A/N – Whoo! Update time! Sorry about the month delay. This chapter is a bit longer to make up for it. I'm glad you're enjoying this story. It's been so much fun to write.

X

Chapter 4

Astrid retired to the library lounge after lunch. She took her tea and relaxed into one of the large, squishy chairs made for long hours of reading. She'd chosen her book: an old tome of dragons. She rested the leather book against her legs and opened it.

The first dragon it pictured was a Monstrous Nightmare, the drawing of which looked angry and mean. Horns curved around its head. Its long snout was made for biting. Its skin produced a flammable gel that the dragon used to set itself on fire.

"There you are."

Astrid jumped.

Lady Heather stood in the doorway. "I haven't seen much of you since the squires moved in."

"I've been busy," Astrid said. She waved Heather inside. "What's on your mind?'

"Nothing much," Heather said, swinging her arms as she walked into the lounge. She sat across from Astrid in a mirrored chair. She glanced down and tilted her head sideways at the book. "Dragons?"

Astrid smiled. "The squires are learning about them this week."

"Ah, yes, the squires," Heather said.

Astrid paused. Heather's knowing glance caused a small panic. She said, "Yes. The squires."

Heather grinned. "I know what's going on."

"You do?" Astrid asked.

"Of course," Heather said. "It's not hard to guess. You're easy to read sometimes."

"What, then, is going on?"

"You fancy one of them," Heather said. "One of the squires."

Astrid held her breath. "Oh."

Heather's grin faltered. "You were thinking of something else?"

"I didn't know what you thought," Astrid said.

"It's true?"

"I didn't say that."

Heather giggled. "It is true."

Astrid clutched onto the book. She swallowed. Was it true?

"Which one is it?" Heather asked, wide-eyed and waiting. "Is it the tall one with the dark hair? Broad shoulders? Little cleft on his chin? Or is it the big blonde one? Or the sandy haired one with the chipped tooth? I thought his smile a bit disarming at first, but I've grown to like it."

"I'm not telling," Astrid said.

Heather grinned. "It's a secret, is it? Does he know?"

"I would like to think not," Astrid said.

"I'll get it out of you," Heather said. "I've seen the way you watch the practices."

Astrid laughed. "And what way is that?"

"Like you're watching the man of your dreams," Heather said in a mocking, love-struck voice.

Maybe she was.

"But I understand you not wanting to make a scene," Heather said. "Knowing one of their own is fancied by the princess would make the other squires jealous."

"How would that make a difference?" Astrid asked.

Heather's grin flattened into a line. "You're the princess. It's every squire's dream to grow up to be a knight and save the beautiful princess from the tower guarded by the vicious dragon. They want you to be that princess."

Astrid glanced down at the drawing of the Monstrous Nightmare. She scoffed. "I'd rather fight the dragon myself."

Heather smiled, even if that smile had a tint of pity in it. "I know you would. But the boys think they're fighting for your hand. It gives them extra incentive."

"No is fight for my hand," Astrid said. "Nor is it a prize to be given or won. I will give it to whomever I choose."

Heather grinned, and laughed. "Of course, not, Your Grace."

"Oh, Heather, don't start that again," Astrid asked. She didn't like to be called such formal things by those she considered friends. "Unless you want me to stay calling 'Milady.'"

X

That evening, Astrid waited for Helga to leave and snuck out to the servant's passage nearest her bedroom. With a single candle for guidance, she walked to the squire's quarters, and waited.

Not watching the squires practice that day had felt oddly alarming. She'd gotten used to it.

Footsteps sounded outside the hidden door. They were too heavy to be Hiccup's. They hesitated outside the door, then continued. Not long after, a softer set came to the door, and felt along the door for the mechanism. The door opened, and Hiccup stepped inside. He pulled the door closed. The heavier footsteps sounded again.

Without speaking, Astrid led the way up to the empty corridor and into the empty room. Hiccup yawned as he handed one of the practice swords to Astrid.

"Long day?" she asked.

"Yes and no," he said. "I'm used to getting up and moving around, not sitting in a chair for hours at a time."

"What did you learn about?"

