~~ A/N: I can't believe it's been over a year since I updated... I'm so sorry to the people who actually still want to read this story.~~

"Astrid--," Merida started and took a step forward.

"Save it," Astrid demanded.

She raised her hand and looked away. Merida bit her lip and took a step back. Hiccup squeezed her hand and gently pulled her back.

"Let's go ahead into the dining hall," Hiccup suggested.

Merida quickly glanced at Astrid before turning to him and nodding.

"I ordered some people to help the injured, and asked all the Lords and Rulers to gather. I tried to explain a bit of what happened, but not every representative was present," Merida told him. "My parents weren't at least, so they'll want an explanation as well." 

The two walked back to the dining hall leaving Astrid and Ryan at the stairs. Astrid took a deep breath and sighed to compose herself. Young MacIntosh hesitated to place a hand on Astrid's shoulder. His fingers had barely grazed her dress's shoulder armor before he quickly retracted his hand in surprise when she turned her head to look at him. His eyes grew wide, and his mouth stood slightly agape not knowing what to say.

"You've probably already pieced together what happened," Astrid told him in an almost annoyed tone.

"Umm, I-" his voice cracked in the middle of his replied, "*Cough* Should we get going?" He asked and led the way.

Astrid furrowed her eyebrows. She had expected him to gasp in surprise and ask some questions. She didn't expect him to make a big show of asking, but she at least thought he would try to console her. She would have punched him if he tried to give her any pity, obviously, but it would have still been nice if he had acknowledged the situation. He obviously needed some help in knowing how to console people. She furrowed her eyebrows slightly as she followed him down the stairs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The situation in the dining hall wasn't any less tense than the one near the stairs.

"Hiccup?" Valka whispered as she saw her son and Merida come in together.

Her eyes quickly flashed between their intertwined hands and their sheepish faces. Everyone else seemed to notice, but the pair continued their trek toward her. There was a certain word that came across everyone's minds who knew of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe's Chief's relationship status prior to that day. A word that would surely harm the Princess's reputation sooner or later.

The young lords and ladies were still gathered together when they saw the Merida and Hiccup walk in together.

"Are the Princess and Hiccup holding hands?" Kirsteen asked.

"Aye, I think this just got a lot more interesting," Catriona replied.

"This is great! Now there's no way the rest won't come back," Iseabail replied, excitement bubbling in her voice. "And our parents won't be able to oppose us being with them!"

She noticed a few smirks and quickly added, "As friends! We can be friends with them... and not be scolded."

"Bit they were also freens wi his finacee," Young MacGuffin added.

"That's true, they might not want to come back out of loyalty for General Hofferson," Aileas told the rest of the group.

"Honestly, Iseabail, it's as if ye don't know Da. He'll never accept us being friends with them," Catriona slightly scolded her sister.

"Or anything more for that matter," Wee DingWall added.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. My Da tried to marry me off to Tuffnut today," Aileas told the rest of the group.

"That's right!" Iseabail exclaimed. "How did ye get that to happen anyway?"

Aileas's cheeks burned red. She covered her face with one hand and avoided eye-contact with everyone else.

"I don't want to talk about it. I'll just say Tuff only did it to preserve my image," Aileas told the rest in embarrassment. "Personally, I don't want them to come back."

"How can ye say that? Yer betrothed left with them," Katriona asked her.

"Exactly, it's best for both of us if he does not come back. My Da will make him suffer if he does," Aileas replied.

"Why would yer father harm yer betrothed?" Wee DingWall asked.

"Not harm. Make him suffer. Marrying me would certainly make Tuff suffer. From what I've seen he is a free spirit that likes to pull pranks and have fun. I'm not a good match for him," Aileas told everyone else.

"The Vikings are quite different from us, aren't they?" Kirsteen asked with a giggle.

"They're emotional," Catriona added, thinking of Snotlout's display of frustration earlier that day.

"They don't care much for authority," Wee DingWall chipped in.

"They're passionate," Iseabail added.

"They really are different from us... aren't they?" Aileas asked echoeing Kirsteen's words.

The group's talk seized as they were all left thinking about "what ifs" and "maybes" .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Mom, where were you?" Hiccup asked as they both got closer to her.

"Merida, what is the meaning of this?" Queen Elinor whispered to her daughter from Valka's left.

"When the fighting broke out Fergus asked me to protect Elinor, Hamish, Harris, and Hubert in the cellar. It was horrible. Where is everyone else? " Valka asked, hesitating with her last word. "Astrid?"

"Ma, a lot of things have happened," Merida replied simply.

"Aye, I think an explanation is in order," Elinor told her daughter.

"Astrid is still here, but everyone else left for Berk. I have to catch up with them, but they shouldn't be far," Hiccup told them.

"We can go now, I'll come with ye," Merida told him, turning away from her mom.

