"They're out of control!" A man yelled.

"Who do they think they are coming into our home and putting our families at risk!?" Another agreed.

"But the Princess said—"

"The Princess was in danger because of them! How can we trust people reckless enough to let children ride those monstrous creatures?"

"My Lord, I'm afraid of what could happen to our children, mayhaps you could speak with the Alpin monarchs," a lady carrying a young child begged her husband.

"We'll get to the bottom of this, don't worry," he reassured her.

"Everyone! We must do this in a civil way. We'll get all the representatives and conduct a meeting with the royals of this land," he announced.

The people started agreeing and made way for the royalty that were visiting while the villagers chose a representative. Once a representative was chosen all of the leaders walked straight into Castle DunBroch. They had barely set foot inside the castle when they had to duck down to dodge a flying axe. It stuck to the wall behind them, making the group move away.

"Get back here!" Astrid yelled until she noticed the group.

She quickly grabbed her axe from the wall and backed up when Merida came running in.

"Where'd that good for notin'—?" Merida asked with a sword in hand from behind Astrid.

She saw the group and cleared her throat before hiding the sword behind her back.

"Why, hello there. Is there something ye'd like to discuss?" Merida asked as if she hadn't just been swinging her sword around.

"As a matter of fact, yes Princess Merida. We are all here to discuss the problem with the ...dragons," the first man said, unsure of what word to use to describe those giant fire-breathing lizards.

"Yes, of course. I can explain everything," Merida told them.

"We'd like a formal meeting with the King and Queen," the man clarified.

"Of course, I'll fetch them. Meanwhile, won't ye all wait for us in the council room?" Merida asked.

Merida didn't want to leave them, but she also knew she had to talk to the vikings before looking for her parents. Luckily, Maudie happened to be walking by so Merida asked her to lead them to the room. Once they were gone Merida turned to Astrid.

"I can't believe he got away," Merida groaned in annoyance.

"Yeah, the way he sort of vanished was bizarre. We'll keep looking for him while you're in your meeting," Astrid told her.

"No, whatever he's planning can wait, unless you find the others and tell them to keep looking. Right now, we need ye to show the people that your dragons are tamed and not a danger to anyone," Merida replied.

"Like a mini-dragon rider lesson?" Astrid asked.

"Exactly! The last thing we need is for a fight to break out with so many leaders here," Merida told her.

"Don't worry Merida, we'll take care of everything," Astrid assured her.

Merida smiled as Astrid turned to leave.

"Oh! And if ye see Hiccup and Valka before I do, please tell them to meet us in the council room. They can ask a servant where the room is," Merida instructed.

Astrid seemed to tense up. She nodded without turning around.

"Sure, Princess," Astrid replied curtly before leaving.

Merida furrowed her eyebrows, a bit confused on her change in demeanor. She looked down and decided to brush it off. The most important thing was to find her parents, if she took too long the group might become agitated.
She set the sword down by the door before she left.

Where could they be?

She looked around trying to spot their faces. Somehow, that part of the festival didn't seem to be affected by the wee devils' pranks.

Finally, she spotted her parents and Valka.

"Mum, Da!" Merida called as she ran to them.

"Oh, Merida! What are you doing?" Her mom asked her.

"Well, there's been a bit of a mess," Merida replied slowly. "We have to meet with the leaders in the council room for a meeting. Valka and Hiccup should come too."

"What happened?" Valka asked.

"Hamish, Hubert, Harris, Graeme, Lillias, and Tuffnut stole the dragons and burned down the other side of the festival," Merida explained.

"They what?!" Her mom exclaimed.

"Were yer brothers good at riding the dragons?" Her dad asked.

Elinor glared at him making him stutter.

"I- I mean were they good, as in not hurt, after riding them," he tried to change his words and quickly sipped from his cup.

"They also put frogs inside some of the beer kegs and I've no idea which ones," Merida added.

Her dad spilled his drink and placed the cup down on a small table nearby.

"Who knows how long this meeting will run," Elinor said, "We'll have to close down the festival for now. Merida, please show Valka the way and tell them we'll be there shortly."

"Yes, Mum," Merida replied.

"Follow me," she told Valka.

On their way there Valka decided to start making small talk.

"So, how was Hiccup when he was younger?" Valka asked.

"He was such a wee lamb, very curious, very unsure of himself, and yet he was usually never sad," Merida replied reminiscing about the old days.

"I wish I could've seen him grow up," Valka replied.

