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 8: Midnight Silences
The light of day barely entered the window when Hiccup woke up. Where there had been a fire in the grate the night before, there were now barely a few almost extinct embers left, and the humidity was beginning to soak the walls of the north wing of the castle. Hiccup woke up like every morning for days, numb and cold in his bones. He sniffed and stretched, reaching for the stump imprisoned by his prosthesis. Deep down he was grateful that from that day on he could sleep in his own room, because his leg was suffering from the lack of rest and the humidity of the floor.
Instinctively he looked towards Elsa's bed, where the girl was still breathing calmly, from the deepest sleep. He was glad she didn't have a hangover, but he had to admit that the last part of the night before had been a little weird. Then he looked down at his hands, parched and icy, stained with burns, and for a moment tried to focus on the pleasant sensation of magic, without success.
After this, somewhat resigned, he got up quietly and left the blankets next to Elsa, who slept with a serene expression. Hiccup stared at her spellbound for a while, wondering about the woman had that disturbed him so much. He couldn't understand his reaction last night, how his reason had betrayed him and let himself be carried away by a desire he didn't even know he had. He had blamed alcohol the night before, but that morning, wide awake, he couldn't help but accept that he was slightly attracted to the girl. And of course he knew immediately that he had to put some distance and beat that stupid irrational feeling. He just felt alone while Astrid was away, and Elsa was very nice… as well as beautiful and with magical abilities. However, despite wanting to deceive himself, he couldn't help but feel guilty.
Hiccup barely met anyone as he left the room, imagining that most of them would still be sleeping because of the celebration.
He sneaked up to the kitchens as he was hungry, meeting some women who greeted him with immense sympathy. They were making soup and baking bread for the sick people.
"You should sit down and eat something, Your Highness, you are very skinny," said one, forcing him to sit down at the table to have a soup.
Hiccup tried to refuse, since he was only planning to get a bit of fruit or something quick, but after a while he realized that it was impossible to oppose these women, so he sat down for politeness. As he did so he realized how warm it was in that place compared to his room.
"It's also awfully cold today," said another. "Your majesty should be warm if you are to go outside."
"All the more reason for him to have hot soup," confirmed the first, serving Hiccup a bowl.
Hiccup was surprised by the warmth of those women who for some reason had fallen out of favor since the day before, when he passed the kitchens with the queen. It still seemed strange to him to be called His Highness or Majesty, but he had spent days trying to be called by his name without success, so he ended up resigning himself.
"Thank you very much," said the Viking.
"We are sorry it is such a humble dish, sir."
"Oh no," Hiccup replied quickly, "it's more than enough, really."
However, these women were right and that soup hardly tasted like anything, since they watered it and seasoned it with salt, so that it could supply not only the castle staff, but the entire population of Arendelle.
"Is Queen Elsa still sleeping?" asked the older woman, while peeling some onions.
"Yes, she's still asleep," he replied with some modesty without knowing why.
"Since she was a child, it has always been difficult for her to get up early," said the woman, shaking her head. "The poor creature has never been able to fall asleep, like her father."
"Not even to eat, which is why she's also very thin," complained another, who was peeling potatoes.
Hiccup silently finished his soup while listening to the complaints of those women. They talked about the bad harvests, the lack of food and the bad idea that the party had been last night. One of them also complained about her husband, who apparently had fallen from a chair with a binge and the worst thing is that it was not the first time.
"Since there are no more sick people, he is very stupid and he wounded his hand," she complained under the hoarse laughter of her fellow workers.
Leaving them there with their joys and hardships, he finally managed to sneak out into the backyard. The truth is that the hot soup had served him well, since as the cooks said, outside the cold was pressing hard. Hiccup warmed his hands under his body, entering through the door of the dungeons that had the padlock broken and frozen. He smiled to himself, thinking of Elsa's strange way of acting in her own castle.
Once there he took out all the dragons, since he sensed that the leftovers from the kitchens were not enough to satisfy their hunger. He stroked them lovingly and invited them out, except for his father's dragon and Alea's, who had spent the whole night flying.
Hiccup led the dragons into center field, where he was stopped by Lieutenant Riell, who was standing guard. However, Hiccup soon convinced him that it was not a good idea to let his dragons go without food, so, with some fear, the lieutenant let him go.
The Viking practically jumped onto Toothless, taking the flight followed by the rest of the flock.
"Feels good to stretch your wings, right bud?" he said, stroking Toothless's head with care.
The sun had practically just risen when Hiccup was flying over Arendelle. It was not as beautiful an image as the sunset the day before, but it was beautiful and had something hopeful about it. Hiccup breathed hard the cold air that invaded his lungs violently and allowed himself to be warmed by the first rays of the sun. He had missed the feeling of flying so much.
However, he glimpsed the horizon with concern, not only because Drago would be out there, but because he began to have a bad feeling. That night he had dreamed of Astrid, possibly because his subconscious felt guilty, but when he woke up he felt a strange uprooting, as if something bad had happened to the girl. Of course he quickly put this idea out of his head, Astrid knew how to take care of herself, nothing bad could happen to her. They would be fine, like the rest of the riders, who must not have been too far from Arendelle. In fact, he never thought he would miss them so much in just over a week.
Trying to clear his mind, he began to descend into the fjord sea, so that the dragons could eat something. Near the water was the imposing castle, protected from the flames that had covered the rest of the town. Hiccup took a quick look from the air, checking that the houses had been burned to the ground and that only a few small, dilapidated establishments remained standing by a fountain. Something caught his eye then, a kind of green corsage by the fountain. Hiccup, moved by his impulses, descended to what was once the town square, jumping down from his dragon.
As he thought, next to the black fountain devoured by the flames was a kind of corsage with herbs, perfectly bound by a cord. Hiccup raised those plants to his nose, recognizing that they were a variety of marigolds, plants that Gothi sometimes used. He looked around, alert. No doubt those flowers had been recently picked. Hiccup looked at his dragon, which seemed to be trying to sniff something without success.
"What's up boy…" he said to the dragon, who kept his ears up. "Come on, let's go back."
Hiccup wondered if maybe a native of Arendelle had left the flowers the night before or that same morning. After all, it was normal for people to long for their homes, even if they were just a pile of rubble now.
Hiccup climbed on Toothless and they took off again, taking the bunch of plants with them. It didn't take long for him to return with all the dragons to the castle, in addition to some salmon he had managed to catch.
"Someone has gotten up early today," Gobber observed when he saw Hiccup land in the courtyard.
"Gobber!" Hiccup exclaimed in surprise. "I thought I wouldn't see you for two days."
"Very funny," said Gobber, putting his hand to his head. "I may have a terrible hangover, but responsibility is responsibility, and I promised Princess Anna that I would help her with the women's training, at least until Alea wakes up, then I'll get some sleep. Have you been fishing?"
"Just a little," Hiccup confirmed, indicating a net he'd filled during the flight. "Come on, help me with the dragons."
"Are you taking them back to the dungeons?" Gobber asked incredulously.
"At the moment, yes, until these people get used to them," Hiccup explained. "I talked it over with Elsa, and we think it's probably for the best."
Gobber whistled as usual to the beasts, who soon followed their limp path.
"So you've stayed with Queen Elsa all night…" he said, in a tone that Hiccup couldn't decipher. "Have you already thought about how you are going to tell Astrid?"
Hiccup stopped dead, shedding any good humor he might have had so far.
"I was afraid of that," said Gobber dismissively. "You'll be lucky if you get out of this with all your remaining limbs, and you know what I mean."
Hiccup snorted, running his hand through his hair and following his master.
"Although the queen is nice after all," Gobber continued. "Last night she seemed quite animated-"
"You were animated last night-"
"And you left very soon," Gobber added mischievously, scratching his eye.
"What do you want, Gobber?" Hiccup frowned, aware of his old master's likely train of thought.
"To be clear about where things stand with that girl," Gobber observed. "Last night it seemed to me that she was interested in more than politics and our bad buccaneer stories."
"Don't say bullshit, Gobber, the queen is not interested in me," Hiccup countered. "Besides, I've already told her about Astrid and she understands it perfectly."
"Well, you will know where you get into," he advised entering the dungeons. "By the way, pretty flowers."
Hiccup looked at the bouquet of marigolds in his hand and refused to give any explanation. Gobber was not going to believe him anyway, so he just reluctantly followed him, not understanding why everyone thought there was something between him and the queen.
