A Chance Encounter

by R-dude

Hiccup is lost. Elsa is looking for something. A chance encounter between them has far-reaching consequences.

10. Elsa 5

Disclaimer: Any characters, situations or places that you recognized are the trademarked property of Disney, Dreamworks, and their associates. I humbly use their amazing worlds to tell my story to no profit.

Acknowledgements: As always, to the Lady Sorrows, who has been keeping me company during these dark times of insomnia that have reduced me to a mere shade of my normal self. Even if her glorious hair goes away with time(or washes off), her glory will remain for eternity.

There are two more inspirational benefactors for this chapter, but I will not list them right now to avoid possible spoilers. If you're interested, ask me in a review and I'll tell you.

Notes: If anyone skilled is reading this, I'd love to see a bit of fanart inspired by it. I love drawings, and I've seen a lot of great pieces for both HTTYD and Frozen.

This chapter was a bitch to write, and I think it's gotten away from me a bit. It spawned a lot of controversy among my proofreaders regarding the validity of a lot that goes down. You'll know what I'm talking about when you get there. There's a long discussion to be had regarding this chapter's developments, something not really appropriate for an Author's Note. All I can say is that, this fic is written in accordance to what I believe to be the natural progression of the canon characters if they were presented with specific situations and given enough time. It is true to my personal interpretation of the characters, with which some may disagree.

Edit 3/5/15: Formatting issues

So, without further ado:

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~E~
A Chance Encounter
Chapter 10
~E~

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It was chaos. For a few terrible seconds, nobody knew what to do. With both the Chief and the dragon neutralized, everyone simply stared at the carnage.

Elsa heard the sound of someone's stomach emptying from behind her. It was all she could do not to vomit, herself.

She surveyed the scene once again.

There were bodies strewn around. Blood was everywhere, pools of red spreading across the cobblestones. She could tell the dragon's victims from the Chief's, there was less of them left.

Abruptly, the shock and adrenaline wore off. When that happened, the foul stench of gore and post-mortem released bowels hit her and she reeled, dry heaving for a few seconds before she managed to bring her stomach under control.

"-ders, my Queen?"

She shook her head once and closed her eyes, breathing deeply through her mouth and trying to concentrate on the officer trying to talk to her.

She opened her eyes and focused on the worried eyes of the soldier in front of her. Mentally, she steadied herself, shutting away all other thoughts but what had to be done.

"Gather the bodies and clean them. Find out who they are. Keep the civilians away. Take him-" and here she pointed an infuriatingly trembling hand at the unconscious Viking, hanging limply between two of her men, "to a guest room and post guards inside and outside."

When she had heard the dragon's unmistakable roar followed by the explosion, she'd taken her guards and ran through the streets of Arendelle, hoping against all hope that she wouldn't come across such a scene. Her people, maimed, dismembered and killed by the dragon. The Chief himself cleaning his dagger of their blood. The same dagger he'd pushed against her neck; it seemed so long ago.

How could this have happened? What slight or situation could have possibly led to the butchering of her guardsmen? It made no sense. It made no sense. Wasn't it just yesterday that-

She shook her head again. This was no time for such thoughts. She had to deal with this, first. The 'why' would become clear soon enough, but right now she had to get a handle on this before she had a mob at her gates. Already curtains were twitching all along the street, taking in the scene of the dead men in Arendelle uniform, an immobilised dragon and an unconscious Chief despite the containment efforts of her men. Unless properly handled, rumours would soon be finding their way across the city that the dragon, once an unusual but charming novelty, was now a dangerous beast that had slaughtered their own men. She knew her people, and they would demand retribution, probably in the form of Toothless's head.

She could not stay here any longer. If she did, she would not be able to control her stomach. She turned and took a few steps away from the carnage, only to stop when a voice yelled; "My Queen! The dragon!"

She turned sharply, her gaze landing on the immense block of ice that contained the dragon Toothless. Indeed, something strange was happening. The ice was … glowing? The dark silhouette of the dragon inside had lit up ominously, the light it emitted steadily increasing.

And she felt it. The pressure, building. Something was pressing against her ice, from the inside. Impossible as it seemed to her, her ice was about to break. She estimated that she had less than thirty seconds before she would have to deal with an unchained, berserk dragon.

No one else would die today.

"Oh no, you don't."

Her eyes glowed a vibrant blue, and frost emanated from her raised hands as she focused. She took a breath, and drew fully from the deep, cold reservoirs of power that had existed inside of her ever since she was a child. She could go years without doing more than skimming the surface of these dark, quiet lakes, without having to plunge fully into their dark depths. Yet here she was, forced to do so for the second time to deal with a dragon. Icy winds picked up of their own accord around her as her magic surged towards the block, strengthening the ice, condensing it. She kept it up for a whole minute, working on making it as unbreakable as she could possibly make it. The ice block thickened and darkened, until no shape was visible. The glow continued, but it no longer threatened the prison's integrity. Eventually, it petered out, defeated.

Her eyes returned to their normal blue color and she sagged, breathing heavily. Sweat rolled down her brow, and it took her a few seconds for her vision to clear.

When she was recovered, she looked at the ice prison critically. The outer layer had formed shapes, runes in some ancient language that she could not understand but felt that some part of her instinctively knew. It would hold even Hiccup's mighty dragon inside, unharmed but contained, she was sure. It was what she had asked for, what she had intended, and the dark lakes had answered her. Hiccup had been right, in a sense. It still frightened her. There was always a price for such power, and she sometimes wondered what she would eventually have to pay.

"Bring a cart for the dragon. And a blanket to cover it."

~E~

Things got no less hectic when she reached her office. The whole castle was abuzz, and it fell to her to take control of the situation and calm everything down. Which did not become any easier with almost a dozen corpses in her morgue and a foreign leader in her custody.

Half the night was taken up fielding angry demands from her court and officers for Hiccup's imprisonment, for Toothless' execution, for war… Each time she heard the story of what had happened, it had grown bigger with the telling. Toothless and Hiccup had killed a dozen men, a garrison, attacked the castle, attacked her. So much time was spent refuting false rumours and calming people that it was not until a few hours later that the realization that she had the leader of a dragon-riding nation under arrest really hit home.

She did not know what to think. Coming across a scene like that- well, arresting the Chief had been her only option, but would her actions bring a horde of dragon-mounted vikings down upon Arendelle? She was strong, yes, but she was one person. She could not be everywhere, and she could not defend the entire kingdom by herself. An offensive by a slighted Berk would not end well for her people. Hiccup was still alive, though. That certainly had to count for something, especially in a negotiation situation.

Elsa felt sick, how had things changed so fast? Just yesterday, it had seemed like a good idea to tease information out of him in her damn underthings. And today she was considering his worth as a political hostage.

Alone in her office, she put her head in her hands. Until yesterday, she'd thought that she knew him, at least to a certain degree. That she had his character mostly figured out, even if his past was, for the most part, a mystery. She had been sure that she had seen enough of him to make a fair assessment, and that assessment had been extraordinarily positive.

And wasn't that just pathetic? That until yesterday, she'd harbored a crush on him? She couldn't muster any of that fluttering feeling that she felt at the bath-house, or any of the other instances where they were alone. All she could feel right now was anger, at him and at herself for not seeing this coming, for being tricked a second time.

Had Hans not been enough of a lesson? Hadn't he proved that if someone appeared too good to be true, that was because he wasn't? She had sworn, then, that she would never again fall for such an act. Yet here she was today, just as fooled as she'd been four years ago.

And maybe she was bitter, maybe she was angry because for once, just once, she'd thought that fate had been kind to her. That perhaps she had found someone who understood her and maybe-

The window of her office, long since frozen completely, shattered into a thousand tiny pieces. She startled and lost her train of thought. She realized that she was breathing harshly and quickly, leaving foggy trails in the air, dark ice had crept over every available surface, fusing her paperwork to her desk.

She had to pull herself together. She did not lose control like this, she never did. Control, that's what she was good at, had to be since childhood. She ran a hand through her hair, uncharacteristically devoid of a braid. Her dress was crumpled, her hair was a mess and she was pretty sure her eyes were red and puffy with exhaustion.

Her door opened without any knocking and she was prepared to lash out at whoever it is, only for the words to die out in her throat at the sight of literally the only person that she would not snap at, even now.

Anna rushed in, looking decidedly distressed. She didn't even break stride at the sight of the smashed windows and frozen room.

"Elsa!" She exclaimed as soon as she approached. "I've been waiting to talk to you for over an hour! What happened?"

"Many things happened. Eight people are dead. The Chief and the dragon are being held, accused of their murders."

Anna nodded, grim faced, "I was hoping not even this much was true. Terrible as it is to say at least that's not as bad as some of the rumours I've heard these last few hours, like he attacked you and now we are at war. Is it possible there has been a misunderstanding? I cannot see Hiccup slaughtering eight of our men."

Elsa shook her head, feeling numb. "I saw them, myself."

Anna seemed at a loss for a few seconds as she processed this, before shaking her head.

"Even so, I was just to see Hiccup. Elsa, he's injured, the guards are letting no one in."

"He can wait." She said, venom dripping from her voice. "I'll deal with him after I've dealt with this mess." She knew that he was in no danger of dying, and wasn't about to coddle him.

"Elsa, he's made a bloody mess of the bed. He needs to be treated. I'm not the most political person, but even I know that this is too much."

Elsa clenched her fists, hating how they trembled.

Anna stopped, giving her a second look. Her expression softened.

"Are you okay?"

Elsa stared at her hands. Was she? Did she have to lie to Anna?

"I … no."

In the blink of an eye, Anna had ran around the desk and was wrapping Elsa in a fierce hug. Uncomfortable though it was, what with Elsa being seated, she wrapped her arms around her sister just as fiercely.

"It'll be fine, Elsa. It'll be okay, you'll see."

She did not realize that she was crying until after she saw her tears stain Anna's green dress.

She untangled herself and tried ineptly to wipe her eyes.

Anna's expression was sympathetic. "You need to get a grip."

Elsa snorted, because that statement was so true that it was funny. "I know."

"I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for all this."

Elsa was not so sure. " I just … how could I be so wrong, Anna? Again?"

Anna did not reply. She had no reply to give. As one of Hiccup's staunchest supporters from the beginning, and the one who was personally duped by Hans, she was probably asking herself the same question. Instead, she repeated: "You need to get a grip."

"And you need to see to it that his wounds are properly treated. Make sure everyone conducts themselves professionally."

"Allright."

With one last hug, Anna walked back to the other side of the desk. She offered her sister a smile that almost looked real, before reaching for the door.

"And Anna?" At her sister's inquisitive look, Elsa continued, a little sheepishly: "Change the linens."

~E~

It was a good while before any real news reached her, and it arrived in the form of her Commander General. Mertok looked professional as ever, but the furrow of his brow was much more severe than usual.

"Please give me some good news." Elsa said, without much hope.

The General took a few seconds before answering. "I am sorry my Queen. It … pains me to report a personal failure of mine."

Elsa closed her eyes and pushed her palm into her forehead in a vain attempt to relieve the cluster headache building there. She took a breath. "What happened?"

"Our captive spy."

"What of him?"

"He was murdered last night."

Elsa took to rubbing her temples in a vain attempt to stave off the headache.

"Tell me more."

"Little is known. It seems that in the commotion caused by the Chief's arrest, someone slipped by the guards and planted a knife between his ribs."

"This just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?"

Shad, it seemed, had nothing to say to that.

Elsa tried to think. "Who was the last to see him alive? Did anyone see something?"

"We're still piecing together what happened and when. We haven't talked to all the guards yet. The last person to have seen him in his cell was me, not long before he was killed."

"You?"

He nodded. "Indeed. I did say that I would be overseeing this personally."

That ruled out that line of questioning, then.

"I see. Keep trying to find out what happened. This means that whoever was behind the attacks still has agents in the city, perhaps even in the castle. Keep me posted."

"As you wish, my Queen." He bowed and strode purposely out of her slowly thawing doors.

Not too long after Mertok's departure, she was informed that the Chief had regained consciousness. She'd had the forethought to place Ernie in the room, in the hopes that the young man would be able to keep the Chief docile without the need for guards to confine him. She did not know how much of his friendship with the servant was genuine, but she had nothing to lose. Ernie would be safe.

Finally collected and somewhat calm, she ordered that the Chief be interrogated on the event, politely.

After that, she called one of her guards and asked him to bring the captain in charge of the investigation to her.

The man came, she did not think she had dealt with him personally before. He was sweaty and tired and wearing a crumpled uniform. He stood, somewhat awkwardly, to attention in front of her desk.

"My Queen."

"Why don't I have the names of the dead yet, Captain? I need them to proceed."

"I am afraid we have made little progress as of yet, my Queen."

She frowned. "What do you mean? How hard can it be identify the bodies?"

He looked troubled, shifting awkwardly under her gaze. "We've tried, but no one from any of the barracks have been reported missing. No civilians appear gone. We brought in the Staff Supervisor to try and identify the footmen, but he could not."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that whoever these soldiers were, they weren't part of the city's garrison."

Elsa frowned.

"Did we have any dispatches from the provinces staying in the city?"

"We thought about that. Nothing in the records."

"Anything else of note?"

"Nothing yet, your majesty."

"Thank you. Dismissed."

He bowed and left, quickly.

.Elsa didn't know what to think, suddenly the situation seemed far less clear. Who were they, if they weren't from the city garrison? They could be from a regiment stationed elsewhere in Arendelle, but if that was the case there would be a record of their presence in the city. And if they were simply visiting on their own time, why were they in uniform?

She had the sinking feeling that she was missing something here. Many things, in fact. She had no clue who these men were, or what situation had lead to the slaughter of eight of her subjects.

The Chief's actions made no sense, either. Why kill a few soldiers and civilians? He lived in the castle. His dragon lived in the castle. He had access to everyone of importance, up to and including her. Why those people? What was so special about them? She didn't know. The soldiers didn't exist, and the civilians apparently weren't local, because no one had been reported missing. Granted, only a few hours had passed, but half the city had heard a version of the night's events by now, at least a few of them should have been reported missing by now.

She took to looking over, for the upteenth time, the hastilly scribbled reports on the crime scene. The officer in charge had noted the curious amount of weapons at the scene, too many for the number of uniformed bodies. In fact, each corpse was found next to a weapon, even the civilians. Additionally, two high end crossbows had been found at the scene. It was obvious that there was a fight. Not simply a fight, but an actual, prolonged engagement.

Which begged the question, why would a civilian fight? Against a dragon, of all things? Her first thought had been that the Chief had slaughtered them before they had time to flee, but the alley opened up at either end and one of the corpses was retrieved from a roof. She could not picture a scenario in which the civilians could not have escaped, at least some of them. Or was that what happened? Were there witnesses out there, even now, terrified after having narrowly escaped death by dragon?

That still did not explain the additional weapons. It was not illegal for civilians to carry weapons in Aredelle, but it was highly unusual. Maybe the soldiers were carrying them? But then, what? Did they pass them around when it became obvious that a fight was inevitable? That made no sense, either.

Maybe she was seeing this from the wrong perspective. The Chief had been arrested for violating the terms of his stay by outright killing her subjects. But she had nothing confirming these corpses as her subjects besides their clothes. On the other hand, Arendellian clothing was distinctive and could not be confused. Moreover, Arendelle was a port city, and housed many that did not permanently live here. The fact that she could not immediately identify them did not say much. The mystery of the soldiers was curious, but not enough by itself to give answers.

She needed to know more. Uncertainty had no place in a situation where she had eight corpses and the captured leader of a dragon-riding nation.

Another guard soon arrived.

"Report." She demanded impatiently. The guard bowed, before speaking.

She did her best to think of him as simply 'Chief' rather than 'Hiccup', as she'd taken to calling him in her head, lately. She didn't need to waver, right now.