"Knighthood things, mostly, the chivalrous kind. Laws, too."

"Did you learn about dragons?"

Hiccup missed a step, and Astrid poked him in the chest with the point of her sword.

"Got you," she said. "Through the heart."

"Indeed," he said. He chuckled, stepped back, and place a hand over where she'd poked him.

"Will you not tell me about the dragon lecture?" Astrid asked.

"Knight Haddock swore us to secrecy," he said, taking his stance.

Astrid came at him; he parried. After their swords clanged, she asked, "Did he really?"

"He might as well have," Hiccup said, defending. "They don't want just anyone to go out looking for dragons. A lot people would get themselves killed that way."

"Does that mean the knights will go hunting for dragons?" Astrid asked, the thrill of a dragon hunt tingling through her fingers.

Hiccup didn't answer immediately. Astrid took his slight unease, and knocked his sword and swished her to his neck, and gently poked him with the dull point.

"Got you," she said, smiling. "Twice now. You've yet to land a single killing blow to me."

"Perhaps," Hiccup said, eyes on the window, "I do not wish to land a killing blow to you."

She smiled. "Squire Haddock, are you being soft with me?"

He chuckled, a nervous glow to his cheeks. "I won't say either way."

She swished her sword harder than she hard before, and he jumped back, forced to defend or pretend-die. She struck at him again, and this time he struck in response. The swords clanked against each other with the ferocity of a real battle, and they danced around the empty room defending as they went, neither landing a blow on the other. Finally, Hiccup's sword swatted Astrid's thigh.

"Ouch!" Astrid jumped to the side.

Hiccup dropped his sword. "Gods, I-I'm sorry! Are you alright, Princess?"

Astrid sat down, hand on her leg. No one had ever hit her before. Her thigh stung like her skin had been ripped open. She wrenched her dress up before the blood could seep through. Midway on her thigh, a line reddened. A line of blood appeared where the skin had broken.

Hiccup collapsed to the floor in front of her, hands on his face, eyes on her wounded thigh. He tried to articulate something several times, and finally stropped trying. He grabbed fistfuls of his hair.

"It's alright," she said softly. "I would have hit you as hard if I could have."

"No, it's not alright," he said, voice strained. He reached out to her, but then pulled his hands back to himself. "I-I got carried away."

"As did I, Hiccup," she said.

His worried gaze met hers. "You're bleeding. Here."

Hiccup reached into his pocket and withdrew a simple, off-white handkerchief. He stretched the cloth, end in each hand, and folded it up like a bandage. He scooted toward her, but hesitated.

Astrid moved her leg and stretched it toward him. She pushed the fabric between her legs to not give his eye anything to wander to. He bent forward, and wrapped the handkerchief around her wound. He tied it; his hands lingered. His fingertips grazed her skin. Her heart hammered; no hand had touched her with the such sincere caution as Hiccup Haddock. His hand rested gingerly against her inner thigh, closer to her than any man had ever gotten, and he hesitated, fear in his eyes.

A part of her, the wild child that ran into the woods hunting dragons, wanted to know him far better than she knew any man; she wanted those fingers to climb higher. The trained and proper princess in her knew the horrible idea that she imagined. Yet, neither of them moved. Hiccup's green stare locked into hers, and she couldn't look away.

Maybe Heather had been right after all.

A hot blush warmed his entire face. His hands still rested on her thigh, and shook.

"You're getting better," he said. He stumbled over his words. "Uh, I mean, with the sword. You're getting better."

She grinned. "You're a fine teacher."

Hiccup stood, and held both hands down to her. She grasped onto his hands, and let him help her to her feet. Her leg didn't hurt much, but it tingled. She stood closer to him than she had before, close enough to feel his breath. She held onto his hands.

Hiccup cleared his throat, and stepped away. He retrieved the swords from the floor. "So, I suppose that will be it for tonight."

"Yes," she sighed, "I suppose it's for the best. Mother does fret about unexplained wounds."

Hiccup raised a brow at her, and she laughed.

"Then tomorrow will you tell me about dragons?" Astrid asked, reaching for his arm.

