Chapter 19

The three ladies stood there as Aster struggled to get himself out of the bush. With a sigh, Astrid finally reached out her hand to help her wayward cousin. She pulled him up towards the stone railing of the balcony which he scaled with no difficulty even if he still had twigs from the bush caught in his hair. There were also several scratches from the thorns on his face and hands as Astrid observed him. She then looked up to see an open window on the second floor.

"What were you thinking?!" Astrid scolded as she pointed to the open window. "You could have been hurt worse than this!"

"Well, it's not like I had much of a choice, now did I!" Aster retorted gruffly while trying to yank the twigs out of his hair. "Not with my parents locking me in my room like some errant child!"

Astrid let out another groan when Aster asked her why she was even here at the ball and Astrid just wanted to punch him at that moment. Both Ruffnut and Camicazi wisely remained quiet as the cousins duked it out.

"Hey! It's a valid question," Aster muttered when he heard her groan. "You were disowned and this ball is for the close friends and clients of the Hofferson family. It's invitation only."

"Well guess what dear cousin. I was invited, personally too. One of my Ladies-in-waiting received the invitation on my behalf from aunt Hildegard herself." Astrid shot back and took some pleasure in the gobsmacked look Aster suddenly sported.

"But mother hates you!" He blurted out and then quickly covered his mouth with his hands as if he shouldn't have revealed that, which he probably shouldn't have.

Astrid merely rolled her eyes though and uttered "I knew that already. The woman can't act and she was always passive-aggressive to me. Surprisingly tonight she wasn't."

"You knew?!" Aster exclaimed as his brows shot up. "But… But…."

"But why am I here then?" Astrid smirked now as she folded her arms in front of her. "Dear cousin, we both know that you aren't a fool even if you choose to act like one. I'm sure you can at least guess why I was invited." She knew just how manipulative her aunt and uncle could be so she didn't blame Aster for playing an idiot, though at times he'd take it too far. She had just figured it out one day years ago as she got to read some of her cousin's homework. If he had been an idiot then he wouldn't have been able to ace Advanced Economics. Though she never let it slip that she knew.

Aster now sputtered and Astrid approached him, placing a hand on his shoulder while leaning in. She whispered in his ear "I told you before, a puppet is only useful for so long." She remembered, telling him that when Hiccup and her went to get Stormfly; one of the instances he took his act too far and she had to rebuke him. 'Honestly, what was he thinking going that far in front of Royalty.' She was lucky Hiccup wasn't so easily offended or a stickler for protocol.

"Just so you know I'm not here t-" Astrid was interrupted by Camicazi who hissed at her. She turned to look at the woman with a frown and then towards the glass doors and her eyes widened. Camicazi had been trying to warn her that her uncle and aunt were heading right towards them. Luckily they couldn't see Aster as he wasn't standing in front of the windows but they couldn't catch him out here if they went through so much trouble of locking him in his room and faking an illness. Aster needed to hide but there was nowhere he wouldn't be spotted on the balcony. Then Astrid got an idea and her cousin wasn't liking the glint in her eyes one bit.

"This will hurt you more than me," Astrid told him before pushing him back over the balcony railing with some force that he yelped as he once again fell into the rose bushes, flattening one by the sounds of the twigs snapping. Both Ruffnut and Camicazi went to stand near Astrid now, their wide ball gown skirts shielding anyone coming outside from seeing Aster's legs that were still sticking out partially. To outsiders it looked like the ladies were just deep in gossip and Astrid even acted surprised when her uncle called out to her. She then realized that it had been more than an hour that she and the others had been out here now, coupled with the time she had spent mingling suggested that the party had been well underway giving the hosts a chance to slip away.

"Uncle, why don't we adjourn to the drawing room? I'm sure we can have our private talks there without being disturbed." Astrid suggested before excusing herself from the other ladies.

Once Astrid was back inside Camicazi turned to Ruffnut to ask "Want to go snooping?"

"Do you need to ask?" Ruffnut smirked and then both women turned when they heard a pained groan from the bushes.

"We should probably take him with us," Camicazi muttered as if Aster would be dead weight.

"We should probably get him out of that poor rose bush first," Ruffnut sighed as she had more sympathy for the roses than the man.

