Bond of Two Lands

23. The Future Of Your Choice

"What in the name of Odin are you guys doing here?"

Hiccup glared at the three Vikings, two of which were still grinning. He'd requested through the window to meet them outside the gates, where the castle guards couldn't overhear them quite as good. Now, they could only barely see each other in the dark.

"I'm sorry, Hiccup", Fishlegs whimpered. "We heard the news and thought that something might be wrong."

"And Ruff's here to strangle you", Tuffnut added.

The Haddock sighed, glancing around himself. "You were very fortunate to hit my window and no one else's. You know that, right?" Fishlegs nodded most eagerly. "Alright. You can come, as long as you keep a low profile. And no strangling, please."

Ruffnut's eyes narrowed. "What about Astrid?"

"What about Astrid?"

"Oh, stop playing innocent, H! She must be devastated."

Hiccup scratched his neck. "She's not happy", he admitted. "But we'll have to talk about this later. Come with me to my room until we figure out how to tell my father and King Fergus about this..."

~~~~~

In another part of the castle, two girls were having a mild argument in a room with a torn bed.

"Sorry, Astrid, but yer' not the one being forced into marriage here. I can still not believe that mi dad would make me go though with this. Not after the lords' sons..." She shuddered while packing some pieces of bread in a bag. Sometimes having kleptomaniacs for brothers actually was a perk.

The blonde watched from afar, her arms crossed and a concerned look written across her face. "This isn't right, Merida. It'll only make things worse. We need a plan."

"I have a plan", the princess said, gesturing at her preparations.

"Elopement is an act of desperation, not a plan."

"It's mi only choice nevertheless. He seems like a nice person and all, but the entire concept is absurd. Marry someone one doesn't even know." Merida shook her curly head. "Ya know, I think that ya would make a better princess than me."

Astrid raised an eyebrow. "Do you really think that I would marry from duty?"

"Yes", Merida said after a while's thought, "if ya absolutely had to. I guess ya are similar to Hiccup in that way."

The Viking went up close to the Scot, gently grabbing her hands. "Please don't leave me here. I need you. We need you. Stoik won't start a war, but Odin knows what will happen if Berk doesn't get those troops." She looked into the other's eyes, blue as her own. "Please. It's all we have."

Judging from Merida's facial expression in that moment, it was obvious that she was close to swaying for her friend's sake. The pair had grown surprisingly close during their short acquaintance. But, as many knows, sometimes a mere week of friendship can prove stronger then one which has lasted a decade. Yet, her urge for freedom could overcome almost anything.

She loosened her hands from Astrid's. "Forgive me", she whispered.

~~~~~

The Queen of Dun Broch was relieved to find that her daughter seemed to be sleeping in this morning. She had a sneaking feeling that it was for the best not only for her own family, but for each and every inhabitant of the castle. Besides, she knew that the day would bring necessary ceremonies regarding the wedding which her daughter so dreaded. Elinore was herself stuck between two opinions in the matter - her husband's (which also was her previous self's) and Merida's. The knowledge of how splendidly her own match had worked out gave her hope that maybe, maybe, Merida could be happy with the Heir of Berk. But yet she despised the way her future son-in-law had acted upon the matter, though. There was not a doubt in her mind about his lack of knowledge of his father's plans, but he hadn't handled things properly since everything settled. He hadn't even courted his future wife.

And now she had to go through with greeting him into the family. Of course he was already part of it, like so many other princess's fiancés. Marrying second or even first cousins was almost praxis for the royals of Dun Broch.

They met outside the kitchen before breakfast, as scheduled the day before. Hiccup seemed absentminded and jittery, as if something was chasing after them. Elinore, however, decided to look past this and lead him to their goal while making polite conversation.

"Here it is", she said, showing a wooden door several corridors away from the kitchen. "Please enter." She heard him gasp while she closed the door, and smiled to herself. Maybe this would take his mind of the things that bothered him, cold feet or not.

"This is... what is this place?" he asked.

Elinore gazed at the tapestries which hung all the way from the floor to the ceiling and had motives brighter than the bay outside. "This is the List of Kings", she said. "Kings of the past, kings of our history. Every single one of them are here."

Hiccup touched one of the delicious tapestries with the softest of hands. What about queens?"

"None. The only time we got even remotely close to having one is depicted here." She gestured towards an image from early on in the list, where a huge dragon in bright red hovered over a small child surrounded by trees. "The lass got lost in the woods and was attacked by a Monstrous Nightmare. The trauma made her go insane, the wee lamb. All her life she would go on about how the monster had saved her rather than vice versa... her descendants got their rightful thrown after some generations, though. The new King was a good man who united the kingdom once again. His children were actually the four brothers from the tale we told you at dinner the other night. Yer father and mi husband are descendants of the lass' too." She examined his face, and then walked straight up to him. "Ya don't really want to King, do ya?"

"Oh. I mean, Merida is great and all and I'm sure that it will be a wonderful union for both of our lands..."

"That wasn't the question, dear."

He stopped stuttering out half words and sighed. "I know. I'm so sorry. I only want what's best for Berk - and for Dun Broch, of course. I'm sorry that this is the only way I can think of, but to be frank, just becoming Chief eventually is stressful enough. Your daughter would make a far better Queen than I could ever be King."

Elinore nodded slowly. "I didn't want to be Queen either, ya know. I wanted to be free and live mi life at sea. But everything turned out fine the way it happened for me. Surely, it will solve itself in yer case too. Maybe not in the same way, but in yer way." She smiled faintly. "Yer and Merida's. And if not, and ya both decide to go through with this, I wouldn't mind having ya for a son-in-law, lad. It would have warmed yer mother's heart too."

"Did you know my mother well?"

"Well enough. She was a strong one. Courageous. Kind. But most of all, loving. She always sought a way to forgive even when there was none." Elinore turned, burned by gloomy memories, towards the List of Kings. "She was what I would have hoped Merida would be as Queen."

A decision was forged in Hiccup's heart as he heard this. "She will be", was all he responded.

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Fish-out-of-Water-5