"Have you questioned him?"

"We have. Still are, I believe."

"And? What did he say?"

"He was … uncooperative. His aide was able to pacify him upon awakening, and his wounds were quite confining, but he was very angry."

"I didn't ask you about his feelings, soldier. I asked you what he said."

"He kept asking about the dragon, ignoring our questions. When the aide informed him that the beast is unharmed, he told us a little."

"And that was?"

"That he was attacked, and that he demands the immediate release of both himself and the dragon."

"Attacked?"

"Yes, my Queen."

"He said that?"

"He did."

"I see … Anything else?"

He shook his head. "As I said, he was not cooperative. He looked very worried about the dragon, and angry. Our orders were to do nothing beyond ask him questions."

And that was good. Despite the situation, she dared not mistreat him during his incarceration. If there was a chance for Arendelle to avoid a war with a nation that has tamed dragons, it was imperative that the Chief not be harmed until negotiations were completed. It was the only reason he wasn't currently being uncooperative from within the confines of her dungeons.

Much as she hated to let politics affect her judgement, she was treading a very thin line. Berk had, assuming the information she'd gleaned from Hiccup in the Bath-house was valid, been co-existing with dragons for only five years. However, with the only example she had being the Chief and Toothless, she could not rule out the possibility of full-scale integration, even in such a small time frame. And she did not like those odds.

"Have the investigation team look into the victims until they find something. They must be able to identify them somehow. Their clothes, any personal belongings on their person, anything. Also, I want the weapons found on sight looked into. Tell me where they came from."

"As you command, my Queen."

She dismissed the guard, who left her to her thoughts.

As for the Chief's claim of being attacked … well, what else would he say? It was the knee-jerk reaction of anyone being caught doing something they're not supposed to. 'It wasn't my fault, he started it'. All that is easy to claim when the opposition is unable to refute. She could not take his word for it, or anything else. She'd been a fool to, before.

Despite her diligent work, the next breakthrough in the case arrived several hours later, and from a most unlikely source.

"Anna?" Elsa asked, surprise coloring her voice as her sister walked back into the office, looking much more haggard and rumpled. Elsa hadn't seen her sister in such a state in … quite some time. Despite her tired and worn appearance, she had a looked of badly contained excitement.

"I did it, sister!"

"Did what? What happened?"

"I managed to rule out those people!"

Elsa blinked in confusion. "You're not making any sense, Anna. Take this slower. Does it have anything to do with the detachment of soldiers you asked for?"

"You bet it has."

"Those weren't for your personal protection?"

Anna looked almost affronted. "My personal-, no! Why would I need a single guard, never mind the dozens I took, no. I used them to scour the entire city. All of it."

Elsa's brow furrowed. It was possible, theoretically, to go through the entire city of Arendelle with that many soldiers in a few hours. The city in itself wasn't that big. "You decided to wake up the entire city? Why?"

Her look of triumph was about to escape her thin thread of control, Elsa could tell.

"I asked everyone if anyone was missing. Every house, every inn. No one is missing, Elsa. No one is missing." She repeated the statement, putting as much emphasis as she feasibly could.

Elsa tilted her head to the side, trying to see where Anna was going with this through the haze of her exhaustion.

"That doesn't prove much. We already knew there were no reported disappearances. Arendelle has the largest harbour on the entire coastline Anna. There are plenty of people that end up here that would not be missed in a day, or at all for that matter."

"What I just proved is that everyone that is officially in the city is accounted for. But that's not all! We also scoured the Customs and Tolls offices. You know that every entrant into the city needs to be registered. There was no record of the dead people. Whoever they were, they didn't come to the city through legitimate channels."

Elsa's eyes narrowed. Now she could see where her sister was going with this.

"You took a detachment of our troops and awoke the entire city for this?"

Anna frowned, her enthusiasm curbed for the first time since she entered. "Why is that such a problem? Dawn has passed by now. In any case, it's more important to prove Hiccup innocent than it is to avoid the people being mildly uncomfortable for a few minutes."

"You … you insist on defending him? Even now?" Elsa asked.

"The real question is why are you so quick to condemn him?"

Elsa's anger flared. "I have to face reality, Anna. I can't play favorites and ignore facts when people are dead."

By now, Elsa had risen and walked around her desk. Anna looked at her, and her little sister suddenly looked older and angrier than she'd ever seen her.

"On the contrary, I believe you're very willing to ignore facts because you're afraid of what Hiccup could be."

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"He's not Hans, Elsa." she said quietly, her voice steady.

Elsa stilled. "What did you say?"

"Hiccup is not Hans." She repeated levelly, holding her ground in the face of Elsa's ice cold anger. "That's what you've been thinking isn't it? Same playbook, different prince? He arrives here, and we let him into our lives. He gains our friendship, gains our trust ... except this time it's not your idiot kid sister who's been tricked into falling in lo-"

The slap came instantly, forcing Anna's head to turn with the momentum of her palm. Though instinctual, it was thankfully not very strong. Elsa's mind, previously burning with anger, now flushed with shock at what she had done. So surprised was Anna, that for a moment there was complete silence. Her eyes, bright with moisture, bore into Elsa's.

"Are you sure it's not your pride that's been hurt, Elsa?" She said in the echoing silence, igniting Elsa's anger once more. "I can count on one hand the amount of people you've truly let into your life, but Hiccup got under your skin. Something made you trust him. Arendelle's legendary Snow Queen, charmed and betrayed by a barbarian boy." Anna took a step forward until she was almost nose to nose with her sister.

"You're taking this too far." Elsa warned, voice shaking. Anna ignored her.

"Is that it, Elsa? Are you afraid of what the people will say? Or is this you lashing out at your first chance for something different?"

"Just because you got your happy ending doesn't give you the right to interfere in my life."

"I'm your sister. Someone needs to knock it into your thick skull that just because you're a queen and have magical powers doesn't mean you'll always be alone!"

Elsa's reply was cut-off by someone loudly clearing their throat. Both sisters turned and levelled their glares at the Commander General, who was standing at the door and looked extremely uncomfortable.

Anna whirled round and stormed out of the open door, a livid handprint blooming across her cheek.

Mertok stepped hurriedly out of her way before sliding into Elsa's office. Elsa stared after her sister's retreating back.

"What now?" Elsa snapped.

"There are news, my Queen."

"Speak." She said as she regained her composure, the temperature lifting a few degrees as she did so.

"One of our guards managed to identify one of the fallen."

Finally, a breakthrough.

"Yes? Who was it?"

"He recognised one victim as having been part of the Grandlandian delegation."

Elsa's eyes widened.

"This just got far more complicated. We'll need some kind of confirmation, or at least a decent degree of certainty. If that is true …" She didn't finish her sentence, as the consequences were too numerous and too terrible to mention.

"Does that mean what I think it means?" Shad asked.

"Possibly." She said. "We need to talk about this. I assume you have the appropriate people figuring this out?"

"With this new possibility in mind, yes. We are checking our armories for lost weapons and such, since the weapons found bore our insignia."

"Any progress on that?"

"Several small thefts reported in the last year could be responsible, though the crossbows seem to have been recently stolen. It is not certain if they are the same pieces, however, as their mark number has been scratched out."

"I see."

There was not much else to consider. Elsa palmed her face and closed her eyes as she tried to sort out her thoughts.

"Call a meeting."

Shad nodded, and bowed before turning to leave.

Within the next half hour, all the members of her inner council arrived and sat themselves around her office, exchanging crisp greetings and looking tired and sleepy.

When everyone was assembled, Elsa threaded her fingers and looked at each one in turn.

"The country of Arendelle," she begun "is in the unenviable position of being infiltrated by Grandlandian agents. Moreover, we have slighted, for the second time, the Chief of a Viking tribe that has dragons for allies."

Pandemonium erupted.

~E~

Several hours later, with the sun steadily climbing, Elsa found herself walking alone towards the guest rooms where the Chief was held, a thick stack of papers on her arms.

She and her council had conferred for some time, after which she'd managed to catch a brief nap, bathe, eat something and neaten herself up. Her hair no longer looked like she'd just gotten out of bed, her dress was not crumpled or sweat stained.. Her handmaidens had attempted to conceal the dark bags under her eyes with make up, but there was nothing to be done for their redness.

Part of her-a significant one, too-was terrified. If Anna was indeed right, as recent revelations seemed to imply, then she had once again attacked the leader of a dragon-riding nation. Granted, she was well within her rights to detain and question him after coming across such a scene, until the situation had been assessed, regardless of whose fault the engagement was, but she doubted that he would view it as such.

Any favour she had gained whilst Hiccup had been her guest had undoubtedly been lost by last night's events. Justified as she still felt for initially detaining him, she knew that from his point of view he and his dragon had been attacked, injured and then arrested in the city he had been guaranteed safety in, all by people wearing her livery, no less. He was going to be angry, justifiably so. Once again she was on a political back foot with him.

And, to make a bad situation even worse, Grandland was involved somehow. Her country was being infiltrated either by Grandlandian agents or defectors, and she had not been aware of it. The latter possibility meant merely-and she used the term loosely- that defectors had managed to infiltrate her city and ambush the Chief. The former possibility was even more troubling. Grandland had undoubtedly heard the news that a dragon tamer had appeared in Arendelle. If they risked her wrath to capture or kill her personal guest in her capital city, that meant that they had plans for Hiccup. What a country like Grandland would want with a dragon tamer, she shuddered to think.

The small part of her that wasn't currently consumed with worry about the future of her country, was oddly relieved. It was a weary kind of relief, leaving her mentally tired.

Hating the Chief, for however long it had lasted, had been oddly exhausting. It was relieving to see that she had not been wrong, that he really was the good man that she had slowly come to think of him as. That she had not misjudged so terribly. That she had not been steadily developing feelings for a deceiver and a murderer.

Oh, she knew that Hiccup had both lied and killed before. She'd been on the business end of his lies, and almost lost her life to his blade. Even so, he was a man of morals, and acted with the best interests of his nation in mind, something she could understand and respect.

Elsa sighed. Anna was right, damn it all. It had hurt her pride when she thought that Hiccup had managed to make her fall for the same trick that naive, 14 year old Anna had, thus leaving her kingdom vulnerable to scheming foreign powers once again. She'd always considered herself smarter than that. She didn't think that she ever fully trusted him, not completely, not yet. But he had managed to get her to drop her guard. He'd made her feel... different, as Anna had put it.

It was this understanding that made her next task incredibly hard. How to fix things? That had been one of the two topics of conversation between her and her council. God willing, he would listen to her.

She reached the doors and nodded to the guards, who bowed and opened them for her.

The interior was well furnished, if a little bland, considering the lack of personal decorations. Before the Chief's incarceration, the rooms were uninhabited. She saw on the bedside table several bloody bandages before her gaze was inevitably drawn to the viking.

Hiccup was sitting in the wooden chair in front of the empty desk, turned around so that it was facing the door. He was leaning forward, supporting his elbows on his thighs and his head on his hands.

"Leave us." She commanded to the two guards who were, up until now, keeping careful vigil over him. She could see them hesitate to leave the two of them alone, but they obeyed her. As soon as she approached, he rose.

Elsa noticed the bandages covering most of his arms, and though she could not see beneath the Chief's tunic, his limp was tell enough of his injured knees.

She let her eyes land on his face last, dreading what she would see there. He said nothing, but the set of his jaw and the fierce look in his eyes betrayed how utterly furious he was with her at that moment.

She stilled, halfway inside the room, and let him close the last of the distance. His limp made him no less menacing as he stalked across the room towards her. She did not allow herself to take a step back, but for a moment she wanted to.

She did not get the chance to speak first.

"Take me to Toothless." He demanded. She started slightly, thrown by the suddenness of his statement and his forceful tone. She was acutely reminded of the last time she'd heard that cold, hard tone from him. When she was lying on the snow and he held her life in his hands.

She mentally shook herself and focused back on what she had come to do.

"We need to talk." She said.

"Take me to Toothless." He said, slower this time, emphasising every word, lacing them in equal parts warning and barely-restrained fury.

Elsa considered for a few seconds, but in the end could do nothing else if she wanted to ever get Hiccup to listen to her. She nodded curtly.

"Follow me."

She turned and exited, mindful to walk a little slower so he could keep up without hurting himself. He walked stiffly next to her, not even turning to glance her way.

She motioned the guards who made to follow them away, and led the Chief through the main areas of the castle. They walked in silence down service corridors towards the cavernous storage halls. They had chosen to keep the dragon's icy prison there, due in no small part to it's proximity to the gates and the width of its door.

The doors to the room they stopped in front of had four guards stationed outside. They stood to attention as she approached.

"Is he inside?" He asked.

"Yes."

A guard opened one part of the door, and she let him enter first, before following.

Toothless' prison took up more than half of the space. Elsa stopped, just inside the door, but the Chief kept on, walking until he had reached it. He set a hand on the ice and stared at it for a few seconds, though Elsa knew that the ice was thick enough that he could not possibly see his dragon inside it.

"He is perfectly healthy." She informed him. "The ice put him in stasis, but when I melt it he won't be any worse for wear."

He said nothing for a few seconds, his hand tracing the strange runes inscribed into the dark ice. "Did you have any trouble holding him?"

She did not expect that question. Should she be honest, or try to play up her abilities?

That dilemma didn't last long.

"Some." She admitted. "Early on he began glowing, and almost broke out. I had to reinforce the ice."

That seemed to surprise him enough to make him finally look at her, and for a moment he looked more curious than angry.

"You kept him through his Titan Wing mode? That's very impressive."

She fiddled with her braid to hide her awkwardness at the unexpected praise, and he returned to looking at the ice block.

"You should not be here when he is released."

It took only a moment to realize what he meant. If the dragon was unfrozen in her presence, she had little doubt that he would attack her.

On the other hand, she did not want to leave the Chief's presence before they got to discuss.

Catching on to her hesitation, Hiccup looked at her again.

"We will talk, after he is freed. Just … go."

She hesitated a moment longer. "I imagine that Toothless will be… upset, about … all this."

He snorted. "That's a fair summation."

"I need you to guarantee that he will not be a danger to anyone, if I free him here, within the confines of the castle."

"He won't be. You have my word."

She nodded, though he could not see, having turned away again. She left the room, closing the door behind her and leaning against it. She closed her eyes and focused, willing the ice to melt.

Soon, Toothless' angry roars echoed from inside the storeroom, and she had to calm the guards who immediately went for their weapons. She heard Hiccup's voice, at first urgent, so as to attract the dragon's attention, but then soothing. The dragon stopped roaring, and she could not hear Hiccup's soft-spoken words to it through the door.

For about twenty minutes Hiccup was inside, saying god-knows-what to his dragon. Eventually, the door opened and he slipped outside, looking much calmer than earlier.

"We can talk now." He told her. She nodded, and lead the way to her office. Where at any other time they would chat amiably about this and that, the silence now hung heavy between them.

When they arrived, Elsa opted against sitting behind her desk, instead taking one of the two chairs in front of it and motioning for him to take the other. He did so, movements crisp.

Now … where to begin?

"I hope you understand the necessity of your arrest." She said. His glare returned, though much less venomous than when she first saw him earlier today.

"Was knocking me out necessary? Was freezing Toothless necessary, too?" His nasal, sarcastic tone had a rather sharper edge to it than usual.

"Yes" She looked at him levelly. "Hiccup, when I found you, you were surrounded by the slaughtered bodies of what appeared to be Arendellian soldiers and civilians. The situation had to be contained, and quickly. I had no other way of containing Toothless without a lot of people getting hurt. Rumours travel faster than the truth. As it is, I have spent most of the night convincing some very important people that this situation does not mean we are at war with Berk."

"None of this was my fault."

Elsa raised a hand. "I know, and I am sorry that I could not simply take your word for it at the time, but laws are laws and your arrest was unavoidable. There were many people who were not happy about my decision to let a dragon to stay in the middle of the city. At first it appeared you and Toothless had proven them right last night." She looked down, away from his angry eyes for a moment.

