Hiccup stayed awake the entire night knowing he would regret it in the morning, but he just couldn't stop thinking. Today had definitely been one of the most confusing days he had ever had the misfortune to live through, what with the dragons being in perfect health and the princess of Briral appearing out of nowhere. And if that wasn't enough, said princess also expected him to become an ally with her.

And that was keeping the prince awake. He tried to make some sense of the situation, but the problem was that there was little to no sense in it. How could one encounter in the night and one action on the battlefield convince Princess Astrid so much that she would risk everything – her life, her kingdom's future – to come and talk to him? The way she had spoken about the matter implied that she was positive he would want to take part in her shot-out-of-the-blue plan.

What made things worse was that no matter how hard Hiccup tried to deny it, everything Astrid had told him had been exactly what he had thought about some time ago. But that was way back when Briral hadn't yet stolen the majority of their dragons. After that incident, he had been convinced that that pitiful excuse of a kingdom would never be anything but an enemy to Berk and he never gave any thought for it since, but now that thought had been brought back into his mind, stronger than ever.

Hiccup used to feel nothing but hatred and disgust towards Briral, but now there was also a pinch of confusion and curiosity. Enemies didn't just take your dragons and treat them as their own. So was this Briral's way – a rather questionable one if he might add – of showing that they wanted to bring about peace? If so, why not meet face-to-face with Stoick?

The prince wasn't big on this night. He was aware that he was a person with a busy mind, but it had never been this busy. There were too many questions and he didn't know the answer to any of them. He also knew this was the second night he lost his sleep because of Astrid and he hated to admit that.

He went through the conversation with the princess over and over again in his head and tried to recall any sign that would imply she had been fooling him around and this was just some trick of hers to get herself out of the bad situation. But he couldn't tell which of the small details had actually been there and how many he had just added to fill the missing bits in the picture in his mind's eyes, so it really was no use. Hiccup could've given pretty much anything to have his mind focus on something less important like one of the feasts his father had thrown for him the other day.

After coming to the conclusion that he wouldn't be sleeping at all that night, he got up and got dressed into the clothes he had been wearing during the daytime. He wanted to talk to someone about everything that had happened, and the only person he could think of for this purpose was Fishlegs. His friend was a very good listener and he always gave the prince good advice, which was something he felt he needed. Before he exited, he quickly grabbed his dark blue cloak and put it on. Hiccup opened his bedroom door and was instantly greeted by two guards that had been ordered to stay by the door; the king didn't want to risk anything now that their enemy was within their kingdom grounds, however imprisoned she was.

"Your Highness," one of them breathed out, clearly surprised to see Hiccup awake. "Why are you still dressed?"

There wasn't much light around, just a few torches here and there, but the prince could still see how tired the guards were. They were probably thankful that he was there keeping them awake right now.

Hiccup didn't answer the guard's question. "I will go out for a walk for a bit. I need some fresh air."

"But Sir, is it wise? It might be dangerous outside this time of the day."

"I don't see why it would be any more dangerous now than it would be some other time of the day."

He didn't have any intention to stick around longer, so he just walked past the guards and ignored whatever they were shouting after him. Hiccup was sure there was no enemies outside, a blind man could've seen how authentic Astrid's reaction was when she had been sent to the cells. And that was another thing he could not wrap his head around – a princess should definitely know what the customs are, a non-citizen was considered an intruder if there was no good reason behind their visit, and a Briralian had to have a damn good reason for a visit for them to not be locked up in the dungeons.

It was hard to navigate through the market and the stalls when there was no light around. He didn't have to come up with any excuses as long as he didn't stumble upon the king himself, but he still felt like it was for the best if he could pay his visit unnoticed, so he wasn't carrying a light source with him. He walked near the walls of the houses, avoiding the road.

