Chapter Ten

A/N: Sorry about no post yesterday (yeah, I hate me too.) I was visiting the vocational school I'm transferring to for my last year of high school from 6pm to 9pm. Before and after those hours I was working on my homework and feverishly trying to finish the critical essay for my Adv. English class...

In response to...

InfinitiumAce: Yep :) The letter is important and the reason for the title and the 'blood' part will become... symbolically clear... pretty soon. XD Good luck on your exam! *fingers crossed* And yeah, I know it's technically my call when to post my chapters...but I like updating everyday because otherwise, I'd just get pulled into procrastination and other assorted shenanigans.

NightFury999: Lol, well my chapters are pretty short so that figures into one reason it doesn't take me a long time to write. And the other thing is, when I write, I shut down. XD I just listen to music and write for hours on end, not doing anything else. That's probably why it doesn't take me forever to get a chapter out. And thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it :D

OinkyThePiggy: Oh good, I'm glad it didn't sound odd to you. (Even though now that it's the next day and I'm rereading it, I keep finding things I could have written out better...oh well.) Thank you :)

Breyannia: Yup, his deal will be explained very soon. And I don't know about tomorrow...but I will say that in the near future, they're going to need to just push through the pain... *evil grin*

Guest: Thank you and I'm glad you're enjoying it so far! :D I do intend to keep the chapters going on a regular basis again, yesterday (Friday) was just a freak thing, as explained in the author's note.

Thanks for the reviews everyone! I know I say this a lot but I mean it: I really do appreciate everyone who takes the time to give me some feedback :) Thanks to everyone else as well, for all those lovely follows and favorites! I love you guys! :D

While Toothless focuses on hearing what Stoick and Aelius are saying by the fire, Hiccup slinks out of his bed and over to the flap of the large tent. He carefully brushes it aside and peers out into the dark, his eyes immediately finding his father and the assassin standing across from each other and talking feverishly about something. By the amount of blood on his dark tunic and the way his left arm dangles uselessly by his side, Aelius appears to be injured. There's a satchel sitting on the ground by his feet, also stained with red. It bears a crest Hiccup has never seen before...

What is going on? He wonders with a frown. Dad looks pretty upset.

And that Stoick does. Berk's Chief towers over Aelius, his green eyes flaming not with anger but with determination. Whatever they're saying, it must be important... But as hard as he strains, Hiccup simply can't hear them from this distance. Without closing the flap of their tent, he turns back to Toothless, who's ears are twitching and his head tilting as he listens.

The dragon notices that his friend is staring at him and shifts his attention to the boy, cooing curiously as if to say 'what?'

Hiccup sighs and shakes his head. "If only I had your hearing." He grumbles as he returns to the opening, eyes narrowing as he struggles to determine what might be going on between those two. Hmph, pretty hypocritical of Dad to say he doesn't want me consorting with Aelius but then he turns around and does the same thing... Figures.

While Hiccup watches from a distance, Stoick and Aelius appear to finish their conversation when the assassin wavers dangerously on his feet and doubles over, clutching his ribcage in a pained fashion. Stoick seems to sigh and places a hand on the other man's back, ushering him toward an unoccupied tent Hiccup hadn't noticed anyone pitch.

Aelius nods and straightens up again, but not before grabbing his satchel and slinging it over his shoulder. He ducks into the tent and Stoick waits outside, his arms folded.

A few minutes later, the assassin reappears. His shirt has been changed, from the dark and bloodied tunic to a loose-fitting, white one. When he and Stoick start pacing away from the camp and somewhere far enough away that they can negotiate in private, Hiccup realizes...Aelius left his bag behind within his tent.

Biting the inside of his cheek, he wonders about the possibility that there might be something inside of it that could tell him what's going on. By the way he and Dad were talking, it seems like they don't want anyone to know he's here...which means he'll probably be gone by morning. With a nervous frown, he glances back at Toothless.

The dragon coos questioningly at him and stands up, only to wince at the pain in his leg and lay back down. He offers an apologetic whimper to his Rider but Hiccup only smiles and strokes his head.

"Don't worry, bud. I'll be back in a few seconds..." He sneaks out of the flap and takes a steadying breath to calm himself. "...just want to know what my dad is planning." Then, without wasting another moment, sprints across the distance between the two tents and dives inside the assassin's, skidding to a clumsy halt just inside the opening.

It's clear to him that this tent was pitched in a hurry. There's nothing inside, not even a cot, save for Aelius's dirty tunic and satchel. Hiccup glances over his shoulder nervously, making sure no one has seen him, before kneeling down and shamelessly lifting open the assassin's bag.

Right on the top and sealed with the same crest he found on the satchel, is a letter. Hiccup reaches out to grab it but hesitates, his fingers curling back in as if reluctant to help him read the note... Does he really want to know what kind of deal his father would make with an assassin? Stoick did say he'd tell him in the morning...is this all necessary?

But before his doubts can sink too deeply, the boy shakes himself and grabs the letter, intent on figuring out what his father would hide from him. And their whole tribe.

His fingers trembling slightly from anxiousness and fear as he tries to peel the seal off without ruining it. However, as soon as he tries, the wax stamp peels up and the page unfurls... The seal was fresh, he realizes. It hadn't sat long enough to even harden.

With a confused frown, Hiccup looks at the crest on the front of the letter. If he hasn't seen it before, it must be a far away place. Far enough that a seal would be able to harden... Unless...unless it didn't actually come from that place.

Finally turning over the letter, Hiccup's focused green eyes skim the page...but he growls in frustration when he determines it's not written in Norse. Whatever this language is, it must belong to the invading army. He can't read it. He sighs angrily and presses the seal back over the page, making it stick once again. In one last-ditch effort, he sifts through the other assorted items in Aelius's satchel and is about to give up...when he notices something else.

There, balled up in the corner of the bag, is another piece of paper. Hiccup grabs it and smooths it out, his heart giving a little leap of excitement when he notices it's written in his father's handwriting...and looks to be the same format as the sealed letter!

But the boy nearly jumps out of his skin at the sound of distant voices. Aelius and his dad must be coming back! With no time to waste, he shoves the unread note into his vest and ducks out of the tent, thanking Thor when he figures out he hasn't been seen yet.

He ducks back into his own tent and immediately throws himself onto his cot, silently praying his father won't come straight here. The stolen paper suddenly feels very heavy laying against his chest and his hands are shaking. He closes his eyes and pretends to be asleep, just in case.

Toothless watches his human's peculiar behavior with a look of confusion and concern. He stands up, flinching in pain, but pushes through it so he can limp over to Hiccup and nudge the boy's arm as if to ask, 'Are you okay?'

Hiccup cracks open one eye and shakes his head at Toothless. "Quiet, bud." He whispers. "I'll tell you in a second..." So the Night Fury obeys, curling up beside Hiccup's bed and following his lead, pretending to be asleep.

In the tense silence that follows, Hiccup listens to the growing sound of the incomprehensible voices of his father and the assassin. His mind hyper-aware of the letter in his vest. He squeezes his eyes shut and tries to decipher the small amount of text he'd been able to read before he'd been forced to run away.

From the High King of The Holy Roman Empire...

Except it had been written in Stoick's handwriting. So what does that mean?!

A/N: Yeah...kind of a short chapter. Sorry. T_T