"Truth be told, when I saw the bodies… For a while there I thought that that they had been right. I am sorry Hiccup, I really am." She didn't quite dare look back up at his face.

He didn't say anything for a while, seething quietly, and she changed the subject before the silence crushed her. "Before we discuss this any further, I need you to tell me exactly what happened."

"Why should I tell you anything?"

"Despite appearances, my investigations have shown that the men you fought and killed were not Arendellian soldiers. As to why you should tell me, understand that this took place in my city, and you yourself are my guest. I need to know what happened."

He didn't say anything for a while, but his glare did not lessen.

"As I said to your interrogators, I was attacked."

"We figured as much." She said patiently. She could understand his petulant attitude in light of what had happened. Frankly, she had not expected a great deal of cooperation, coming into this. "But I need details. In return, I'll tell you all that we know about the men that attacked you."

That seemed to do the trick, as information on his attackers was probably something he wanted.

She let him gather his thoughts for a while.

"The leader was slightly taller than me," He began slowly. "Skin tone slightly darker than you usually see around here. Hair a dark, dirty blond. He waited until I was outside the castle, and he and another man approached me, dressed as your footmen. He claimed that you had sent them to get me, and demanded that Toothless stay behind. I refused, and they reluctantly agreed. We followed them up until the alley, at which point we were surrounded and they attacked. You know the rest."

Elsa inwardly marvelled at the way his anger seemed to bleed out of him as he spoke. She took careful note of everything he said, in order to repeat it word for word to the appropriate people, later.

"I see."

"Now, tell me who it was."

"We are not certain, mind." She cautioned. "But the man you described as the leader was part of the Grandlandian delegation, some time ago."

"What are you thinking?"

"Defectors, best case. Worst, infiltrators."

"What are you doing about it?"

"All we can."

"Maybe you should ask your Commander General. He seemed pretty buddy-buddy with the Ambassador when last I saw them."

Elsa narrowed her eyes.

"General Mertok has been an invaluable part of Arendelle since before I was born. You'd do well not to doubt him in my presence."

"Right, of course." He said, before letting out a sigh and rubbing his eyes in a display of weariness that Elsa would not have expected him to show. "Is that all? Can I go now?"

Elsa was taken aback. She hadn't even showed him the papers yet. Was that the extent of his anger? Had she been worrying over his reaction for no reason?

"Where to, if I may ask?"

"To gather my things, of course."

Apparently no, she hadn't been worrying over nothing.

"You're leaving?" She asked, the shock in her tone surprising even herself.

His eyes widened a fraction. "You don't really expect me to stay here any longer than I have to, do you?"

She was, actually. "I was hoping you'd stay."

"Twice now you and your men have attacked me, and I nearly died to an ambush by what is clearly yourenemies. You'd even promised that no harm would befall me or Toothless, yet did not hesitate to break that promise yourself. No, I think I've seen enough of Arendelle's hospitality, thank you very much."

If Elsa hadn't expected to hear such words from him from the very beginning, she might have been hurt. As it were, she was adequately prepared mentally.

"Now if that will be all, I think I will be going."

He rose, and made to walk away. Rude, perhaps, to walk out on a queen without permission, but such was the furthest from both their minds. She hadn't expected him to attempt his exit so quickly. She rose, too, and impulsively grasped hold of his wrist as he made to pass her by.

"Wait." She said.

He looked at her, and she could tell he barely held back from snapping at her or tearing his hand free. As it was, he looked at her, expectantly.

With her free hand, she passed him the documents she and her council had prepared. He released his hand from her grip with a jerk, and took them. He perused them quickly, and she could see his eyes widen more and more as he read on.

"What is this?" He asked, almost rhetorically.

"The trade agreement between Arendelle and Berk I was planning to propose to you, revised in light of last night's offense against you."

He took a few more minutes examining it, backtracking to previous pages several times, his eyes scanning every paper carefully.

"These are … some concessions." He admitted.

"Are they enough?" She asked quietly, her eyes searching his face for an answer. She hoped they were, because she would offer nothing else.

He took some time to think of a reply, having stacked the papers again and holding them in his hand. Elsa took an involuntary step closer, already frayed nerves pulsing anxiously.

"Why would you go so far …" Hiccup wondered aloud, voice low. "Why would you tie your kingdom to an agreement not beneficial enough, just to keep me here a while longer?"

And what could she say to that? The concessions mostly involved tipping the exchange rate in Berk's favor. Not a huge advantage by itself, but one that would stack over time. She'd sold the council on these concessions by playing the 'about to be invaded by dragons' card, but she knew very well that Hiccup would never do that. Oh she had entertained the possibility, when she had thought him capable of murdering her subjects, but without that event to throw his character in doubt she knew he would not consider war over a personal slight. And sure, her own pride as a Queen demanded that the Chief be repaid for being attacked even after she had guaranteed his safety, but even that was not the entire reason.

So, where did that leave her? How could she explain her thought process when she barely understood it, herself? How could she explain feelings that she was just now beginning to realize she had?

She could see Hiccup look at her expectantly as the seconds passed by and she said nothing. Perhaps she was overthinking things. She tended to do that in high-stress situations, she knew.

What would Anna do?

Almost without thought, she took the small step necessary to bridge the distance between them, took light hold of his shoulders, stood on her toes, closed her eyes, and kissed him.

It was almost surreal, that she managed to do what she did without being intercepted. Hiccup had two clear seconds, the time that it took her to reach him and take hold, in which he could have done something. Did he not believe she would do something like that, had he been curious as to what she would do? Had she caught him completely by surprise?

Whichever the reason for her unimpeded path, she was now undeniably lip-locked with him.

For a few seconds, a few glorious seconds, he kissed her right back. Their lips moved in harmony, exchanging concepts and feelings that words failed to. His hands found their way to her waist and her hair and for a moment pulled her closer to him, the contact sending Elsa's senses reeling in a very enjoyable fashion.

The almost magical reverie was broken, however, when Hiccup seemed to snap out of whatever it was driving him to kissing her back. The hands previously holding her so passionately instead pushed her away. He backpedalled, stumbling onto a chair and nearly falling, flailing his arms to regain his balance.

Elsa would have moved to assist, but she was too busy being frozen on the spot, one hand on her lips, her mind utterly blank as she fully realized what she had done. If the heat she could feel radiating off her face was any indication, she must have turned completely scarlet.

Hiccup, finally stabilized, looked completely lost. "That was …" He did not finish his sentence, and she doubted she could have, either.

That was so much better than her first kiss to that princeling, a couple years ago. This was … this was … she couldn't really describe it, either.

"What-, what was-, why?" Hiccup stammered, finally drawing her focus back to him instead of her inner thoughts. He looked … bewildered?

"What do you mean why?"

"What was that? Why would you-, I don't understand. Was that the plan? To keep me here with promises of affection?"

For the second time that night her hand had moved before she had even registered the desire for it to, and next thing she knew Hiccup was holding a palm against his cheek, which was reddening rapidly. It took her a few seconds for her to realize that she had slapped him.

"Ouch." he groaned. "Okay, I deserved that. That was stupid, I'm sorry."

"You … you … you berk! I … do you think so little of me that you think that would be my motivation?"

"I just … You confuse me, Elsa. I can't do this anymore, I don't want to. I don't want to wonder if I can trust you or not, or about the motivations behind your actions, or whether you mean something you do or say. I'm tired of this … of this little game between us. You've won. I'm done."

He took a step back, carefully this time, and gathered the papers that lay scattered on the floor.

"I will take these, and rework them into something that's fair, but don't ask me to stay. It would do nothing but complicate things further."

No. Elsa could not accept that. She would not.

"You will need my input, and there is no established messenger line between Arendelle and Berk. Furthermore, there is the matter of the map that you have yet to deliver, and the matter of your officer arriving soon. What about those?"

Flimsy excuses, she knew. From the looks of it, he knew it, too, because he seemed ready to disagree. She spoke again before he had the chance.

"Besides, whatever your feelings about how I handled the aftermath, these attackers were after you. We need to know who they where and why they wanted you. You need to know whether the mastermind behind this attack is a threat to Berk as much as I need to find out if they mean harm to Arendelle. You can only find that out by helping us investigate here, in the city. I assure you, we will do everything we can."

She almost had him, she knew. With how off balance he was right now, she could read his face like an open book. All he needed was one last push.

"Please." She said quietly. "Stay."

And there. His conflicted look gave way to resignation, as he let out a weary sigh and rubbed at his eyes.

"Fine." He said. She repressed the smile that threatened to bloom, in light of his defeated look. That's not what she wanted to see.

Then he turned and walked away, making it all the way to the door before she found her voice again.

"Hiccup!"

He stopped, and looked at her over his shoulder.

She hesitated, struggling to find words to ask the question that was eating away at her. In the end she could not, and the silence stretched on.

Hiccup left, closing the door behind him, and Elsa slumped bonelessly in a chair.

Well, that could have gone better.

~E~

She didn't see him for the rest of the day. Which was understandable, considering how busy both of them had been.

The official story, the one that she had her agents and officials spread as soon as she left her office after the Chief's departure, was a twisted version of the truth that barely resembled what really happened.

Truth was one of the first things a politician sacrificed.

According to the official story, the Chief and his dragon were walking in the streets of Arendelle when he was cowardly attacked by an unspecified number of unknown assailants. He bravely defended himself, managing to dispatch his attackers, though not without sustaining injuries of his own. Arrendelian forces arrived at the scene soon after and secured the Chief from the area, while investigations began on the source of the attack.

Predictably, the public outcry was immense. All of Arendelle now demanded the mastermind of this attack be caught immediately. A visiting royal had been ambushed in Arendelle's own capital? The shame was too much, and was only overshadowed by the ensuing anger.

No mention of the fact that the attackers were using Arendellian equipment was made. No one knew, besides the guards that had been present and since sworn to secrecy, that the Chief had actually been apprehended by Elsa's guards, rather violently at that, nor that for the longest time he was considered the main suspect for the whole incident. If they'd known the truth, that anger would be directed inwards, towards her and her government rather than outwards. Despite the public's willingness to believe the worst in the hours after the attack, the fact was Hiccup had become very popular with her townsfolk over the last few weeks.

The Chief could, if he revealed the truth, screw them over royally, but Elsa was confident that he would not. Even if such an act was not beneath him, as she believed, she was confident that her rather generous trade agreement would be enough to convince him to go along with her official version of events.

When reports of the Chief's latest activities reached her, she could not repress a small, knowing smile. She'd judged correctly. The Chief, still visibly bandaged and limping, had taken a walk around the middle of the city, surrounded by the, surprisingly many, acquaintances and friends he'd made during his stay here, and rather pointedly supported the official version of events. Her version.

Maybe he would ask something for it, later. The fact of the matter was that, for now, the situation was being handled.

The rest of the day was, still, damage control. Steering the rumors in the right direction, assuring foreign officials that they were perfectly safe and superfluously moving troops around so as to appear that they were tightening security. Not that it wasn't actually being tightened, just that it happened in less visible ways and the public needed some tangible show of strength.

Her fastest rider was dispatched. He was to head straight for Grandland's capital. He was carrying a message, but it wasn't for the Grandlandian government, oh no. It was meant to be received by the Arendellian ambassador there, and ordered him to quietly pack his stuff and withdraw, seeing as tensions were escalating and his safety could no longer be guaranteed.

Court was held, but it was mostly a repetition of the official statement by her, in front of the Courtiers and the visitors. Hiccup was there, and he accepted the various well-wishers gracefully.

Her furious row with Anna still weighed heavily on her. If not for her immense workload, she would have been much more worried about it. As it was, she only had time to think about it well after the sun had set and her minimal sleep in the last 48 hours caught up to her. As she went about her chambers, preparing for some much needed rest, the still unresolved matter came to the forefront of her mind.

Being siblings with vastly different personalities, arguments between them were not at all uncommon. They always bickered about this or that, irritating and annoying each other. Anna with her incessant teasing, and Elsa with her curt dismissals. But this was different. This was much more serious than a petty argument.

Anna's words had hit their mark. They had meant to hurt and they had cut deep. Never before had she been provoked to the point of instinctual, physical violence. Granted, the slap was sloppy and probably hurt Anna's pride more than her cheek, but it was the act itself that was unforgivable.

Having been raised from birth to rule, and from the age of six to completely control her emotional reactions, violence of the physical kind had never been part of Elsa's upbringing. Her destructive potential had been considered far too dangerous to allow such an unpredictable outlet. To her knowledge, that was the first time she had physically struck someone, and now she had done it twice in the same day. This was a violation of not only royal decorum but also of her own self-imposed limits.

But was what Anna had done any less unforgivable? Deliberately she had aimed at Elsa's old insecurities, things that she knew Elsa still had not forgiven herself for, things she only knew because Elsa had confided in her, and only her. Could that breach of Elsa's trust be forgiven so easily?

She let out a tired sigh. If Anna could forgive her, then she could certainly forgive Anna. She could not afford to alienate her sister right now, even for a little while. She needed her support. She'd swallow her bruised pride at Anna's low blows, and apologize to her tomorrow at breakfast.

She slept like a brick, and the next thing she knew it was dawn and she was getting up. She was the first to arrive for breakfast, and as the servants miled about, preparing the table she pondered the best way to talk to her sister.

Curiously, she heard Hiccup's voice from outside the door.

"Really though, there's no need-"

He was interrupted by Anna, who was clearly irritated, judging by her voice.

"Nonsense. We haven't had you for breakfast in a while. I insist."

The door opened and allowed the both of them in. Anna was almost dragging Hiccup by the hand, who threw her a half bewildered, half apologetic look over Anna's head. Elsa only had a smile for that. Anna could be more stubborn than a mule, when she set her mind on something.

With Hiccup there, her plans to apologize to Anna-a deeply personal act- were postponed. The atmosphere was rather awkward, in light of recent events, many of which Anna did not yet know. Her sister made a valiant effort to kick off conversation and keep it going, with moderate success, but soon breakfast was over and everyone parted ways. Hiccup left with Ernie, and she headed to her office.

She did, however, make space in her schedule for one whole hour free, in which to talk to Anna. It needed to be done, and she'd be damned if she allowed it to be postponed indefinitely or until it no longer mattered.

When Anna arrived in her office, she found her in front of her desk, hands clasped in a show of anxiety.

Anna looked at her, assessing her mood.

"Hey Elsa."

"Hey." Elsa said, mechanically, before taking a deep breath, "I wanted to apologize." She paused, looking her sister in the eyes. "I'm sorry."

Anna smiled sadly. "I will forgive you, if you forgive me. The things I said were uncalled for. I was way over the line."

"I should never have hit you."

"Pretty sure I deserved it." Anna said. "Still friends?"

Foregoing an answer, Elsa embraced her sister, wrapping her arms around her. Anna returned the gesture and Elsa sighed in relief. She needed Anna, especially now. Her sister's support and love had carried her through many tough situations, and she didn't know what she'd do without them.

When they separated, a small smile played on Elsa's lips.

"You weren't completely wrong, you know."

Anna raised a curious eyebrow. After a few seconds of Elsa's silence, her eyes widened. "What did you do?"

"You'll never guess it."

"What did you do, Elsa?"

"Care to at least try?"

Anna waved her hands in frustration, no doubt wracking her brain but finding no satisfactory answer. Elsa's smile widened.

"Elsa, I'm dying here!"

Elsa let her stew for a while more, savoring her anguished look, before finally coming out with it.

"I kissed him."

Anna just blinked at her for a few seconds, mouth agape, before she managed to regain her voice.

"You- … are you joking?"

"That only made Elsa's smile transform into a full-blown grin. "Nope."

"You kissed him?"

"Sure did."