"Well, I didn't really see him growing up either. He stopped coming almost 15 years ago. I had actually forgotten about him until I started dreaming about a young boy with green eyes and freckles," Merida admitted.

"By the way you talk about him I thought you had grown up together longer," Valka told her a bit surprised.

"I decided to dig around and I was able to find some old portraits of the two of us, I slowly began to remember some of the things we did together," Merida replied. "I knew I was missing something, but I hadn't realized it was him until a while later."

Merida looked at the ground and smiled slightly before clearing her throat, "Don't get me wrong, I only want to be his friend again. I know I don't know him as well as Astrid does or anything. Anyway, we're here."

She reached for the doors, trying to stop making a fool of herself as quickly as possible, but Valka grabbed her hand.

"Stoick and I didn't grow up together, but we still fell in love. Don't be afraid of the way you feel," Valka told her.

Merida couldn't move or look away, so she was thankful when Valka let go and opened the doors. Valka noticed Hiccup and decided to sit next to him. Merida quickly bowed her head as she made her way to her seat so no one would notice her red stained cheeks.

"Princess, where are the King and Queen?" one of the men asked.

"They'll be here very shortly," she replied without looking up.

She managed to calm herself down enough to look up.

"What is taking so long?" Another asked.

"They are postponing the festival because they're unsure of how long this will take," Merida replied.

She noticed 6 more chairs were empty besides her parents. She spotted Maudie and beckoned her closer.

"Have the Lords not been informed of this meeting?" She whispered.

"I'm afraid I don't know. I'll go look for them straight away," Maudie replied and left the room.

Hiccup noticed Merida's worried look and signalled for her. She noticed him and signaled back a 'what?'.

"Are you okay?" He mouthed.

"I'm fine. Where's Ryan?" She replied.

Hiccup shrugged his shoulders and raised his hands. Astrid had only told Hiccup to go to the room. Ryan said he would keep looking for Gaston with Astrid and Toothless, so Hiccup left him.

After only a few minutes her parents came in. The chatter in the room stopped as they watched the pair walk to their seats. Merida frowned slightly when she noticed her mother's stance was a bit too relaxed. Usually, she was straight, but years of practice made it seem so natural. Now, she walked as if she had no prior practice.

"Alright then, how about we begin this meeting?" Queen Elinor asked.

"The Lords aren't here yet," Merida intervened. "We need to wait for them."

"There's no need, if they weren't here on time it's their fault," the queen replied.

Merida glanced at Hiccup, Valka, and her dad to see if they noticed a change in her too. Her dad shrugged, seeming to notice but not thinking much of it.

"Mum, are ye alright?" Merida whispered.

"Of course I am," she scoffed. "Now what are your concerns?"

"The dragons the Hairy Hooligan tribe brought are too dangerous!" One of the men exclaimed.

"You're right," Queen Elinor agreed.

"Mum!" Merida exclaimed.

"What? I'm merely stating my opinion dear," the Queen replied, never looking at her daughter.

"Your highness, I completely understand where you're coming from but I think if we—" Hiccup began to speak when the Queen raised her hand.

"What do you suggest we do to the Vikings?" She asked everyone else, disregarding Hiccup's request.

"Elinor, please," Valka said.

"Well we... we don't actually have a plan," another man replied.

They hadn't counted on the queen agreeing with them so quickly. Now that they knew she was on their side, what should they say? What could they say with the very people who controlled the monsters they feared were right beside them?

"Mum, I think ye might have had a few too many drinks," Merida nervously whispered.

"Maybe you're right, but I can still think clearly enough to know they're right," Elinor replied and glared at Merida.

Merida stared directly into Elinor's eyes and gasped. She got up and backed away.

"Merida, what's wrong?" Hiccup asked.

"That's not my Mum!" Merida exclaimed.

She looked around and grabbed a sword from the wall.

"Princess!"

"What are you talking about?"

Everyone backed away. Merida pointed the sword toward Elinor's neck.

"What have you done to my Mum?" She growled.

All of the leaders ran off not wanting to be present when the entire nation crumbled.

"Lass, calm down," her dad tried to reason.

Elinor smirked, "You're smarter than you seemed last time I saw you, but you're just not smart enough."

"Leave her alone you sorcerer!" Merida exclaimed, her hands shaking from frustration.

"Be careful with that, you wouldn't want to hurt your poor mother now would you?" Elinor asked with feigned innocence.