Fall and fall hard
When Fishlegs came back with lunch, he found Hiccup pressing his face into the table with an open book over his head.
"Trying to bury yourself?" he asked, mouth twitching as he tried not to smile. Too much.
"Or I just feel in over my head," Hiccup's muffled voice answered.
"Hey, I was joking. Don't take it so seriously."
The vizier finally lifted his head and gave his friend a sour look. Then he threw the book away and leaned back in the chair with his hands flat on the table, staring at the ceiling as if it had offended him.
Fishlegs, for his part, was glaring after the book that neatly floated back to its original position on the shelf. He truly loathed the self-cleaning spell the Enchantress had cast over this room. How many times had he tried to reorganize the shelves into a more logical order just to have the spell undo all of his work.
Hiccup threw his arms up. "Okay, I'm stuck so let's talk it through. What am I looking for?"
Fishlegs shrugged. "Well, since you found the Cave of Wonders and don't qualify for entrance, yes I went there and I'm not afraid of your evil eye. Okay, short answer; you're looking for the one with access to the cave."
Hiccup took a deep breath. "And the only clue I have is a warmth within the cold. But I just realized that doesn't necessarily mean I'm looking for someone with magic! What if I'm looking for a person who's been dead for hundreds of years?"
"Oh. Yeah, I'll stop messing with you now. That does sound a lot harder."
"No, it doesn't make sense anymore. So… let's start breaking it down: who created the Cave of Wonders?"
Fishlegs sat down and neatly folded his hands on the table. "Multiple Enchantresses. It was built as a prison to hold someone. Though it is unclear who the prisoner is you, for some reason, think that someone can grant wishes."
"No and no: it's not unclear who the prisoner is and I don't think she can grant wishes," Hiccup dismissed with a wave of his hands and a disgusted snarl at the jab. "It's stated quite clearly in both the books here and in the chronicles of Arendelle that there was one Enchantress more powerful than any of the others causing an uproar. At a certain point, that most powerful one is never mentioned again and instead there is a cave carved by multiple other Enchantresses. Not hard to guess."
"Oh, right, Freya, your magical wet dream you want to replace Elsa with. I wonder how the tale started?"
Hiccup sighed and rubbed his face in annoyance, but decided against answering to the provocation. "Who knows? Don't care," Hiccup answered the question instead. "But that most powerful Enchantress is most likely the one sealed away in the Cave of Wonders."
"Why is it called that? Is it wonderous?" Fishlegs asked.
"Probably just to make people wonder about it," Hiccup retorted, but now there was a teasing tilt to his mouth. "No, the Enchantress who constructed it was named Wonder. I suppose it was first called 'Wonder's cave', which got lost in translation."
"And in which book did you read that?" Fishlegs narrowed his eyes suspiciously at his friend.
"Not a book, a letter."
Fishlegs made a face.
"Stop acting like you're the only one allowed to be annoying," Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Back to the issue; There was a key to the cave, and we found it. But clearly, even with a key it's not enough to gain access."
"Fine. But you know, if the cave really was made to seal away a powerful being, why make a key in the first place?" Fishlegs asked with a huff, resigning himself to the boring routine.
But to his surprise, Hiccup didn't retort with another scratching comment. Instead he was silent for a long while.
"…good point. I supposed before that the other Enchantresses needed to check in on the cave and split the key in two to ensure nobody went in alone. But the key only opens the cave, it doesn't let you inside it."
"So…" Fishlegs searched his mental notes. "We're back at square one; who can enter the cave?"
"Not yet. Where did we learn there was a key to the cave?"
"Your father had the first half," Fishlegs shrugged.
Hiccup shook his head, got up and rubbed his face. He was so tired, was still upset about Merida, and his body felt cold now that she was gone. She who had been his greatest hope this past year. She had deserved better. A better life. Better everything.
"You should sleep," Fishlegs suggested, his voice soft and caring now. "I'll keep looking and prepare the spells you need."
"…yes. I'll sleep. Maybe something will come to me in my dreams."
"Just hope it's warmer than the queen."
Hiccup rolled his eyes and left.
