Even though she was a grown women, Merida was like a child to Elinor, a daughter even. She wanted to come through her messy hair and sing her songs her mother used to sing and have moments that only and mother and her daughter could experience. Sometimes she was stubborn and she did dangerous things that Elinor could do but refused to do because of her being a lady and while she respected Merida and her choices, she feared for the girl. What if she got hurt? Elinor didn’t want to ever think about that! She has held Merida in her arms many times and to lose that….it would be too much.
It happened sooner than it should have. Elinor probably should have been long-gone before Merida. Yet, fate had other plans. Elinor saw her fall during her training. Pneumonia the doctors said. Elinor took care of the redhead until she coughed her last breath and when it did happen, she could hardly believe it. People have gotten pneumonia before and people have died from it too, but she just couldn’t believe brave and strong Merida had lost to the disease. She would have rather it been a bloody and long fight where Merida bravely defended a village of children or something bigger because she knew Merida could handle those things. But this….this was wrong, it wasn’t fair. Merida died while Elinor held her in her arms, singing an old Scottish song that her mother used to sing to her when she was sick. Elinor cried for days, and when Merida was buried, so was her heart. This girl touched her more than she even knew and now she was taken from her at such a young age….Elinor spent nights upon nights wishing and praying that she could be the one that cured Merida from her sickness…but no answer ever came.