B&B – Chapter nine: "Dinner Invitation" *

There was a sudden knock on the door and Hiccup opened his eyes. For a second, he couldn't remember where he was, or why he was in a lavish bed chamber. Then it all came back to him in a wave of fear, frustration and sorrow.

"Forgive the intrusion, Master," said a voice behind the door. "But we wanted to welcome you formally to Hofferson castle and thought you'd be interested in a bit of a tour."

"Tour?" Hiccup asked warily. Then an idea hit him, and he called, "Hold on just a moment!"

He quietly leapt from the bed and sneakily stood behind the doorway. Balancing on one leg, he unfastened his peg leg and clenched it in his hand. "Come in!"

He held his breath as the door opened and waited for the man to step into the room. But no one came.

Then a voice coughed, "Ahem, down here."

Then Hiccup's eyes fell on a gold candelabra that smiled up at him and waved.

Acting on pure instinct, Hiccup whacked very hard on the candelabra's head. The feather duster next to him giggled, "Heh, heh, do it again."

"Wha –? What are you?" Hiccup gasped, hopping backward and leaning against the wardrobe for balance.

The candelabra shook his dizzy head and answered, "I'm Tuffwick! And that's my sister, Ruffette!"

Hiccup nodded. "And… you can talk?"

"Of course, he can talk," muttered a mantel clock, waddling into the room. "That's all he ever does."

Tuffwick rolled his eyes. "And that wet blanket is Cogslegs," he groaned.

"I am a 19th century Boulle Mantel clock, thank you very much," Cogslegs replied stiffly. "And what did I tell you two about staying away from the boy?" he scolded.

"Uh, to not listen to you?" Ruffette retorted.

Cogslegs groaned, "I swear you two are like children! I tell you once, I tell you a thousand times!"

As the clock went on in a lecture, the wardrobe Hiccup was leaning against suddenly lurched under his grip, opening its doors and yawning, "Oh, what time is it?"

Hiccup jumped back in fear, nearly tripping over himself as he sat back on the bed. "B-But how?! This… This is impossible!"

The wardrobe chuckled heartedly, "You must be the new boy everyone is talking about! I'm Madame Malarobe." She leaned forward and studied him closely. "Pretty eyes! Proud face! Yes! A perfect canvas! Yes! I will find you something worthy of a prince!"

Hiccup leaned away from her, shaking his head. "That's quite alright," he insisted. "I'm not a prince. I'm just Hiccup. No need to call me 'master' or 'sir' anything," he said, turning to all of the servants.

Then Tuffwick cleared his throat. "Well then, are you ready, Hiccup?" he asked.

Hiccup stared at him. "For… For what?" he asked.

"Well, since you're going to be here a while, we thought you'd like to see some of the castle," said Ruffette.

Cogslegs looked as though he was about to pop a gear, or two. "Out of the question! He's supposed to stay in here!"

Then Tuffwick grinned, wiggling an eyebrow. "But as the historian, I thought you would know everything there is to know about the castle, right?"

Cogslegs blinked a few times and cleared his throat, doing his best not to blush. "Well, I don't know about everything… but I suppose one quick little tour couldn't hurt."

…

It wasn't long before the three had led Hiccup out of his room and in a slow circle around the castle. Hiccup followed behind Cogslegs, listening to the mantel clock drone on and on about the castle's architecture, but he was only partially listening.

Although Hiccup had to admit the castle was pretty amazing and the thought did occur to him to try and run away from the servants, he couldn't help but feel as though the castle and its looming walls were watching him from the dark shadows. Hiccup felt more homesick than ever.

Just as they came back to the main staircase, Hiccup looked down a dark hallway to the right.

"What's down there?" he asked.

"Hmm? What?" Cogslegs asked. Upon seeing where Hiccup was pointing, his face paled. "Oh, nothing! Absolutely nothing interesting at all in the west wing!" he stammered.

Tuffwick nodded nervously with him. "Dusty storage space! Very boring!"

"Trust me, it's not even worth visiting! Ever!" Ruffette added for good measure.

Although their demeanor was obviously suspicious, Hiccup said nothing, and cast glances over his shoulder as the three hurriedly led him away.

The tour quickly ended after that and the three soon returned Hiccup to his room. They mentioned something about possibly attending dinner, but Hiccup wasn't listening anymore.

Taking a tour didn't help him feel more comfortable at all. He was determined that, no matter how beautiful the castle was, it was still a prison and he was determined to escape. And, glancing at his four-poster bed, he finally had an idea.

…

That evening, after the sun had set and Astrid had made her rounds about the castle, she headed to the dining hall and was surprised to see, not one, but two place settings on the long table.

"TUFFWICK!" she bellowed, "COGSLEGS!"

Every servant in the kitchen stiffened. Tuffwick gulped, "Stay calm. Let me do the talking."

The Beast burst through the kitchen doors, glaring. "You're making him dinner?" she said very evenly.

"W-We thought you might appreciate the company," Tuffwick said, his voice quivering ever so slightly.

Cogslegs pushed Tuffwick aside and butted in, "My Lady, I just want to assure you that I had no part in this hopeless plan. Preparing a dinner, designing a suit for him, giving him a tour of the castle!"

Astrid's eye twitched. "You gave him a tour?!"

Cogslegs quickly realized his mistake and pointed at Tuffwick. "B-But, the tour was his idea!"

Tuffwick nodded, accepting whatever punishment would befall him. "This is true, my Lady. But! Correct me if I'm wrong. But, if this boy is the one who can break the spell, then maybe you could start by using dinner tonight to charm him?"

Astrid snorted and threw her arm. "That's the most ridiculous idea I've ever heard! Charm the prisoner!"

"But you must try, my Lady," said Ruffette, "With every passing day we become less human."