She seemed to need a few more seconds to process this, before a huge grin broke out in her face.

"You kissed him!" Before Elsa had time to point out that she had, in fact, just said that, Anna had enveloped her in a crushing hug, laughing maniacally as she did so.

"Just when I think I have you figured out, you go and pull that kind of stuff."

"I have to keep you on your toes somehow."

"Tell me everything."

Elsa proceeded to recount her conversation with Hiccup to Anna, patiently clarifying whatever little questions Anna had which ranged from her motives to his expressions and a plethora of other, seemingly random things.

Upon conclusion, much of the good cheer had vanished. The reality of the situation was not as pleasant as it had at first appeared to.

"What will you do now?" Anna asked when Elsa was finished. She shrugged her shoulders.

"What can I do? My cards, as they say, are on the table. It's his move, now."

"I'm sure he'll come around." Anna said sympathetically.

"Maybe he will, maybe he won't. Regardless, I won't lose any sleep over it. I've done my part. I have bigger concerns right now."

"Is the situation really that worrisome?"

"The council seems to agree that things with Grandland will get worse. The probability of the attackers being state sanctioned is too high."

"How bad could it be?"

"That's the problem. We don't know yet. We don't know their motivation in this attack or in their probable attempt on my life. We have always had a cordial, if rocky, relationship with Grandland. Decent trading connections. Whatever they hope to gain by their actions they are prepared to sacrifice all of that to gain it. Or at least, " Elsa admitted "Some part of their government quite probably is, assumptions cannot be made at this stage. "

Anna frowned a little and looked up at the ceiling in thought.

"I wonder" she said slowly "Could the cause of all this be to do with… well, you and Hiccup?"

Elsa looked at her in surprise. "Whatever do you mean? Nothing passed between us till this very morning."

"Elsa," said Anna levelly " I sometimes don't know if you realize this, but you are scary powerful when it comes to your ice magic, a fact you aptly demonstrated to all of our neighbors a few years ago. Now in addition to an ice sorceress as a Queen we have had the leader of the only known dragon riding nation staying as your personal guest these last few weeks. Should the two of you form a military alliance, or worst, marry- "

"Or worst marry" she repeated over Elsa's spluttering "- oh hush, Elsa. You're both young and single, there will be speculation of such an alliance. Well, you can can see why even our allies are going to be nervous right now. With your magic and his dragon army you could build an empire running from here to the Casertian sea, who would be able to stop you? Perhaps the Grandlandian government simply means to neutralize the threat before you become completely unstoppable."

Elsa stared at her sister in astonishment at this unexpected insight. "I sometimes forget the formidable brain you have." she said, tapping Anna lightly on the head, "You hide it so well most of the time."

"Thank- hey!"

Anna stayed for the full hour and they talked. It was invigorating, as always, but in the end her duties called and Anna herself had stuff to do.

Hours passed. Work, lunch, more work, a brief respite, then work once again. Court was not scheduled today, so her evening was spent in her office.

To her surprise, worked into her evening schedule of appointments was Hiccup himself. It was the first time they'd met in such a way, which was unusual in itself because scheduled appointments were how meetings with foreign officials were normally conducted.

He had taken pains to arrange this meeting through bureaucratic channels, and Elsa judged that his visit was purely work-related. Indeed, the Chief had brought with him the brand-new and completed map of the Viking Archipelago, as he called it. He had even taken the time to connect it with the maps of Arendelle she kept in the library.

It was remarkable. The detail was incredible. It was drawn in an elegant, artistic style, but not overly enough so as to be anything other than a practical map.

As Hiccup explained to her while she examined the finished map, he had taken the liberty of outlining the safest sailing routes through the Archipelago, taking into account weather, marauding viking tribes, treacherous waters, and even such things as sea serpents and dragon nesting sites, of which Elsa had no way of knowing about. Information that was invaluable for potential future expeditions.

It sounded too good to be true, and it was. As Hiccup told her, he had thought long and hard about her trade agreement, and come to a decision. As it was Elsa's own idea to offer Berk an advantageous position in trade, it would be stupid of him to deny such an opportunity for his people. He would keep Elsa's terms, at least most of them. In return, he would back Arendelle's version of the recent attack. Additionally, he would aid Elsa's future expeditions with instructions and even guides, to ensure a safe and successful journey. He would also share map information, meaning that Elsa would be supplied with copies of Berk's maps of all known areas, discounting their own territory. Those maps would substantially increase Arendelle's knowledge of the Northern realms, an area for which accurate maps were almost impossible to find. The fact that Berk's cartographers had the advantage of being able to view the terrain safely and from above meant that theirs were quite probably the most accurate maps ever drafted of that notoriously treacherous region. Granted, she'd probably never need to venture that far, but it was better to have and not need, than need and not have.

They negotiated the terms of the agreement for a couple of hours. Halfway through, the Minister of Finance, as representative of the Merchant's Guild, joined them. Elsa took a backseat as she let her minister do what he did best, try to wrangle a better deal out of everything and everyone.

Nothing was finalised, but progress was being made. Slowly they were inching closer to an official accord.

No one was fooled. If this agreement were to actually go through, the two nations might as well declare an alliance.

After leaving her office, the only other time she saw Hiccup that day was when a shadow passed over her office window, no doubt the Chief and Toothless taking some flight time to relax.

Rather than relax, herself, Elsa was deep in discussion with the Commander General and some of his subordinates regarding the upping of internal security. Furthermore, there had been some troubling reports from the border. Nothing definite, yet, but Shad warned that they should not be ignored, so she authorized him to take personal command of the border garrisons and maximise their effectiveness as he saw fit. No one was to go in or out without his knowledge.

She spent what little time she had that evening being entertained by the Arendellian orchestra in the smaller ballroom, listening to several new pieces written in her honor. Half her Court was present, but she was not disturbed as she sat, enjoying the smooth music. A rather significant advantage over normal Court sessions, that was for sure. When it was finished, she expressed her genuine appreciation and congratulations.

Her pillow had never felt softer.

Her next day started off, to her pleasant surprise, normally. She went through her morning routine, had breakfast with her sister, Hiccup and Marina, and then strolled unhurriedly up to her office, enjoying the novel lack of emergencies so far that morning. The various things that had diverted her attention recently had no new developments, which gave her the time to backtrack and catch up with all the more mundane paperwork and requests that she'd been forced to put off, lately. Boring, certainly, but a pleasant change from the constant anxiety of the last few days.

Equally, she took the time to meet with representatives of the various private guilds and associations, and give a suitably strong and confident showing. After that, she started her rounds. She did see Hiccup from a distance, lounging on his favorite spot in the gardens with Toothless, but had no time for anything beyond a wave and a smile.

Before she knew it, lunch had come and left, as had Court. A normal day, by most standards, excluding some minor political squabbling among the aristocracy. Then again, when had that not been the case?

When she had finally finished her duties for the evening, she went off in search of Anna, after a brief stop to her quarters to change into something a little bit warmer looking. Not because she was feeling particularly cold, she rarely did, but it was her experience that people were uncomfortable if they were bundled up in furs while she walked around wearing a single layer.

She decided that it'd be a better idea to send someone else to find Anna and send her to her. In the meantime, she headed to one of the balconies of her office floor. The view was amazing from this high up, and the torches had already been lit so there was plenty of light.

She enjoyed the silence and the view until her sister came, simply relaxing and letting the stiffness and haziness of a full day seep out. When Anna arrived, she sat on the marble bench next to her. The sisters shared a smile and twined their hands. For a handful of minutes they sat in contented silence, before they started to talk.

Apparently Anna had invited the others to join them, because not long after she heard voices approaching, and the ever so slight clinking of a metallic prosthetic against the floor. Sure enough, Hiccup and Kristoff joined them on the balcony, already deep in conversation.

They stopped when they reached the balcony, Kristoff giving a cheery hello before boldly sweeping a squealing Anna into his arms. Hiccup greeted her with a smile, and she did the same.

Hiccup and Kristoff were apparently not finished with their conversation, because they picked up again as soon as they seated themselves on the bench opposite theirs. Their heated argument was over … ice?

Apparently Hiccup had taken an interest in Kristoff's line of work, which had, at some point, spawned a debate regarding different ice shapes' density and usability. Their conversation had peaked when they both disagreed on the best way to stack ice blocks of a particular shape, with Hiccup using his engineering knowledge to support his argument while Kristoff insisted that his experience with handling ice had showed him that Hiccup was wrong.

The argument was won when Kristoff asked Elsa to create some ice for a demonstration. Slightly baffled, she did so. Kristoff cackled while Hiccup looked on in dismay as he was proven wrong. He bounced back immediately, however, procuring his notebook from his tunic and proceeding to madly scribble notes while rapid-firing questions to both Kristoff and Elsa.

They let the two men to their discussion, and in turn focused on their own, pausing occasionally for Elsa to make some more ice blocks. 'For science', she was assured. The two men eventually absconded to the floor, where they sat crosslegged, stacking and restacking the different shaped blocks like a pair of squabbling children.

Elsa and Anna shared a look, and while Elsa was feeling a little too dignified to snicker, Anna had no such reservations. At some point, a servant came and offered everyone a hot beverage, and Elsa made a mental note to praise the young maid's forethought to the Lady Gertrude.

They chatted for what must have been the better part of an hour, before Anna decided that she and Kristoff had better things to do. She rose and grabbed his hand, interrupting him mid-speech and all but dragging him to his feet.

"We'll be going now. We have things to do. Goodnight!"

Kristoff, for his part, looked mighty confused. "Huh? What things?"

"You know, things." Anna insisted, giving him a sharp glare and all but dragging him away. He said a hasty goodbye before he was shoved through the doorway.

Elsa, knowing full well what Anna was doing, glared at her, only to receive a conspiratory wink in return, before Anna, too, vanished from the balcony.

She sighed, rubbing her eyes with her fingers. Her sister was incorrigible.

She eyed Hiccup, who was staring at the door the couple had vanished through with bemusement.

Still … perhaps she could take advantage of the opportunity Anna had so indelicately created.

When the viking finally turned to look at her, they shared a brief, embarrassed chuckle. She had no doubt that Hiccup had seen right through Anna's cunning plan.

She patted the spot next to her, recently vacated by her sister, and heard him slide until he was sitting right next to her.

"I'm sorry about her." She said, causing him to snicker.

"No need. You heard her, she had things to do. Apparently, we're not invited."

Elsa nodded sagely. "My sister's clubs are notoriously exclusive." They shared a laugh at Anna's transparency, before lapsing into not uncomfortable silence. Hiccup finished off his beverage before setting it aside. She turned to get a good look at him.

He was wearing the green tunic again, and he'd recently shaved, as his cheeks were smooth. His hair had grown considerably since he'd arrived. Having already been somewhat long when she met him, now they reached his shoulders and framed his face.

Oh dear, she must have lost focus for a bit. When snapped out of it she noticed Hiccup was looking at her strangely, no doubt having noticed her staring at him. She gave him a weak smile and felt heat rise to her cheeks. She covered her face with her cup, drinking the rest of it in one go and setting it aside.

"Anna seems to go out of her way to give us alone time." He said, to which she nodded.

"Indeed."

"Won't that be noticed? Isn't it a bit scandalous?"

She was not offended. No doubt he was aware of how rumors worked, and of the societal taboos regarding unmarried women, never mind actual members of the royal family. Still, she wasn't the Queen for nothing.

She shook her head. "No. The servants who work here are all loyal and sworn to secrecy. Even still, the people know me and trust me. I'm sure there is no fear of scandals."

There certainly was, but she would make sure that nothing came of it. If her hunch was right, Anna was doing her level best right now to minimize such dangers, after having so purposely left them alone. Still, she didn't want him to know that.

On Hiccup's disbelieving look, she added with a sigh: "I will take care of it", which seemed to be enough for him. He nodded, accepting her explanation with a nod and small smile. His breath fogged in front of him from the night's chill.

"Are you cold?" She had a strange relationship with the cold, one that she knew was unique to her. She could feel it, in a manner of speaking, but not quite as much as normal people and it never bothered her in any way. She often forgot that normal people got cold unless they mentioned it, and didn't want this to be such a case.

He shook his head, smiling, and brought his hands up to eye level. "Not bothered, I told you before."

Disbelieving, Elsa took hold of his hand to check. His skin was rough, no doubt the result of years of working with leather, metal and weapons. Still, the way his fingers curled around hers did send a pleasant feeling down her spine.

He was definitely not cold.

"You believe me now?" He said, rolling his eyes.

"It is kind of cold tonight." She defended herself.

"Not to me."

She felt his fingers absently rub her own, and smiled.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked.

""About what?"

"You know …" He said, and Elsa spotted the first signs of awkwardness in his voice and the way he mechanically shrugged his shoulders. "About your sister leaving us here."

"What about her?"

"Why did she do it?"

What was he asking? He obviously knew that Anna wanted them to be alone. Was there another aspect to his question?

"She seems to be under the impression that if we're alone, interesting things happen." An understatement, perhaps. When Elsa was left alone with him, many things happened. Some of them good, some of them bad, all of them extraordinary.

"Why?"

"Well, she has eyes, for one. Secondly, I told her."

He looked at her, surprised. "You told her? About …" He trailed off, his cheeks reddening slightly. Was he embarrassed? It was just a kiss.

"About the kiss?"

He twitched slightly at the word. "I'm aware that I've been telling you to do something crazy for a while now, but that went above and beyond even my expectations."

Elsa chuckled. "I can think of little that would count as crazier than that. In any case, yes, I did tell her."

"So…" he said, taking a few seconds to think of his question. "What did you tell her, exactly?"

"That I liked you."

Was she being too bold? Perhaps. Still, Elsa was not afraid. She had a feeling that if she was going to make any headway with Hiccup, indirect half-measures weren't going to cut it.

Conceal, don't feel. The mantra of her childhood seemed to echo around her head in those few agonising seconds before he replied. Everything she had been taught, every bit of royal and emotional training recoiled from the recklessness of her confession. And yet here she was, her feelings bared, placed down in front of him like a challenge. Never had she felt so emotionally exposed. Only Anna had really managed to breach the walls that their well-meaning parents had helped build around her heart, only Anna had had the unrelenting bloody-minded persistence needed to truly get behind her defences. And yet this strange barbarian man had managed it, without even trying, without even noticing. It filled her with a strange, giddy kind of confidence.

'Conceal, don't feel' could go hang.

His mouth opened, but no sound came out. He closed it, then opened it again, more collected. "Is that why you, well, kissed me?"

"If you suggest what you did last time I will not hesitate to punch you." She said. She waved her clenched fist at him for emphasis.

His eyes widened for a second and he lost his shy smile, face darkening. For a single unconscious moment, he squeezed her hand almost painfully, before he noticed and relaxed it again with an apologetic smile. He shook his head, as if to rid it of unwanted thoughts. What was that about?

"Would you, really?"

"Well, no." She admitted, sheepishly. "I'm not much of a punching person. I would not, however, think twice about turning you into an icicle."

He nodded solemnly. "I'm sure. Well, I learn from my mistakes. You won't hear that from me again."

"I'd better not."

"So … is that why you did it? Because you like me?"

"Yes, Hiccup, don't be dense. I don't randomly go around kissing foreigners. It would rather complicate diplomatic relations."

"I knew that, I just… I just can't understand why."

She frowned. "Why what?"

"Of all the people you could … like, why me? Why … this?" And he made this frustrated gesture with his free hand, pointing to himself from head to feet.

She blinked at him. "You just pointed to all of you."

"Yes, exactly." He agreed. "Why me?"

Well, what could she really say to that? How did you go about explaining to a person why exactly you harbored romantic feelings towards them? Should she just start listing what she liked in him, like his characteristics and such? She didn't think Hiccup was fishing for compliments, so there must be something else he needed resolving and lacked the eloquence to word correctly.