By all the gods, they were just two adult people with a political bond. No more.
After leaving the dragons settled in there and saying goodbye to Toothless, Hiccup went to the kitchens, where he left the fish to the cooks, who said to him ashamed that this was not necessary, with a mix of relief and suspicion.
As soon as he left, Hiccup ran into Colonel Roston, who was walking with two other men.
"Excuse me," he said in surprise, as they nearly stumbled in the hallway, "your… Your Majesty."
"Excuse me, I was distracted," Hiccup said, observing the man's demeanor carefully. The colonel was much taller and stockier than Hiccup, with a lush white mustache and somewhat thinning hair that he camouflaged by combing it all to one side. He had a serious and authoritative expression and a look that partly reminded Hiccup of his own father.
"Are you going to see the queen?" he asked when he saw the bouquet of flowers that the Viking carried.
"Yes, I was just on my way back," Hiccup hastened to respond reluctantly. "Do you need something?"
The colonel carefully examined the boy, judging his strange clothing and braided hair.
"If you can, tell the queen that we will be out in a while to patrol the town and recount the damage," he explained. "She made me promise to keep her up to date on this activity."
"Of course," Hiccup assured him. "If you need it, the Vikings will be happy to help you."
"Of course," he agreed.
After a slight forced bow, the colonel left with his men as Hiccup walked up the stairs.
Colonel Roston seemed to him a very strange man. Hiccup didn't know what to think of him, since at times he believed that he was a judicious man and with a desire for power and other times instead saw in him a rigid loyalty to the queen, coupled with a strong feeling of protective paternalism. Deep down he was amused to see that, even if he probably didn't see himself that way, the colonel was a stubborn and stubborn man, just like the Vikings.
For the first time Hiccup managed to reach the room without hesitation, a sign that he was beginning to get used to the castle. He opened the door slowly, thinking that Elsa would still be asleep, surprised to find the room empty, with the bed made and several books on it. There were also books on the floor and on his trunk, all meticulously arranged in several piles.
"Hello, Hiccup!" said a voice behind him.
The boy turned, meeting a smiling Elsa, already dressed and with braided hair, who was carrying a pile of books in her arms.
"Wow," was the first thing that occurred to him when he saw her with so many books that her head was barely visible. "Need help?"
"Not really," she said, passing by him to enter the room, where she left the books on the bed. "You got up early this morning?"
"Yes, I went out to fly early," after which he hastened to add, "I didn't meet anyone so you can breathe easy, I don't think I caused a panic."
Elsa gave him a serene smile, grateful that the Viking understood the situation and the need to take more gradual steps, at least until Arendelle got used to the dragons.
"Did you bring me flowers?" she asked then with surprise and a certain horror when she saw the bouquet of flowers that Hiccup was holding.
"Oh no, by all the gods, no, no…" he hastened to reply, his cheeks flushed. "They're not for you, I didn't think about bringing you flowers… that sounded worse- I mean, these in particular are not for you, because it would be strange if I brought you flowers, which does not mean that I refuse to do so as a gesture of friendship if you like flowers, I also don't want to be rude…"
Hiccup tried to read the queen's bewildered look as he spoke, not knowing if he was messing with the girl or not.
"I mean," he snagged, "it's not that you don't deserve to be brought flowers, which of course you do, but not from me…"
"Okay… I think I get the message, Hiccup," she said somewhat unsure of whether she was understanding the boy. "So what are you doing with those flowers in your hand, since there is no… uncomfortable meaning for either of us?"
Saying this, an even more awkward little silence was created as they both looked at each other, lost between bewilderment and absurdity, until they couldn't help but laugh.
"Odin, how ridiculous," Hiccup said, covering his burning face while Elsa was still laughing, in her melodious voice.
The truth is that the moment of intimacy that they maintained the night before had created a strange and latent tension for both of them that they had finally managed to dissolve thanks to that somewhat ridiculous moment. Neither wanted to feel strange to the other, particularly after the confessions of the previous day had helped them both find a common point where they could be relaxed.
The queen approached the boy, still laughing, as he also entered the room, picking the flowers from her hands and glancing at them.
"Is it marigolds?" Elsa said as she sniffed them.
"Yes," confirmed Hiccup, "I found them this morning in town, while flying."
"In the village?" Elsa asked puzzled, "how strange."
"Yeah, I've thought about it too, that's why I brought them," he finally explained. "They're too fresh to be from before the accident. Do you think someone could have gone out?"
Elsa was thoughtful for a moment, since Anna had once made sure the open dome that no one came out of it.
"I don't know…" she smiled uncertainly. "Maybe it was a gesture from some villager."
Hiccup stared at her blankly.
"Normally we bring flowers to their graves," she explained, remembering that perhaps the Vikings had their own rituals. "Maybe someone wanted to make that gesture with a loved one lost in the flames or… I don't know…"
It took the Viking a moment to process that information, although it was not the first time he had heard of peoples guarding the bodies of their dead.
"It could be…" he accepted, without much conviction. "How was your morning?" He changed the subject, nodding at the books. "Are they from your library?"
Elsa nodded, noticing a certain gleam in Hiccup's gaze. He was undoubtedly a very peculiar Viking.
"Yes, I've decided to bring some books to review during the night," she explained. "There is a little bit of everything, from symbology books, Arendelle's history, tales and legends of the forest… who knows, maybe between the two of us we can find something useful."
"I hope so," Hiccup agreed, looking at the number of books Elsa had brought. "By the way, I ran into your colonel, apparently he's going out with his men to patrol and do a damage count."
Elsa nodded, since she herself wanted and needed to face that reality.
"Ah, I forgot, thanks Hiccup," said the queen then, taking a key from the pockets of her dress, "my maids have prepared the room for you that I told you yesterday, it's just next door. Do you want to see it?"
Hiccup followed Elsa through the scarce three meters that separated one room from another. At first Hiccup couldn't open the door, until Elsa explained that if he got stuck he had to give it a little tap while turning the knob. The Viking was surprised to see the interior of the room, which was a little smaller than the one he shared with Elsa, but it also seemed extremely huge for a single person, particularly when the population was experiencing a housing shortage and so many were sleeping crammed together in poorly littered beds, placed on the ground.
"Do you like it?" she asked as she opened the curtains.
"Well, it has a fireplace, which is what is important," Hiccup dropped, bringing an ironic smile to Elsa.
"I will ask the servants to bring you your things."
"Oh, don't bother them," the Viking hurried, "I only have a trunk, I can bring it myself."
Elsa nodded, feeling a little bad as she had possibly sounded terribly frivolous to the Viking's eyes. After all, people were experiencing so many shortages and she continued to have the same 'comfortable' life.
Hiccup kept his few belongings in his trunk and took several books to review at night. However, despite having almost nothing, the trunk itself weighed a great deal, so Elsa decided to lend a hand, freezing a line of ice on the ground and pushing from one end while the Viking pulled the other. As Hiccup approached to collect his last things, Elsa took the opportunity to leave Astrid's note inside one of the books that the boy had taken, since she felt very bad for having read it and not returned it, particularly when it didn't seem right for her to keep it.
"Well, I think that's all there is," the Viking arrived with a notebook and the green ointment Rose gave him for his hands. "Isn't it really weird that we sleep like this?"
"Don't worry about it; we'll still be right next door to each other," Elsa assured him. "Will you be joining the expedition?"
Hiccup denied, since he had promised Gobber that he would help him build a forge where he could prepare armor and weapons for all the new soldiers.
"See you later then," said the girl with a graceful shake of her head.
Once Elsa left Hiccup looked around with a brief gesture, trying to assimilate everything that was happening. It seemed very strange and sad to him that the sovereigns of those lands really slept in separate bedrooms. He understood that it was the best, especially in an arranged marriage like this, but for the first time since Hiccup arrived he felt tremendously alone.
Elsa marched with her men, Gobber and Briel, for a walk through what little was left of Arendelle. The terrain was completely charred and it was spectacular and chilling how the ground displayed a clear line between what once covered the dome and what had been left out.
Something in Elsa was stirred then. She hardly remembered much of that violent night, since the nightmares had distorted her perception of reality. Anna told her that she came face to face with Drago when his dragon fell to the ground pierced by Elsa's ice, but that moments later, when the dragon rose as if nothing happened, the queen used her last efforts to raise the dome and protect civilians from the flames of that beast. After that she had fallen unconscious, only waking up some time after she'd been put to bed.
