Dark Valkyrie

Thirty Two: His Valkyrie

A/N: Contains lemon (after the feast). You have been warned!

Thirty Two: His Valkyrie.

The flight back to Berk was much more relaxing than the tense flight into the unknown on the way to Knobbly Butt. Snotlout was haranguing the twins about how come they attended Hiccup's wedding when he hadn't been invited-and Ruff and Tuff were glorying in baiting him. Heather and Fishlegs were pressing Astrid for details while Hiccup flew alone at the front of the phalanx, lost in his thoughts. The wind was cold in his face and Toothless was flapping along faithfully under him but inside, he was in turmoil. He really couldn't believe that he had said what he had to those Chiefs, to men who commanded hundreds and hundreds of men at arms and who were nominally allies of Berk...though much more nominally now, he guessed.

"Son," Stoick called, pulling Skullcrusher alongside the Night Fury. Blinking, Hiccup looked up and his shoulders slumped. Stoick had said almost nothing during the Trial and very little during the brief trip back to their lodgings to collect their possessions and dragons and thank Mala, Throk and Atali and dragons before a hasty exit. Alvin was travelling home by ship as was Bertha but Heather and Dagur were flying back to Berk because the Berserker siblings wanted to celebrate Hiccup's wedding a little more properly when he got home. And the young Viking guessed his father would be less than pleased at his performance.

"Hi, Dad," he said, forcing his voice to be cheerful. "We're making good time. And the weather looks set fair for the flight..."

"That's good news," Stoick said gruffly, staring carefully ahead. "Are you warm enough?" Hiccup nodded, wondering when his father would get to the point and tell him off for basically alienating half their allies.

"My leather tunic is pretty warm and the undershirt is actually pretty thick wool," he admitted. "Astrid made sure I was properly wrapped up..." He couldn't help the small smile that lifted his lips and Stoick harrumphed as he finally looked over at his son.

"You really love that lass, don't you?" he said in a softer voice. Nodding automatically, Hiccup snatched a glance over his shoulder to see Astrid describing something large to Heather and the Berserker nodded with a wide grin.

"With everything I have," he said evenly. "Toothless as well. Of course."

"I loved your mother the same, I think," Stoick said softly. "The moment I set eyes on her, I knew she was the one for me, that I would marry her. And obviously, I was a fair bit older than her, but I was lucky that she saw through my idiotic macho Viking front and realised I wasn't a total muttonhead...though I apparently did my best to convince that I was one..." Hiccup chuckled.

"I see messing up with women is a Haddock family trait," he admitted. Stoick drifted closer.

"I'm not sure you made any friends in there," he told his son as Hiccup tensed.

"I know-and I'm sorry, Dad-but in the end, I had to protect my own."

"The way you put them down, the way you terrorised those Chiefs, all of them proven in battle and vicious as they come...well, that wasn't the son I raised," Stoick commented. Hiccup took a shuddering breath.

"I'm sorry," he repeated. "But they wanted to execute her-I saw it in their eyes. Only a death would have satisfied their desire to remind us that dragons couldn't be allowed to be used as weapons-of defence or attack."

"I think you are right," Stoick commented thoughtfully. "Not very subtle, are they?"

"Not at all," Hiccup said. "But they were hypocrites, breaking the Treaty to deal in dragon auctions while protesting that Astrid violated an agreement-which she didn't."