leave me be." Fergus swatted her hands away.

Merid defiantly pulled the red curl back out, and glared at his mother. (Y/n) stood next to the edge of the raised platform.

"My Lord!" One of the guards announced. "I want to announce the arrival of the lords...Ow!"

The guard was cut off by the doors swinging open, and the clans walking in.

"Who goes there? Who goes there?" The sleeping guard yelled.

The Lords and their men all waltzed into the throne room. The three lords stood next to each other in front of the royal family.

Dingwall noticed he was shorter than the other two and called for a foot stool for him to stand on.

Fergus stood up from his throne and addressed the room.

"So, here we are...Er...the four clans. Er...gathering..." He was struggling on what to say.

Elinor sighed.

"For...er..."

"The presentation of the suitors." Elinor announced for him.

"The presentation of the suitors." Fergus repeated.

The room cheered. Merid was shaking his head at the whole thing and glanced over at (Y/n). She was looking down at the ground, a sad expression on her face. She glanced up and noticed Merid staring at her, and quickly smiled at him before looking away.

"Clan Macintosh." Fergus said.

"Macintosh!" His men replied.

"I present my heir and scion, who defended our land from the northern invaders, and with her own sword, Stab Blooder, vanquished 1,000 foes."

Macintosh stepped aside to reveal a pretty girl with curly black hair and blue body paint. The girl strutted forward making obnoxious poses and flipping her hair.

"Macintosh!" The clan cheered her on.

Merid rolled his eyes and scoffed at her behavior.

"Clan MacGuffin!" Fergus announced.

"MacGuffin!"

"Good Majesty, I present my eldest daughter, who scuttled the Viking longships and with her bare hands, vanquished 2,000 foes."

A large, hefty, shy girl with blonde hair came up beside her dad and broke a log in half with her hands.

"MacGuffin!"

"Clan Dingwall." Fergus announced.

"Dingwall!"

"I present my only daughter."

Next to Dingwall was a very beautiful girl. She was tall, curvy, and muscular. She stood tall and proud, and Merid couldn't help but gap at her a bit.

"Who was besieged by 10,000 Romans and she took out a whole armada single handedly."

Fergus and Elinor were also gaping at the woman, and Fergus turned to his wife and pointed in shock.

Merid snuck a glance at (Y/n) to see that she was scowling at him a little. Merid smiled awkwardly and waved at her. (Y/n) just scoffed and rolled her eyes, looking away from him.

"With one arm, she was..."

Dingwall paused and pulled a girl out from behind the tall one. This was Dingwall's daughter. She was short and skinny, and had messy light blonde hair and large front teeth. She looked like she didn't know where she was.

"With one arm, she was steering the ship, and with the other, she held her mighty sword and struck down a whole attacking fleet."

"Lies!" Someone in the crowd yelled.

"What? I heard that. Go on. Say it to my face." Dingwall demanded. "Or are ye scared, simpering jackanapes, afraid to miss your pretty hair?" He mocked.

"At least we have hair." Macintosh replied.

"And all our teeth." MacGuffin chimed in.

MacGuffin's daughter said something as well, but it was very indecipherable.

Macintosh stared at her for a minute before continuing. "And we don't hide under bridges, you grumpy old troll."

The whole room erupted into laughter.

"You wanna laugh, huh? Wee Dingwall!" Dingwall yelled.

Dingwall's daughter suddenly launched at Macintosh and bit his shoulder.

"Ah! Get off me!" He screamed.

Soon, the whole room erupted into a brawl. People were kicking, punching and biting each other. The room was pure chaos. Merid rolled eyes at the whole thing.

"Nut 'em! Nut 'em! That's the way to..." Fergus was cheering the fighting on, before he looked at Elinor and she gave him a look. "Alright." He reluctantly agreed.

Fergus stood up and addressed the room. "Shut it!" The room fell silent.

"Now, that's all done. You've had your go at each other. Show a little decorum. And no more fighting." He said.

Unfortunately, unbeknownst to him, the triplets had slipped off and appeared from under the floor. One of them held up a giant mace and whacked it on Lord Dingwall's foot. He screamed in pain, then got punched in the face, making the fighting start back up. Objects were being thrown everywhere.

(Y/n) scooted closer to Merid to avoid being hit by anything.

Merid looked at her and was glad that she was alright. Suddenly, a piece of furniture hurdled through the air towards (Y/n). Merid panicked and grabbed her around the waist and pulled her onto his lap, out of the way.

"Are you alright?" Merid asked, grabbing her cheeks and checking her for injuries.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Thank you." She replied.

"Thank God." Merid pressed a kiss to her forehead.

Meanwhile, Elinor had had quite enough of this fighting. She got up from her chair and made her way through the fighting crowd. They immediately parted for her and she gracefully walked towards the four leaders who were fighting each other. The four paused when she noticed her standing there.

The four leaders were being grabbed back to the platform by their ears and they were all whining in pain. Elinor released them and they all started apologizing.

"My Lady Queen, I feel terrible. My humblest apologies."

"Sorry..."

"We mean no disrespect."

"I'm sorry love, I didn't...but...Yes, dear." King Fergus hung his head down and went back to his chair.

(Y/n) flung herself off of Merid's lap, before anyone saw. After all, a maid sitting on the prince's lap is entirely inappropriate. She hurried back to her spot in the crowd, leaving Merid feeling slightly deflated, and he slumped in his chair.

The Queen cleared her throat. "Now, where were we? Ah, yes." She didn't see Fergus pounding his hand with his fist threateningly at the Leaders.

"In accordance with our laws, by the rights of our heritage, only the first born of each of the great leaders may be presented as champion."

"First born?" Merid whispered, suddenly paying attention.

(Y/n) noticed his sudden interest and narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"And thus compete for the hand of the Prince of Dun Broch. To win the handsome prince, they must prove their worth by feats of strength or arms in the games. It is customary that the challenge be determined by the Prince himself." Elinor explained.

"Archery! Archery." Merid exclaimed, jumping out of his seat.

Elinor shot him a look.

"I choose archery." He said calmly.

"Let the games begin!" Elinor announced.

The room cheered, and Merid smirked to himself. He glanced over at (Y/n) who raised her brow at him. He shot her a wink. She knew that look. He was up to something, and it probably wasn't good...

Oh, how right she was.

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