Anna explained that with luck almost everyone had managed to enter the castle, but at that moment, when Elsa stepped on the charred ground, she realized how distressing that 'almost' was. She swallowed and with a brave gesture gave the order to her men to advance.
In the inner courtyard of the castle, Hiccup started work on constructing his new workshop. He used what was once an old chicken coop to fence a room where he could store all the tools he needed and went out with the dragons in search of materials that they could melt for weapons, leaving Kristoff in charge of organizing all that mess.
Meanwhile, Gobber and Anna had already set to work organizing all the healthy and fighting age women they found, taking them to one of the great halls where Anna spoke to them about the importance of learning to fight if things came to the worst. However, many of them deserted due to lack of conviction and blind faith in the existing army. Anna didn't blame them, since many of them were in charge of the sick and had been without sleep for days and others for their part were mothers and had several children in their care. However, Anna didn't give up on the idea that now more than ever the collective effort was necessary and that she herself would be the first to participate in those trainings. That idea gave some hope to the women, who for the first time not only felt tender sympathy for Anna, but saw her as a leader. After this she asked them, as Gobber had explained to her, to register on a list, with their approximate size and the knowledge and skills they might have. That work was tremendously hard and boring, but Anna was glad to feel useful, not only because at last she felt a certain enthusiasm in women, but also because she began to know them and felt bad for having lived so many years away from the reality of Arendelle.
For their part, Elsa and the group of soldiers began to rescue everything they could from the rubble, from valuables to materials that could be reused. Also, and although it was a more unpleasant task, they began to remove all the burned corpses they found, which luckily or unfortunately were not many, since most must have burned so much that there was nothing left but dust.
After a while they divided into more groups, some going to investigate the farthest houses that still had the foundations still standing and others to the houses next to the port, where some pieces of wood from what were previously ships still floated in Water. Given the lack of understanding of the Vikings with their soldiers, Elsa decided to go with Gobber and Briel to see the farthest houses, those that were behind the church. Her brief acquaintance with the Vikings the night before had made them at least no longer see her as a stranger, and although the silence was present, at least there were no disputes.
"Are you all right, Queen Elsa?" Briel asked when she saw the queen stop halfway.
"Yes, I'm fine," she replied.
There was a time when the queen felt that all of this was beyond her, not only because of the images of devastation, but because of the idea that there were people who were burning beyond the dome. She felt like she was going to throw up right there, but years of training in keeping her composure took effect. It was then that she saw a marigold on the floor. That flower was much more withered than the ones Hiccup had brought that morning, but she couldn't help but think they were related.
"Queen Elsa!" one of the soldiers shouted in the distance. "We found something!"
The queen was on guard, seeking the direction of the voice that provided a soldier beckoning her from afar. Instantly Gobber and Briel, who were more advanced, fell back to catch up with Elsa and run off in the direction of that voice that augured bad omens.
They didn't need to get too close to see how they were removing bodies from a half-destroyed house. Elsa's heart stopped, her strength faltering for a moment. She felt the blood hitting her ears and drying in her throat.
"It can't be…" she stammered to herself.
Gobber noticed that the queen had stopped and seeing her horror face realized that it was the first time she had faced something like this. He decided to approach her and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Take it easy, we're here with you, don't stop."
Those words brought Elsa out of her shock, nodding and resuming her walk towards the guards. When she got to where they were, she ran to Lieutenant Riel who was at the entrance to that ruined home, from where they were removing the bodies.
"Your Majesty," he said when he saw her.
"What's going on?" she asked scared, seeing that almost all the guards were gathered there.
"There is…" the lieutenant looked awkwardly at her. "There are survivors, my queen."
That hopeful truth made Elsa's pulse tremble, not with joy but with guilt. She had left those people out of the dome, to their fate, in misery, for almost three weeks.
"Be careful," one soldier said to another as they pulled out a boy who must have been no older than her.
The boy was still breathing, but he had several burns and semi-bandaged bruises that smelled of death and rot.
"Take him immediately to the castle!" she ordered.
Anger at least gave her the strength to face the situation. Without thinking, she launched herself among the men, sneaking into that ruined house to check that several more people were there, safe from horror and trying to survive.
"Your Majesty, this is not the place for you," Colonel Roston ran when he saw her.
"I have as much right to be here as you do," she answered, somewhat annoyed at everyone trying to protect her.
Beside her two soldiers helped an elderly man walk with care, although the elderly figure seemed in better condition than the young man.
"Is there anyone else in this house?" the colonel asked his soldiers.
"The men are taking stock of the situation."
"My queen," the old man stammered, recognizing her.
Elsa, for the first time in a long time, forgot about protocols and hurried over to the man, holding out her hand.
"Don't be afraid, good man," she hastened to speak to him, scrutinizing the greenish burns on his hand and the pale wrinkles on his skin. "Everything will be fine, my men will take you to the castle."
The man dropped several tears without changing his frightened expression.
"My queen, you have to leave right now," he said nervously, trying to break free of the soldiers' grip on his arms. "The dragons have returned, they have seen them this morning."
Elsa was filled with terror for a few moments until she remembered that Hiccup had gone flying that morning.
"I promise you no dragon will harm you, I swear to you on my own life," she tried to reassure him. "In the castle you will be safe, my men will accompany you."
"Merciful Queen, praise the Lord for answering our supplications."
Elsa had a lump in her throat.
"Are there more people in this house?" she asked cautiously, trying to avoid falling apart right there.
"We are the ones who remain."
Elsa didn't know very well what she meant by that, seeing how the man released his hand and was accompanied by his soldiers outside. The queen glanced at Colonel Roston, seeking some support, who looked at her soberly.
Elsa quickly inspected the house with a bad feeling. The air inside was rarefied, the dust rose like a thick layer that prevented breathing and the wood creaked, giving off an unpleasant smell of ash and sulfur. She was aware that it was a miracle that the structure of that house still stood.
"Be careful with your leg," she heard a woman's voice. "You've been infected."
Elsa turned, looking for the focus of that voice, and then her heart stopped recognizing her owner.
A woman and her daughter walked out the door, somewhat bruised and malnourished, but stable enough to walk. It was the baker and her nine-year-old daughter, from whom Anna sometimes commissioned sweets and other treats. On the other hand, lying down and grabbed by two of her guards was another young girl with slightly greenish skin and a leg immobilized with torn pieces of cloth and some branches, completely unconscious.
And next to the girl… was her.
Elsa had not seen this woman for years, and yet, despite her emaciated and dirty state, nothing had changed. She blinked incredulously, as if she were a ghost, as she struggled so hard to forget her that she had sometimes wondered if she really came into existence.
"Lena?" she called.
The woman, who was completely focused on the patient, then raised her huge jet eyes to her, surprised and confused to see her.
"Queen Elsa…" she said, stunned.
For a moment Elsa forgot where she was. She forgot that survivors of a massacre were being rescued, that her kingdom had burned to the ground, and that it would take time for her to fall asleep again at night, thinking of all the people who had died because of her, her magic, and her fear. At that moment all that went to the background, without being able to believe that that ghost of his past was in that place, in that state and with that enormous expression of disappointment and resentment.
Elsa wanted to ask her so many things that her voice didn't come out of her body. She wanted to apologize, explain herself, be honest about what happened, ask her where she had been all these years… but she was unable to say anything, and read the rancor in the woman's black eyes.
"Hurry up!" the girl demanded of the soldiers. "This woman is dying, do something!"
Elsa then emerged from that spell, returning to reality.
"Take these people to the castle immediately!" she ordered. "Come on!
The guards obeyed without question at the demand of their queen, carefully grasping the injured girl, holding her limp head with sleeping eyes and a blue mouth to protect her from shaking. Behind them walked with a slight limp the woman with jet eyes and hair dark as night, with a gesture of concern, trying to ignore the queen's gaze.
"What… is anyone else left?" Elsa struggled to ask the soldiers.
"There is no one else, my queen," one of them replied.
"We are the last," Lena raised her voice, defiant, as she always was. "The rest died days ago… my queen."
Once Anna had finished with the listing, she joined Hiccup and Kristoff in building the makeshift forge.
Anna had to admit that she was quite intimidated to see Hiccup descend from the sky on the dragon, laden with rocks and other things that she could not identify. It was the first time she had seen the dragon and its rider so closely, and for an instant she returned to the first night she had seen him get off his dragon, clothes covered in blood and speaking in the language of the Vikings. No doubt her vision of Hiccup had changed a lot in the past few days, but she was no less intimidated by it.
