Heather Together Chapter 12
While Hiccup and Heather were working out their long-distance engagement, what had become of Astrid? Hiccup very seldom saw her, more from his own busyness than from any evasiveness on her part. Almost no one knew it, but she was having second thoughts about him.
Some of that regret might have been growing horror at the realization that, once she crossed Hiccup off her list, her remaining options were even less appealing. Fishlegs and Tuffnut were long shots for the position; their families were lacking in social status, even compared to hers. Barring someone from another island, that left Snotlout. And he knew it. Oh, did he ever know it.
One afternoon, Hiccup was hammering out rims for shields when he realized he wasn't alone. He glanced over his shoulder and found Astrid standing in the doorway of his tiny back room, looking very embarrassed.
"Uhhh, hi, Astrid! What brings you, uhhh..."
"Shhh! Keep your voice down!" she hissed. More softly, she added, "This is the only place I can hide where Snotlout won't come looking for me."
Hiccup set his work down nervously. "I sympathize, but you can't stay here! I'm an engaged man now! If anybody came in here and found us alone together, it would be really bad for both of us."
"Hiccup, I'll chance that! I'm so sick of his leering face and his awful suggestions! If I'd had any idea..."
"Astrid, I'm sorry, but I can't chance it. It's not just me that's affected; there's someone else involved, who doesn't deserve to have her heart broken. I can't play by our old rules any more. Gobber! Can you come back here for a minute?" By the time the smith got to the back of the forge, Astrid had slipped away.
She went straight home, stormed upstairs, slammed her door, flopped down on her bed, cried into her pillow, and when her mother called up and asked what was wrong, sobbed, "Nothing!"
"Another typical day with a teen-aged daughter," her father muttered.
She felt a bit more talkative later that night. Her father was outside, showing her two younger brothers how to recognize stars and constellations on a rare cloudless night. "Mama, what if you do something that you really think is right, and then later on, you find out it was a big mistake?"
"You learn from it, and you move on from where you are," Edda Hofferson replied. "Most times, you can't undo what's been done. The best you can do is try not to make the same mistake again." She didn't put the real question into words – what did you do?
"But how do you know in advance how things are going to turn out?"
"Astrid, I can't be much help if I don't know what you're talking about."
Astrid wrung her hands, wriggled nervously in her seat, and finally muttered, "Hcp."
"What, dear?"
"Hiccup! I was wrong about Hiccup! He... he's not a prince from a fairy story, but he's a nice guy, and he's a lot better than my other choices, and... and I was wrong about him, and now he's engaged to someone else, and... oh, I was so stupid, stupid, stupid!" Her mother comforted her with a hand on her shoulder, which didn't go very far because of her metal shoulder pads.
"There's one thing for sure, Astrid. You can't go back and undo this one. He's taken and sworn for, and you have to leave him strictly alone. Even a hint of doing something you shouldn't, could ruin both his reputation and yours. When kinsmen get outraged by damaged reputations during an engagement, people die. Your father and I have both seen it happen."
Astrid went a bit pale at that. "I thought those were just scary tales to make us be good."
Her mother shook her head. "A maiden's honor is a reflection of her family's honor. If anyone thought Hiccup was playing games with your honor, our whole family would come down on him with weapons drawn and no mercy. Your Uncle Thorn would lead the charge – you know he would. And if Hiccup's family thought you were playing footsie with him, Spitelout would part your hair with that axe of his. Permanently."
She nodded numbly. "No time alone with Hiccup. Got it. But... how do I keep from doing the same thing again?"
"Did Hiccup approach you about marriage?" her mother asked. Astrid nodded.
"Did you reject him?" She nodded again.
"Then that's an easy one. The next time a nice boy approaches you about marriage, don't reject him."
"But, Mama... I was mad at him!"
"Then I hope the pleasure you got from being mad at him was worth the pain of losing him," Edda said firmly. "I've told you many times, you and that temper of yours are going to come to grief some day, and here you are."
"Is that all the sympathy you have to offer me?" Astrid begged.
"If someone else broke your heart, I'd have all the sympathy in the world," her mother replied, "but when you've stabbed yourself in the foot after being warned, this is all you get. Some mistakes can't be undone. Learn from it and don't do it again – that's all I can tell you. And stay away from that boy."
"You have no compassion at all!"
"If I have too much compassion, that softens the blow and you don't learn from it," her mother said as she picked up her sewing again. "This is one blow that you really need to learn from. Once you've gotten the message, come back and tell me what it is. I'll save the compassion for then. Don't worry; I'll have plenty."
There was a long pause.
"Mama... is Dad going to make me marry Snotlout?" Her voice quavered when she asked that one.
"We all know the sagas where the girl's wishes are ignored, and how badly those marriages always end. We won't force you to marry against your will. You should know that – we already turned away the son of the chief just because you said so. I can ask my relatives on other islands to look for a suitable husband for you, or your father can take you to the Thing the next time it meets. But you've got to stop rejecting every boy who approaches you!"
Astrid felt miserable, but she was determined to salvage something from the situation. "When they're looking on those other islands... can they look for someone like Hiccup?"
"Dear, I don't think there are any others like Hiccup."