I tried to have this up last night but my day was just too busy. Thank you to my new followers and those who continually support me and my story. I save every one of them and they always make me happy. Enjoy!

Chapter Eight: Knives

It had been three weeks since the marriage announcement, and Berk was busier than trader Johann around Snoggletog. Astrid was in Gothi's home at the top of one of the hills watching her first of seven baths fill as the matrons poured buckets and buckets of boiled water into the stone tub. Flower petals to symbolize maidenhood and virtue were scattered over it and oils from about a hundred vials made the water smell beautiful and strong.

Astrid was in a robe, and felt uncomfortable as she huddled in what felt like a spider web for an article of clothing. For the past three weeks, she was not allowed to leave to see Hiccup – or anyone for that matter – or speak of Hiccup, or even sleep alone lest adult thought plague her dreams and make her act with her own means. It frustrated her and made her cranky rather than relaxed.

And to make matters worse, she would be examined today. After her bath with the matrons, Gothi would lay her down and make sure she was ready for her husband, to make sure she was intact. The thought made Astrid gulp out of angry nausea. She wouldn't pass the test, she thought. She wasn't sure what would happen if she didn't, but she didn't want to think about what she did to avoid marriage. She was glad she did because it kept her for Hiccup, but at the same time, it was proving to be quite the issue.

The matrons pulled off her robe for her, leaving it hanging off her hips. She forced herself to refrain from punching one in the breast out of sheer annoyance and angst, knowing it would hurt more, and instead used her arms to cover her chest. Juniper, one of the matrons caring for her and Snowdrop on the side (who was staying with them as well and couldn't wait to make Hiccup her brother), grabbed Astrid's wrists gently.

"You must be proud of the gifts Freya has bestowed upon you. You must be willing to show them to your lover."

"You're not my lover," Astrid grumbled. Juniper sighed and smiled.

"Don't be afraid, I have them too. Come now, put down your arms."

It took a great deal of hateful determination, but eventually, Astrid dropped her arms and looked away as Juniper looked at her chest. She nodded once and smiled up at Astrid.

"They're lovely. That wasn't so hard, was it?"

Astrid huffed.

"I need you to take off the rest of the robe, child," Juniper said gently. Astrid looked down at the furry robe hanging there pathetically and didn't move for a time. But Juniper was patient. Astrid shakily untied the robe and let it fall. She squeezed her eyes as Juniper and some other matrons looked at her hips. They murmured to each other and Juniper smiled again.

"Not the widest hips, but they'll do just fine."

"My hips?" Astrid asked quietly. "What?"

"Wide hips means you could bear many children."

Astrid gasped, a sound caught in her throat. Juniper placed a calming hand on her shoulder.

"All in good time, Astrid," she said. "For now, bath."

"No, no no no, children?!" Astrid stammered. Juniper rested her hand on Astrid's back and smiled again.

"All in good time," was the repeated reply.

Juniper helped Astrid get into the tub. It was scalding, a feeling unfamiliar to her and very satisfying. It took her some time to get used to the way it hurt, but she soon let herself sit and slouch. Matrons washed her back, her arms, her shoulders.

"What do I do?" Astrid asked suddenly, looking for Juniper who was meticulously washing her hair.

"Hmm?" Juniper looked down at her with raised eyebrows and a calm mouth. Astrid sighed jaggedly.

"What do I do with him?"

Juniper smiled and leaned back. A giggle washed through the matrons.

"You bed him, sweeting."

Astrid squirmed but felt herself melting into the tub. "But how? What should I do? What should I expect?"

"Your mother never told you?" Juniper asked gently.

Astrid shook her head.

Juniper put more oil into Astrid's hair and breathed in the scent. "It will hurt. Tarnished or not, even by your own hand, it will hurt. You will feel full and maybe a little overwhelmed. It will be uncomfortable after that first painful moment, but that is normal."

Astrid nodded, feeling hotter in the water.

"You will need to get him to touch you first. That will make you ready for him. Freya will make it so. And when you are ready, lay down and relax and let it happen. It's a dance, an interaction that takes care and tenderness. But it is natural, and you will know what to do. Kiss his neck, his ear, rub his skin. Us Vikings are used to having our bodies covered. Expose the skin and touch it and you will have a happy husband."

Husband. Astrid shivered at the word and she let herself doze off as her body was cleaned thoroughly. This would happen for the next seven days and it was something she surprisingly looked forward to. She peeled open her eyes and looked over to a matron.

"Who is with Snowdrop?" she asked.

"The younger matrons and some of Berk's visitors," was the replied.

"Send one with Snowdrop to the Academy. They are having a game there that I cannot attend. But Snowdrop won't shut up about it."

