You Are My Romeo

Chapter 6: The Stranger

~Astrid~

Glittering, emerald green eyes haunted my dreams as I tossed and turned in my bed, unable to get the dragon rider from the night before out of my mind. I had no idea how or why, but somehow that man had infatuated me, both mind and soul, I simply could not stop thinking about him.

Breakfast had been even more quiet than usual, for me at least, seeing as I had tuned out Dagur's little temper tantrum with not only his guards but also his advisors. All day he had been furious about the attack on the fortress the evening before, mumbling something about hiccuping and some dragon riders. Where did the hiccuping come from? I had absolutely no idea.

Fortunately for me, seeing as Dagur was so preoccupied with the aftermath of the attack, I was left to my own machine, meaning I finally had an opportunity to wander around the fortress, which I quickly found not only to be incredibly boring, but also rather confusing. At first, the tapestries depicting the many victories of the Berserker tribe and its armada fascinated me ever so slightly as I made my way down one of the many hallways, but after a good few minutes, I was sick and tired of those horrid tapestries.

I had managed to get lost in the fortress several times, almost bumping into Dagur every now and again as I took a wrong turn or made my way up the wrong flight of stairs. I even managed to find my way down to the dungeons, which I quickly found out was not a place for me.

I had made it back to the main hall by dinner time, which went in a similar way to that of the breakfast that same morning, the only thing that differed was the guests gathered at the table, which consisted of Dagur's advisors, his commanders and some of his top soldiers. Thanks to all of this, I was allowed a peaceful dinner as Dagur was too busy with all of his guests to even spare me a second glance. Hel, he didn't even comment on my outfit!

The rest of my evening was spent leaning over the railing of my balcony, gazing at the sea as my memory of the night before played over and over in my mind. I doubted that I would ever see that man again, but I was sure that I would hang on to that small moment we shared for as long as I lived, that small moment that had somehow meant everything to me.

The sound of hammering against stone caught my attention and I had found my gaze traveling to the courtyard, where a group of carpenters and soldiers were in the midst of moving rubble and slowly repairing the damage that had been done the night before. Scorched and melted stone had been gathered in a heap in a corner of the courtyard, whilst wagons filled with new bricks had been rolled in from the village and was waiting to be used.

My tower had been prioritized in the reconstruction, which was fine by me seeing as I wouldn't have to trip over a pile of roof tiles any time I wished to go in our out anymore. It also allowed me some peace and quiet, seeing as now that I had been taken care of, no one would probably bother me for the next couple of days.

I sat up in bed, tired of reminiscing about my day in an attempt to stop that memory from replaying over and over in my head. I brought my knees up to my chest and rested my chin on top of them, a thousand thoughts running wild in my mind as I desperately tried to reel them in and gather them.

A loud 'thud' suddenly sounded from the top of my roof. I furrowed my brows as I slowly rose from bed, picking up my axe as I found myself glaring up at the wooden beams that kept the roof from caving in. The roof creaked as it seemed that whatever had landed on it was making its way down to my balcony. I steeled myself with determination as I pressed my back against the cold stone wall, slowly making my way over to the double doors leading out to my balcony.