The Imposter

Chapter 7

A day of fruitless searching left the squires and Spitelout hot, hungry and annoyed. They had scoured the forests around Haakon's Mount all day and found no sign of the Princess-no trail, no spoor...nothing. Halfway through the afternoon, Fishlegs voiced what everyone was thinking:

"There is no trail, no broken branches...nothing. I don't think they came this way,"he said.

"But Lord Eret swore they had headed this direction..." Snotlout protested.

"Dude-don't be stupider than you already are!" Tuff nut snapped.

"He was in on it," his sister added snarkily. "And he's sent us the wrong way."

"Yeah-and we're all disgraced now-because the King won't accept any of us back without the Princess!" Fishlegs emphasised. "So we have to go find her."

"Which means heading back to the site of the ambush-and following the real trail...if it isn't too late!" Thuggory added. Snotlout scowled, wheeling Hookfang round.

"Okay-north it is," he grumbled. "MOVE OUT!"

oOo

Battered and bruised, Hiccup made his way wearily into the kitchen, looking for a quiet place to curl up and regroup. Savage had been angered that he was asked to beat a clumsy kitchen drudge when there was far better sport on offer. So the punishment had been short, brutal and memorable-and the Outcast had been so distracted by his anger that he hadn't realised Hiccup was an outsider and not one of the Outcast establishment....or that he was deemed pretty by the unsettling cook, Reidar.

Said man was stirring the kettles of stew that were bubbling gently at the far end of the kitchen so he missed the tall, lean shape that limped quietly to the shadowy corner at the back, accepting a job paring roots for the main feast. Earl Alvin ate well every day, never stinting the best for himself and his honoured guests-meaning the cooks and kitchen staff were always busy and there were always leftovers to feed the menials. But first, there were vegetables to prepare, meat to roast and bread to bake.

Wincing and shifting his position to make sure he put least pressure on his fresh welts, Hiccup deftly peeled the roots and cubed them as he had been ordered. Over the last three years, he had more experience than he would admit in preparing food as well as every other unskilled task in the castle but at least while he appeared to be busy, he had time to think. Astrid had been taken to the cells-theoretically easier to access but of course, her escape would mean she would be closer guarded. So the tower was out of play but there were more guards to dispose of. And still the knotty problems of getting through the main gate and away.

He sighed and grabbed the next root.

Nullus officium angustus nil negotium difficile est.

No job is too small nor task too difficult: the motto of the Haddocks that his father had insisted he lived by throughout his entire life. Well, this job certainly wasn't small and it was becoming extremely difficult...except he still had the plan in place he had set up as he arrived. He just had to get the Princess away...without getting himself killed in the process.

After the meal was prepared, he hid at the back and scanned the room, searching for any inspiration to get the Princess free...and his emerald gaze fell on the tray that was being prepared for the royal prisoner. Achingly levering himself to his feet, he walked forward.

"I'll take it," he volunteered, offering a shy smile. "A noblewoman needs her sustenance." The busy cook distractedly nodded, motioning for the tall young drudge to complete the tray. After all, it was one fewer job for her to do. So Hiccup glanced at the tray...and recalled the calibre of the guards before giving s little smile and heaping the plate with choice cuts of meat, roasted tubers, spiced legumes and bread with whipped yak butter. The dessert was a light Valkyrie cake with raspberry compote and cream. A flask of wine and another of spiced mead were also readied. Carefully, he spread a linen cloth over the tray and smiled, then carefully left the kitchen for the cells.