Chapter 26

Maraud needed… help.

It was painful for him to admit, even to himself, but it was true. He needed to talk to Hiccup, but every time he made the slightest motion of stepping in her general direction, Hiccup would find a way to excuse herself and run off to the forge, and McFeely would never allow Maraud in there unless he needed something repaired or made. And while Maraud really wanted to talk to Hiccup, he wouldn't break his bow, especially since Hiccup could just leave before he spoke with her, and then Maraud would be forced to deal with McFeely on his own.

No. Maraud couldn't do it on his own. He needed help. And the people best suited for the type of assistance he needed were his sisters.

"Helen," Maraud hissed from around a corner. He needed to make sure no one saw him speaking seriously with his sisters, or they would suspect that the siblings were up to something. "Kitchen, ten minutes."

Maraud walked down there, not even bothering to check if Helen had heard his message. He knew that she had. He forced all the maids to leave the kitchen, telling them to go do laundry, started pacing. How would he explain what he wanted them to do? Would they even do it for him? How many weeks of desserts would he have to give up? At the thought, Maraud started looking for a stuffed pastry, one of Maudy's specialties. It was a blissful two minutes of distraction.

"We're here," Hilda called out, and Maraud turned to face the three girls he watched grow into probably the world's cutest spy/thieves. They were formed in a triangle, with Hilda in the middle. Helen and Hilary had their arms crossed, and Hilda's fists were resting on her hips. Maraud knew it was just an act to seem tough. Usually he would play along with them, but he was too desperate at that moment to spend much time acting intimidated.

"I need you to get me time,"

"We're good, Maraud, but not that good," Hilary giggled. Helen hit Hilary on the shoulder, but Maraud could see that all of his sisters were laughing at him.

"No, but I know that Hiccup likes you and listens to you," Maraud said. This caught the triplets's attention.

"Yeah!" Helen said excitedly, her tough façade temporarily forgotten. "She's really nice and funny, and she's not a boy, like you!"

Maraud ignored her comment and bent down to get face to face with his sisters,

"Well, I… like her, too," Maraud rushed, trying his best to not let his face turn red. Judging by the giggles his sisters let loose, Maraud concluded that he had failed. "I just need two hours with her,"

"But she's mad at you," Hilda said uncertainly.

"And I just need two hours to apologize," Maraud promised. He hoped his sisters would agree soon. He was already practically begging. The triplets exchanged glances, and turned into a huddle. Even though he was only one foot away from them at most, Maraud couldn't discern a single word of what they were saying. It was like he was talking to 'Princess' McGuffin.

Finally, Helen turned around, and Hilda and Hilary followed suit.

"We'll do it," she said. Before any of them said anything else, Maraud scooped all the girls into his arms and gave them a tight hug. He knew that he would be able to count on them! He even told them so. They couldn't even imagine how happy those three words made him! He could explain everything to Hiccup, she wouldn't hate him anymore- she might even like him- and all would be right again in the world! Maraud set the girls down, and Hilary stepped forward,

"But we're going to need your dessert for a month,"

Maraud sighed. It wasn't like the price was much of a surprise.

Maraud spent that entire day in a bad and impatient mood. No matter how much he had asked his sisters, they wouldn't specify when he would get his time with Hiccup. They assured him it would be before the end of the day, but dinner was only a few hours away already, and Maraud had only seen Hiccup for a total of about thirty seconds the entire day.

"It's time," Hilda whispered from next to Maraud. He knew better than to look down at her. "Go to the cellar. Helen will tell you which cell to wait in,"

With a surprising lack of caution, Maraud rushed to the dungeon, and, as promised by Hilda, Helen was there to tell Maraud to go to the last cell on the right. In other words, the cell furthest from the door.

Maraud practically ran there, and paced inside the rusting iron bar cell as he waited for his sisters to lead the beautiful Viking into the cell as well.

"Be quiet!" Hilary hissed from somewhere by the door, and Maraud ceased his movements immediately. Almost a whole two seconds later, Hiccup was led into the dungeon, and guided down the stairs by Hilda and Helen.

"Where are we going?" Hiccup asked curiously, not an ounce of fear in her voice.

"It's a surprise," Hilda said sweetly, steering Hiccup away from the railing-less side of the stairs.

"You're going to meet someone," Helen hinted, and Maraud wanted to tell her to be quiet. She didn't know just how smart Hiccup actually was.

"Really?" Maraud couldn't tell whether Hiccup sounded excited or cautious. She kept walking, and Maraud realized that she was blindfolded. Of course. The only way his sisters thought that she would agree to meet with him was if she didn't know it was him she was meeting.

Hiccup's metal prosthetic met with the damp wood of the dungeon's floors, and her steps faltered.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"To meet a friend," Helen answered sweetly, but Hiccup wasn't as easily persuaded as most people Maraud's sisters had met with.

"Yes, but who? And where are we? Why is it so cold? And why do I have to be blind..fol..ded…" With the sound of horrified realization in her voice, Hiccup ripped off her blindfold just in time for her to be trapped inside of a cell with Maraud. Maraud mentally wiped the metaphorical sweat off his brow. It was a good thing Hiccup trusted the triplets so much, otherwise she would have figured out she was being led to him at the top of the stairs. However, he was just as surprised as Hiccup was that his sisters had locked them in a cell. Alone. In the dark. When no one knew where they were. Oh, Kings have mercy on him.

"Hilary! Helen! Hilda!" Hiccup called out, shaking the bars, but nothing much happened under her thin arms.

"Hiccup, liste-" Maraud started, but Hiccup ignored him. She inspected the door of the cell the two of them were in. She took a few steps back and then ran forward. Maraud reached forward to pull her back so that she wouldn't run into the iron bars, but Hiccup surprised him. Again.