Meanwhile, Astrid was being escorted towards the drawing room that was adjacent to the ballroom. The room was smaller and adorned with plush chairs and even a grand piano with a fireplace nearby. It gave off a much more intimate setting for entertaining guests, mainly family members, than the ballroom. Astrid took a seat on a single high back chair and rested her elbow on the armrest while her other hand was tapping against her leg. Her aunt and uncle took seats on the two person sofa causing them to have their backs towards the doors.

"So," Astrid said as she sat straight while looking at her uncle. "I believe you called me here because you had a proposition for me."

"Why yes," Her uncle began. "Astrid, we…. Uhm…. we want you to resume your position as Heir to the Hofferson family."

Astrid lifted a brow since she knew that something like that would be uttered. "And this has nothing to with the dignitaries from the south arriving has it? Looking for connections so you can be the first ones to broker trade deals?" She asked with a smirk "Or because I am to be the future Crownprincess of Berk? Does Baron Hofferson even know what you are proposing here tonight?"

"You can leave your father to me Astrid," her uncle cleared his throat somewhat uncomfortably. This likely had to do with the steely glare his niece was aiming at him. "It won't take much to convince him surely. Why, your engagement to the Prince alone would bring much prestige to the household."

"So I am but a tool for your ambitions," Astrid harumped as she leaned further in the chair. "Tell me, what of your son?"

"What of him?" Her uncle asked with raised brows.

"Ever since I had been named heir you had been campaigning to your brother to have Aster take up the position, saying he would be better suited for it. When I got disowned I thought you would be jumping for joy as that was your big chance to make your son the next Baron." Astrid stated bluntly. She held up her hand when her aunt wanted to speak and continued while staring both of her relatives down with a glare. "Now here you are, asking me, who has gotten a better lot in life than rotting in a prison, to take back my status as heir and the only thing you can say about what would happen to your son is WHAT OF HIM?!" She raised her voice as some of her anger seeped through. Really, the nerve of these two. No wonder Aster played the fool. If he showed even a modicum of talent they would exploit it for their own personal gain. She also noted some moving shadows, obscuring the light through the small crack under the doors and had an inkling as to who might be listening in.

"What of him you asked, let us go through the scenarios shall we," Astrid now folded her hands together and uttered "The Hofferson house is supported by the Laurant family. All financial support comes from them in return for ties to Nobility. Which means if Aster is ousted as the heir he will have no financial support from that side, furthermore it will be seen as an insult in society. Clearly you haven't thought it through what it means for your son to be ousted without a clear motive. This would haunt his social career. If he ever needed employment it would be detrimental. His chances of marriage will also dwindle since people will speculate whether or not he was replaced due to him being unable to manage the estates or just plain incompetence." Astrid slammed her hand on the armrest causing her aunt to flinch.

"Astrid darling," Aunt Hildegard murmured while nervously fiddling with the hem of her dress. "You have to understand, your new status would catapult the Hofferson family into the center of nobility. New avenues would open for us and well frankly….." here Hildegard sighed "Our son is an idiot." Aunt Hildegard said it so bluntly that Astrid herself had to stop her anger for a moment and just stare at her aunt but Hildegard continued "Neither of us think he would be able to manage the estate. He doesn't seem to be taking his new status seriously and we don't think we should spend more resources on him if this is how he acts. He is a lost cause to us."

Astrid sighed and muttered something under her breath that sounded an awful lot like "Thor help me," Her mind however was going a million miles an hour and there was one thought that struck her. 'Is this what you wanted Aster? To be abandoned by your parents? Were they so manipulative, so power hungry, that you would act the fool just to be dismissed by them as nothing but? Was this your endgame? Did you want to cut your puppet strings yourself one day?'

"Uncle, aunt," Astrid said as she stood up. Both her relatives stood up as well and Astrid pinned them with a glare "I will not be reclaiming my title as heir so you can forget petitioning this to the Baron." her uncle sputtered but Astrid silenced him with but a glare. "No uncle, Aster will stay the heir to House Hofferson. You wanted him there, you got him there, and you will sleep in the bed you've made." Astrid knew something was up with this family but frankly she stopped caring ever since they did nothing when she had been placed in prison. There was some sympathy for her cousin but he would have to deal with his parents himself.

