Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognise from either fandom. Most importantly, this fic is a translation of the fascinating Almas cruzadas by Sandy97 and is uploaded here with her permission; any edits to the material are only what is required to make the translation flow appropriately.
Feedback: Always appreciated.
Crossed Souls
Chapter 6: The Sun after the Dome I
The incipient noise at the door woke Elsa suddenly, agitated, feeling a severe headache due to hours of insomnia. In fact she had even seen the sun rise through the dome that morning, so she imagined that she had slept at most about three hours.
"Your Highness, are you decent?" Said the voice on the other side of the door.
Hearing that, Elsa noticed Hiccup and remembered that they were supposed to share a bed. She sat up suddenly, gasping for breath and slightly dizzy as she met Hiccup's misplaced gaze on the other side of the room. The boy was disheveled and had no doubt awakened as startled as she was at the sound of the door.
"High King?" The voice repeated, calling again.
They both turned pale, exchanging a slight look of terror.
"One moment," she said, trying to sound calm.
After this she signaled to Hiccup for the boy to react, causing him to jump up and grab all the sheets on the floor and hastily dump them on the bed. Elsa wanted to kill the Viking because of his clumsiness when she saw how he was entangled in the blankets, but said nothing due to nerves.
"Go ahead," Elsa said with the elegance of a sovereign, as she adjusted her nightgown. She might have been completely naked in front of the Viking before, but at that moment in broad daylight she felt a great shame, clinging to the neck of that nightgown to avoid showing any iota of skin.
With little hesitation, two guards opened the door wide, politely squinting down at their queen and stepping aside to make way for a plump and well-endowed woman with rosy cheeks and a friendly face. Elsa had never seen her in her life and if she had, she would have forgotten her face.
"My lady," she said, bowing. "Your sister and her fiancé Kristoff sent me to inform you that breakfast is ready and that they would like to have the presence of yourself and your husband."
The woman shot a sidelong glance at the boy, not daring to hold her for long. She also bowed to him, as a kind of apology.
"Thank you very much, good lady," Elsa said formally. "Is there anything more?"
"Nothing more, my lady," she bowed again.
The candid woman left with the guards, who closed the door with the same roar with which they opened them. Then silence reigned for an eternal moment until Hiccup began to move uncomfortably. That awakening had not been the most pleasant and on top of that the sheets had become entangled in the prosthesis, something that was not new to the Viking. The hardest thing about losing a leg was never the loss itself, but adapting an external object to your body, since it didn't respond to the Viking's wishes and used to cause more than one problem like that. For this reason, he never slept with the prosthesis unless it was an overnight stay with the riders or occasions where he was not really comfortable, like that one.
Due to the rush to appear normal and get into bed, one of the prosthesis's gears had become hooked to the fitted sheets. He was grateful that the front door of that room was facing the Queen's bed, otherwise he would have been caught with his half leg out, in a somewhat strange situation.
"Need help?"
"No need… it happens to me constantly," he excused himself.
Hiccup continued to wrestle with the sheet until Elsa's hands rested on his, pulling them away to untie the imprisoned fabric. The boy felt a bit nervous about his closeness to her, as she practically leaned over to untie his leg. The braid, still intact and perfect, slipped down her shoulder as did a few strands of hair that fell onto her face. She looked concentrated, with a strange ghostly aura due to the white of her hair, even lighter in daylight.
"Ready," she said when she released the gears.
"Thank you," he replied, overwhelmed by her closeness.
"It was nothing," she said, before changing her tone. "Well, we'd better get dressed and get off."
Hiccup obeyed immediately and got out of bed toward his trunk. Elsa did the same, only this time they agreed that Hiccup would change in the room and she in the little room, where the maids had left her clean. Elsa could have changed in an instant with her magic, but Miranda had strictly forbidden her to use it if she wanted to recover as soon as possible, so she obeyed and after cleaning herself up, she put on one of her old dresses to cover the wounds that were still adorning his whole body. She also braided her hair like her mother used to and put on her gloves.
She was about to leave when a small, blackened mirror returned her image by chance, leaving the queen with the sense that she was looking at her former self. It was once again that dark woman that she had hated so much, lonely, invisible and scared of herself.
She was hiding again.
The Elsa in the mirror twisted her face and realized she didn't want that. She couldn't keep hiding her wounds as if they weren't there, just like she couldn't keep hiding away from her duties as queen for her people. Of course she didn't want to worry anyone, but she had to stop pretending that everything was fine and that she had everything under control.
Because she undoubtedly had nothing under control.
The hair was released, leaving it only in a simple braid. She also removed her gloves and the fuchsia cape she used to wear with her dress, undressing her shoulders and arms with her magic.
"No more hiding," she said to herself in front of the mirror, determined.
It was then she noticed the existence of a small jar next to the mirror, filled with a strange green concoction. Elsa recognized it immediately, since she had been smearing that same smear on her body for weeks.
When he left the room the Viking was still dressing. The queen couldn't help but frown trying to figure out the ins and outs of his attire, full of leather straps that were interconnected through the outfit.
"I'm almost there," Hiccup said, turning to her as he finished fastening the chest strap to his shoulder. "I've reviewed my notebooks and I can show you some of the symbols that I told you about…"
When he looked up, he was surprised to see Elsa dressed like this. It was the first time he'd seen her wounds since the night he saw her naked. She still had bruises on both arms, although they certainly showed some improvement. Her elbows were also scraped into an amalgam of scratches that seemed to have finally healed.
Otherwise she still had that magical aspect that Hiccup saw in her.
"Does it look so bad?" She asked somewhat unsure, seeing that Hiccup didn't take his eye off his wounds.
"You're only a little pale," said the Viking, smiling, dismissing it. "Otherwise you look great."
Elsa smiled at him too.
"More milk, Your Majesty?"
"No, thank you very much," Hiccup declined, causing the servant to retreat.
