Hiccup's Bride Chapter 36
If the Vikings had known about zombies, they would have agreed that Hiccup fit that mold perfectly for the next two or three weeks. But the Norse version of the undead, the draugr, was a much more active and energetic creature. That wasn't Hiccup at all.
All the joy had gone out of his life. He met his responsibilities mechanically, without emotion. He fed Thora's flock of Terrible Terrors, out of a sense of obligation to the town, but even their comical antics couldn't make him smile. It was impossible to hold a conversation with him; he answered in grunts and monosyllables, if at all. When he wasn't at work, he stayed alone in his house, politely declining every invitation to join others for a meal.
Worse, his work in the forge began to suffer. He had learned to be a careful craftsman, but now he was making mistakes he hadn't made in years. Work was ruined; tools were damaged; he suffered one minor injury after another. When he burned his forearm against a hot axe blade he'd been mending for Astrid, Gobber had had enough.
"What in the Nine Worlds is wrong with ye, lad?" he demanded as he bandaged the wound. "I know ye miss yer wife, but is she worth killin' yerself over?"
"I'm so tired," Hiccup sighed. "I can't sleep anymore. I doze off quickly, but I keep waking up. I'm so used to..." He didn't finish the sentence. He didn't have to.
That evening, Astrid made a decision. In the past, she had made some decisions, like inventing Yak-nog or spreading explosive dragon eggs all over the village, which caused her father to wonder out loud if she was using only half her brain to think with; but this decision set a new record for half-Astrid thinking. Looking back, it was probably the stupidest thing she'd ever done in her entire life. But it seemed like a good idea at the time.
She went upstairs to bed like she always did. Once the house was quiet, she changed into an outfit she almost never wore; she wasn't even sure it still fit her. It was a simple, unadorned leather skirt, with a plain knit top and leggings. There was nothing hard or pointy on it. She crept downstairs and slipped out of the house. Berk was dark and quiet, but she carefully sneaked from building to building; she didn't want the night watchman to see her.
Her plan was half-formed and, to be honest, half-baked. She didn't consider any possible implications or complications, or the fact that she was breaking nearly every rule in the book. All she intended was to keep Hiccup company in his bed so he could get a good night's sleep that night.
His door swung inward easily. She tiptoed in, closed the door behind her, and found the bed by the glow of the fire pit. Hiccup's breathing was slow and even; he was asleep, for now. She slipped her boots off, took a deep breath, and eased herself under the covers.
He didn't stir. She realized she'd been holding her breath, and slowly exhaled. So far, so good, she thought.
After a few minutes, he rolled over. His hand came to rest on her hip for a moment. Then he pulled himself close to her and wrapped his arm around her waist. She held her breath again. Surely he'd wake up now! Her waist couldn't feel like Thora's; her hair probably smelled different; she was rigid and tense. What if he wants to do more than just sleep? she wondered, for the first time. But his breathing stayed slow and steady. She forced herself to relax.
Ironically, it was one of the worst night's sleeps that Astrid had ever known. She'd never shared a bed with anyone since she was a baby; she hadn't even hugged soft toys as a child because they made her feel crowded in bed. Now she was more crowded than she'd ever been, and she barely slept a wink. But she accomplished her goal. Hiccup stayed asleep the entire night, and was still sound asleep as the sun rose the next morning.
That was when she found the biggest flaw in her plan. She hadn't made any provision for her own escape! If she broke away from his embrace, she'd probably wake him, and if she waited until he woke up... he'd find her in bed with him. She really didn't want to wake him, but the consequences of him knowing she'd been with him all night might be even worse.
She was on the verge of making a break for it anyway when, to her horror, the door quietly swung open, and someone stuck his head inside.
He was big. He was tall. He was turning purple with rage at the sight of her in bed with his son.
As smoothly as she could in her state of panic, she swung out of bed and grabbed her boots. "Heh heh... I was just leaving," she said. For a moment, he didn't move, and she feared he'd trap her in the house for an extremely unpleasant confrontation. But at that moment, Hiccup woke up and glanced at the scene in front of him.
"Dad? Astrid? What's going on?" he asked sleepily. Stoick took a step toward him, and Astrid ducked under the chief's arm and ran out the door barefoot. She didn't stop to put her boots on until she was at least a hundred feet away.
"What's going on?!" Stoick roared. "You tell me what's going on, young man!"
"I don't know," Hiccup answered, confused. "I woke up, you were coming in, Astrid was going out... did the two of you stop by to check on me, or something?"
"Are you going to try and tell me you didn't know she was here?" his father growled.
"I saw her the same time I saw you," Hiccup protested. "What are you so angry about?"
"Get dressed, Hiccup," Stoick ordered. "We're going to get to the bottom of this."
