Chapter 27

Mariabelle was sitting in front of her dresser as her handmaid Griselda combed her hair and wove it into an intricate conch shell braid adorned with sapphire encrusted bobby pins. This was one of her more regular hairstyles so Griselda worked fast and with practiced ease.

"My lady will you be going out today?" Griselda asked while twisting a braid. "Simply waiting in the castle for your husband's return…. Forgive my impudence but it's not healthy."

"It's not that easy Griselda," Mariabelle said in a low voice.

"Why not? You're the Queen. Surely the Queen can go wherever she wants. My fiance Eret recently opened up a restaurant near the harbour. Maybe you would enjoy some seafood dishes from there. When your husband isn't here the chefs and the servants are being rather negligent while providing for you." Griselda huffed as she put the finishing touches on the Queen's hairstyle.

"Griselda you've been with me for a year already and you've been a blessing but surely you can see the complications." Mariabelle sighed. "People think I bewitched the King and murdered the previous Queen. There are rumors outside the palace that I am a harlot only after the kingdom's treasures. My stepsons hate me or are indifferent to me, and the servants despise me. My last handmaid tried to kill me with an icepick." The Queen's hands shook on her lap now. "I am…. Afraid. It has been years and those rumors still persist. Going outside without my husband means I have minimum protection at best. Most of the knights will not pledge their loyalty to me."

"It's all poppycock I say," Griselda exclaimed angrily. "The servants are just jealous of you because you're the one that caught the King's attention. I've heard them gossip, especially the younger ones. Many of them wished to have your luck. You were one of them and now you're the Queen!"

Mariabelle let out a strangled laugh here. "Now I do not even wish for this luck," she near whispered as her voice held back a sob. "It's not some fairytale where the pauper becomes a princess and everyone lives happily ever after. Griselda there are days I wish I never met Edward. There are days I wished that I could have refused his proposal. I was poor and naive. I know he cares about me and these years have blessed me with a leisurely life and several children. But…" She then turned to her handmaid and asked "Have I ever told you how Edward and I met?"

"Well there are several accounts of the events floating through the palace, but you Milady have never said a word." Griselda stated while the Queen gestured for her to sit.

It was more than two decades ago really," Mariabelle reminisced. "I was but a young girl from the countryside that was ecstatic at being employed at the palace even if it was just as a lower-maid." Griselda nodded as the Queen continued. "I used the last of my savings after my parents' passing to reach the capital and apply for jobs. I got food and board at the palace and one day while I was cleaning the outer windows near the courtyard a Count approached me." Her hands still shook but she went on. "The Count was an old and lecherous man. As a servant I could not refute his commands. He placed a hand possessively on my shoulders and led me away from my post. We neared the garden and he started groping me. I tried to scream but his meaty hand clamped over my mouth and he started tearing away my uniform."

"Your Highness you…. You don't have to tell me this," Griselda saw her mistress shiver but it was waved away. "I'm fine." She told her handmaid. "The man had been ripping away my clothing but I managed to elbow him in the stomach causing him to let go. I screamed and tried to get away but he still caught me and as there was a fountain nearby he tried to drown me to keep me silent. Luckily people heard my screams before and Edward came running. He beheaded the Count right then and there and helped fish me out of the fountain. I was cold, wet and disoriented but to me he shone like a knight in shining armor." The Queen smiled a bit. "I blushed as he took off his own jacket and helped me cover up. There was something there, Griselda. I fell for him right there. Sure he could be brash and at times a bit hot-headed but I do believe it was love at first sight. Now I regret it slightly."

"Why? From all that I've seen Milady, the King adores you." Griselda stated. "He's known to dote on you."

"That's just it, Griselda." Mariabelle said. "He doted on me. He was already married yet I became his mistress. I was naive about court politics and started a relationship with him."