Hiccup never ate breakfast, lunch or dinner in a place as majestic as that one. It was a huge room with a large rectangular table that could seat a minimum of twenty people but only had a few chairs. On the ceiling hung a spectacular chandelier that matched the stained glass windows and occasionally reflected small beams of light on the pictures on the walls. Despite all the luxury, however, the food was quite average due to the shortage and they were basically taking a pasta made from cereals and milk and some candied fruits that had a certain taste of vinegar.
Anna was amazed to see her sister dressed like this, showing her injuries for the first time in public. Of course she said nothing, but was glad of her decision. Anna introduced Kristoff and Hiccup, who had only met one time and had barely spoken. Both boys shook hands, appreciating the enormous warmth of the other.
They had sat at one of the corners of the large table where Kristoff and Anna had been waiting for them. Elsa sat in her usual seat, presiding over the table and Hiccup sat next to him, facing the couple.
"Did you sleep well?" Kristoff began breaking the ice a bit as he ate.
Elsa exchanged a look with Hiccup, unsure what to say.
"Yes, quite well," the boy replied. "Can't complain; here in Arendelle the beds are very comfortable." Only Elsa caught the irony.
"Yes, that's the first thing I got used to," Kristoff explained. "I was a bit of a nomad back when I was an ice-seller, and the truth is, when you spend so much time sleeping in stables you appreciate a good bed.
"You sell ice?"
To Hiccup that sounded completely outlandish.
"I know there is no point in that trade now, no matter how much Anna insists, but…"
Before continuing with all that exchange of empty and pleasant words, Anna decided to put on the table the matter that she really wanted to talk about.
"I have gathered because I need to speak with you," the princess cut the conversation short.
Elsa swallowed, surprised by her sister's seriousness. Since when did Anna seem so mature?
"Sure, tell us," the queen said calmly.
Anna gestured to her sister, lowering her voice to speak. "Just the four of us…"
Elsa understood immediately, raising her head to order the servants and guards to leave the room, who immediately obeyed their queen. They were just really alone. Anna shot up to speak.
"Elsa, I need us to talk about what nobody in the council wants to talk about and start taking real measures at once," she clarified. "I'm tired of waiting and taking silly notes on how the food or blankets are to be distributed-"
"Which is also necessary-" Kristoff pointed out.
"Which is also necessary," she acknowledged, "but what I really think we should do is talk about a possible attack and what we are going to do when that happens."
Of the two sisters, Anna had always been the one with a reputation for being silly and good-natured. Her dreamy and infatuated spirit had made everyone in the kingdom see her as a sweet girl who lived in the clouds and who had to be cared for so that she didn't get into trouble. However, years ago this unruly girl had become a wise woman, full of energy and with the same birds on her head but who stepped on the ground with lead feet.
Since Elsa was crowned the legitimate queen of Arendelle the second time, Anna had participated in the queen's council of sages. However, she noted that except for her sister, few there took her opinion into account. In fact, last fall, when the plague came that would wipe out much of the harvest, Anna already warned that it was necessary to protect the crops with some cloth until the frosts arrived. At that time Elsa didn't listen to her either, since the council had assured her that for more than fifty years there had been no plague that devastated the field.
That winter, when everything died on the fields, Elsa knew that she would never ignore her sister's opinion and Anna learned that she would not tolerate being seen as a stupid girl again.
This time she was unwilling to be cast aside by a bunch of arrogant who were more concerned with being right and benefiting than with the safety of an entire kingdom.
"So?" she looked firmly at her sister, who was still pensive.
For the first time since Hiccup had arrived, he felt that someone was finally taking charge of the situation and felt tremendously grateful to the princess.
"You're right, we have to do something," Elsa answered softly. "Colonel Roston is going to start gathering young men to train them and replace part of the army, I estimate that it will be about eighty men, some more when we count the wounded as they recover."
"That won't suffice," said Hiccup, who until then had listened carefully. "In a war everyone has to know how to defend themselves. The more we can reduce the number of those who have to be protected, the better. We need all the warriors that we can and that, although I know that it is not in your customs, it also includes women."
"Women?" Anna asked. "You think we should train them too?"
Hiccup nodded.
"I don't think the colonel agrees with that…" added Kristoff.
"Well, it will have to be," Anna said, not wanting to humour the colonel.
"It sounds wonderful Hiccup," Elsa said more cautiously, "but I know my warriors and they are very stubborn, they will not want to train women, and unless the Vikings train them…"
Elsa didn't want to tell him, but the rumor that the Vikings were going around raping women was something very established among the people of Arendelle, who looked with fear at those rude and grotesque foreigners.
"We have many warriors who can do it," he said, thinking inevitably of Astrid. "I'm sure they would be willing to take care of it."
Anna looked at Elsa seeking her approval, finally nodding.
"Okay, we'll train the women too," he agreed. "What else do you propose?"
"We also need dragons," Hiccup explained.
"And where can we get them?"
"Well…" he began thoughtfully, "there are many dragons in our lands, but I don't know if it's possible to find them in Arendelle, although," he recalled, "when I came here I found one in your forests."
Anna looked strangely.
"The enchanted forest," Elsa specified.
The sisters shared an uneasy look.
"If necessary, we'll go there," Anna agreed. "It is only four days away."
"We can get there earlier with the dragons, it's only two hours by flight, but I'm afraid it's not safe and I don't know for sure if there really are dragons as such…"
Anna and Kristoff didn't understand what the Viking meant by that.
"Hiccup found a dragon, but it was dead," Elsa explained to the couple. "Someone had performed a witchcraft ritual on it."
Both of them gasped when they heard that. Anna hardly knew much about the matter, having only known Elsa's magic and the Trolls' white magic rituals. However, Kristoff had indeed heard about these practices from the Trolls and how dangerous they were.
"You drew pictures?" Elsa asked.
"Yes, of course," he said as he took out a small notebook from one of the numerous pockets of his suit. Hiccup also produced a kind of feather that they had never seen before, made up instead of carbon ink.
"Look," he showed them, opening the notebook he had with him and indicating the symbols. "I managed to sketch these symbols and still remember a few more. They were everywhere, especially on the ground; do any of these look familiar to you?"