It was quite late in the evening when the diggers finally came back.
"Praise to Freya," North said under his breath when Phil came up to him. The bulky man had a long, sky blue dragon riding on his head with its tail wrapped around Phil's thick neck. Like a noose
"I brought your diggers," the dragon said, and to everyone's relief that was all it said before taking off towards the castle.
North shuddered with discomfort. Just like the vizier sounding unnatural when he spoke to the dragons, that dragon had an unnatural voice speaking human tongue.
The diggers were all suddenly making loud exclamations, their hands reaching out towards their guild house. They'd all kept their heads bowed low because of the dragon, but now they were looking up to see what had become of their home.
North stepped up in front of them. "Everyone gather around, builders too. The royal vizier has promised us rations for three days, one of which has passed, and I'll need you all to help. As many of you as possible must squeeze into the intact rooms. Bunny, have you found anyone in the city who can accommodate a few more for two nights?"
"I have, as long as we're ready to be uncomfortable. Nobody has an extra bed."
North looked around. The diggers all had to stay in the guild house, even those who were human. He felt bad, but everyone in the guild were quite protective of the mild-mannered Yeti diggers, so hopefully there would be minimum complaints.
"Will do," he accepted at last. "Phil and John will stay back and start repairs on the foundation with me. Those of you who are staying at the guild house help out. The rest of you, follow Bunny to the people willing to house you. I want to see everyone back as early as possible tomorrow morning."
At Bunnymund's side, Jack stretched his arms up high as he was dismissed. They'd spent the day pulling rocks and salvaging anything that could be saved. Some rooms were completely gone, and so were what few possessions and necessities had been in there. That included Jack and Bunny's room. All they'd managed to salvage were the pelts they slept on and most of their clothes. Once they had restored their room they'd have to borrow someone else's kitchen and utensils until they'd managed to trade for new ones.
"What a disaster," he muttered.
"It's only for a short time," Bunny responded quietly as he pulled Jack to his side, deciding against carrying a light orb, hoping it would conceal the fact both of them were wearing more layers of clothes and had pelts hidden under their coats.
Jack was quiet for a moment, eyes flickering over the growing shadows between buildings. He'd grown aware of what exactly he'd offered earlier that day. It had sounded like a great idea at the time, now doubt was trying to choke him.
"Hey Bunny, about the… about her. What should I do if she actually leaves the castle tomorrow?"
"Distract her," his adoptive father shot back and hushed him. They'd just arrived at the first house, and an argument was starting up as to who and how many could fit inside.
"With what?" Jackson asked once that was done and they were moving on.
"I don't know. Show her a trick or tell a joke or something."
"You're a great help."
"And I can live without your sarcasm."
"I learnt from the best."
"Oh, shut it you…"
Bunny's body froze and his eyes shot into the shadows, a second later he had hurled something from his clothes and a short cry of pain sounded.
"Thief!" Jack shouted immediately, and was joined by many other builders.
They all pressed into a ring protecting their few belongings and holding hammers in their hands.
Bunny's hearing was exceptional, and he picked up harsh, hushed whispers and then multiple feet that softly padded away.
"Clear," he said when he could no longer hear anything.
The builders relaxed and they moved on. Bunny went to fetch the bent, wooden blade he'd thrown and hid it back inside his clothes.
Jack looked up at the sky through the ice. Since it was only the beginning of the light, the days weren't very long, and the moon was in an early phase. The teen shuddered just as Bunny put his arm back around him.
"What is it?"
"Just thinking of the vizier's threat; that those of us with no home could go into the underground."
Bunny's jaw tensed. "I'll work for both of us tomorrow and you make sure that rat is distracted. None of us are leaving the light."
Elsa put away another folder and stood still, staring at the rows and rows of cabinets that held the recorded history of Arendelle she had hoped would give her an idea as to why another magic user had suddenly appeared and how to deal with it.
Thus far she had found exactly nothing. But more than a thousand years were bound to have something! If only she knew where to start.
"I wish this archive had subcategories," Elsa moaned, also wishing she could put Anna on this, but bureaucracy wasn't even on the princess's map. She answered every such obligation with "no" and walked away. Elsa truly hated her sister for that.
