Hi everyone!
I'm quite late this time, but here I'm with the new chapter (very, very intense one hahaha)
It was a little bit difficult to translate this one, because I've realized we have a different way to have argument in Spanish than in English hahaha. But I think at the end the final result it's okay.
As always, thank you so much for your fav, follows and reviews ^^
Ah! Tomorrow I'll also change the rate, so next time you have to find this fic in 'M'.
Hope you love it!
Besos :D
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CROSSED SOULDS
Written by Sandy97
Translated by Marcus S. Lazarus
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9: THE RIDERS
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In just a few seconds, panic had returned to the castle.
People were screaming and tripping over each other, not quite knowing what to do or where to go. The soldiers tried to control that collective hysteria by asking people to remain calm while they pushed them from their posts with violence. Many had decided that the best option was to get out of the castle and flee to the forest before it was too late while others chose to lock themselves in the rooms, praying on their knees that those beasts would not find them and devour their souls.
Hiccup and Elsa had had to force their way between them to reach the central part of the garden from where the sky could be seen. When the Viking confirmed that they were the riders, Elsa drew a relieved expression on her face, as she silenced her alert powers, which had begun to emerge from her hands. However, despite the good news, Hiccup didn't change his face of concern.
"Something is not right…" he said to himself, unable to take his eyes off the sky, where the dragons circled slightly, preparing to descend.
Elsa looked at him uneasily, unable to understand what he meant. She had not spoken to him for days and even though the words were running through her mind now, she didn't know what to say. Perhaps she just wanted to let him know that he counted on her support to face what the Viking had been foreshadowing for days, but she didn't have the strength to show him any gesture of tenderness or support. Perhaps she feared that her powers would not respond to her as she wished, since she was still trying hard not to tremble at the fleeting idea that Drago had returned; or maybe she just didn't know how to break the barrier that now existed between them.
"Hiccup…" she tried to articulate as the Viking ran into the center of the courtyard.
Elsa wanted to follow him, but held back as she watched those huge beasts descend from the skies and land on the wet grass.
The world had stopped for Hiccup at that time. He could only think that something bad had happened, since the riders should not have come so soon, least of all in the middle of the night.
For a second he cursed himself for not listening to his instincts, which already foretold that something was wrong. He ran to the place where the dragons landed, throwing himself without thinking in the direction of Stormfly where Astrid's face emerging from the darkness as she jumped down from her dragon and ran towards him.
"Hiccup!" Astrid exclaimed, practically throwing herself into his arms and squeezing the Viking with all her strength, as if nothing could separate them never again. "By Odin, thank the Gods you're fine."
Hiccup didn't respond immediately, merely pressing her firmly against his body as he buried his head in the hollow of her shoulder, entangling his nose in her golden hay hair.
Gods, how much he had missed her! The simple contact with her body or the scent of her skin. That unmistakable mix of metal, earth and flowers. Or just the simple and wonderful warmth of her brave and smiling voice. It was amazing how this woman could have that effect on him, that feeling of well-being; that nothing bad could happen if he had her by his side.
Astrid, seeing Hiccup's reaction, tenderly reciprocated. She had also missed him. She was very worried that something had gone wrong in the negotiations with Arendelle or that it had all been a trap. Having him safe on her arms, finally put an end to that terrible feeling of anguish that had accompanied her throughout the trip. The young woman knew they had no time to lose, but she gave herself the pleasure of enjoying his arms, of having him next to her again. With the naturalness of years of caresses, she ran her hands along the Viking's back, reacquainting herself with it. Hiccup smelled the same as always, of ash and hearth, she thought as she gave him a short kiss behind the ear.
However, Hiccup was not long in coming back to reality, detaching himself slightly from Astrid to scrutinize her face, appalled.
"By all the Gods Astrid, what happened to you?" He said, holding her gently by the cheek to examine her better, looking for some light in the night.
"It's nothing, Hiccup," she said simply. "I'm fine, really."
But the truth is that Astrid's appearance indicated that not everything was fine. The girl had a split lip and a slightly purple and swollen septum, joined from her lip by a thin crust of dried blood. However, what really alarmed the Viking was seeing the dark marks on her neck, as if someone had tried to strangle her.
"Gods Astrid," he couldn't help but express worriedly, patting her neck carefully. "You are not well, who did this to you?"
"Trappers," she said simply, dismissing it. "But no worries, you should have seen how they looked…"
Hiccup didn't even pay attention to that words. He just hugged her again, unaware that they were not alone and that half of Arendelle had already gone out to see the scene in the courtyard.
"Wow, you never hug me like that," Ruffnut said, interrupting their embrace.
Hiccup smiled at her, grateful to see her safe and giving her a loving hug.
"Hey, ugg…" she complained, "hugs for your girlfriend." She stepped away from Hiccup, still uncomfortable with that kind of physical affection.
"Gods, Ruffnut," Hiccup said when he saw that the girl had one of the braids in her hair completely charred. "Are you okay?"
Ruffnut also had a few scratches on her arms and chin, but she appeared to be in one piece.
"Taking away that a son of a bitch has burned half my hair and that I have excruciating ovarian pain, all good," she replied with her usual cool attitude. "You look skinnier, Haddock."
Hiccup looked at the girl and she gave him a knowing look.
"I've missed you too," Hiccup replied, knowing that this was Ruffnut's way of caring for others.
"Hiccup!" Said another familiar voice.
The Viking was suddenly embraced by Fishlegs, who was squeezing him so hard that Hiccup couldn't breathe. When the larger Viking finally released him, Hiccup was glad to see that at least he seemed intact, although his beard had grown and looked much more scruffy than usual.
"Hello? Reunions are awesome, but no one thinks of helping me out?" Snotlout's voice made everyone notice him and his monstrous nightmare from which he was trying to bring down Tuffnut, who seemed wounded.
That made Hiccup come back to reality and reserve that momentary happiness of having his family close again for later, as he and the others hurried over to help Tuffnut.
"What happened to him?" Hiccup anxiously asked Snotlout.
"Hiccy, I'm dying," Tuffnut interjected, in his usual melodramatic tono. "I have been mortally wounded."
"His shoulder has come out," Snotlout explained. "We tried to relocate it, but he just kept screaming."
Hiccup helped lower Tuffnut from Hookfang. Also Ruffnut and Astrid helping to hold him carefully. Then Hiccup noticed similar burns on Ruffnut's arms, confirming that this was not normal, since they had spent years dealing with fights without sustaining such noticeable injuries.
All of Arendelle, who had been silent and expectant up to that moment, seemed to react when they heard Tuffnut's groans. Some soldiers began to approach, along with Rose and two other women.
"Is someone injured?" The girl asked in her slow voice, making her way and stopping when she noticed the glances of the dragons on her.
"He is one of the riders," Hiccup raised his voice, in the language of those people. "We think he has a dislocated shoulder."
Hiccup saw the young healer hesitate, torn between her professional desire to get closer and her fear of dragons keeping her immobilized. The Viking thought that it would be best to carry Tuffnut to the makeshift infirmary when he was surprised that this woman had the courage to approach, passing between the dragons while holding her breath.
Once she verified in her own mind that those beasts were not going to devour her, she relaxed and crouched to the ground, where they had managed to leave Tuffnut.
"May l?" The woman asked, pointing to his arm just in case he didn't speak her language.
Tuffnut, who had always been rude to women, was speechless and just nodded, intimidated by the girl's brave predisposition and kindness. Rose patted him lightly on the shoulder, and tried to move it, causing him to hiss in pain.
"It hurts?" she asked, moving her fingers over the shoulder area. "And here?"
"A… there, above all," the Viking managed to articulate in that language that until now he had only used to flirt with foreigners.
"Okay," she said, placing her arm in a specific position. "Hold your arm like this with your other hand and try not to move it; we're going to need to put it back inside you, but for that we're going to need more light."
Rose explained that the swelling might have broken his clavicle and that was why the pain was so intense and asked for help to carry it. Snotlout was the first to offer, trying to impress that beautiful woman while some soldiers took the courage to approach and help too.
"At the end the idiot was going to be right," Ruffnut bellowed under his breath. "I'm going with him... Are you sure Hiccup they are allies?"
