Prince Jack of the Northlands sat calmly doodling snowflakes in one of his father's books when a pile of letters was unceremoniously dumped in his lap. "Whoa! Dad, what is all this?"

Emperor North of the Northlands chuckled heartily and sat down to read. "All from subjects of our lands accepting to come for your coronation!"

Jack rolled his eyes. "Oh right, that thing where I have to pick a girl to marry in less than four hours. Great."

The emperor looked over his reading glasses at his son. "You know laws as well as anyone. You can not rule without consort. Cheer up! There is bound to be nice girl with right song."

Looking over the pile of letters, the prince sighed. "I have heard so many songs, but never one that I could finish." Jack stood and waved a guard away from the door, "I'm going to get some fresh air."

Once outside, the prince wandered aimlessly in the palace grounds, kicking a tuft of grass here, swatting a tree branch there, all the time gazing dejectedly at the moon. "If I'm doing something wrong, can you just tell me what it is? Because I've tried everything, but I can never sing back to anyone. You made me this way! The least you could do is tell me... tell me why."

The moon as usual was silent. Jack groaned in frustration and continued walking the grounds, eventually making his way to the stables. Jack had always loved horses; they were warm, soft, understanding, everything he'd always longed for and never had. Patting the neck of his favorite white mare, the boy became aware of a faint sound farther down the line of stalls. Someone, probably a stable hand doing their nightly chores, was whistling softly to themselves. Jack sighed at the comforting sounds; even if he couldn't sing himself, he still enjoyed hearing others. Silently moving closer, the prince saw a chestnut haired boy about his age brushing a large black horse by the light of a single lantern. The boy's whistling blended into a wobbly tenor as he began to quietly sing.

I'll swim and sail on savage seas
With ne'er a fear of drowning
And gladly ride the waves of life
If you will marry me
No scorching sun nor freezing cold
Will stop me on my journey
If you will promise me your heart...
And love...

The boy heaved a heavyhearted sigh and Jack felt a tight aching in his chest as shaky words spilled from his own mouth.

And love me for eternity
My dearest one, my darling dear
Your mighty words astound me
But I've no need of mighty deeds
When I feel your arms around me

The surprised stable boy looked around for the other singer; seeing no one, he cautiously continued.

But I would bring you rings of gold
I'd even sing you poetry
And I would keep you from all harm
If you would stay beside me

Tears of joy fell from Jack's eyes as music cascaded from his soul to echo around the barn.

I have no use for rings of gold
I care not for your poetry
I only want your hand to hold
I only want you near me

Both voices rang with laughter as they sang the last lines together.

To love and kiss to sweetly hold
For the dancing and the dreaming
Through all life's sorrows
And delights
I'll keep your love inside me
I'll swim and sail on savage seas
With ne'er a fear of drowning
And gladly ride the waves of life
If you will marry me!

Jack slid down the wall separating him from the other boy and tried to process what had just happened. He did it! He actually opened his mouth and had music come out! The fact that a stable boy was the other singer hadn't really registered; for now, Jack was still high on the music. The stable boy peeked around the stall and quickly dropped to kneel in surprise. "Your Highness! Please forgive my disturbing you! I-I had no idea it was you singing with me. No! No, not w-with m- Oh gods! I mean..."

Jack laughed and pulled the boy up to his feet. "Don't be sorry! Honestly, singing with you was the best thing that's happened to me in a long time. Thank you so much, you have no idea..."

The brunet timidly looked up at the prince with sparkling green eyes. "...how..."

Light brown freckles stood in contrast to golden skin in the dim glow of the lantern. "...much..."

A slight smile curved gently to one side of a beautiful mouth. "...it meant to me."

"Are you alright Your Highness?"

Jack quickly pulled himself back to reality and cleared his throat. "Yes, thank you. Thank, uh, ye- um, yes. Yes, right, I'm alright."

With his heart pounding, Jack quickly spun on his heel and ran from the barn; and he didn't stop running until he was safely in his own bed with the lights out.

