A day of fruitless searching left the squires and Spitelout hot, hungry and annoyed. They had scoured the forests around Haakon's Mount all day and found no sign of the Princess-no trail, no spoor...nothing. Halfway through the afternoon, Fishlegs voiced what everyone was thinking:

"There is no trail, no broken branches...nothing. I don't think they came this way,"he said.

"But Lord Eret swore they had headed this direction..." Snotlout protested.

"Dude-don't be stupider than you already are!" Tuff nut snapped.

"He was in on it," his sister added snarkily. "And he's sent us the wrong way."

"Yeah-and we're all disgraced now-because the King won't accept any of us back without the Princess!" Fishlegs emphasised. "So we have to go find her."

"Which means heading back to the site of the ambush-and following the real trail...if it isn't too late!" Thuggory added. Snotlout scowled, wheeling Hookfang round.

"Okay-north it is," he grumbled. "MOVE OUT!"

oOo

Battered and bruised, Hiccup made his way wearily into the kitchen, looking for a quiet place to curl up and regroup. Savage had been angered that he was asked to beat a clumsy kitchen drudge when there was far better sport on offer. So the punishment had been short, brutal and memorable-and the Outcast had been so distracted by his anger that he hadn't realised Hiccup was an outsider and not one of the Outcast establishment....or that he was deemed pretty by the unsettling cook, Reidar.

Said man was stirring the kettles of stew that were bubbling gently at the far end of the kitchen so he missed the tall, lean shape that limped quietly to the shadowy corner at the back, accepting a job paring roots for the main feast. Earl Alvin ate well every day, never stinting the best for himself and his honoured guests-meaning the cooks and kitchen staff were always busy and there were always leftovers to feed the menials. But first, there were vegetables to prepare, meat to roast and bread to bake.

Wincing and shifting his position to make sure he put least pressure on his fresh welts, Hiccup deftly peeled the roots and cubed them as he had been ordered. Over the last three years, he had more experience than he would admit in preparing food as well as every other unskilled task in the castle but at least while he appeared to be busy, he had time to think. Astrid had been taken to the cells-theoretically easier to access but of course, her escape would mean she would be closer guarded. So the tower was out of play but there were more guards to dispose of. And still the knotty problems of getting through the main gate and away.

He sighed and grabbed the next root.

Nullus officium angustus nil negotium difficile est.

No job is too small nor task too difficult: the motto of the Haddocks that his father had insisted he lived by throughout his entire life. Well, this job certainly wasn't small and it was becoming extremely difficult...except he still had the plan in place he had set up as he arrived. He just had to get the Princess away...without getting himself killed in the process.

After the meal was prepared, he hid at the back and scanned the room, searching for any inspiration to get the Princess free...and his emerald gaze fell on the tray that was being prepared for the royal prisoner. Achingly levering himself to his feet, he walked forward.

"I'll take it," he volunteered, offering a shy smile. "A noblewoman needs her sustenance." The busy cook distractedly nodded, motioning for the tall young drudge to complete the tray. After all, it was one fewer job for her to do. So Hiccup glanced at the tray...and recalled the calibre of the guards before giving s little smile and heaping the plate with choice cuts of meat, roasted tubers, spiced legumes and bread with whipped yak butter. The dessert was a light Valkyrie cake with raspberry compote and cream. A flask of wine and another of spiced mead were also readied. Carefully, he spread a linen cloth over the tray and smiled, then carefully left the kitchen for the cells.

But on the way, he stowed the tray securely and headed for the healer's room., knowing the man was still stuffing his face with roast yak at the staff tables. He had a few moments but his training told him exactly what he needed. Frantically, he shuffled through the stoppered blue bottles until he found the bottle of Thor's salts and Loki flower essence. Both were known to have quite powerful effects and he ducked out of the office, flipping the cover off the feast and liberally sprinkling the salts all over the food while dosing the gravy and drinks with the Loki essence. Cautiously covering it up again, he headed carefully down to the cells, ducking his head and reporting to the small squad of guards who were assigned specifically to watch over the Princess. Hiccup paused by the cell.

"I have this meal for the Princess," he said to the guard, holding the tray steadily. The aromas of cooked meat and spiced legumes wafted up from the tray and the guard's eyes widened. The huge hairy man's eyes fixed on the tray and he flipped the covering up. "Hey!" Hiccup protested.

"Shut yer yap, drudge!" the guard snarled and sniffed the food, salivating at the delicious smells. His big hands closed around the tray. "I'll take this!"

