Snow for the Dragon

For the first time in forever

Dusk in Arendelle looked beautiful. The purple sky was swallowing up the blood red sun and the moon could be seen peeking out from rooftops. If only he was up in the air, on toothless's back with the wind whipping on his face, sighed Hiccup, as he stared up into the sunset , sitting on one of the wooden benches in the palace yard. He could see a number of various castle servants rushing here and there, fretting and fuming as they carried out last minute preparations for the engagement banquet that was to take place in two hours. Speaking of the banquet, he hadn't seen the queen since she welcomed him to the palace in the morning. Then his awkwardly d meeting with the queen sprang up in his mind.She was elegantly beautiful, no doubt. But she could wield snow , so he didn't know if he could trust her yet. He had to admit one thing though, She was very well behaved. The most well mannered girl he knew was astrid ...and she definitely loved to rough him up sometimes.The queen definitely put Astrid to shame in regards to manners. He had found astrid and his mother talking to one of the servants , trying to get snotlout out of his misery. The idiot had gone ahead and tried liking one of the frozen fountains. He chuckled at the thought of snotlout's cry for help when he spotted hiccup.

As he was sitting down , lost in his thought, a voice called out his name that brought him back down to earth. " Oi . Hiccup! Your mother claims it's time to get dressed ya big bone head. I had to keep her entertained for half an hour so that she would leave you alone ya know that? Ya owe me, Mr. Chieftain." Astrid had made sure to put special emphasis on the last word because she knew how irritating it was for him to be called as 'the chief'. " coming . Coming. Shut your trap up already...." he shouted back as he got up and dusted himself off.

ONE HOUR LATER.....

Hiccup , Valka and astrid were making their way to the huge ball room the Arnold was leading them to. Out of most of the Queen's staff, Hiccup wondered if Arnold was the youngest. He was a ginger boy, of around sixteen years of age. He had freckles running all across his rosy cheeks and along his nose ridge. He also appeared to be rather skinny . Snotlout had ripped his suit as he tried wearing it, and so was made to sit up in the guest house. His mother had made him wear yet another tightly fitting greenish linen suit for the occasion . What was a ' ball room' anyway? He had never heard of such a term before. Mabye it was just a big fancy word for the dining hall ,he guessed. Arnold led them to a giant room where all of the guests had gathered before the dinner. Abruptly, just outside the hall, Arnold turned and gave Hiccup a curt bow. "I'm not allowed to go past the doors, but if you need anything, just ask the servants and they will help you." He said to the Vikings who all looked at him with questioning eyes when he stopped outside the doors.

"I see. Thank you for your help Arnold. We hope to see you again soon." Hiccup said, ruffling his hair, much to the shock of the boy Astrid gave him a wink while Valka gave him a bright smile on their way into the room.

As he entered the 'ball room' he realise just how wrong he was previously This was not just some dining hall . It was a HUGE room that clearly served the purpose of being the royal dance hall as well, he thought. With elaborate chandlers hanging from the ceiling that was covered in murals. The cold draught outside seemed to have vanished as he entered the hall. Chocolate fountains spewing chocolate drink could be seen everywhere. One of the waiters even offered hiccup a 'chocolate tart' - whatever that was , he thought. All of this seemed pretty new to him. He could see people of various ethnicities chatting as they stood gathering food on the tables , young and old, fat and fit,name it and you saw it, he grimaced. "Are these guys kidding me? With all the fans hoo-ha?" Astrid mumbled to him. While both men and women dressed up to formal occasions on Berk, it was nothing like the spectacle before them. The women were wearing huge dresses in different pastel colors. On top of this, they were also wearing different jewels or diamonds. Most of them also wore white cloves that covered their hands and everyone had their hair up in different hairdos, some more lavish than others.
The men on the other hand were not much better, though they were a huge contrast to the women's colorful display. They all wore identical strange black jackets with white wests underneath and black pants. Around their necks, a white piece of cloth had been tied into a strange pattern. Some of the men also wore round gold medals on their jackets, or a cloth in the shape of a line which went over their right shoulder and under their left arm.As they entered the room, people began to whisper and stare at Valka and astrid. With a jolt, Hiccup realized that only he seemed to be wearing a suit that was remotely similar to everybody else's. Although his mother and Astrid were wearing elegant outfits for a viking, they still paled in comparison to these fancy theater clothing everybody else was wearing. One woman sent Astrid a degrading look, which Astrid answered with a glare that caused the woman to take a step back in fright.
"They look like someone just plucked them out of a child's imagination." Hiccup whispered in disbelief.

As Valka and astrid moved down the steps, he saw the queen on the ground floor, mingling with everyone and making sure everyone felt at home. As she saw Valka and hiccup she smiled at him and apologetically broke of her conversation with a weasly old man and approached them . Her hair tied up in a neat little bun, she wore a black and purple gown with a green corset that , just like hiccup's suit, seemed to be choking her neck although though she didn't seem to mind all that much. She also wore a purple Cape that dragged along the floor behind her. " Good evening king haddock." She addressed him." And to you to ." She nodded at Valka and astrid. Astrid seemed to be assessing Elsa appearance scrunching up her face, trying hard to find a fault but evidently failing. " I hope you have made yourself comfortable at my castle and are enjoying your stay here. " she carried on. Then she turned her head towards hiccup . "Do you dance, king Hiccup? " she abruptly asked him. Mouth open in shock and surprise, all he could muster was some weird gargling noise. Elsa raised her eyebrows in amusement. " Yes he can dance , your majesty " Valka spoke for her son , a smiling cheerfully. of the corner of his eye, hiccup could see astrid pinching herself to stop herself from bursting out in mocking laughter after seeing his expression at being asked to dance. He didn't dance. Even astrid knew that. So what was his mother getting at right now?
" Excellent." Elsa grinned . " it is customary for the queen to begin the ball waltz . And she is supposed to dance with a visiting royal guest. Since most of my guests seem to be elderly ....or married ( she nodded towards prince Eugene and his wife Rapunzel , whom hiccup had the pleasure of running into that afternoon) , I would kindly request his assistance on the dance floor . I hope you understand, madame. " Elsa finished. " Yes of course " Valka agreed as Elsa took Hiccup's arm as she steered him towards the bottom of the marble staircase . He gave his mother and astrid a helpless look. He was going to embarrass himself now. He just knew it. As he stood there, shaking, he gulped " I'm sorry I don't dance , your highness." He was slightly confused as he craned his neck toward elsa as she wore an amused look on her face. " It's quite alright. " she reassured him. " I don't dance that much either and I really don't prefer to dance. I'm just complying with my tradition. Just follow my lead." She explained. He pulled his collar of his neck as he heard the ballroom announcer announce the Queen's dance with her partner , his highness Haddock III. ".Hiccup felt slightly awkward at being called ' his highness Haddock III ' . But nonetheless, he felt even more awkward a few seconds later as he placed his left arm on elsa 's waist as she held his right palm gingerly. He made sure that he wouldn't step on her toes and as his eyes flitted up, he found himself staring at he pale , freckled, smiling face and her blue eyes . He forced a smile on to his face trying hard not to appear awkward as the orchestra started playing.