All three denied, confused and amazed at the quality of the Viking's drawings.
"Maybe there's something in the library…" Anna suggested. "Or perhaps the Trolls know how to tell us."
"We can get the drawings to Grand Pabbie," Kristoff asked earnestly. "I'm sure maybe he knows something that can guide us a little."
"Just a moment," Hiccup said looking at Elsa, completely stunned. "Were you serious about the trolls?"
Elsa nodded, struggling to hide a smile that didn't go unnoticed by her sister.
"Okay…" Hiccup agreed, frowning and starting to draw. "In that case and assuming that trolls exist…"
"Because they do," Kristoff confirmed.
"Because they do," the Viking agreed, not very convinced. "I think it would be a good idea to go back to the forest and do some research, see if there are any dragons and if not bring them from Berk. We would also have to teach you how to train them; it's not very difficult, but we can't waste time either. We don't know when Drago will attack or what he's really looking for in Arendelle."
Despite the honesty of his actions, Hiccup concealed a second intention in the idea of going to investigate the forest: he was dying to know if there were more night furies.
"Are you going to free the dragons then?" Anna asked, who had been concerned about the matter the day before.
Hiccup looked at Elsa again.
"I don't know…" she began, addressing Hiccup directly. "I don't doubt that your dragons are peaceful, but I have to think about the people and I don't know if they are prepared for dragons to be around the castle. Many people have lost loved ones at the hands of those creatures…"
"Elsa I know how you feel," Hiccup said, looking her in the eyes. "Believe me, my people have been through this before. Vikings and dragons had been killing each other for generations, there was plenty of hatred… It is a tragedy what has happened in your kingdom and I know that you feel responsible, but trust me. Everything will be fine, and the dragons are going to help us protect your kingdom."
Elsa, still looking worried, lowered her gaze, observing her hands that emanated an icy tickle. Of course she was afraid, she was terrified of being wrong. And her sister knew it, since Elsa had that expression of hers again when she closed in on herself and blamed herself for everything.
"Maybe they don't have to be in the castle," Anna suddenly suggested, taking the conversation exactly where she wanted it.
The queen looked at her sister blankly.
"We could…" she stopped, gathering courage, "open the dome."
"How?" Elsa frowned.
"Elsa, I know that the dome protects us," Anna explained, somewhat nervously, "but it also isolates us." Anna noted Kristoff's hand on her knee as a sign of support. "If they attack us again, we'd be completely cornered."
Elsa processed that information, knowing that they were both right.
"I know you're right, but…" she tried to put his ideas in order, "but I don't know if I could protect you against another attack for which we are not prepared, and that dome is the only thing I can do to keep you safe."
Hiccup discovered at that moment the fragility of Elsa.
It wasn't something in her voice, in her body or in her spirit, since he could see that the girl had more than enough courage. Yet there it was, that muted glow in her eyes, that lack of confidence, that fear of being wrong. And then he knew it: the greatest fear of that queen was not being up to it and that it could harm her own.
"But Elsa," her sister said, "it's that thing that's weakening you."
"No, Anna…" Elsa denied, closing in on herself more and more, "maybe I'm not as strong as you all think."
"Of course you are, Elsa, but that thing is consuming you, absorbing all your magic…"
"You can't know…
"But I see it!" Anna was upset, hating it when her sister took that attitude. "I see how you haven't been able to get out of bed in weeks and how you almost… died."
Hiccup was surprised at the ferocity with which Anna spoke, amazed at the bond the sisters shared.
"I'm not going to let you continue like this, I need you well and by my side, I can't do this alone."
"Anna, I'm fine…"
"Please, no," she said, upset. "Don't do that again, don't pull me away Elsa again, that doesn't protect me from anything… I'm not a kid anymore."
Elsa fell silent, knowing that Anna was right. His hands trembled.
"Elsa please," she pleaded. "I promise we will find a way to defend Arendelle without you having to make sacrifices…"
"We have all made sacrifices, Anna," she said with a harshness that chilled Anna's heart, knowing she was referring to her marriage to the Viking, which made Hiccup himself annoyed.
Anna kept her words to herself, remaining silent. Elsa began to breathe easy, trying to calm her emotions, unable to avoid clenching her fists to contain her magic.
"Elsa…" she said, placing her hand on her sister's.
"Anna!"
Elsa reacted violently, leaping up from the table and breathing heavily. She still didn't have full control of her powers, especially when she was upset. For a moment she was afraid of hurting Anna all over again.
"Sorry…" Anna apologized.
"No, I'm sorry…" Elsa regained her composure. "Anna… I need to think. I'm going to think about it."
Elsa glanced at Hiccup, but immediately looked away in embarrassment. She couldn't believe she had reacted like this in front of the boy.
"If you'll excuse me," she said before walking briskly out of the room.
Hiccup didn't quite understand what was going on or what he was supposed to do; follow her or give her space? The boy watched her disappear behind the door, staring in silence for a while until Anna's voice brought him back to reality:
"Elsa sometimes doesn't control her powers as well as she would like, don't take it personally."
Hiccup turned and looked at Anna who had a much duller expression. At that time she could even find a certain similarity to both.
"Does it happen to you very often?" the Viking asked innocently.
"More than I want…" Anna argued. "The worst thing is that she can spend weeks in her room without talking to anyone until she feels like she has everything under control again."
That thought filled Hiccup with sadness.
"So you think it's because of the dome?" he asked them.
The couple looked at each other and nodded.
"Unlike the ice structures that Elsa creates, that dome is like a kind of magic shield," Anna explained. "It has to be kept active at all times, and… well, since she's more stubborn than a mule, she'd prefer to exhaust herself until she faints rather than feel that she can't protect us… She still blames herself for what happened."
"Nobody could do something about dragons that don't die…" Hiccup sought to offer some consolation. "I still don't even know if we can do something."
"The thing is, she has to disable that shield," said Kristoff. "She won't be at full health again until it does, and we need her."
