Finding you

Chapter 24: The Welcoming Feast

Astrid's POV

I tapped the edge of the table nervously with my fingertips. All the food had been laid out across the tables, steaming as the mouths of the many Vikings that were in the middle of entering the Great Hall, watered. We had spent all day preparing for the feast and many had volunteered to help with the cooking, but for some reason no one wanted my help with preparing any food.

I glanced over at my teenage daughter, who was sitting casually in her chair, arms crossed as she bobbed her head back and forth and hummed a tune I recognized from my own youth. She eventually noticed me staring and shot me a big smile, she was just as excited to see her father again as I was.

My lip twitched in a smile as I watched the last Vikings enter, the giant doors of the Great Hall closing after them as they found their seats and began chatting with their fellow Vikings.

"When do you think he'll be here?" Zephyr asked, momentarily pausing her humming as her gaze wandered across the busy hall.

I shook my head as I shrugged ever so slightly. "I-I don't know. I'm hoping it'll be any minute though, seeing as he told us he wouldn't be too late."

Zephyr nodded in agreement. "Alright, I suppose we wait then."

"That, we do."

The next hour was spent conversing with friends and acquaintances as we all patiently waited for the Chief to burst in on his night fury and get the whole feast started. But the longer the waiting went on, the more growling stomachs I heard, which was followed by an increasing amount of arguments that spread like wildfire across the hall.

"Astrid, I think it's best we just start off without Hiccup." Gobber suggested and I raised a doubtful brow at him.

"But what if he's not too far away? It won't be much of a welcoming feast if there isn't any feast left!" I pointed out to the one-handed, one-legged Viking.

Gobber nodded in the direction of a table by the corner of the hall, were a simple argument seemed to be seconds away from turning into a full-blown brawl. "Ye might be willing to wait for Hiccup to come, but the rest of the village are getting more and more impatient and if we don't feed 'em soon, both their dinner and the atmosphere will be freezing cold."

I weighed Gobber's words, processing and chewing on them before I finally gave in with a deep sigh. "Fine."

Gobber shot me an encouraging smile as I stood from my seat, almost immediately gaining the attention of the entire hall. "I see that this is taking longer than I originally anticipated and seeing as I don't want your food to get cold, I suggest we start the feast in advance. Eat up, Berkians!"

I barely had the chance to finish my last sentence before chatter once again broke loose and filled the hall, only this time with the rhythmic background noise of cluttering utensils and the slobbery sound of people filling their plates with everything from stew to cabbage.

I sat back down in my seat with a sigh, casting a lazy glance down my own table as I watched mine and Hiccup's closest friends fill their plates and nearly inhale their dinner. They all seemed so much hungrier than I had imagined them to be.

Then, I felt a stare —or rather a glare— burn into the back of my skull. Already feeling completely defeated for having to start Hiccup's feast without Hiccup, I turned to my daughter, who just so happened to be glaring daggers at me. "Mom! We were supposed to wait for dad!"

I let out yet another sigh as I rubbed my temples, a sense of weariness washing over me. "I know, but the people were getting both inpatient and hungry, so I really had no other choice."

Zephyr wrapped her arms around her abdomen and let her gaze fall to the table. "I just don't get it, why isn't he here yet? He usually tries to be back by this time."

I placed a hand on my daughter's shoulder as I found myself furrowing my brows, an uneasy feeling flowing through me as I attempted to keep my cool in front of both my daughter and the village. "I don't know, sweetie, but I'm sure he's on his way. Who knows? Maybe he got a bit sidetracked? It wouldn't be the first time he has pulled a stunt like that ..."

A small smile tugged at the corner of Zephyr's lips as she rested her head on my shoulder, clearly not giving a damn about whatever her friends and peers were thinking of her publicly showing affection to her mother. My heart melted in my chest. "Thanks mom, that helped. A little."

I pulled my shoulders up in another slight shrug, affectionately patting Zephyr on her s
back as I gazed down at her. "A little is more than nothing I suppose. Anyway, how about we just begin to eat and if your father comes in the middle of our dinner, we'll just stay until he's finished as well. How does that sound."

Zephyr nodded as she sat up straight. "That sounds good. Yeah, that sounds good."

I beamed at my daughter as I picked up my plate and began serving myself with the delicious food that had been screaming my name ever since I entered the Great Hall. I filled my cup with yak milk once again, clearly not having learnt from my past mistakes involving yak milk and meat. Did I really care at that point? Absolutely not. I was craving that specific combination and that combination was what I was going to get.

Several hours passed and though the people were having a blast feasting with friends and family, the big guest of honor had yet to show. Yet again, the same feeling of uncertainty from before coursed through me, before settling in the pit of my stomach where it unleashed waves of nausea upon me several times throughout the evening.

By the time the waxing crescent moon had made it to the top of the sky, the crowd of the Great Hall was finally thinning out. With a big — and rather scrumptious — meal settled in the belly of nearly every Viking on Berk, people found themselves growing tired and decided to turn in for the evening. By the time the last Viking had left the Great Hall, Hiccup was still a no-show, which weighed heavily on both Zephyr and myself.

"Don't look so gloomy! Maybe Hiccup just wanted to go straight to bed after coming home instead of going to this big ol' feast!" Gobber suggested as he walked both Zephyr and I out, shutting the large double doors behind us. My gaze locked on the house at the bottom of the stairs, my heart aching with the hope of seeing my husband again, sleeping soundly in our bed.

"Maybe Gobber's right? Maybe dad was just a little ... tired after his trip." Zephyr attempted to agree with Gobber, but she knew just as well as I that no mater how tired Hiccup was, he would always put the people first.

Gobber escorted us to our front door, where we were left to fend for ourselves as we desperately hoped and prayed that Gobber was right. My heart was thundering in my chest as I pushed the door open, my imagination painting a picture of Hiccup in his chair by the flaming heart, resting his head atop his knuckles as he softly snored in tact with his night fury.

As the door crept open, the two of us were met by nothing but the cold, unsettling darkness we had left the house in previously that day. Zephyr's shoulders sank. "I was really hoping that Gobber was right."

I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in for a hug. "He'll probably be here soon, sweetie, don't worry about it."

Zephyr nodded in agreement, a somber look on her face before she disappeared up the stairs and into her bedroom. I let out a sigh as I finally let all of my disappointment wash over me, he wasn't there. He was late.

I made my way into our bedroom and slumped down on the bed, watching the ceiling as I wondered where in the name of Thor my husband was.