Once the boy dismounted, he was surprised at the paleness of their faces until he remembered that this was the first time either Anna or Kristoff had seen a dragon this close. Of course, it was not very difficult to show them that Toothless was not dangerous, since despite the initial fear there was a latent sympathy in the dragon for those people. In fact, once the first contact was made, Toothless bathed Anna in saliva and she didn't complain, laughing.
They were working all morning and the rest of the afternoon, making just one quick stop for lunch. Anna managed to get the hang of keeping the makeshift oven on while Hiccup and Kristoff managed to load all the materials for the foundry. Not only had they brought rocks for the Gronckles, but Anna had also decided that they could melt down some armor and items that decorated the castle that she felt no one would miss.
They used a large stone to work the metal, which they took turns polishing until they made a hole deep enough to pour at least two liters of liquid metal. Anna thought that she had never done such hard work after seeing her hands at the end of the day. For the first time in her life, calluses would come up to her wrists.
Gobber had already given them a quick lesson in how to prepare the molds, and now, under the supervision of Hiccup, who undoubtedly had always been an outstanding student, he explained the importance of calibrating the weights or the danger that the materials ran to break once they were cold if they were not they had compacted well. They spent practically until night designing and creating molds for different weapons and protections, from shoulder pads and breastplates to swords and shields.
Anna believed that swords would be more than enough for the moment, since she didn't see any of her men or women raising an ax or a 'skull buster', as they called it. Gobber had agreed at the time, saying that it was at least a start, but that in a few months she would ask for one herself, which made the princess laugh in disbelief.
However, despite all the tasks that had been carried out that day with its launch, they had not really obtained any results yet. It was slow and laborious work, so if they wanted to move forward they would have to go from sunrise to sunset for the next few days.
"Am I the only one that hurts everywhere?" Kristoff asked, rubbing his shoulder as he finished his dinner in the great room.
At the table he was accompanied by Anna, Hiccup and Gobber, who had finally endured awake all day but who would soon take refuge in the arms of Morpheus.
"As if an army of obese Gronckles had passed me by," said Gobber.
Anna and Kristoff shot each other a knowing look. One of her most recent diversions was memorizing and repeating the meaningless things that Viking said.
"You should go to sleep," Hiccup suggested, feeling tired himself. "Today we have definitely earned it."
"It's been days since I felt like we've done anything useful," agreed Anna. "How long do you think it will take to have everything ready?"
Hiccup leaned back in his chair, calculating.
"If we go more or less to the rhythm of today, I think about five or six days," he said. "Maybe tomorrow someone else can help us."
"We should ask your father," Gobber put in. "Who also wanted to talk to you."
Hiccup groaned inwardly, as he didn't particularly like that idea. He had been avoiding his father since the last council meeting and planned to continue doing so for at least a few more days, because he just didn't know what to say to him. What were they going to talk about? How terrible a son he was, how poorly he managed his responsibilities, or how obscenely the women whispered that he had treated Elsa on her wedding night. His father was also not going to hear anything other than this and he was tired of fighting and feeling guilty. He didn't plan to go there and if he did at least he would do it when his anger subsided or he stopped caring.
Kristoff could see that the subject seemed to make Hiccup uncomfortable, so he decided to ease tensions, as he usually did.
"Hey, what about Elsa?" he asked. "Has anyone seen her today?"
"She went out with the guards to check on Arendelle's condition this morning," Hiccup explained gratefully.
"And she still hasn't returned?" Anna asked concerned.
"I don't know…" Hiccup said uncertainly. "I suppose so, it's already dark."
Anna felt then that something was wrong, since Elsa had not come down to dinner and although she knew that her sister had always had a very small stomach, she thought that perhaps seeing Arendelle reduced to ashes would have something to do.
"I'm going to look for her," she said seriously, getting up from the table.
The rest watched her go, knowing it was best not to accompany her. Deep down, both Hiccup and Gobber knew what it felt like when everything you've spent months working for is lost in the fire. They didn't want to imagine what it would be like to encounter that sensation for the first time, when in addition you weren't born into a tribe that has been facing the problem for generations.
Anna hurried up the stairs, to the rhythm allowed by her tired legs. He walked through the halls nervously, the same ones he had walked hundreds of times. For an instant she almost forgot that her sister was no longer sleeping in his room, forcing her to redo half the journey, feeling a little idiotic. The truth is that she was still not entirely able to accept the fact that Elsa had married. Her sister. Elsa.
She appreciated the idea that Elsa was at least comfortable with her 'husband', although Hiccup generally seemed to be very nice to everyone. The stars had undoubtedly had fun collecting oddities, since, despite the fact that her sister had magical powers of ice, the boy was not far behind in terms of strangeness. Perhaps if they had met in other circumstances they might even have fallen in love, since Anna noticed a certain similarity in them, a chemistry that she didn't know how to explain. And well, she had read so many little girl's love novels that she didn't want to accept that reality could be so cruel.
In fact, her sister's confession about Hiccup's existing lover had slightly disturbed her since, although Elsa didn't seem to mind, she was afraid that she would end up suffering and closing in on herself. After all, no one wants a life like this: married without love, with a husband with lovers and bearing the responsibility of a kingdom haunted by death and the inexplicable.
She sighed, finding herself in front of her door, like so many other times. It was then that a strange feeling of deja vú came over her, as if her sister wasn't going to open the door for her.
"Elsa?" She knocked on the door. "Can I come in?"
Anna got no answer, but still ventured to turn the knob.
"Elsa?" she asked as she entered.
Elsa was sitting on the bed, looking out the window in silence. The room was completely dark, since the fireplace was out and if it weren't for the full moon that night, Anna would have stumbled across all the books she had scattered on the floor.
"Elsa, are you okay?" She said entering the room.
Elsa was already in her nightgown and carried her mother's shawl on her shoulders. It definitely wasn't right.
"What… what happened?"
Anna walked over to her sister and sat next to her on the bed. The queen stared blankly at the sky, hugging herself.
"Nothing happened Anna, I'm fine," she said calmly. "It's been a difficult day, that's all."
"Are you sure?" Anna insisted. "Have you had dinner? Do you want me to get you some?"
"Don't bother Anna, I'm not very hungry," she denied, taking her hands. "Don't worry, really. Go easy and get some rest."
Anna shielded herself from that slight touch and her sister's sad smile and nodded. She knew that if something was around her, she would not tell her.
"If you want I can stay," Anna offered. "The maids have already told me that you don't share a bedroom with Hiccup."
"I'd rather be alone Anna," Elsa looked down.
Anna accepted, silently. She hated when Elsa had said that. She couldn't understand her.
"Is everything so bad?"
Elsa swallowed hard, struggling to maintain her integrity.
"You wouldn't recognize it…" she said slowly. "But calm down, I have spoken with the colonel and some Vikings and tomorrow we will begin to rebuild the houses."
Anna smiled at her sister, trying to soften her up a bit.
"Everything will be alright Elsa" she said as she hugged her.
Elsa returned the hug, her heart sinking.
"Of course," she managed to say. "Just… get some rest; these days are going to be very hard."
"So much!" Anna agreed with her usual joy, trying to dispel her sister's sad aura. "I've even had calluses on my hands.
Elsa made the effort to smile again.
"Hey," marked Anna, raising her hand to her sister's cheek. "Promise me that you are going to rest too and that you are not going to give it much thought."
Elsa nodded and Anna was satisfied. At least it was something, although she knew her sister was avoiding her, for a change. Elsa always did that: push others away when she suffered.
Anna got out of bed and kissed her sister on the forehead, lightly repositioning her mother's shawl and adjusting it better to her shoulders.
"Good night Elsa," she said goodbye.
"Good night Anna."
Anna closed the door behind her, leaving Elsa on the other side. She stood there for a moment, wondering if she should go in again or not, whether or not to force her sister to express her emotions… but she lacked the strength. And she gave up, making her way to the salons.
Going down Anna noticed much more fuss than usual. A few minutes ago, when she was gone, almost everyone was eating in silence. However, there seemed to have been an incessant murmur running throughout the dining room.
"What happened?" Anna said when she returned to the table where Hiccup and Kristoff were eating with Gobber.