Hiccup made an affirmative gesture, although the girl also took a dagger from her dragon's saddlebags and hid it in her belt before following the soldiers. Ruffnut also began to tell the soldiers that they were tremendously handsome and sexy. Luckily, for both of them, neither understood the language of the Vikings.
"Hiccup," Astrid said then, trying to put some order into that situation, "we have to get the council together right away, this is much worse than we imagined."
The Viking nodded, confirming his suspicions.
"All right, I'll ask my father to be notified."
Stoick had done much of all the surveillance shifts in the past few days and must have been one of the few who had not yet heard the news, as he would surely be sleeping.
Astrid couldn't help but look at Hiccup and notice that something was wrong. The boy looked more absorbed than usual and just by seeing him run his hand through his hair, Astrid knew that there was something that he was not telling her.
Hiccup by his side, couldn't help but search for Elsa in the crowd, without success.
The Viking couldn't believe that the queen have left just like that in that situation, although he couldn't blame her either, since he had been avoiding her for days. However, he knew that if both councils met now he would not have time to talk to Astrid and explain what was going on. And the worst thing is that everyone had their eyes on their new king and that Viking.
He felt the whole Midgard rush to his feet.
"You're good?" Astrid asked, leaning closer to him to place a hand on his cheek.
However, Hiccup carefully rejected her contact, ignoring Astrid's confused expression as she clearly wondered what she had done wrong.
"Astrid, I have to talk to you about something, but not here," he said, not daring to look her in the eye.
Astrid's worst fears were beginning to surface.
"Mmm… ok," she accepted, surprised and concerned. "Is something wrong? You know… whatever it is, you can tell me."
Hiccup looked at Astrid in the depths of her blue eyes, with that usual look of understanding. He felt his heart shrink in that instant. He had spent days thinking about the words he would say and imagining possible situations to explain it to her. However, now that he had her in front of him, he realized he couldn't. He didn't have the strength enough to do that to her, to break her heart into a thousand pieces. Hiccup just wanted to kiss her, hug her and love her until he passed out, not confess that he had married another woman that he wasn't even talking to now.
"Your Majesty," then said the fearful voice of a soldier who had approached. "Queen Elsa asks if all your riders are fine and if they are going to meet the council."
For a second Hiccup was truly terrified that this soldier might have named the queen as his wife, losing his breath for a second. He swallowed as hard as he could, not daring to look at Astrid and caught all the air in his lungs to sound calm.
"Everyone's fine," he managed to articulate. "Say to her to get them together. I will go now, thanks. "
The man nodded, unable to avoid shooting a furtive glance of terror at the dragons behind the Vikings. Then he left quickly in order to warn the queen.
Hiccup reached for the partition, slightly hiding his face and trying to figure out what to say to Astrid. He had to speak to her before they entered that room. But when? How?
"Astrid…" was the only thing he managed to say, turning his gaze to the girl. "We don't have much time, but I have to explain something to you."
Astrid didn't understand what was going on, but she feared that they might find themselves in a dangerous situation or something similar, since Hiccup had never been so nervous and serious.
"Okay, I'm listening," she said carefully.
"See…" he began between doubts. "When I arrived, Toothless and I had a slight setback, so we were delayed for almost a day and when we finally landed, the councils had already met…"
"What setback?" She stressed, concerned.
"That I can explain later," Hiccup played down. "The fact is that they had already made decisions and agreements when I landed and, well, then they took my dragon and…"
"Your dragon?" Astrid instinctively reached for her belt, reaching for the hilt of her axe, alert. "Where is Toothless? Are they going to take our dragons?"
"No!" He corrected himself for his clumsiness. "Well yes, but they will be fine…"
"I'm not going to let them touch Stormfly," the girl defended, slightly angry.
Hiccup was realizing he was messing up all the way.
"Astrid, I promise we discuss that later," he asked, almost in a plea. "What I'm trying to tell you is that…"
However, a third appeared on the scene.
"You can't be left alone, huh," was Gobber, limping toward him. "A few weeks without adult supervision and they almost killed you."
"Gobber!" Astrid exclaimed, relieved to see the Viking safe and sound.
Gobber hugged the girl between his typical laughs and his bizarre limbs, while telling her that with his face so swollen it seemed a terrible terror. Astrid laughed at that comment, with her usual joy. Hearing her laugh, Hiccup almost burst into tears.
"We should go up to the halls, that these people have no patience," the old Viking muttered complaining, trying to put some order, and noticing by the Viking's reaction that Hiccup had not been able to tell her anything yet. "I have already notified your father."
Hiccup nodded, unable to answer, trying to keep his composure.
"Great… come on," was the only thing he managed to say.
In the great hall where they had met so far, there was a great commotion. Everyone was arguing heatedly about the situation; not listening to each other, as always. Arendelle's advisers chastised the Vikings that the riders could have gotten this close to the castle without being sighted with reaction time, since, had they been Drago's dragons, they would now be dead.
The Vikings —however—, contested that if the riders had gotten there it was because they had allowed it by recognizing them. Anna tried to write everything down as fast as she could, feeling stupid for having to record that stupid contest of egos for posterity. Amid all the chaos, she looked at her sister, who was serious and taciturn, without saying a word that could end this pointless discussion.
Elsa's mind was only focused on reprimanding herself for having those feelings, still unable to understand why she had felt so bad seeing the boy desperately hugging his girlfriend. He was nothing of hers, beyond her political husband. Until that moment, she thought that she had been very clear about her feelings about him. And yet there she was, with a jumble of alien emotions, struggling to lock them deep within herself, as if she never have to deal with them.
Suddenly the absolute silence brought Elsa out of her thoughts, looking up to see Hiccup enter the room, followed by the Viking and Gobber. The Vikings had undoubtedly been silent when they understood the discomfort of the situation, since they all knew about the relationship between Hiccup and Astrid and how strange it all was. The citizens of Arendelle, with none to argue, also fell silent, making their own value judgments about the Viking couple had just entered. Because their emotional encounter had raised certain suspicions and rumours.
Elsa couldn't take her eyes off Hiccup, who was more serious and expressionless than ever, sitting next to his father, on the other side of the table. Astrid also sat next to the Vikings, but much more apart, next to Gobber.
"Only two left, they won't be long," Gobber said to Elsa, slightly breaking the general malaise.
The queen nodded gratefully, turning her gaze back to Hiccup, who kept his eyes on the table.
Suddenly there was a slight rumbling outside, as if someone had collided with something, and seconds later two large figures appeared through the door. One of them was a big blond boy with pleasant features; and the other one shorter, dark and broad-shouldered.
"Sorry for the delay," Snotlout said. "This palace is a labyrinth."
Snotlout and Fishlegs bowed slightly to the queen as they entered, thinking that was the protocol.
"Is someone else missing, gentlemen?" Said the queen politely.
"No, lady…madam, your majesty," answered Fishlegs. "Our other two companions are going to stay in the infirmary."
Elsa nodded, inviting them with her hand to come in and take a seat. Fishlegs and Snotlout sat next to Gobber, making a loud noise and finally leaving their riding helmets on the table, with subtlety, to try to make up for all the previous fuss. Once everyone was silent and comfortable, Elsa stood up and spoke:
"I'm afraid you must excuse me for the hours," she began authoratively, since it was close to midnight, "but we have gathered you all here because of the arrival of the rest of the Berk Vikings, whom we expected. I ask, first of all, that you, ridders, also excuse me for making this appeal, since I imagine that you must be tired from the journey and want to eat something and rest as soon as possible, but I fear that your foray into my kingdom at midnight it is not fortuitous. So I leave you to discuss the good or bad news."
Elsa sat down, inviting to start the debate for those who have just arrived. At that moment all eyes in the room turned to Snotlout and Fishlegs, as if everyone was waiting for what they had to say. However, they did look at Astrid, asking her to speak. Of course the Viking shook her head, as she was tired of being always done the same. Nevertheless, someone had to speak and in the absence of initiative in her friends, Astrid ended up getting a little sulky.
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for attending us," she began, trying to follow a protocol she didn't know, speaking in that foreign language.