She jumped up at the last second and latched herself onto the rusted iron bars of the cell. She went to the pins holding the door to the rest of the cell and started pulling. When she slipped and fell, Maraud tried again.

"Hiccup-"

But Hiccup just jumped up again. And when it didn't work for the second time, she looked around the cell. Probably for something to pry the door open with.

"Calm down, Hiccup," Maraud sighed as he tried to ignore the stinging feeling in his chest from seeing the girl he was to marry trying so hard to get away from him. "If you've been worried about me telling anyone about your dragon," Hiccup turned at this point and stared at him, absolutely no expression on her face. "Don't. I've thought your situation over, and decided that I won't tell anyone about it,"

"You've… thought it over?" Hiccup repeated. Sweat broke out on the back of Maraud's neck. He wasn't sure why, but he suddenly got the feeling that he had said something wrong. He explained,

"Yes. You've had to give up your home, friends, and family to come here and marry me. I might as well let you keep your pet," A knife of regret pushed itself into Maraud's chest the second after he finished speaking. That was not what he had meant to say, and that was not why he hadn't told anyone about the dragon.

He did it because he wanted to keep it safe and happy. It wasn't like he cared about the reptile, no. The monster absolutely terrified and repulsed him. But, Maraud cared about Hiccup. And if she cared about the dragon, then Maraud would make sure it was left alone. Maraud wasn't sure why he was working so unbelievably hard just to make some princess happy. But then Maraud realized that it wasn't just some random princess. It was Hiccup, and Maraud would go to great lengths just to have her flash a smile in his direction.

"Fine," Hiccup scoffed. "Thank you for telling me that you have thoroughly thought it over and have finally decided to not kill the most important member of my family. Will you let me leave now?" Hiccup turned to face the red-stained bars, and Maraud fought the urge to pull his hair out.

Why was this so difficult!? Why didn't she understand? He liked her, more than he should have! Normally, Maraud would have grabbed the girl's shoulders, spun her around, and said it straight to her face. But, for the first time in what seemed like forever, Maraud was shy. His heart was beating hard enough to be noticed in the silence of the dungeons, and Maraud was desperate to not let the sound be heard by Hiccup. Instead of confessing his confusing and, quite frankly, annoying emotions, he stuttered,

"Wait! One more thing,"

Hiccup begrudgingly turned around to face him, her eyes filled with loathing. Maraud hid a wince at the look pierced into his soul. There was no way he was going to confess the most panic-inducing secret he had in front of her right then, when she practically hated him.

"I don't want McGuffin to win," Maraud improvised a subject. He just wanted to talk with her a little longer. Hopefully he wouldn't say anything to get her upset again.

"Why?" Hiccup asked. Maraud was relieved to hear her voice filled with curiosity, not animosity. "She's a Scottish princess. She shares your culture, your traditions. Don't you want a wife like that?"

"She wouldn't be giving anything up, and she already has enough. You're doing this for your tribe, and I respect that. The loyalty you have to your people? I admire that in you. Plus, I can't understand a word she says," And it doesn't help that she already rejected me a few months ago. Maraud decided to keep that specific reason to himself. He didn't know why, but he had the feeling that if he said it, Hiccup would be upset with him again. "So, I'm going to cheat,"

Hiccup looked at him carefully for a moment, as if deciding whether he was lying or not. "What?" she asked. "What do you mean 'cheat?'"

Maraud pushed down the cheer bubbling up in his throat. She was going to let him help her! He finally showed her that he was trustworthy, and she had decided to count on him!

"Which weapon are you most comfortable using?" Maraud asked eagerly, stepping closer to Hiccup. "Or what game are you most likely to win?" Maraud looked at her expectantly, but Hiccup met his gaze, and green became the new color of determination in Maraud's mind.

"No." Her voice was firm. "You're not doing that. Just choose whatever you would have chosen if you didn't know me. If you want to help me, wait a week before you make your public decision."

Before Maraud had the chance to tell Hiccup that she could count on him, his da threw the door open and stomped down the stairs. Maraud was confused. His father wouldn't be that angry, even if he did learn that his son and future daughter-in-law were locked in a cell together and alone in the dark dungeon. Maraud's da would most likely just laugh about it and clap them both on the shoulder.

As Fergus got closer, Maraud realized that the large man was dripping with a sticky substance. Maraud knew, even in the darkness of the dungeon, that the liquid was not water, and Maraud wondered if he even wanted to know what it was. Sometimes his sisters scared him.

"Da?" Maraud said, incredulous. "What happened to you?"

Instead of answering, the king grabbed two of the bars the cell door Hiccup and Maraud were in and pulled. In three seconds, the door was ripped from its hinges, and Hiccup and Maraud free.

Maraud turned his head to look at Hiccup, to see how impressed she was of her future father-in-law's strength. To her credit, Hiccup wasn't as shocked as most highland girls would be. However, to be fair, Hiccup was a Viking, and her father was huge. After a second of thought, Maraud realized that he wouldn't be surprised if Hiccup's father had done the exact same thing in front of her multiple times in the past.

The Bear King led the teenagers out of the dungeon in a single file line, Hiccup in front of Maraud. Maraud was fine with the order while they marched down the halls on flat ground, but he spent most of his time on the stairs trying not to stare at hiccup's legs. Or a little higher.

So, I felt bad about making y'all wait so long for the chapter last time, so I made this one really fast. Next chapter, it's like a filler chapter which kind of tells about the routine Hiccup sets up for herself before the competition, but it's important because it starts developing an important relationship and shows some more Toothless/Hiccup. Favorite, follow, and review, cuz those things make me happy :)