Hiccup clapped in the arena as Vikings took turns firing arrows into makeshift bull's-eyes. It was a hilarious affair where frustrated and bulky Vikings tried to be accurate and instead missed the target with an appalling majesty. But he couldn't stop thinking about Astrid. It used to be that he would sometimes think about her, but these days, now that he was not allowed to say her name or sleep alone to keep himself from unvirtuous activities, he couldn't help but constantly think of her. There had been times when he almost walked into her path and a posse of watchmen formed from all the male villagers and visitors shoved a potato sack over his head to hide his eyes.

"You look unwell, my boy," Stoick said.

"I didn't get any sleep last night," Hiccup groaned. "Toothless ran off to chase some of the visitors hunting in the woods or something and he disappeared. I couldn't find him until sunrise."

The competition was in high-spirits before Stoick leaned over from his throne, his cheeks a bit redder than usual.

"Son… in one week you'll be married."

"I'm glad you haven't forgotten," Hiccup retorted humourously.

"Have the men talked to you, yet?" he asked gruffly.

"All I've heard is talk from men," Hiccup groaned.

"About your wedding night?"

Hiccup straightened his posture and flung his head around to look at Stoick.

"Alright, dad, uh, no but I'm sure, uh –"

"I want you to be ready," Stoick replied, just as flustered and uncomfortable as his son. The pair of them kept clapping at the target competition, their faces forced with the most awkward of smiles to keep an air of interest about them. "Do you know what to do?"

"It's not like I've ever tried it before," Hiccup said trough gritted teeth. "Can we talk about this later? Like, seventy-three years from now?"

"I'm not expecting you to start off having children immediately."

"That's not the point!" Hiccup wheezed.

"You're going to have be gentle."

"Gods, oh no."

Hiccup rubbed a hand over his eyes, his face on fire.

"I assume you take matters into your own hands, so to speak."

"Thor, save me from this torment."

"It's kind of like that, only… with Astrid."

"Stop."

"And if you don't want to have a child, simply bite your tongue and pull out and –"

"Aaand that's about as much as I can take!" Hiccup jumped from his seat and stepped away sheepishly. "Look, I know you're trying to be my dad right now, but I want to figure this out without the awkward talks about my body, let alone Astrid's."

Stoick's shoulders sank and a huge sigh flowed from his mouth. "Thank Odin, that was rough. Never again."

"HUP!" a tiny voice shrieked. Hiccup swiveled around and saw Snowdrop barreling towards him. She leapt into his arms and he lifted her up, hugging her fondly. Stoick smiled warmly at the sight. Hiccup pulled away and set Snowdrop down. Rose was behind him, scratching her arm and looking into the arena at the target practice.

"How's my Terrible Terror?" Hiccup asked. Snowdrop beamed.

"I'm good, Rose brought me to see the knives and I really wanted to see you and Astrid is having a bath!"

Hiccup blinked and coughed. "That sounds like fun," he chirped, trying to think cold thoughts.

Rose placed a hand on Snowdrop's head. "Now, Snowdrop, we are not allowed to talk about your sister in front of Hiccup."

"Oops…"

"It's okay," Rose laughed. "Would you like to sit with Stoick for the knife-throwing?"

"Okay!"

Snowdrop stumbled over to the throne Hiccup was previously sitting on and clambered up it. Hiccup looked over at Rose, heat poking at his face.

"You gave her my seat," Hiccup joked.

"It was the polite thing to do. It's custom from where I come from to offer your seat to the young."

"And where is that?" Hiccup asked. "Where is it you come from?"

"North," Rose replied. "A small island."

"Sounds lonely."

"Only because you are lonely, dragon master," Rose smiled. "I heard you were running around last night hunting a dragon that is impossible to hunt during the night."

"…Oh?"

"The matrons were telling me," Rose giggled. "Did you find him?"

"He was at home," Hiccup sighed. "Stupid dragon bit his own tongue open in all the excitement, but it's not the first time that's happened. One big happy dragon and one tired rider."

"Hiccup!" Snotlout called from inside the arena. "Come throw some knives!"

Hiccup raised his hands. "I watch these things, I don't compete in them."

Rose raised an eyebrow and looked to Snotlout, who had two knives in his hands. Snotlout pointed at her with a blade.

"What about you, gorgeous? Wanna toss some metal?"

Rose bit her lip and looked to Hiccup. "Oh, I don't think that's a good idea –"

"Now I'm intrigued!" Snotlout laughed. "Come on!"

Rose rolled her eyes and looked at Hiccup. "Come with me," she asked dejectedly. Hiccup sighed and shrugged, ducked under the arena's chain roof, and landed in the arena. He backed up and spotted Rose as she jumped down on her feet lightly, shyly approaching the men who all had different knives. Hiccup hooked his thumbs in his riding suit and watched Rose carefully pull a throwing knife from the weapon's wagon, look at it, and looked to Snotlout.