Elsa, who had not yet allowed herself the freedom to look at her, then set her eyes on her.
She had been avoiding that moment for a while, fighting not to feel awkward or violent, as if by delaying that moment she could still think that her presence there was not real. As she did so, however, she realized that the Viking had always been present and to her own surprise, all those jealousies or insecurities disappeared when looking into her eyes, giving way to a kind of latent admiration.
No doubt, the woman was much more beautiful in person than in Hiccup's drawings. Even despite having a bruised nose, a split lip, and a terrible expression of weariness, she was just gorgeous. Inexplicably, all of her emanated a savage beauty that flooded her eyes with a brilliance so temperamental that it certainly did justice to Hiccup's description of the Valkyries. Elsa was also surprised to see her thus dressed as a man. In her imagination, she had always imagined her in peasant clothes, with the grace and kindness of rural women. However, now that she saw her in person, she realized that the Viking didn't fit this description.
What disturbed her the most, was that those masculine clothes that were supposed to hide any trace of femininity in the girl seemed extremely suggestive to Elsa, who couldn't able to avoid looking with her gaze at her wide hips through the scale leggings she wore and that perfectly drew the athletic shape of her legs. The girl was also armed —and not with a light sword precisely. From her belt hung a silver axe with a wooden handle slightly stained with blood, a sign that it was not a simple accessory, but that she also used it frequently, given the wear of the handle.
All of her was chaos and beauty, from her battered braid to her thin, stranded hands.
"We were supposed to have reached this kingdom in four days," Astrid began to explain, glancing at everyone present, not understanding why some were muttering, "but we had to move forward and honestly we didn't bring good news."
At this moment Stoick intervened, concerned.
"Is Berk aware?" he asked.
"We sent a terror mail and Eret answered us days ago," the Viking explained. "Berk is safe at the moment, but just in case they are preparing for the worst."
Stoick nodded, grateful that they had acted quickly.
"We were looking for clues from those who attacked your ship," she said, looking at Elsa and referring to the wreck. "The first few days, everything seemed in order and nothing indicated the presence of Drago on our coasts."
As she spoke, the girl pulled a kind of map out of a pocket of her suit. Carefully she removed her own flying helmet from the table and spread out that piece of paper. Elsa was able to recognize Hiccup's artistic style in that cartography that also had other annotations in the language of the Vikings.
"We travelled through the southern and western islands of the archipelago, but found nothing. However, at the height of Nightmare Island," she pointed to a small islet on the map, "they attacked us."
"The trappers?" Hiccup ventured to ask.
Astrid shot him a knowing look.
"Worse," she explained. "Trapper tribes. Apparently Drago has reunited them again, this time in greater numbers."
"And what are they supposed to do in the southern islands?" Hiccup asked. "There aren't many dragons in those lands."
"We were wondering the same thing," said the girl. "Those trappers weren't looking for us, we just had the bad luck to cross their path."
"So what were they looking for, then?" Stoick asked this time, very serious.
"A dragonhunter," Astrid confirmed their suspicions. "Apparently they are looking for him throughout the archipelago. According to the trappers, Drago desperately needs him to maintain the immortality of his dragons."
Hiccup felt that something was wrong, that something was escaping them. However, he couldn't think too clearly either. He could only think of Astrid and how to tell her what was going on.
"Does that mean that the immortality of their dragons isn't total?" Anna asked then, who had remained silent until then.
"Apparently not," Fishlegs confirmed her suspicions. "Otherwise, there would be no point in Drago being so desperate to find that man."
"We think he gives dragons something to make them invulnerable," Astrid explained. "But its effect does not last long, so he's looking for a kind of irreversible elixir."
"Some trappers said that what he was looking for was nothing more than a legend," added Snotlout, "but they fear him too much not to obey everything he says."
"How long have you been with the trappers?" Hiccup then asked loudly.
The three riders looked at each other, remaining silent for a moment. Astrid finally had the courage to confess for all them.
"We let ourselves be caught," she revealed. "We were held captive for a few days, but only until we got some information."
Hiccup was going to reply that this was foolhardy and they had put themselves in danger, but he bit his tongue. First, because basically all of Arendelle was looking at them and second, because it sounded like a plan that could perfectly have come out of his head.
"Do you have the name of the Dragonhunter?" Colonel Roston, who until then had been attentive to the conversation, asked then.
"I'm afraid not," the blonde-haired denied. "The only thing we know for sure is that what Drago intends to hunt is in your lands and that he needs that man's help to find it."
"That means he'll be back when he finds him," Elsa deduced, standing up. "Thank you so much for the information; Legislator, send a statement to all neighbouring kingdoms right now to ask them to send us any news about any strangers on their lands or the presence of dragons."
"The Westergaards and Weseltons too?"
Elsa pursed her lips.
"I'm afraid them as well," she agreed. "The more allies we have at the moment, the better. Colonel, speak to your men and double the guards, not only of the castle but also of the surroundings." She turned to address Hiccup and Stoick. "I hope I can count on you and the dragons as well."
Hiccup had been so aware of Astrid throughout the meeting that he hadn't even realized that Elsa finally looked like a queen and was taking on the role she should have shown from the beginning.
"It will be an honour," Stoick replied, rising from his seat. "From now on we will do the block guards. These people also need weapons, so Fishlegs, you will help Hiccup with that, he will explain you what procedure is being carried out."
The boy nodded, obeying that order. He had never been very skilled in smiting, but at least he knew minerals and rocks better than anyone.
"As for you," he said, referring to the other riders. "You, Snotlout will help the colonel with the training of the new soldiers, and you, Astrid, will help Alea to train the women, also warn Ruffnut when you see her."
Astrid nodded, not quite understanding what she meant by 'women's training'. Did the women train there separately?However, she didn't object and just nodded from her chair. She glanced furtively at Hiccup, who was still expressionless. Astrid had never seen him so quiet at any council meeting. Everything seemed to be in order, so she didn't understand what it was 'that' he had to explain so desperately. Astrid cast a quick glance around, checking that all the Vikings were present and in perfect condition and could not understand Hiccup.
At that time, she also turned his gaze to Elsa, who seemed focused on listening to what one of her advisers was saying about what type of communication to send to neighbouring lands. The queen was very different from how Astrid had imagined her. She knew that she supposed to have magical powers, so she had imagined something like a woman half-human, half-divine. She had built into her head the possibility of a woman as translucent as ice, or with a magical aura around her. However, Elsa seemed very human, especially because, although her voice didn't tremble in her mandates, she had an insecure and sweet look, something that undoubtedly differentiated Gods and humans. If it wasn't for her paleness or snow-white hair, she would never have imagined that this woman could have ice powers.
"Your Majesty," the colonel said then, drawing Elsa's attention. "I remain in my position to defend that it is not a good idea to train women, we would only put them at unnecessary risk."
Elsa had no time to answer when Anna rose from her chair.
"Colonel, the decision has already been made," the princess defended.
"Excuse me, but I'm just trying to protect you and avoid a massacre," he said cautiously. "Women are not good for the art of war."
Those words managed to get Astrid out of her reverie and shift her gaze from Elsa to that man.
"Excuse me?" the Viking said indignantly. "Who do you think you are to say that about women warriors?"
"Miss," the legislator replied for the colonel. "With all due respect, you cannot speak like this to our colonel, from now on, he is your superior. Also, look at you, you just give us reason."
Astrid followed that man's gaze to Snotlout and Fishlegs and knew what he meant. The man thought she was the only one who had been wounded in their strife.
"But good man, what's wrong with you," Alea also complained, who was almost taking a head off that man and that the years had given him a much more foul-mouthed attitude.
"Astrid is one of our best warriors," Hiccup suddenly intervened, conciliatory, before Astrid let lose any outrage and chaos again, since he knew her too well and knew that she was not going to be silent. "She deserves your respect, sir."
Hearing Hiccup saying those words annoyed Astrid, who knew how to defend herself and hated the feeling of vulnerability she felt when someone tried to protect her.
"Excuse me, Your Majesty, I didn't mean to offend you or your tribe," the legislator reluctantly assured. "It was just based on facts. Also, if we talk about respect, you should be the first to show it to your wife."