Still, she wouldn't have pegged the mighty Viking Chief as being this insecure. What had brought this on?

"That's an unfair question." She said after a moment's reflection. "You're asking me to describe feelings I don't understand very well, myself."

He was silent for a few seconds. "I guess you're right. But, are you ever sure? You don't know me very well. We just met a while ago."

She smiled a little, let go of his hand and lent back on their stone bench to look up at the evening sky.

"Don't I?" She asked, almost addressing the stars as much as him. "Granted, I don't know a whole lot about you, like your past or your friends. Neither of us have been all that forthcoming about our pasts. Still, I think I have a pretty good idea who you are, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third."

She could hear his audible gulp. His eyes flit this way and that, reminding her almost of a cornered wildcat. She could tell, from the clenching of his jaw and the crease of his brow that he was thinking about something, hard. She gave him his time, realizing that this kind of thing couldn't be rushed. The wind ruffled his long, windswept hair and she found herself once again daydreaming about running her fingers through it. She hurriedly went back to examining the stars, incredibly glad that the darkness obscured her red stained face.

His inner debate seemed to have ended, or at least abated, when his frown disappeared and he let out a small chuckle.

"I guess I did act like a berk, that night."

She smiled teasingly. "I forgive you, just."

His eyes found hers again, and this time he was neither embarrassed nor frowning. A far more confident smile had found its way to his lips, one that she recognized much more easily than the unsure, insecure Hiccup from just minutes earlier.

"If nothing else, I feel I have to make it up to you for how I reacted, then."

Oh? That sounded ... promising.

"And how will you do that?"

His smirk was doing things to her she couldn't put to words. He'd moved so close that they were practically touching. Hazily, she wondered if he could hear her heart trying to beat its way out of her chest.

"With a much more appropriate reaction."

And then he leaned forward, and she leaned forward, and they were kissing. Her hands snaked their way up his chest to his shoulders while his curled around her waist and pulled her closer until she was flush against him. The bench was a bit uncomfortable, but that was the furthest from Elsa's mind as Hiccup kissed her.

Her hands moved, from his shoulders to his neck, fingers curling around long brown hair, tugging him ever closer. He leaned forward, pushing her back to rest against the bench as he turned his body so that he followed her movement down. Now with more space to move, his hand on her waist became a firm grip and the hand on her cheek moved to the nape of her neck.

It did not end quickly, unlike their previous kiss. He had not been taken by surprise, did not push her away, and reacted in more than just instinct. Hiccup, as it turned out, was a methodical, practiced kisser, and he intended to make her squirm. This was no peck, no half-shy half-intimidated moonlit kiss like her first, two years ago. Hiccup kissed her fiercely and without hesitation. She'd thought their first kiss had been pretty good. He improved on it.

Like all good things, this too came to an end as they separated. She gasped for air, her eyes opening. He was looking down at her, breathing hard, as well. His eyes were alight with an almost electric intensity that she was sure was matched in her own. It sent a shiver down her spine, and made her want to practice kissing a bit longer. From the look in Hiccup's eyes, she doubted he'd object.

"That..." she said between breaths. "That was the first time…"

"Your first kiss?"

She shook her head. "First of its kind, certainly."

He smirked. She would've smothered his bulging ego if she wasn't too busy trying to get her scattered mind back into working order. Instead, she sat back up, closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of his fingers as they smoothly brushed against her cheek. When they'd finished their pass, she took a deep breath and brought herself back under control.

"Does that mean…"

She did not want to complete the sentence, unsure of how to word it. He kissed her, this time. He initiated it. Surely that meant he shared her feelings, at least to some extent.

His expression clouded a little, part of his frown returned. As they had moved apart again, he took her hands, his thumbs absentmindedly rubbing small circles into her palms.

"I … I do not deny that this felt amazing, or that I've wanted to do this for a while now." He admitted, color working its way up his neck and onto his face. It was all kinds of adorable.

"But?" She prompted, trying not to get too distracted.

He shook his head. "It is not so simple."

"How?"

"We are more than just Hiccup and Elsa. We have priorities, responsibilities and duties. They will always come first to me, as I suspect they will to you. Moreover, if I am to enter into this …relationship with you, I want to know that it's for the right reasons."

She studied his face. "What is that supposed to mean?"

His face contorted for a second, in an emotion that passed too quickly for her to recognize.

"There are some … personal reservations that make me doubt several things regarding myself and my motivations when it comes to you."

"More riddles." She said after a groan, shaking her head in frustration. "More half answers. More allusions to a past that you do not speak of. Be clear with me, Hiccup. Do you not like me in that way?"

She didn't believe that. He wouldn't have kissed her like that if he didn't like her. She wasn't wrong in this, she was sure.

"I didn't say that. What I'm saying is that I'm still figuring it out, myself."

She closed her eyes, and tried to gather her thoughts. What did she do now? She could insist, but what purpose would that serve? Ignoring the fact that she would probably fail, with how stubborn she knew Hiccup could be, did she really want to have to persuade him to work on this with her? A relationship between them would be dangerous, stressful, and full of pitfalls. If either wasn't fully willing, it would collapse immediately under the strain.

"So where does that leave us?"

"I … I don't know. Why don't we just … see what happens?"

She blinked. "See what happens?"

"Yeah. I don't have a solution ready, but I don't want to make a premature decision that I might regret."

"So you propose we just keep doing what we're doing and see what happens?"

"Well … yes."

She nodded. "I can get behind that."

And then she kissed him again, her lips finding his swiftly, looking for that familiar feeling. He startled in surprise, but did not hesitate to kiss her back, even as he reached out a hand to the bench to steady them as she pressed against him.

Perhaps this was not what he had in mind when he proposed what he did, but this did fit her idea of 'keep doing what we're doing' rather well.

Besides, she wanted to practice kissing some more.

She broke it after a few seconds. His confused look was simply precious, and she chuckled as she gave him another peck. Then, she sat back with a catlike smile, still holding his hand in hers.

They stayed like that for a while, not speaking, simply enjoying the view and each other's presence. Not long after, she got up and said goodnight, promising to see him again tomorrow.

As she walked towards her quarters, she saw her sister waiting, leaning against the wall of a hallway. She said nothing as Elsa passed, but her flushed cheeks and wide, slightly goofy smile must have given her away because Anna immediately grinned like a lunatic and gave her a thumbs up. She said nothing, only shaking her head and continuing her way.

She managed to not obsess over every little thing that had happened with Hiccup, while she bathed. Instead, she took her time in the tub, relaxing. Closing her eyes in the hot water, she rested her head against the edge. She let out a drawn out sigh, as she felt the soreness of the day seep out of her tired body.

Her thoughts flew in a satisfied haze. The day had started well, and ended even better. A part of her mind cautioned that nothing was truly solved. That Arendelle was still faced with a crisis, and that Hiccup, while he shared her feelings, was still a wildcard. As he had said, his priorities and first loyalty were with Berk. As hers were with Arendelle. She knew that.

The rest of her calmly informed that part that yes, she was aware, and it could shut up now.

When she woke up the next day, it took her a while to realize why she was feeling so elated. Memories of last night brought a wide smile to her face, one that persisted while she got washed and dressed.

Breakfast was awkward, but in a good way. Hiccup was there, but so was half her council, so she did her best to not give away the fluttery feeling she got whenever she glanced at him and he would do the same and he would half-smile before looking away. It was too much for Anna, who broke down into a fit of giggles ten minutes in, but Anna's unquenchable good cheer was nothing out of the ordinary and thankfully nobody seemed suspicious. Beyond that, she had the light discussion with her council members to distract her. Nobody spotted the new development in the relationship between their Queen and the Viking Chief. She hoped.

Afterwards, as soon as she arrived in her office, her head Courtier joined her, long black hair cascading elegantly down her back.

"You summoned me, my Queen?"

"Yes, Marina. I assume Anna got to you, yesterday?"

"The princess did. Do not worry, that part of the tower was discreetly emptied by myself and your sister. The balcony in question is not overlooked. The staff that served you were cautioned to discretion and reminded of their legally binding contracts."

"So no one knows?"

"Only the young chambermaid that brought your drinks and two other servants suspected anything, but they are trustworthy. As I said, they have been reminded of the benefits of discretion."

Elsa nodded. The servant contracts on the castle, drafted by her Head Courtier herself, were some of the best anyone could hope to find, provided they could adhere to its strict rules, which included keeping their mouths shut and severe punishment if they failed to do so. Marina subscribed to a carrot and stick philosophy.

That was good, that meant that her alone-time with a foreign leader would not become common knowledge. That was the last thing she needed.

"Good work, Marina."

Marina bowed her head in acknowledgement. Then, unusually for her, she seemed to hesitate for a moment. "If I may, my Queen?" She said.

Elsa saw the frown on Marina's face, and had to repress a groan.Here we go.

"What is it?"

"I have some concerns I need you to alleviate."

"Go on."

"With all due respect, my Queen, what happened with Chief Haddock last night on that balcony?" Marina said delicately, watching Elsa's face from behind lowered lids.

Elsa glared at her Head Courtier and tried her damndest not to blush.

"With all due respect, I don't see how that's any of your business."

"You must understand, my Queen, your situation is very delicate. The last thing you need right now are rumors about your virtue."

"The last thing I need right now is this conversation."

"I have talked to you before about political marriage and you've been against the idea, but this … this is disagreement on a whole other level of extreme."

Elsa's eyes narrowed. "I was not aware I needed your permission to have a private life."

Marina's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh my, that is not what I meant at all."

"But you insinuated that I should conduct whatever romantic life I have according to the council's wishes?"

"My only concern is the stability of the kingdom, your Majesty." Said Marina in a placating tone.

Elsa sucked in a deep, affronted breath. The she breathed it out again, slowly, letting go of her flushed anger at Marina's diplomatic scolding. She was not wrong to be concerned. As much as Elsa wished she could continue to explore this, this thing with Hiccup in complete privacy, it was simply not possible. Some people had to know, even to keep it contained for the short amount of time that could be reasonably expected before the rumours inevitably emerged. Had she been a prince or a king, a dalliance would have raised few eyebrows, even one with foreign royalty. However she was young, she was female and she was yet to find a husband, which made her hand and by extension her 'virtue,' a powerful diplomatic chip. Queen or not, this was probably not the only lecture she would have to endure from her advisors on this matter. Luckily, being an absolute ruler had its advantages.

"And you are good at your job, Marina. However, this is off limits, even to you. Understand?"

She bowed her head. "As you wish, your Majesty. I apologize if I was disrespectful."

"I expect you to follow my instructions to the letter, and to trust me to also have the kingdom as my first priority. Is that clear?"

"Of course, my Queen. I never doubted your dedication."

"I leave it up to you to see to it that any time I wish to reserve for Chief Hiccup is kept private and uninterrupted."

"As you command."

"Now go, and never speak of this to me again."

"Your Majesty." Marina said as she bowed, before leaving the room.

The rest of her time until lunch passed relatively normally. Meetings, paperwork, inspections, all routine.

Anna came to her, proposing that they take Hiccup to visit the Artists' Guild. Thinking it a fantastic idea, Elsa went along to see him, though at first he was reluctant to go. Apparently he wasn't confident enough in his sketches to present them to actual professionals, which Elsa thought was just nonsense. Between the two of them they finally persuaded him to come with them.

As they went, Naya Avarice, the dancer, joined them on Hiccup's request. Elsa had no reason not to accept her presence. She knew where she stood with him and was very satisfied with that. Regardless, some inner part of her twisted whenever the two of them acted overly friendly, when he treated the dancer in an easy, casual manner that she knew he wouldn't use with her. Naya's attraction to him was no secret, though she wasn't sure if he was diplomatically ignoring it, or simply hadn't realized it yet. She wouldn't really be surprised if the latter was the case. For all his sharp eyes, mind and wit, he seemed rather dense with certain things.

Still, those dark thoughts were not enough to mar her evening. Once he got over his initial awkwardness, Hiccup really got into the discussion with the various painters, sculptors and engineers that formed the Artists' Guild. Rather, the Ellesmyre sisters found themselves bored after three hours of simply watching them go at it. Still, Hiccup seemed happy, and that made Elsa herself smile.

In the end, Hiccup left carrying several new sketches, some his, some not. They ranged from portraits to blueprints, and he seemed immensely satisfied with them. Naya left with a charcoal sketch of herself in a graceful dancing pose, and seemed quite intent on making sure Hiccup knew how grateful she was. For one immature moment, Elsa dearly wished for rocks to suddenly appear and drop on the young woman's perfect little head.

She shook her head, chasing the crazy thought away. Where had that come from?

After the visit to the Guild everyone went to their quarters to bathe and change, before reconvening to dine. It was a semi-formal affair, less grand than the ball of a few days ago but still suitably grandiose. A smaller room was used, and less people were invited, though all were important.

She made extra certain that she only had half a cup, despite Anna's teasing. Moreover, though she was once again officially escorted by Hiccup, she made it a point to dance with a lot of people and mingle. Hiccup was usually at her side, but not always, and that was fine. It should help avoid the formation of rumors.

Still, she had a fun time, as she expected to. They danced and they talked, and it was suitably entertaining.

Her favorite part of the evening came just after the gathering's ending. They left, heading casually towards the upper floors where the guest quarters and Elsa's own rooms were. When suitably alone, the two of them snuck off to one of the dozens of balconies lining the walkways while Ernie served as a lookout from the corridor. Those fifteen minutes of thoroughly enjoyable kissing left her breathless and slightly ruffled. It was just as good that all her servants had been dismissed and no one saw her messy hair, crumpled dress and slightly swollen lips. Whatever Marina thought of the situation, she was doing her job well.

~E~

She was woken in the middle of the night, her eyes snapping open as she surged to a sitting position, looking around in alarm and confusion. When she managed to focus, she recognized the sound that woke her as being rather insistent knocking on her door.

She rose as quickly as she could manage, throwing a robe over her nightclothes and trying in vain to tame her hair with one hand while she made her way to the door.

The knocking still had not stopped.

"Yes?" She asked, containing her irritation at being woken. If they saw fit to rouse her, it must be important.

"Apologies for waking you, your Majesty," came the nervous voice of one of her handmaidens "but something has occured. The Commander General requested your presence. He insisted that urgency is paramount."

What now?

"Where?"

"East holding cells."

"I'll be there."

"Should I assist, my Queen?"

"I can dress myself, Merope. Go back to bed."

"Yes, your Majesty."

She hurriedly splashed some water on her face and pulled out a purple dress simple enough for her to put on herself. She ran her hands through her hair a few times but had no time to braid it. Instead, she left it to fall down her back as she hurried back towards the door.

When she marched out of her quarters, a pair of guards fell into step behind her.

She arrived at the headquarters of the east wing of the castle's main garrison without fanfare. Despite the late hour the place was teeming with activity, some of her country's top brass bowed and made way for her as she hurried through the corridors.

When she entered the holding facility, the first thing she saw was Shad, his expression was grim and his uniform uncharacteristically crumpled. He looked very tired, and she doubted he'd seen any sleep in a while.

"What is going on?" She demanded.

"My Queen, there have been developments during the night."

"Tell me."

"As per your orders, border security has been tightened recently. Last night, we were able to detect a breach. Our scouts reported a likely team of five infiltrators."

Border breaches were unfortunate, but not particularly rare. However vigilant Shad's patrols where, Elsa knew that a small group with enough resources could slip into Arendelle with ease. The borders of her kingdom were too long, and too wild, to secure or police in their entirety. She had only hoped for some advanced warning of their arrival in her kingdom.

"Yes, I read the report, they slipped through the Sharadan Pass yesterday morning. What of it?"

"We managed to track and capture one of them."

Elsa's eyes widened. That was important news.

"Excellent. What has he been saying?"

Here, Shad shook his head.

