Merida (Age 12)
I'm Princess Merida of the Holiday Inn Kingdom. Daughter to King Peter the Great. And today is the day we finally depart to join in alliance to a Queen and another Princess. Father told me that this new palace will be our home from now on. So, I guess now I'm going to be the ruler of the Banes Creek Kingdom in the far away land of Minnesota.
Eager. Excited. Overjoyed. I brush my straight snow white hair in my magical mirror with an enchanted brush that grants me confidence.
I hum as my body trembles in the hotel mirror. Today's the day. Steadying my breathing, I try to quell the rising anxiety that cascades it's way through my developing body.
"My name is Merida. I'm 12 years old. I like swimming, dancing, and ruling kingdoms, as well as drawing. I'm excited to have a sister." It gets exhausting running a kingdom by yourself while the King has to make peace treaties elsewhere. I hope she's a good leader. Our Kingdom will need two strong leaders after we merge them together.
I giggle in the mirror at the thought. I have a sister now. An actual sister.
What will she be like? Will she be a princess like me? Maybe a warrior like my father? Will she be pretty? Of course she will.
The sister of a princess has to be pretty and I should as least try to make myself more presentable, I think as I stare at my soft blue dress in the mirror.
I look good but I think I need to add something that's going to make me stand out.
"Merida, are you almost done?" King Peter inquires.
"Almost, give me a minute." I rush to my suitcase and dig out a stitched white cardigan. Pulling it on, I run back to the bathroom mirror to give myself one last glance over. Perfect. My new sister will love this.
"Ready?" He inquires once again.
"Ready." I say with absolute confidence.
Passing through the large mountain ranges, a million questions come to mind. Father navigates the difficult terrain with his natural inhuman ease, glancing over at me every now and then as he gladly answers each question I ask.
"What does she look like?" I ask curiously, wondering what my sister is like.
"Well," He replies sheepishly, "I heard much regarding her, but I haven't seen her yet. Nor the oldest for the matter." The last part comes out in a whisper but I ignore it.
Yesterday, I overheard a conversation from him and the Queen concerning an older princess and her father leaving for another Kingdom somewhere in Cali. The Queen seemed really upset about it and I guess my father is kind of upset on the matter too, so I decide not to push it.
I move on to my next question. "Is their palace big?"
"Not as big as ours back home but it's big enough for the four of us." He laughs.
"How many servants do they have?"
"None."
I gasp. "How are we supposed to get any work done?"
He laughs again but my question was serious. Back home, there were many people who helped us everyday. We had at least 45 people, give or take, back at home who did various things like cleaning, chopping firewood, laundry, and cooking.
"Merida, dear, they're not like us." His voice grows serious for a moment. "Only the Queen knows about how we live and what we are, not the Princess. So, you have to be careful of the things you say around her."
"For how long?"
"Just until her mother and I introduce her to it."
"But she'll be okay with it? Right?" Dread starts to pile in the pit of my stomach.
Father reaches over to pat my head. "Maybe. But like I said before, not everyone's okay with us. You'll have to give her time. She'll come to understand."
"Could we still play together?"
"Of course-of course. You can still play with her. But until I talk to her about us, you can't mention anything regarding our own Kingdom nor can you talk about the members of the pack. We have to keep theirs and our secret safe. You also have to be careful not to mention anything relating to shifting or our wolves for that matter."
"I can't mention Sorrow." I whine, referring to Father's wolf.
"Not yet, I'll show her Sorrow when she's ready."
"Could I at least tell her about the name I chose for mine when she comes? I want to name her Princess."
The name choice earns me a grin from Father and Sorrow both. "Merida, the sorceress chooses the name of your wolf. But, no, you can't talk about that or anything about that side of yourself right now, I'll let you know when it's okay to do so."
I frown, for multiple reasons, as more questions come to mind but, understanding Father's intentions, I let half of them go.
"Will she like me?" I finally say.
"Yes, she'll love you."
As Father pulls into a neighborhood, he takes his time turning the corners. I notice the rows and rows of trees that surround each house keeping them nearly a quarter of a mile away from each other. I realize that our last house looked quite similar to theirs and take a small joy in the familiarity.
I can't wait to run through these trees one day and hopefully, with my new sister at my side.
Once Father parks the car on the cemented driveway of a two-story, white painted house, I leap out the car to the ground below. My excitement gets the better of me but I carefully remember everything Father told me. You'll have to give her time.
Father is at my side in a moment but suddenly stops. His body stiffens as his head tilts slightly. I recognize the action because I've seen him do it when he's listening to something far away.
"Shit. I knew this wasn't going to go well." He mutters quietly. I look at him curiously, the dread starting to bubble up again.
"Is something wrong?"
"No," He shakes his head slowly. "Come on, Princess. Let's go introduce ourselves."
The term brings a smile to my face yet isn't able to snuff out the bitter feeling of uncertainty that rose from Father's actions despite his constant reassurances.
A tall and curvy woman with dark braids that reached her shoulders opens the door the moment we approach it. She wore a soft blue shirt with white pants similar to the blue dress and white cardigan I have on. Her outfit brought a cool blush to her dark skin. Score one for team Princess Merida.
I put on my award winning smile and hold out my hand. "Hi, my name is Merida."
She regards me with a gentle smile and caring hands, "Merida, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm sure your Father has told you all about me." She jokes, glancing up at my father with amusement and something else my mind isn't able to pinpoint, to which he immediately returns accompanied by a dark look in his eyes.