Hiccup's heart stopped when he heard that. Surely the legislator must have seen him hug Astrid in the castle courtyard. Elsa cursed herself for keeping the man on her advice, unable to avoid glancing at the Viking, imagining that he had not yet told his girlfriend.
"Your queen is the one who must show the most respect to her husband," said Gervasio to everyone's surprise. "You are lucky how tolerant we are."
"The Vikings, tolerant?" the legislator laughed.
Hiccup had a knot in his chest, knowing they were being the center of attention. He could not believe that Astrid had found out in such a cruel way about his marriage with Elsa. He looked at her in surprise, unable to understand her strength and cold blood in appearing so normal. And then, he knew: Astrid was managing her anger.
"Enough!" Elsa exclaimed, shuddering everyone present without even having to use her magic. "You two, get out of this room right now; I will not forgive this disrespect."
The legislator shadowed his face, not daring to object to anything, threatened by the gaze of his queen. He got up in silence and, without losing his bourgeois air, he went out the door.
"A woman does not give me orders," Gervasio complained.
Hiccup stood up, very serious, to the surprise of even his own father.
"Well, I'm ordering you," he said pissed off, but with a calmness that surprised the queen herself, who had to admit that she had lost her nerves for a second.
Gervasio also left, incredulous that Stoick had not intervened for him, as he spluttered profanity on his tongue and slammed the door behind him.
For a moment, a terrible silence filled the room. Elsa looked for the support of Hiccup, but she knew that this war was already lost.
"We are all very tired," the queen said in her moderating role, knowing she had to stop this as soon as possible. "If nobody has any more questions, I conclude this meeting and invite everyone here to rest. I'm sorry, colonel, but I will not accept your refusal and will remain firm in my decision to train women."
The colonel nodded, showing respect to the queen despite the disagreement.
"As for the riders," she said, unable to keep her gaze on Astrid, who was questioning her directly, "I will speak to the maidens right now so that they can find you a bed and a room where can put on a clean change of clothes. Without further ado, good evening."
As soon as she said that, Astrid furiously grabbed her flying helmet off the table and hurried out of that room. Hiccup, without hiding his intentions, ran after her without thinking twice, under the watchful eyes of villagers and Vikings.
Once both young Vikings had disappeared, all eyes turned to the queen, who clenched her jaw and stood firmly in her chair. Elsa saw how everyone present looked at her with disapproval, especially her own advisers, who didn't understand how the queen could allow her husband to run after another woman, agreeing with the legislator.
However, Elsa didn't lie down and simply took a breath, waiting for everyone to leave the room.
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Anna was almost one of the last to leave, encouraged to leave by her sister's words that assured her that she was fine and that she wanted to be alone; —for a change.
However, that time, she was lying. Inexplicably, she felt very affecting for that situation, more than she could have imagined.
"It is not always easy to maintain composure." Stoick's voice pulled her out of her thoughts, as the large Viking chief rose from his chair. "I admire your integrity. I hope you can forgive my son's attitude."
They had both been left alone in that huge room, from which Elsa didn't want to leave until she made sure that there was no one left. Partly also because she knew they were all talking about her and she preferred not to hear those poisoned murmurs. After all, for the Vikings, she was the other woman and for her own people, a queen who was not respected by her husband.
"Don't worry, it's years of practice," she said calmly to the great Viking in front of her, putting a hand to her forehead to try and hide her exhaustion. "Hiccup has already brought me up to date on this situation, so do not worry. It didn't catch me by surprise."
"I'm sorry you have to face this situation," Stoick said. "My son is a good man, but sometimes he is very impulsive and more stubborn than a stone."
Elsa smiled sadly at him.
"Yes, I think I'm starting to get to know him a little," said the queen, without removing that tired smile from her lips. "This situation is somewhat very difficult for him. He is really in love with that woman."
Stoick was silent at the queen's words, without understanding so much understanding on her part. This situation was also proving very difficult for him, who had always adored and love Astrid as his own daughter.
"I'm sorry to be the cause of his pain," Elsa said with some regret.
Stoick walked silently toward the queen, sitting down on a couple of chairs from her. He was amazed at how mature that woman was for how young she was. And how sad her gaze was.
"You know, I visited your kingdom many years ago," the Viking began, recounting old forgotten memories. "Your father wanted to expand trade agreements with the archipelago after years ago, and he reunited several of the Viking chiefs in his castle. Hiccup was very young and his mother's death was very recent, but I still agreed to come. You will not remember it, because you were hardly a girl, but your father, upon learning of the existence of my son, asked you jokingly if you would marry him to twin our lands… Do you know what you answered?"
A smile appeared on the queen's face when she heard that story. Stoick was right, she didn't remember anything, but she adored when people talked about their parents, since that made her feel that they were still alive.
"What did I say?" she asked curiously.
"That you would never marry anyone or for all the sweet muffins in the world."
Elsa couldn't help but widen her smile.
"Wow," she said amused. "What ironies of life, don't you think?"
"Yeah…," agreed the Viking, feeling terrible for having thought that woman was a witch. "In fact, Hiccup always said the same thing… in that aspect you're both alike, seeking to do great things. I know that in time you will learn to understand each other."
Elsa took a slow breath; not knowing if that would be possible.
"I hope so."
"Sometimes it is necessary to have someone to share responsibilities with." He said then, knowing that this had not exactly been his fate. ". Survivors were something no one could foresee, Queen Elsa. You shouldn't be so hard on yourself."
Elsa wanted to avoid that conversation.
"I know when someone blames themselves too much," Stoick added to the queen's silence. "A chief cares about his own. I've been through what you're going through now before."
"And what can I do?" Elsa asked desperately, not knowing why she was opening up with that man with whom she had barely spoken. "I can't help but hear her screaming behind the dome every time I get into bed."
Stoick knew that feeling well.
"If I went to sleep thinking about all those that I couldn't save, it would take decades before I dozed off, Your Majesty. You have to learn to live with those things or else they will end up destroying you. You're still too young to carry so much on your own."
Stoick placed his hand on the girl's shoulder and then rose from his chair to leave. "Always think of those you have saved, in the end that's what matters. Our actions define us and I know that your father would be very proud of you."
Elsa smiled at him sincerely, a little more lively.
"Thank you very much, sir."
"Call me Stoick," he asked. "We're supposed to be family now."
"Thank you, Stoick," she said heartily.
"Good evening," said the Viking.
Elsa stayed a few more minutes there alone, thinking about what the Viking had told her and realizing that she couldn't continue like this.
—. —. —. —. — .—.
"Astrid, please stop," Hiccup complained as he followed the Viking through the halls.
Tired of that stupid chase, Astrid turned angrily.
"What's wrong with you?" the girl said full of frustration. "When the hell were you planning to tell me that you had married the queen?"
"Astrid, I promise you, that was what I wanted to explain to you earlier, but I was looking for a good time…"
"A good time?" Astrid cut him off with rage. "And do you think it's a good time to find out is in a room full of people, sitting in front of your wife! If that was your plan, Hiccup, it turned out fantastic!"
"Astrid, I didn't want you to find out like that," he replied somewhat annoyed by the girl's attitude.
"By the Gods, you just had to tell me before!" she said without listening to him as her eyes filled with tears. "You are incapable, incapable! of understanding how stupid I felt while everyone was looking at me. And not only that," she added spitefully, "You also humiliate me in front of all those people."
"What?" Hiccup cut her off incredulously. "Astrid, that man is an idiot. I wouldn't have let him say that about you or anyone else."
"I could defend myself," she explained. "You've shown me weak in front of that asshole."
"Gods Astrid, I just wanted to help you," he said, losing his patience.
"Well, you didn't!" she complained. "I didn't want your help! You can't always help everyone, Hiccup".
Astrid was so angry that anything from the Viking really bothered her right now.
"What's come over you?" Hiccup still didn't understand, "I already apologized, OK? I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry you felt that way. Astrid I didn't plan it. It was the last thing I wanted."
Astrid turned her back on him, remaining silent for a moment and trying to calm down. She was being carried away by anger and she knew she was not handling the situation clearly.
