Arrow to the Heart (Male Merida x Reader)

Breaking Tradition

Hey everyone! I love you all soooooooo much for your dedication to my story! I wouldn't be able to do it without you! I'm hoping to try and finish up with this story soon, but I will be attending Siouxpercon this weekend, so it's hard finding time to write with that, my two jobs, and college. I'll do my best to try to get done with this in a timely manner. Now, I know you've been waiting months soooooooooo, on with the story!!!
😁💕💕

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Abbreviations(Y/N) - Your Name
(L/N) - Last Name
(H/C) - Hair Color
(E/C) - Eye Color
(F/C) - Favorite Color
(H/N) - Horse's Name
~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Third Person POV

(Y/N) slips off of Eleanor's back as the group reaches the castle. This was absolutely insane. They were so close to fixing everything, but so far away. What if it didn't work? They'd lose Eleanor forever. Eleanor had become a mother figure for her. She had no one else past Meridan and his family. She gently reaches out to grab Meridan's hand before he makes his way inside.

Meridan stops and looks back at (Y/N), concerned something was wrong, "Is everything ok?"

"Mer.. a-about what happened back there.. I.. please never do anything like that again.." (Y/N) spoke softly.

Meridan grew even more concerned and confused, "(Y/N), sweetheart.. what's going on?.." he places his hands on her shoulders, making her look up at him.

"I-I couldn't bear losing you Meridan.. I-I was so scared that he'd kill you.. I-I don't know what I'd do without you.. I-I really care about you.. more than you know.." a few tears slip down her cheeks.

Meridan felt awful, he brought his hands up to cup her cheeks, wiping her tears away, "Sweetheart.. I.. I'm so sorry.. I don't want you to feel that way.. I promise I'll always come back to you.. never will I leave you alone.. I am your protector.. I always will be..."

(Y/N) wraps her arms around Meridan, burying her face into his chest as his arms wrap around her protectively. It was them against the world.

The two stayed there for a few moments, comforting one another until they were no longer in tears. They were in this together, and they knew that.

Slowly, they decided it was time to head inside. They couldn't waste any more time. They had to save Eleanor. They could talk more about this after.

So Meridan, (Y/N), and Eleanor sneak back into the castle and, as they peek into the Great Hall, they see that Fergus and the lords are fighting again.

Meridan and (Y/N) share a look of concern. They had to stop this.

"Tell them the story," (Y/N) encouraged.

Meridan raises his eyebrow slightly, "What?"

"Just trust me. It'll come to you." (Y/N) gently pushes him forward and Meridan obliges, walking into the middle of the room.

All eyes were on him as he told them the story of the ancient kingdom and the selfish prince.

Meridan then started to let his words flow, "Yours was an alliance forged in bravery and friendship and it lives to this day. I've been selfish. I tore a great rift in our kingdom. There's no one to blame but me. And I know now that I need to amend my mistake and mend our bond. And so, there is the matter of my betrothal. I decided to do what's right, and..."

As Meridan looks around the room at the lords and their daughters, he notices Eleanor in the background trying to stop him. (Y/N) stood beside her, having not noticed her signs to stop. She looked almost heartbroken at his words. Could she?

Meridan followed his mother's gestures, "And...and break tradition."

Gasps spread throughout the room, including one from young (Y/N). She couldn't believe it.

Meridan looks over at Eleanor, who is miming what he should say, "My mother, the queen, feels...uh, in her heart, that I...that we be free to...write our own story. Follow our hearts, and find love in our time."

Everyone, especially the lords, are crying.

Lord Dingwall says, "Beautiful."

"The queen and I put the decision to you my lords. Might our young people decide for themselves who they will love?" Meridan asks.

"Huh?" Lord Dingwall says a bit surprised

Lord Macintosh speaks up, "Well, since you've obviously made up your minds about this, I have one thing to say. This is..."

Young Macintosh pipes in quickly, "A grand idea! Give us our own say in choosing our fates?"

"What?!" Lord Macintosh gasps in surprise at what his daughter had said.

The Young Dingwall nods in agreement, "Aye! Why shouldn't we choose?"

"But he's the prince!" Lord Dingwall cries in shock. Why wouldn't his daughter want to marry a royal?

The Young Dingwall laughs a bit, "I didn't pick him out. It was your idea."

Lord MacGuffin turns to his daughter as well, "And you, do you feel the same way?"

Young MacGuffin speaks but, again, her accent is so thick no one understands her; Meridan laughs anyway.

"Well, that's it. Let these ladies try to win his heart before they win his hand, if they can!" Lord MacGuffin calls out with a smile.

"I say the wee Dingwall has a fighting chance!" Lord Dingwall smiles brightly, pulling his daughter in close.

Lord Macintosh nods, "Fine then! Seems for once we agree! It was my idea in the first place."

Fergus smiles and ruffles Meridan's hair, "Just like your mom, you devil."

Meridan turns and notices a guard staring at Eleanor's frozen pose as a stuffed bear, (Y/N) tries to keep his focus away from the bear, but he ignores her. So Meridan comes up with something to distract everyone, "Everyone! To the cellar! Lets crack open the king's private reserves to celebrate!"

Everyone cheers and starts heading for the cellar; Fergus rushing after them, "Woah! Woah! Woah!"

Fergus turns to one of his servants and whispers, "Bring them tiny glasses."

They all leave the Great Hall as Meridan returns to Eleanor and (Y/N) before doing a little dance of joy as they giggle. Meridan picks (Y/N) up in a tight embrace, spinning her around before placing her back down on her feet as he smiles down at her.

Their joy is interrupted when they remember as Meridan calls out, "The tapestry!"