"She thinks she has to carry everything by herself…" Anna said exhausted, hiding her head in her hands and massaging her forehead.
Hiccup twisted his face, feeling that they were both alike.
"Besides," Anna added, "the food will soon run out and we can't keep locked up here, it's unsustainable…"
Hiccup was thoughtful for a moment.
"If the dome opens, we could go fishing with the dragons," he proposed. "Besides, we would be in charge of watching and protecting Arendelle from the air, and… I don't know, in Berk we have defense systems that could be used and, at any indication of danger, we could have prepared a plan B for escape to the forest."
Anna seemed to regain some sparkle in her eyes.
"It could work…"
"I'm going to go talk to her, I'll convince her," he said, sure of himself, standing up. "Do you know where she may have gone?"
Anna couldn't help but look sceptically at Hiccup, but she appreciated his willingness to try. Really, despite all the initial chaos, she was glad she had asked the Vikings for help and that she seemed to have been wrong about her initial Viking judgment. After all, Hiccup seemed like a good person.
"I have a slight idea," she replied.
"Okay, well then," the Viking grabbed his notebook and tore off the page with his drawings. "You guys take care of getting the symbols to the… trolls… while Elsa and I search the library… if I make her see reason, of course…"
"I can talk to the women," Anna offered. "I'll explain the situation to them and try to get them to accept the training."
"Great," Hiccup encouraged. "If you need help, find a Viking named Alea; she's a big blonde woman, she will help you for sure."
With that, he offered Anna the notebook and asked her to make a simple sketch of the castle, since he had already gotten lost once already, and to indicate please where the library was and of course Elsa, if she could really find her. The princess was not as good as Hiccup at drawing, but she had to admit that she had beautiful calligraphy. At first Anna didn't realize that they and the Vikings didn't use the same script, so Hiccup had to ask her to write to him in Latin, since it was the only thing he more or less knew how to read in an alphabet that she could also write, considering that Elsa had only learned Viking runes for the purpose of the diplomatic agreements.
When Anna believed that the doodle did justice to a more or less accurate representation of the castle, she handed it to Hiccup, who took it as a child taking a treasure map, carefully stowing it in one of his multiple pockets.
"Thanks," he said. "I'll keep you informed."
"Hiccup one more thing!" Anna said, standing up. "Don't say anything to any of the others for now."
Anna didn't want them to get in the way of her decisions, especially now that she was finally seeing some progress.
"Don't worry, I wasn't planning to tell them anything."
"Thank you."
Kristoff also got up to say goodbye to the Viking, putting his arm around Anna as they watched the strange boy disappear through the door.
Despite the map, Hiccup got turned around more than he'd expected. At first he had interpreted the map backwards and until his good sense of direction didn't warn him what he was doing, the idiot could not locate himself in that maze of symmetrical walls and stairs. He went down and up, turned in all directions, and entered several rooms by mistake. Finally he ended up asking some guards, who became his shadows once more until he could elude them thanks to one of the shortcuts that Anna had drawn for him. This led him to Elsa's room, her old room, the one she had had since she was a child until the night of the incident, when they moved her downstairs to better serve her. Her recent feverish state had weakened her so much that despite being the snow queen, that room was decided to be too cold and potentially risky for her health, prompting Miranda to transfer her.
Now that room was full of boxes of preserves and furniture that had been moved by the servants of the castle to enable the great halls to accommodate all the civilians and wounded.
As Anna could have foreseen, her sister was there, leaning out on the balcony and hugging herself.
Hiccup pushed the door gently, but still the old wood groaned, emitting a high-pitched screech that alerted Elsa, who didn't even turn around.
"Anna please go, I want to be alone," she ordered.
Hiccup didn't quite know what to say or do.
"I'm not Anna," he began hesitantly, "but I understand if you want to be alone…"
The queen turned immediately, embarrassed.
"Sorry Hiccup," she said, "I thought you were Anna and-"
"Can I come in then?"
Elsa twisted her smile, not knowing what to say and Hiccup wanted to interpret her silence as a kind of affirmation for that woman of few words and unspoken gestures. Carefully he snuck into the room and closed the door.
They were silent for a moment, not knowing what to say to each other while Elsa looked at the ground, uncomfortable.
"Remember you told me I wouldn't have to worry about the guards anymore?" Hiccup began warmly, trying to relax the air. "Well, they haven't stopped following me around the castle until I've lost them."
That managed to steal a sad smile from the queen.
"Wow," she sighed, crossing her arms. "I'll have to speak personally to the colonel."
"Please," he pleaded, not moving from the door, now closed and imitating her pose.
"How did you…?" asked the queen.
"Anna."
Elsa took a deep breath, expelling it slowly. She looked a little uneasy, although to tell the truth since Hiccup had met her he had rarely erased the look of concern on her face.
"She said you probably would have come to your room…" the Viking opened the conversation, gazing spellbound at the high ceilings. "Geez, it's huge."
"It becomes quite small when you spend half your life locked in it," she replied with some resignation.
That answer made the boy uncomfortable. He had known misery and hunger on many of his trips and although the Viking had never suffered them in his life, he had not had a life of luxury either, and that belonged to the family of chiefs of Berk. At a fleeting first thought he thought that the life of a maiden in a castle, in a beautiful and spacious room, surrounded by books and overlooking the sea, could not be so terrible. However, Hiccup valued freedom more than anything in the world and knew that without it, any room full of luxuries and comforts was still an ornate cage.
"Sorry Hiccup," Elsa said then to his surprise, "I've been behaving like a child, I didn't want you to feel uncomfortable…"
"No problem," replied the Viking sincerely. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, yes…" she lied, turning her back on Hiccup. "It's just that sometimes I find it hard to stay in control and… well, my sister worries too much…"
"You can tell she cares a lot…
Elsa gave a silent snort, having no answer for that. She put her hand to her forehead, trying to control her emotions. Anna was the most important person in the world to her and she hated when they fought, but as much as Anna loved her, she didn't fully understand her. Her blind admiration as a little sister clouded her judgment and she lost the critical gaze with which Elsa regarded herself so harshly. The queen was not perfect, nor did she have full control over her powers, nor did she have the solution for the situation they were going through.