"Oh my giddy aunt! What just happened?!" Jack knew very well what happened. "Ohhhh criminy! He sang my song. Okay. I can deal with this, I can deal- Ohhhh nuts!" Suffice it to say, the prince didn't sleep much that night.

At breakfast, Jack's mind was still spinning from the night before; not only from the singing, that went without saying, but also the stable boy with the green eyes, freckles, and sweet smile. North watched his son absentmindedly butter the same piece of toast for the third time.

"Something on your mind, Jack?"

"Hmm? Oh! Ummm, no. No, nothing at all." Jack quickly ate the overly buttered toast and stood to leave. "I uh, think I'll go for a ride today; you know, clear out the cobwebs. Right."

North shook his head and returned to reading his letters.

Once outside, Jack took a very long route to the stables, constantly muttering to himself as he jumped to avoid bushes that somehow wound up in his path. "Hey. Hello, um, that was a really great song, maybe you'd like to sing it again? No! That was awful! Come on, you can do better than that."

The stable door loomed up sooner than expected and Jack nervously walked in. "Hello?"

An older stable hand with greying hair bowed to him. "Good morning, Your Highness, are you wanting to ride Fernfrost today?"

Jack looked around the nearly empty barn distractedly. "Yes I do, thank you. Do you know where I can find the boy who was on duty last night? Green eyes, brown hair, freckles?"

"Why yes my lord; that would be Hiccup. Has he done something wrong?"

"No, no, I just wanted to ask him about something he was feeding the horses, they seemed to like it."

The old man scratched his wispy hair as he thought. "Well now, I think he went into the forest this morning to find herbs for the Emperor's horse, has a bad leg you see, and said he'd be back by nightfall."

Jack swung into the saddle and tightened his grip on the reigns. "Thank you, sir, I appreciate your help."

Bright sunlight filtered down through the trees as Jack rode into the forest, keeping a lookout for the brunet boy. After only ten minutes of meandering, the Fernfrost pricked up her ears and the prince could faintly hear angry cursing coming from his left. Approaching the sounds, Jack couldn't help chuckling at the colorful oaths being uttered by someone with a familiar tenor voice. "Thor almighty! Some people fall in the pond, or the mud, but me?! I manage to fall in the only bramble patch in the whole forest?!"

Dismounting his horse, Jack rounded a tree and saw that the boy had indeed fallen backward into a very large patch of brambles and not been able to get back out. As he caught sight of the prince, Hiccup groaned and slumped deeper into his leafy prison. "The gods hate me."

Jack shook his head and started shrugging out of his vest. Hiccup's eyes went wide and an instant blush flourished across his cheeks, "With all due respect Your Highness, what are you doing?!"

Jack just looked at him for a second before hanging his vest on a tree branch. "Uh, I'm going to help you out of there? There's no point in getting everything shredded on those brambles. Can you move your arms?"

Hiccup tried to move but his sleeves were caught fast. Jack had taken off his shirt as well so he was wearing only his leather riding pants. Leaning over the brambles, the prince began painstakingly unhooking thorns from the other boy's shirt, one by one. "So, your name is Hiccup, right?"

Hiccup closed his eyes, respectfully not staring at the prince's flawless white chest inches from his. "Yes, Your Highness."

He heard a snagging sound and the prince huffing in frustration. "Please call me Jack. Every thorn I undo, two more take its place; I think we'd have better luck freeing your shirt if you weren't in it."

Hiccup's face turned scarlet. "I really don't mind staying here the rest of my life!"

Jack snickered at him, "What's the matter? Afraid I'll faint at your awesomeness?"

Hiccup thought about his situation for a few seconds; the prince seemed to be treating him like an equal and though he knew he was probably breaking about a hundred royal protocols, he decided to just have fun while it lasted. Rolling his eyes, the brunet smirked right back. "Oh yeah, there's consequences to keeping this much raw Vikingness contained."

