This chapter is from Astrid's POV!

Enjoy!

Returning to Briral was always a great challenge for Astrid. She couldn't just fly in like the knights or any other men could, and she had to choose her route very carefully so she wouldn't be noticed by anyone else but Heather, her only friend in this god-forsaken kingdom.

What added more challenge to her mission was the stables. Just like she couldn't just fly in, she couldn't just walk in and leave Stormfly for some stable worker to take care of. She wasn't supposed to be out so early in the morning, let alone be with her dragon or in her flying armour that her mother had a very strong and negative opinion about. Being seen would only cause her trouble and the king would most likely lock her in her room until it was time for her to become Queen.

Astrid had seen the army on her way to Briral. She hadn't meant to fly so close to them, but she still wasn't very familiar with area that far away from their borders, so she hadn't known she had been about to cross the path that their army always took. Fortunately she had managed to hide herself before anybody could spot some movement on their right-hand side, so she was fairly positive that she had remained unseen. Even though she passed the army quite soon after that, she wanted to avoid the risk of being seen, so she retreated to the safety of the forest and continued her journey near the ground level.

And that was why it had taken her much longer to reach Briral and that was why she found it very difficult to sneak Stormfly back to the stables without anybody seeing her – the stables were crowded at this time of the morning. Astrid was sure that nobody had noticed the absence of Stormfly as most of their dragons were gone anyway, but that didn't mean there wasn't any work to do at the stables. In fact, if this time was anything like the previous ones, her father, King Eirik, had ordered them to work extra hard because the stables needed to be clean and safe for any wounded dragons to heal in.

However, her attempt to remain unseen was a lost cause, for the moment she was close to the stables, she was spotted by one of the stable workers whose name Astrid couldn't remember. She did recognise the face though, and a clear confusion was written all over it.

"My Lady?" he began unsurely. "Is everything alright?"

Astrid faked a smile as she walked towards him. "Everything is perfectly fine, thank you."

"Why are you with your dragon? It's not your flying day."

"It is," she said, using that calm tone her mother had so persistently taught her along the years. The calmness didn't reflect the emotions swelling within her however – she was feeling everything but calm.

"Did the king really–"

"Why don't you go and ask the king yourself? He will be very happy to hear you doubt her daughter," Astrid snapped and came to a halt next to the large, muscular man that was at least three inches taller than her.

She knew she was playing with fire. If the man next to her decided to go see the king about the matter, she would be in a lot of trouble. She would no doubt be banned from ever flying Stormfly again, and she could no longer go anywhere without at least one guard accompanying her.

To her luck, the man seemed to have realised that Eirik wouldn't be happy to hear that a common stable worker was questioning the princess' words, so he just simply nodded and bowed ever so slightly when Astrid walked past him with Stormfly. The man rushed to open the doors for her and she was greeted by a very busy sight. Everyone was working frantically and nobody took a second glance at the princess, which she was very pleased about. Astrid quickly put Stormfly in her stall and took the saddle off. She had become so used to doing it after so many sneak-outs over the years that taking it off took no time at all. She left it on the wooden saddle stand that was situated in front of her dragon's stall so that her servant could take care of it later.

After a rushed good-bye to Stormfly, she speeded out of the stables and ran across the kingdom grounds, trying to avoid the Briralians that were roaming on the streets. She took a very long route to reach the castle, and after what felt forever she was finally by the small window to her chambers. That window was facing the back of the kingdom, a part rarely anybody used or visited. It had proved to be Astrid's only way to get out of her chambers without someone noticing, for her door was always guarded and meanwhile they never said anything when she passed them, she was sure they'd report it back to her father.

She really could trust nobody in her own kingdom.

She had found a big, strong rope a couple years ago that she had tied to a stone pillar that was close to the window and now it was hanging outside of it, granting her an entrance to her room. Since her chambers were on the second floor, the distance between the ground and the window wasn't huge so she could climb without any difficulties, thanks to the bricks that had been unevenly laid on the castle wall, providing small steps for her.

Once she was on the window level, she placed her hands on the windowsill and pushed herself up. She sat on the sill and swung her legs to the other side, scanning the surrounding kingdom grounds for any possible eye-witnesses. With a jump, she entered her chambers fully and was instantly greeted by her servant who was watching her with a bored expression. Astrid quickly pulled the rope inside and closed the window, after which she turned around to face the girl that was holding her breakfast tray.

"Hi," the princess said simply and walked towards her servant.

"Hi," the servant responded. Her voice had a similar colour as her facial expression, which wasn't unusual behaviour from her. "Had fun?"