"We don't know," said Kristoff. The soldiers have just arrived to eat and a group has formed around them. The three of them looked towards the large table where all of them had gathered around several men, who despite the exhaustion wanted to relate the horror of their exploits in what was once their home.
"I guess everyone wants to know how things are out there…" Anna deduced.
"And Elsa?" Hiccup asked, who had been somewhat concerned to see Anna leave.
"Okay," she lied. "Just a little tired, I don't think she had a good day."
Hiccup was sure that Elsa had had a terrible day. The little he had been able to talk to her showed how much she cared for the welfare of her people, and seeing Arendelle how he had seen it himself that morning was terrifying. It had been a long time since the Viking had seen a town burn to the ground. It was undoubtedly Drago's work, since nobody else could be as cruel and devastating to a land in that way, leaving it practically barren.
"I'm retiring too guys," Anna announced. "I'm exhausted."
The girl approached Kristoff softly, kissing him on the cheek to bid him good night, and after that she went back upstairs.
"Anna is very affected by Elsa's state," Kristoff suddenly commented to the Viking.
"I see…" Hiccup said tentatively.
Since he had arrived in that strange kingdom, the Viking had been aware not only of the sisters' strong bond, but also their problems and sorrows. After Elsa's confession the previous day about her self-imposed isolation and separation from her sister for more than ten years, Hiccup understood that the queen didn't always know how to cope with the demand for affection that Anna undoubtedly needed. In fact, in a way, the Viking sometimes believed that Anna had taken such a protective roll with Elsa that she really seemed to have inverted the usual roles and become the older sister when it came to emotional issues.
"Anna is like an open book, but Elsa is very closed with everything," Kristoff continued, "although I imagine that you've already realized that."
Hiccup twisted his smile. For some reason that he didn't understand himself, Elsa had opened slightly with him, despite the cold distance and rarefied Puritanism that made the Viking so nervous in her presence. However, he understood what the ice vendor was referring to and agreed that it was really frustrating to try to reach out to someone who was just pushing away their loved ones.
"Sometimes I think Anna won't be completely happy until she accepts Elsa as she is."
Kristoff finished his soup and stood up, saying goodbye to the Viking. They agreed to resume the task they were developing the next morning, when the sun rose and the hustle and bustle returned to the castle. Kristoff wasn't a great supporter of weapons, like, ironically, Hiccup, but they understood that it was not possible to protect so many defenseless people and the more they could learn to protect themselves, the easier it would be to be victorious in the face of a possible attack.
This was the idea that gnawed at Hiccup the most: that of a possible attack. He had been in Arendelle for less than a week and at the moment, despite the fear and the number of wounded, he felt that he lived in a limbo of perpetual peace where the possibility of being attacked was a vague distant idea, but the reality is that they were not prepared. Elsa had not fully recovered from her injuries and they didn't have enough dragons to deal with an army of immortal dragons. There was also the question of how to protect or where to take civilians, since the castle was not a valid option, but neither was the forest or the surroundings. And finally there was the issue of the apparent immortality of their enemies.
That possibility was so fanciful and impossible that Hiccup had not yet come to terms with the idea that they really could not win such a battle. However, since the day before he had seen the queen destroy a giant ice dome with her bare hands, Hiccup had been much more open to the idea of magic, even if that was to confirm his greatest fears. And the worst thing is that not even in their worst nightmares could they imagine what would come upon them.
The only thing he was asking now was how to find the key to the dragons' supposed immortality and how to reverse it. Princess Anna had written in her first letter of help that she feared that Drago was looking for something in those lands, but neither Anna nor Elsa knew very well what he could be looking for in Arendelle, and even more now that practically everything was reduced to ashes. It had to be the enchanted forest, it was the only option that made sense to him and the one that best fit what he had seen so far. Finding that night fury in the woods had been a before and after for Hiccup, not only because of the possibility of finding more specimens as his friend, but because of the fear that perhaps his companion was in danger. Remembering the image of that poor bleeding dragon still stirred his guts; he couldn't understand that someone was so bloody to do such a thing.
The Viking finished his dinner as best he could, determined to lock himself in his room to read and look for some useful information until his sleep overcame him when he suddenly heard the voice of Alea, calling him in the background, from the Vikings table. The boy was also avoiding sitting there for the simple fact that all those smiling compatriots had sold him for marriage without asking. He still didn't understand how they could continue to insist on eating together. And the worst thing is that Stoick was sitting at the table that night.
Hiccup sighed and ended up reluctantly approaching.
"Hiccup honey," Alea said kindly. "What are you doing there alone?"
The Viking gave him a slap on the back that could have broken it, and with a wide gummy smile invited him to sit down.
"My companions just left," he justified.
"Since you have become a king, you seem to reject us," Gervasio complained in the background, pulling a piece of meat from between his teeth. "You shouldn't lick those princesses' ass so much and more when the queen has thrown you out of her bed. How shameless! You should get something heavy-handed and teach that little girl to respect you. You are her husband, Gods. Be like a man, don't let women boss you around."
Those words made Hiccup's blood boil, but he stopped himself when he noticed that his father stood up.
"Hiccup," Stoick said very seriously. "Let's go."
And without further ado Stoick got up from the table and walked towards the exit of the dining rooms. Of course Hiccup obeyed, unable to avoid shooting the old man a murderous look before leaving.
"What are you looking at?" Gervasio scolded the rest of the Vikings, who looked at him silently with disapproval. "Stoick has always been a target with his son. That boy has needed a good beating all his life, to see if he wakes up and stops being silly. He should be grateful to us, he could never have gotten a better lay-"
"That boy is your chief, Gervasio," Alea argued seriously. "And he has more than earned our respect."
"Really?" he said, leaning back in his chair and sipping his drink. "By the time he takes command of Berk, I will be dead, if he ever will."
"You should apologize," added Briel. "You have also offended Stoick."
"The queen is the one who has offended all of us," he continued. "If she does not share a bed with her husband, you think that when this war ends, she will share her kingdom?" The Viking rose from the table, annoyed. "I am only warning you and the one who warns is not a traitor."
And with these last words he left too.
For his part, Hiccup was following his father until leaving the castle, where they asked the guards for permission to go out to 'take the air', promising that they would not stray too far. They both shared the path in silence, Hiccup still holding back his anger at the humiliation and Stoick in unflappable silence. The boy stopped when his father did, at the end of the bridge that linked the castle with the kingdom. The air had risen from the immense devastation and had created its own black dance, of ashes and death, that prowled from the castle to the sea.
"Hiccup…" his father began, taking a deep breath. "The riders will not be very far, but until they arrive we must make an effort between all of us and organize ourselves to patrol."
Hiccup nodded, knowing his father had opted for the easy route: pretending nothing was wrong. Then he remembered the words of Elsa, who had asked him to make peace with her father, but at that moment he was not able.
"Okay," the boy agreed, scanning the night sky.
"I and Alea will be on patrol again tonight," Stoick explained, "Spitelout and Briel are supposed to do it in the morning, but they have been asked for help to start the reconstructions."
Stoick's words weighed like lead in the ears of Hiccup, who had no desire to argue with his father that night. Anyway, he always liked to patrol, since it practically consisted of flying and surveying the horizon.
"Can I count on you to make the shift tomorrow?"
"Sure."
"Great," he said solidly.
After this they were silent again, contemplating that barren place.
"Don't listen to what…" Stoick tried to prove a certain approach to his son, "to what Gervasio said."
"I wasn't planning to," Hiccup replied, trying to close the conversation he didn't want to have.
"You have already done your part," Stoick continued. "It seems good to me that you don't want to share a bed with the queen just yet."
Hiccup swallowed hard. He had not done his part or thought to do it, but his father's words filled him with great sadness for some strange reason. What if that battle never really ends? Or their marriage couldn't be broken so easily. What was supposed to happen then? Would he have to accept that this woman was his wife? What kind of life could they have in common? Governing together? Manage kingdoms? Share a bed? Have children?
It was like waking up, like someone pouring a jug of cold water over his head. His father always had that effect on him.
He had married and there was no going back.
Hiccup quickly pushed this idea out of his head as he felt some pressure on his chest. That could not be his destiny, or at least not the one he wanted for himself.
"Dad," Hiccup stopped him. "Do you need anything else? Today has been a long day and I still have things to do."
Stoick looked at his son with some unease.
"No, nothing more," he clarified. "I just wanted to update you on the patrol efforts. You can go, rest."
