Lèse-majesté

Part 33

Chapter 32

It was already late at night when Astrid finally left the blacksmith. The information she had gleaned had been jarring, to say the least, though in retrospect she should have seen the Crown Prince pulling such a move. As her carriage made its way back to Hofferson Hall she couldn't help but replay the conversation over in her mind.

"I greet his Majesty the King, Sun of the Kingdom." Astrid curtsied elegantly.

"Lady Hofferson, please none of that. Especially here. Royal protocol isn't needed," The King uttered as his seemingly frail and malnourished hands gripped the blue quilt. With what might have been a breath of relief he uttered "My niece, you have grown into a formidable woman. Just like your mother."

"Uncle," Astrid chose to ask informally since he acknowledged her as his niece. "What happened to you?"

"My wretched son, that's what," The man angrily uttered as he gripped the sheets. "He and his men stole into my rooms one night and imprisoned me. He even had an imposter ready to assume my identity! THE NERVE!" The exclamation was followed up by some severe coughing. Hiccup cautiously approached to see if the King was alright. The King however waved him off. "You must stop him,.... I... I hate being this weak, damn it!"

"We can try," Astrid stated "Though we don't exactly know what he's planning,"

"How can no one have known that you've been replaced by a double?" Hiccup questioned with a frown. "Surely...."

"Because I hired that double myself Chief Haddock," The King stated while looking somewhat forlorn. "For security reasons, all Monarchs have a double that closely resembles them. When I accepted the crown I met mine. A knight of commoner origins but the resemblance was uncanny."

"And the King isn't often seen by the public." Astrid reminded. "The only people that might be able to differentiate between the two would be those living in the palace or family members."

"Also, you know Sir Hiccup is a Chief?" Astrid asked with great curiosity.

"Sir Gobber informed me of that fact," The King explained. "I had long wanted to form an alliance with the Viking tribes yet my ignorant son would always turn the court against that idea." The man looked somewhat remorseful. "I always believed that there would be much we could learn from each other but the greed my son is displaying might instead lead to all out war."

"War?!" Astrid gasped as she hadn't heard anything about that. The Nobility had been quiet and neither army nor navy had been mobilized as of yet.

"Grimmel is fixated on the notion that the Viking tribes are hiding a secret," Quintas stated. "When I was wasting away in that cell he would often come and gloat. Telling me that he was aiming for a winter campaign to take the Viking Isles by surprise. The only hope I had in that dark cell was that Lord Deranged might hold him off."

Astrid observed Hiccup looking somewhat sheepish at the mention of a secret. 'Of course it pertained to the dragons,' she mused and probably everyone in the room knew it.

"My son, I am sad to say, has lost his way a long time ago," The King uttered. "Maybe I pampered him too much. Maybe I pampered him too little. My wife died in childbirth and I had no idea on how to raise a baby. Though that is no excuse. I feel that I have brought this on myself and asking for your help... it's..... It feels as if I'm taking the easy way out."

"No parent is perfect," Astrid said. "I idolized my mother but to call her perfect.... I wouldn't dare. She raised me right, yet she fell to the machinations of a conman and a cheater," Of course Astrid was talking about her father. "She was a workaholic, a person that demanded perfection, she would scream when frustrated but she'd hug me when sad. She was a genius and an idiot at the same time," Astrid confessed. "You tried your best to raise your son on top of all the responsibilities you had. What Grimmel does after reaching adulthood isn't on you." She confessed. "At least that is my opinion."