Chapter 32

Once Stoick and Hiccup had revealed the whole plot it was quiet in the parlor. Spitelout had his head in his hands as a groan could be heard coming from him. The man looked so utterly defeated but there was one thing Stoick just couldn't wrap his head around.

"Why Spitelout?" the King asked his brother. "Just why would you do this?"

"Why? You actually have the gall to ask me why when you know perfectly well why!" Spitelout suddenly spat, starling Hiccup, Astrid, Sierra and Alvin. Stoick's bushy brows were drawn together in confusion as his brother let out hysterical laughter.

"You knew how it was with father," Spitelout all but growled. "You were the younger one but also the oh-so-perfect son. You could do no wrong while I was just an accident!"

"Spitelout that's not…."

"DON'T YOU ACT ALL RIGHTEOUS AND SYMPATHETIC WITH ME STOICK!" Spitelout shouted as he stood up with his fist balled. The guards kept their hands on the hilts of their swords but Stoick motioned for them not to attack. "I WORKED MY ARSE OFF TO GET FATHER'S APPROVAL BUT IT NEVER AMOUNTED TO MUCH NOW DID IT? DID IT?!"

Hiccup had never seen his uncle this mad before and it frankly scared him. Spitelout shook with fury as he let all his grievances out for once. "I was the eldest of us Stoick. I WAS THE ELDEST PRINCE! The title of Crown prince should have been mine by default! But NOOOOO! Our father hated my mother! She was the third princess of the Lavalout Kingdom given to him in marriage as a prize to seal the peace treaty. It was a marriage he didn't even want! He found the Lavalouts barbaric yet even he couldn't keep it in his pants when confronted with her beauty!"

The Duke was heaving now. "You may not know this but my mother suffered a lot. She was relegated to the status of a concubine and had to deal with the ire of your own mother. The FIRST wife, the Queen of Berk! The red-headed woman who was called compassionate by her citizens was a tyrant to my mother who had no choice but to reside in the palace! She was cold, she was lonely and when she fell pregnant it was no celebration!" Spitelout exclaimed. "Our father never meant to get her pregnant," he then looked Stoick in the eye "Your mother had difficulty conceiving and didn't take the news very well. The first wife's abuse continued, escalated even. I don't know how my mother survived all those years but when I was three she finally succumbed to all the stress heaped upon her. On her deathbed she told me that I deserved to be King! That I deserved all of it! ALL OF BERK!"

"A year later, you were born," All the anger in Spitelout's eyes was focussed on Stoick as he spoke that one sentence.

"The son of the first wife, the perfect Prince, the heir to the throne not only in the eyes of the people but in father's thoughts as well." The man hissed. "I was forgotten, pushed aside to a less frequented part of the palace. Oh how I hated you." Spitelout said in a low voice. "All my achievements ended up being placed in your shadow. You got Berk handed to you on a silver platter while I deserved it all."

"Spitelout, I know it may not have looked it but father did care about you," Stoick tried to reason but it was to no avail. The man wouldn't hear it.

"Loved me? Loved me? Stoick you are still so naive to the truth!" Spitelout hissed. "I was nothing more than cattle. A convenient bargaining chip. Offered up on a silver platter." Spitelout stated as he looked at his brother. "It was rare that I saw father as the years went by and I was ecstatic when I was summoned to the throne room. But then my elation fell when I heard why I was called. A merchant was being difficult in selling a certain product father wanted, winter radishes. His daughter, who wasn't the prettiest I have to say, had been rejected by suitors time and time again. So to seal that one deal… THAT ONE DEAL! I was offered up in an arranged marriage! MY MARRIAGE WAS DECIDED ON THE GROUNDS OF A RADISH TRADE!" Spitelout's voice got higher by an octave.

"There was no love between us. I can assure you of that." Spitelout muttered. "We slept in different rooms for more than a year after the marriage and she could care less about my dalliances in between with the common folk," Here Spitelout rolled his eyes before settling onto Sierra. "I still had hope that I could have an heir that would be in line for the throne. But then you came along." Sierra actually flinched and Astrid grabbed her hand to keep her calm. "What was I to do with a…. With a girl. You couldn't succeed me. You couldn't do anything," He hissed. "Five months later my wife became pregnant. This time it was a boy. I was so happy for once. He'd be in line for the throne because my brother hadn't married yet." Spitelout looked murderous at this point. "But nothing could go my way could it? The world just hates the forgotten Prince!"

"My little brother found the love of his life and got married, even vowing that he would take no concubines." Spitelout spat at Stoick as his eyes narrowed. "Do you know how I felt Stoick, well do you? Your vow made me feel like my mother's hardships had been trampled upon! She suffered in the society we Nobles have still and to me your vow made light of all she endured!" Spitelout hissed. "The perfect prince finds the perfect wife and sires a perfect son who vows to uphold the same romantic and idiotic notions his annoying father exponded! It made me want to hurl!" The Duke growled. "Snotlout at least was the apple of my eye until that fool of a boy decided to relinquish his right to the throne because he found it so hard!"

