"Why do you do this?"

Astrid turned to look at the Princess "Do what?"

"Deny yourself happiness"

Astrid continued to clean the Princess's room, unfazed by accusation "I'm perfectly happy Princess"

"Is that true?"

"Yes, I'm content with my life"

"You used the word 'content' that time" Heather pointed out.

"Why does that matter?"

"There's a difference between being happy and being content"

"Enlighten me" Astrid resisted the urge to roll her eyes, she had to be respectful. She could not be rude to royalty, no matter how close they were

"Being happy is not the same as being content. Happiness is genuine, content is only being at peace with something"

"Why is that such a bad thing? Why can't I just be at peace with my life?"

"Astrid it's not a bad thing, of course it's good that you're okay with your life but being content means settling. You've settled for this lifestyle and now it's like you won't let yourself have, or even want, more"

"Princess Heather I've never wanted more because I've never needed more"

"And if you had the chance?"

Swiftly dodging the question, she looked away and kept working "Where is this coming from Princess Heather?"

"I was speaking with Prince Hiccup, he was trying to hide it but he was like a kicked dragon. He was so... Sad. He wouldn't talk about it, and you've been awfully quiet yourself, I can put two and two together"

Astrid looked down, tired of lying "We nearly kissed last night"

"You kissed?!"

"Nearly" she emphasized "I... I stopped it"

Her gaze softened "Why?"

"Because" she said, her calm demeanour faltering "Because it shouldn't have happened. Not even nearly. He's a Prince and I'm a servant. That's just the way it is"

"Astrid you do remember that there is no official rule against royals and villagers being together, right?"

"That doesn't make it easy" Astrid automatically countered "Just because we can be together, doesn't mean we should be. Nobody would approve of us"

"Astrid that doesn't matter-"

"Yes it does" She replied, her calm demeanour faltering "He's been subject to enough scrutiny already. I will not be another reason for him to face it again"

"He doesn't care about that sort of stuff"

"But I do. I care about him too much to let him go through that again"

"Astrid, he obviously loves you enough to ignore all of that"

"W-who said anything about l-love?"

Heather shot her a dead pan look "Come on"

"Even if I did love him, how am I meant to explain everything? I've been lying to him all week"

"He'll understand-"

"I don't want him to have regrets" she said quietly "What if he finds out about my lies and feels betrayed and regrets spending all of this time with me?"

"Then you'll deal with it" she replied calmly "You'll explain your feelings and tell him your reasoning. But, if you won't tell him how you feel, you should tell him about the ball. At the very least, he deserves that"

Astrid pondered over the statement for a moment. Heather made a good point. She'd already messed with his emotions enough this week. Maybe he- No - he definitely deserved some truth.

"You're right" she concluded "He deserves the truth"

"So you're gonna tell him everything?"

"No" she shook her head "I've said it multiple times, admitting my feelings would lead to nothing"

"But you know he feels the same way, he nearly kissed you for Thor's sake!"

"Still" she persisted "Say... Say it did work out. I don't want to leave Beserker Island. This is my home. I barely know Berk. All of my friends are here. My entire life is here. I could never give that up for something so uncertain"

All frustration dissipated, Heather look at her softly "Astrid, don't get me wrong, if you left I'd miss you like crazy. But if he makes you happy then you should go for it! I've known you for 10 years and in every one of those years you've denied yourself true happiness. I've watched you settle for this life without trying for more time and time again. It's enough. You need to just go for it. What happens, happens. You need to at least take a risk. Life is too short. You need to express your feelings. Stop wasting time.You two are perfect."

The servant girl had no idea what came over her. Maybe it was the Princess's motivational speech, maybe it was years of suppressed emotions coming to surface, or maybe it was something else all together but she agreed with Heather. She wanted to take a risk and put everything on the table. She was ready to do this.

He wouldn't regret her. He's Hiccup. Hiccup's not like that, and she understood that now.

"You're right'' she nodded, grin rapidly crossing her face "I'm going to tell him"

"Everything?"

"Everything." Astrid confirmed as Heather all but lunged towards her, entrapping her in a hug.

Normally, for obvious reasons, Astrid wouldn't hug the Princess. She did a fairly good job of maintaining a friendship with Heather without breaking any boundaries. Normally, Astrid would break away from the hug abruptly and resume working. But Astrid was about to confess her undying love for a royal as well as reveal that he'd also fallen for her earlier that week when she had disguised herself as a princess.

Nothing was normal.

A mix of emotions and adrenaline coursed through Astrid's body. The sensation was overwhelming for her to the point where she almost lost balance. She gripped onto Heather's arms for support, smile never leaving her face.

"Are you really going to do this?"

"Yeah" she beamed "I am"

xxxx

She needed to find him.