Astrid scowled, "He's the son of a common thief. What kind of person do you think that makes him?"

Mrs. Potts gave her a stern eye. "You know you can't judge people by who their parents are, now can you?"

Astrid opened her mouth to protest, but then growled indignantly.

…

Minutes later, she was pounding on Hiccup's door, the same way she would've called for her troops. "You will join me for dinner," she commanded. "That's not a request."

"Gently, dear," said Mrs. Potts, "He's not a soldier, remember. The boy lost his mother and his freedom in one day."

Cogslegs nodded timidly. "Yes, the poor boy is probably in there, scared to death."

…

Little did they know that Hiccup was far from scared. He had ripped down the curtains from the four-poster bed and stripped the mattress of all its sheets. He'd tied them all together and was busy testing to see if his make-shift escape rope was long enough, dangling it out his window.

"Just a minute!" he called when he heard the knock from across the room. He quickly moved to hoist it back inside and stash it under the bed. He stepped toward the door, hoping that he could manage to keep her out of the room, or at least from seeing the torn down bed.

Outside the door, Tuffwick smiled. "You see? There he is. Now, remember, be gentle."

"Kind," said Mrs. Potts.

"Charming," said Ruffette.

"Sweet," added Cogslegs.

"And when he opens the door, give him a dashing, debonair smile," said Tuffwick.

Far from smiling, Astrid kept her scowl and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Or… maybe not," Tuffwick suggested.

But Astrid did close her eyes and take a moment to breathe. She knocked softer on the door this time and asked again, trying to sound peppy, "W-Will you join me for dinner?" Her insides recoiled at the sound of her voice. She hated the way it felt coming out of her mouth, so bubbly and fake.

On the other side of the door, Hiccup was very confused. "Wait. You've taken me as your prisoner and now you want to have dinner with me? Are you insane?"

Astrid's tail coiled behind her in malice, spikes flaring. Screw this flattery talk! She banged on the door again. "I told you to join me for dinner!" she roared.

"And I told you, no!" Hiccup shouted back.

With all the noise, Madame Malarobe woke up from her nap in the corner of the room. "Oh, what's happening? What time is it?" she yawned.

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "I'd starve before I ever ate with you."

Astrid's lip curdled in a snarl. She bellowed through the door, "Fine! Be my guest! Go ahead and starve!" Then she roared at the servants, "If he doesn't eat with me then he doesn't eat at all!"

She stormed off, stomping the whole way back to her chamber. The servants knew better than to follow her.

Tuffwick sighed, "Well, I suppose that could've gone worse."

Cogslegs rolled his eyes and pinched his nose, sighing, too tired to argue with his colleague.

…

The Beast stomped all the way to the west wing, only momentarily stopping to take out her anger on an inanimate suit of armor. She threw it to the floor and kicked its chest plate in. She slammed her bedroom door behind her, enveloping herself in the dark.

Gods! How embarrassing! How infuriating! She wanted to rip something apart!

Normally at times like this, she'd have taken her axe and throw it at the multiple targets set up around her room until she worked the rage out of her system. But with only one thumb and two fingers as claws on each hand, she couldn't pick up an axe anymore.

It had become impossible to do a lot of things. She couldn't write legibly or eat without her fork shaking before it reached her mouth. She couldn't even open the stupid cell door!

The reminder made her tail thrash against the floor, a few spines unintentionally flew out from the whiplash and embedded themselves in the wall.

And these damn spines! All it took was just one sharp swing and she could accidentally pepper a wall with them! She had damaged the castle dozens of times over the years because of it. Once she almost skewered Chip, but he got away with just a chip on his rim. If it had been any closer…

Astrid stopped and balled her fists at her sides, a shudder running through her. She shakily breathed through her nose, trying to settle her frantically beating heart.

No. That can't happen again. It won't. She swore to herself that it wouldn't.

Instead, Astrid solemnly paced back and forth, not sure what else to do with her emotions fighting to be expressed. Finally, she moved across the room and grabbed the hand mirror the enchantress had left her.

"Show me the boy," she growled at the mirror.

The glass swirled and out of the fog emerged Hiccup's face. He had apparently slumped against the back of the locked door and slid to the floor. He curled into himself, seemingly to comfort his aching stump. His fingers stroked the metal as he rested his chin on his knee, deep in thought.

Just as she expected. Of course, he'd hate me. He has every right to do so. But… what other choice do I have?

Astrid sighed, placing the mirror back on her dresser. She looked over at the long pair of moth-eaten curtains and wondered for a moment if she would only feel worse by checking. But, biting back her fear, she drew the curtain open.

Outside, in the middle of the balcony sat a table, and on that table was the enchanted rose, floating in a crystal topper. Every time Astrid came out here, she was afraid to even breathe near it. Still, she eased closer and peered through the glass. She watched as one petal dipped away from the bud until it came loose and fluttered down to join the others.

…

There was a slight tremor felt throughout the castle. Even down at the fireplace in the foyer, where Tuffwick was keeping the fire going.

"Another petal fell," he noted.

"Tuffwick," groaned Ruffette, "I grew three more feathers and I just plucked yesterday!"

"I know, Sis, I'm getting more metallic every day," he said, trying to ease his creaking joints under the heat of his candle flame.

Cogslegs seemed to be twitching. "Oh, no. It's happening again," he said just before ringing the hour like a real clock. "Pardon me."

"Everyone, calm yourselves," said Mrs. Potts, confidently. "We still have time!"

"Mama," Chip hesitated to ask, cuddling close to her, "Am I ever going to be a boy again?"

Mrs. Potts snuggled against her son the only way she could. "Oh yes, Chip. You'll have your days in the sun again, I promise. You just leave it to me."