Heir and Pride

Chapter Forty-Nine

Forty-Nine:

"I believe this is mine," Hiccup said in a stern voice as he clutched Astrid to him, wrapped in his cloak. His stomach was fluttering with anxiety, with a whole crowd of Chiefs and would-be slave-owners who had assembled to buy his friend. The fact that he was sitting on a dragon in a dragon-killing arena wasn't doing much for his nerves either. But he could feel Astrid trembling, her bruised face down and body pressed against him and the trust that implied gave him strength. Stoick stepped forward half a pace.

"Hiccup..." he growled and Alvin gaped.

"This is yer son?" he scoffed. "The Dragon Master? This...runt?"

"Thank you for summing that up," Hiccup said sarcastically. "Yes, I am Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, son of Stoick the Vast and the one who ended the Red Death and the war with the dragons!" There were murmurs and heads leaning close to one another, muttering shock and dismay. "And yes, this is a dragon."

"Son...you can stop all this nonsense now and come home," Stoick forced himself to say, but his eyes were cold and hard. Hiccup stared up at him and his eyebrow quirked.

"Really, Dad? You expect me to fall for that one?" he said in a disappointed voice. "You had your chance...and you locked me up, beat me up and reduced me from the person who defeated the Red Death to...nothing. I'm not falling for that one again!"

"I am your father and your Chief and I command you to return!" Stoick roared. Hiccup raised his chin.

"No." The word was even but Hiccup knew his hands were trembling: he had never planned to see Stoick again. "You can keep both of those honours..." He paused and his forest green gaze swept over the Hooligan party. "I already see you've handed my birthright back to Snotlout. And I see that despite what he did to both Astrid and I, he is freed...while you pursue us like traitors!"

"You are traitors!" Spitelout shouted. Toothless growled and Hiccup angled his head, seeing Alvin inching closer.

"Stormfly!" he snapped and a volley of spines landed inches from Alvin's feet. The big Outcast leader leapt back.

"'Ere...no need ter be 'asty!" Alvin snapped.

"No need to try to flank me, Al," Hiccup told him sarcastically. "Keep your distance! Dragons have excellent sight, hearing...and sense of smell!" His nose wrinkled-even from this distance, Hiccup could tell Alvin was a complete stranger to soap. The Outcast leader gave an ugly scowl but the boy turned his glare back to the prospective buyers. "I am no traitor-because that implies I have acted against my Chief or given Tribe secrets away to those who mean us harm! But my only crime was to want to continue to ride my dragon, work in the forge...and be treated like any other member of the Tribe!"

"But you're not...and you did betray us!" Snotlout sneered. "Dagur told us you helped him train dragons..." Hiccup glared at him.

"You almost killed me, you tried to rape Astrid...and you are here, free," he replied, his voice shaking with anger. "If I were a normal member of the Tribe, you would be exiled or executed for attempted murder! But here you are free, standing by the Chief speaking of things you know nothing about...as usual!" He glared at Snotlout. "I was captured by Dagur as he attacked an unarmed Peacable Island, Snori and slaughtered the entire Tribe! He tortured me and my dragon to help him...and I was forced to train some dragons...which I freed when Astrid rescued me. I never shared any Tribe secrets with anyone."

There were more murmurs now and a number of other other Chief stared at the Berserker leader with enormous suspicion. No one wanted to hear that the Berserkers were on the warpath once more: no one ultimately won when facing Berserkers. Dagur gave a false laugh.