Chapter 18

When Astrid finally entered the manor she was led to the ballroom. She could feel eyes on her person and as she walked she used her fan to hide part of her face while looking around at the people that had arrived and were chatting. It was the virtual whos-who of society as she spotted several madams who were well known for their gossip as well as their trendsetting, some well known Dragonpolo players. She knew her father wouldn't attend since he was still in bed due to the injuries his wife had inflicted and her mother cared not much for such social events.

One of the hosts of the party made themselves known nearly immediately after the usher announced her name to the ballroom. No sooner had the man finished speaking before her arm was taken by her aunt Hildegard.

"Astrid darling, I am so glad you could make it," Her aunt gushed as Astrid let her lead her around the room for now. "It's been so long,"

"Indeed it has aunt Hildegard," Astrid answered briskly. "How are you and your husband faring?" She then asked out of politeness. Hildegard's husband was her father's younger brother and Hildegard was actually his second wife. She was slightly younger than his first wife and if the rumors were to be believed her uncle had divorced his first wife as she was barren, unable to have children, and had then brought his mistress into the manor whom he later married. It was basically the social scandal of years past. Astrid had heard of it but as she was only a few years old when it had happened she was skeptical of the validity of it. Yet both ladies still lived in the manor and tongues wagged and faux sympathy spread that Mr. Hofferson just couldn't bear to throw his first wife out on the street after their divorce.

The facts were this; Her uncle had married twice, he hadn't taken Hildegard as a concubine at first which was odd, both ladies lived in relative peace together in the manor and all three were rather private. Astrid wasn't one to believe the rumors but even this arrangement seemed slightly off to her by Noble standards. She snapped out of her musings as her uncle approached. He was a fairly tall fellow, taller than his older brother actually but Astrid held her head high as he slightly towered over her.

"My dear niece," her uncle greeted her though she felt no warmth in his voice. "I am so happy you could join us this evening."

"Greetings uncle," Astrid said with a slight curtsy as was customary to greet a host. The curtsy wasn't as formal as one would use when greeting royalty but she used this opportunity to place her hand near her bosom and the square neckline of her gown, drawing attention to the black pearl necklace she had been given by Queen Valka. The supposedly subconscious gesture had the desired effect as she heard the intake of breath from her uncle. She hid a smirk as her game had begun. Pearls in general were coveted by Nobility as Berk was an island kingdom. The most coveted color amongst the pearls was black and since centuries past only the Queens and future Queens of Berk wore this color. It was seen as an unspoken rule, denoting status within society and here Astrid was all but literally screaming at the Nobles that saw her 'Those who mocked and belittled me for getting thrown in prison; WELL I'M BACK AND BETTER THAN EVER!'

Astrid tucked a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear, revealing the black pearl earring that went with the necklace as she watched her uncle quickly recover. "First let me congratulate you on your engagement," Her uncle said and Astrid supposed he might be playing it safe, testing the waters a bit so to say. "Prince Hiccup is a lucky man to have you as a fiance,"

"And I am a lucky woman," Astrid smiled genuinely. She then looked around for a moment and frowned "So where is Aster?" She had yet to spot her cousin and he should be at the ball with his parents greeting the guests and schmoozing to make connections. "As the new heir to the family he should also be greeting these guests, should he not?"

There was an uncomfortable cough from aunt Hildegard and her uncle looked away slightly which all but confirmed her suspicions. "My son is sadly not feeling very well tonight," her uncle said and his wife added with feigned remorse. "Yes, the doctor advised that he stay in bed for the night. It was all quite sudden you see." In Noble speak it really meant; 'We couldn't cancel the ball without losing face,' though Astrid suspected this was all a ruse.

"Then aunt and uncle, please excuse me. I am sure you have many more guests to greet." Astrid said and saw the slight panic in her aunt's eyes as she proposed they moved on to other guests.

"Dear Astrid may we speak later?" Her aunt then asked and Astrid nodded. She excused herself and went to mingle with the other guests.

The time was passing slowly, with couples waltzing on the dance floor. Astrid was utterly bored and on her second flute of champagne and she idly wondered why she hadn't asked Hiccup to escort her tonight. Though she didn't want to subject him to more of her family drama as it was. Two arms were suddenly looped around both her arms as she had been listening to some old merchant give an account on how he swept a viscountess off her feet in his younger days. She was slightly startled and was about to probably beat the crap out of whoever did it when she realized that Camicazi and Ruffnut were flanking her on either side. "Lady Jorgenson, Lady Thornston," Astrid greeted politely as the women whisked her away from the boring conversation.

