A/N – sorry to take such a long break. I had some personal/emotion breakdown things going on. But I'm back, and here's an update. I'm glad you all are enjoying this story that I almost didn't post!
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Chapter 6
The color dropped from Hiccup's face and his green eyes widened. He stammered over several words, but nothing coherent left his lips.
"What in Thor's name are you doing?" Stoick thundered. He stomped down the corridor, each step shaking the stone. "Are those practice swords? You realize you are breaking half a dozen Knight rules?"
"I-I…" Hiccup stammered. He stumbled back several steps.
Astrid's heart felt like it might burst. Hiccup's eyes darted from his father to Astrid. The door hid her from Stoick's direct view.
"Who is with you?" Stoick demanded. His footsteps came closer.
Astrid had heard Stoick shout, but she'd never been so close. She'd never heard him so angry. It shattered the courage she thought she'd have.
"Snotlout was right," Stoick spat. "You've been spending the evenings consorting with the help, haven't you? My own son. Do you realize how this looks? On you? On me?" Stoick reached the doorway, and without looking, he grabbed Astrid's arm with one of his massive hands. His grip tightened and she let out a small yelp.
"Dad," Hiccup tried to speak, but Stoick hushed him.
"I knew letting you join the order was a mistake. You should be at home with your mother. I shouldn't have let…" Stoick's burning eyes glanced down at Astrid, the servant he thought he held by the arm.
"Oh…" Hiccup said, hands outstretched, eyes narrowed in worry. He drew his hands back toward himself and pressed his knuckles to his lips.
Stoick's entire face paled, not unlike his son's a moment before. His bottom lip trembled.
"Knight Commander," Astrid said calmly, "if you would be so kind as to release me, I would be grateful."
"Oh!" Stoick removed his arm, and she pulled it back toward herself, cradling where she'd likely have a bruise. Stoick, as she'd never seen him, fell to the floor before her, hands and knees pressed to the stone. "I'm so sorry, Your Grace. I didn't realize…please, find mercy. I meant no harm."
"But if I had been of the lowly help, you would have?" Astrid asked.
Stoick hesitated. "My deepest apologies, Princess. The Knight Order has its rules. No one outside the Order may know it's secrets. For my son to have told them to another, it would have been treason."
"But to me?" Astrid asked.
"Your father knows many of the secrets we hold," Stoick said, talking to the floor. "One day those secrets will be told to you."
Astrid took a deep breath and held her shoulders straight, dignified and proud like a queen ought, and clasped her hands together in front of her. Despite the trembling in her stomach and knees, she stood quite still.
"Hiccup has done nothing he hasn't been asked," Astrid said. She glanced at Hiccup. He stood open-mouthed, clutching the fake swords as if he might need them to protect himself. "Rise, Knight Commander."
Slowly, Stoick stood.
"Princess, forgive me, but you asked my son here?" Stoick asked.
"Yes," Astrid said plainly. "I want to learn to sword fight. Yet my father forbids me from learning. Hiccup is teaching me instead."
Stoick glanced between Astrid and Hiccup. "I see. That is where you've been running off to."
Hiccup nodded.
"Snotlout convinced me that you'd been meeting some salty maid up here," Stoick said to Hiccup.
Astrid wasn't sure what Stoick meant by 'salty,' but by his tone and assumption, she knew it meant something unkind.
"Dad," Hiccup said, wincing. "You know me better than that."
"Aye, that I do, and should," Stoick said. He half-laughed. "But this isn't what I expected."
"Knight Commander," Astrid said, keeping her dignified stance. "I implore you not to tell my father about this."
"Your Grace," Stoick began in an argumentative tone.
"A queen ought to know how to defend herself," Astrid said. "I will not hide behind men to do my fighting for me."
Stoick closed his eyes, and nodded. When he opened them, he looked older. He looked between Astrid and his son again. He said, "I don't like it, but if Your Grace demands it, I will keep your secret."
"Thank you, Knight Commander," Astrid said.
