《Brave》Chapter 7: The Games
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Outside the castle, people were preparing for the competition. An open grassy field was filled with large tents and flags and entertainment. One guy was caring a long log and threw it up into the air as far as he could. It landed upright, but then fell over onto someone's foot.
Other people were throwing heavy weights to see who could get it the farthest, and others were chucking a weight over a pole.
A group of men were playing tug of war against the tall muscular woman from the Dingwall Clan.
"Pull!" A man announced.
The men struggled against her, but with one tug, she won.
There were dancers, and games, and a fake bear that the kids could hit with wooden swords.
Up on top of a tent the triplets were up to no good yet again. One triplet had a rope around his waist while the other two held the rope tight. Underneath them, Maudie was holding a tray of sweets and was flirting with a man.
Once he left, and Maudie was distracted, the triplet was lowered down and he snatched a sweet from the tray, and was pulled back up. Maudie glanced the other way and he was lowered again, putting multiple pastries in his mouth.
He tried to go down a third time, but Maudie saw him and moved the tray out of the way. The triplet fell into a barrel, dragging the other two with him. Maudie placed the tray on top of the barrel to seal them in.
"Now, I've told you, you're not allowed...Oh!" Maudie gasped as the boys stuck their feet out of the bottom of the barrel and started running away, taking the sweets with them.
A horn sounded through the air indicating that it was time for the competition. The royal family sat underneath a tent, and Fergus addressed the crowd.
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"It's time!" He announced.
"Archers to your marks!" Elinor called.
"Aye, archers to your marks." Fergus repeated.
"And may the lucky arrow find its target." Elinor added.
Neither of them noticed Merid kicking his bow and arrows behind his seat. (Y/n) noticed however, and shot Merid a look that said 'what are you up to?' Once again, Merid shot her a wink and gave her a look that said, 'trust me, I know what I'm doing.'
The three daughters stood in a row holding their bows. MacGuffin's daughter looked nervous, while Macintosh's daughter was showing off for the crowd of boys watching her, and Dingwall's daughter was tugging the string of her bow looking dazed.
"Oi! Get on with it." Fergus shouted impatiently.
MacGuffin's daughter stepped forward and set the arrow in the bow, pulled it back and released. The arrow hit the very edge of the target, no where near the center.
MacGuffin's daughter groaned in embarrassment as the crowd laughed and her dad facepalmed.
"I bet she wishes she was tossing cabers." Merid said to his father.
"Or holding up bridges." Fergus replied, and they both started laughing, until Elinor shushed them.
Macintosh's daughter was up next. She pulled the arrow back and did an obnoxious hair flip making the boys wolf whistle. She released her arrow and it hit just outside of the center.
"Noooo!" She cried with rage.
"At least you hit the target, daughter!" Her dad yelled with encouragement.
She started throwing a tantrum and hitting her bow on the ground.
"Oh, that's attractive." Merid said sarcastically.
Macintosh's daughter threw her bow into the crowd and fell to her knees.
"Good arm." Merid said to his father.
"And such lovely flowing locks." Fergus mocked.
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"Fergus." Elinor scolded.
"What?" He laughed.
Dingwall's daughter was up next. She tried to get an arrow from her quiver, but ended up causing them to fall out. When she finally got an arrow she struggled to put it in the bow.
"Oh, wee lamb." Merid pouted.
She finally got the arrow in and pulled back, but the arrow kept moving away, and she kept moving it back into place.
"Oh, come on!" Fergus facepalmed. "Shoot woman!" He yelled impatiently.
Fergus's yelling startled the girl and she released the arrow, and it hit the target dead center.
The crowd cheered in triumph, and Dingwall let out a laugh.
"Well done lass! Well done." He cried, doing a happy jig and lifting his kilt to flash the other to leader. "Feast your eyes." The two recoiled jn disgust. "That's my girl."
Elinor and Fergus sat frozen in their chairs from pure shock.
"Well, that's just grand now, isn't it." Fergus said slowly. "Guess who's coming to dinner."
"Fergus." Elinor scolded.
"By the way, hope you don't mind being married to someone named Lady Ding-" Fergus started to say to Merid but paused when he noticed that Merid was gone and there was a dog sitting in his chair.
Fergus looked to (Y/n) who was standing next to their tent, by the girl just shrugged.
Out in the field, a cloaked figure appeared, placing a stake in the ground with the Dun Broch symbol on it. The figure removed the cloak to reveal Merid. His wild hair now free from the head piece.
"I am Merid. First born descendant of Clan Dun Broch. And I'll be shooting for my own hand." He announced.
The crowd gasped in shock. And Elinor slowly rose from her chair.
"What are you doing?" She whispered.
Merid tried to pull his bow back, but his suit was too tight and restricted his arms.
"Merid!" His mother shouted.
"Curse this suit!" He yelled. He bent over and the force was enough to rip the suit down the back and in the underarms, freeing his arms up.
He pulled back his bow and shot at the first target hitting it dead center.
"Merid, stop this!" Elinor called, marching towards her son.
Merid fired at the second target and hit it dead center.
"Don't you dare loose another arrow." Elinor warned him.
Merid pulled back another arrow, and released a breath.
"Merid, I forbid it." Elinor said, but he wasn't listening.
Merid released the arrow and it flew through the air in slow motion. The arrow spilt right through Dingwall's daughter's arrow and hit the stand behind the target.
Merid turned to the side to look at (Y/n) and tell her that he did this for her, but he came face to face with his fuming mother.
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