Spitelout had been heaving for a while now, his eyes wide and his gestures erratic. He suddenly let out a warcry and pounced on Stoick causing the settee to tip backwards due to the momentum, sending Hiccup and Astrid, who had been sitting next to Stoick, falling backwards as well, while Alvin and Sierra who had been standing behind the piece of furniture to scramble back.

"AH! Me foot!" Alvin howled as the fallen settee landed on his right foot because he hadn't managed to get clear in time. Meanwhile, the guards had sprung into action and were trying to haul the Duke off his brother but Spitelout produced a small thin dagger out of nowhere. He slashed at the guards, slashing one near his eye while stabbing the other's leg.

"Stoick today you die!" Spitelout shouted and raised the dagger above his brother's throat. Stoick had his meaty hands holding back Spitelout but the Duke seemed stronger than he let on and the dagger sank lower and lower. The room was in pure chaos and Spitelout might have actually succeeded in driving the dagger home if not for Hiccup who body-slammed his uncle to the floor.

"You impertinent brat!" Spitelout hissed while dodging attacks from the injured knights. He was getting cornered by the knights as Hiccup and Astrid helped a winded Stoick up and while Alvin had stepped in front of Sierra to shield her from the violence.

Spitelout, who was only armed with a dagger, took his chance and rushed the knight who's leg he'd injured, stabbing him in the chest and relieving him of his weapon. The knight crumbled to the floor, blood now soaking the carpet. Spitelout had to make split second decisions and he grabbed the closest and to him weakest member of the group as a hostage. Astrid shouted in pain as her hair was yanked from behind. She was in shock as Spitelout dragged her towards him and put the sword to her throat.

"And he's dead. Da-dah-dah," Hiccup said quietly more to himself as the room stilled now that Spitelout had a hostage. Astrid struggled slightly only to have Spitelout yank the bun her hair was in more and place the sword closer to her neck.

No one moved as Spitelout backed away towards the glass doors that the parlor had which led out to the back gardens. He turned slightly sideways, keeping the occupants of the room in his sight at all times as he ordered Astrid to open the doors. They stepped onto the marble patio that led down towards the Royal gardens and Spitelout continued to drag Astrid along.

The patio was still elevated as it had a staircase that led down to the garden. There was a carved marble railing not so far behind them as Spitelout commanded those in the room to stay where they were or the lady gets it.

"Do you know how long it took to get my hair done?!" Astrid hissed while balling up her fists.

"Be quiet, woman!" Spitelout ordered as he kept the sword to her neck, not too close to nick her skin but still too close in Astrid's opinion of where a blade should be. No one had moved in the parlor as they were too afraid that Spitelout would slice Astrid's throat, who was the only one unperturbed about the events so far and worried mostly about her hair that her ladies-in-waiting had taken a painstaking hour to do. She growled low in her throat, that much work and love had been poured into her hairstyle by Atali and the others and here this guy was ruining everything. 'And why in Thor's name was it always the women that became hostages in situations like this?' her mind asked as she sent Spitelout a withering glare which only earned her another yank of her hair. The braid and bun had probably almost entirely become undone by now and some of her accessories must have spilled onto the floor as they had been walking. Astrid had paid it no mind, instead all her anger was focussed onto the man behind her. His self-deluded and egotistical ambitions for the throne had led up to this escalation of violence.

Spitelout hadn't expected it and neither had anyone else when Astrid whirled around and punched him in the nose while simultaneously kneeing him in the groin. The very very painful blows caused Spitelout to lose his grip on his sword and on Astrid's hair which was now a tangled mess.

The Duke clutched his bleeding nose with one hand while he tried to will away the pain in his groin by hunching over slightly. But Astrid wasn't done, no, Astrid was pissed, she was furious beyond imagination. "How dare you manhandle a lady like that!" She shouted before tackling the Duke, grappling him around his middle. Her hands had quickly found their way to her opponents mid-thighs and with a surprising show of strength she pulled them towards herself, forcing Spitelout to fall onto his back. Only the railing was right behind them and Astrid let go just in time for only the Duke to fall over. The fall was nearly one storey and there were rose bushes underneath. She would have to apologize to Dagur later for flattening his plants but it was so worth it.

"Astrid are you alright?!" Hiccup rushed over and then added "Remind me never to get you angry," From below they could hear Spitelout's pained groans as he was stuck in the rosebushes.

AN:
Vala: (Spots the Porg in a fancy tuxedo holding papers in its mouth) "Are those..."
(The Porg meeps and flies away with those papers)
Vala: "GET BACK HERE YOU FAT BIRD! THAT'S THE DRAFT FOR PHANTASM 2! I NEED IT FOR THANKSGIVING!"
(Porg meeps again and flies in circles close to ceiling)
Vala: "That's it! (produces cannon) I WILL SHOOT YOU DOWN IF I HAVE TO!"
(Vala gets tackled by Harry)
Harry: "MAH PORG!"
Vala: "MAH DRAFT!"
(The cannon accidentally goes off causing a huge hole to appear in the ceiling through which the Porg flies off)