"What are you talking about?!"

"Yes, all the royals are staying for the week, Dagur suggested it" Heather shrugged

"And why didn't you remind me of this last night?!"

"I thought you already knew, besides I don't see the problem" she shrugged confused.

Astrid took a deep breath to calm herself down. She may consider Heather a friend, but Heather was still a princess. There were many invisible barriers that she had to consider.

"Princess Heather" she began calmly "Did it ever occur to you that one of the royals may recognize me from last night?"

A look of realization crossed the princess's before she looked at Astrid apologetically "I didn't even think of that. I'm so sorry Astrid"

Staring at the guilty princess, she couldn't bring herself to blame her.

"It's not your fault" Astrid replied reassuringly "I should have known better than to pretend to be a princess in the first place"

"So what are you going to do?"

"I'm not sure"

"Well the dress is still at the back of my wardrobe..."

Astrid contemplated the idea briefly. Despite the trouble it had brought her, in the moment she had enjoyed wearing it. Plus, she would love to talk to Prince Hiccup a bit more...

But she couldn't. There were too many risks and she didn't need anymore problems. Getting caught, plot holes in her story...The cons, unfortunately, outweighed the pros.

Her rational mind taking over, Astrid said solemnly "No, no. That dress has caused me enough problems as it is. Besides, King Dagur knew nothing of last night's events and if he recognized me-"

"I could deal with that and explain things to him"

"Even so" Astrid persisted "I could barely act like a royal for one night. There is no way I'd be able to pull it off for a whole week. It's just too impractical"

Heather sighed "Point taken. So what other options do you have?"

"I suppose I'll have to avoid Prince Hiccup for the week" she paused "And Prince Snotlout, I talked to him too"

"To be honest, you'd probably be avoiding Prince Snotlout anyways"

That comment made Astrid laugh a little.

"I'll really just be avoiding the royals in general, I'm not sure if I spoke to anyone else"

"You don't have to avoid the royals. I doubt they'll recognize. You look nothing like you did last night"

"I don't know..." she hesitated

"Ruffnut!" Heather beckoned the other servant girl over to them "Could you come here for a moment?"

Ruffnut walked over to the pair "What can I help you with Princess?"

"Doesn't Astrid look completely different from last night?"

Ruffnut turned to Astrid, giving her a once over, then to looked back at Heather "Yup. She definitely looked a lot prettier last night"

"Ruff!"

"Well, it's true. She was dressing like a princess, obviously that would look prettier than dressing as a servant"

Unable to think of a decent argument, she murmured "You still should have worded it a bit nicer"

"No she shouldn't have" Astrid began "What she says is true. Last night I was prettier, fancier and more interesting. But it wasn't me. It was the person I pretended to be."

"But even if you don't want to be that person, they still may not recognize the real you"

"It's more than looks, they could recognize my voice or remember one of my habits from the other night, it's too risky."

"Look, the ball was wonderful, and that's how it should be left. I will forever remember it as a good night. As should Prince Hiccup. I want him to cherish the memory, and if he discovered the truth..." she paused as she blinked back tears "He would regret it"

"Astrid-" Heather began gently

"No" she hated getting emotional "Whether I like it or not, that is the truth of the matter. He can never know and I can not be around him. Please can you make sure of that?"

Heather hesitated but nodded "Well I was going to ask you to accompany the other royals and me to the forest in the afternoon but I suppose I could ask someone else instead"

"Thank you" Astrid said with a mix of relief and gratitude in her voice

"You could just tell him, I don't think he would regret it. He's not like that"

Astrid paused, choosing her words carefully "Everyone always seems like they'll be different from the rest, until they're actually given the chance prove it"

xxxx

"So what are you doing here with me?"

Astrid looked at the male twin before continuing with her work.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that Princess Heather is out with all the other royals and you, the girl who Heather takes everywhere with her, are here washing old gowns"

"Heather does not take me everywhere with her" Astrid denied, ignoring the main point.

Tuffnut scoffs "Girl please"

Astrid simply rolled her eyes and dunked another gown into the tub of water in front of her.

"You guys are practically best friends"

"Are you hearing yourself right now? A princess and a servant being best friends? You sound insane"

"You should be used to it by now" He shrugged "And besides, is that as insane as a servant pretending to be a princess and dancing with a prince?"

Astrid looked up, half in panic and half in shock. She didn't want anyone else to know. The more people that knew the higher the risk of the information slipping out. She began trying to figure out how he found out. He hadn't been serving at the ball that night so he couldn't have recognized her. She hadn't said anything to give it away. So how...

Then it hit her.

"Ruffnut told you" she concluded

"Obviously" he confirmed as she inwardly groaned.

"Great" she muttered

"Don't worry about it A, your secret is safe with the old T-square" He gestured to himself dramatically.

Astrid managed to laugh, despite the knot forming in her stomach. She loved Tuffnut like a brother, but keeping secrets was not one of his strong suits.

"So is that why you're here then? Instead of with the other royals"

Astrid looked down and focused on the gown she was washing "It's just a precaution. In case one of the royals recognize me"

"So that's why you're here and my sister is with the other royals"

"Well she may have still been with the royals, regardless of the circumstances"

"I doubt it, Ruffnut's a total pig"

"Tuff!"

"What? She's my sister, I'm allowed to say that"

Astrid simply laughed and continued washing.

"I bet you'll be a real princess by the end of the month" He said after a short silence.