She looked towards the ice guards around the room. The perfect watchers that were currently perfectly useless to her because they could only accept one command. Creating an ice creature that could read would take years. But of course she would only have that thought now when she most desired it rather than having the foresight of coming up with such a helpful creature ten years ago.
"Your majesty, Wind just returned. It seems Vizier Haddock chased the magic user, if it was one, across the desert all the way to the cliff wall in the west. Stablemaster Astrid has confirmed that Windwalker was covered by bloodstains upon Vizier Haddock's return."
"You all love to doubt my vizier," Elsa said without looking away from the files. "Are you also going to throw groundless accusations at him like the princess?"
"Of… of course not, your majesty. This was just… routine."
"You just don't like that Wind can't see him, Tothn'ail," Elsa stated and finally turned to her head of guards, or more precisely: her spy. "You have heard my stand on this point. Now you tell me your new reasons why you should be privy to his every move."
The fairy, a chameleon currently shifting in bright shades of green and purple, fluttered her wings unhappily and Wind, the spirit familiar that was her life bound partner, visibly curled around her. Her gaze fell to the floor in defeat, and Elsa huffed.
"No? Then give me the news. What's going on in the other cities. Because you haven't neglected your duties for this, have you?"
The spy swallowed, but stood straighter. "In the north, it seems the Yeti have started to come up from their borrows. Arendelle's hunters should be able to bring back a good number before the mating season starts."
"I trust the hunters are aware of the number of Yeti they are allowed to hunt."
Tothn'ail almost sighed. "I keep Vizier Haddock updated on the Yeti numbers, my queen. But if you want my opinion –"
"I don't. I promise to ask for it if I do," Elsa cut her off. "Go on."
"But your majesty, starvation and malnourishment is a fact in Arendelle. If you could convince Vizier Haddock to…"
"I am well aware of the situation, Tothn'ail. Hiccup's reports correspond with yours. But you forget that this arrangement has been in place since my grandmother was queen. You want people to live now? What about when they have children and there are no more Yeti left to hunt because we've forced them to leave due to excessive hunting?"
The fairy was silent.
"Besides, the hunters' guild master agrees with Hiccup's point of view," Elsa went on with just a hint of pride in her voice. She knew Hiccup always had everyone's prosperity in mind. He was more capable than anyone. The people trusted him.
"Moving on," Tothn'ail said through her aching teeth. "The dragon cliff has appeared. I assume they will soon initiate their mating season. As usual, the fae and elves of North Palace are already in the middle of theirs."
"The way nature will have it," Elsa answered indifferently. "It's called coexisting."
'Haddock told you that so you'd let the dragons hunt us freely,' Tothn'ail wanted to scream, but knew it was a lost battle. Elsa favoured the vizier and it was so obvious the fairy sometimes wondered why she was even here.
"You haven't called me 'Tooth' in a long time, my queen," she pointed out quietly. Because she needed to. Only Elsa could overrule Hiccup, and the fae were being hunted because of the vizier. She couldn't count how many of her friends and family had been eaten by the dragons. She'd even come here to seek the queen's help.
That was ten years ago, when her aunt had sent her away right after she'd lost her parents.
"…I haven't, have I?" the queen answered quietly, her head turning to look out the wide windows.
The fairy's heart jumped with hope. But the queen shook herself, keeping her back to. "Can you read?"
The spy no longer knew whether she should laugh or cry. She stepped forward and answered anyway. "Of course, my queen. What are we looking for?"
At the end of the day, the chronicles were useless. Elsa rubbed her tired eyes and just wanted to close them. Why the people of two hundred years ago found it necessary to record the exact amount of shrimp that had been fished Elsa couldn't understand. But then again; Hiccup hadn't lived back then and the court had been bigger. Elsa supposed all those people were just looking for things to do, so they counted shrimp, and algae, if there were different kinds, and how long it took a dune to move and if they moved as anticipated.
Elsa wondered if the person who recorded all this felt important when they wrote down all this drivel, because if he did Elsa would find them in the afterlife and force them to relive the boredom that was now threatening to kill her.