"Am I ever glad to see you two," Astrid muttered as she picked up another flute of champagne. The trio headed towards the large glass doors which separated the ballroom from the balcony overlooking the expansive garden. "Any more of playing nice while mingling and I might have strangled someone." She now knew why her mother rarely went to these functions and had some new appreciation for her father whenever he managed to get his wife to accompany him.

"We felt exactly the same." Camicazi said.

"My boredom fainted when I spotted Lady Jorgenson and then you," Ruffnut eagerly confessed.

"Ruffnut are you here because my cousin is sick?" Astrid asked with a frown as she knew the female doctor rarely attended balls, much less wore dresses, after giving up her title. Ruffnut was one of the best doctors in the Kingdom, surely Aster's parents would have asked her to come and take a look.

"Sick?" Ruffnut frowned. "This is the first I've heard of it. I am merely here for the free food and to get away from my brother who is composing poetry about his Chicken. If I have to listen to more of that then we will be having chicken stew tomorrow."

"Your brother truly adopted a chicken?" Camicazi muttered. "So strange,"

"So where is your husband tonight?" Astrid asked as she was quite curious. Snotlout was afterall a fan of these parties.

"He is at home, reflecting on the error of his ways," Camicazi huffed. "Not even Duke Jorgenson dared to oppose me when I departed tonight without an escort."

Astrid raised a brow as that must have been some row. When Cami got mad she struck fear in most people, only Astrid and a few others had managed to stand their grounds against the woman. It was Ruffnut who asked the obvious question as to what Snotlout had done to warrant such treatment since they were newlyweds still.

"He couldn't keep his eyes and hands to himself," Cami hissed dangerously as she smacked her dark green lace fan in the palm of her hand with anger.

"Oh my!" Astrid said as both she and Ruffnut leaned in closer. She wasn't much for gossip but did occasionally indulge in it, like any young lady from Noble society that was bored out of their minds. There was no one on the balcony besides them but Camicazi still whispered the story.

"So a few mornings ago I visited Ruffnut's clinic for a check up," Cami said while hinting at their previous conversation. "And lo and behold, who do I see entering a gentleman's club not so far away. Why it was my darling husband. I had no problem with him visiting such a club. He likes to spend time with the guys and they took him to one to celebrate after hearing of our marriage. Only it seemed, he kept going most of the nights after," Here she shrugged a bit. "But there I was, across the cobblestones, watching my husband be welcomed by some floozy with too much makeup!"

"Ah right, I remember," Ruffnut muttered. "That gentleman's club is known for employing female waitresses. It's actually very popular as the waitresses flirt with a lot of the patrons to get them to buy more drinks."

"That I gathered," Camicazi mumbled. "Of course I was denied entry as it is a men's only club,"

"And that's why you asked if you could borrow some of my brother's clothes!" Ruffnut realized. "I was wondering what you were going to do with those and that awful fake mustache."

"So you snuck into the club?" Astrid asked though she probably already knew what Cami would have done. The other blonde nodded and said "I snuck in and there my husband was, with a lap full of floozy and his hands where it shouldn't have been." She harrumphed.

"Well frankly it's a wonder that Snotlout is still alive," Astrid stated, impressed. "You must truly love him,"

"I just needed to get out of that house to cool my head before I made him a eunuch," Camicazi said as she leaned against the stone railing of the balcony. "So I came to this party but it was dull until I ran into you two," Here she smirked and directed her own champagne glass towards Astrid and asked "So who will you be tormenting tonight?" Camicazi obviously knew about Astrid's situation and was just waiting for the fallout.

"We shall see in a mo-" Astrid was cutoff as a scream came from above and a body fell down onto one of the rose bushes in the garden next to the balcony. There was a painful yelp from a male voice as the three women hurried to check on him.

"Aster?!" Astrid exclaimed as she saw her cousin tangled up in the rose bush. The thorns must really be poking some delicate places because the man made no snarky remarks and just winced.

"Well, what do you know, it's raining men," Camicazi remarked dryly while Ruffnut muttered a "Hallelujah,"

AN:
Harry: (Walks in and stops and stares)
Vala: (Is using a large hairdryer to roll the Porg around like a tumbleweed)
Harry: (Nearly lets down guard until Porg is blown into a slow-cooker) "MAH PORG!"