His eyes watched her fingers curl around his thin arm. "Uh, maybe, I don't know, it's not supposed to be common knowledge. Knight Haddock was adamant we keep it to ourselves."

"What's another secret?" Astrid said.

He shrugged, and smiled. "I suppose your right. But tomorrow."

"Tomorrow," she said.

Astrid walked with Hiccup back to the squire hall, even though he offered several times to escort her back to her room. She insisted; she knew the way, he didn't, and she didn't want him getting lost. At the hidden door, he kissed her cheek, and vanished back into the squire hall.

Astrid meandered back to her room, sleep on her eyelids, Hiccup and dragons on her thoughts.

X

Astrid managed to hide her wound from Helga that next morning. She stepped into the bathwater before Helga could see her, and hid Hiccup's handkerchief in a vanity drawer were Helga had no business being. She rewrapped her thigh with the bandages from her bathroom, and though she wanted to retie Hiccup's handkerchief, it wasn't as comfortable on the skin as the bandages.

She washed it in the sink when Helga had gone, and worked to get the blood from the material. Most of it came out, but a thin stain stayed behind.

Astrid attended her own studies that morning, monitored by her mother. While Hiccup learned of dragons and knighthood laws, she learned of past monarchs and their defeats and triumphs, such as her Great Grandfather's royal waterway, which in theory would allow boats to pass through the city underneath bridges and to the sea. He went ahead with the project without the approval of the council or the consultation of construction experts, and the project fell though. The waterway became a ditch in which water gathered and wayward people drowned. It had been since filled in and built over.

Because of the Royal Waterway, the law was passed that in order for such a project to be done, the council must first approve and consult experts.

Tegan slouched in his chair. "But what is point in being king if you have to ask people if you can do something?"

"That's not the point of being king," Astrid said. "That would be the point in being a tyrant."

"Well said, Astrid," said her mother. She looked to Tegan. "A king must make decisions that affect people, and those people should be given the chance to speak on that affect. And before a king, or anyone, starts tearing up city streets to build a river, he should be aware of how buildings and streets and waterways function. That's why he should have consulted the proper people."

"But he's the king," Tegan said, clearly not understand. "He is the only proper person."

Astrid rubbed her temple. Had she ever been that thick? She used to wish that Tegan had been born first, to take the burden of ruling off her shoulders, but she wouldn't trust Tegan with a cat, let along an entire kingdom. They'd be at war and concerned citizens would march into the keep and kill him. They might hate her by extension.

"He is the leader," Astrid said to Tegan. "That means he is in charge, but a good leader takes into account who his decisions will affect, not only himself."

"Also well said, Astrid." Queen Lenore smiled at her daughter. "At least you seem to understand the basics of governing."

Tegan pouted.

Astrid spent the afternoon in the library reading about dragons. Their library had an extensive collection of dragon tomes, both fiction and non, and she had read them all eagerly.

What would it be like to meet a dragon? Were they as mighty and ferocious as the books depicted them?

X

That evening Astrid went earlier to the squire's hall. She waited for what felt like an hour behind the painting, until at last soft footsteps approached. Hiccup appeared through the passage door with two practice swords in hand.

"I think my dad is getting suspicious," he whispered.

They began to walk.

"Why? You have your evenings free, correct?"

"Yes, but he meanders through the quarters and talks to the other squires," Hiccup said, dodging a cobweb. "He mentioned this morning how he never saw me in the evenings. He might have been joking, but he mentioned how I should try to make friends."

"Have you made any friends with the other squires?"

"Fishlegs and I already knew each other," Hiccup said. At Astrid's confusion, he explained, "He's the bigger squire, blonde, no beard."

"Yes, I remember him now."

"I knew the twins, too," he said with a pitied laugh. "I'm not sure if that makes us friends, though."

"How is the girl doing?"

"Ruffnut?"

Astrid nodded. "We need more women in the ranks."

Hiccup laughed. "I'm not sure if Ruffnut is the kind of woman you're thinking off. She's the semi-insane type. I will admit that she doesn't let the boys push her around. Snotlout is terrified of her."

