More Than a Servant (Cinderella AU)

Chapter 5

Prince Harold stood next to his friends Eret, Fredrick, Tuffnut and his cousin Saul greeting the women who were being introduced to the prince. Each girl would smile and say hello to them, and Harold forced himself to smile and greet them back.

"This is getting boring." Saul whined. "Why do we have to do this again?"

"You're not the one being forced to do this." Harold muttered so only his cousin could hear.

"You don't have to be up here with us. Go down and enjoy yourself if you're so bored." Eret suggested.

"Yeah and get bugged about it later by you? I don't think so." Saul said glaring at him.

"Sheesh, Harold's gonna have a hard time choosing a girl from this party. I missed being in Scotland, at least the parties weren't boring." Tuffnut said scratching at his ear. "Snotlout is right, this is getting boring."

"Yeah and that girl Merida was pretty fun. Pity she wasn't interested in marrying Harold." Fredrick added with a nod. "But at least our kingdoms are now allies, so we don't have to worry about that anymore."

Up above where the boys sat, the king Stoick and his second-in-command Gobber, watched the whole ball but Stoick's eyes kept falling on his son. He could see Harold, or Hiccup as he preferred to be called, wasn't interested in any of the guests at all. He seemed very bored, especially his Night Fury named Toothless who laid beside Hiccup's chair with a bored look.

"The boy doesn't look very interested in this at all." Gobber observed.

"That's exactly what I am seeing. Maybe we should start the dancing." Stoick said nodding at the musicians. After catching the king's cue, they started a quick and upbeat dance.

"Hiccup, I believe your father is telling you to go downstairs and have a dance." Eret said pulling his friend to his feet and shoving him towards the stairs.

"I can't dance!" Hiccup protested. "I have a metal foot for crying out loud!" He lifted up the hem of his pants on his left leg to show a metal foot instead of a shoe.

"That's still not going to get in the way of you getting a bride. Now go dance!"

Several young girls who Hiccup already met or didn't meet crowded around him hoping to dance with him. Hiccup began to feel claustrophobic when he saw a girl at the top of the stairs.

She wore an exquisite blue gown that seem to glitter like ice and wore her long golden hair in a strange braid with a headband that had what looked like small crystals on it. As the girls backed away from Hiccup, the girl began to make her way down the stairs, not even looking his way. Hiccup watched her till she reached the bottom step and he strode over to her.

"Hello," he said giving her a smile and a bow. The girl jumped back a bit in surprise before composing herself smiled back to give a small curtsy.

"Hello," she said in a soft voice. Hiccup could feel his heart hammering in his chest as they stood close.

"Would you like to dance?" He asked extending his hand towards her. The girl looked surprised and took his hand. Hiccup pulled her close and the music began to play.

Meanwhile, Alvin was furious. Who was that girl to arrive late and steal the prince? His daughters now most likely wouldn't have a chance to win his heart! Both Ruffnut and Heather watched the mystery girl and the prince dance around the room as they danced with their partners.

"I wonder who she is. She seems familiar but I can't recall where I seen her." Heather said quietly to herself.

"No idea but the prince seems very into her." Eret said to her as they danced. "Haven't seen him like this since Scotland but he wasn't into the princess there as he is with this girl.