"When the King and I met for the first time he was already married for years to the Queen. He never took another wife or concubine and his then-wife revelled in the notion that she was the only one. The only one to sire his heirs. She knew about me of course and there were rumors that the king loved me more and I would soon replace the Queen. He did ask me to be an official concubine once it was known I was pregnant, promising a life free of toil, but before I accepted tragedy struck. The Queen got ill and was soon on her deathbed. She died not long after. Edward was struck with grief after her State funeral and I, foolish naive I, found him weeping in the gardens. I comforted him and he in the spur of the moment asked me to be his Queen."

Mariabelle took a deep breath. "I shouldn't have agreed. I really shouldn't but he was so heartbroken. The young me thought I could mend it. He married me soon after and more vicious rumors started appearing not only through the court but through the populace as well. Especially once it was known that any children I bore would have a right to the throne as well. Whispers of me poisoning the first Queen, of me being a prostitute and gold-digger. That the children I gave birth to were not my husband's!" here she slammed a fist against the plush settee cushion. "My children probably resent me Griselda. There will always be rumors that they are not the King's. They work hard for recognition within the court while standing beside siblings that hate them and taunt them. I don't blame them for being opportunistic. That's Royal court life. It's a sad sad life and if I could turn back time I would have never agreed. Edward, by the Norns, I love him. He has been good to me but I wish better for my children."

The Queen dismissed Griselda from her duties for the afternoon, telling her to go see her fiance. She wanted to be alone for a while and as dusk fell a couple of hours later the Queen could be found sitting on her balcony with a cup of camomile tea one of the maids had brought. She was watching the sunset when the door to her rooms was kicked open, startling the new maid on duty behind the tea cart.

"Leave!" Lars ordered as he barged into the Queen's chambers with three guards in tow. The young maid jumped in fright and hightailed it out of there without looking back, nearly running into the door as she tried to avoid one of the harsh-looking knights.

"Have you no manners?!" Mariabelle asked as she put the intricate porcelain cup down on its matching saucer with a soft 'clack'.

"Why would I show you any manners?" Lars chuckled. "It's not like you deserve my respect you whore,"

"Lars do not think I will not tell your father. He will not let this behaviour slide!" The Queen stood up and faced the interlopers but Lars merely laughed in her face and ordered the guards to apprehend her. Mariabelle tried to back away but the men caught her by her arms and forced her to her knees. "What is the meaning of this?!" She shouted as Lars produced a dagger from his coat and grabbed part of her hair. He yanked on it and then sliced it away.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Mariabelle shouted now with more desperation as more and more of her hair was being chopped off.

"I'm merely giving you back your true appearance," Lars chuckles as long strands of hair fell onto the marble floor. The Queen's sapphire hair accessories were also yanked out of her hair as it had now turned into a chopped off mess. "There, much better," Lars said while sniggering. "Now, you truly look like the piece of trash I always saw you as."

"EDWARD WON'T LET YOU GET AWAY WITH THIS!" She shouted while trying to wiggle out of the knights' grasps.

"Oh Father…. well I doubt he will have anything to say. He won't be returning after all."

Mariabelle's eyes widened and she gasped "You would kill your own father?!"

"Oh no. I left that task up to my dear sister. She should have done it by now," The Prince laughed coldly. "Tell me, how does it feel knowing your own daughter is going to end the man you love. I didn't even have to convince her all that much for her to agree." He bent down, grasping the Queen's chin and dragging her forward forcefully. "Don't worry. You'll be joining him soon." he then proceeded to slap her in the face and while Mariabelle was jarring from the slap he ordered his men to drag her down to the dungeons and show her some 'hospitality'.

The room was deathly silent as Mariabelle explained the events that led up to her imprisonment. She then proceeded to explain that the next day the chained Gronkle was also placed in a cell along with Griselda on the other side. Mariabelle was surprised and a little hurt when Griselda confessed to her in the dead of the night that she was in fact a double agent working under the Berkian spymaster. The former Queen could not stay mad for the deception however, when she learned that Griselda had been captured, along with the dragon she was to liberate, by coming back for her. She was even sadder when the woman's life was forfeit upon Lars' orders. Ready to give up on life and resign herself to the inevitable hangman's noose she was surprised later that night by a commotion in the dungeon. It had sounded like swords clashing and men groaning in pain. Her surprise doubled when Throk stood in front of her cell with a sword drawn in one hand and keys in the other. The whole experience was surreal as she was quickly taken through several secret passages that were to be used by the Royal family in the event of an attack. She and the knight had ended up trudging through several sewers and catacomb systems before reaching the harbour area. Mariabelle had lived most of her life in this city yet she didn't know that these tunnels even existed. Throk quietly explained that only the commanders knew of them in case there was a need to smuggle the Royal family out. By now the alarms were sounding and her escape was known. Mariabelle followed Throk who surprisingly led them to a restaurant.