That made Astrid smile immensely. The girl had no idea how wonderful last night had been. Just thinking about it made the princess feel indescribable warmth within her "More than fun, but I will save you from the details, I don't suppose it's a very thrilling tale when it's experienced through words."

"If you say so," she responded, failing to hide the slight disappointment in her voice. "I'll put your breakfast on the table over there," she continued and walked to the small bedside table and placed the tray on it.

"Thank you," Astrid said.

Her servant helped her take the flight suit off. They were silent as always; the chamber was only filled with the sounds of the metal pieces of the armour as they clashed together or touched the wooden bench that the girl was placing the pieces on.

Astrid never shared anything private with her servant because she had always seen her as someone of lower value. That made her think back to the conversation she had had with Hiccup in the woods, and the sting of envy she had felt – he was so brave for going against his father like that. Hiccup and Fishlegs must have gotten really good at hiding their friendship if it had remained a secret all those years.

The thought of Fishlegs' name reminded her of something.

"Hi!" she blurted out as if it was the first time she saw her servant today.

The girl stopped untying the wrappings around the princess' arms and looked up at her slowly. "Hi?" she said in a confused voice.

"I've just realised something. I haven't caught your name," Astrid explained and watched the confusion draw deeper into the girl's features.

There was a pause before she answered. "Ruffnut. My name's Ruffnut Thorston."

"Ruffnut," Astrid repeated and Ruffnut nodded. The princess repeated the name a couple more times under her breath before she rushed towards her drawers.

"Uhm…My Lady, what are you doing?" Ruffnut asked alarmed.

"I need to write it down so that I won't ever forget it," the princess said and rummaged through the drawers. The half-untied leather wrappings on her arms kept on getting in the way and she had to constantly swat her arm to the side to move them out of the way.

She finally found a small piece of parchment and an ink bottle. She quickly dipped the quill into the ink and spelt her name down. She startled when she heard a cough behind her.

"It's R-U-F-F, not rough, My Lady" her servant corrected over her shoulder.

"Oh!" Astrid crossed out the name and wrote it down with the correct spelling. "There, now I shall never forget it."

"Great…" Ruffnut responded, still clearly unsure how she was supposed to react.

They got back to taking off the flying suit. The princess kept on asking all sorts of questions from Ruffnut that were mostly related to her family. Astrid soon found out that she had a twin brother who was working at the tavern in the village. She also found out that their family was very poor and the princess didn't know how to respond to that. Nobody had ever straight up told her about their poverty, but then again this was the first time anybody had a chance to do so.

"Is there anyone special in your life?" the princess asked suggestively, expecting to earn an embarrassed smile from Ruffnut.

However, her expression remained blank and it didn't seem like Astrid's question arose any joy within her. "No," she only said.

"Well, have you ever liked someone more than you probably should?" Astrid asked, impressed by how casual she managed to sound. "Like, you noticed that you feel something that's not supposed to be there and you can't just ignore it."

She was aware that she probably shouldn't have brought the conversation so close to her own situation, but she was desperate to find someone who was going through something similar, to find out she wasn't the only one whose heart wanted something it shouldn't.

"Nope," Ruffnut said. "Never."

"Really? You haven't found anyone in Briral?" the princess asked in surprise, slightly disappointed.

"I'm working all the time, My Lady, I don't have time to get to know anyone," she replied, but it didn't sound as though she was very upset by it.

"You can have the rest of the day to yourself," Astrid said in a heartbeat.

Ruffnut raised her head in fast motion and stared at the princess suspiciously. It looked like she was checking whether she was being tricked. Not that Astrid could blame her – it must have felt weird to be suddenly so acknowledged by the princess when she never paid much attention to her before. It was incredible how a simple conversation with Hiccup had made her realise how many things in her life she took for granted. And now she wanted to change that, no matter how little her opinion would be valued when she was Queen – at least she would be remembered as a good royal.

"I'm serious," Astrid assured. "You need to have a life outside of your work, too."

It took a moment for Ruffnut to decide that she wasn't being tricked or tested after that, but then she nodded eagerly and mumbled out a 'thank you' which still had a very unsure tone to it.

After Astrid was out of the flying suit, Ruffnut helped her get into one of the many dresses that she possessed. She ever really used one, but since she purposefully broke it last night, it would be at least three more days until the tailor could fix it. Apparently the damage was severe, but the princess couldn't bring herself to feel bad or regretful. It was all worth it, and she'd wear her least favourite dress every single day for the rest of her life if that meant she'd have several more rounds of the previous night.

As Ruffnut worked on Astrid's hairdo, the princess let her mind travel back to last night. She couldn't have been happier about the fact that she had found the courage to kiss Hiccup – even though it was just on the cheek. She had thought it was going to be the last time they ever saw each other, so she had to do something. It wasn't like she had anything to lose anyway.