"A lot of things, and nothing at the same time. He seems very… unstable, though I suppose he could be putting an act."

"Is there a particular reason this could not wait until morning?"

"What he's been saying has been… worrying. I thought it prudent for you to hear it yourself, sooner rather than later."

"Have you interrogated him?"

"We started almost as soon as we got him to the capital, but he has said nothing of consequence as of yet."

"Take me to him."

She followed the General who lead her deeper into the bowels of the castle. She rarely came down here, as she never particularly liked the lower dungeons. Dark and damp, they had been a necessity when the castle was first built by her ancestors, during one of the the more tumultuous times in Arendelle's past. The heavy stone vaulting barely cleared Elsa's head as they traveled further down, transitioning into solid rock as they went deeper than the foundations of the castle. The passageway was narrow and uncomfortably humid and the hard granite walls seeming to push in from all sides. Elsa frowned, they had to be worried if they were holding him down here.

The room she ended up in was small and windowless, hollowed out of the solid cliff-rock on which the castle rested. Smack dab in the center lay a small wooden platform. There, on it, lay a man, tightly held by iron manacles in all of his limbs. Around the room, three wardens were watching the prisoner warily or cleaning their tools.

"You're back, aren't you, my favorite general?" The captive man spoke. His sarcastic voice was hoarse and broke often. The man himself was filthy, his clothes were torn and he was straining against his bonds as hard as he could, contorting his body grotesquely in a vain attempt to break free.

"I was beginning to think that you'd left me all alone." The man continued, not perturbed by Shad's quiet. When Elsa finally entered his field of vision, his crazed eyes snapped to her, his head ceasing its constant movement even as his hands and legs continued to strain.

"What's this? You brought me the Snow Queen herself? Come here, Queensie, I'll show you exactly what a girl the likes of you should be used for."

This was too much for one of the wardens, who grabbed hold of the man's jaw and squeezed, drawing the man's gaze to him.

"Respect the Queen, worm, or it'll be your tongue."

When the warden wrenched his hand away, the man let out a series of barking laughs.

"Then how will I talk if I've got no tongue, eh?"

"There are ways." Was the soldier's reply. The man laughed once again before suddenly scowling.

"Fine, whatever." The man twisted around to look at her, and, after rolling his eyes, adopted a tone of exaggerated servility "Oh ye blessed Queen, thank ye fer bestowing the honor of yer presence upon me. That better?" He wasn't fooling anyone, and if his mocking tone was any indication, he hadn't meant to.

"Who are you?" Elsa asked, making herself heard for the first time. The man's eyes snapped back to her.

"Wouldn't ye like to know, lass? I'm not gonna just tell ye." He bared his teeth at her in a mocking parody of a smile.

Elsa turned to look at Shad.

"They all talk, eventually." He told her, low enough that the prisoner probably hadn't heard. She returned her gaze to the deranged captive.

"What is your purpose? Why did you infiltrate Arendelle?"

He barked a laugh once again. "Untie me, and I'll show you why. It would be easy. Painless even. Just me hands around yer little neck. I promise it wouldn't hurt but a bit. I'll do it all gentle-like."

This man unnerved her, but she'd be damned before she let any of it show on her face.

"Why are you so bent on killing me?" She said levelly, her eyes never leaving his face.

He completely ignored her question, instead launching on his own tirade.

"You think you're so safe, surrounded by your thralls and hidden behind your walls. Well, yer not, let me tell you. We are everywhere. We see everything. Your castle will fall, your magic will not avail you, and your dragon tamer will not protect you."

Elsa frowned. Was that a reference to Hiccup?

"Who?"

The man laughed, a manic, hysteric sound that reverberated on the stone walls of the chamber. "You think we don't know? A masterful move, I'll give ye that, to bring the king of them dragon riders to protect you. But he won't help ye, not with Ioch. Soon, the dragon will be dealt with, and you'll be next."

Elsa said nothing in reply, but the man appeared to not need any encouragement. His eyes were darting around, his head lolling this way and that as his muscles strained against the iron bounds.

"You couldn't catch my men, either could you, witch?" He said, before his voice took a mocking sing-song quality "And all the Queen's horses and all the Queen's men won't be able to put the poor Queensie back together again." His eyes focused on her, suddenly filled with an burning malevolence. He snarled, "Not when he's through with you, girl."

Elsa had heard enough of the man's crazed ramblings. She turned and approached her General, who looked at her grimly.

"Unnerving, isn't it?" he asked her, to which she could only nod "I wanted you to see this, to hear him by yourself. The threat is real, and perhaps moreso than even I feared."

She nodded again. "Do what you need to do."

As she moved to exit the chamber, the prisoner's yell stopped her.

"Hey, queensie!" Her sudden stop, just at the door, must have been all the encouragement he needed to continue. When he spoke, his words were intermixed with barely controlled chuckles.

"You think your enemies fear your magic? Well, I don't. Heh. I used to, but now I don't, see? Oh, and did you know? Some say the world will end in fire. And you know what? I believe 'em!"

The man's manic laughter was the last thing Elsa heard as she left the dungeon, the unnerving sound echoing eerily against the stone walls. She headed back to her quarters, already thinking things through in her head. Try as she might, one thing kept returning to the forefront of her thoughts.

... some say the world will end in fire ...

Well, that wasn't ominous at all.

~E~

When Elsa sprang awake the next morning, all she could remember of her dreams was the red glow and the bristling heat of fire. Details evaded her, but fire had been present in her dreams a lot in the last few days since her encounter with Hiccup.

'... some say the world will end in fire …'

She shook her head clear of those words as she had her morning shower, resolving not to let last night ruin her day.

Her morning was, as usual, busy. The work of a ruler never ran out. Perhaps the most important part of it was when she talked to General Mertok, who came to her for his report, something that he'd insisted on doing personally.

Their topics of discussion were, unfortunately, all very worrying.

"No progress since last night, I fear." He said when the matter of the prisoner came up.

"What do we know of him?"

"Little to nothing. He carried no identification. His equipment was well made but appearance would suggest Grandland, but it is not definite."

"Is he really unhinged, or just faking it?"

"We cannot be sure. It has been used by prisoners before, but it's too early to tell."

"Well, keep me informed. And make sure that he does not share the last prisoner's fate. I place you solely responsible for his condition."

"As you wish, your Majesty."

"There is also the matter of … these." Elsa said, as she waved at the papers currently in front of her. Shad picked them up and looked them over.

"Everything seems to be in order."

"Is it, really? Do we really need so many war machines? I know I signed for their installations across the city, but don't you think their numbers are a bit much?"

"A show of force must never be done halfway."

"Are they practical, at least? Or are they just for show?"

The edge in the General's voice showed the indignation that his face didn't. "Of course they are practical, my Queen. They are the best our engineers could come up with to combat a dragon's mobility."

"I see. Out of curiosity, what are the simulations like?"

"Assuming that the Chief is holding back by fifty percent every time he flies with the dragon and performs stunts, and taking into account the reports on your own battle with him, we can safely say that the castle is perfectly defensible, with the kill zone loosening the further one goes from the center of the city."

"And if there is more than one dragon?"

He paused for a few seconds. "The calculations are progressively bleaker the more dragons are accounted for."

"I see. Still, we can't add a ballista atop each roof to account for a possibility that is not going to happen. For example, look at this." She said as she offered another small stack of papers at the General. "These orders are going to put heavy strain on our budget. Do we really need so many?"

"It is not enough to simply shield the capital, my Queen. I hope to have all border forts and major cities outfitted by the end of the year."

"And you believe it is worth it?"

He nodded. "Doubtlessly. The prisoner's warnings of fire only add to the threat of dragon attacks. As the saying goes, speak softly, but carry a big stick. Even if tensions with Berk end up amounting to nothing, other countries will have taken note of the dragons' devastating potential in war, and now they know they can be tamed. I have a feeling that developing defensive directives for aerial warfare is not only prudent but may be necessary for this country's, any country's, long term survival." He said grimly, looking over the table at her.

"Moreover, even if my fears turn out to be groundless, the machines work very well as defenses against conventional infantry and cavalry attacks. Such fortifications were long overdue, if you would ask me. Why, I had proposed something similar to your late father, years ago, but was shot down. I believe the time is now right."

She let out a sigh as she rubbed her temples. She had been considering Shad's proposals for most of the morning. What it had boiled down to in her head was this: On one hand, this all seemed to be a huge overreaction, not to mention a huge expense that could put to better use elsewhere. Things like welfare, infrastructure, trade, exploration. Hell, anything that wasn't big, ugly war machines.

On the other hand, the threat of Grandlandian offensives, the rising number of border breeches and yes, even the slight possibility of dragon raids should be enough to add artillery defenses to her forts and cities. Hadn't she just the other day been thinking about how it was better to have and not need than need and not have?

She loathed the very idea of the whole deal. She hated giving over such a big amount of state budget to what was basically the Arendellian war-machine. Arendelle wasn't a warring country. It's army wasn't big or great, and until very recently it had no obvious enemies. She wanted to do good things for her people, to raise their living standard as much as she could, and to bring prosperity and happiness to every single one of her subjects.

But what if Shad was right? Would she be later known as the weak link in the Ellesmyre dynasty? As the one who brought destruction upon Arendelle with her indecision and fear of war? Would people lament her father's untimely death and curse her own ascension to power because she was weak?

"And the facilities will be enough to produce the number of machines you have estimated?"

"They should be, yes. Finished machines will be stored there while they await transportation to their destinations."

"You have approval, then, General."

She accepted back the papers from him. They would get inspected one last time, then signed and then stamped, before being given to someone for processing and delivery.

"A wise decision, my Queen."

Her thoughts were dark, but her decision had been made.

"Just don't make me regret this, General."

"Of course not, your Majesty."

The meeting left a bad taste in her mouth for the rest of the morning until lunch, on which she took a much needed break to unwind. Thankfully, the next matter that required her attention had the good sense to wait until after she'd eaten. It came in the form of a watchman, who informed her that something had been spotted on the horizon. Something flying.

Assuming that to be Hiccup's officer, Elsa activated a set of orders that she'd prepared in advance. Basically, to stop the city guard from any offensive action, especially from Shad's trigger-happy engineers. As well, some aristocrats would be notified so as to be present, as per their wish. Dragons would always interest people, she ventured a guess.

Then, she sent for the Chief, requesting him to meet her at the Courtyard, where the dragon rider would be received. The speck that was the dragon could not be seen by the naked eye yet, at least not her eyes, but maybe the glare of the sun was to be blamed for that. Regardless, they had a few minutes before she arrived.

She was dressed in one of her more impressive and regal gowns by her handmaidens, a purple one that she particularly liked, and had her hair rebraided to perfection. Satisfied, she walked to the Courtyard, followed by most of her inner council and several courtiers. Halfway there, she was joined by Anna, who smiled at her and fell into step next to her.

The Courtyard was half-full already, packed with everyone cleared to be in the castle grounds that wasn't currently busy with something or other. Everyone was orderly stacked at the edges, leaving most of the area in the center empty. The Chief was already there, dressed in a light brown tunic, and at his side the dragon Toothless was restlessly redistributing his weight in what Elsa assumed was anxiety to see another dragon after several months of solitude.

Slowly, murmurs broke among the crowd when a shape became visible, in the distance. the speck slowly grew bigger and bigger as it approached.

Hiccup, who was standing next to her, leaner close and murmured, low enough that only she could hear.

"Just a heads-up, when she arrives, do not ask about the dragon. Try not to stare too much, either."

His voice was unusually grim, which was enough for her to direct a curious look his way.

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see."

She returned her gaze to the ever growing speck on the horizon. Soon, the shape grew bigger and more distinguished, until she could make out a body and wings, steadily beating as the dragon flew closer.

A roar was heard, not particularly aggressive but still fearsome. Toothless immediately perked, rising to his full height and extending his wings. His maw opened and he let out a roar of his own, as if calling the other dragon to him. The people of Arendelle watched the exchange in fascination.

The dragon's trajectory veered slightly, and now came directly towards the Courtyard. As it approached, Elsa finally noticed some things about it. It was a light green colour, mottled impressively with dark red and green scales that gave it an iridescent quality, like a fish or an insect. It was quite a bit bigger than Toothless himself.

The dragon circled ever lower above the Courtyard, until it finally landed with a great thud, it's muscular limbs absorbing the high speed fall with ease. Elsa could see a rider on it, seated right behind its bulbous head. Its harness was reminiscent of Toothless' own.

Flitting around it, looking impossibly small in comparison, was the tiny dragon Elsa had seen in Hiccup's quarters. Frog? Frod? Something like that.

Upon closer inspection, this dragon was far more different to Toothless in shape and size than she would have expected. Its body was wider and its wings much smaller than Toothless's more compact frame. Unlike Toothless's sail like spines, this dragon's were longer, rounded and blood red, running down a considerably longer neck, and continuing down both lengths of its forked tail. Its head was quite large, with wide yellow eyes and a sharp protruding horn. Its teeth were aggressively jutting out of its jaw.

Elsa saw the rider dismount with a light hop and head for Hiccup.

Before she could focus on the rider, however, she noticed something weird about the dragon's physiology. Its neck was positioned on the right side of its body, strangely off center. There was an empty space to the left of the neck, which protruded slightly. It was bound in many layers of tightly set leather, not unlike one would dress a wound, though the dragon had shown no impairment in his movement. Upon closer inspection, there were many puckered scars littering the dragon's green hide, most of them silvery and old.

What had happened to this dragon?

A woman's voice, foreign and rough, brought her out of her musings.

"My Chief."

"It's good to have you here. Welcome."

Elsa cursed her inattentiveness, she'd missed the initial greeting. She turned her head and discreetly examined the new arrival. With some satisfaction, Elsa noted that she, too, was almost a full head shorter than Hiccup.

Covered mostly in fur clothing and leather, her outfit was very similar to what she'd often seen Hiccup wear. Strapped on her back were a sizable wooden shield and a fearsome battle-axe, as well as a horned helmet. The woman's dirty blonde hair were hanging freely down her shoulders, and Elsa had to admit that she was quite beautiful, in a rough sort of way.

Well, if not for the rather dismissive way she was looking around.

When the newcomer's eyes landed on her, she raised an eyebrow and shamelessly run her eyes up and down Elsa's form. Then, she leaner closer to Hiccup and whispered, though Elsa could quite clearly hear her, as the woman apparently failed at whispering.

"Who's sparkly over here?"

Elsa swallowed her indignation, without a single twitch betraying her annoyance at this viking's ill manners. But honestly?Sparkly? She stole a look down at her gown. Granted, she had sprinkled it with ice crystals as she was fond of doing to her dresses, but that was no reason to say it in such a demeaning way.

Hiccup coughed awkwardly and shot a glance at Elsa's carefully controlled expression, aware that the woman's whisper had been anything but.

"May I present to you Elsa Ellesmyre, Queen of the country of Arendelle?"

The woman scratched the back of head, either unaware of her blunder or unwilling to apologize. She looked at Elsa again, and bowed.

"Regards, your Majesty."

Well, perhaps she knew somemanners.

"Welcome to Arendelle." She said in a practised, diplomatic tone. "Any friend or compatriot of Chief Haddock's are welcome here. As my guest, I hope your stay will be a pleasant one. If there is anything you require, please don't hesitate to ask any of the staff or me directly."

The woman gave her another bow, this time more curt.

"Should we move inside?" Elsa asked, but it was more a statement than a suggestion, and everyone turned around and walked with her, back towards the castle.

"Toothless will keep him company." Hiccup said to the blonde Viking when she threw a nervous glance back at her dragon.

The people began to disperse, the spectacle now over, though many stayed and watched this new and different dragon in fascination.

When inside, Elsa regarded her entourage and politely dismissed them, citing that the journey must have been long and the new arrival would like to get rested and fed. Madame Gertrude stayed behind, but the rest bowed, said their welcomes and their greetings, before departing.