"When did you plan to tell me?" She asked then, calmer.
Hiccup didn't know what to answer, since he didn't know it himself, no matter how much he had tried to visualize it in his head.
"I don't know," he said sincerely, "but today… I swear the last thing I wanted you to find out like this…"
Astrid swallowed, unable to accept that the whole situation was real.
"Astrid…" The Viking approached, taking her hand lovingly and turning her toward him. "Please let me explain it to you."
Seeing him there in front of her, the world came down on her. The last thing she wanted was to look him in the eye and think he was lying to her. She didn't want to feel as silly as those girls whose boyfriends cheat on them and then they had to try and act like everything was fine. Astrid always believed herself better than them and yet now, she realized that she was just as vulnerable.
"And what's the use of explaining it to me if that doesn't change anything?" she asked spitefully, taking refuge in her own anger so as not to feel pain.
"Astrid, I didn't choose to marry," said Hiccup annoyed, who could not believe that the Viking really was not going to listen.
"Really, Hiccup?" Astrid released his hands. "Are you going to tell me now that you have been dragged and tied to an altar to marry her?"
Astrid could not remove the image of the queen from her head, so beautiful and authoritative moments before, unable to assimilate the jealousy she felt without any logical explanation.
"Astrid, things are not so easy," the boy defended himself. "Of course I haven't been tied to an altar, but I had no other choice, the council had already decided for me."
"Oh right, and you're such an idiot that you have nothing to say."
Hiccup had to dodge Astrid's shaking arms as she nearly hit him with her flying helmet.
"By Thor Astrid, they took Toothless from me and locked me in a room as soon as I arrived. Do you think they do care about my opinion?"
"Well, you could have said no!" Astrid countered indignantly.
"Astrid, refusing would have sparked a war," he tried to explain. "Everything's easier for you when you have no responsibilities, but unfortunately I'm my father's son."
"Great, now I have no responsibilities," Astrid laughed wryly. "Like you take your responsibilities seriously…"
"Astrid, I'm not going to have that conversation…," Hiccup planted himself, knowing that Astrid only brought up that topic because she knew how to hurt him. "If you are willing to listen to me I will be able to explain myself, but I'm not going to stay here while you humiliate me."
Astrid fell silent. She didn't want the Viking to leave, but she wasn't about to go into his emotional blackmail either. Hiccup was waiting for an answer from her, as she held her gaze in the dim light of that corridor.
"Fantastic…" Hiccup muttered as he had no answer, starting off and walking away from her.
Astrid watched him go, realizing that every step the boy took away from her hurt like a stab.
"Great, go away…" she said, holding back her tears with pride. "You must already have a warm bed…"
"Gods Astrid!" Hiccup turned around angrily and overcome by the situation, heading towards her again. "Really? Is that what happens to you? Are you really going to tell me that this is all because you're jealous?"
"I'm not jealous!" she defended herself immediately. "Sorry if it just hurts me that my fiancé shares a bed with another woman. Not all of us can be as frigid as you."
"For the father of all the Gods! I haven't put a single finger on that woman! I haven't even sleep her! But you don't listen to me!"
"Oh, Odin! Hiccup don't be basic to me, I don't care if you have slept with that woman or not. Well," she corrected herself, "I do care, but I can forgive you. Damn Hiccup, I could forgive you everything in this life unless you married her."
"And since when do you care so much about marriage?" Hiccup defended himself. "I think you're being very hypocritical."
"What am I being hypocritical about?" She said incredulously, pushing him away. "You were the one who didn't want to get married!"
"Me?" Hiccup said, surprised at that accusation and his own anger. "If I remember correctly, you were the one who told me the last time you didn't want to get married."
"Because you didn't want to!"
"Because I didn't want you to marry me out of obligation! You have never wanted to marry me because, even if you say you don't care what people think, you do. And I'm still not enough for you!"
"That's not true," denied Astrid, who hated that Hiccup underestimated himself like that.
"Yes, it is, come on," Hiccup encouraged. "Admit it."
"I will not admit it, because it's not true."
"Oh, come on Astrid. Do you think I don't realize it? How everyone looks at me like I don't deserve you?"
Astrid's heart sank at the sound of this.
"That is not true and you know it Hiccup," she said more seriously. "What happens to you is that you don't want to accept that you are as guilty of this as the rest. Don't you know what they say about me in the village? Or have you already forgotten that even your own father caught your attention? Don't you understand? I am more exposed than you are. Open your eyes from a fucking time Hiccup. We are no longer two kids and people know that I sleep with you, with the chief's son and they look at me as if I were a parasite. As... as if I only wanted to get into your bed to become your wife and take power. "
"Oh, great," Hiccup bellowed ironically. "Now it's my fault. Have I pushed you to do something you didn't want to do? I don't care what they say, Astrid, I love you and I want to be with you. What I don't know now if you want the same."
"Freyja! Great, Hiccup," Astrid said sourly, hurt that the boy was questioning her feelings. "Now I'm the one who doesn't love enough… You know? I am very glad of your marriage, congratulations!" She hit him hard on the chest with the helmet. "May you be very happy with that queen who doesn't seems so as hypocritical as me."
Astrid felt like she was dying. She couldn't stand another minute there, staring into the boy's eyes. Therefore, without waiting for Hiccup's answer, she started down the hall.
"Astrid, wait."
"Leave me alone!"
"Astrid, please stop"
"Don't touch me!" She yelled at him, only for Hiccup to maintain his grip.
"Astrid, I'm not going to let you go like this."
"You have no authority over me, so let me go Haddock, right now."
"Astrid please. Don't do this to me," he pleaded, not believing that he and Astrid had reached the point where they could argue like this.
"But you don't understand?" The woman said on the verge of tears. "You got married, Hiccup! You are attached to that woman until the day of your death. What do you want me to do or tell you! Do you know what that become me? Sorry if I'm a hypocrite for you, but I'm not going to go down in the history books for being the whore of a king! Stop being an immature little boy and accept that your actions have consequences!"
Astrid violently shook off Hiccup's grasp, unaware that she was holding the flying helmet in that hand and hitting him in the face. Hiccup groaned as he immediately raised his hand to his face, a mixture of blood and tears suddenly flowing from between his fingers.
True is he didn't know what had hurt the most, the blow or her words.
"Oh Gods, Hiccup!" Astrid exclaimed, alarmed that he was actually bleeding out. "Shit! Freyja… I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"
Blood began to drain from his nose to his chin, lightly staining the collar of his shirt as the Viking threw his head back to stop the bleeding.
"Shit," he cursed in pain, not knowing how to stop that mess.
"Oh Gods, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Astrid repeated scared, unsure what to do.
"It's okay," Hiccup managed to articulate, holding his nose as tears flowed and his hand dripped blood. "Gods Astrid, I think you broke my nose…"
"Don't be a whiner," she scolded him, while she searched her pockets for something that could help Hiccup wipe off his blood.
"Take off my gauntlet," Hiccup proposed. "I can wipe it on my sleeve."
The Viking, desperate to find something, grabbed Hiccup's free arm and removed the leather gauntlet where he used to carry a compass, releasing the sleeve of his shirt. Once free Hiccup immediately brought it to his nose, soaking the green sleeve of blood.
"Sit down," Astrid insisted, helping him sit on the cold floor of that hallway and praying that no one would find them like that.
Hiccup obeyed, sincerely because he didn't have the strength to continue arguing.
"Let's see, let me look at it," Astrid asked, trying to calm herself, returning to her usual warmth.
Hiccup carefully withdrew his hand, raising his head to avoid staining, although that was already a lost battle. Astrid placed her hands carefully on the boy's face, who emitted a slight hiss of pain as she fearfully examined his wounds with the same care and attention she always gave him.
"It's not broken," she said relieved. "You've only got a tiny cut, the blood seems just to have haemorrhaged from the blow."
Looking Astrid in the eye and seeing her concern, Hiccup couldn't help but let the tears run, trying no more to hide them.
"I'm sorry, Astrid," he said almost trembling. "I said… horrible things to you…"
"Oh Hiccup…" Astrid hugged him, not caring if she got stained or not. All her anger was forgotten in the face of his pain. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have said all that…"
Hiccup returned her embrace tightly, staining the Viking's hair with tears of blood.