"No!" Hiccup protested, grabbing tight. "This food is for the Princess!" Other guards were coming in response to the aromas-and the shouts and Astrid rose and peered through the bars of her cell, seeing the tall, lean drudge wrestled the tray away from the guard...until one of his friends grabbed the young man and wrenched him away, throwing him back against the wall.

"It's for us now, thrall!" the guard sneered.

"That food is for the Princess!" Hiccup insisted, scrambling up. "It's too good for the likes of you!" Astrid winced as a fist cracked into his face, slamming him back against the wall. Though she wasn't especially bothered by the theft of the food, she was hungry and she was surprised that the skinny drudge was fighting for her-however unsuccessfully. He slid down the wall, his emerald eyes stunned as he slumped from the punch. The guard followed up with a handful of brutal kicks that had the young man curled up against the wall

"We'll take this," the guard sneered, beckoning to his fellows to enjoy the bounty as the young man slowly levered himself up to his knees, tenderly feeling the welt on his cheek. "Fetch her something suitable for a common prisoner, boy!" Grimacing, he scrambled up and cast a glare after the guards as they vanished into the guard room. Sighing the young man headed out, leaving the Princess wondering why any menial would risk such harsh treatment for someone they had never met. Glancing after him, she sighed and watched him vanish...before walking back to sit on the bed. She was hungry and miserable but by Thor, she was a Princess and she would be damned to Helheim before she gave them the satisfaction of knowing how thoroughly fed up she was.

oOo

Out in the passage, Hiccup was wincing as he trotted along. He had a small window he had bought himself, so he passed through the armoury, retrieving a familiar sword and axe on his way to the stables. And then he returned to the kitchen, explaining what had happened to the cook, accepting the slap it earned him and taking a much more modest plate of bread and jerky and a jug of water for the prisoner. Leaving with the injunction from the cook that he had to return with that tray or she would take his hide, he left the kitchen.

His heart was hammering in his chest as he arrived in the cells once more-but this time, there was no sign of the guards, though voices and laughter were emanating from the guard room. Quietly, the young man walked to the cell and rapped on the bars, emerald eyes searching the space.

"Highness?" he called softly. "Princess? I-I have some food for you."

There was a movement and the captive royal rose elegantly from the bed and made her way to the hatch, accepting the tray that was passed through and eagerly grabbing the fresh bread that had been surreptitiously spread with creamy butter and dripping. She bit into the poor fare-tasty and filling but much more meagre and mean than she was used to as the Heir to Berk. But the young drudge hovered by the bars of the cell, watching her.

"You're dismissed," she said but he shook his head with a rueful smile that gave her a sense of deja vu.

"I'm afraid not," he said as she recognised the young drudge who had tried to warn her during her abortive escape. "I am ordered to bring the tray back...so..." But Astrid's eyes snapped up at the tone and a memory flashed back-not of her captivity but of a morning in Berk and a shuttered shop...

"I know you," Astrid murmured, her azure eyes narrowing as she inspected the tall, lean shape in front of her. He dipped his scruffy auburn head, emerald eyes downcast. "You were in the forge. So for you to be here, you have to be..." Her eyes and voice hardened. "A traitor!"

His head snapped up, expression wounded and he took a step back.

"Why-why would you say that?" he asked her tightly, biting back the instinctive response. She gestured to him angrily.

"You're here in the Outcast Castle!" she spat.

"Yeah, because I am having so much fun here," he snarked. "I mean, if I was a menial and I got a chance to escape from drudgery in Berk why in Midgard would I head here?" She glared at him and he sighed. "I came for you, your Highness," he sighed, handing her the bread and water through the bars. She took them from him suspiciously. Sighing, he backed away, a hand gently ghosting over his battered middle and she bit into her bread.

"How do I know this isn't poisoned?" she asked him pointedly. He shook his head.

"That would be treason," he told her tiredly and she stared at him. There was no snarkiness in the voice, just the faintest hint of hurt. "The very nice food that the guards took however..." He shrugged and she inspected him closely.

"That was tainted?" he asked her suspiciously. "I mean you said it was for me..." He met her accusing azure gaze and looked away.

"I knew they would never let you have such a fine meal, Highness," he admitted. "So I made sure I gave them the opportunity to steal it." He sighed. "It won't kill them...but it may render them significantly less...alert..."

"Why?" she asked him and he face-palmed.

"So I can get you out of there and back home," he said, though there was less enthusiasm in his voice.