"Let's call it a day," Tooth said, clearly no better off than Elsa.
The queen appreciated it. The fairy wasn't as good company as Hiccup, but she'd stayed all day, slowly making it through about three years of history where the most exciting reading was a case if suspected murder, which they never found the conclusion of. Elsa had dismissed it as unimportant when she read the cause of death was a blow to the head by a piece of wood that had been found by the body. No magic there.
"Yes. Thank you for your help today Tothn'ail. Should we also shed all those tears of boredom?"
The fay smiled weakly. "Do I really look like I'm about to cry?"
"It sure doesn't look like you're about to start laughing anytime soon."
Tooth stayed quiet. She really wasn't like Hiccup. The vizier would have retorted with something snarky, and then they would be laughing.
"Do you know one or more scholars of North Palace who would be willing to organize my archives?" the queen went on. "I want everything neatly categorized into 'useless drivel', 'court cases', and 'important history."
"I will send Wind to the fae leaders with your request," Tothn'ail said swiftly and stood.
Elsa wanted to slap her forehead. She'd forgotten Tooth's utter lack of understanding of sarcasm. Still, she didn't stop the spy to correct her. She really did want the files organized.
After cleaning up, Elsa purposefully strode towards Hiccup's rooms. Surely he'd slept all day and would be awake by now. Maybe he was preparing to go down to the old Enchantress's library, or maybe he was coming back from there.
But as she approached his room, the small dragons that liked to crawl over Hiccup like they owned him, started flying around and chatter at her, diving her way, staying several meters off and retreating as she got closer. They were trying to tell her to go, to leave, and Elsa hated them. She ignored their louder and louder screams, liked when they started to whimper and hide, and strode into Hiccup's room without knocking.
"Wha… Elsa? Why… is it morning?"
Hiccup stood in the middle of the room, facing the door like he'd been about to leave, but his clothes were rumpled and his eyes dazed.
"Were you still asleep?" Elsa asked.
"What 'still'?" Hiccup rubbed his face and failed to stifle a yawn. "I went straight to the Enchantress's archives this morning to learn the spells you asked me to. Feels like I only just laid down. What time is it?"
So he hadn't rested, he'd kept working despite his weariness, pushing himself to face a threat to the throne. Elsa tried to reign in the overwhelming disappointment. Hiccup took his job so seriously, took threats seriously. It wasn't right of her to chide him for that.
But she missed him.
She heard Hiccup's deep, quiet sigh. "I'll be with you in the morning."
Elsa's head jerked up, too eager. Too hopeful. She felt like a dog scenting treats.
Hiccup's eyes were closed, and his face was engraved with tired lines, the shadows under his eyes deeper than Elsa ever saw them before. He was really tired.
"In the morning, before I leave, I will be with you. Unfortunately Anna will also be free from her house arrest in the morning."
Anna. Elsa always tried to not hate her sister, but today, from morning till now, the princess was really trying her patience.
"I will do what I can to keep her in line, she always does exactly the opposite of what I tell her to do, so controlling her isn't that hard." Hiccup sighed again. "The accusations she throws at me are a nuisance though."
"I wish I could discipline her, but nothing I can think of would have any other effect than her blaming all of it on you," Elsa said, deeply ashamed of her sister and angry at her parents. They had let Anna out of her classes and be out to play with whatever playmate the queen of the time could find for her youngest. They had been afraid that if they educated Anna, the girl would become corrupt and try to overthrow Elsa, the real heir to the throne.
"That would be a problem. I deal with the scum of the underworld too often to want the princess following me around in wait for her vengeance."
Elsa had a thought, a horrible thought, and couldn't bring herself to feel bad about it.
Hiccup's green eyes glinted and sharpened, chasing the weariness away for a second. "You want that."
A statement. Elsa lowered her gaze. "No," she said and looked back up. "Of course not. Anna can't get hurt."
"Wrong," Hiccup said and stood straighter. "You're right about the princess needing discipline. Is in desperate need of it. Do I have your permission to have a couple dragons tail princess Anna? I want to find an opportunity to take her Queen attitude back down to Princess."