"You've always been stubborn, Your Grace," Stoick said, a hint of a smile on his lips, half-hidden by his beard. "There is hardly reason in arguing."
Astrid smiled. "That in itself is reason."
Stoick half-laughed. "Of course. Now, it's late. Hiccup, return to the dorm. Your Grace, allow me to escort you back to your chambers."
"That is alright, Knight Commander. If it wouldn't trouble you to miss Hiccup a while longer, I would prefer that he walked with me," Astrid said.
Stoick didn't speak for a moment, and he nodded. "If that is what Your Grace wishes."
"It is."
"So be it," Stoick said, nodding. He held his hand out to Hiccup, who handed over the practice swords.
"M'lady," Hiccup said, waving his arm toward the corridor.
Astrid retrieved the candle, and followed Hiccup for a few steps before stepping quickly to walk beside him. He opened the secret door into the servant's passage, and held his hand out to her. She rested her palm into his, and stepped gingerly into the servant's passage. Hiccup followed, and shut the door.
On the other side, Hiccup heaved a breath. He brought his hands up to his head and rubbed his eyes. Astrid reached out for his hand, and wiggled her fingers into his. She smiled, but he didn't return it as genuine as he had before.
His father hadn't moved outside; she dared not speak.
Astrid led the way toward her bedchambers. After a while, Hiccup spoke.
"I'm sorry," he said ruefully. "And…thank you. You didn't have to stand up for me. It's not like I've never heard my dad yell at me before."
"Nonsense," Astrid said. "You shouldn't have to face punishment for doing what you're told. I promised that if you were to be caught, I would stand up for you. I meant it, Hiccup. You shouldn't get in trouble because of me. You've done nothing wrong."
"Thank you," he said.
Astrid glanced behind her. Hiccup wore a face she couldn't read. Relief? Worry? Uncertainty?
They reached the secret door closest to her room, and she opened the door. It came out on the other side of a scenery painting of Berk's gardens during summer. No servants lingered in the corridor, and she stepped to her chamber door with Hiccup shortly behind.
"Will you find your way back to the dormitory?" Astrid asked.
"I will as long as I can stay in the main castle," Hiccup said.
Astrid spun in the middle of the corridor; her skirts swished around her legs. She held out her hand to Hiccup, and said, "Thank you, Squire Haddock, for keeping me safe during the harrowing journey back. I am certain that I would have perished if not for you."
He blushed, and a genuine smile crept over his lips. He gently took her hand, and lowered his lips to her knuckles.
"Anything for M'lady," he said, hot breath against her hand.
He straightened, and slowly released her hand. With no one watching, Astrid stepped toward her squire, and kissed his lips. He jumped at first, but his lips molded onto hers. Butterflies, or maybe tiny dragons made of feathers, flew around her stomach and flapped their tickling wings into each of her limbs, every finger and toe, until she thought she might take flight herself. Luckily, she had Hiccup Haddock to keep her grounded. When their lips parted, she wanted nothing more than to collapsed into his arms and stay there all night.
But she didn't. She met his gaze that mirrored her longing, or so she desperately hoped, and matched his grin.
"Goodnight, Squire Haddock," Astrid whispered.
"Goodnight, my Princess," Hiccup said.
She would likely dream of him, and wanted to tell him so, but she held her tongue. Such words were not meant for the moment. They were of lovers and letters. Perhaps one day she would say such words to Hiccup Haddock, but that day lay beyond tomorrow, when she would be Queen Astrid, with a king to sit beside her. A wild thought ran through her sleepy mind, of Hiccup sitting beside her, not as a Squire or a Knight, but as a King. Her king.
Hiccup stood in the corridor while she entered her bedchamber, and she stood on the other side of the door while his footsteps trailed away. She readied for bed and led the fanciful thoughts of love and a warm future entertain her as she waited for sleep.
X
Gods, what had he gotten himself into? Hiccup rubbed his face as he started back toward the squire dorms. Had he honestly fallen in love with the princess? He couldn't have fallen for someone obtainable, no, he had to go for the top of the food chain.
