How To Train Your Princess

I'm in Trouble

Everyone was changing into night gowns and readying for bed when I made it back into the palace. "Where have you been?" Ruff hollers as soon as I open the door.

"I uh...." I trail off. I had anticipated this question, but obviously failed at coming up with an excuse. I'm just gladI didn't run into Phlegma on the way to my room.

"Come on now, out with it!" she says with her hands placed firmly on her hips. By now, I have caught the attention of Heather and Camicazi.

"Well, um... you see I was cleaning the field and lost track of time." Ruff raises an eyebrow at me, not believing my words in the slightest. I don't know why I'm afraid to tell her. It's not like she's going to go off and tattle on me. We are best friends. I guess, since I've always shared everything with her, I don't feel like anything belongs to just me. And right now, the boys are just mine. I want to hold on to them a little longer even if I never see them again. It will forever be my adventure, like a keep sake. I want to be a little selfish this one time, and keep the polo boys for myself.

"You lost track of time scooping poop?" Ruff questions. 

"No. I brushed Stormfly down and meandered around the horse barn for a while." Which isn't a lie. 

"Well, I brought you this, since you missed dinner." She pulls out an apple from her satchel and tosses it to me. I know she's not gonna let this conversation go completely, though.

"Thanks," I say, catching it and taking a large bite.

"You didn't miss anything, just that we have target practice tomorrow," Heather says. My eyes light up, excitement coursing through my veins.

***

Target practice wasn't what I thought it would be, the next morning. Turns out, it is un-lady-like to fight and blah blah blah. We were practicing with bows and arrows, because the prince's wife has to fire a single arrow through a metal ring and set it a blaze after the wedding. "It's a tradition," Phlegma says, handing out arrows, sliding them into our quivers. "Now, today we will focus on a target before we deal with the ring and bring fire into the mix. I want you to split into groups of four. Help each other out. Thank you."

Automatically, the Upper Valley girls joined together, giggling and snickering over how the Lower Valleys were going to fail. "They have no balance. They wont be able to even hit the target," Ingrid says, nudging Raven's shoulder.

"They should honestly just go home. The prince wont want to even get near their filth," Macy cackles. I catch Dee's smirk as she points at a few struggling Lower Valley girls.

Larkin and Faylinn, I know are hard workers, helping their fathers in the pastures with the sheep and yacks. They did excellent yesterday with the horse riding. I don't understand the Upper Valleys reference to us being poor at everything. Layla rolls her eyes at them, shoving Larkin, Faylinn and Jamie, who's about to cry, over to their target. "I'm so sorry about them," Camicazi tells them as they pass.

"It's alright. Not all of the Upper Valleys are mean," Layla says, smiling at Cami.

I zone in on a line of the Upper Valleys target that is visible just above their heads, where they stand in front of it. I pull an arrow from my quiver, anger boiling inside me. I take aim, and release. It sails over them, piercing the target. They scream in terror, shrieking and cowering on the ground. I smirk at them, the other standing girls staring at me in shock. Ingrid's head shoots up, her eyes sending me daggers.

"What happened over here?!" Phlegma howls, marching over to us. My face falls as I see the gears turning in Ingrid's head.

"Phlegma, you wont believe it!" she wails in a fake pitiful voice. Phlegma of course completely believes it. Ingrid gets to her feet, limping towards me, a perfect long finger pointing at me. I didn't even touch her, much less hurt her enough to cause her to limp. "Astrid tried to kill--"

"We are so sorry Phlegma!" a familiar voice shouts. "That was my fault." My grip loosens on the boe, realizing whose come to my rescue. 

I feel a hand on my shoulder. "Hey, Blondie," Eret says to me. He follows after Hiccup, who had been speaking, Snotlout not far behind.

"I lost my grip on the bow and the arrow flew off that way," Hiccup continues, pointing at the target where the arrow hit. "Astrid wasn't prepared when I let go, so the balance was off.  I'm so sorry girls," he says, looking at the Upper Valleys. He walks over to me, pulling out another arrow from my quiver. he hands me the arrow and places my hands in the correct positions, helping me pull it back and release. The arrow head sticks perfectly in the center of  my groups target in front of me. "that's what's supposed to happen," he tells me. "Now you do the next one yourself." I smile at him, grabbing another arrow and sticking it right beside the one Hiccup helped with. Everyone claps for us--except the Upper Valleys--impressed by our aim.

"That was very nice of you boys, but now you need to leave these young ladies alone. You're not supposed to be over here. Don't make me tell the king you're causing problems," Phlegma warns.

"Alright, Phlegma. We are going now," Hiccup answers.

"Are you stalking me?" I whisper to him. He shrugs, smiling.

"Snotlout heard the other girls pestering some of you. We were gonna come say something, but it looks like you can handle yourself just fine."

"See ya, Blondie," Eret calls to me, waving. I offer one back, watching him and Snotlout shove each other as they hurry away.

"See you later, Astrid," Hiccup says, following them. The girls watch them go, eyes bugging out. Whispers like, "where did they come from?", "who were they?", "was one of them the prince?", or "he was so dreamy" filled the air.

"Alright girls, back to work," Phlegma orders.

"But--" Ingrid croaks out, but no one is listening anymore. I let out a deep breath I hadn't known I had been holding.

***

I received a ton of questioning looks from my friends the rest of the day. The moment the door closed to our room, I was forced to spill. 

"how did they know your name?" Ruff asks first.

"I met them on the field yesterday. I was practicing after I finished cleaning. They are a part of the Berk polo team, so they were there for practice."

Before she could get another word out, I hopped off my bed, my feet making a smacking sound on the wood flooring, and sauntered to the bathroom. I could hear them whispering about the boys through the walls, and a feeling of trouble creeped into my skin, knowing it had something to do with my polo boys.