The queen met the hard eyes of her vizier. "Permission granted."
Jack awoke from a dull ache all across his body. The family that had taken them in had accepted Bunny, Jack and three younger children. They had all more or less piled onto Bunny on the floor and Jack had a knee digging into his back, Bunny's hidden weapon poking his ribs, his head on the floor and he couldn't feel his legs.
Untangling himself from the uncomfortable pile, his body popping and creaking and head hurting, Jack rubbed his sore neck and looked down at Bunny who was blinking sleepily.
"'sit morning?" the elder mumbled, more asleep than awake.
Jack searched the walls for the sphere that would tell him if it was day or night. Once his blurry eyes located it, he rubbed his face.
"Not quite, but soon enough. Master wanted us back early."
Bunny allowed himself three more seconds of shuteye and a deep sigh before he started wiggling, waking the kids.
"Time to go back and rebuild our house so we can go home," Bunny told them.
"No fair!" the youngest protested and laid flat on the floor.
"Stop being such a baby," her brother tried to chastise, but Bunny held up a hand and patted both their heads.
"It's not fair, Sophie. But you want to see your parents, don't you? Mom and dad will be lonely if you don't come back with us."
"No fair!" Sophie cried again, but it had lost most of the fight from last night when her parents had left her and her brother Jamie here last night. She'd tried to throw a tantrum, but Bunny had tied her up, hung her on the wall and told everyone to ignore her until she calmed down. The home owners hadn't objected to the treatment since this was a common practice in raising children. The sooner they learned that having a fit had zero result compared to proper communication, the better.
"It's not fair," Bunny agreed again and stood. "But I'm going to meet with your mom and dad now, and they won't come get you. So either you get up and follow me and your brother, or you'll stay here."
Sophie was barely four years old and this was the first time she experienced something like this; having no home, being left behind by her parents, not receiving the amount of food she was accustomed to. Jack felt for her, but agreed with Bunny. Reality was harsh, the world even worse, the queen was a monster and the vizier was either your aid or your doom. On top of all that was that malicious princess…
Jack groaned loudly into his hands as he remembered what he was supposed to do today.
"What is it, Jack? Is your stomach hurting?" Cuppake, the eldest child in the group asked as Buddy opened the door to let them all out.
"No, but I must distract a certain someone from destroying the guild house further. So I'll… head straight for the palace gates."
"…sure. Freya's blessings over you," Bunny answered tightly as he picked up Sophie on his arm. She was sobbing miserably, but had followed them outside on her own feet.
Jack hurried away, and tried not to notice how many dragons glanced down at him from the rooftops. Weren't there too many this morning? Why? Was the vizier worried about something? Was he looking for someone?
The teen forcefully didn't let the most worrying thought touch his consciousness. It was true that the dragons ate humans, but the vizier had set down rules for them, and he wasn't above punishing the dragons with public execution if those rules were breeched. The rules included that dragons would not attack humans unprovoked, or they'd be deemed out of the vizier's control and put to death. Provocation included throwing things at the dragons, yelling at them and trying to chase them away. Of course children loved to challenge those rules and some had tried to throw rocks, ice or snowballs. Every child who tried or watched would only ever do so once.
Fear left a burn mark on the memories that never went away.
The palace gates appeared between buildings, and suddenly Jack thought the dragons seemed a lot friendlier. He looked up and caught sight of the sky blue dragon, the one that could speak like a human, on a chimney, staring intently on the gates.
No, the dragons and the gates were equally frightening. If the vizier had the dragons watching the gates it could only mean one thing.
Jack had a crazy thought to call out to the blue dragon, ask what was going on, but snapped his mouth close and started walking again. He was a bundle of wound up nerves, a painfully wide smile plastered on his face as he couldn't figure out what else to do. Before him stood the closed gates and the ice guards. Jackson really wished he had a pot or something to put over his head, or could dig a hole to hide in, as the guards' empty eye sockets lit up with a faint blue light and seemed to zero in on him.
He quickly slipped back behind a wall with his heart in his mouth and shrank in on himself with his head between his hands.
"Oh Freya, what am I doing?"