Princess Astrid.
Yet, she had kissed him. She'd looked at him like that. What did it mean? He desperately wanted to believe that she might feel something of the same toward him, but he doubted it. He was the convenient link between her and what she wanted: to learn to swordfight. If any other squire had been in the woods that night, he would be training her instead of Hiccup. Or she, if it had been, by some strange humor, Ruffnut.
Hiccup rounded the corner, but stopped short by a sudden blockage in the corridor. His father. Stoick stood with his arms crossed over his massive chest, with the same look of disapproval that he'd worn earlier.
Hiccup jumped back a step.
"What are you doing?" Stoick whispered.
"I, uh, thought we went over that," Hiccup said, he pointed over his shoulder, toward Astrid's bedchamber.
"The princess?"
"Trust me, I am as surprised as you are," Hiccup said, shrugging. His father still carried the practice swords. He hadn't gone back to the dorm at all. He'd followed. Hiccup's heart skipped a beat…had his father been watching? Had he seen her kiss him?
"You're playing a dangerous game," Stoick said. "One that if you lose could mean your life."
"What are you talking about?" Hiccup asked.
"The princess," Stoick whispered. He glanced around for listeners, then added, "and you."
"What about…us?" Hiccup asked. The use of the word to refer to himself and Astrid felt strange and wonderful on his tongue.
Stoick sighed. He glanced around suspiciously. "Come with me."
Hiccup followed his father down the corridor and to an empty lounge. Stoick hurried him inside and shut the door. He walked to the far side of the room and stood beside the dark, ash-free hearth.
"Let's say the princess decides you are a risk," Stoick whispered. "She might think you might tell her parents what she has been up to. She doesn't want that, so she gets rid of you."
"Why would she do that?"
"Women are tricky," Stoick said. "Royalty is even worse. Let's say you two are alone, practicing, and she gets mad. She then claims you've raped her."
Hiccup coughed, and said, "I wouldn't do that! She knows that. She wouldn't…do that."
"It doesn't matter," Stoick said. "It would he her word against yours, and the court wouldn't even hear your side of the story. You'd be dead before you'd get the first word out."
"She promised me that she'd stick up for me," Hiccup said, "and she did. To you. She told me she wouldn't let me get into trouble for asking me to train her."
"Today," Stoick said. "Women change as they age."
"She won't change like that," Hiccup said.
"Or," Stoick said, "Let's say that by some grace of Thor she's fallen in love with you. You break her heart, you'd as good as dead."
Hiccup's face burned. "I-I wouldn't…do that."
Stoick's eyes widened. "Gods, son, don't tell me."
"Don't tell you what?"
"Have you fallen for her?"
Hiccup looked away. He would rather not have this conversation, especially with his father that he rarely spoke to. Regardless, he didn't know if he could answer that question. A negative response felt like a lie, but a positive response felt strange and foreign and he didn't know what to do about it.
Stoick sighed and rubbed his temple. "You've gotten yourself into a mess."
"Tell me about it," Hiccup said.
"And if her parents find out," Stoick started, then groaned. "You'll be in a bigger mess."
"The king won't kill me, will he?" Hiccup asked. He respected the king greatly, especially from the way his own father talked about him, but he hadn't taken into account that it was his daughter he spent his evenings with.
"Well," Stoick said, "if he hears that his daughter has gone behind his back and purposeful done something that he had forbade her to do, he will not be happy. And, if he finds out that it was you who taught her that forbidden something, he will also be angry at out. He will be angry as your King, but he will also be angry as a father, which, depending on his mood, might be a death sentence."
"Astrid promise not to let that happen," Hiccup whispered.
"Pray to Odin that she's not bluffing," Stoick said. "For her sake, and yours."
Hiccup groaned and rubbed his eyes. Why did Thor think it funny to saddle him with all these secrets? Sooner or later one of them would be his undoing. Which one would it be?