The laughter and applause died down as Stoick's voice boomed out over the crowd. "Well done, you two! That certainly was something. You did that almost as well as me and Valka, and we'd had years of practice. Come sit down with me, you two. Hamish, get your wife on that dance floor." People chuckled at their king's honest but joking words and watched as Sophia and Hamish walked to the center of the ballroom.

There was no nervousness in her eyes now. They blazed. How dare that little tramp try to upstage her and Clarice like that? She was a dragon in a borrowed dress. How dare she act like a real princess! Well, Sophia would put the little tramp in her place. She stood stiffly with her back to her husband as the music started.

The dance was not a pretty one. Sophia was so focused on making her dress flare that when she took that first step back, she stepped on Hamish's toes. The first spin went without trouble, and as he moved her into position, Hamish hoped that the first movement had just been nerves. He didn't fancy sore toes.

The simple footwork built the princess's ego enough to try and spruce up the dance. So on the second turn, she tried to spin twice in the time allotted for the single turn. As a result, she took a beat too long to get into position. The next turn was rushed, her confidence shaken. Hamish pulled her in for the "arms around me line," and hoped to high heaven that she could pull off the timing on this next spin.

The next verse went well enough, since it was mostly him doing the work. He caught her hand at the end of the waist turn, and started off the circle into his chest before spinning her out again. He smiled and, for once, she smiled back at him, even if it was small and scared.

But when she circled him, Sophia tripped over his extended leg. She caught herself, but stumbled and lost track of the music. So she just ran and sat on Hamish's knee, even though she wasn't supposed to for five more beats of music. They rose back up, the princess blushing madly and the prince trying to recover the rhythm. Just two more verses and this would be over.

They managed the circular waltz well enough, although she did step with the wrong foot once or twice since she couldn't see her feet with such a long skirt. They grabbed hands and began to spin, and the smile returned to the prince's face. It was almost over. Then, when they leaned back for the final note, Sophia's silk slippers lost traction on the floor and they slid out from under her. She landed with a thud and one of the guest tactlessly laughed. Sophia hid her face.

Hamish glared at the guffawing guest and they quickly silenced themselves. He reached down and offered his hand to the fallen princess. "Let me help."

She looked up at him, eyes unusually bright, and slipped her hand into his. He put his other hand on her back between her shoulders and helped her to her feet. Bowing and curtsying, they left the floor to join Hiccup, Toothless, and Stoick. At least it was over.

Hubert and Clarice strode out onto the floor with their arms hooked and motioned for the musicians to begin. The beginning pantomime was sweet, Clarice's first verse smooth in both sound and movement. The Crown Prince began his next part. "But I would bring yoAHHH!" He tore his hand away from Clarice and blood splattered on the floor. Several people rushed forward, asking questions on top of each other and not doing a whit of good.

"Silence!" Stoick bellowed over the cacophony. "Let us through!" Hiccup, Hamish, Toothless, Sophia and Stoick all ran towards the couple. Sophia went to comfort her shocked and whimpering fellow princess and Hamish helped to get the crowd of guests back under control while the other three royals tended to the wounded prince.

There was a long gash down almost half his left palm, the hand he'd been using to spin Clarice. Fury built behind Stoick's eyes as he looked at the cowering perpetrator. "How dare you wound my son, your own husband! I don't care if you are married to him or not, you are not allowed to hurt him like this!"

She sobbed out, "I wasn't trying to hurt him. We were dancing and-"

"He had his hand on your waist! You must have done something!"

That gave Hiccup an idea. "Toothless, can you keep his wound under control?"

She nodded. "What are you going to do?"

"I just want to check something." He pulled on his father's arm. "Dad, I don't think this was intentional. Let me check something." The king ceased his tough lashing and Hiccup approached the pair of women. He asked, "My lady, can I see your belt?"

Sobbing, Clarice unclipped the beautiful piece of woven gold wires and handed it to him before returning to the refuge of Sophia's arms. Hiccup inspected the piece until he found droplets of red clinging to the metal. He brushed a hand over the area gently and winced. Then he smiled. "I knew it." He held the belt up to his father. "It's fine, Dad. She just had a wire loose. The sharp end tore Hubert's hand when he spun her with his hand on her waist."

"Then why didn't it hurt when I put my hand there the first time?" Asked Hubert, now with his hand wrapped in Toothless' handkerchief.

Hiccup thought for a moment before approaching Clarice again. "Can you put this back on?" She nodded and straightened, buckling the belt around her waist. Hiccup looked again for the misplaced end and found it. "You didn't feel it before because it was on the other side of her body. But it's alright. She just needs to get the belt fixed. This was a total accident."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, even Hubert. He bustled off to get a proper bandage for his hand and Clarice left to discard the gold belt in favor of a leather one. It was less fine, but it wouldn't hurt anyone. She was just glad Stoick had been calmed down before he ordered something drastic in consequence for injuring his son. The man was like a mother bear when it came to his children.

Back in the hall, the guests began to mingle and many came up to the youngest of the royal couples to congratulate them on their splendid dance from earlier. Hiccup couldn't stop rubbing the back of his neck and Toothless was permanently flushed.

Hiccup noticed her rather pink state. "Would you like me to get you something to drink?"

She grabbed at the relief from compliments. "Yes, thank you. I'll just wait over there." She pointed at a sequestered table.

Hiccup understood perfectly. He laughed and headed off to the refreshments table. As he reached for the tap, a man placed a cup under the nozzle and filled it to the brim. "Good evening, Your Highness. That was quite a splendid dance, and an even more splendid princess." He handed the prince the full mug. "Thanatos the Scarlet."

Pay Attention to the last paragraph. Thanatos is going to be very important later. Did anyone like the stunt I pulled with Clarice and the belt?

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