That evening after dinner, Hiccup almost drove himself to the point of paranoia keeping an eye out for things to keep him busy. Magnus wasn't home yet, but he would be soon. Nervously, Hiccup double- and triple-checked to make sure he'd done everything right. Finally, just as he'd decided that all of his chores were finished, he heard the door open. "Boy!" the jailer called.

Hiccup, at the top of the basement stairs, winced. He turned and walked back to the great room, keeping Magnus well in his sight without making direct eye contact.

"How long were you at the blacksmith's today?" the jailer asked. He stood perilously close to where his flail was propped up against the wall.

"Most of the day," Hiccup replied shortly. Unexpectedly, Magnus raised a hand and smacked him. Hiccup took a step back, surprised, his cheek tingling.

"I asked, how long were you at the blacksmith's? Meaning in the building?" Magnus' tone was like a blade.

Confused, Hiccup repeated his answer, heart thumping worriedly. Magnus continued to glare at him, still as a snake ready to strike. "I saw you outside the shop this morning. In the back. There was a girl with you. Who was she?"

Hiccup fought to control his fear, desperate to keep it at bay. Magnus had seen him! He thought he'd been so careful . . . apparently not careful enough. He couldn't get Astrid in trouble, regardless of what Magnus did to him. Lashes to his back were one thing, but to hers—no, he couldn't let that happen. His mind raced, but of no avail. If only Magnus hadn't asked for her name! If he refused now, Magnus would definitely know something was up. Reluctantly, he forced out the words "Astrid Hofferson." To his alarm, Magnus nodded knowingly. Hiccup's mouth went as dry as sandpaper. Of course Magnus knew her. She lived just down the street from them. Panic. Panic. Panic. Panic.

Then an idea struck him, glaringly obvious in its simplicity. "It was her first time ordering a weapon, and she accidentally came around to the back to get it. I was giving it to her when you came up." No less than the truth, but leaving out a few of the more dangerous parts. Such as the fact that it definitely wasn't a mistake that Astrid deliberately came around to the back of the shop. And that he might be inciting a village-wide rebellion just by breathing. Yikes.

"And what was it you two were talking about?" Magnus asked, seemingly speaking to himself. Then his tone grew deadly. "Oh, yes, now I remember. Rebellion." Before Hiccup could respond, a large hand had grabbed him by the throat and flung him across the room. Hiccup hit the floor with a thud, landing the wrong way and causing the nerves in his arm to explode with pain. He scrambled to his hands and knees just as Magnus came up and booted him hard in the ribs. Gasping, Hiccup was forced back down to the floor, barely able to breathe. Magnus reached down and grabbed him by his collar, sneering. "What else did she say, eh? Something about you and her?" Without waiting for an answer, Magnus landed a punch on Hiccup's face. Stunned, he went limp for a moment, and the jailer dropped him.

"Basement. Now," he thought he heard Magnus hiss. His brain whirled, dizzy, trying and failing to figure out what was going on, how to respond. Out of the corner of his vision, though, he saw Magnus pick up the flail. His gaze lifted to Magnus' face for a moment, and in that one second, was hit by the chilling realization that, whatever Magnus planned to do to him downstairs, he wouldn't make it through alive. Magnus was going to kill him to stop the rebellion.

You have to move! Now!

Terrified, Hiccup bolted for the door just as Magnus turned around, lifted his arm and BAM! Hiccup cried out and tumbled down the stairs as his legs gave out. Pain raced across his side, slowing him down. He saw Magnus storm down the stairs after him, flail in hand, his arm already half-raised, ready to strike. Instinct took over. Hiccup pushed himself to his feet, jumped out of Magnus' reach and ran for his life. If he could just reach the woods before he was caught, maybe the darkness would hide him until the jailer gave up and went away. As to what he would do beyond that, he gave no thought. All he knew was that he had to get away from Magnus.

He ran through the village, ducking the swing of the flail and doing his best to keep the forest in sight, using it as a beacon. But Magnus remained close behind him, one arm furiously swinging the flail, and the other reaching forward to grab him.