Hiccup saw Elsa walk towards the balcony. Perhaps he had not done well to tell her that. He really didn't know her yet and what little he had seen of the girl were superficial aspects that didn't really give him anything to talk with her about. Hiccup thought of leaving and letting her think calmly, but that little voice that sometimes spoke to him told him that he had to speak to her; so he finally took the initiative, took a deep breath and walked to the balcony, following her gaze.
It was an image as beautiful as it was disturbing. Up in the sky you could see the sun shining on a calm sea rocked by the waves. However, that glow from the dome created a certain crystalline haze that made everything look like a mirage, an illusion.
"These views are incredible," said the Viking, absorbed.
The views from that balcony showed the entrance of the sea to the fjord, a perfect place to see the arrivals of the merchants. Also to the right was a mountainous enclave that ends in a valley from which a small stream descended that died in the sea and through which the sun rose every morning.
"Actually, yes," she agreed. "They've hardly changed since I was a child…"
"It lacks the breeze…" the Viking dropped, sympathetically, "but I still don't think you can get tired of contemplating something like that.
"Well, I always wanted to see what was beyond this landscape," she pointed out with a certain absent glow in his gaze, catching the Viking's attention. "Until my father told me that beyond there were only wild monsters and pagans whose souls would go to hell."
"Huh." Hiccup couldn't help but open his eyes, ironically. "Wow, that hurts…"
Elsa smiled at him, not daring to look him in the eye.
"You didn't have to come Hiccup, I'm fine, really."
"Who told you that I came to give you a motivational speech?"
Elsa raised an eyebrow, amazed at his impudence.
"Then why did you come?" she said, wondering at her own mischief.
"I have come because we have unfinished business, Your Highness," he said in his best accent, imitating the manner of speaking of Arendelle's advisers.
Elsa looked away, trying to hide her smile. She had never known how to behave very well with people, especially when they were taken out of the conversations she was used to.
Elsa knew all the protocols that a queen should know, she knew how to speak about politics, livestock, agriculture, science and arts. She also knew how she should address the peasants and how she should do it with the other components of the nobility from other lands. She knew the cutlery arts, furnishings, sewing, and all the possible ways to sit in a chair, applaud, and hide the yawning inevitable in long council discussions. But what I didn't know and had no idea was how to talk to Hiccup.
As a child, she had never been associated with boys, not to mention that since the incident with Anna, she had not even been associated with other children her age. She had rarely met some sons of earls, dukes, or even princes, but all of them followed the patterns they had taught her. She knew beforehand what they were going to ask her even before they did. And of course she memorized all the answers to give. However, the Viking didn't appear to have an instruction manual. He was an outgoing person, unpredictable and transparent. He said what he thought and did what he wanted without thinking about the consequences. Otherwise he would never have rejected her in public, reluctantly married her, avoided consummating the marriage, or sought her alone in a room. Of course they were still married, but Elsa knew that this was not frowned upon, at least in everything they had tried to make her learn as queen.
"Have you come to convince me then that I must open the dome?"
"I've come to convince you to release the dragons."
"Hiccup, I don't know…" Elsa began hesitantly. "I'm honestly not sure if it's a good idea…"
"Elsa, please," he asked.
The queen frowned, not quite convinced.
"I don't know… I think it's not the best time," she said, looking down at her hands.
"Is there nothing I can say to convince you?"
Elsa sighed, losing herself again in infinity.
"Okay, answer me this," she said at last. "If dragons only attack because someone controls them or you control them yourself so that they're docile… what is their true nature? I mean, if you could choose for yourself, what would you do?"
That was possibly the most complex question anyone had ever asked him about dragons. Hiccup looked in the same direction as her, running a hand to the nape of his neck, undecided. He had asked himself that question a million times. Toothless was the clear example of the nobility and kindness of these intelligent creatures, but Hiccup had also known bloodthirsty dragons, cruel and eager to submit to their kind. Like the humans themselves, he ended up always getting it right.
He sighed, not sure what to answer.
"I suppose… they would fly away and…" he took a breath. "They would get as far away from us as possible."
It was not the answer the queen expected, but she didn't miss it. After all, who would not want to run away from all that?
"So you think?"
"Evil is a defect of gods and humans, dragons are not to blame for our actions," he concluded. "I know they are still wild creatures, I am not an idiot and well, you have to be careful as some are tremendously dangerous, but I've looked into their eyes and seen honesty."
"You seem very sure…"
The queen scrutinized Hiccup carefully, who also dressed like this looked even more like a Viking. He may not have looked like the rest of his tribe, but he certainly had that wild look she had seen in him from the first moment. Furthermore, she could now see an iron determination in his eyes.
"Let me show you Elsa," he asked, abandoning his reverie and looking into her eyes, very convinced.
The boy offered his hand again.
"I promise I will honor your decision later, no matter what you decide."
Elsa took a breath and although she was not able to squeeze her hand for fear of losing control, she accepted.
Fleeing from the gaze of guards and civilians, Hiccup and Elsa descended through the intricacies of the castle to the dungeons. They had to make a big detour, since they almost tripped over the legislator and at that time without a doubt that was the last person Elsa wanted to see. In fact, if she kept him on the council it was out of respect for her father, who at some point considered the man a friend. However, the queen could not bear his arrogance and greed. Much less that it would have exposed her to such a complicated decision against the Vikings.
For this reason they took longer than they thought to arrive. They also ran into some servants of the castle who stopped Elsa to ask her some routine details, such as dinner that night, the use of certain fabrics for the sick or the possibility of facilitating an exit to the surroundings of the dome for medicinal plants. Hiccup was amazed at Elsa's ability to deal with these people and to solve their problems in such an efficient, polite and graceful way. He still had not gotten used to facing half the work his father did on his island, he didn't even want to imagine how he'd deal with the kingdom of Arendelle, who had at least triple the inhabitants of Berk.
