Noblesse oblige

Part 23

Chapter 23

Astrid was quiet for the ride to the Palace once Ruffnut had fussed over her some more and before finally giving the Jorgensons' permission to transport her. Astrid lay on one of the upholstered benches in the carriage while Snotlout and Camicazi occupied the one opposite to it. She was never so relieved to see notice the carriage entering the palace gates. When the carriage stopped in the front courtyard both Camicazi and Snotlout helped Astrid out. They held onto either side of her and it was then that she noticed the waiting reception.

Her three ladies-in-waiting along with Stormfly, her mother, her former butler Steven, and even the King were all waiting there. Nadia had to actually hold onto Stormfly as the dragon seemed very eager to see her rider again. It would be bad if the Nadder's exuberance ended up reopening Astrid's wound.

"My baby!" Astrid's mother said as she stepped forward to carefully hug her daughter. Astrid hugged her back.

Stormfly was then led forward and Astrid gave the dragon an affectionate scratch while promising to feed her some chicken meat for all the worry she caused. The Nadder let out a happy trull and nuzzled her rider.

"So.... uhm... where is Hiccup?" Astrid asked as she didn't see her fiance. "Is he not cured yet?" Cami had only mentioned that Fishlegs was treating the prince and not that he was cured exactly. Now that she was back she wanted answers.

It was the King who answered as everyone looked rather uncertain. "Hiccup's been cured..... But there were some side effects. But he is here in the vicinity"

"Side effects?" Astrid asked with a raised brow. Just what had that alchemist done to her prince?

"He was rather uncertain if he should greet you or if it would assault your senses to the degree you wouldn't want to see him." Stoick said in a rather diplomatic fashion. Translated it meant that Hiccup was in the area but was lurking because he didn't know how Astrid would take it.

"Has he sprouted a fluffy bunny tail?" Astrid asked with a frown.

"No...." Stoick answered.

"Does he suddenly have cat ears?" She then asked and no one said a word but they were all imagining the prince with these features, Astrid was sure of that.

"Uhm... no..." Stoick answered again while scratching the back of his head. A nervous gesture Hiccup seemed to have picked up.

"Did he turn into a duck?" She then asked with a frown. There really was no telling just what type of side effects love potions or their cures could have but it typically didn't last long. Usually a day or two.

"Uhm... no?" Stoick answered.

Then Astrid took a deep breath and bellowed "HICCUP IF YOUR ARSE ISN'T GETTING CHASED BY THE COOK THEN GET OVER HERE!"

She knew it was unlady-like to shout but she wanted to see her fiance and she was just a tad bit curious as to what side effects the King had been talking about. Just a tad.....

It wasn't long before she saw Hiccup approaching. It was also apparent by the way everyone used their hands to cover their noses and tried not to wretch as to what the side effects actually were. Hiccup stunk. He stunk so much that a dragon dung shoveler would smell pleasant. Heck, Astrid would bet that taking a bath in the sewers was pleasant to this smell. Though she too covered her nose she was still very happy to see Hiccup.

"Milady...." Hiccup uttered and gave a short bow. He still stopped some feet from her and looked uncertain. "It is so good to see you well,"

"Oh stop with the formalities and come over here and kiss me!" Astrid exclaimed.

"You...... aren't turned off by the smell?" Hiccup frowned. "Even Toothless fainted."

"Dragons have better smell than humans anyways," Astrid said with exasperation. "Do you want to kiss me or not? I've missed you,"

"Of course..." Hiccup replied.

"Well what are you waiting for?" Was the last thing Astrid said as Hiccup swooped in, scooped her up and placed a kiss on her lips.

"They are a match made in heaven," Astrid's mother commented. "Any woman that is willing to overlook that smell...... yeah..... They'll be just fine..." the king nodded as well and then suggested that Lady Astrid should get some rest.

Astrid later found out while resting in her rooms that Hiccup smelled like that because Fishlegs' antidote came in the form of a herbal bath. While the love potion might have been airborne the antidote was not. The smell mainly came from the love potion being purged from the system and Fishlegs himself came to assure her that her fiance wouldn't permanently smell like a compost heap.

Astrid also later learned that the Queen had been in a council meeting with the trade ambassadors at the time she arrived as there were some concerns about a possible war with the Southern Isles. As Margarette hadn't been stripped of her royal position before she died it raised several problems. So far the Southern Isles had been silent. She was also to attend the next council meeting along with the King and Queen since these would fall under her future duties as well. For now she recovered in bed and something dawned on her. It was just a random thought really but she asked it anyway.

"What was Dagur's deal with that gnome?" Astrid asked Atali who seemed to know a lot more about the going ons in the castle than her other two ladies-in-waiting. She remembered that hideous garden gnome that Dagur had been crying over when they captured Fishlegs.

"Oh that," Atali said as she thought back. "Yeah, the Queen was pretty angry about it. Apparently someone gave Dagur carte blanche to do with the maze what he wanted for the tea party."

Astrid gulped as she had forgotten about that. Atali went on to tell her that Dagur's idea of an improved maze included pitfalls, a few flamingos, the garden gnomes and a rather suggestive statue in the middle.

"So now the maze is off limits until the whole thing can be renovated again." Her lady-in-waiting mentioned. "Though they may keep the pitfalls. Gobber made quite a sound argument for keeping those." This caused Astrid to raise a brow but she just nodded at the news.

Meanwhile, a grand ship was approaching the Berkian harbour. It flew the Kingdom's flag and Marchioness Stormheart herself stood at the bow of the ship and looked at her home getting steadily closer. She turned around slightly to watch the rather meek woman who seemed gaunter than she should be for a Noble staring at the approaching shore as well. Her orders had been hastily given by the queen but she met the ship carrying the Gronkle and its other passenger more than halfway to the Southern Isles. The winds had been in her favour so they had made quick progress but even she was surprised to see just who she would be transporting.

"You don't need to look so forlorn," She said, trying to sound comforting. It was a surprise indeed to find out who this woman actually was for she didn't look it. Gone were the expensive dresses made of the finest materials, gone were the gems that adorned her, gone was the look of pride she had donned with her former position. The woman was now gaunt, wore commoner's clothing made of rather rough materials and her hair had been unevenly chopped short. Pity was all Marchioness Stormheart could give her.

"How else should I look?" the woman asked, a bit of her spirit coming back after being incarcerated in the damp dungeons of the castle. "I have nothing to live for,"

"Then jump off this ship now," the Marchioness muttered and then turned towards the woman hoping to ignite some spark of her former self. "As a Queen you should be able to bear this burden."

"But I am not a Queen anymore am I?" The woman shot back and then closed her eyes as a sea breeze hit her face. "I am not anything anymore am I?"

"The only one who can decide your self worth is you yourself." Nikora answered and then walked past her. "We will be docking soon. I suggest you prepare yourself. The Berkians have a lot of questions for you."

AN:
Vala: "Why are you stuffing the Porg in your handbag?"
Harry: "I want to see if he fits for bring your Porg to work day,"
Vala: O_O "You know you could use a bigger handbag then right...."
(Porg meeps)