"No I won't, because Prince Hiccup will never know it was me"

"I still think you will be"

"Well that's very sweet of you. But now I'm going to move on with my life as anyone else would. You probably would"

"True, but I wasn't the one dancing with Prince Hiccup last night"

She raised an eyebrow "Touché"

She watched as pride surged across his face "Actually I believe it's pronounced tooshy"

Astrid opened her mouth to rebuttal but promptly closed, deciding to pick her battles. Instead, she simply sighed in bliss "It really was a beautiful night"

"Ooooh Astrid Hofferson has emotions!"

Astrid punched his arm "Shut up Tuffnut"

The maletwin rubbed his arm pouting "And she's back"

xxxx

Meanwhile the prince, the same Prince who's presence had made Astrid anxious all day, was sitting in the forest with other royals desperately trying to figure out who he had danced with the previous night.

Hiccup vaguely took in his surroundings, the dragons were off playing somewhere, Fishlegs was fawning over a plant, Atali was playing with her baby Razorwhip, Snotlout was admiring his reflection in a puddle and Heather was speaking to the helper she'd brought to accompany them, Ruffnut. He prayed one of them knew the princess.

He'd never seen her before, but he felt like he knew her. As cheesy as it sounded, he really felt a connection with the princess. There was just something about her that he trusted. Something about made him not act like himself, but in a good way. A very good way.

Hiccup was a jewel amongst the kingdoms. Labelled as the 'Dragon Master" almost everyone wished to speak to him. Ending an age old war at the age of 15 is fairly impressive. True, he had lost a leg in the process, but that was a small price to pay for the peace and happiness that his sacrifice had caused. Now, at the age of 18, people still discuss his triumphs. But 3 years of approval and praise didn't make up for 15 years of isolation.

His entire childhood he'd been shunned. Of course his royal status earned him a certain degree of respect but he still heard all the whispers. The whispers claiming that he was unfit to be king. Wondering how a man as mighty as his father ended up with a son as scrawny as him. It jolted his confidence. It filled him with doubt about his own self-worth. His father was not one to discuss emotions and neither was his mentor Gobber. His mother had disappeared from his life when he was only a baby, so he had no mother figure to confide in. And he had no friends around the village. All of this caused him to bottle up his feelings. He was finally good enough for everyone, men with complex emotions didn't get a good reputation.

Yet with her... It all just clicked. It was though he could tell her anything. Her eyes shined with sincerity and curiousity, and when he looked into them he never feared that she would judge him. Normally, he didn't open up to people. Not because he didn't want to, because at this point it was an instinct. But he shared his soul with her... And he wasn't quite sure why...

"Hiccup are you okay?"

Princess Atali's voice brought him back to earth. He flashed her a small smile that didn't completely meet his eyes.

"Yes I'm fine. I'm just... Thinking"

"About what?"

"About the princess he spent all night dancing with and talking to last night" Heather cut in smugly.

"Thank you for that Heather" he said, sarcasm dripping from his tone "But yes, I was thinking about the ball"

"Which princess is this?" Fishlegs asked, eyebrows raised.

"I don't know, she never gave me her name or even her kingdom"

"That's strange"

"She claimed that she liked to keep a little mystery in her life"

"Interesting"

"She was a little reserved, cautious evem"

"You guys are all ridiculous. I happened to speak to that princess and, let me tell you, she was all over me" Snotlout said arrogantly.

The looks the group gave him spoke more than words ever could.

Hiccup's look then changed to one of eagerness "Did she give you her name?"

"Nope, used the mystery line on me too"

Hiccup sighed, it seemed as though nobody knew the name of the blond haired beauty.

"Wait a minute Heather" he turned to the princess in a final attempt "I saw you talking to her last night. Weren't you the one who called her in when she and I were in the garden?"

"She approached me hoping to make friends" she shrugged "I saw no reason to turn her away. But no, I did not get her name"

"Then how did you know someone wanted to meet her? Surely the man at least knew her name"

"No, I followed the description given and assumed it was her. Luckily, I was correct"

"So none of you know her?"

The group all shook their heads, much to Hiccup's dismay. He let out a heavy sigh. Atali smiled gently.

"Cheer up Hiccup. Just find her when we get back"

"That was my original plan. I looked for her at breakfast this morning but it was no use. I think she may have already left"

"Maybe she'll return next year" Fishlegs suggested.

"I'm not sure, the princess spoke a lot about travels. Who knows where she'll be next year"

"I'm assuming that's why you liked her" Heather said.

He looked at her confused "Huh?"

"She loves travelling, that must be why you like her so much"

He contemplated the implication for a few moments. Was that it? He would be lying if he said her carefree life did not attract him a little, but that wasn't the only reason he liked her.

"It was one thing among many that I liked about her, but I wouldn't call it the main reason"

"What would say is the main reason then?"

"Honestly, it was just... her. She was kind and understanding. It was as if I could tell her anything. And she didn't care about Toothless, I mean she did, but it wasn't the only thing she cared about. She wanted to get to know me, not the dragon master people have made me out to me. She accepted me. You guys, I think I may be in love"

At this point the other royals began laughing wildly. A look of offense crossed his face.

"Hiccup it was one night. You can't fall in love in a night" Snotlout said between laughs.

"You fell in love with your reflection in a minute" Hiccup shot back.

"That's different, it's me"

At this, Hiccup rolled his eyes. Heather offered a sympathetic smile whilst Fishlegs laid a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sure you'll find her eventually"

He wasn't so sure.

WOW! I AM SO SORRY!

I've been so busy studying I forgot to update! Apologies for the late chapter! Next one will be up sooner, I promise!

Poor Hiccup... What do you think wil happen next?

As always please feel free to review! All feedback is appreciated (just make sure any criticism is written constructively)

Shohini :)