Meanwhile, Hiccup felt hands grab onto his arms. Two huge men sportingly pulled his figure to the targets, tying him to a target. He squirmed and heard his father laugh. Hiccup growled. Berk's groom tradition: target practice with the man. The men backed up as Rose weighed the knife in her hand.

"A test of bravery, my boy!" Stoick bellowed. Don't worry, it'll be fun."

Hiccup pulled against the rope. "Great. One week before my wedding and you use me as a target!"

Rose timidly raised the dagger and looked terribly nervous and excited. "Don't worry, I'm a lousy shot!"

Hiccup choked and his eyes bulged out of his head. "OH. AWESOME."

She flung the knife and it twirled through the air. It didn't even hit the target, but that didn't stop Hiccup from clenching every part of his body. It hit the stone wall far from Hiccup. Hiccup relaxed a little, but Rose had another knife in her hand. She flung it again and it didn't do anything. She got one more knife and smirked.

"Practice shots," she said simply. "I'm warming up."

"By all means, take as long as you need while I sit here tied to a board praying that I'm not going to be killed a week before my wedding."

Rose inspected the blade of her knife closely, looking up at Hiccup. "You have to keep completely still."

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "I'm sorta tied to a target. If I could move, I would."

"I'm being serious, you can't move. I'm going to aim right for your face."

Hiccup blanched. "You know, you're a lot more menacing than you appear to be."

Rose smiled mischievously. "I get that from my mother."

Faster than any other time, quicker than a snake attacks its prey, Rose hurled the dagger at Hiccup. He gasped and the knife hit the board with a loud thunk. He felt a sting and froze. The knife had barely hit his neck. The blade had cut his skin ever so lightly, and Rose smiled again. The men in the arena clapped wildly as Rose ran to Hiccup. She pulled the knife from the board and touched his neck gently, giggling at the look on Hiccup's face.

"Reeeelax! You're fine," she smiled casually. She untied him and he sank to his knees, grabbing at his neck and glaring. Rose just shrugged. "I'm heading back to the matrons."

Hiccup was about to protest, to give her a piece of his mind, how the knife got too close, when Rose bent over and whispered in his ear. "She looks very beautiful in a bath."

And she ran off, leaving Hiccup with a small cut on his neck and a roaring heat in his ears.

Astrid breathed deeply. She entered Gothi's room with her shoulders back as she had been told to, her fur robe back over her naked body. She was told she would enter alone.

Gothi, the tiny and old elder, smiled at Astrid and motioned for her to sit on the sleeping mat in front of her. Astrid did so and felt nervous. Would she pass the test? She did not know.

"Astrid…" Gothi tasted the name on her lips. Astrid felt her breath catch in her throat. She looked up, bewildered. Gothi never talked. It just never happened. She thought she physically couldn't talk until now.

"Surprised? Most maidens are. Before a woman is wed, we bathe her. Then I have the honour of making sure they are ready for their new life. It is a ceremony that takes the most trust and care for a young woman before her first bedding. But, if I remember correctly, this is not the first time I have had to check you."

"… No."

"And why is that?" Gothi asked with genuine curiosity. "I have heard many stories..."

Astrid swallowed and took her time replying. "Because… five years ago, in response to a marriage contract, I took my own purity and I needed your hands to heal me."

Gothi nodded thoughtfully. Her withered face contorted into a gentle smile. "A very apt response, my dear. And you did a very good job of it. But as you know, a knife is not a man."

Astrid was quiet. Gothi motioned for her to lie down. She did so. Gothi sat at her knees and placed two withered hands on them. She gently parted them and stared.

It seemed like millions of years before she closed them and closed her eyes.

"It is hard to believe that I birthed you from your mother so many years ago," she sighed. "A beautiful child with one of the loudest voices I had ever heard… But that has never changed, has it?"

Astrid cracked a grin. "Do you know why you never married that other man?"

The question was out of nowhere. Astrid sat up, confused. "Why?"

"Because it was not meant to be. In other circumstances, I would have healed you and made sure your contract was honoured, but in this case, I saw another path for you. The gods showed me. And look at us now."

Astrid was quiet again.

"You will make a wonderful wife," Gothi said. "I know you may think yourself arrogant and blunt, but child, you have graciousness and tenderness about you that most women lack. Remember that. You have passed your test, you have not felt the touch of a man. I hope that when you do, it will be what you hoped."

"What of the damage I did?" Astrid asked, scared.

"That should not matter. You have adapted to the life you have given yourself. If you have enough trust for your husband, a bond formed through the harshest wars and the largest advances, then you will have nothing to fear. He is not someone you can live with. He is someone you cannot live without."