Jack just chuckled and held the collar of Hiccup's shirt so he could shimmy out of it. As they worked, the prince glanced curiously at his companion. The freckles from his face continued to cascade in rivers over his shoulders and down his chest and back, forming little constellation like patterns that glowed in the late morning sunlight. He was as skinny as Jack himself, though a little shorter, and stronger from years of hard work. The shirt finally came loose without much damage and the boys stood uncomfortably for a few moments until Jack rubbed the back of his neck; breaking the spell, "So, um, where did you learn that song?"

Hiccup put his shirt back on and tucked it into the waistband of his pants. "My father used to sing it to my mother before she died; it was an old Viking courting song I guess. How did you know it?"

Jack was dressed again but held his vest over one shoulder. "That's the thing; I didn't know it. It just came out of my mouth from nowhere."

"Huh, that's weird. I wonder why?"

Jack decided to hold off on telling him the whole story until he got to know him better. "Hector said you were finding herbs for the horses? Can I help?"

Hiccup looked surprised but nodded, "Sure, if you want to. Do you know what comfrey looks like?" Jack shook his head and Hiccup looked around for a sample. "Here, purple bell shaped flowers and long leaves. We also need arnica, that looks like a yellow daisy, and mint."

As they searched, the boys fell into easy conversation, each asking about what life was like for the other, finding they had more in common than might be assumed from their differences of birth. Both had lost their mothers at an early age, had slightly overbearing fathers who were usually too busy to listen, and a great love for horses. As they neared a patchy green area, Jack closed his eyes and took a in deep breath, "What is that?!"

Hiccup bent down to pick a few leaves. "Mint. You've never smelled it before?"

Jack shook his head and breathed again. "My father never has anything but cinnamon around the palace."

Hiccup chuckled and rubbed the leaves vigorously on the prince's hands. "If you like the smell, wait till you feel it."

An icy cold tingle spread through Jack's fingers and he laughed. "Oh wow, it feels like winter! What else can you do with it?"

The boys picked several bunches of the herb for the horses and a few extras for Jack. "Almost anything really; poultices, tonics, soap, bathwater, tea, salad..."

"You mean you can eat it too?!"

Hiccup grinned at the prince's joyful expression; blue eyes shining and brilliantly white smile sparkling like freshly fallen snow. "Sure, just take one of the leaves and chew it like this."

Jack could smell the intoxicating scent of mint wafting from the other boy's mouth and lost the battle he'd been fighting not to pounce on him. Hiccup let out a surprised squeak as he found himself being kissed to within an inch of his life by the prince. After three seconds of shock the brunet found he really didn't mind and threw his arms around Jack's neck and kissed him back. Suddenly coming back to his senses, Jack's eyes shot open to stare at the boy who was still lost to the influence of minty kisses. Noticing that Jack wasn't responding to him, Hiccup opened his eyes as well and they blinked at each other several times with their lips still connected. Jack quickly swallowed half of the mint leaf that had somehow found its way into his mouth and coughed as the burning lump slid down his throat.

"I'm so sorry! I don't know why I did that to you! Not that you aren't great, because you are, but- Oh jeez!"

Hiccup gulped down his half of the spit covered leaf and giggled. "Heh! Y-you think I'm great? That's something new. I-I th-think you're pretty great yourself, b-but I-I'm sure you've heard that a lot already."

Jack was feeling a little woozy so he pulled the other boy with him to sit on the cool grass. "Uh, nope, you're the first. I mean, lots of girls chase me around like an icicle in July, but I never stopped running long enough to hear what they had to say."

Green eyes regarded him curiously, "Why? Wasn't there at least one you liked?"

Jack removed his arms from Hiccup's waist and started fiddling with a bunch of mint. "No, it's not that simple actually. I was cursed to never sing until I heard a song from a heart that matched mine. I've heard thousands of songs, but last night was the first time I've ever sang in my life."

Hiccup's eyes went wide and he clapped a hand over his mouth, "You mean-?! Ohhhh myyyyy gooooods!"