Hiccup made a show of leaving, but stopped when his father didn't move.
"Not coming?" Hiccup asked, puzzled.
"Go away, take it easy," he urged. "I will stay here for a while. The air in that castle is unbreathable."
Hiccup wanted to say something more to his father, but he was not in the mood, so he left, leaving him there alone, planted like a huge mountain in front of the night landscape, holding back tears he would never let go.
Hiccup climbed the stairs to his bedroom with more regret than before. He had barely exchanged a word with his father, but he felt terrible. A lump had formed in his throat and an unpleasant feeling of emptiness had settled in his chest. And the worst thing is that he was sure that he would not be able to fall asleep until it passed. And honestly, there was no end to it.
When he reached the door of his room, he couldn't help but glance towards Elsa's room, where she must have been sleeping already. He would have liked to ask her if he was okay, since from what he exchanged with Anna he sensed that this was not the case. He debated for a moment whether or not to knock on his door, but the truth is that he didn't want to speak to anyone, he preferred to be alone.
His room was freezing, so the first thing he did was light the fireplace and try to warm up. He also changed his clothes and gathered all the books he could from the floor, taking them to bed, where he planned to read them. The prosthesis was also carefully removed and the sore stump, which had some chafing from the previous days, was massaged. The truth is that the humidity of the castle made the bone of the leg give him more cramps than usual and he spent a long time trying to get over it, grateful that the physical pain took him away from his jumble of emotions.
Once he let himself be trapped by the sheets of that comfortable bed, he felt very stupid for having been sleeping on the floor for so many days. And the worst thing is that a first fleeting thought proved Gervasio right about the fact that women were bossing him around. Thanks to the Gods, his sanity returned immediately, saying to himself that he didn't want to share a bed with Elsa, who had also been feverish and injured the last few nights. If he had slept on the floor, it had been his own decision.
With the light that he managed to obtain from a candle, Hiccup began his research among those books. However, he soon realized the first and great difficulty: they were written in the alphabet of those lands.
Hiccup had always had a gift for study and languages, but the truth is that, despite perfectly mastering the language of merchants that was so similar to this, reading it was already another story, since they used another alphabet. For this reason, he spent the first hours of the night making himself a comparative table thanks to a book that was in Latin, trying to decipher and find the equivalences with writing in his language. At first he thought he was wasting time, but after hours of comparisons he managed to establish a translation code that he more or less managed to understand, supplemented of course by the context. However, after a while he was exhausted, so he just read and looked for clues in the only book in Latin, which he did know how to read. However, that book didn't tell him much, since it basically noted Arendelle's commercial relations with the continent and the truth is that they were not at all revealing. He was amused to read at one point that Arendelle had broken business dealings with the 'devils of the north' when Elsa's grandfather took the throne, due to its 'sinful and pagan' customs. In fact, Hiccup hardly found anything about the Vikings in that book, as if they didn't really inhabit Midgard and were just a fantasy to scare the kids.
As he closed the book, exhausted and sleepy, a thin sheet of paper fell onto the bed. Hiccup recognized her instantly, and all those sensations he had been running from suddenly came back, slapping her face.
It was Astrid's note, which he thought he had lost the day before. He was grateful to have it again, but instantly realized why he had found it in that book: Elsa had left it there.
A vague feeling of shame covered his cheeks, as if by reading that note, Elsa had violated his privacy. Not only because Astrid had written that she loved him, but also because she had drawn a very silly drawing of him, something that the Viking didn't do very often; it was more of a loving secret between the two of them.
Once again he felt the enormous loneliness that had hit him that morning and although he felt that he would start crying like a child at any moment, he could not shed a tear, no matter how hard he tried, as if the only option he had to let off steam had also been taken from him.
What Hiccup didn't know is that that night all the tears would be found in the next room, where Elsa cried softly, hiding her crying, curls up on the bed, hugging her body while breathing hard. The queen couldn't shake off her responsibility for the deaths of those poor people outside the dome, just as she couldn't stop herself from remembering the look of hatred and rancor of the only person for whom she ever felt something.
The only person who had shared her secret without judging her, who had accepted her condition and who had loved her until she broke her heart.
Hiccup had barely slept a few hours when the sun began to come through his window. He didn't have a big problem getting out of bed, since he had been awake for a long time, pacing around looking for the rest he could not find. Without much delay, he cleaned himself, dressed, and went downstairs to the kitchens, just like the day before, ready to eat something quick before relieving his father and Alea in the air guard. When he got there he was surprised to find almost twice as many women in the kitchen, all of them looking worried as they murmured softly and heated water.
"Good morning," Hiccup greeted like the day before. They all fell silent when they saw him arrive, looking at him with a certain suspicion.
"Good morning, Your Highness," said the older woman, twisting her face. "Excuse the hustle, if you wish, tomorrow the maids can bring breakfast to your room."
"Oh no, don't worry," Hiccup said flatly. "I was just going to grab something quick and leave, it doesn't take that much trouble."
However, from their faces Hiccup gave the impression that these women were hiding something from him.
"All good?" Hiccup asked plaintiff. "Is there something I should know?"
The younger girls looked scared at the head chef, whose experience made her pulse not shake in the face of inclement sovereign.
"They are the new patients," she explained. "They've gotten worse tonight, Your Majesty."
Hiccup couldn't help but frown at the word 'new', trying to think that maybe he hadn't got it right.
"New?" he repeated to clear his doubts.
The young women continued with that expression of terror as they looked sideways at the Viking while the old woman didn't know very well what to answer him, thinking that he was aware.
"The survivors they found yesterday, my lord," the old woman clarified. "Her injuries have worsened tonight."
"Did you find survivors yesterday?" he asked incredulously, not understanding why no one had told him.
"That's right, Your Majesty," she confirmed. "I'm afraid the boy died this morning and one of the young women is in very serious condition."
Hiccup was processing that information in disgust, not understanding how Elsa had locked herself in her room the day before without telling him something like that or how none of the soldiers or the Vikings themselves had said anything to him. Would his father know that too?
"Where are they?" he asked.
"In a small room at the end of the great room where the rest of the sick are," the woman explained. "If you wish, one of the maids can accompany you."
Hiccup immediately noticed that those young women tensed at those words.
"I think I know how to get there, it won't be necessary," he said, almost more uncomfortable with the offer than they were. "Thank you.
Without further delay, he headed to the right place, not understanding what was happening and why he had no record of something like that. Survivors? It kept repeating itself in his head, as if the idea was impossible.
It was not long before he reached the room set up as a provisional infirmary, looking for the door to the room that had been told him.
"Your Majesty," a familiar voice heard then.
"Hello Rose, good morning," the Viking greeted when he saw the girl.
The young woman greeted him with a shy smile, despite the tiredness of the dream in between. She wore her apron stained with dried blood, like the last time, only this time she looked much more emaciated than she had on their first meeting.
"What brings your majesty here?"
The Viking knew that the young woman was only being polite, but he felt that every time he heard the word 'majesty' he was bleeding from the ear.
"Please forgive me," she hastened to reply. "Where are the new sick?"
"They're at the bottom, your majes… Hiccup," she corrected herself. "Father Gerard is confessing to them."
It took Hiccup a second to process that information, until he understood what it meant.
"By 'father' you mean 'priest', correct?" He made sure.
The girl nodded.
"And can I come in?" He asked cautiously, not quite understanding their rituals.
Hiccup had never fully understood the beliefs of Christians, but something told him that if there was a religious figure alongside the seriously ill, that was not a good sign.
"You are the king…" Rose said fearfully, shaking her head.
"And…?" he asked, puzzled.
"No one has authority over you, Your Majesty," she clarified and corrected herself. "Hiccup."
The Viking still didn't get the idea that, marrying Elsa, although in his vision of the facts he had only condemned himself to a life of unhappiness, he had also become the king and lord of those foreign lands, where people treated him with a fervor that makes him very uncomfortable. Even his tribe didn't worship his father like that.
"Okay…" he agreed. "Well, I'm going to pass."
Rose nodded and waved for him to come with him. Hiccup followed closely, looking up to see that many of the sick people he had sewn days before had already left that place and many others looked better. A girl with her mother recognized him in the distance and greeted him. Hiccup remembered removing some seams from the woman's arm and how her daughter had spent hours talking to her about her gray cat, who had apparently disappeared in the fire. Hiccup returned the greeting as the mother scolds her daughter for her impudence.