"This way," Elsa grabbed him by the shirt, as they walked down narrow stairs that led to the kitchens.
When they got there, the smell of soup and vegetable stew flooded their nostrils, being greeted by numerous women with easy laughter who gave some compliments to the couple, as if they were two kids in love running away from their parents and looking for a place where they could share kisses among the hidden shadows of the kitchens. Of course, that idea made them both blush and quickly deny before the mischievous smiles of those women who spent their lives smiling and working for others.
After the arduous task of leaving that instance of suffocating heat, they managed to get out into the backyard, where luckily there was nobody. Once there, Elsa explained that the entrance to the dungeons used to be guarded by guards, but that for days the colonel had decided to move all his resources to the preparation of soldiers, since he thought that the dragons weren't going to move from their cages.
"They won't move, but he's underestimated them," Hiccup complained.
Elsa agreed with him, but the day before she was too tired to argue with this man, much more understanding than the legislator, but just as stubborn in his area.
When they arrived, the door to the dungeons was locked. However, Elsa didn't have to make much effort to freeze and break it, shooting a triumphant glance at Hiccup, who kept wondering why this queen seemed to do everything in secret. Who was she afraid of? If she was the queen, she was the highest authority…
The Viking said nothing and just went downstairs with her. He was surprised by that entrance, since he remembered that the guards had guided him elsewhere the previous morning and the princesses themselves made their appearance by a third exit.
It didn't take them long to locate the dragons, locked in those cells with ice bars. In the background, Hiccup could see his dragon that surely had been noticing his presence for a while. Toothless raised his ears with anticipation as he appeared, beginning to growl with affection and supplication. Hiccup ran up to him, sticking his hands through the bars, like the last time.
"Hey, calm down bud," he said affectionately. "I'm here, I told you I'd come back…"
Then the dragon's attitude changed to a much more austere one, baring his teeth and becoming defensive towards Elsa, who was at the entrance of the dungeons.
"Easy, easy," Hiccup said. "She's a friend, she won't hurt you."
His words didn't seem to calm his friend, who continued to growl with a threatening face.
"I already told you it wasn't a good idea," said Elsa, who felt at that moment that she was being observed by all the animals trapped there, as if they wanted to devour her meat as in her nightmares.
Hiccup released a few words to his dragon that the queen couldn't understand before he stepped anxiously towards her, taking her arm gently. Elsa tensed at the contact, since she was not used to people touching her.
"Easy," he said to her. "I promise he won't hurt you, but I need you to release them."
"What?" she exclaimed in surprise. "No, I can't do that Hiccup…"
"They won't hurt you, Elsa."
"And how are you so sure?" she asked nervously. "I locked them here, I would understand their motives for killing me-"
"Trust me," Hiccup asked.
Elsa looked at the boy in his piercing green eyes and for some reason decided to trust him. She took a couple of steps forward, looking around at all those cages and concentrated, raising her hands and closing her eyes. At that moment the bars of ice began to emit a blue glow that was transformed into a halo that wandered through the air towards Elsa's hands. Little by little, the bars faded into a fine white powder until they disappeared completely, freeing all the dragons from their prison.
That effort made Elsa stagger slightly. However, she regained her balance by opening her eyes to check that all the dragons were looking at her uneasily, without moving from their places. Hiccup also stared at her in amazement, still unaccustomed to the workings of her magic. The only one who seemed to react was Toothless, who came out of his cage and cautiously approached his rider.
Seeing him advance, Elsa stood behind Hiccup slowly, trying to control the magic that emanated defensively from her hands. In another circumstance she would never have reacted like this, but fear could inspire all sorts of reactions.
"Easy, Toothless…" asked the Viking, raising his hand towards the dragon.
The dragon seemed to pause its advance, trying to manage Hiccup's words.
The Viking turned to look at Elsa, grabbing her by both arms.
"Do you trust me?"
She nodded, looking truly terrified.
Hiccup then moved to stand behind her, holding her arms so that she was face to face with the dragon.
"He won't hurt you," Hiccup said almost in his ear at the proximity.
Elsa was overwhelmed, not only because she looked into the eyes of one of those creatures that almost ended her life, but because it was the first time she and Hiccup had been so close and for some reason that she didn't understand it disturbed her. She could feel his warm breath against her hair, just as she struggled to keep their bodies from touching, despite their close proximity. She was ashamed that he could sense her nervousness, though she was more concerned with the dragon at the moment.
In front of her eyes was a curious dark dragon, who had not yet let his guard down and was still in a threatening position. Elsa scrutinized the dragon carefully given their proximity. The dragon was black like the night, seemingly half lion half bat, with incredible green eyes where Elsa could see herself reflected. She was surprised to see herself so terrified.
"What… what's his name?" She asked Hiccup.
"Toothless," Hiccup pronounced with a Viking accent.
Elsa wanted to know what kind of name that was, but said nothing, since the situation was not the most suitable.
"It's okay…"
Elsa took a breath, calming down a bit. She closed her eyes and raised her hand, to the surprise of Hiccup, who was going to urge her to make just that gesture.
The queen concentrated, looking around for what she had sensed moments before but ignored out of fear. There was something magical about dragons, something she could feel in midair, like when she was aware of the very existence of her powers. She could feel that being in all its totality and its power, its immense and warm power. Then Elsa put away any fear, as if perceiving it that way made the creature not so different from her.
When she opened her eyes, she no longer saw a monster, but a magical being like her, wild and fearful. The dragon seemed to sense the change, not only in the queen's gaze, much braver now, but also in the magical influence of that human. The dragon lowered his guard and slowly approached her, until he stood directly in front, sniffing at her.
Elsa was drawn to touch him, but fear made her hesitate, pulling her hand away fearfully. It was then that Hiccup grabbed her hand and gave her a warm look. Elsa knew it and together with that hand she approached the animal to touch it.
That contact was possibly the most intimate and intense contact that Elsa had experienced to date, since she not only felt the warmth of that being, but also all its power flowing under his scaly skin. It was without a doubt the most majestic creature she had ever seen.