"How's she supposed to know if you don't?"
If Jack didn't die from a heart-attack before the day was over he'd propose to the prettiest girl in the guild, especially since the talking dragon was leaning over the eaves, staring curiously at him. Yesterday the talking dragon had been a beautiful sky blue. Today it was dark blue with a purple pattern, but still with ridiculously long eyelashes framing its bright yellow eyes. It was one of those dragons that had a long slender body and a mane of hair running down the back of its neck. Now Jack really missed the security of Bunny's arm around him, covering him from all things dragon.
Another dragon, this one green, crawled lazily into Jackson's line of vision and he no longer knew which one he should focus on. He promptly decided he should keep all his attention on the green one once his brain caught up and recognized it. It was Toothless, the vizier's favourite.
"Where's… the vizier?" Jack squeaked.
Unexpectedly, the green dragon started hopping around and spitting fire, paced back and forth in front of Jackson as if it was… venting its frustration. The boy couldn't help but calm down and listen to the nonsensical noise until the little dragon suddenly, and intentionally, fell flat on its belly with a loud huff. Then it let out a sad little whine and stared longingly at the palace gates.
"That sounds… like you've had a bad morning?" Jackson said slowly.
Claws on his shoulder and a sudden weight had the teen tense back up. The blue dragon sniffed at his face and clothes and pushed its snout into his armpit.
"Builder," it said with a definite huff of hot air. "The guild-house is not here."
"Y-yes, I know. I'm here to…"
The green dragon hissed quietly and got up. That's when Jack finally saw her, the princess, stomping towards the city.
Without thinking Jackson ran after her, waved his arms like a windmill and yelled. "I AM THE SILVER DRAGON FREYA!"
The following silence was deafening. Jackson stood with his hands in the air, the long dragon clinging to his clothes as he stared straight into the blue eyes of a girl he'd never seen before, but whose clothing was too fine to be anyone other than the princess.
Every single dragon and person and ice guard were looking.
"What?"
The blue dragon suddenly climbed up Jack's arm and sat on his hand, posing as if it was someone important.
"I-I… This is the silver dragon Freya of Legend! Here to spread warmth to each home and food to every table!" Jack said loudly, like he was telling a story, his voice becoming more and more stable with each word.
The blue dragon portraying Freya breathed a flame upwards, gaining a gasp from the gathered people. The children were pulling at their parents clothes sleeves while the parents were shaking their heads.
The princess was frowning, confused. Jack opened his mouth to keep telling the story of how the silver dragon had come to rid the world of the ice queen… then snapped it close.
"Ah, that's probably not a popular story in your house…" he realized, almost too late and lowered his arms. The blue dragon in his hand snapped its head around to him, clearly upset.
"What? Why? What story? Why would you start telling it if you know it's not good?!"
Everyone's wide-eyed gazes were now on the princess.
Jack was blinking owlishly "…you haven't heard the story of Freya?" he asked what everyone else was thinking.
"Understandable," said the dragon in his hand, reminding him there was a dragon sitting on his hand. He held it as far away from his body as physically possible. It climbed right back up his arm and wrapped itself around his shoulders.
"Hey you nasty snake! Get off him immediately!" the princess roared and picked up a rock.
There was a collective shout of "GAH!" Jackson stood closest and managed to catch the girl's hands before she did the unthinkable. Everyone else who watched had also taken a step forward with their hands up.
"Are you crazy?! Never touch the dragons!" Jackson shouted.
"That's right! You want us to die?!"
"Get lost! Without the vizier around we'll all die!"
People were starting to scatter in fear. The dragons on the roofs were chirping. Jackson pulled the princess with him by the hand through narrow streets until they were far away from the commotion. The blue dragon was still wrapped around him, and Jackson was surprised to feel how warm it was. Almost comfortable.
"What's going on!?" the princess suddenly demanded and tore her hands away from Jack's. "Why are you allowing that little beast to ride you?"
"It's… it's the first rule the vizier put down; don't provoke the dragons."
The princess looked like Jackson had just pissed at her mother's grave. "How dare that man make rules in my sister's kingdom!? This was the last drop! I'll go back to…"
The princess's voice toned out, and the blue dragon said; "Master is with the queen right now."
