How To Train Your Princess

Dust Coated Hearts

After breakfast, I was banned from entering the classroom. "Not today, Miss Astrid. You received strike two yesterday. That means you receive your punishment today," Phlegma tells me, standing in the doorway, her large body preventing anyone from going in or out.

"Great. More poop duty," I complain, mostly to myself.

"Oh, no no no. Today, you will be cleaning every room upstairs. The prince had said the other day how dusty it was up there. So, I thought this the perfect opportunity for it to get a proper cleaning." She hands me a broom, a dust pan, a bucket with soap and water, an old brush and an empty flour sack. "Now get going."

She shuts the door in my face and I let out a defeated sigh, turning around and lugging my stuff in the direction of the stairs. Several servants look up, giving me apologetic smiles. "Just great. I'm gonna breathe in so much dust, I'll still be sneezing when I'm thirty," I groan to myself. I have to resituate my supplies in order to drag them up the stairs without dropping anything. The steps themselves, are oddly clean, but as soon as I reach the top, I am staring out at a sea of grey. "Perfect. Just perfect. This is going to take me until the day of the ball." I drop my supplies at my feet and slump my shoulders. I sigh, grabbing the broom and begin sweeping the main hallway.

It's tedious work, but I fall into a routine to get it done as efficiently as possible. First, I dust the walls, wash them with the sponge, and sweep the floor, piling everything onto the dust pan and pouring it into the flour sack. Most of the rooms are completely empty, but I go over any objects with the sponge when there is something.

By the time I'm on my fifth hallway, cleaning the fourth room, I hear someone shouting my name. "Astrid! I brought you food!" It's Ruffnut.

"I'm in here, Ruff!" I call out to her. I ring out the sponge and am wiping the sweat off of my forehead with my arm, when she comes in.

"Gods, it's dusty up here," she says, staring at the floor. She crinkles her nose suddenly and lets out a sneeze over her shoulder, nearly dropping the tray with my food on it.

"Yeah," I say, taking it from her, not wanting to chance the food getting anymore contaminated. I sit down on the ground, not caring about getting dust on me, already completely covered in it.

"I talked Phlegma into allowing me to bring you that. You're welcome," she hints.

"Thank you," I say. "What did you learn this morning?" I ask, biting into a warm roll, drizzled with sweet honey.

"We practiced balance with the books on our heads again. But you're already good at that. I'll let you know what we do this afternoon, during dinner," she says, looking around the room. "I wonder why they have so many empty rooms. How much more do you have to do?" she asks.

"The rest of this room, the other six rooms in this hall, and then I still have eight more hallways with ten rooms each." I had gone down every hall and opened all the doors, so I couldn't get lost-- plus it's light out, so it's easier to see --and would know how much work there was. "It'll take me the rest of the day," I say. "You'll be in bed by the time I'm done." She nods and leaves the room. When I'm done eating, I get back to work. I'm glad for Ruff bringing me the meal, because I needed the energy boost.

By mid day, I am completely finished with every hall and room to the right side that splits off from the main hallway. That's six halls and sixty rooms. Good gods. Luckily, there are only six more halls and sixty more rooms left. Yay. Note the sarcasm and enthusiasm.  At least I already did the main hall when I first started.

When I reach the third hallway of the left side, my fingers are completely black, I'm sweating like a pig and my clothes-- and most likely my face too-- look like I've been working in a blacksmith stall since dawn. I drag my stuff behind me, turning into the hallway. I stop in my tracks when I look up, instantly noticing that one of the doors is closed. I furrow my brows in confusion. "I know I opened every single door." I set the supplies down, except the broom. I grip the handle, cautiously stepping forward. Once I'm in front of the door, I use the tip of the broom handle, tapping it on the door, knocking.

"Who is it?" a hoarse and pained voice asks from the other side. I instantly relax, knowing it's the prince. This must be the room I stumbled upon the other night.

"House keeping!" I answer. He's been crying again, so I'm trying to cheer him up, thinking we are friends now, since we shared our problems with each other. I hear him breath a laugh, realizing it's me. "Thanks for giving Phlegma punishment ideas, by the way," I add, teasingly.

"Sorry about that," he croaks out. "I just thought, incase you came back, it would be clean by then. I didn't know you would be the one having to do it," he admits. I suck in a breath, surprised, wishing I could take back the comment. He was expecting me to come back? I find myself smiling and blushing, touching my filthy fingertips to my lips.

"Want me to come in so I can clean your hiding place then?" I ask, putting my hand on the knob.

"No," he says quickly. "I'll- I'll do it." I pull my hand back, my blush gone.

"Well, I guess I'll get back to work on the other rooms then," I say, drawing away from the door.

I have a hard time focussing as I clean the rest of the rooms and halls, thinking about the prince. He must be really stressed out, with the ball approaching so quickly, and then throw in his own personal conflict he's fighting within himself. I wish there was something I could do to help ease his mind, but I'm just a simple minded girl from the Lower Vally. What do I know about fixing a prince's troubles? And I begin to wonder why he didn't want me to come in. Was he embarrassed for me to see him crying? Is he hiding something in there? Or is it more than that? Something else to it. I shake all thoughts from my aching head.

By the time I'm completely finished cleaning, I am completely exhausted. I wipe my face and pick up my supplies, heading for the stairs. I change my mind when I'm near the hall the prince is hiding in. It's already dark and dinner is over, so I don't see any harm in it. I trudge down the hall, lugging everything in my wake. I drop my stuff, plopping down on the floor, and leaning my head and back against the door, staring at the opposite door across the hall. I resituate the "new" wraps on my hands that Hiccup had left for me when I woke up this morning. They had been clean until about late morning, from working. I'd do anything for some clean ones right now, and some cool, drinking water. My hands are burning, even having them wrapped up. I guess from having to bend them in order to hold the broom and bucket and brush. My palms are stiff and sensitive , so I take turns pressing on them with the opposite set of fingers.

"I tore up my palms yesterday, and I'm hoping they heal soon so that it doesn't hurt when I have to write and ride and so on," I say. There's no response, but I know he's still in there. "My friend wrapped them in gauze to help protect them. I kinda thought it was ridiculous at first, but I'm so grateful for them now. I don't know what I would have done today if they weren't wrapped. And Phlegma even knows my hands are messed up, yet my punishment is being forced to use them continuously. I think that is pure evil. I'm just glad she allowed me to wear the wraps. My friend that wrapped my hands, left me some new ones on the small table beside my bed. I don't know when they got there, but there they were when I woke up. Like they belonged there. Had always been there." I was rambling and I knew it, but I had heard him crawl over to me about halfway, and he was leaned against the door behind me. That was the only thing between us. I was just talking, so he knew I was there; to take away some of the loneliness, since he wouldn't let me in.

"I'm probably being silly, but I'm really hoping there's more when I return to my room, because these are almost completely black.... I've never been in love before, but... I think this is love. Between my friend and I. There's always this jolt I feel in my chest when I'm with him. It's like my heart is being started for the first time, like for all my life before, i was dead and he has finally brought me to life." I find myself smiling, but I wipe it off, returning to reality again. "But, I'm here to meet you. And, I was supposed to tell him goodbye." The tears stream down my cheeks, and it reflects in my voice when I speak, it wavering as the words come out. "So, I guess we are both kinda in the same boat. You're in love, but here to meet me and the others. I'm in love, but here to meet you...," and we are both crying in the dark. I don't know all the reasons for our combined tears, but I know they are from deep with in our hearts. A thin, wooden door, the only thing keeping us from comforting each other.... But there are clean wraps on my nightstand when I return to my room.