Panting in as much terror as exertion, Hiccup kept going, as fast as he could, but he was getting tired, his legs filling with lead, dragging him down, and still Magnus kept coming. Suddenly something grabbed him by the hair and yanked him sideways. Hiccup collapsed and, before he could dodge again, Magnus brought the flail down on him with all the force he could muster.

***

Astrid crouched on the floor of her house next to her parents' bed, gently rocking her little sister to sleep in her cradle. There was something calming and hypnotic about the baby's peaceful face, so happy and innocent.

Until she heard the scream.

Astrid whirled around to face the door and then back to the cradle as the sudden noise had woken her sister back up. She tried to whisper soothing things to the wailing infant, but in truth her own heart was beating against her ribcage so hard she thought it might pound itself right out of her chest. She knew the voice. Hiccup, of course. Who else would Magnus bother to go after at this hour? Had he tried to run? He knew the risks of bolting in the face of punishment. The fact that he took that bargain was all kinds of bad to Astrid.

Another scream sounded, and she gripped the side of the cradle hard, forcing herself to not look at where her axe stood in the corner. One glance, and she knew she'd be hurtling out the door to throw it at Magnus. But she couldn't leave the house now: For one thing the sun was down and that meant curfew was being enforced. For another, her mother had come down with something and her father was busy tending her, so they needed her.

But so did Hiccup. She hated hearing him this way. Her father didn't say anything, but she knew how angry it made him, as well. Hiccup was the heir to the throne of Berk, not a slave. Magnus had no right to abuse him like this.

Hiccup shrieked again, stoking her anger, and his voice was so full of pain she couldn't help facing her father again, desperate. "Dad, please . . . " she implored. Her father swallowed hard but shook his head with finality. "No, Astrid. I know it's hard, but I can't risk you getting arrested. I'm sorry, kitten."

"I won't get caught, Dad," Astrid promised. "I know better than that. I'll find a way to distract him."

"How?" her father asked, curious despite his better judgement, but Astrid was already out the back window.

She could clearly hear where Hiccup and Magnus were, close to the Jorgenstons' house. There was a boy who lived there, about her age, named Snotlout. He'd always tried to flirt with Astrid whenever she was near, but she'd never returned the favor. He did care, though, despite his pride and his know-it-all attitude. She felt a stab of sympathy for him now. To have to hear this going on right outside his yard! Outwardly, he'd act like he wasn't bothered, but inwardly he'd be crumbling. Public torture—at least at home—wasn't something Berkians had come across in at least a century, and to suddenly be confronted with it here was shocking, to put it mildly.

Astrid sank down to hide in the weeds. She could see them now, Hiccup laying on his side with his head lowered, Magnus standing over him with his flail, spitting various insults and threats like there was no tomorrow. He swung the flail and Astrid braced herself, heard the thong of metal hitting bone and Hiccup scream in response. Astrid winced on his behalf and decided it was time to put her plan into action. She hurried down the hill as stealthily as she could manage and scooped up a handful of pebbles. A short distance behind her, someone's front door opened and closed without anyone leaving, as if the residents knew what she was up to. Right behind them, Astrid tossed the rocks in her hand, making it sound like someone had left the house for a late-night stroll. It worked. Magnus' head turned toward the sound—toward Astrid—and she crouched lower into the grass, using the shadows for cover. The jailer turned back to Hiccup, snarled something indistinct, and strode away up the bridge, taking the flail with him.

Astrid waited until she was sure he was gone, then skittered down toward Hiccup, kneeling by his side. The poor guy was barely conscious, shaking all over, and understandably quite unwilling to go anywhere.

"He might be back soon, Hiccup," Astrid warned him. "We have to get you to Gothi." The elder was the only person on Berk Magnus was actually scared of; she was their best bet for protection.

"Astrid," Hiccup whispered.