"Sir Throk had done his research on Griselda after he had killed her," Mariabelle told the Berkian council. "That was how he had found out that her fiance was actually her partner and had made a deal with him to help smuggle us out. We met Marchioness' Stormheart's ship halfway through our journey."

"May I ask one thing?" Valka spoke up. "Lars seems to have it out for you in particular. Is there anything more to the history between you two?"

"Yes," Mariabelle said while nodding. "It was basically my fault for him not being considered as a possible successor anymore." Her fists were clenched and the woman was slightly shaking. "A year ago the handmaiden serving before Griselda was bribed by Lars to kill me. He didn't hide the fact that he had a hand in it from me. He practically flaunted it when we met in hallways and other places without peering eyes. But I couldn't accuse him without proof. The assassin was dead, she hung herself in her cell. However, he didn't know that I knew one of his secrets. I confessed to my husband that I had seen Lars and a male servant having relations. Edward was livid. He confronted Lars about his dalliances. One thing led to another and Edward proclaimed that if Lars wasn't interested in producing heirs then even as the firstborn he would not be considered for the next King of the Southern isles." Murmurs swept the room as Valka nodded. Indeed, that would surely cause Lars to despise Mariabelle more.

Stoick called for a recess when the guard he had sent to appraise Gobber and Heather of the situation returned. The King proclaimed that this council meeting would be put on hold as an emergency War council would be held. The most important Ministers would be joining in on the meeting along with Hiccup, Astrid and Marchioness Stormheart.

They had a few minutes in between meetings as several things needed to be set up. So Hiccup and Astrid took a walk through the outer corridor near the gardens to clear their heads while proceeding to the smaller meeting room where the war council would be held.

"That was…." Astrid muttered.

"Surprising?" Hiccup asked.

"So we really are going to war," She whispered disbelievingly.

"It seems like it," Hiccup said. "Unless mother and father have some ingenious plan going we are basically looking at war on the horizon. There are countermeasures for these things already in place. The citizens should be evacuating towards the middle of the island by now." he then looked towards his fiance. "Astrid I want you to go with them."

"WHAT?!" Astrid's shout made Hiccup wince and take a step back. "YOU'RE TRYING TO SEND ME AWAY… NOW OF ALL TIMES?!"

"I want you safe!" Hiccup argued. "The town will most likely be besieged from the sea. Not even the palace will come out unscathed."

"Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the 3rd if you think for one moment I am going to leave your scrawny behind alone while a war is raging then you have another thing coming!" Her fist was clenched at the front of Hiccup's tunic and with a surprised shout he was pulled into a passionate kiss. "Of all the hair-brained ideas! Me fleeing for the hills!" She huffed after kissing all coherent thoughts out of her prince. "I'm going to get my axe and show these mulch buckets just wha-" Astrid was stopped mid-sentence as the shrill scream of Alvin echoed through the corridors not so far away.

"MURDER! THERE'S BEEN MURDER! THE KING, THE QUEEN, AND THE ADVISOR HAVE BEEN MURDERED! HELP! GUARDS HELP!"

AN:

Vala (opens the pantry door and spots Harry hiding) "What are you doing in here?" (proceeds to hide in pantry too)

Harry: "The Porg keeps serenading me with Backstreet boys. I wonder where he got it from. Why are you here?"

Vala: "Hiding from a murderous mob of readers."

Harry: "Ah... you did THAT,"

Vala: "Yup" (phone goes off and plays the ringtone 'I want it that way')

Harry: (-_-)

Vala: "hehehe"