Then it was just the two Vikings, Elsa, Anna and Madame Gertrude walking in the hallway.

Hiccup kept throwing amused look at his compatriot who was moving in a very wooden way and kept her gaze firmly in front of her.

"You know, you can relax now. Queen Elsa and the Princess Anna are friends."

Elsa shared a look and a smile with her sister.

The blonde viking's head snapped towards Hiccup, eyes widening.

"You mean it?"

"Sure."

Then, her expression turned into a furious glare, and she moved.

Before Elsa had time to blink, never mind think, the woman's fist had been buried in Hiccup's gut. The Chief doubled over, coughing in surprise and pain as he fell to his knees from the strike.

"Thatis for leaving. Again." The woman spat. Hiccup tried to speak but no sound came out of his mouth. He looked up, eyes half-closed in pain, just in time to catch the woman's fist with his cheek.

Hiccup sprawled on the ground from the punch as the woman withdrew her extended hand, knuckles white from clenching.

"And thatis for not writing at all and letting us worry." She growled as she shook life back into her fingers.

Hiccup groaned from his current position on the ground, still holding his solar plexus.

Elsa didn't know what to do. Should she freeze the woman? But she made no further aggressive movements, and she seemed to be very close to Hiccup. What had just happened?

Her thoughts were interrupted by Hiccup's soft chuckling, from the floor.

"You … never change." he wheezed, still chuckling.

The Viking woman herself barked out a laugh, before extending a hand at her chief. Hiccup grabbed hold and she pulled, helping him to his feet with surprising strength. Hiccup bent over for a minuite, recovering, but seemed to be none the worse for wear. Though his cheek was red, he was smiling widely.

"That's not quite right, though." He said, rubbing his jaw. The woman's grin matched his own.

"I can't give you the old one-two in its entirety, so this'll have to do."

Then they hugged each other, still laughing.

Elsa looked at Anna, her face set in an expression of bewilderment. Anna matched her confusion, shrugging her shoulders in uncertainlty.Vikings were weird.

"It's good to see you, Ruff." She heard Hiccup say, before turning back to them.

"Oh, that's right." He said as he and the woman broke the hug. "I didn't introduce you, did I?"

"Nope."

"Queen Elsa, Princess Anna, this is Ruffnut Thorston, one of my most trusted friends."

"And Berk's number one dragon rider!" Ruffnut exclaimed, flashing a smirk.

Now this, Elsa doubted very much. Her amused expression was matched by Anna, and Hiccup outright snorted.

Ruffnut glared at her Chief.

"You and your brokenNight Fury don't count."

Hiccup's amused look didn't abate. The woman pouted, grumbling.

"Bastard, always ruining my fun. Can't even let me impress the foreigners."

Hiccup's chuckling turned into awkward coughing at that.

"O-okay! Let's go get you situated, yeah?"

"Right. Oh! Before I forget!" Ruffnut said as she fished around her coat for something. "Catch." She threw something at Hiccup, who caught it instinctively. Elsa looked at it curiously. It was some sort of metallic contraption, no bigger than a sword handle.

"Your fire-breather?"

She nodded. "It's broken. Fix it for me, pretty please?"

He groaned. "Again? What about your spare?"

"Heh. Funny story, actually …"

"This isyour spare, isn't it?"

"... maybe?"

"You're impossible, Ruff. You need to be careful with this stuff."

"While you're at it, can you fix the other one, too?"

Hiccup shook his head as he let out a sigh. "Fine. Hand it over."

"It's with my things. I'll give it to you later."

Hiccup nodded, then turned his gaze back to the Ellesmyre sisters. Having the Vikings' attention, Elsa spoke up.

"Madame Gertrude will find appropriate lodgings for miss Thorston. I assume you would prefer your room be close to the Chief's own?"

She nodded, and Gertrude bowed her head in understanding. Knowing her, she'd place the woman a couple hallways further than the Chief. Close enough to be practical, but far enough to avoid rumors. Living arrangements when the castle wasn't at full capacity could get needlessly complicated.

Gertrude bowed and motioned for them to follow, which the Vikings did. Elsa and Anna watched them as they left, deep in conversation, taking in the sight of the two catching up.

There was a banquet thrown that night, in honor of some aristocrat who had done something Elsa had no desire to care about. Still, Hiccup and the Thorston woman had been invited, which meant that a lot more people came than usual, in order to see this new viking.

Though Thorston was beautiful, she abstained from the elaborate dresses, complicated hairdos, or the fine jewelry of the female Arendellian aristocracy, making her seem equal parts plain and interesting by comparison as she sat next to Hiccup in her simple, brown dress, hair caught in two pigtails behind her. Elsa could see a few of the more adventurous young lords hovering close by, though Hiccup's presence and lightning-quick glares deterred them from approaching.

Not that she appeared to care. At all. Ruffnut Thorston seemed to have only two things in mind that evening. Hiccup, and the food. When she wasn't talking animatedly with her Chief, Thorston was doing her best to eat, well, everything. She seemed to at least know how not to make a mess, though Elsa noted Hiccup cautioning her several times to slow down and not cause a scene.

After the banquet was officially finished, Elsa invited the two vikings, her council, Anna and Kristoff, and few, very select people to a short of smaller after-party in a different area. Drinks were abundant as people socialised and relaxed. Depending on how one looked at it, this party could be more relaxing or much more dangerous.

Elsa spent most of her time with Anna and Kristoff as the council and her other guests mingled. She did not begrudge Hiccup for basically ignoring her. She understood that he hadn't seen his friend in months, and moreover hadn't seen any of his people for the same duration. She felt it would be unfair to want to still be the focus of his attention, in those circumstances. Still, that didn't stop her from feeling better whenever he glanced her way and gave her a warm smile.

It was certainly strange, watching them. Vikings were much more … physical. Vividly moving their hands as they talked, pushing and even punching each other when they joked. It was a new side of Hiccup that Elsa finally got to see. Less of the politician, more of the Viking. The casual way with which they touched each other's hands and shoulders and basically ignored etiquette regarding distance between people made her wonder if that was something all Vikings did, or if it was a sign of further intimacy. She doubted it, but she couldn't help but wonder.

Similarly, as she watched Thorston, any lingering doubt she might have had over Hiccup's status evaporated. She seemed much more casual with him than their ranks would suggest, but she listened to him attentively and always gave him her full attention. When Hiccup asked for something, she immediately complied.

They were friends, no doubt, but both seemed well aware of their difference in positions.

Thorston seemed like as much of a drinker as she was an eater, and Hiccup matched her cup for cup as the night wore on. Elsa wanted to go talk to Hiccup, and maybe even the Thorston woman, but their closeness and continued conversation, not to mention alcohol tolerance, intimidated her. She didn't want to interrupt them without a reason and make things awkward. She didn't know Berk, the topic of their discussion, so she contented herself with listening. She didn't understand much of what was told, but the things she did were illuminating in many ways. Names, places, situations. Berk was suddenly less of an abstract concept in her mind and began to actually take shape. Apparently, he wasn't joking when he'd mentioned the names Fishlegs and Snotlout.

They all separated after, going to their respective chambers. Elsa had already been warned by Hiccup to avoid sending any handmaidens to Thorston, so she relayed the order to Gertrude, before heading to her quarters to bathe and go to sleep.

The next day began routinely, with her having to deal with the usual paperwork, audiences and headaches. Reports came from the borders, speaking of tensions and of a couple of breeches, but nothing overly worrying or anything to react to. Shad's report on the prisoner reported failure, but he was confident in their eventual success. Disclosed was the report on the siege machines' facility, and its progress. A financial nightmare, but one she had approved, so now she had to see it through.

A she had began her rounds over the castle, she ran into the two resident Vikings and Ernie. She first noted their armor, as characteristic as it was light, before noticing the weapons they were carrying.

"Good day." She greeted, drawing their attention. Hiccup smiled at her, and she smiled back instinctively.

"And to you, Queen Elsa."

"Your Majesty." Came the greeting from Ernie and Thorston.

"We were just on our way to the barracks, as it happened."

"Mind if I tag along?" She had to see this, whatever it was. It was bound to be interesting.

"It would be our pleasure."

Thorston muttered something, too low for Elsa to hear. Hiccup, who heard, her, winced for a second before glaring at the blonde viking. She shamelessly winked at him before guffawing at his slightly reddened face.

What had Elsa missed?

"Let's just go." He muttered.

Soon they arrived at the barracks, where Hiccup was joined by his new friends. Elsa recognized them as being part of that silly little archery competition, some days ago, but did not know their names.

Hiccup introduced Ruffnut to his circle of friends after the round of greetings was over, but the female viking seemed to not be paying much attention. She was looking around the training yard, eyeing each and every person there with a critical eye.

"Ruff?" Hiccup asked, waving a hand in front of her eyes. She didn't look away, but she raised her hand to point at a man swinging his sword in practised motions against a dummy. He was tall, heavily muscled, and currently lacking in plate-armor.

"I want that one." She declared, a smile playing on her lips. Elsa blinked in confusion. That … in no way answered the question Hiccup had posed.

Hiccup stopped whatever he was about to say, and instead followed Thorston's line of sight to the man. He let out a sigh.

"Fine. Excuse me." The latter was directed to Ted, who he walked around as he moved away from the group. Elsa followed him with her eyes. He walked up to the practising man and drew his attention, quickly waving away the man's bow. Elsa couldn't hear what he said to him, but it was fun to watch her soldier's expression through it all. First serious, as appropriate in the presence of a direct superior or important official, then interest, followed by confusion. Hiccup pointed, and the guard looked at where he was pointing and saw Thorston, waving cheerily at him.

He looked uncomfortable for a few moment, and replied to Hiccup's request. Whatever it was, Hiccup waved it off and talked some more. Eventually, the guard nodded, and the viking clapped him on the shoulder in good cheer. Despite the fact that Hiccup was slightly taller than him, the guard was at least twice Hiccup's mass.

The two of them moved towards a dueling area, one of many around, and Thorston excused herself from the group as she moved towards them. As she did, she drew her axe in one, swift movement from her back, its edge glinting against the sun. The handle had something wrapped around it, but Elsa couldn't make out what it was. As she walked, she dropped her metal helmet and the heavy, wooden shield, gripping her heavy axe in both hands.

Hiccup assumed a serious expression and told Thorston something Elsa couldn't hear, but the female viking only pushed her chief out of the dueling range. After a nod to her opponent, she charged.

The first mistake happened in that instant. The man, perhaps having underestimated her or hesitating to take up arms against a woman, was too slow to raise his guard. Thorston's axe broke through the man's hasty block and pushed the sword away, before using the wooden handle to jab him on the chest, pushing him stumbling back. She then dropped low and swept him off his feet with a kick, before rising and placing her axe's edge on his throat.

Elsa was left rather impressed. So fast. One mistake from the guard was all it had taken for him to be out of the fight.

"One more?" Thorston said, loud enough to carry over to their spectators. The man smiled, and accepted the offered hand of assistance.

They took their starting positions again, and began. This time, the man was ready, and he managed to hold off her heavy axe with his sword. As they exchanged scouting blows, it became obvious that he was stronger, but she was faster.

Furthermore, she didn't seem to get the concept of fair play.

The second bout ended anticlimactically, with a simple kick in the shins. Having not expected it, it was enough for the man, who Hiccup had informed her was called Brian, to lose his focus and consequently his weapon.

Brian lasted two more bouts, all of which he lost, before he expressed his appreciation for the match and bowed out.

Rather than be deterred, Thorston simply scoured the range again, and pointed to another man.

"That one."

Hiccup obliged her, walking over to another man practicing with a halberd. Elsa was rather amused as he repeated the same thing, slowly convincing the man to spar with the female viking. No doubt her men would be intimidated by the chief or hesitant to fight a woman, and no doubt Hiccup was disabusing them of these notions.

The second one went similarly to the first, only he took three rounds before bowing out, seeing as Thorston had ended the fight by splitting his halberd in two with her axe.

This continued for the next hour, as the woman picked out her targets and fought them, her speed and deviousness, coupled with some hesitation from her partners, being enough to give her victory. By now, she had a pretty wide audience, and after the first few fights her targets no longer needed convincing from Hiccup, eager to test themselves against this strange viking warrior.

During a break in which she rejoined their group, Thorston gave Elsa a rather scrutinizing gaze before addressing her.

"Do you fight, your Majesty?"

It wasn't the question in itself that annoyed her. Thorston didn't know her, so it was not weird for her to wonder at her combat skills.

It was the look in her eye. Τhe way she looked Elsa up and down, at her 'sparkly' dress and elaborate braid, before asking with a slightly raised eyebrow and a half-mocking smile. Thorston had already judged Elsa's worth, found her lacking, and now merely sought confirmation.

Well, she couldn't have that.

She smiled thinly as she clenched her fist. Ice crackled as it formed around it, snaking up her arm, the atmosphere noticeably chilling. The weapon that the woman was gripping so expertly frosted over, making her startle and stare at her axe in shock.

"Not with weapons."

She looked surprised, her eyes going wide upon witnessing Elsa's power for the first time. Elsa suppressed a smug smile. Her point made, she dispersed the frost.

Perhaps this would teach the viking to not jump to conclusions.

Hiccup put a hand on Thorston's shoulder, and shot her an amused look.

"Trust me, you do notwant to go there." Elsa smiled at the knowing wink he sent her way.

Breaking off from the rest of the group, one of Hiccup's friends approached the vikings. He was just a little bit taller than Elsa herself, black haired and with a strong jaw. As he approached them, he carefully drew his longsword.

"Perhaps, since her Majesty is otherwise occupied, I could suffice as your opponent?"

Thorston looked at him critically, a calculating gleam in her eye.

"And you are?"

Hiccup palmed his face and muttered to himself, no doubt embarrassed in Thorston's stead, as he had already introduced everyone to her.

"Gregor Thrandal, at your service."

She nodded.

"You'll do."

Gregor did not hesitate, nor did he underestimate her. His sword was there to block her axe, he covered his weak spots and he did not fall for her tricks.

Three furious minutes later, Thorston was lying on her back and panting heavily, her axe meters away on the ground while an equally tired Gregor held his blade at her throat.

Thorston looked up at him and she smiled. Elsa was a little unnerved, truth be told.

"Again."

~E~

The first week after that passed in a blur. Elsa was as busy as always, if not moreso, now that tensions were high. The situation at the borders seemed to have reached a stalemate, with Grandland making no obvious moves besides what seemed like prodding of her boarders, though even of this she could not be sure. The brass were tense, however. The atmosphere had the air of inevitability, like something was brewing and this quiet was merely the lull before a storm. Elsa oversaw Arendelle's mobilisation efforts and did her best to stay informed about everything that was happening.

The prisoner was being uncooperative, as expected. She hadn't been there personally, for there was little she could do, but she had demanded daily reports on any and all progress. These were written by Shad himself, something rather unusual for a man of his position.

According to her Commander General, the prisoner had actually started talking in order to stem the inconvenience, and sometimes even outright pain, that his interrogators caused. However, he talked too much, too fast, and very little of what he said was true. It was, she was told, a classic resistance method. Rather than deny answering and prolong your torment, bombard your interrogators with a barrage of useless or untrue information. Babbling was easier than staying silent.

Prime example of such was the latest report she'd read. Shrewd as always, Mertok left nothing out of his reports. Apparently, after hours and hours of grilling interrogation, they had finally managed to get a name out of the man between his sobs and pleas.

The only problem was that that name was Madame Shirley Mertok, the Commander General's late mother, who had passed away over twelve years ago.

Rather than be deterred, Shad was seeing this new stance as progress. They were forcing the prisoner to adapt. Soon, they would get something concrete out of him.