"Sorry," she apologized very quietly, without taking her eyes from the dragon, who replied with a slight bow.
"Hiccup…" she said, overwhelmed by the near-magical connection. "It… he's incredible…"
"Yes it is…" he replied, enraptured, somehow invaded by the strange aura they had created.
It was then that Toothless pounced on him, licking him nonstop. Hiccup began to complain with laughter. "That doesn't wash out," he growled several times at Elsa's incredulous smile, even as her legs still trembled.
The queen glanced around and was surprised to see that the rest of the dragons were approaching her, curious. Elsa had never been passionate about animals, as her parents never wanted to have them in the castle. The only animal Elsa ever had was a tropical bird that her father brought from one of his trips. However, within weeks Elsa decided to release him, since she hated having him caged, as if granting him freedom was an act of pity she longed for herself.
For this reason she never had much of a fuss with beasts and thought that they would not like her presence either. However, as the dragons approached, it felt as though each step made the creatures just that bit more comfortable with her, their initial fear giving way to interest. Once Elsa bent down to touch one of the little ones, the rest didn't hesitate to pounce on her for a stroke or a hug.
"Wow, you're a born dragon trainer," Hiccup suggested when he saw her surrounded by dragons.
"Do you think so?" she said, smiling in a manner that she hadn't used since she was a little girl. "They seem to like me… I don't get it."
The queen was not used to having the full sympathy of her subjects, so she was surprised by the creatures' sincere reaction.
"I don't think anyone could not like you," he instantly corrected himself, embarrassed by what he had just said. "I mean…"
"Easy Hiccup," she cut him off with a smile, "I understand."
The Viking smiled back and ducked his head, seeking the complicit gaze of his dragon. What a shame to have told her that, he thought to himself.
Elsa and Hiccup didn't quite know how long they were down there with the dragons. At first Hiccup was explaining each different species, what they were called and to whom they belonged. He also told her about their abilities, the food they used to eat or how powerful they were. Hiccup, to the queen's curiosity, also explained that he had the theory that dragons resembled their owners and their owners resembled the dragons, as if there were a symbiosis.
"So you're claiming to be like a night fury? The most powerful of dragons?" Elsa observed with an amused grin.
"Well, I may not be the best example…" Hiccup complained, amused. "But, come on… look at my father's or Gobber's."
Elsa couldn't help but laugh when she found that some of it was true. The dragons of those two men were giants, direct and robust, like the two Vikings.
After talking for a while, they ended up sitting on the floor of the dungeons. Hiccup was surprised that it was Elsa herself who had the initiative of this gesture, since he never thought that the queen was going to sit on the floor, but she did and he imitated her. Elsa leaned against one of the walls and instantly most of the dragons lay down beside her, demanding her attention. Hiccup sat opposite her, leaning on his dragon to stroke his head.
"So," Elsa tried to recap all the information the Viking had been explaining to her, "you and the… riders, you are dedicated to rescuing dragons around the archipelago…"
"Exactly."
"What about you and… Fishbums?"
"Fishlegs," Hiccup corrected, holding back his laughter.
"Fishlegs, right," Elsa recalled. "You guys are writing this kind of encyclopedia of dragons?"
"Yeah, we write down all the species we find, their habitat and their characteristics."
Elsa leafed through the book Hiccup had shown her and which she had taken out of one of her multiple pockets. The queen still didn't understand how Hiccup could carry so many things in his suit, since she knew that he also had the sketchbook with him.
"Fascinating…" she said, turning the pages and observing all that information while a terrible terror curled up in her lap. "This is… amazing…"
Wistfully, she closed and returned the notebook.
"Yeah, it is," Hiccup confirmed as he took the book back. "Who knows, maybe you could join us."
"The riders?" Elsa asked, surprised.
"Only if you want, of course." Hiccup glanced over his book, proud.
The queen was thoughtful at that proposal, caressing the terrible little terror next to her.
"I don't think I could…" she replied with a certain sadness in her voice. "They need me here and well, I can't leave Anna alone with my responsibilities."
"Well, I didn't know what to tell you," Hiccup replied. "This morning she seemed pretty sure she knew what to do."
Elsa rolled her eyes.
"You also think I should open the dome, don't you?"
The Viking wrinkled his nose.
"Yes, I am sincere," he began, "and considering that you are going to release my dragons…"
"That isn't sure yet…" she pointed out.
"I think so, you should open it," the boy said honestly. "I don't know if it is true that it affects you and your powers because I cannot know that, but I can tell you that you can't continue hiding under this dome."
Elsa kept thinking that, while hugging both knees with her arms.
"And what do you propose?"
"I'll tell you something," Hiccup said then. "Berk, our island, has never been a paradise of dragons and humans, in fact, until recently we continued to kill each other." He crossed his legs and sat up slightly, to better project his voice. "You may wonder why we didn't leave Berk if it was an island infected with dragons… but hey, we're Vikings; we have stubbornness issues."
Elsa smiled at him attentively.
"The thing is, for seven generations of Vikings we were hunting and fighting dragons, and we couldn't have survived if we hadn't learned to recover from every attack. Since I was a child I have seen and suffered so many dragon attacks, as they took food, destroyed houses or killed our warriors, but however many horrible things that happened those nightmare nights, the next morning Berk stood up and rebuilt the houses, went fishing and worked from dawn to dusk to protect ours, to be smarter and to be more prepared every day. What I mean is that our last option would have been to hide. If we had done that, neither I nor any of mine would be here today."
Elsa processed that nightmare story, feeling empathy for those people who had lived under constant fear.
"How did you do it?" Elsa asked. "I mean… Anna asked for your help because the Trolls told us about you, about a dragon master who could control those creatures, but we didn't know that the Vikings fought against the dragons… not that way, at least… And if you say that you lived all this as a child… what happened so that Vikings and dragons learned to live together?
Hiccup snorted, knowing this was a very long story.
"The truth is not an easy story to summarize…" Hiccup recalled with an overturned smile, looking at his friend.