Ruffnut sounded like just the woman they needed in the ranks.

They arrived at the deserted corridor and walked into the familiar room. Astrid set the candle on the floor and Hiccup handed her the sword.

"What did you learn about today?" she asked casually as they danced about the floor, neither hitting very hard.

"Laws, mostly," he said. "I knew there were a lot of them, but I never realized just how many."

"It requires intelligence to be a knight," Astrid said, indenting to imply that Hiccup had the requirement, but his face fell a bit. To change to subject, she asked, "Anything about dragons?"

"Dad is saving that lecture," Hiccup said. "He told me that he's waiting to see how many drop out before he gives us the details."

They swished and stepped, around and around the floor. Sweat shimmered on his forehead, and she felt it on hers.

"Have you ever seen a dragon?" Astrid asked.

"A few times," Hiccup said. "I went with Dad into the woods, before Dad was the Knight Commander."

Envy curled into her fingers. She swished a little harder. She asked, "Have you ever seen a Night Fury?"

Hiccup fumbled; Astrid easily knocked his sword from his hand and swished the blade toward his neck. She slowed her sped before she touched him, and gently laid the dull practice sword against his throat.

"I-I can't say that I have," he said, eyes elsewhere.

Astrid reached for his blade and handed it back to him. She said, "I've been reading about dragons. I hear the Night Fury is cursed, and that they can't fly in the daytime, which is why we never see them."

Hiccup looked down at his blade, and rubbed the back of his neck. "I-I'm not sure if that's a true story or not. I mean, if no one has seen one and lived to tell the tale, how do we know that they're cursed?"

Astrid shrugged. "I don't know, but I want to be the one to find out."

Hiccup chuckled. "Knights don't dragon hunt like they used to. Dad said too many people died that way. He seemed a bit mad about that part."

"I wish I could go dragon hunting," Astrid said. She looked to the floor and imagined a royal pelt adorning the stone floors. "Queen Astrid, the Dragon Slayer."

Hiccup bit into his lip. "I-I don't know…the dragons that we saw didn't seem to be the vicious, man-eating kind. They seemed more afraid of us than we were of them."

Astrid's spinning ended and she turned to Hiccup, who jumped. She said, "What did they looked like? What kind of dragons?"

He hesitated, swallowed, and said, "We saw this dark yellow Monstrous Nightmare. It had this reddish tint to some of its scales."

"That sounds amazing."

"It was a beautiful sight," Hiccup said. "The dragons we saw were beautiful creatures. Intelligent. Remarkable. I-I don't see why people want to hunt them so much. There's already not as many as there used to be."

"In one of the older books, it says that dragons used to outnumber people," Astrid said, thrilled at the idea of so many dragons.

"They did," Hiccup said, nodding. "But people kept hunting them, and they started to hide from people in mountains and forests. Instead of fighting back, they hid. They're not mean creatures like people think. They don't horde treasure or guard towers. They're just animals."

Astrid had something else on the tip of her tongue, but Hiccup's bright sincerity shoved it aside.

They fought for a while longer, with less gusto than before, and less talk of dragons. They called it a night, and Astrid escorted Hiccup back to the squire hall. They waited for a pair of footsteps to leave, and then Hiccup snuck out of the painting. The painting closed, he took a few steps, and then Snotlout's voice filled the corridor.

Astrid's heart flipped over.

"Look who decided to show up," Snotlout jeered. "Your father is looking for you, Hiccup."

"Uh, thanks," Hiccup said, dislike heavily implied.

"Where have you been?"

"Why, did you miss me?"

Snotlout scoffed. "As if. I needed something to test out my new upper cut technique on, and I couldn't find you."

"Snotlout, Hiccup," came Stoick the Vast's deep boom. His heavy footsteps followed.

"You're looking for me?" Hiccup asked.

Stoick and Hiccup vanished down one corridor while Snotlout lingered, and then retreated down another, muttering something about 'being a favorite.'

Astrid had disliked Snotlout from the first time she saw him, but her dislike skyrocketed. If he tried to get Hiccup into trouble, she would make sure that he paid for it.