On other news, she'd grown more distant to Hiccup, much to her dismay. Not by any effort on either of their parts, but it seemed circumstances were against them. Thorston was taking up most of his time nowadays, and work was taking up most of hers. Their time together had been sparse, their privatetime together even more so.

Still, there were few instances that shone out. Chief among them was none other than a repeat of last week's bath-house incident. Much to her surprise, as she was preparing to take her swim at the hot pool, the door opened and allowed the Chief, blessedly alone, to enter. In her momentary confusion she had asked him what he was doing, to which he'd replied with: "Something crazy." His grin had sent a thrilling chill down her spine.

The rest, as they say, was history.

Regarding Thorston herself, Elsa had gotten to know her better, as the days passed. Being near Hiccup necessitated being in her presence, most of the time. It was tolerable, mostly, but Elsa quickly found that the woman's crass nature just didn't sit well with her. She did her best to be polite, but perhaps some chillness could not be avoided. Literally. She had to catch herself plenty of times to prevent the dropping of temperature at one of the viking girl's rankling comments.

Her dragon seemed much more even tempered than Toothless, at least, and one could often see the two lounging about the grounds, taking long walks, or flying with their riders, high above the castle and enacting clearly fake aerial battles, complete with a fireball or two.

Surprisingly, the presence of another dragon had mellowed people out rather than renew their apprehension. It seemed like one was a novelty, but a second was repetition. Humans it seemed, could get used to basically everything given enough repetition. The fear of the people had given way to open curiosity, and children now brazenly ran up to the dragons and, with their riders' permission, petted their large heads as best they could. The dragons appeared to be well used to this, and bore their tiny hands and curious pokes with practiced patience. Hiccup apparently had a blast teaching a group of kids how to best scratch a dragon for maximum satisfaction. There were still those wary, of course, but they were few now, and powerless in their numerical inferiority.

It's not that she hated the woman. She just … disliked her. Ruffnut Thorston was rude, assuming, quick to judge, had a strained -at best- sense of respect, was something of a slob, and took up almost all of Hiccup's time.

Okay, so maybe that last one should not be held against her. Still, the rest stood. Elsa rather doubted she could get along with the woman, even if she had the energy and patience to commit to the attempt. Both were things she lacked, lately, with how overworked she was. Anna shared her views for the most part, though she put in more of an effort to understand the foreign woman.

One thing she could and did respect was her fighting prowess. Since she'd arrived here she'd worked her way through most of her garrison in the practice ring, managing to maintain an impressive ratio of approximately four victories for each loss she received. Her proficiency with the axe was the talk of many, and she'd even overheard some of her guards discussing her wistfully. Notable among her opponents was Mister Thrandal, who apparently took great delight in taking the arrogant viking down a peg or two, being one of the few able to best her consistently. In fact, she'd heard from several of his superiors talks of a promotion, based solely on his performance against the woman. If Elsa's hunch was correct, mister Gregor was approaching his matches with something far more important than a promotion as a goal. Still, it was none of her business, so she did not interfere.

Most appreciative of her skill was, unsurprisingly, Hiccup himself, who seemed to struggle against his subordinate just as much as her guards did.

When she saw the two about to spar, she questioned Hiccup on his choice of weapon, seeing as he'd picked Smoker over his alleged favorite weapon, the dagger. To that, Hiccup had explained that his fighting style with the dagger is based on mobility and trickery.

"And she knows all of my tricks." He had added with a wry grin. She had eventually won the match, but Hiccup had given her a run for her money, making it a good show for the watching crowd of guards who clapped as she pulled him back to his feet with a nod.

She seemed to thrive in violence, or at the very least actively sought it. Elsa would never understand that.

Elsa was most surprised when her guards announced the Lady Thorston wished to meet with her in her office, alone. Peculiar, to say the least. She was quite certain that her feelings for the viking were mutual, in that Thorston didn't particularly like her, either. Why would she seek her out now? She did not have the authority of Berk's representative, not with Hiccup around, so what was her purpose?

She entered her office, looking curiously around as she approached before her gaze settled on Elsa. Rather than bow or offer a greeting, as was proper, she simply plopped herself down in the chair in front of her desk.

Elsa, already tired from a hard day, began to get annoyed. Starting their meeting with such rudeness? Still, she kept her practiced cool.

"What can I help you with, Miss Thorston?"

"I'm here to talk to you."

No, really? Elsa repressed a childish urge to roll her eyes.

"What's on your mind?"

"You don't get it. I'm not here to talk to the Queen, I'm here to talk to you."

How strange. Was Thorston perhaps unwell, mentally?

"I am the Queen, miss Thorston."

The viking rather ignored her. "I'll be leaving soon."

Elsa had to fight the urge to smile. Good riddance.

"Then I wish you safe travels."

She waved it away. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Listen, I'll get straight to it. What are your intentions towards Hiccup?"

Elsa blinked, then blinked again. What? She must have misheard.

"Excuse me?"

Thorston just tilted her head to the side, her eyes narrow and a touch unfriendly.

"You heard me. What are your intentions?"

Elsa controlled her breathing to stay calm. With effort. "What are you talking about?"

The viking woman rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on. You're not being nearly as sneaky as you think you are. I've known Hiccup all his life, I can tell. Now, for the third and hopefully last time, what are your intentions?"

Elsa's irritation was reaching boiling point. Perhaps she'd underestimated Thorston, she had clearly seen through their carefully constructed public formality. Still, that didn't mean that she'd let the viking walk over her.

"I don't see how it's any of your business, Miss Thorston. Your intrusive questions will not be tolerated."

Thornston stopped slouching in Elsa's chair and lent forward, her tone turning low and aggressive. "You listen to me, and you listen well. You had better not be playing with him or manipulating him for your own gain, because if it turns out that you are, I guarantee that you won't like what I'll do to you."

"Are you threatening me?" Elsa said, her voice losing its artificial politeness and turning quiet and dangerous. Still she kept a tight lid on her temper, as well as the temperature of the room.

"You bet your sparkly, icy ass I am."

For a moment Elsa was speechless, shocked into silence at the sheer nerve of the woman. Had she heard right? Surely she hadn't. But then, the challenging glare of the viking woman could not be mistaken. She really had said that. Elsa's eyes narrowed and despite her best efforts, frost began to creep across the desk between them.

"Threatening me in my seat of power is a dangerous mistake, Miss Thorston. At the very least, I could have you arrested."

Thorston waved away her veiled threat and the sharp drop in temperature without blinking. "Whatever. I leave the political stuff to Hiccup, that's what he's for. And you can try and arrest me or whatever after, but you will listen to me now. I'm talking to you not as a queen, but woman to woman."

Elsa had to fight back an undiplomatic reply of her own. Thorston wasn't the first rude person she'd had to talk to. She levelled her narrowed gaze at her, but reigned back her powers as she did so, her paperwork thawing and the room becoming warm again. Though she tried to hide it, she could see the viking woman's clenched muscles relax as it did so, her hands moving casually away from the dagger at her hip. Regardless of her attitude, Thorston had been edgy about her manifestation of power. That, at least, was gratifying.

"What are you saying?" She said with forced calm.

"Just this. If you are playing with Hiccup, if you are lying to him to achieve something, I will hunt you down and end you, ice magic or not. I won't have it, not from you, not from anyone. It tooks us two years, two whole fucking years to bring Hiccup back out again, and I won't let you ruin everything."

Elsa felt that she was missing something. "What are you talking about?"

"For two years after the war he was basically an automaton."

"Automaton?"

"You don't know? They're basically these machines, yeah? They're made so that they look like humans and perform a specific function. Hiccup makes them, sometimes."

Ah, now Elsa got it. "I see."

"Exactly. For two years, he was nothing but the Chief of Berk. Certainly, he was the best Chief we could have hoped for, but that's all he was, you know? Nothing like the Hiccup we knew. Ruthless. Precise. Scary. It took a long time to bring Hiccup back out again, and I won't allow you or anyone else to ruin that."

Now Elsa began to form some idea of what the woman was trying to convey. "I understand your concerns, Miss Thorston, but I do not tolerate anyone threatening me. I assure you, any intentions I have towards your Chief have no malicious intent behind them."

Thorston's gaze changed, for lack of a better word. From the challenging glare it morphed into a softer, calculating gaze.

"I mean, I can see why he'd go for you, don't get me wrong. Like, a Queen! How can that be topped? Hiccup always aimed for the impossible, you know? For those out of his league. But that aside, I can see why he'd go for you. You do look a heck of a lot like her."

Elsa's eyes widened at the implication. She took a few seconds to gather her thoughts. "What are you talking about? Like who?"

Thorston seemed surprised at her question. "He hasn't told you about Astrid?"

Astrid. Finally, a name. A name she could connect to the various vague hints he'd dropped to some woman in his past. The unknown woman that Hiccup would mention at the weirdest times, that his face would darken whenever something reminded him of her, and that Elsa felt she had to measure up against.

"Who is Astrid?" She asked, managing to keep her voice level.

Thornton suddenly looked guilty, like she realized she had said something she shouldn't have. She shook her head, and the guilt vanished just as quickly as it'd appeared. "You don't know? Then it certainly isn't my place to tell you, is it? Like, I can see why he'd want to get involved, really. You are a lot like her. And he did always aim high. But remember my promise. If you hurt him, I will hunt you down."

Elsa had heard enough of her. "Leave my office. And be grateful I don't have you taken away."

Thornton seemed to be done anyway. Elsa only had a vague recollection of the viking woman getting up and leaving the room. She was too busy thinking, mulling over the new information in her head.

Many things made sense now, many questions were answered. Another piece of the puzzle that was Hiccup's past was falling into place. Astrid. A single name, a single piece, but it seemed incredibly important. What Thorston had said had had an effect, if not in the way the viking had meant it to.

After an indefinite amount of mulling over, she decided that she had to take her questions directly to the source. She could not think on this any longer without posing her question to Hiccup himself. Making assumptions without his input would be idiotic. He would have to come clean, at least for certain things. She did not want to be intrusive, but this was something that she had to know.

She sent a servant to locate the Chief, and to request his presence in a balcony near her office. It was not ideal, but it would do. if Hiccup was not particularly busy, he should come.

Elsa got up from her chair, before walking out of her office and finding her way to the balcony. The view was amazing as always, and she leaned on the balustrade, looking out towards the snow capped mountains wreathed in mist, but she did not truly see them. Her mind was elsewhere.

An indeterminable amount of time later, the main focus of her thoughts joined her on the balcony. It was his voice that drew her out of her internal musings.

"You asked to see me, Elsa?"

His voice was casual, free of the fabricated political tone that he'd used at first. She smiled a bitter smile. He'd called her Elsa. Not Queen Elsa. It spoke of the familiarity between them. Admittedly, they were no longer simply two heads of state, they were two people intimately interested in each other. They took a seat on the bench without preamble or words, another thing he would not have done just a short week earlier.

It all just made her angrier than she could have expected.

"Who is Astrid?" She asked, doing away with any and all niceties and greetings in favor of getting straight to the point. It would have been comical to watch his expression if she wasn't so wound up. His eyes widened in surprise and confusion. When he spoke, his voice was low and tight. Assessing.

"Where did you hear that name?"

"Answer me."

He scowled. "Wait, I know. it was Ruff, wasn't it? Dammit, I knew that she was-"

"Hiccup, answer me."

Her tone must have appropriately conveyed her hurt and her anger, because he stopped whatever he was about to say, instead looking at her for a few seconds with measuring eyes. Elsa looked back at him, her gaze just daring him to try and evade her question.

His searching expression vanished, replaced with one of defeat as he let out a heavy sigh, before collecting himself and averting his gaze to look ahead, over the evening horizon.

"Astrid was my wife."

Elsa stilled, hearing the pain in Hiccups voice. He still wasn't looking at her, just staring at the distant mountains. "Was?" She said, as gently as she could.

"She was killed in combat, three years ago."

It was as she had thought. Elsa hesitated, then placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry." And she meant it. She knew the pain of loss. She would not wish it on anyone.

"Don't be. It is in no way your fault."

"Tell me about her."

He turned and looked at her in surprise. "What?"

"Tell me about her." She repeated. "What happened?"

He was silent for a long time, no doubt gathering his thoughts and making decisions on what to reveal. Elsa gave him his time.

"Do you remember what I told you, about the war that claimed my father?"

"I do."

"The same conflict also claimed Astrid." He snorted without humor. "Combined fire from three Nadders. Did you know that Nadder fire can achieve the highest recorded temperature? What am I saying, of course you didn't." He shook his head wildly. "There was nothing to … nothing to make rites for … nothing left of her, at the end of the struggle. Her funeral was without a body. Her dragon's remains were lost to the sea. And all of it was, without a doubt, my fault."

Noticing the glistening of his eyes, Elsa did not hesitate to wrap her hands around his shoulders in a silent show of support. If what he'd told her so far was true, then, as harsh it sounded, it actually had been his fault. His naivete and optimism were understandable, of course, but there was no denying that it was his own stance that had brought about the cause for conflict. He knew that well, and giving him false platitudes would not help him, so all she could do was show him compassion. Hiccup stiffened, but did not push her away. She let him gather his strength, push back his sorrow and regain his composure. When he looked ready, several minutes later, she let go of him, and asked the dreaded question.

"Do I resemble her?"

And wasn't that the most important question?

He looked conflicted for a few seconds, and Elsa let him stew on his thoughts as he decided on his answer. In the end, he let out a sigh as he brought up a hand to rub at his eyes.

"Yes." he said, and the word made her almost physically reel with its finality. "You resemble her a great deal, physically. Moreover, you are both strong, independent, imposing, snarky. You represent things I wish I could achieve. In many ways, you remind me of her. It is … unpleasant."

Then, it was as Elsa had feared. As Thorston had implied. "Is that what I am to you, Hiccup? A substitute? The closest thing you could find to your dead wife?" Perhaps she was going over the line, being so blunt, but she had to know. Winter Spirits forgive her, she had to know.

His eyes immediately landed on her, and he looked furious for a moment, about to snap at her for her daring. She did not back down from his gaze. After a few seconds, he relaxed and averted his eyes again, looking sadder than she'd ever seen him. His shoulder slumped, his expression broke.

"I … I do not know. You remind me of her, but at the same time you are so different. You are different in many, important ways. I … I simply do not know."

"Is that what you meant when you mentioned your reservations?"

"It … yeah."

So … Hiccup himself doubted whether he liked her for her or because she reminded him of his dead wife. Credit to him for understanding the fact, and trying to hold her off because of it. Her opinion of him skyrocketed in that instant.

Still, it made what she had to do next all the harder.

"You know that this can't continue, right?"

He looked at her, and he seemed so sad that she instantly felt bad. She squashed the feeling, steeling her resolve. This wasn't pleasant for either of them, but it had to be done. She didn't want to do this, she didn't want to let him go. Deep down she was terrified that he'd never come back to her.

Still she rose, taking a hold of his hands with hers and drawing him to his feet with her. Still holding his hands, she studied his face for one long moment, before her expression softened and she leaned in, placing a soft, brief kiss to his lips.

After separating, she squeezed his hands before letting go and taking a decisive step backwards and away from him.

"You need to figure this out." She told him, not unkindly.

"I know." he admitted.

"Hiccup, I like you, more than I should." She confessed, looking firm but feeling extremely fragile. "But this isn't fair to either of us. You need to figure this out."

His fingers twitched. He looked like he wanted to reach for her, but he didn't. Instead he said: "I know. I will."

She smiled, the action not really reaching her eyes. After a few seconds, she broke eye contact and walked around him and through the door, leaving the balcony.

She headed straight for her quarters, trying and failing to not think about anything at all. If a few tears loosed themselves from her eyes, silent and unbidden, there was no one around her to see them.

One thought asserted itself as she mechanically went about her routine and finally fell into bed.

Hiccup would work it out. The situation would resolve itself. One way or another.

Once again, she dreamed of fire.

~E~