But when Hiccup pushed her against that rock and kissed her on the mouth? Gods, it was everything she had ever imagined her first proper kiss to be and a bit more.

She kept on replaying the moment in her head, devouring the memory of how his lips had felt against hers, how his hands felt like behind her neck and around her waist, how he smelled like… She never thought she'd get to feel something like this for somebody and she had always felt very bitter about it, as she would've very much loved to choose her own husband when the time came. If only their kingdoms weren't at war with each other and there actually was a chance for them to be together…

Why did life have to be so unfair? Why weren't they born into some non-royal family where the rules weren't as strict? Why did it have to be Berk that Briral hated so?

"You're ready to go, My Lady," Ruffnut said and snapped Astrid out of her thoughts. "Do you want to eat your breakfast or should I take the tray as I leave?"

The princess gave the untouched breakfast a side glance before she shook her head. "You can take it with you, thank you. Remember that you're free to do whatever you want for the rest of the day," she said as she walked towards the door that led out of her chambers.

She left the door wide open so that it'd be easier for Ruffnut to get out with the breakfast tray in her hands. She gave the guards by the door a quick command to lock it once her servant was out, to which she earned two silent nods.

As she walked in the corridors to the Study Room where she would meet her mother, Queen Gunilla, she took several deep breaths to clear her mind and be prepared for whatever lesson was waiting for her. Astrid knew that learning everything her mother taught her was important, but she couldn't for the life of her imagine herself teaching her children how to behave like a soulless being.

When she entered the Study Room, Gunilla was already waiting for her, sitting on an expensive-looking – rightfully so – armchair, reading a book. Astrid was standing several feet from the queen, but she could tell that her mother wasn't really paying attention to the words, for she didn't look concentrated.

"Good morning, darling," Gunilla said without raising her head from the book. "Did you sleep well?"

The word 'yes' nearly left her mouth before Astrid remembered the scenario she caused during the dinner and stopped herself. What she did instead was shake her head no and look sad. "Not really, I couldn't stop thinking about my dress. I do hope it will be repaired soon."

"That will not be an issue, I can send it to the tailor right away," the queen responded and snapped her fingers, her eyes still on the book. The maid in the corner rushed out of the room, knowing exactly what she had to do. "I already had that chair removed and it shall be replaced this evening the latest."

"Great. So, what's today's lesson?"

"Just grab a book you like and read, my love. You seemed rather upset last evening, I don't think it is any use teaching you something when you might still be out of your right mind."

Sure, she was out of her right mind, but not because of the dress. It was literally the last thing on her mind, but she would never tell her mother that. Now, she was just happy to not be lectured on how to be a proper queen. After the restless night she was grateful to have something less mind-consuming to do, because that also gave her a chance to think about pretty much everything that had happened in the past few weeks.

She walked up to the large bookshelf that covered the entire wall, from the floor all the way up to the ceiling. She pretended to be reading the titles of the books to make her choice seem like a well thought-out pick, but in the end she grabbed a random book that, upon closer inspection, turned out to be a novel.

Astrid sat on the armchair opposite to Gunilla's and they let a silence fall between them. The princess opened the book at a random page, read a couple sentences from here and there, stayed on that page for a few minutes before turning to the next page.

Her mind wandered back to the day she had decided that she wanted to end the grudge between Briral and Berk. It was when most of their own came back from a battle wounded, some had been in a very fatal state. Something had gone terribly wrong in the attack which had caused them to suffer their greatest yet defeat, and Astrid didn't want to see a day like that during her time of reign.

That had been half a year ago, and ever since that she had fantasized about different ways of coming around that peace. In her dreams, she was ruling Briral on her own, walking to Berk and confronting the king about her proposal for peace. The other version of this dream had the king laughing at her, thinking she was joking, which was when she always proved how much better off their kingdoms would be without the war – she wasn't sure how she would do that, this part had always been blur to her – and then the king agreed to making peace. The second version of the dream, the one she most often fantasized about, had the king instantly agree as he also thought that the animosity had gotten out of hand. Sometimes Astrid just dreamt of the peace coming around naturally, that one day their kingdoms would just stop caring about their pride and stopped sending their people off to die.

None of her dreams ever involved a part where she developed such strong feelings for the future king of Berk. Neither had she ever dreamt of committing treason and being happy to do so on top of that. It was like the gods had made sure the reality would stray from her fantasies as much as possible.

