The Princess and the Hood: Reflections of the Wine Bottle

Merida in the cave

* * *

I woke up as a young adult again, the memory of my dad losing his leg still fresh. Despite being in my early twenties, the sense of captivity given by this cave made me feel like a little girl again, scared and desperate for a way home.

With a yawn I tiredly sat up and laid my arm back in the sling I cut from my dress. Every part of me except one kept telling me to go back to sleep. But I was unsettled by the situation Robin and I had gotten into. Plus, since I was the one who led us here, I felt duty bound to get us both back out.

I looked across the fire pit at where Robin lay curled up in his mottled cloak. Without the right medicine to treat his wounds, he was looking a little sick. Nothing severe, from what I could see, but he was pale as opposed to his normal sun-tanned skin tone. We both had to get back to Castle DunBroch before those claw marks could get worse. For all we knew, that beast could've gotten a few stray hairs or threads from his tunic in there.

There was no way around this. "I promise, Robin." I whispered as if he could hear me. "I'm getting us out of here. Today."

Thankfully it wasn't raining anymore, so that big rock would mostly be dry by now.

"There's nothing else here, Rob. We have to go back out the way we came." I told him. "It hasn't rained since we got here, so the cliff face will be rugged enough."

"What?" he exclaimed. "What about your arm?"

I reached into my pack and pulled out a bundle of rope. Tying one end around my waist I proudly said, "Yeh can help. Ye're a climber too, and I still have both hands and my feet. We go back out the way we came, yeh can lower me down, and then climb down yerself."

Robin scratched his head nervously, probably weighing the risks. But what choice did we have? This blasted cave was a dead end! There wasn't so much as a creek or pool with stalagtites above it. Even if there were, it would have just been a tease since I couldn't swim with my right arm in a sling.

"Rob, come on. You know there's no other way." For good measure I added, "Do yeh trust me?"

"With my life." he sighed.

"And I you. So trust me with mine." I said. "I know these cliffs better than anyone. Besides, it's been long enough where any of the infected will be off our scent. In fact, that old witch probably reversed the Hellhound problem already. We need to take our chance on the dry rocks and get back to Castle DunBroch. Then when my dad gets back from the other clan lords' business, we can tell him everything."

The former thief still seemed reluctant, but after scratching his stubble in thought he nodded slowly. He seemed to realise by now that there was nothing else for it. No other way to go but back down.

"All right." he said quietly. "Let's get out of this crack."