I will save you

Chapter 10: An Explaination

Astrid's POV

"Now that you've all been caught up, you better not breathe a word to Hiccup, or else you'll all be introduced to the sharp end of my axe." I sneered, arms crossed as I watched the three men sitting on the couch beside Ruffnut with narrowed eyes.

Tuffnut and Fishlegs nodded vigorously, completely agreeing to remain silent, whilst Snotlout seemed hesitant. I turned to Snotlout with a sharp glare.

"Snotlout." I spoke calmly, but with a dangerous tone. He glanced up and was immediately taken aback by the look I was giving him before he too agreed to my terms.

"Now that we've all come to agreement, I'll leave you be. See you later, Ruff." I shot them a brilliant smile as I waved goodbye to Ruffnut and stepped out the door.

It didn't take me long to get back to my own house, but for some strange reason it took me a minute to actually go inside. I stopped outside the door, staring at the wood as if I expected the door to open by itself. My stomach twisted and turned into a knot as I opened the door. Was I nervous to see Hiccup?

The door slowly creaked opened as I peeked inside, where I found Hiccup sitting right where I had left him, Toothless' head still in his lap as he was reading through a letter that had not been there when I last saw him.

"Hi." I spoke softly as I slipped inside and closed the door silently behind me before leaning against the doorframe.

"You're back sooner than expected. Did Ruffnut try to force a salt encrusted sea bass down your throat?" Hiccup asked, not even bothering to look up from his letter as he ran his hand over Toothless head.

At the mention of salt encrusted sea bass, I felt my mouth watering for the disgusting dish. Gods, what was up with the baby's taste in food? "No, no salt encrusted sea bass, I just felt like coming back home."

"Alright." Hiccup paused for a second before putting the letter down. "I'm going away tomorrow."

I blinked in disbelief, my eyes watering slightly at the thought of my husband leaving me once again. Frigga, how I hated being pregnant. "What?"

Hiccup slowly rose from the chair, earning a groan from Toothless, before moving over to lean against the edge of the table, crossing his arms in the process. "It's about the alliance, they wanted us all to meet up again to discuss it even further and maybe get started on it already."

"Oh." I sighed, feeling my shoulders slump as I wrapped my arms around myself.

"Astrid, I'm so sorry. I know that I've been busy these past weeks, but I promise I'll make it up to you, alright?" Hiccup said as he made his way over to me and took hold of my arms.

I nodded, my eyes watering once again as I felt my stomach twisting uncomfortably. "It's alright. It's just ... I just hate seeing you go."

Hiccup furrowed his brows as he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close. "I'm so sorry, babe, I'll make it up to you, I swear."

I sniffled as I clung onto him for dear life. "You better."

***

I let go of Hiccup and watched as he mounted his dragon. "Be safe, Hiccup, please. No crashing into sea stacks or anything of the sort."

Hiccup chuckled as he put on his helmet and fastened his prosthetic to the pedal that controlled Toothless' tail fin. "I'll try my best, babe."

"You're starting to get a little too old to risk your life every time you're out flying, you don't just have yourself and Toothless to think about anymore, you know?" I informed him, crossing my arms over my chest as I prayed internally to every god that he was too oblivious to understand that I was in fact referring to the baby I was carrying, which I had yet to tell him about.

"Since when did you begin getting this concerned about me flying? Are you sure you're alright, Astrid?" Hiccup furrowed his brows as he studied me, clearly trying to find some sort of clue to what I was hiding.

I playfully rolled my eyes, hoping to throw him off my scent as I flashed him a smile. "Since I too started getting old. Now you better get your slow butt out of here before they start the meeting without you!"

Hiccup chuckled, clearly having taken the bait as he grabbed onto Toothless' saddle. "Very well then, bye Astrid!"

I waved at the duo as they flew away, an unsettling feeling stewing in my stomach as I felt myself growing more and more guilty for keeping Hiccup in the dark about the pregnancy.

"Astrid!" I perked up at the sound of my name and turned to find the one who had been asking for my attention. Hobbling up the steps leading to my house was Gobber, who looked like he had just finished running a mile.

"What's happening, Gobber? It's not normal of you to come running." I asked him, brows furrowed in concern as I awaited his answer.

"The docks! There's someone at the docks demanding to meet with 'the person in charge'." Gobber panted, hands on his knees as he shook his head.

"Fine, to the docks I'll go." I sighed as I walked in the direction of the docks, the prospect of meeting another snotty trader trying to trade goods with Berk not sounding very appealing at the moment.

But it was as I made my way down the last steps of the stairs down to the docks that I realized I wasn't dealing with a snotty trader for once, but someone else. It wasn't very hard to guess who had wanted to speak with me, seeing as most of the other people on the docks were villagers I had met before and the person that had demanded to speak with me certainly wasn't one of them.

"Are you the one who has been requesting to speak with the person in charge of Berk?" I asked the tall, rather toned, grayish-haired man before me as his gaze traveled across the length of the island.

"Yes, that is me. I presume you are the one in charge?" He flashed a bright white smile at me as his dark blue eyes glittered in the afternoon sun. I nodded and was soon offered the hand of the young mystery man in front of me.

"Sigurd Jansson, but you can call me Sig." I shook his hand and shot him a small, polite smile in return.

"Astrid Haddock, chieftess of Berk and wife of Hiccup Haddock." I made sure to add the bit about Hiccup, just to make it clear to him that I was far from available.

"What a lovely name you have." Sig smiled as he tucked a strand of his long hair behind his ear.

"What is your business on Berk, Sig?" I asked him, not even bothering to begin with any sort of small talk.

Sig pulled out a piece of parchment from his pocket and handed it to me. I quickly scanned over the contents of the note before handing it back to him.

"So you're here because of the alliance?" I asked, still not feeling like I could trust him entirely. Sig nodded as he placed his hands on his hips.

"Yes, My father would've liked to come see what our potential ally has to offer for himself, but he is too busy meeting with your husband and the other allies to come here, which is why he sent me." Sig smiled, yet again.

"Well, I suppose I should give you a small tour of Berk then, if you'd like?" I suggested in a much more relaxed tone than before, as I had realized I wouldn't be rid of him as soon as I would've liked.

Sig's smile widened as he stepped up beside me. "I would love to."