"I'm so sorry to have said those things," the boy confessed with anguish. "I don't think you're a hypocrite… You're right. I'm still just an immature kid unable to accept his responsibilities…"
"Hiccup, you're not a kid," Astrid defended him. "I am. I was so angry that I didn't make any effort to listen to you."
"And why should you?" Hiccup said sadly. "You're right. That won't change anything. You deserve something better than all of this… better than me."
"Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III," she said seriously, "say again that you are not enough for me and I swear I will blow your nose, and this time I won't fail."
Hiccup couldn't help but smile as he wiped away the tears with the elbow of his sleeve and finished wiping the thin thread of blood that still ran down his nose.
"Then I think I have no choice but to obey you," he said trying to sound sarcastic.
"No, you don't have more choices" she replied, struggling to smile and calm down while she sniffed.
For a moment, the two sat next to each other, leaning against the wall and the other, unsure what to say next.
"Astrid," Hiccup began. "I… I love you… and I can't imagine a life without you…"
Astrid, who had managed to shelter herself in her own self-frustration, allowed her tears to flow again.
"And I know this isn't easy," Hiccup continued, "especially for you, and I know that I'm asking too much of you just with the fact that you forgive me, but I just can't lose you but I don't know what I can do to avoid it…"
"Hiccup, you're not going to lose me," she replied, reaching for the boy's hand to take it with her own. "We'll find a solution; we're a team, remember?"
Hiccup nodded in the gloom, sucking on his nose again and feeling the metallic taste of blood in his mouth.
"Despite what I've told you before, I really don't care what they write about me in history books."
Hiccup gave a slight sad laugh. "Astrid you don't deserve that."
"Of course not," she agreed, wiping the snot on the sleeve of her suit. "But we'll find a solution."
Astrid squeezed the boy's hand, unable to ward off that guilt. Hiccup looked exhausted and it was true that he was slimmer, as Ruffnut had pointed out. He also had blood everywhere and that he was crying didn't help him at all, since the only thing he did was make it slip some blood up to his neck.
Astrid reached out her hand to the boy and stroked his face, tenderly wiping away his tears.
"Everything will be all right, Hiccup," she assured him. "Who knows, maybe when all this is over we can even run away, like some Gobber's old stories."
Hiccup made a fake laugh. "Which? Those where lovers always end up devoured by sea monsters or specters of Hela?"
"Those same ones," the girl acknowledged, knowing she hadn't set the best example.
Hiccup swallowed, much calmer. He ran his bloody hand back over his nose, checking that it was still bleeding, and raised his head up, seeing if he could cut the bleeding at once.
"Elsa has promised me that when all this is over she will annul our marriage, so I don't think we need to be so drastic."
Those words surprised the Viking, who didn't understand that this was possible.
"Does she have the power to do that?" She asked confused.
"I don't know… but days ago she confessed to me that… that she was virgin," said the Viking in a low voice, as if he were embarrassed to talk about those things, "and since we haven't consummated the marriage, as she was trying to explain…"
Astrid rolled her eyes.
"Well, that can really be shown to be invalid, so maybe we can override it."
Astrid calmly pondered that news, realizing hopefully that perhaps it was a solution and feeling regret fatal for not having listened to Hiccup.
"And…" Astrid began, afraid of the answer she might get, "…why…?"
"Why don't we consume it?" The Viking seemed to guess. "Astrid, I couldn't do that to you or her."
Astrid looked at him blankly at that answer.
"You see, when I was married to the queen, she was hurt," he explained. "Basically, she'd been pretending that she'd been recovered for days, which is typical of her… but when she… undressed for our wedding night I didn't even know how she could stay on her feet with those wounds…" He blushed, slightly embarrassed. "Also was burning with fever."
Astrid didn't want to go into detail, but she couldn't help but imagine the whole scene in her head.
"I've been sleeping on the floor by the fireplace in her room for days, like a dog," Hiccup said angrily, not knowing that he felt that until he had said it out loud, "Just few days ago she asked for a Room for me, which is what Gervasio was complaining about earlier. Many think it's an insult to kick me out of her room, although I sincerely prefer it, as strange as it seems that the king and Queen here sleep in separate bedrooms…" He thought for a moment, lowering his head a little, changing his annoying tone for a much more serene one. "The queen has suffered a lot, Astrid. Although Elsa is a bit frigid, she truly has a good heart. She's not going to object to us being together."
"Did you tell her about us?" she asked curiously, unable to get rid of the knot in her stomach.
"Yes," he said. "She found even the portraits I made for you in my notebook. She told me that you seemed very beautiful to her. The truth is that the first days we talked a lot…"
Astrid saw a certain sadness in Hiccup and knew that there was something he had not told her.
"But…" she encouraged him to continue.
"But what?"
"You were going to say a 'but'."
"I wasn't going to say but."
"Oh come on, Hiccup," Astrid prodded him, "you had your 'but' face."
The Viking snorted, trying to avoid smiling and agreeing.
"And?" she demanded, leaning down to get a better look at his face.
The boy took a breath.
"But we haven't spoken to each other for a few days," Hiccup confessed.
"Why?" Astrid asked, stroking his hand. "What happened?"
Hiccup looked at Astrid and saw again in her eyes that understanding look that so characterized her partner. The Viking had always admired that quality of knowing how to listen and empathize with others, something that he found hard to master because of his own stubbornness.
"We argued days ago and since then, we haven't spoken to each other," he confessed.
"And why did you argue?"
"Well…" He tried to explain, wiping his face a little, "because of the same thing that we argued before. Because I always feel like I have to help everybody and I suppose I don't know how to accept my own limits."
Hiccup felt a lump in his throat explaining that to Astrid, since he knew she was right about that.
"Until a few days ago, Arendelle had a magic dome that prevented anything from entering or leaving," he related, "but that thing was consuming Elsa. So, after talking with her sister… who I think you'd like very much by the way."
"The redhead with the braids?" Astrid guessed, remembering that girl sitting next to the queen who had risen to defend the army of women.
"That same one," the Viking confirmed, continuing his story, "the fact is that Elsa had that magic shield removed, but she discovered that some people had been left outside and had been killed by the flames."
The blonde bristled when she heard that, without being able to imagine the people asking for help without any chance of survival. For a second she relived one of the past nights, when the flames of the trappers devastated the small islet where they were staying.
"Gods…" the girl muttered. "That's terrible."
"Yeah," Hiccup agreed.
In that moment, he remembered Elsa, still in her nightgown, curls up in bed, with that distant expression and those eyes red from crying.
"Elsa went out to patrol the area and they found survivors, but she didn't tell me anything," the boy continued, almost angrier with himself than with the queen. "I found out that morning, when one of them had died and another girl was very ill. Her leg had become infected and I thought the only option she had to survive was…"
"Amputate it," Astrid finished, understanding. "And I imagine that the queen didn't agree, or am I wrong?"
Hiccup nodded silently, swallowing hard and trying to breathe despite the dried blood on his nose. Seeing him, Astrid drew him to her and hugged him.
"You should talk to her," she advised him. "I know you think you could have saved her, but you couldn't know it, Hiccup. I'm sure the queen also thought she was making the best decision for that girl."
Hiccup hugged Astrid's waist tight, burying his head in her chest as the girl stroked his hair. She always had that effect on him, that ability to show him his mistakes without judging him, pouring light where he only saw shadows.
"Perhaps you're right…" he limited himself to saying.
"Of course I am," she answered proudly.
"I've missed you so much Astrid," he said, holding back a few tears, clinging to her body.
"Me too, Hiccup."
Astrid continued to pat his head, relieved that both of them had relaxed a little. However, she still hadn't managed to get rid of that discomfort in her body.
Hiccup might have told her that nothing had happened with that woman and maybe he really could annul his marriage in the future, but even so, Astrid couldn't shake off her doubts. What could have happened if that woman had not been badly hurt the wedding night? Had Hiccup made another decision? She wanted to believe that Hiccup had been sincere. She trusted him, but doubted that it would be so easy to break that type of bond. After all, having a queen with ice powers from the Vikings side was a very juicy deal, just as for Arendelle to have an army of dragons in its power.