"Astrid wait!" her uncle said as he followed after her as she headed for the door. He quickly grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Unhand me!" Astrid growled as a dangerous glint could be seen in her eyes.

"Wait please Astrid!" her uncle said frantically. His voice was full of desperation. "You and Aster are the only ones qualified to take over as head of the family! You would have to do it… yes… you would have to do it if an incident befell Aster."

Astrid's eyes widened at the implication her uncle made and before she knew it her body had spun around on its own and her hand had delivered a sharp slap to his cheek. The resounding 'SMACK' could even be heard outside the room. Her uncle let go of her other arm and stumbled back, clutching his rapidly reddening cheek with his palm and staring at her with incredulity.

Astrid's anger was blazing now as she jabbed a finger in her uncle's direction. "You dare! You dare to threaten your own son's life just to move up within the social circles?! Do you think this is a game?! He's your own flesh and blood for Thor's sake! Sure he can be proud, arrogant, ditzy, lazy, and have the manners of a stone at times! HE IS STILL YOUR SON! I will be having words with my father about your abhorrent behaviour and you can bet your arse there will be consequences!" Astrid was done playing nice and it showed. This was the first time she had cursed out loud in years. "You are lower than a mulch-bucket-eating-termite and you are lucky I don't call Stormfly in here to turn you into a pincushion!"

Astrid then promptly walked out of the room with long strides, slamming the door loudly. Outside of the room she saw Camicazi, Ruffnut and Aster, who still had twigs in his hair, crouched behind an old suit of armor near the door. Ruffnut had clamped a hand over Aster's mouth but Astrid could see the shock in his eyes. It was one thing to speculate, it was a whole other thing to hear your own father planning to dispose of you.

"Come, I don't want them catching any of us here," Astrid said and the trio followed her further into the halls of the manor. They were quiet, Aster specifically. "Aster," Astrid said, getting her cousin's attention. "I need you to listen to me right now."

Aster nodded but said nothing for the moment. "We are going to pack up some of your things and you will be going over to the main house tonight. I'll be writing a letter to my mother explaining why. She should be able to arrange everything for you."

"But…."

"No buts," Astrid had a tone of finality in her voice. "I can't say that I am wholly fond of you but you are still my cousin. You will be going."

"They'll not let me leave," Aster muttered and Camicazi scoffed.

"You have a Princess-to-be, a-soon-to-be Duchess, and the craziest doctor in the kingdom here." She uttered. "Your parents have no title and if they do not want to be arrested, socially defamed or given diarrhea for more than a month they will stand back and let you leave." The blond then put her hands on her hips. "Now show me to your room. We have packing to do."

Meanwhile, back at the palace Sierra was making her way through the halls with great haste. The Captain of the guards had been notified as well and they were sending a missive by Terrormail to Lady Astrid. She had been searching for this so-called Alchemist and had reached the ground floor when she saw him through one of the windows. The hooded shadowy figure was in the front courtyard and making his way to the main gate. Sierra had to be fast since it was possible that the guards at the gate hadn't been alerted yet to the plot that was afoot.

Sierra made it into the courtyard but the Alchemist had just been let through the gate. She should have yelled for the guards but she wasn't thinking straight, too worried about what the person had cooked up to use on the Prince. Even if they had only known each other for a few days, Hiccup was nice and she didn't want him to get hurt. So in the heat of the moment she grabbed the nearest thing she could think of, which was a hideous garden gnome, and chucked it the figure. The gnome flew through the air, and she and the guards watched gobsmacked as it hit the Alchemist straight on the head.

The scream of "MY GNOME!" was ignored as she finally yelled at the guards to apprehend the cloaked figure that was groaning on the cobblestones that formed the bridge over the large moat.

"PLEASE DON'T HURT ME!" The Alchemist shouted as spears were thrust to his neck. The hood was yanked off by one of the guards and Sierra saw that it was a fairly young and portly blond man.

"PLEASE DON'T HURT ME!" The man begged again as the guards dragged him up.

"What's your name?" Sierra had to ask as this man looked more frightened than sinister.

"Fishlegs! Fishlegs Ingerman!" The man responded quickly as weapons were kept trained on him.

AN:

Vala: (Shoves Porg in a cannon)
Harry: "OYE!"
Vala: "FIRE IN THE HOLE!" (shoots cannon)
Harry: "MAH-PORG!"