The Big Four

Chapter 5

I expect to be taken to a cell or hold, but instead they take me to what I guess is the mess hall.
Strange.
Suddenly, Rapunzel appears. She isn’t putting up a fight. I wonder if they found the dagger hidden in her left boot.
She looks terrified. When she sees me, her face pales anymore.
My stomach does a flip as I deduce what’s about to happen.
The Chieftain walks in. His scowl is petrifying.
“Now. I normally don’t give prisoners this much attention, but… I’ll make an exception for you. You must have an interesting story.”
Rapunzel’s face portrays that she wishes she could be anything but an exception.
“So. Why were you locked up in a tower in the middle of a forest?”
I don’t quite get why this would be such an important question for her. Even if she doesn’t want to say, can’t she lie?
She swallows and doesn’t answer.

---

I really, really, really don’t want to talk about this.
And I really, really, really wish I could lie. Curse Mother for that stupid spell!
They shove Jack roughly against a wall and put a knife to his throat. A drop of blood trickles down his neck.
“No! I’ll tell you everything!” I swallow. Now I have no choice. “Mother Gothel - she insists that I call her only mother - locked me there. She wanted my powers.”
“What powers?”
I try to block the words, but they spill out against my will. “My hair.”
“What does it do?”
I nearly choke myself trying to block the words. “It… Can… Heal.. And…” I gasp for air, and the rest comes spilling out. “It can kill.”
His face darkens. “And why should we believe anything that you’re saying?”
The words tumble out, but I keep them as quiet as possible. “I can’t lie.”
“So we can hear you!”
The flat of the blade presses harder against Jack’s neck, and his face goes a shade paler than usual.
“I can’t lie!” The words come out quickly, desperately, loudly. Tears are streaming down my face in torrents.
“Why not?”
“Mother Gothel… cursed me… before…” I shush myself. I’ve adequately answered the question.
“Before what?”

---

My heart is being wrenched out over and over again. She’s crying desperately. She can’t lie, and she really doesn’t want to talk about this.
“Leave her alone!” The words escape my throat before I can stop them. The Chieftain turns to me, amused. Rapunzel is shaking, whispering to herself.
“And why should we do that?”
I take several deep breaths, trying to rein in my rage.
“Because I will kill you.”
The Chieftain just laughs. Rapunzel is practically a heap on the floor, the only thing keeping her off the ground being the man holding her tied arms behind her back.
I feel the blade press harder against my throat.

---

“Just stop! Jack!” I cry out to him, pleading. “Please don’t hurt him,” I beg.
“Answer the question,” he snarls. “And I will consider it.”
I don’t even try to stop the words this time. “She started leaving frequently. Often in the middle of the night. Every time she came back, things got stranger. Sometimes I noticed that she was talking to me when I hadn’t said anything. Later I realized that she’d been reading my mind. Eventually, she started to communicate with me via telepathy. She threatened me with my parents… I couldn’t take it. Sometimes, random people would show up in the tower.” I glance at Jack, whose face send more tears. “She would… She would make me kill them…” I’m crying so hard that I can no longer speak.
I hate myself. I’ve murdered innocent people just to save my own family, and everyone here knows it.
Jack knows.
I can’t look him in the face. I’m not worth living. I should be dead. I deserve it.
“Rapunzel…” His voice forces me to look into his eyes. So many tears come that I can no longer see.

---

I groan. I’m lying on a hard, rock surface. Rock over my head, on either side of me…
“Where am I?”
“Merida! You’re awake.” Hiccups voice echoes from somewhere to my left. I rub my eyes and try to sit up, but my head spins and I collapse backwards. I wince at the hard contact.
“We’re in a cave, hiding from the Vikings.”
Now I remember. “Any sign of Jack and Rapunzel?”
He shakes his head and sits down beside me. “I’m afraid that they may have gone back to the beach and gotten captured by the Vikings.”
I force myself to sit up. I am so tired of being weak. It ends today.
Hiccup frowns, but doesn’t say anything.
“Can you help me stand?” I croak.
He opens his mouth to say something, but when it becomes evident that I’m going to try with or without his help, he grabs my arm. I lean on his shoulder and slowly rise to my feet.
“Uugghhhh,” I complain. “Why does my head feel so awful? All I did was talk to a stupid spirit.”
“He obviously did something to you. When I found you, you were in an unconscious heap in the dirt. What happened?”
I hesitated. “Well, he… He said that he was my worst nightmares come to life. Then… I don’t know what exactly happened. I saw…” My eyes blurred with tears. “My… my brothers. On the ship. My parents. And…” I look up into his eyes, wondering what he would think if I told him the last part.
“What?” he asks gently.
I look at the ground. “And… You. In the sand on the beach, dying…” My voice cracks on the last word. I’m afraid to meet his eyes.
He puts a finger under my chin and turns me to face him. I don’t quite know how to read his expression.
I’m suddenly aware of how close we are.

