Stoick declared the meeting over as soon as he stood. Hiccup knew the other leaders wished an explanation for all they saw at the volcano, but thankfully Stoick stated such discussions could be done the next day after everyone had a chance to rest. Hiccup was grateful his father, Henrik, and Ingvar blocked Dagur, who seemed ready to defy Stoick's declaration. Hiccup took the chance to escape the Great Hall before the other two leaders, or any of their generals or heirs, tried to stop him.

Once outside, Hiccup took a moment to breath and glance around the village. He smiled. Astrid, Gyda, Shadowfire, and Melodia stood at the base of the Great Hall steps. They conversed with Magnus and the red-scaled Gronckle who were paired with Sven and the Nadder and assigned to guard the Great Hall while the meeting happened.

Hiccup felt Toothless nudge him and knew he had stood too long staring down at his queen. He could not help it. The flickering light from the lamppost at the base of the stairs caused a playful mix of firelight and shadows to dance across Astrid's face. Hiccup could not look away, not even to remember how to walk. She took his hand when he finally managed to get his feet moving and he reached her. The humans and dragons around them all snorted. He found he could not acknowledge them or recall what he wanted to tell Magnus and his partner. He barely heard Toothless chortle a heartbeat before the dragon spoke.

[Dad Stoick still has the other human nest leaders with him in the Great Cave. Once it's cleared another guard flock will relieve you. Our alpha thanks you both but he's lost to us right now, so I have to relay the message.]

"Good woman be makin' deir man lost like dat fer years, Toothless."

Hiccup snorted as everyone snickered. He sent his brother a glare, receiving a playful smirk in return. Toothless then warbled.

[Come, dear brother, or we'll be here when those humans leave the cave.]

That got Hiccup moving. He had no time to spend with Astrid while on the trip, not like he wanted to. He would not let this chance go to waste. Besides, he had something he needed to discuss with her. He could not do that if the tribe leaders found them just outside the Great Hall.

"Where's Stormfly?" Hiccup asked as they started walking towards Astrid's hut.

He had noted the Nadder's absence even with his inability to look away from his queen.

"In the cove," Astrid said. "She and the others took their fledglings to the cave there."

Hiccup sighed in relief. "We got back in time," he murmured. "Good."

Hatchlings, their bodies unable to handle the strain of their respective species' breath attacks, hatched without the ability. The magic in them did not manifest until they reached the fledgling stage. The Elders, over the week they stayed in the Great Hall after finding Sven's sheep, warned such would happen as the nest welcomed the future.

Everyone in Berk had been waiting, excited for the young of the nest to grow. Hiccup had been keenly waiting. The fledglings' magic awakening meant all he had lived through had been worth it. They did not have to learn their control while under the rule of a tyrant. They did not have to worry their leader would be in a foul mood and thus demand complete silence. They did not have to worry their leader would eat anyone who broke that order, even if the fledgling in question had no ability to stop their magic from awakening and shooting their fireball across the lave pit.

The Ice Trio, being the oldest of the fledglings in the nest, had been the first. The dragons who went to the Hatchery used their awakening to gauge when their own fledglings would go through the same milestone. Hiccup was grateful they got back in time so the dragons bonded to the Riders could be with their fledglings since the parents had to teach the young dragons control over their attacks. He had worried over that, even though he knew the trip had to happen.

The dragons had asked Hiccup if they could use the cave at the cove. The dragons living in the village did not want their fledgling to accidently harm a nest-mate or destroy one of the human's huts. The dragons living on the main island did not want to destroy the nest. Both sets of parents did not want the visiting Vikings to know how vulnerable dragon young were. Something Hiccup, his father, and all who held a leadership role in the tribe agreed with. Hiccup had quickly given permission provided the Fireworms who claimed the cave system behind the cove as their territory did not mind. Evergreen happily agreed as Dimglow, Solarglare, and the others who hatched with them would be learning as well.

Hiccup frowned, looking at Toothless. "Do I have to be there?" he asked.

He knew as alpha he had ceremonies he had to oversee, beyond mate-hood ones. Obsidian, Moondust's old alpha, and the Changewing king had taught him that. Sadly, while under that false queen's control those ceremonies had not been allowed to be properly done. The Red Death demanded only food and never once executed the duties of a nest leader. Hiccup vowed to always preform his duties now that he accepted his role as the dragons' alpha.

[Only when they successfully gain control,] Toothless said. [For now, it's too dangerous for anyone other than their parents and the select guards I assigned to be there.]

Hiccup nodded and turned back in time to see a frown cross his queen's face.

"What?" he asked.

"I told our visitors they could take their fledglings to the cave as well."

Hiccup's eyebrow lifted. "Why do you sound worried? You're queen of the nest. It's your right to allow such."

Astrid snorted. "Future queen, Hiccup. We're not married yet and I should have cleared it with you before giving permission. The cove is sacred to you. No one but you has the right to let any dragon use it."

Hiccup stopped walking, prompting all who were with him to do so as well. He glanced over his shoulder at Gyda. She smiled and began fiddling with Shadowfire's saddle straps. Melodia lowered her head next to the mage and Gyda began speaking to her in low tones. Shadowfire lowered his head, blocking Hiccup and Astrid from the sight of anyone in the village, while Toothless and Sharpshot, who sat on Toothless' saddle, kept their other side guarded. Hiccup gently turned Astrid so she faced him fully. He reached up, cupping her cheeks and took a heartbeat to breathe, gathering his thoughts.

"The cove is a place I love," he whispered, "but the dragons are ours to lead and ours to guide, Astrid. The visitors to our nest included as we are responsible for them until their queen returns. If they need the cove, let them use it. And you have every right to let a dragon go there, or anywhere in the nest."

"Hiccup-"

"No, Astrid. Married or not, you are the queen of this nest. You are my queen." He paused, sighing. "Snorre offered his youngest daughter to Dad as a bride for me."

He felt Astrid tense. It was one thing to know a chief would seek a marriage alliance. It was another thing to face the issue and have the chief actually go through with it.

"Dad refused. He told Snorre I was promised to you. Snorre said his daughter would be my first wife while you would be my second." Hiccup's eyes narrowed. "I wanted to stand, to confront him. I wanted to throw him off the cliffs." Hiccup sighed. "I had to let Dad handle it because he offered her to Dad for me. I had to let Dad tell him I will take no other wives and that we refused his offer." He paused again. His hand slid from Astrid's cheeks as he gathered her close. They had to be chaperoned, but that did not mean he wished for their chaperones to hear his next words. They were for Astrid alone. "We are sixteen now," he whispered, his lips resting at her ear.

If they had already been married, he could have answered Snorre because the Thunderhead chief would have had to offer his daughter to Hiccup and not to Stoick. A marriage was one way to mark a young Viking becoming an adult. Parents could not dictate or speak for their children when they became an adult. Hiccup knew his three-part soul would have confronted Snorre had he been able. Astrid, and only Astrid, was his queen. No one else would ever compare.

Astrid jerked. For a moment Hiccup worried he had offended her in some way and then her arms enclosed him and yanked him closer. Her lips found his ear. Her voice breathed into his mind and his soul.

"Yes."