The brunet flopped back on the grass and hid his face with both hands, not daring to look at the prince. Jack stayed silently lost in his own thoughts for some time.

Jack was wondering if life could get any worse than finding your heart song in a stable boy (he didn't mind, but his father might blow a gasket...) and having said boy be the cutest thing you've ever seen (oh those freckles!) then having aforementioned cutie freak out (ouch) and probably never want to speak to you again after you already kissed him (and oh boy was he good!) on top of which your father (The Emperor!) has invited who knows how many girls (RUN!) to sing for you so you can marry one of them, but you've already completely fallen for someone else, and… yeah.

Behind his hands, Hiccup was struggling not to have a heart attack and blushing like crazy. Jack (PRINCE JACK!) of all people, had basically just told him he was his heart song (Seriously? The only thing he could sing was a Viking courting song?!) but princes don't marry stable boys (nope, never, not in this world or the next) even if he was really nice (yep) and funny (very) and good looking (wait, what?) and a really good kisser (where are you going with this?!) and he wasn't sure, but he might (hm?) maybe (oh no...) possibly (admit it!) be falling in love with him (oh the gods hate me...)

"Hey, Hiccup?"

A muffled groan came from under two hardworking freckled hands. "What?"

Jack sighed and got to his feet, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen, it just... did. I understand if you never want to talk to me again."

The brunet sat up and stared mournfully at Jack over his fingers. "Do you realize the full extent of what you said earlier?"

Jack shook his head slowly, "I don't know, maybe you can give me a hint?"

Hiccup dragged his hands down his face and sighed. "Remember what I said about that song?"

Jack shrugged, "Um, your dad sang it to your mom, Viking courting song... did I miss something?"

Hiccup rolled his eyes, "It's a courting song; as in you were agreeing to marry me."

Now it was Jack's turn to clap both hands over his mouth as a bout of loud laughter burst out of him. "HOLY SNOWFLAKES! Are you serious?!"

Hiccup huffed and crossed his arms, looking anywhere but the boy laughing at him. "It wasn't that funny."

Jack sat back down beside the other boy and tried to control himself. "Oh man, I wasn't laughing at y- I, I, Oh flip it!"

Hiccup suddenly found himself being suffocated in kisses again. He was about to be washed away when he realized this probably meant the prince did want to marry him which sent a whole new wave of panic running through him. Quickly breaking away, Hiccup jumped to his feet and started pacing around the clearing.

"Ohhhhhh gods! Ohohohoho, I can't do this!"

Jack watched in confusion as the boy paced faster and faster, his feet flattening a path in the grass, and occasionally waving an admonitory finger at him when he passed by. "Oh, you my friend are making a serious mistake! Are you out of your mind?! Stable boys do not, I repeat, DO NOT marry princes!"

A quiet voice caused the brunet to stop short in his tracks, "Do you not like me?"

One quick look into the prince's tear filled blue eyes made Hiccup weak in the knees and he sat back down with a deep sigh. "I'm not making any sense, am I? Look, Jack, I do like you. I like you a lot actually, but... princes don't marry stable boys. I may not know a lot, but I have picked up a few things over the years, and one of them is that without an empress, you can't rule. You are sweet, and kind, and if things were different, maybe... but, they're not."

Jack was silent for a minute before a slow smile spread over his face and Hiccup raised an eyebrow at him. "What is that look for?"

Jack moved so he was facing the other boy on one knee and took hold of his hand. "My heart was reaching out to be heard and yours was the one that answered, you held my song in the silence and reminded me how to sing it when I had given up on ever finding it. You are the most warm hearted, genuine person I've ever met and I know I already have a spark of love for you in my heart. So... would you marry me, Hiccup?"

The brunet sighed and shook his head. "Jack-"

A gentle finger was pressed over his lips as Jack smiled at him, "I don't need an empress, I only need a consort."

Hiccup's heart sped up with the realization of what the prince was actually saying.

"I'll wait for you as long as it takes, and even if you say no, I will never marry anyone else."