Hiccup was leaving soon and the thought of him leaving without any knowledge of the truth made her nauseous. She looked everywhere but the castle was so busy. Chamber to chamber, corridor to corridor, she couldn't find him anywhere. Relief flooded her entire being as she finally heard his voice. She wasn't too late.

Her original plan was to find him and make up an excuse for him to need to leave. An emergency of some sort that only he could attend to. Closer and closer, her heart beat picked up to a mile aa minute. She was going to do this. She was going to do this. She was going to do this.

Until she heard his voice, and her heart broke all over again.

"That would never happen! I'm a Prince and she's a servant. We live in two different worlds"

She didn't have to guess what this conversation was about.

"Astrid, if that even is her name, is just a girl who helped me find my way back to my chambers after flights. She's not important to me, end of discussion"

Astrid was running before she even knew it.

In hindsight, she should have known better. All the talk about how everyone is equal and how her feelings actually matter, it was just talk. He hadn't meant it, what a surprise. She'd learnt this lesson time and time again. Yet, this somehow felt more painful than every previous time combined. She'd been honest with him about very personal stuff, and vice versa. She thought that might have actually meant something. Apparently not.

And what was worse, she didn't know if he was lying. He'd obviously been talking to another royal. Maybe he had to say that to keep a mask of some sort, but it didn't add up. If he believed so strongly in the things he claimed he did, why would he lie?

Either he was lying to her or himself. She couldn't figure out if he knew he was doing it. Either one ended up with her getting hurt, so she couldn't figure out which was worse.

And maybe she had no right to be angry, she after all had said those things herself. But hearing Hiccup say it was completely different, he was never meant to believe that kind of thing.

Astrid didn't even realise she was crying until she felt a tear run down her cheek.

xxxx

Shortly after that, Astrid realized that could not wallow in her own self-pity, and so continued to work. She had talked to Heather and tearfully admitted to what she heard. Naturally, Heather got angry on her behalf. It was times like that where Astrid really appreciated the Princess.

Astrid was roaming the castle walls, basket of the Princess's gowns in hand, when she was approached by the ever optimistic Prince Hiccup.

"Astrid!" He exclaimed excitedly, rushing towards her. He grabbed her arm as she flinched.

She felt fire surge in her veins instantly. He wanted to say awful things about her behind her back, and then come up to her and act like everything was normal. How dare he?!

"I'm surprised you remember my name" she replied coldly, yanking her arm away from his grip.

Still, he grasped her arm again "Hey, what's wrong?"

There were no other servants around, they were in complete privacy. She didn't have to monitor her behaviour. And, even after everything they'd been through, she felt no need to do so with him.

"Like you care" she rolled her eyes trying to walk away.

Her attempt proved to be futile as he blocked her path "Where is this coming from?"

"It shouldn't matter to you. In fact, I know it doesn't matter to you. And why would it? I'm just a girl who helped you find your way back to your chambers after flights. I'm not important" she watched the realization contort onto his face

"Oh gods, you heard that" he said, voice panicked "Look Astrid, that wasn't-"

"What it sounded like? Classic. What else? You didn't mean it? This is just a big misunderstanding? Spare me" She waved a dismissive hand.

"Wait, please, I really need to talk to you-"

"'We have nothing to talk about" she hated the meekness of her voice, and she hated how he brought it out in her

"But you don't understand see-"

"Prince Hiccup" she began, watching the desperation transform to pure hurt "I have more urgent matters to attend to right now, if you need help then I'm sure one of the other servants would be happy to help you"

She began to walk away. It had only been a few paces before she stopped. Everytime she saw him her heart shattered all over again. Yet, she turned around once more. There was one more thing she needed to say.

"You know what hurts most about all of this? You almost kissed me last night, you almost said you were in love. And I-"

She paused, not trusting the power of her own voice. She feared that if she did not leave soon, she would break altogether.

"I actually believed you"

*hides* Please don't kill me!

I completely get if people don't like this chapter. Hiccup was very ooc in the middle section, but it will all be explained. I wasn't sure if I was going to include this as part of the story, but in the end I decided it was necessary. I think there's still a few things that both Astrid and Hiccup need to work through before being able to be together. Don't worry, it'll all come out in the final confrontation.

Fun fact #3: This story originally had a different premise. Like I said in the previous fun fact, the story originated from a tiny piece of dialogue. However, in the original Astrid was going to be a servant for Hiccup and not Heather. The original storyline was going to be Hiccup and Astrid navigating a secret relationship whilst dealing with a princess wanting to marry Hiccup. I really loved it but in the end, I couldn't quite figure a clear chain of events. I might come back to it at some point.

Next chapter: We see a little bit more of Hiccup's POV...

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

Shohini :)