"No, we need to speak with everyone here first, and really explain what happened. The rest can take care of themselves. They should be stopping at the nearest island since it's dark out," Hiccup told her.

Merida nodded and headed for the stage with Hiccup right beside her.

"Are you ready for this?" Hiccup asked her, slightly squeezing her hand.

"Aye," Merida replied, squeezing his hand back and giving him a warm smile.

"Yer bums oot the windae, yer Majesty," Lord MacIntosh scoffed.

"Aye, I know, but I was right about dragons and Mor'du," Fergus reminded him. "Aye?"

"Aye, ye were," Lord MacIntosh admitted begrudgingly.

The rest of the lords had accepted that something strange had happened. Lord MacGuffin agreed that the vikings had to be innocent, mostly because he had already agreed to Tuffnut and Aileas' wedding and one thing the Lord did not do was to go against his word. If he didn't come back it was one thing, but if he did Lord MacGuffin did not want his daughter marrying a branded traitor. Lord MacIntosh on the other hand hadn't been personally involved in anything, so he thought everyone else was lying.

"But ye can't expect me to believe the vikings weren't involved," Lord MacIntosh told them before being interrupted.

"Now that all the Lords and rulers are here, please listen up," Merida called from the stage.

The lords turned, their mouths opened agape once they saw who she was standing beside. Fergus's eyes stayed glued on their interlocked hands.

"We have some explaining to do. To start this off, I want to clarify that what happened here tonight was not due to the vikings. The Hairy Hooligan Tribe even helped defeat the foe who managed to snake his way into our kingdom and cause mayhem," Merida began to explain.

"He was a sorcerer. His magic black sand caused hallucinations and made people be under his control. Everyone who was there during the meeting a few hours ago could see Queen Elinor was not herself, right?" Hiccup added.

"While that may be true, how can you expect us to believe that this all happened the first time monarchs from other lands were asked to come here?" a man, wearing clothing fitting for a royal from England or Norrmannaland (Norway) perhaps, asked from the doorway.

Behind him were many of the other monarchs with their guards and people. The man walked closer to the two, with the rest following behind him.

"King Olaf II of Norrmannaland, know that we are humbled by your presence. Please, let my daughter speak and prove to ye that we want nothing more than to make this right," Queen Elinor intervened.

"King Olaf, I promise ye if we wanted to kill ye or any of the other monarchs and nobles present here, we could have done so already," Merida told him.

"Not if you want it to look like an accident," King Olaf replied.

"Why would we need it to look like an accident? With all the ruling monarchs here, and no way to send a message home to give a warning, attacking your homes would be easy," Merida told him.

King Olaf, along with all the other monarchs behind him, gasped and looked at all the clansmen surrounding them.

"Merida!" her mother exclaimed.

Merida raised her hand and smiled at her mom to show her it was okay. She walked closer to the edge of the stage where Hiccup held her hand to help her down.

"Is this some sort of threat?" King Olaf asked, placing his arm in front of who Merida presumed to be his wife due to her more elegant clothing.

"King Olaf," Merida stated as she waited for Hiccup to step down before walking closer to the group of visitors, "All we are trying to say is that there's nothing fer ye to worry about. If ye so choose to leave, we will not stop ye. We will actually give you gifts for your journey. We hope ye will accept our humble apologies. May ye be safe in yer journey home and perhaps we can one day reconcile."

Merida bowed down, with Hiccup following her lead. Queen Elinor couldn't help but smile at her daughter's actions as she bowed as well. King Olaf and the rest of the monarchs looked at all the clansmen bowing to them. King Olaf said nothing as he turned with his wife and child, and left the castle. The other monarchs followed as well, until only the Lords and selected representatives from Dunbroch were left.

"Yer Majesty, please stand up," the representative told her. "A Princess should not bow to those of lower class."

"A Princess should swallow her pride and apologize to those they have wronged," Merida replied before straightening up.

The man was silent, ripped between admitting his and the people's feelings or staying loyal to the princess.

"Ye don't trust the vikings, do ye?" Merida asked him.

Hiccup noticed the man's nervous glance toward him so he tried to reassure him, "I promise the dragons are no more dangerous than we are. And we would never want to harm your kingdom or your people."

"In fact, after we tend to the wounded and... count the dead if there are any, we will host a dragon training class to show that they are as harmful as they feel the situation is," Merida told him. "For now, please inform everyone that taxes will not be increasing, the repairs will be bought with the royal reserves."

"Aye, yer majesty," he responded and left.

Merida sighed and put her head on Hiccup's shoulder.

"There's only one good thing that happened today," Merida mumbled.

Hiccup chuckled and wrapped his arms around her and jokingly asked, "Does it make up for everything else?"

Merida lifted her head to look at him and wrapped her arms around him as well.

"Aye, I think it does."