Astrid felt terribly small thinking about it, knowing that she was a piece of very little value in all that game of interests and although Hiccup loved her with all his soul, perhaps this time his responsibility was not to be with her, but to look for the future of his tribe.
"I should go, Hiccup," she said somewhat downcast.
Hiccup didn't understand that change of attitude in her, since for a moment they seemed to have returned to being the same as always. However, he was also tired and although what he really wanted was to hug this woman until he fell asleep, he understood that this news had been devastating for Astrid. He was asking too much of her.
"I'll accompany you to your room then," Hiccup offered.
The couple walked in silence through the castle corridors avoiding the guards and the people on duty, since they knew that both looked terrible and that anyone would be scared to see them. Astrid was the one who ended up asking a young woman where the riders had been housed, since the castle was huge and she was too exhausted from the trip to try her luck from room to room. She hadn't even had dinner and was wishing she could put on a clean change of clothes.
When they finally found the room where the other Riders had been allowed to stay, Hiccup and Astrid stopped at the door, glancing around to make sure no one was there.
"See you tomorrow," said the Viking, taking her hand.
"Sure," she said, not very convinced.
Hiccup noticed that something was wrong, but he was afraid that they would argue again, so he didn't want to ask, just in case. The Viking wanted to kiss her, but he also didn't know if that would hurt Astrid, so they just said goodbye with a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"Good night, Astrid."
"Good night, Hiccup."
The boy watched her disappear silently behind that door and stood for a few seconds in the dark, thinking about everything that had happened. The horrible things that they had been said to each other…
In general, Astrid had always been unlikely to show her emotions in public, whether that meant being openly affectionate with people or just telling Hiccup directly that she loved him. The girl didn't want to look fragile or vulnerable, because evidently she was not, but she was always worried that she might be seen as weak. As a result, since they were children, everyone had always pictured Astrid as an indestructible being, someone who wasn't affected by anything. The girl never let what people told her hurt her, nor did insults or jokes afflict her.
However, the bad thing about having built that façade is that, in the end, people around had forgotten hers fragility. And Hiccup realized in that instant that, under all that understanding and strong posture that Astrid had, the girl was devastated.
He had destroyed her.
He made his way back to his room slowly and silently, lost in his own thoughts and miseries, unable to remove the last sad look from the Viking from his head. How she had made the effort to smile at him so that he would leave calm.
As much as Astrid objected otherwise, the Viking still thought he didn't deserve her.
He didn't realize he had reached his room until the door was in front of him. Without much ado, he rummaged in his pockets for the key, which he inserted without much success into the lock. Hiccup pulled hard on the knob, to no avail, and had to hold the gauntlet, which he had hitherto held in his hand, under his arm in order to be able to exert force with both hands. However the door wouldn't move, and just when he thought that nothing could get worse that night, he heard Elsa's door open.
"Hiccup?" the queen asked, clearly awake.
Elsa had seen both Vikings argue minutes ago when she left the meeting room and headed to her room. She was surprised to see them arguing in such a heated way in the middle of the hall. Elsa had never been a gossip, but she couldn't help but stand there in silence for a few seconds, listening to the screams of both in that language that she had studied so much but could barely understand, —and even less when both spoke it at that speed.
She felt guilty that Hiccup was arguing with the girl like that, since the little she had spoken with Hiccup about her it showed that the Viking adored her. For some reason, she really felt terrible to see them scream with such fury. However, she decided that it was best to stay on the sidelines, circling until she reached her room.
However, despite getting into bed and trying to follow Stoick's good advice, she couldn't fall asleep, unable to shake off the voice of those people asking for help in the fire, or forget the memory of Lena's rancor.
She still couldn't believe she was there, in that same castle, like years ago. Every time she thought about it, the air in her body left her and a terrible feeling of anguish invaded her. For this reason, she ended up getting out of bed and set to work in leafing through those books she had piled up, —as if in them she could find some consolation or distraction to her suffering.
Until she had heard Hiccup fighting with the next door.
"I can't open the door," the Viking explained without much encouragement, seeing her peeking out in the middle of that corridor, clutching the neck of her nightgown with one hand.
"Wait, I can help you," Elsa offered, who knew that the door used to cause problems.
However, she stopped dead midway.
"Oh my God, Hiccup," she said, opening her eyes wide, running towards him, forgetting their recent distance, "what happened to you? Are you okay?"
Hiccup was aware that he must have looked horrible, but even in his worst thoughts he had not come close to what he really looked like. The boy not only had a red and swollen nose, but his entire face was covered in dried blood, especially his nose and chin. In addition, his entire shirt was stained by a river of blood that ran from his neck to his belly; not to mention that his left sleeve was a pool of dried blood, like his hands, which had already left a mark on the doorknob.
"I'm really fine," Hiccup shrugged, exhausted.
"Oh God…" was the only thing Elsa managed to articulate.
Hiccup looked down, ashamed of what the woman with whom he had shared moments of real closeness might think. Now he felt her so far away that he couldn't help but feel uncomfortable under her gaze.
"Can… could you open the door for me?" he asked crestfallen. "Please."
"O… of course," Elsa accepted, without changing her worried face.
Hiccup stepped aside to let her do it. The queen, just like the first day she opened that room, gave a small push with her shoulder as she turned the knob, making the lock give way. After this, she stepped aside and let Hiccup pass, silent.
"Thank you," he said, entering the darkness of that room.
He was going to close the door when Elsa sneaked into the room, closing it behind her. Hiccup stared at her blankly, watching her head toward the fireplace to light the fire, heating and illuminating the dim room.
"What are you doing?" Hiccup asked, confused.
Elsa also took a basin, creating a block of ice inside it and putting it next to the fire to melt it.
"Help you wipe off that blood," she said resolutely, unable to hide the fatigue of sleepless nights. "Unless you tell me that it's not yours," she added seriously, with a tone that made Hiccup shiver.
The Viking swallowed hard, unsure what to do, while Elsa was still crouched there by the fire, in her white nightgown and the maroon shawl that he'd seen on her shoulders the last few days. What surprised him the most, was seeing her with her hair down, since he hadn't seen her like this since their wedding night.
"Come on," she urged him, pulling him out of his thoughts, indicating the fire and the basin that was beginning to fill with water, "take off your clothes."
Hiccup took a few seconds to react, feeling like when he was a child and his father scolded him for something he had done wrong, but finally he obeyed and silently unbuttoned the straps of his suit until he removed all the equipment that he always carried with him. After this, he took off his shirt, carefully pulling it off over his head, trying not to touch his nose, as it began to pump blood forcefully into the bruised area.
"You can put that on the floor," Elsa said without looking at him. "I'll get the maids to wash it tomorrow."
Hiccup did as instructed, leaving the shirt near the door.
"There you go," said the girl, taking the basin out of the fire and placing it on a small table in the room.
After this, she turned around, facing a Hiccup who looked at her sad and defeated. Elsa held his gaze for a moment, as if they both had the same need to apologize, but neither of them was able to say anything. The girl immediately looked down, because Hiccup was also half-naked and although it was not the first time that she saw a man without a shirt, it was the first time that she did it in the same room and alone, in the privacy of the night.
"I'm going for a towel so you can dry yourself," she announced, picking up a lock of hair behind her ear, a little nervous. "I'll be back soon."
Hiccup nodded silently and watched her go.
It didn't take long for the queen to return with a small white towel. She sneaked in and closed the door carefully, since she preferred that no one knew she was there, although she knew that luckily they were far enough away from the rest that someone would hear them.
When Elsa entered, he was on his back, finishing washing his hands, although he still had blood everywhere. Elsa studied him closely for a moment, her gaze running down his bare back. The boy was too thin to be a Viking or at least the idea she had always had of Vikings. However, despite not being very muscular or stout, he was well toned. His shoulders were also covered in freckles and a small mark on his lower back, like from a poorly healed wound.