"Yes, but he never told me how beautiful you are." I received a small chuckle and a blush from this. Score two for team Princess Merida.
"Oh really, I'll be sure to scold him later." Another strange glance at my Father results in a low growl that causes both the woman and I to tense up for moment. But seeing the way she blushed made me think she was tense for a different reason, despite my knowledge on whatever that reason was being extremely limited. "Merida, you can call me Stephanie or whatever you like."
"Yes, ma'am." I reply. A small sigh catches the attention of everyone in the entryway.
She shoots a hard glance behind her that betrays her warm and welcoming appearance. I follow her gaze and my heart stops as I finally notice a young girl around my age with a similar skin tone to her mother.
She wore jeans with a sparkly pink top that made her soft skin glow. As my eyes moved upwards, I noticed her black hair was in similar braids to her mothers but unlike her, she wore small white shells at the ends that clicked every time she moved.
I froze completely when our eyes meet. My warm ocean blues colliding with her cold earth browns.
She was everything I expected. Beautiful and utterly perfect. Gentle, like her mother yet her demeanor carried a powerful wave to it like my father.
She was beyond a princess. Heck, this girl felt like the earth that held the whole kingdom and the sky that overlooked it and I couldn't stop myself from swaying at the overwhelming force she carried with her appearance alone.
Mine. I shook my head, realigning my thoughts. My sister. My. Sister. Mine.
As I attempted with slight success to shake away the foreign emotion, I stepped closer, wanting desperately to close the gap that felt like a rock between us. I held out my hand but she made no move to take it. Breathe, just like I practiced.
"Hi, my name-" I was cut off abruptly when she turned away from me.
"Screw this." She began to climb the steps.
"Mia!" Stephanie called. "Get back down here."
"No," Mia screamed back, "I had a family. One that you and that home wreaker destroyed and I'm not gonna replace them."
I flinched as I heard a door slam upstairs and something in me wanted to cry but the tears refused to leave my eyes. This isn't at all what I had expected.
Father said she would love me. So why? Why did she reject me so fast?
Stephanie started to climb the stairs but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder from my father. They seemed to exchange a wordless conversation for a moment before tears sprang to her eyes reflecting my own inner turmoil.
"I wanted her to be nice or civil at least." She sobbed as Father held her close. "Damn it, maybe I was too impatient."
"She'll come around, she's only 12. Give her time to adjust." He assured as his hand stroked her hair.
You'll have to give her time. My Father's words echo in my mind. Is this what he meant?
Day plummets to night as I finished setting up my room, unable and rather unwilling to speak to anyone for the entire time.
Every now and then, I would glance over at the locked door I learned was Mia's room and wondered if she was alright. Neither Stephanie nor my Father made may attempt to get her out which worried me even more.
As I lay in bed, late into the night, my wandering thoughts which refused to let me rest decided that enough was enough. I'd practiced so much just to say hi to her and I was going to do it properly.
I hopped out of bed with quiet yet vigorous steps and moved eagerly from one place to the next, finding a journal and a pen successfully after about three minutes.
Tearing off a sheet, I scribbled the words 'Hi, I'm Merida Lykos' onto the paper and folded it up. I slipped out of the room and paused briefly. The sounds of my Father's loud snore informed me that my parents were asleep. But they didn't matter at the moment.
Mia did.
As I approached her bedroom, the small sobs coming from the other side of the door tore at my heart yet informed me that she wasn't asleep.
I knocked softly on the door and her sobbing stopped. "Mia, come to the door." I whispered.
I heard the bed shuffling. "Go away."
"Not until you come to the door."
"I'm not opening it." She snapped.
"I didn't ask you to." I retorted.
With a small sigh, I felt her warmth on the other side of the wooden door. If it weren't for my small frame, I'd break down the damned thing in a moment. I pause. Where'd the heck did that come from?
"I'm here." She called.
I shook the strange feeling from my head again. Focus on the plan. I slipped the folded paper under the door. "Read it. That's all I want. Good night."
She took it from the other side and I heard the sounds of the paper opening. "Lie-Lay Ko. This is stupid."
"It's pronounced Lykos. Lie-Koes. And it's not stupid. You're stupid for calling it stupid."
"I'm not stupid. You're stupid for giving me a message with a hard name."
"I'm not stupid. I'm Merida. And you better say it right." I huff. "Stupid." I add on.
A small giggle comes out from the other side of the door and my heart flutters with the sound. "Okay, stupid Merida. Now go to sleep."
"Don't tell me what to do." But I still crawl back into my bed and fall into a deep sleep. Score three for team Merida.
It isn't until a week later and endless nights slipping letters back and forth through that obnoxiously small crack, that I'm finally able to break down the door.
Well, metaphorically speaking, since she was the one who opened the door, letting me in the room and the only reason I got in was because she said that if I brought snacks, she'll let me listen to music on her iPod with her.
It was dark and I was too tired at the time to care about the way her room looked. Maybe I should've paid better attention then but the only thing I was focused on was her.
After going through half the soundtrack of High School Musical and all of the chip bags I brought, I finally noticed the warmth that was in my left hand as well as her deep breathing.
I feel asleep alongside her with one earphone in my ear and the other in hers. Our hands were clasped together for the entire night.
I wished we'd stayed that way. For a long time.
If I'd known then that she'll run away, from home, from me, four years later, I would've never let go.
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