He loved sneaking out, it filled his body with such excitement he didn't get anywhere else. He had sneaked out so many times in his life that by now he could do it effortlessly and if one didn't know to look, they wouldn't even suspect there was someone lurking in the shadows. Most of the time he did it because he wanted to spend some more time with his own dragon. There were so many duties, places to be and things to do on a daily basis that the time he could spend with the Night Fury was almost non-existent. It was also a great way to clear his mind. But Toothless had been injured in the battle and they would have to wait at least a couple more days until the wounds would heal, which was why he couldn't hop on the dragon and fly off. Given the state his mind was in, he should've probably been thankful that flying was out of question for him – he didn't think it impossible that he would've flown off the edge of the world in his attempt to flee from his thoughts.

The prince was soon near Fishlegs' home. The hut was probably the best-looking building in the village, mostly because Hiccup had made sure there were enough supplies for Fishlegs to rebuild it whenever there was a need for that. He knocked on the door thrice with a thud and waited. It wasn't long until his friend opened the door, and once he did, a smile spread across Fishlegs' face.

Hiccup knew instantly why he was smiling and groaned: "Please, don't tell me you were expecting me to show up tonight."

"That I did," Fishlegs responded, clearly pleased with himself. "Too many things happened today for your mind not to be crowded because of them. Come in."

Hiccup did as told and stepped into his friend's home. There wasn't much to look at inside, there was just a small table surrounded by a few chairs, a fireplace and a bed. The prince wondered how anyone could ever live in a place like this for longer than a day.

He raised his gaze from the furniture and saw Fishlegs offer him bread in a basket, but he refused it with his hand. He couldn't even think about eating when his mind was storming like this.

"So, what's on your mind?" Fishlegs asked casually as he sat down on one of the chairs. He studied Hiccup carefully as he started pacing.

"Everything. The dragons, Astrid, my father, Berk's future. Everything. I visited her in the cells earlier."

"Are you kidding me? Why did you do that?"

"By her request. And I don't even know if visiting her was a wise move. She made me think."

"About what?"

"Everything. The worst part is that I have no idea if she was being serious or if she is just planning an escape and thought this to be the most effective way to get away."

"What did she tell you?" Fishlegs asked, shifting his position on the chair.

Hiccup told him everything. It felt somehow relieving to say the things out loud, as if they were a secret he had kept in for much too long. However, he selectively left out the part where Astrid had expected Hiccup to help her escape; for reasons unknown to him, he felt like that was something he should figure out by himself. The prince also knew what his friend would tell him; just do what you think is right. But that was the thing – he had no idea what he thought was right. Every solution seemed as bad as the others.

Fishlegs was a great audience, he didn't interrupt the prince but he nodded occasionally to let him know he was still following. His expression changed from confused to interested to disbelieving and back to confused, and when Hiccup finished, he just stared at him for a moment with his mouth shaped into an O.

"Wow. That's a lot to take in," he finally commented. "What do you think of it?"

"I don't know. Do you think she's lying?"

"Well, that dragon did a magical recovery, it shouldn't be possible to happen. And she risked a lot coming here, I don't see why she would come here to tell you tales."

"That's what she said as well. But if she has bonded with her dragon, why did she follow the rest and didn't stay? If someone were trying to take Toothless like that, he would fight with all he's got."

"We can only guess. Perhaps their bond isn't that strong, or the dragon is in love with one of our own."

"Ha, ha, so funny, Fishlegs," Hiccup deadpanned. He stopped pacing and looked over his shoulder at his friend with a bored look.

"I wasn't trying to be funny," Fishlegs responded. "It's a possibility."

Hiccup's brows drew together in thought and he tapped his forehead repeatedly with his index finger. "But she came alone, how does that make sense? Don't you think it's going to be a problem when Briral notices their princess has disappeared like dust in the air?"

Fishlegs thought about it for a moment before he replied: "I don't know… but our theories are only guesswork. We don't know what has happened in Briral before she left, she might have done something to make them not look for her, or she might have not done anything and there will be Briralians on us very soon because it's likely they're going to suspect Berk for her disappearance."

The prince sighed for no particular reason. He leaned against the closest wall and thought hard. There was truth in what Fishlegs said. The uncertainty of what she did or didn't do before she left for Berk was distressing because that would determine what kind of a turn the events of the next few days would take. When he glanced at Fishlegs, he seemed to be deep in his thoughts as well, staring at his own feet. Hiccup could only guess his friend was pondering everything he had just told him.