The boy turned to see her standing there. He was also not very hairy, which clashed quite a bit with Elsa's idea of male nudity. The Viking barely had a few messy hairs on his chest and lower abdomen, where a line of hair was lost where Elsa's imagination refused to enter. However, near his thigh she discovered the small mark that he had been made when they first met. Hiccup followed the direction of Elsa's gaze, observing himself and discovering that the girl was looking at the cut that he was made to pretend that they had consummated their marriage.
"It's barely noticeable," he said in a friendly tone, trying to break that awkward silence. "Although I finally think I will have some kind of scar."
"Sorry," Elsa said, embarrassed that the boy had discovered her looking at him.
"It's okay," he replied, pursing his lips.
Elsa looked down, taking some air.
"Would you rather I go?" Elsa said then. "Perhaps it is more comfortable for you…" She didn't even wait for him to respond. "Yes, I'd better go, I'll leave you the towel here."
"Wait Elsa," Hiccup asked, before the girl left. "I don't want to disturb you, but I think I need more water, this is already dirty."
"Oh, yes, sure," Elsa tried to calm herself, "you can throw the dirt through that hole over there."
Hiccup obeyed and returned the basin where Elsa repeated the same previous procedure. The boy sat in a chair to wait for the ice to melt while Elsa simply squatted in front of the fire, in silence.
There was hardly a sound. Only the crackling of the fire and that of his own breaths. Each was lost in their own thoughts. The queen chased by her ghosts from the past and Hiccup lost in that last devastated look from Astrid.
"You can go to sleep if you want," Hiccup broke the silence. "You don't have to worry about me; you've already helped a lot."
Elsa looked at him, smiling at him for the first time.
"I'll stay a while longer, in case you need more water."
The truth was that she didn't want to be alone, least of all in that room where in recent days she had only been visited by nightmares.
"Thank you," said the Viking sincerely.
They waited a while longer until the whole block finally melted and the water heated up. Elsa sat on the bed, while Hiccup removed the dried blood from his arms and neck and washed his face thoroughly.
The girl began to leaf through the books that the Viking had on the bed, stopping at one that he had left open, the one that was in Latin. Right next to it was a sheet of paper filled with arrows and doodles, where letters were written in various scriptures.
"Have you found anything useful?" the queen asked, trying to decipher all that.
"Not much," he was frank. "If I'm honest I need a little help, since I can't read your language very well."
Elsa was taken by surprise, since she had assumed that if Hiccup could speak her language with that skill, he could also read it. However, she remembered then that they had different alphabets.
"Is this a correlation table?" she said, pointing to the paper with symbols.
Hiccup passed the towel over his face and approached her, looking at the paper in her hand. Elsa leaned back slightly because of his closeness, as well as seeing him like that without a shirt made her a little nervous.
"Yes," he confirmed as he indicated the paper. "Or I'm assuming so, since there are things that I can't translate well. For example, what letter is it? And why do you write it differently according to what words?
Elsa paid attention to the paper and understood that the writing of the Vikings had no accents.
"The letter is the same, what changes is the way to pronounce it," she explained. "That's why we put those signs on top, but don't mess around with it… Look, if you want, I'll correct it while you dress."
Hiccup nodded, thankfully. Then Elsa start to correct the correspondence between dialects and scriptures while he finished pulling clean clothes from the trunk and putting on a looser white shirt.
"Here," Elsa handed him the note when Hiccup sat on the bed next to her. Hiccup discovered that Elsa had beautiful calligraphy, like her sister. In addition, by his surprise, she wrote quite well in the Viking dialect.
"I think if you use this you will have no problems translating," she said, "although, if you want, I can leave the books in Latin for you, if you find them easier."
Hiccup nodded, agreeing that it was a good idea. Elsa looked at him then in that sleepy light and was grateful that Hiccup was not in as bad a condition as she had first thought upon seeing him covered in all that blood. Now, with a clean face and no traces of blood, Elsa could see that he only had a small cut in the septum, although the entire area was swelling. It was also easy to guess that he had been crying.
"It hurts?" she asked.
The boy sighed, really tired and with the strange sensation of migraine that his discussion with Astrid had left him.
"A little," he confessed. "It feels like It's on fire."
Elsa got out of bed and stood in front of the Viking, who looked up puzzled without understanding the queen's intentions.
"Let's see…" Elsa said, clutching the boy's chin to watch him as she concentrated.
Hiccup saw that magical creature in her again, as pale and resplendent as the Gods in the light of the fire, observing how the girl's white hair fell disorderly by her nightgown and her eyes returned to emanate that magical shine.
"It's just a minor cut," he said quickly, confused by that contact. "I started bleeding from the nose, so it seemed like it was worse than it is."
"Don't move," Elsa whispered to him.
Hiccup obeyed, confused and embarrassed, remaining silent as Elsa gently placed both hands on the inflamed area, making him feel a pleasant sensation of freshness where the blood pumped hot under his skin. Instantly he could also feel that magical tingle that had seemed so pleasant several nights ago.
How could it be so warm to feel her icy hands on his skin?
"Better?" Elsa asked, not taking her hands off him.
"Much better," the Viking recognized, relieved and overwhelmed by that feeling.
Elsa smiled to herself silently, lowering her gaze to avoid meeting Hiccup, since it was very uncomfortable to have him so close. She didn't want the Viking to notice that her cheeks were burning.
"I haven't found anything yet either," said the queen to avoid being alone with her thoughts in that silence. "Although if I'm honest, I don't know very well what we're looking for."
As much as she shad searched in those books, nothing seemed to be related to the event that Hiccup found in the forest.
"I haven't been very focused these days either…" Hiccup confessed. "I suppose something that has to do with magic rituals or signs…"
"What do you think Drago is looking for?" Elsa asked then, concerned about the news from the riders. "I am worried not knowing what is in that forest or what we're dealing with…"
"Me too," Hiccup agreed. "I think we should go back and take a look."
Elsa remembered that Hiccup had proposed to go together, but now that possibility seemed strange to her.
"Well… It's late, I should go," Elsa said, delicately removing her hands from the boy's face, leaving Hiccup with a strangely empty feeling. "I imagine you will be tired."
Hiccup nodded slightly, watching Elsa toss her hair to one side and peer into the dark.
"Tomorrow I'll ask you to clean your clothes," she announced as she made her way back to the door. "Good night, Hiccup."
For some reason that he didn't understand, Hiccup didn't want Elsa to leave. He was afraid of being alone because he was sure he couldn't fall asleep, turning over and over again everything that happened that night.
"Wait, Elsa," he asked, getting up from the bed.
He wanted to apologize for their argument and for having been avoiding her for days. Also, remembering Astrid's wise words, surely Elsa had only acted as she thought best for that poor girl. In deep, he realized she was handling alone the whole issue of the survivors and spending the nights awake, tormented by it.
Although he didn't want to admit it, Hiccup had heard her cry the past few nights on the other side of the wall and he had been so proud not to knock on her door; when he knew Elsa didn't feel okay. Now, he felt just idiot having Elsa in his room, worried about him, about the well-being of others —as she always did—, without asking questions and without caring that they didn't speak to each other. He had rushed to judge her.
However, despite all the things he wanted to say, he was unable to say anything.
"Thank you," was the only thing he could say, "really."
"You don't have to thank me," she said simply, carefully closing the door behind her. "Good night, Hiccup. Rest well."
"Good night, Elsa."
Hiccup sat in his bed in the dark for an indefinite time, thinking over and over about the hundreds of things on his mind, not knowing that in the next room, Elsa was fighting the same battle. An infinite war about all the things they had to tell each other and they didn't; trying to find some courage to do it in the terrible silence of loneliness.
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REVIEWS
BeConFuzzled Writer: love you liked it! Thanks for your review and support! ^^
OechsnerC: Thanks! Ohh I love that you liked the last chapter and the 'resolution' of their relationship hahaha. As you see, this chapter brought them some 'peace' (at least for now hahaha) Thanks again for your review and support! Un beso enorme!:D
OvErActiVe-InSoMniAc: hi! Any constructive criticism is welcome. This job is new for both of us and it's very hard (we spend long time to do it), so we do the best we can, always trying to improve in every chapter. I hope you like the story!
Greetings as always to all followers, fav, readers and anonymous.
See you next weekend! : )