Although being separated from Stormfly for such a long time when she was in Berk did feel terrible, she realised she was happy it happened. Otherwise she'd never had the chance to get to know Hiccup and how wonderful a person he was. After Astrid got to know him better, she became more and more persistent to make peace between their kingdoms, and when the prince finally told her he wanted the same thing, she had been ecstatic. She still was.

Suddenly Astrid got the urge to break the silence between her and her mother. "What do you think about the hate between Briral and Berk?"

Even though the queen had been sitting quite still, the princess could still see her entire being pause. Gunilla finally tore her eyes off the book and looked up at her daughter. She looked taken aback and this time she didn't care to hide away the emotions on her face.

"Why do you ask?" she questioned, lowering the book and placing it on her lap.

Astrid shrugged. "No reason, I'm just curious. We never talk about it, is all."

And that was true. It was one of the topics they never brought up when it was just the two of them, Gunilla didn't for whatever reason and Astrid didn't because she was quite sure her mother didn't want to talk about it.

The queen didn't answer for a while, but when she did, Astrid was disappointed; "I trust the king's judgement."

"Oh come on, you must have an opinion. You must feel something about the fact that our knights are out there, on their way to die for us."

"It is their responsibility to the kingdom to do so. They have every right to leave Briral if they don't wish to fight," her mother responded. She had finally got herself together and she was once again speaking in that graceful, emotionless voice she always used when the discussion was about something that mattered.

"But at what cost? They must leave and never return, and they will have no other kingdom to go to because nobody wants a fled knight under their wing. They have no other option but to stay, because the life out there is much more dangerous than it is in Briral, but that doesn't mean they want to fight for their lives."

"Your father knows perfectly well what he's doing, and I do hope you will never bring your thoughts up in his presence. Voicing them around me is already you showing disrespect to the kingdom your father has built for your future."

"But–"

"Astrid," she said in that intimidating voice of hers that she only reserved for her daughter in situations like this. The princess had learnt to avoid bringing their conversations to the point where her mother felt the need to use that voice, but this topic was something Astrid truly cared about.

However, she knew a lost case when she saw one, so she sighed in defeat, nodded and fixed her eyes back on the pages of the book. Gunilla did the same, and they continued their study session in complete silence.

The army came back late the following day. As always, Astrid was expected to greet them with her parents, so she stood on the massive stone steps that led to the courtyard, waiting for the knights to show up. King Eirik hadn't joined the battle as usual, so he was rather eager to hear the news from his most-trusted knights. However, this was something that they always discussed in private, so neither the princess nor the queen ever heard what happened in the battles.

This didn't mean Astrid wasn't going to listen. She wanted to know if any harm had come to Hiccup. When the king and a few knights retreated to the safety of the castle walls, she made sure to note where they were heading. Judging by the direction they took once inside the castle, it looked like they were going towards the Throne Room – precisely where the princess expected them to have the conversation at.

She followed them, looking around to make sure nobody saw her. She stayed far enough from her father so that he, or one of the knights, wouldn't somehow sense her presence.

The knights began talking when they were still very far from the Throne Room, which took Astrid by surprise.

"They indeed put up a good fight, Your Highness. I must say I wasn't expecting them to have changed their way of defending the kingdom."

"How did they change it?" Eirik asked.

"They were focusing a lot more on their people, we didn't see a single common Berkian while we were there."

Astrid couldn't stop the smile from spreading across her lips. That could only mean that Hiccup's plan had worked, and she suddenly felt pride swelling up inside her. She knew he would succeed.

"That's interesting, I didn't think their rotten minds were capable of change. We need to discuss this in-depth later. Anything else?"

"Oh yes, Your Highness, the best part is yet to come," the other knight responded eagerly.

The excitement in his voice couldn't mean anything good, and the realisation of that made Astrid's insides turn upside down.

The king came to a halt, instantly followed by the knights, and Astrid had to hide behind a sturdy stone pillar next to her so that they wouldn't spot her.

"What is it?"

"Your plan was successful. One of us got him, and we left Berk with an arrow sticking right through his chest."

A triumphant laughter filled the corridor. Astrid forgot how to breathe. Her heart skipped beats after beat. She felt weak by the knees and she wanted to collapse to the floor. She felt a burning sensation behind her eyes.

Were they taking about Hiccup?
Was he dead or alive?

Aaaaaaaaaa!
I don't know what else to say about the end of this chapter XD

I hope you don't mind the POV switch. I thought it was necessary to get a glimpse of Astrid's life too (no, the change definitely didn't happen because it left me with a great opportunity for a cliffhanger, absolutely not).

Please let me hear your thoughts on this chapter :D the response to the previous chapter was mindblowing, I nearly cried lol so THANK YOU ALL I LOVE YOU.