Elsa continued to scrutinize the boy and his dragon carefully, not knowing if Hiccup would answer him or not. With a distracted air, she ended up posing her eyes again on what she couldn't stop looking at.
"May I at least ask who did that to your dragon?" she asked suddenly, pointing to the dragon's tail and the prosthesis attached to it. "It seems to me like terrible cruelty."
At that moment an image came fleetingly to Elsa's mind. It was the nephew of the Earl of Weselton. Elsa was hardly a child, but she remembered the boy's wrongdoing with a clarity that almost terrified her. It was during a spring dance that her parents invited all the surrounding royalty. Elsa remembered that her father gave her permission to play with the other children, it was before her accident with Anna. She perfectly remembered approaching the group of children, well dressed in their evening gowns, as they made a circle on one side of the garden. Elsa almost burst into tears when she saw what they were up to, as everyone cheered for Earl Weselton's nephew to rip off the wings of a living butterfly struggling to escape through his fingers.
Elsa struggled to make that violent image disappear from her head while looking at Hiccup, much more serious, avoiding looking at her.
"I did it to him," he confessed.
Of course the queen didn't expect that answer, without being able to explain that this boy who had a passion for these creatures could have done something so cruel.
"You see… I haven't been the 'dragon master', as they call me, for that long," he explained honestly. "In fact, until quite recently I was the shame of my father and of my whole island, the useless and clumsy son of the great Stoick the Vast."
Elsa saw that something in Hiccup had changed, as if remembering that still caused him some pain. Still, she said nothing, and listened intently. Hiccup explained what happened the night he allegedly shot down a night fury and how his father, like the others, didn't believe him, since they thought he was the worst Viking in generations. He also told her how he found Toothless in the forest and how he wasn't able to kill him. The rest of the story flowed easily. Hiccup was a born narrator and the queen, if anything characterized her under that icy and silent profile, it was that she knew how to listen. And that she did, until Hiccup finished the story.
"When I woke up," Hiccup almost concluded, "I thought I'd died already, because I couldn't believe that Toothless was in my room."
Hiccup still clearly remembered that moment that was no doubt charged with happiness, confusion and pain.
"And since then the dragons have lived with you?"
"That's right… All of Berk is full of dragons that walk freely through the roofs and streets of our homes," he explained. "If you travel with me there one day you'll be able to see it with your own eyes."
Hiccup was so friendly to her that sometimes the queen wondered if he was aware that they were married and what that meant. As a woman, when she married Hiccup, she had lost her right to freedom, although it seemed that Hiccup wasn't aware of it. Of course she would go to Berk if the Viking said that they should live there, unfortunately women were not allowed to choose their destiny and if that is what he wanted she would not have much more choice.
"Sounds very utopian," Elsa pointed out, trying to escape from that thought.
"It is," Hiccup agreed. "In fact, there are days that I can't believe it myself, I mean, my father or Gobber flying in a dragon? Yes, I definitely died that day." He grinned wryly as he stroked the dragon's head and Toothless licked his arm affectionately, bringing a smile to the girl.
"I know I shouldn't ask you this," the queen said then, much more cautiously, "but why don't you talk to your father?"
Hiccup changed his amiable expression and looked at the queen much more seriously, not quite knowing what to say to her. The boy just took a breath.
"Is it about the wedding?" she answered for him. "If so, I want to apologize…"
"Elsa, it's not your fault…"
"Neither is it your father's."
Hiccup felt those words dig into his stomach, but he also knew they were true.
"Will you talk to him?" Elsa asked, before his silence.
Hiccup simply nodded, not very convinced. He didn't know how to explain to Elsa the strange relationship he had with his father. Of course Stoick was not to blame for him getting married, but he could have opposed or at least asked that they have waited for him to be part of the decision for what would happen to his own life. Furthermore, Hiccup still couldn't forgive his father for acting as though his relationship with Astrid was just a passing whim.
"My mother always said that there is no pain that heals worse in the soul than that of parents fighting with their children," Elsa observed, her melodious voice making the Viking feel a strange sensation in his belly. "I am sure your mother would not like to know that you are in a foreign land without speaking to each other."
The Viking thought it was a detail that Elsa wanted to share that with him. He knew that her parents had died in a shipwreck, as his father had explained, and that since then she had had to face the crown alone.
"My mother is dead, Elsa," Hiccup replied gently.
Elsa was shocked at this, feeling horrible.
"Sorry Hiccup, I didn't know that," she said quickly, changing her relaxed posture to a much more tense one.
"Don't worry, you couldn't know," the Viking reassured her, seeing his anguished face. "In fact, I didn't get to know her, I was just a baby when she died."
Hiccup smiled, a certain sadness in his eyes. He always wanted to meet his mother, because not doing so had left him with a strange feeling of emptiness, as if something was missing from him.
"I'm so sorry," she repeated anxiously.
"Don't worry, you can't miss something you have never had… besides, my father talks to me a lot about her," he answered to the surprise of the queen, who thought it would be an uncomfortable subject for him. "He says we have the same temperament. Apparently my mother also thought that Vikings and dragons could someday come to understand each other…"
Elsa didn't want to risk bringing up a painful topic, but for some strange reason she felt that she could do it. It was really easy to talk to the Viking.
"What… what happened to her?" she asked, shyly and subtly.
Hiccup also lowered his voice.
"She… was taken by a dragon when she was trying to protect me."
Something inside Elsa clicked in that instant, as if something woke up inside her. That boy, that town that had lost so much at the hands of the dragons… those stout men and stout women had learned to live together and forgive their enemies. To face fear with courage and to live in peace.
She needed the same for herself and her people.
"Elsa?" Hiccup asked when he saw that the girl was lost in thought.
"Hiccup," she answered instantly. "Come on, come with me."
Elsa stood up quickly, as if all her injuries or exhaustion had disappeared.
"This… where are we going?" Hiccup asked confused, trying to get up, much more awkward than her.
"Let's go get some breeze," she said determinedly.