---

I hear the sharp sound of a sword unsheathing outside. I gently prop Merida against a wall and pull out my own sword.
Josef steps into the cave.
“Traitor! Your father thought you were dead, and here you are, with the Gaelic princess!”
I don’t know what to say. I don’t know what to do. If I have to, I’ll fight him. But if he has backup, I’ll lose.
“What do you have to say for yourself?”
I don’t speak. I have to get out of here; I have to keep Merida safe.
“That’s what I thought. You’re coming with me.”
He steps forward, and seven other soldiers emerge from the shadows. If it had just been him, I would’ve fought. But attempting to duel this many at once would be fatal.
I sheathe my sword. Josef puts a hand out, and I hand it over.
They’re merciless with Merida. She cries out as they wrench her quiver away from her, possibly dislocating her shoulder in the process.
Her sword and bow are left where they were, on the cave floor.

---

I want to comfort her, help her…
But I can’t.
The door blasts open, and Hiccup and Merida walk in. Hiccup has his hands tied behind his back, but he doesn’t appear to be fighting. Merida is literally on the floor, moaning and crying. I can’t blame her. Her wrists are red and bloody by being dragged all the way here, and her right shoulder is definitely not in the right place. That on top of still suffering from her encounter with her Haunted is probably pretty painful.
The Chieftain turns, and his face goes darker than I could have ever imagined.
“Son?”
Hiccup’s head hangs.
Oh.

---

I’m glad that the interrogation is over - at least for now.
I’m most definitely not glad that Hiccup and Merida have been captured, and that Merida is in such a poor state.
“What were you doing? I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!” The man’s voice booms throughout the ship, laden with raw sorrow and betrayal.
Hiccup cringes, but doesn’t say anything. He keeps his eyes fixed on the wooden floor.
“How could you?” Hiccup’s dad is now speaking in a whisper, realizing that his son had betrayed him and being unable to cope with it.
Hiccup closes his eyes.
The man’s voice switches from sorrow to disgust. “I can’t believe that I trusted you. You’re not my son. You will pay for what you’ve done.”
The menace lacing his tone scares me. I get the feeling that Hiccup’s dad knows the best way to get to him.
Hiccup seems to know that too. He looks up at his dad, his eyes filled with desperation and pleading and utter sorrow.
“Deal with him as you’d like, Josef. I have more important things to deal with.” He turns to face the men holding Jack and I before leaving. “Same goes for you.”

---

Josef gives me a look that says, I’m going to enjoy this.
No. Please no. Just… Leave her alone.
They decide to do the exact opposite. They don’t hesitate before beating her.
I wince and close my eyes. I feel more helpless than ever in my whole life.
My heart is being torn to shreds.
I open my eyes.
Merida is a bloody mess. Her screams and gasps eventually fade.
No. No no no. Nonononono.
Don’t be dead. Please. Please.
A guttural cry tears from my lips. Josef gives me a look of satisfaction before punching my lights out.
All I can think about is her.

---

I snarl at the man approaching me, but he just gives me a black-toothed grin and moves on.
To Rapunzel.
I glance over. It seems that they’re following the same method on both sides.
Beat the girl; the one that they assume is weak.
“I will sing,” she snaps, then instantly regrets it.
At least she didn’t specify which song she’d sing.
The men just laugh. One aims a punch at her face.
Flower, gleam and glow;
Let your power shine;
Don’t abandon me,
Protect what’s mine.
The man’s hand deflects off of a gold shimmer that materializes inches before his hand makes contact. Stunned, he stumbles back a few steps.
They change tactics.

---

As soon as they realize that they can’t hurt me, they go for the next available target: Jack.
My song doesn’t work to save him. Within seconds, he is bruised and bloodied. His eyes roll back in his head and he slumps to the floor.
No. No no no. Nononono.
Just don’t die. Live. Live for me, Jack. Please.
My forcefield dies, and the last thing I see is darkness.