"You know what frustrates me about this situation?" Hiccup said before he could stop himself. He had no intention to speak and yet that was exactly what he was doing. Fishlegs' head snapped back up from the floor and the prince could see genuine interest spread across his friend's face. He nodded to encourage him to keep going. And so he did. "The fact that everything she said, about peace and all that stuff, is precisely what I've been thinking of. But I forgot about those ridiculous plans a long time ago, and now she made me reconsider them all over again as if there was a choice for me to make. Nothing like that could ever happen when we rule, and if it did my father would probably rise from the dead from the mere shock it'd cause him. All of this is pointless and I still can't stop thinking about it."

"But as she said, it couldn't happen when your fathers are in charge. No one's going to tell you what to do when you are King."

Hiccup frowned at Fishlegs. Stoick was one of the greatest kings Berk had ever seen and meddling with what he had built during his reign would be highly questioned, no matter if it was the traditions or a never-ending animosity that no one remembered the real reason for. But he had sworn to himself that when he was in charge, he would change some customs, and a few times his mind had been occupied by a wild thought that he could take a few steps towards peace.

His mind travelled back to the battlefield and women and children's screams. Were the lives of innocent people so worthless to him that even for them he wouldn't be willing to swallow the hundreds of years of pride that prevented Berk from making peace with Briral? Even if there was no bloodshed, axes, dragon attacks or death, it didn't mean they were instantly the closest allies. There were plenty of kingdoms Berk was in peace with but they had heard no word from in years.

"What do you think?" Hiccup asked Fishlegs after a very long silence.

"As strange as the situation is, I don't believe the princess of Briral is risking her life for jokes, so there must be some truth to what she said. There are still too many holes in this, but I don't think you'll be able to fill them unless you go visit her again. Talking to her is the only way to make some sense of this all. At least that's the way I see it." Hiccup looked at his friend and bit his inner lip. "Of course I can't be sure what's going to happen, but I think you shouldn't waste this opportunity," Fishlegs continued and stood up.

The prince knew his friend was right. He was thankful he didn't announce his intentions of never going near the cells when Astrid was within the earshot – he didn't want her to get an idea that Hiccup thought she was special, or irresistible. Which she was not.

"I just don't know how much time I have. Knowing my dad, he has already decided that she is to be hanged after he has tried to get information out of her. I still am not sure what's the right thing to do, but I guess you're right about me having to go see her one last time," Hiccup said and looked outside. The sun was rising and the realisation that he had literally been awake the entire night made him gape at the window. Fighting practice was going to be lots of fun this morning. "I think I must leave. See you in a few hours on the training grounds."

"See you," Fishlegs said and looked at Hiccup's back before he walked towards his bed, or at least that was what that pile of planks looked like to the prince.

When Hiccup was almost out, he peeked from the door and looked at his friends and a crooked smile spread across his face. "One more question – how much does the fact that you hate going into war have to do with you persuading me to talk to her?"

All he could hear was just Fishlegs' laugh as he closed the door and walked to the castle as fast as he could.

The morning was just as fun as the prince had anticipated. His fighting practice had gone horribly wrong from every possible aspect. Even though they used dull swords when practising, he had still managed to injure his arm and he had been advised to visit Gothi. Hiccup didn't consider it a very urgent task at that moment, so he decided he would go when he actually had time which, at this rate, would never happen. He could just feel this was going to be one of those days when he would need to go frantically around the kingdom fulfilling his duties, and his exhaustion wouldn't be any help there. He surely knew how to pick the nights he lost his sleep over something stupid.

He hadn't forgotten about his plans to go see Princess Astrid today. For that to happen, he had to talk to his father to find out what he had planned for her although Hiccup already knew what it was going to be. Death. It was just how Stoick wanted it to happen that mattered there – the slower the preparation process, the more time he would have to talk to the princess.