"It's here," Rose informed him when they stood in front of a door. "This morning we removed the boy's body. The girl got a little better, but she's gotten much worse tonight, she's raving in fevers, and she has an infected leg. I don't think he has many hours left."
"Were there more survivors?" Hiccup asked.
"Joseph the carpenter, the baker and his daughter," he specified. "Luckily they're fine."
Hiccup nodded and prepared to enter.
"There was also another woman…" she said almost in whispers. "She is the one who has been taking care of the sick, but she left when the father entered. She'll be back in a little while."
Cultural distance and linguistic problems had caused the Viking to develop a strange ability to detect when these people were suppressing information or looking for a way to tell him something they shouldn't, so he asked Rose to continue speaking.
"She is a woman who lives in sin…"
Hiccup frowned without understanding.
"She's…" the girl tried to find another word "she's… a prostitute," she whispered so that no one would hear her.
"And where can I find her?" asked the boy.
"I noticed her looking for you," the girl said with a certain blush.
Hiccup thanked the girl for helping him out and said goodbye as he entered the room. The smell of vinegar and rot was intense in this small, dark place, which must have once been a utility room or a pantry.
"Your Majesty," Colonel Roston said suddenly when he saw him enter, surprised at his presence.
Hiccup immediately recognized the priest, since he was the same one who had officiated his wedding. The man greeted him with the vehemence of those who are prudent in the faith but who maintain a moral superiority over 'paganism'.
"Why has no one informed me that they had found survivors?" He demanded of the colonel, cutting straight to the point
"I thought your wife would have done it," the man said seriously.
Hiccup saw his gaze more tired and appeased than ever, so despite his annoyance, he decided that he should not start an argument with the other man. After all, it was true that Elsa had a responsibility to have told him.
"What's wrong with her?" he said more meekly, indicating the girl. Just by seeing her pale and feverish sunk on that makeshift bunk, it was possible to know that her condition was not the best and that it would take a miracle to save her. The girl must not have been older than him based on her appearance, but the disease made her look younger, pale and greenish, like a mermaid.
"The lord has decided to collect her in his holy bosom," explained the priest, "so that she no longer suffers the sins of the flesh."
Hiccup looked at her curiously, inspecting her wounds. They were undoubtedly dragon fire burns, but no one died of that unless they were not treated in time or infected and that didn't seem to be the case, since the marks on their arms had been treated and practically healed. Someone must have been looking after her out there.
"Can I see her?" he asked, wanting to take a closer look. The colonel shared a disapproving look with the priest, but they both fell silent, knowing that Hiccup had some authority over them, even though he was not yet aware of it.
The Viking lifted the sheets that covered the girl, discovering her semi-nude, and finding out where the problem was. The girl had a leg immobilized with pieces of branches and knotted fabrics that showed the end of a blackened and dying foot.
"She has an infected leg," he quickly diagnosed, as it was not the first time he had seen something like that. "Maybe we are in time to save her."
The priest opened his eyes wide, desperately seeking the colonel's gaze.
"It is too late," the colonel said simply.
"The infection may not have gotten into her blood," Hiccup hastened to defend.
"Your Majesty, forgive me for opposing my authority in front of you, but except for some soldiers, these practices are not carried out in our lands."
"And less in her last hours!" The priest bellowed in alarm.
"We could save her life."
"Or kill her."
"We cannot fight against the lord's designs," said the priest.
Hiccup signaled to the colonel to go outside, since he seemed more reasonable than the priest.
"May I speak to you alone?"
"Of course."
Both men went outside, grateful that they could breathe some air.
"Colonel," Hiccup began, remembering that this was his position, "that girl doesn't have to die today."
"And what do you propose?" He asked angrily. "We leave her crippled?"
"You know you're talking to a cripple, right?" Hiccup countered coolly.
"We can't do that to that woman," the other man tried to end the conversation.
"And you think letting her die is a better option?" Said the Viking indignantly.
That superficial gesture was bringing out the worst in him. Were they really willing to let that poor girl die just because the alternative would make her a 'cripple'? Hiccup understood that he wasn't on his land and what for the Vikings was a sign of honor and bravery was seen as a contempt and a burden here. However, he still thought that human life was much more valuable than appearances and he was sure that the God of those people would agree with it.
"If there is an option to save her," said a voice from behind him, "then we should take it."
Both men turned to see a woman with black eyes like the night and pale skin, much taller than average and with a gesture that denoted a great temperament. She wore a loose, pale cream dress that was easy to understand because of her size.
"You have no authority to speak like that to the…" the colonel complained authoritatively.
"We think there is a way to save her," Hiccup cut him off before he said the word king. "We may be in time, but her leg would have to be amputated before the infection spreads."
That news changed the defiant face of the woman for one more docile and sad.
"Could that save her?" she asked with some trepidation.
"I don't know," said Hiccup, who also didn't want to give her false hope. "But it is the only option to do something for her."
The girl gulped, processing that as she quickly glanced at the Viking, noting that he was a cripple himself.
"If that can save her, what are we waiting for then?" She asked somewhat hopefully.
It was then that the colonel discarded the passive role in that conversation and took charge of what was being planned.
"We're not going to make that poor girl a cripple," he said bluntly. "And you know you can't talk to us like that. And very sorry, sire," he turned to address Hiccup, "I am afraid I cannot abide by such an order unless it comes from the Queen herself. Until then, we will continue to watch over God's designs."
Hiccup was about to say something when the colonel snubbed him in the face and went back into the room. The Viking cursed on his tongue, hoping that at least Elsa was more consistent.
"Can you save her?" the woman asked.
Hiccup looked at her closely and had to admit that she seemed to be a very imposing woman, with high cheekbones, pale and smooth skin and full lips. From his appearance and his treatment, it didn't seem to him that he belonged to those lands.
"I don't know, but if we don't do something I fear the worst…"
"She's like a sister to me," she said, her face wide with concern. "I will do anything if it can save her."
Hiccup felt sorry for the woman, imagining that she must be the prostitute Rose had told him about, who had been taking care of the survivors. At first glance she seemed a completely normal person, except that her eyes were full of concern and fear. The girl he had just seen was really ill, and even if they managed to amputate her leg and eradicate the infection, he also couldn't assure her that she would survive the surgery. He himself had been about to bleed to death when he lost his own leg.
"I will speak to the queen," Hiccup said. "I think she has more common sense."
Suddenly the girl's face changed expression.
"The queen will not listen to you," she said very seriously. "Excuse my daring, but I don't think she will receive you, good man."
Hiccup snorted with irony. "Well, I'm supposed to be her husband, so I'd hope she does."
Those words seemed to surprise the girl, as she helplessly scrutinized Hiccup from top to bottom, observing his strange clothes, his braided hair and his prosthesis. It could not be of the southern nobility or at least it appeared. It seemed impossible to her that this young man could be a kind of duke or prince, much less Elsa's husband, when the queen had always been of refined tastes and iron manners. She had heard upon arrival that there were Vikings in the castle, as they had joined the war. However, this boy didn't look like a Viking either.
"By the way, I'm Hiccup," he said, extending his hand in greeting.
The woman stood for a moment pondering whether or not it was appropriate to accept his hand, since he was supposed to be the king, although she ultimately accepted the offer.
"I am Lena, I am very pleased to meet you, Your Majesty," she said with a slight formal bow as she shook his hand.
"You're welcome," Hiccup replied politely. "Look, I can't promise you anything, but I'll talk to Elsa and we'll see if anything can be done. I'm not going to let your friend die if I have a chance."
"Thank you very much, I hope she hears you."
"Elsa is a good person, I'm sure she will."
Hiccup didn't delay any longer and left in search of Elsa, leaving Lena in that corridor, waiting for the priest and the colonel to finish giving her the last sacrament and leave before it was too late. She didn't want to leave her alone in his last moments, she needed to say goodbye.
The worst thing is that selfishly she didn't want to be alone in that castle either. People around her looked at her with judicious eyes and trick tongues, skinning her behind her and spitting at her feet when they saw her pass. She was not to blame for most of these women's husbands being unfaithful, nor was she to blame for her damn luck. All she wanted was to disappear from those lands and go to a place where no one knew her, to start from scratch.
