White the Cursed

16 - A new kind of lonely

The welcoming feast went quite... lively. Still, if Fishlegs had not been there to talk with Jack, the boy would have grown bored quickly. The twins were too busy wrecking havoc with the three princes and starting food fights, Valka was having a conversation with queen Elinor and princess Merida was hogging Hiccup's attention.

All Jack had to keep him entertained was eating, talking with Fishlegs, soothe Sharpshot when he was disturbed by the noise, and look at the other person around the table. From time to time, he discreetly rubbed his temple in try to ease his growing headache.

He rarely felt that tired, even after a long day of work at the farm, and the meal was getting endless. He found himself starting to doze off, earning some teasing from Astrid, sat in front of him, who noticed him, before starting to keep him awake by throwing him pieces of bread over the table. He was almost sleep-sitting when they finally called it a day. The troup greeted the royal family before a couple of guards escorted them to their rooms. Just before following them, Jack noticed the three crowned giving him an amused smile. Puzzled, he waited to exit the throne room so he could ask Astrid about it. The blonde was amused too.

''They noticed you were dozing off during the feast,'' she snickered. ''They were curious about you since you're new but you fell asleep when they wanted to talk to you.''

Jack tensed and gritted his teeth, looking over his shoulder towards the closed door they were walking away from.

''My bad. I hope I didn't offend them, that's not polite.''

''Heh, don't worry about that.'' Astrid smirked and wrapped an arm around his thin shoulders, squeezing him close to her. ''They found it funny, actually, and since you're young they let it go.''

''You're saying this as if I was a child...'' He mumbled, his head low, vexed.

Astrid noted his pout and rubbed his back. It felt like she was searching for an alternative to ruffling his hair since she couldn't risk damage the dye.

''Not a child, no, but you're still the youngest of the troup.''

''How do you know ? I could be older than I look.''

Before the pond incident, he used to be told he was looking younger than his age. Granted he had grown up in four years, but even with his white hair, he was stil looking younger. At least, Astrid not taking him seriously proved him so.

''Then go on, tell me. How old are you ?''

''Seventeen.''

The knife thrower stopped in her tracks, forcing him to do so too. The way she was blinking proved she had not been expecting this answer. After swallowing her chock, she resumed their walk, going faster to try and catch up with the others.

''Okay, fair enough, I would have given you less.''

Her teasing smirk came back, which felt like a bad omen for Jack. ''You're still the youngest here. Before you, it was the twins, and they're nineteen.''

''Just two years older...''

''That's older enough.''

She rubbed his back again, so hard she actually shook him. He felt like it was waking him up, but a yawn escaping his lips proved him otherwise. They went through torch litted corridors that were all looking the same, Jack getting the impression of loosing his way, before they finally found themselve a long, straight one littered with identical wooden doors. There were their belongings, all gathered there, ready to be placed in the rooms. The troupe started to choose their rooms and the guards helped them move their stuffs. The twins rushed to the room in the back, Astrid and Eret shared one, like Dagur and Mala, and Hiccup went to the one where Toothless came out as he ehard them arrive.