The Princess and the Hood: Reflections of the Wine Bottle

Merida and Music

* * *

I spent the night wrapped up in my cloak the way I had many times. The best pillow I could make was folding up my grey hunting jacket. My head lay sideways, too tired and heavy to lift. My eyes were barely open, only enough to see the sunlight, a red light that seeped through the heavy waterfall into the cave.

Aside from the falls, another sound graced my ears. For a moment I thought it was a dream, that I was still asleep, but it turned out to be real. It was someone singing quite fluidly, like a stream with no rocks to hinder the flow.

'Merida...?'

Where dark woods hide secrets

And mountains are fierce and bold

Deep waters hold reflections

Of times lost long ago

I will hear their every story

Take hold of my own dream

Be as strong as the seas are stormy

And proud as an eagle's scream

I will ride, I will fly

Chase the wind and touch the sky

I will fly

Chase the wind and touch the sky...

I didn't know Merida could play, let alone sing. I liked the sound of it. The instrumentals went on for quite a few more moments, that wood-framed lyre being played almost effortlessly. At least that's how it seemed to me.

And touch the sky...

Chase the wind,

Chase the wind...

Touch the sky...

It went on just a little longer (the music itself) until Merida finally finished. She placed the wooden instrument down quietly, looking in my direction for a moment. She probably wanted to be sure I wasn't awake. My eyes probably weren't open enough, since she just spared a passing glance before staring through the waterfall.

"That was nice."

She jumped back slightly, hitting the cave wall. She winced in pain, rubbing her shoulder that was still badly bruised. "Well, thank yeh... unh... I suppose."

"What is it?" I yawned, carefully lifting my cloak off.

"The song? It's, um, an old favourite of mine. It'll be in my head a lot when I'm running 'round the woods, shooting arrows, climbing trees and such. Fun times."

"Where did that lyre come from?" I asked.

"This? Oh, the witch must've left it behind—wait a moment!" She laughed. "Yeh're telling me that you, a master thief, didn't see it there before? After all the time yeh spent living in that empty cottage?"

"I never said I was a 'master' thief." I shook my tired head as best I could, much to Merida's obvious amusement. "Let me see that."

"What? You play too?" Merida said, bordering disbelief.

"Stay friends with Alan A'Dale long enough and you can play with strings." I grinned.

She passed me the lyre and wrapped her arms around her knees. "Be my guest then, Robin the Jongleur."

I picked up the foreign-feeling instrument, plucking the ten strings to get a better feeling of it. It seemed more like a lute that was just made with a frame like a lyre, as if it were a hybrid instrument.

"Hmmm..." I pinched my tongue between my teeth as I plucked and listened for a short while.

"I like this song. Just, what's this called—? NO, WAIT, DON'T TELL ME! Erm..."

'Oh, ha, ha, ha.' I thought. 'You are a princess.'

"I think I've got something..."

There was a song I remembered hearing from the rooftops, hidden by my deep-hooded cloak. I was listening to Alan, who had miraculously survived the ambush but was sent home with a peg leg. After his time, there were passing veterans of France, having reclaimed some of many lost territories alongside King Richard before he died. "Heh. We had a bunch of drunkards singing at the top of their lungs, and they couldn't remember a word they said the next day. So, of course, Alan got the credit when he started putting pieces together and playing his lute at the local taverns."