Jackson studied the girl before him. She was… beautiful, he realized. Before now he'd been distracted and hadn't really looked at her. He'd only recognized her as 'princess' and 'danger'. Now he finally noticed she had red hair tied in braids, her ears covered by a light purple hat that fit snugly around her head and neck. Her eyes were a startling blue, the colour standing out from the brown, black and grey eyes that were the most common among the people of Arendelle. Her nose and cheeks were covered with light freckles. Her clothes fit her body, showing shapes. Jackson had never really thought about it, but the common woman in Arendelle had so many layers of clothing their shapes just weren't visible. Well, unless you were like the head-huntress of the hunting guild. They didn't call her Big-Boobied Berta for nothing. The princess was nothing like that. Her body was petite and slim, her cheeks round and lips pink, void of the chaps and scars that covered Jackson's own.
Those blue eyes suddenly turned on him and Jack was reminded that this girl, although pretty, was probably even more dangerous than the vizier.
"Why are you obeying Hiccup's rules?!" the princess demanded. "You should go to the queen and put an end to it. Hiccup has no right to rule the city!"
Jack blinked… and blinked, then shook his head. "I… What?"
The princess groaned and rolled her eyes. "I'm telling you! You shouldn't obey the vizier! Only the queen! You're starving and afraid because of Hiccup and if you only told my sister everything about it she would finally see that I'm right and banish that slithery snake! After all, it was my ancestors that built this city. That guy has no right to try to overrule Elsa!"
Jackson nodded slowly, more to placate the princess than agreeing with her. He realized he'd met someone with the same attitude before, in the four to five-year-old children of the guild masters. It usually went; "My daddy/mommy is great and that means I'm great and my word is law and anyone who is against me is a villain." He'd never in his life have imagined anyone above the age of six to behave and reason like this.
'I suddenly feel bad for the vizier,' he thought quietly to himself.
"Nobody can enter the palace without permission," Jack said slowly.
"I give you permission!"
"From the queen," said the dragon from Jack's shoulder. "You're only a powerless princess."
When the princess puffed up with indignance, Jackson hurriedly made the sign for greetings.
"My name is Jackson!"
The princess deflated and blinked. "What?"
The boy smiled. "My name. It's Jackson. Most people just call me Jack." He made the hand gesture again. "Greetings. I know who you are, but I don't know your name."
"Why are you waving your hand like that?"
"…It's… what? You don't know? You've lived all your life in Arendelle and don't know how to greet someone?"
The princess stared at him as if he was some enigmatic creature from another world. Then she unexpectedly shrunk and rubbed her arm awkwardly. "I may have… skipped that class."
"Class? No, wait, I mean, don't you socialize? Like, what do you do when you enter a room full of people? It's extremely rude not to greet the ones who meet your eyes. Like, no greet-no meet kind of rude."
"What does that mean?"
Jack took a second to study the princess more carefully, looking for the signs of jest. Because she couldn't be serious. But the harder he stared, the more lost the girl looked.
Jack explained it as clearly as he could, but still his voice rose at the end, as if it was a question. "It means… that nobody will talk to you or share their table with you if you don't greet them."
From the look in her eyes, this was a whole new world to the princess. Jack would have felt much more pity for her if she hadn't destroyed his guild-house yesterday.
"Want to try?" he said instead. "We can go play with a few kids by the wall. The viz… visually pleasant light from the orbs is… I mean, they make it a perfect playground."
The dragon on his shoulder gave Jack a flat look and he wanted to curse. If he couldn't fool the dragon there was no way the princess would …
"I'd love that. I didn't even know my sister had made a playground in the city!"
…actually fall for it. "Oh… okay. Great. This way."
The dragon curled its head into Jack's neck and murmured quietly. "Dumb girl. Master made that playground."
"Knowing that probably wouldn't change her opinion," Jackson breathed back.
The dragon just huffed and buried her nose in Jack's collar, breathing warm air into his clothes. For the first time, Jackson thought he understood why the vizier let dragons crawl all over him.