As soon as Hiccup was dressed, Stoick marched him out the door and down the path to Astrid's home. The five Hoffersons were in the kitchen, preparing breakfast like they always did. Stoick gestured at Varinn and Rangi and growled, "Gunnarr, Edda, please find some other place for those two boys to spend the morning."
"What's going on, Stoick?" Gunnarr wondered nervously.
"We need to have a two-family talk," the chief said, in a voice that reminded Edda of a volcano about to erupt. "Now!" Edda glanced at Hiccup, who shrugged and shook his head – he was as mystified as they were. Astrid was suddenly fascinated by something on the wall, and didn't look at anyone. Edda sent the boys outside to cut and stack firewood, with a firm warning not to come back into the house until they were called. The five of them sat around the fire, looking at each other in confusion.
"This morning," Stoick began, trying to keep his voice level, "I went down to Hiccup's house to find out if he had slept at all, just as I've been doing for days. When I opened the door, I found her in the bed with him!" He pointed a beefy finger at Astrid without looking at her.
Astrid's parents looked stunned. She prayed desperately that the earth would open up and swallow her. Hiccup just looked confused.
"Astrid... is that true?" her father asked.
"We didn't do anything!" she burst out. "I just –"
"You expect us to believe that?!" Stoick erupted. "You took advantage of a grieving young man's loneliness to... to..."
"Stoick, I mean no disrespect," Edda cut in, "but are you sure the young man had nothing to do with it?"
The chief was on the verge of roaring at her when Hiccup spoke. "Dad, it's true! We didn't do anything! I didn't even know she was there! I was sound asleep all night, for the first time in weeks!"
"How convenient," Gunnarr snapped. "You stayed asleep at the time when you could have exonerated our daughter!"
"You're blaming him?!" Stoick exploded.
"It would have been more incriminating if I'd been awake," Hiccup observed.
"Everyone, just hold it!" Edda shouted, and stood up for emphasis. "Before we sling any more blame around, let's get the facts, shall we?" Everyone nodded with varying amounts of enthusiasm. She sat down.
"Astrid, tell the truth. Did you spend the night with Hiccup?"
She hung her head and nodded. "Yes," she said miserably.
"That settles that," Stoick rumbled, and began to stand.
"No, it doesn't," Edda shot back. "Please sit down. Astrid, did you... do anything you should not have done?"
"No, Mama, we didn't," Astrid answered. "Hiccup is telling the truth – he was asleep the whole time!" Hiccup nodded in agreement.
"Give us one good reason we ought to believe you!" the chief demanded. "Two young people caught in bed together, and you expect us to believe you did nothing but sleep?"
"I was fully dressed when you found me," she answered timidly. "Doesn't that count for something?"
"Not much," Stoick replied.
"Astrid," her father asked, "why did you do it?"
"I just wanted to help Hiccup get some sleep," she said, staring at the floor again. "He needed it! He's gotten so used to someone warm next to him all night... I just thought..."
"That's your first untruth," Gunnarr answered her. "You didn't think at all!"
"Hiccup," Edda said, "tell us your side of this."
"I did," he said defensively. "I went to bed last night, and the next thing I knew, it was morning, and Dad was in my house, and Astrid was leaving. That's all I know."
"Someone is lying here," Stoick growled.
"Either they're both lying, or they're both telling the truth," Edda responded. "I know my daughter pretty well, and I don't think she's lying."
"I thought I knew my daughter, and I don't know what to believe," Gunnarr said, throwing up his hands in frustration. "Astrid, we didn't raise you to pull stupid stunts like this! What was going through your mind, if anything?"
"I just wanted to help." She was almost whimpering.
Stoick pointed to Hiccup and Astrid. "You two may leave now. We'll discuss this and make some kind of a decision." They left, glad to escape the intense confrontation. They caught Rangi trying to listen through a knothole in the wall.
"I don't know what you did, sister," he said maliciously, "but it sounds like you really did a good job of it."
"Go sit on a Nadder spike, you little troll," Astrid answered. She tried to sound angry, but her heart wasn't in it. Her little brother scampered away, amazed that she hadn't tried to hit him.
"What's going to happen in there?" she asked Hiccup.
"Astrid... did you really spend the night with me?" he asked, his eyes boring holes into her.
"I heard how you needed to get some sleep, but you weren't used to sleeping alone any more, and I just thought... oh, it's all gone wrong now!" She looked away. "What are they going to do to me?"
"Whether they believe us or not, your reputation is toast," Hiccup said sadly. "You'll be marked with shame by the village, maybe for the rest of your life. You'll be disqualified from all public events, and you'll be shunned by everyone in town. If Mogadon finds out, he'll break your engagement with Thuggory for sure; you won't be good enough for a chief's son any more.
"He might even kill you.
"But, if it means anything, thank you for thinking of me."