"Shh. Don't try to talk right now," she replied, trying to comfort him, but she could see in his eyes that something was desperately wrong, and it didn't have anything to do with the beating. She pulled him to his feet gently and somehow managed to get through the village and halfway up the mountain before Hiccup stumbled and nearly fell and she realized he was about to pass out. "We're almost there, I promise," she murmured. She coaxed him to the back side of the mountain, where they wouldn't be seen, and there they took a short break. She would have let him rest for longer, but Hiccup seemed determined to drag himself up to Gothi's hut as fast as possible.

***

The elder was waiting for them when they finally reached the top. She ushered the two inside before giving Hiccup a quick, thorough once-over. By now, he'd recovered enough that he could sit up on the side of the bed with little difficulty, but Gothi had him lie down anyway, just to be safe.

"Is it bad?" Astrid asked, and to their relief, Gothi shook her head. Putting her staff to the ground, the old woman wrote out the words she wished to say. His injuries are many, but not that severe. Slight bruising of the ribs. It should take a few days to heal naturally, but I can give him something to speed up the process.

"Which will keep me away from Magnus longer?" Hiccup asked, provoking Gothi into a fierce scowl. I will give you the medicine tonight and let out that I didn't. That will buy you a few extra days, but you will eventually have to return no matter what I do.

"I understand, Gothi," Hiccup replied. "Thanks."

The old woman nodded and shuffled over to the counter. She took something down from the shelves, stirred the contents into water, and poured some into a mug. She passed it to her patient and watched to make sure he downed the medicine. Once satisfied, she went to her chair and sat down. Soon she was snoring.

When Hiccup was sure she was asleep, he turned his attention to Astrid. "He knows," he lamented. Astrid turned to look at him. "Who? About what?" As if she had to ask.

"Magnus. He saw us talking this morning, he heard everything."

"The rebellion?" Astrid whispered, horrified. When Hiccup nodded, her face turned white. "And he knows there's something between us, too. He caught the entire conversation."

Astrid was so overwhelmed that she had to cover her face with her hands for a moment. Then she said, "What are we going to do?" Hiccup's silence was her answer. If he went back to Magnus, chances were high that his life would still be in jeopardy. But now Astrid was in trouble, as well. And not just her, but her family. All because of his carelessness. If they got hurt now it would be his fault, a fact that Magnus would rub in like salt to a wound.

And then . . . and then it came to him, in a vague, glancing kind of way. There was no guarantee it would work, and the amount of groveling required, Hiccup realized, was staggering. But it was their only chance. "Astrid, if I tell you something crazy, will you hear me out?"

"Of course." Astrid hardly blinked at the cautious way he was approaching this. "What is it?"

"I think I'm going to have to go back to Magnus tomorrow morning." This got Astrid's attention. She stared at him, goggle-eyed, struggling to keep her voice down. "For the love of Thor, Hiccup, why? You have a free pass right here in front of you, and you're throwing it away?!"

"I think I know how we can weasel out of this," Hiccup explained, trying to mollify her. "I don't know if he'll take the bait, but I can't stand by while you face the music for a mistake that I made."

"So what exactly is your plan, if I may ask?" Astrid's gaze was slightly harder than usual, and Hiccup could tell she didn't think it such a good idea to leap headfirst into the danger zone so soon.

"We can't go on like we did before. The rebellion, us seeing each other—I'll have to tell Magnus that it'll stop." He hurried on, seeing the look on Astrid's face. "We will, though. We will go on. All I need to do is lull Magnus into a false sense of security and make him think he's won. Once that's happened, we'll find somewhere else to meet. Some place only you and I know about. I know Gobber would let me go for a few minutes—" He never finished the sentence because of the way Astrid was looking at him, and he knew that she knew how far he was willing to go for her safety, how dedicated he was to that one purpose. "Have I said I love you today?" she asked, her intentions crystal clear.

Hiccup grinned. "You just did." He moved to a sitting position and closed his eyes as she pressed her lips to his, trying not to think about tomorrow, to just get lost in the simple, quiet happiness of the moment, and enjoy it.