He knew where to look for his father. It seemed like the Throne Room was the only part of the castle the king cared about as he spent all his time there, unless there was something in the Great Hall he was to see to. Hiccup's footsteps echoed in the empty corridor as he walked towards his destination. On the way, he tried his best to get the tiredness out of his face by giving himself small slaps on his cheeks. He was grateful no one was around to see that as he would definitely earn some strange looks in his direction.

Once he was in the Throne Room, he saw his father smiling broadly at him. Hiccup didn't need to think twice why Stoick was in such great spirits – he himself would've probably been like that too if the cause of his father's happiness hadn't messed around with his head last night.

"My son, isn't it a wonderful morning?" Stoick said happily. The prince could hear a hint of victory in the king's voice too.

"It certainly has its own charm…" he responded trying to mimic his father's emotions.

"Your timing is perfect."

"It.. is?"

"You get to decide what we are going to do with the princess. What do you think is the best way to benefit from her?"

"Uh… Father, do I really have to be the one to decide?" Hiccup asked hesitantly. "I thought this would be something you'd love to do."

Stoick rubbed his hands together as if he was in for a treat. "Well, if you want to hear my thoughts on this; I was thinking about putting a price on her. Does half of Briral sound reasonable to you? Their beloved princess for some land."

Hiccup considered his response for a few seconds. "Briral is half a day ride from Berk, what on earth would we do with land that far away?" Hiccup questioned while rubbing his chin. "Besides, I don't think it's wise to inform them she is here. You saw her yesterday, there was no pretence in her eyes when she told us she acted alone. And there is proof of that, the patrol didn't find anything."

The king rubbed his beard thoughtfully and stared at the closed doors that led out of the Throne Room. It was then when it hit him. If Princess Astrid were to die here, the king of Briral would be beyond furious. There was no doubt that there would be another battle, and he had a feeling that it would be nothing like they had seen yet. And the prince didn't want that. He didn't want to bring more misery upon their people. Once again, the images of those citizens of Briral running for their lives flashed before his eyes and he pictured those screams and cries within Berk's walls. If he could delay, or even avoid, another battle, he would have to seize the opportunity. Their people had done nothing wrong and they were always the ones to suffer the most.

He couldn't let Astrid die in their hands, at least not this way. The princess had surely considered this since she had been so confident about Hiccup helping her escape.

"I know that you will eventually see reason and you will help me escape."

How was this girl five steps ahead of him? Hiccup had literally no choice but to help her flee. And to take away every evidence that she ever was held a prisoner in Berk, he would have to let her take the dragon she claimed to be hers whether it was true or not.

Just as he thought this day wouldn't be any more fun than it already was. The Gods hated him.

"You said you'd let me decide?" Hiccup asked nervously. Stoick stopped rubbing his beard and looked at his son excitedly. Fortunately his father had completely missed the inner storm that had been very clearly written on the prince's face just a couple seconds ago. Hiccup needed to think of something and quick. "I want, err… the best executioner you know to end her days. On a guillotine."

"But it'll take at least a day for him to come here," Stoick said disbelievingly, clearly not pleased by the prince's choice.

"Exactly!" Hiccup said triumphantly as if he had just hit the jackpot. "We will let her know how brutally she's going to die and ferment her fear even more. Isn't that just perfect? Nothing would bring me more joy than seeing the distress on her face!" He wished he didn't sound too desperate or too obvious – he had never in his life been happy about killing anybody and Stoick was aware of that. He was just so relieved that he had figured something out so fast and the words were just bubbling out of his mouth with no filter.

The king seemed to be taken aback by the sudden change in Hiccup's mood, but he soon brushed that look off his face and replaced it with a smile. "Well, you certainly seem eager about this. Have it your way, Son, make sure the invitation will be delivered to the executioner immediately."

The prince almost ran into the corridor once Stoick dismissed him. He would have time until the evening to come up with an escape plan for Princess Astrid and the dragon. He just hoped nothing would go wrong as he was also risking a lot by giving their enemy a helping hand.

How would banishment from his own kingdom sound like?
Just add that to the pile of horrors that were waiting for him if he failed.

How did you like this chapter? Please let me know, your comments and reviews are highly appreciated by me, I read all of them with a big, goofy smile on my face :)