The Viking took longer than he thought to cross the entire castle until he reached Elsa's room, as the people seemed upset and disturbed by the idea that there were survivors outside the dome. Now they all lived with the general discomfort of thinking that they abandoned their loved ones, leaving them to die on the other side of the dome, waiting for help that came very late. Without a doubt the easiest thing was to blame the queen and her decision not to open the dome until then, which Hiccup felt was a very selfish means of abdicating responsibility, as they had all lived under the same fear as her.
"Elsa?" The Viking knocked on her door, to no avail. "Elsa? It's me, Hiccup?"
But the result was the same. He hesitated without entering or not, but since he had nothing to lose he ventured to open the door. To her surprise Elsa was lying on the bed, covered only by a small maroon shawl, curled up.
"Elsa, are you okay?" He asked, approaching her.
The girl seemed to react upon hearing his voice, straightening slightly.
"I'm fine," she replied. "What do you need?"
Hiccup slowly approached the bed, not knowing whether to stay there or to approach the girl, who had sat on the bunk with her back to him, with her crooked braid and her nightgown misplaced.
"I need to talk to you," he tried to be clear, realizing that all his anger towards her had disappeared when he saw that Elsa was indeed not feeling well.
"I hear you," she replied softly, turning slightly toward him.
"You see…"
Hiccup didn't know why, but suddenly he didn't know how to speak to Elsa, as if all the barriers they had broken the previous days had grown between them again.
"There… I've been… The cooks told me this morning about the survivors you found yesterday," he got down to business.
"I'm sorry you found out like that," she replied apologetically. "I should have let you know yesterday."
"No worries," he said in understanding. "Anyway, I looked in on one of the patients this morning and honestly, if we don't do something I don't think she will survive."
Elsa seemed to come out of her trance halfway.
"Do something? What do you mean?"
Hiccup couldn't bear to beat around the bush anymore, so he went to Elsa and stood in front of her.
"Elsa, this morning one of the boys you brought yesterday died," he explained. "And the young girl has a completely infected leg, and if we don't amputate it, she will die too."
Elsa, despite having the boy in front of her, could not change her abstracted gaze. You only had to look her in the eye to know that she had been crying all night.
"You can't do that to her, Hiccup," she said. "All you're going to do is kill her."
The Viking didn't expect that answer.
"Elsa, that girl will die anyway if we do nothing."
"I'm sorry Hiccup, but it's too late, besides…"
"Elsa," he interrupted her, angrily, "we don't know if it's still late, we have nothing to lose."
"Hiccup, you can't assure that she'll survive an amputation."
"She won't survive anyway if we sit idly by."
As though the words were a signal, Elsa seemed to finally wake up from that strange reverie, standing up in front of the Viking and somehow letting go of everything she had been holding back.
"And what do you expect us to do? What… what right do we have? Do you think she will want that life? Waking up and discovering she's a cripple? No one will want to marry her in that state and it will be a burden on her family, if she has one, because otherwise her destiny will be a thousand times worse. We have no right to decide that for her, Hiccup. I'm not going to destroy that poor little girl's life, nor am I going to make her suffer in agony in her last hours, watching her bleed to death on a dirty bed. Unfortunately it is too late. We are too late."
Elsa waited patiently for Hiccup to reproach him for something, but Hiccup fell silent next to him. The girl swallowed, calming down a bit and realizing that perhaps she had gone over the forms. She had not recognized herself in her words.
"Hiccup…" she said when she saw the boy leave. Wait, where are you going?
Elsa chased Hiccup to the door of the room.
"I'm leaving," he said bluntly. "I have nothing more to talk about."
"Hiccup, wait," Elsa repeated, feeling terribly sorry for her words.
No doubt the boy had taken them personally and she didn't blame him. How could he not feel that way?
Elsa didn't want him to think that she felt that way about his injury, she just didn't want to destroy more lives and she knew how hard that girl's life could be if they did it that way. Hiccup after all was a Viking, a man and someone with a name behind it. He couldn't compare his situation with that of a young girl who Elsa knew also worked in the brothel. Surely life would be terribly cruel to her and she was not about to condemn her. Also, Elsa knew that the infection was already all over her body, but she honestly didn't know how to tell Hiccup anymore.
"Hiccup please… let me explain."
"Elsa," he said, stopping cold, very serious. "I think you've already made your position and your opinion about cripples very clear to me, so I think we have nothing more to talk about."
"Hiccup, I promise you I didn't mean that, you didn't understand-"
"I understood you perfectly Elsa," said the boy. "That girl will die calmly in her bed. At least you should let her friend go with her before she leaves Midgard, since the priest apparently won't let her pass just because she's a prostitute."
"Have you met Lena?" She asked in a thin voice, struggling to hold back the tears.
"Yes…" Hiccup answered strangely, since it seemed strange that Elsa could meet the girl. "And she already warned me of your answer."
That last one broke Elsa's heart, losing air for a second as she watched Hiccup leave the hall.
From that moment Hiccup and Elsa didn't speak to each other again for days.
That morning Elsa locked herself in her room throughout the day and Hiccup had to endure another fight with his father, because due to all the hustle and bustle he had forgotten his turn of vigilance, earning different reproaches on his lack of maturity and the pressing need that he begin to take his responsibilities seriously.
In the afternoon Hiccup returned to his work as a smith along with Anna and Kristoff, who brought several blacksmiths from the kingdom with them to help. That night Hiccup had to cover his father's surveillance shift, so he spent the whole night flying, thanking the cold air to clarify his ideas. He couldn't understand how things could have gone so wrong with the queen, and again the idea came to him that he was linked to that woman for life, feeling hopelessly strong pressure on his chest.
When he landed with Toothless in the castle it was barely dawn. The cooks themselves gave her the bad news as soon as they arrived. The girl had unfortunately died that night. At least he was surprised to hear among her complaints that Lena had been allowed into the room, even when the priest announced that she was already at the gates of heaven.
The Viking went to bed defeated, unable to get rid of the idea that they could have done something. The worst thing is that he could not blame Elsa, he already suffered in his own flesh what being a cripple entailed, but during the night he had given the queen's words a lot of thought and the truth is that he could not compare his situation with the girl's. He keeps repeating Elsa's words: 'you have a name' in his head, wondering what would have happened if he were not the son of the Stoick or didn't have his dragon, if he were simply that boy he once was.
Elsa, for her part, had been locked up all day and all night, thinking about the poor girl, all the lost survivors, Lena and Hiccup. She cried like she hadn't cried for years, until she had no more tears. It was then that she got out of bed and decided that she was not going to stand there and do nothing. The maids informed him of the girl's death and that, as she ordered, they had let Lena accompany her until her last hours.
Elsa owed her that much, for all the damage she had done to her in the past.
That day Elsa went out with her soldiers and the Vikings to rebuild Arendelle, starting by cleaning all the rubble. They also cut and sanded wood, preparing the new foundations for Arendelle. Elsa helped in any way she could with her powers, helping to create stable structures and repairing everything in her hand. At times she noticed how she was short of breath and had to bend slightly, reminding herself that she was not yet fully recovered. However, she didn't allow herself to falter before her people, who work haughtily and collectively to recover what they once had. Elsa covered her skin again with fabric, to avoid being seen hurt, since she thought it was the best way to motivate people. If they thought she was already fully recovered, everyone would feel more secure.
It wasn't until three days later that she and Hiccup crossed paths, where they met for a brief moment in the large dining room, since the boy was sitting with Anna and Kristoff. However, when he saw her, he excused himself that he had to speak to Gobber and left. Only Anna seemed to realize that they were avoiding each other, but she said nothing because her sister already had enough of her own.
It was that same night when Elsa decided that the situation could not continue like this with the Viking. After all, they were married and both were supposed to be the link between their tribes. They could not keep simply not talking. For this reason she stood at the door of her room, ready to apologize. However, moments before calling, a guard hurried up the stairs.
"My queen," he gasped.
"What happened?"
"They just sighted dragons, my lady."
That idea shook her, fearing the worst. It didn't take a knock on Hiccup's door for the boy to get out.
"What happened?" he said when he saw the queen and the guard in the hall.
"Dragons have been sighted, my lord."
Hiccup shot a worried look at Elsa, who responded in the same way.
Both went down as fast as they could to the garden, where a large number of people were already concentrated.
"Is it Drago?" Elsa asked, looking up fearfully at the sky and trying to scrutinize something in the middle of the night.
Hiccup felt his heart stop.
"No, it's not Drago." He pulled her out of her fear. "It's the other Riders."