"Where you will be lauded as a hero," she told him dryly. He shook his head.

"Or arrested and put to death without any discussion," he told her bluntly. She finished her meal and looked at him.

"Why? You were not instrumental in my capture, were you?" she told him. He swallowed.

"I shouldn't have been there," he admitted. "I'm not a knight. Or a squire." Her jaw dropped.

"An imposter..." she breathed and then she stared at his shape. "YOU!" she spat. "You were the squire who actually did what he was supposed to-who followed me when I cantered and mounted at my command. And you aren't a squire?"

"Um, I was, Highness-but I was expelled," he mumbled, cheeks heating. Her eyes drifted over his bruised skin and frowned.

"So this is revenge?" she assumed and he shook his head urgently.

"No. NO!" he protested, backing away, breathing hard. "Highness, I would do anything to fulfil my duty as a knight apprentice...because my father would spin in his grave if he thought for one instant I was betraying his teachings..." She peered unsympathetically at him.

"So you were kicked out of the knight training programme," she said calculatingly. "What for?" He stiffened and his cheeks flushed.

"Dishonoured," he said in a toneless voice. She recoiled but forced herself to inspect the skinny shape: the young man from the forge who had been respectful to her when no one else observed the proper traditions and who had serviced her sword so professionally.

"How long had you been in the programme?" she asked and he flinched.

"Um, since I was eight, your Highness-but I had been trained to become a knight from as soon as I could walk," he confessed. "Until three years ago, when I was fifteen. My father died and I was expelled due his dishonour." Her eyes widened in shock and recognition.

"You're Commander Haddock's son..." she breathed. "Hiccup?" He gave a low groan.

"Highness," he said heavily. She stared at him.

"You didn't do anything wrong, did you?" she realised and he shook his head.

"I am dishonoured so I cannot serve as a squire or aim to be a knight...though there is a tiny chance I could take the tests and regain my honour," he admitted.

"So this is what his is?" she asked sharply. "A callow attempt to regain your honour-at the peril of my life?"

"What? I mean-if course not...your Highness!" he blurted out, emerald gaze wide with shock, his voice defensive. He turned to talk to her, his eyes begging for understanding. "I-I saw you ride off and also saw the rest of the party not paying a damn of attention. And I couldn't yell at them for being useless because I wasn't supposed to even be there and if they had found out who I was, I would be arrested and executed for impersonating a knight or knight-apprentice...so I came after you myself because that was my duty...or would be if I was still a squire. So I came up in time to see you being captured but I knew I couldn't save you because there were too many and Lord Eret was a traitor...so I had to watch and then follow. Again, no one would believe me because Lord Eret would have told his tale and I have no credibility because I'm an imposter..." He paused, his arms whirling in his desperation to get her to trust him...but then he stilled, arms hanging limp by his side and head hanging low in defeat. "And because the rest of them hate me anyway."

"So no one else knows where I am?" she asked him sharply. He took a slow breath and shook his head,

"None except Eret-and I doubt he'll co-operate," he mumbled.

"Never liked the self-important ass anyway," Astrid commented and paced back and forth in her cell, her blonde brow furrowed as she thought over what she had heard. "So, imposter, you are literally my only resource...so here is what we'll do..."

"Excuse me, Highness, but I really think..." Hiccup began, regaining his composure as she frowned at him.

"Which one of us is the Princess?" she asked him sharply.

"Um...maybe the more pertinent point should be-which one of us is in the cage?" he retorted, trying to sound slightly respectful. Astrid stiffened at the sarcasm. "With all due respect, Highness, I am the one out here who knows the lie of the land, the guard schedules, the way to the stables, the fact that your horse is here..."

"Stormfly?" she gasped in delight and he nodded.

"She is well, my Lady," he assured her seriously. "But my point is-this is a very hostile place and you can hardly formulate a plan to escape when you have no information! I, on the other hand, can!" He took a shuddering sigh. "And am. In fact...my plan is already in progress." He opened his mouth to speak again but the door to the guardroom slammed open and all three guards raced for the outhouse, hands pressed to their mouths and bent double with pain. Hiccup offered a wide grin at Astrid's astonished and impressed smile.

"Significantly less alert," she realised. He nodded and head for the guardroom to fetch the keys. Azure eyes trailed after his lean shape, watching him pause at the door, check the guardroom then swiftly dart in, pausing only as he turned, the faintest of grimaces crossing his features as he turned back to her, then sped to the door. Her eyes widened in hope as he unlocked the door to her cell and beckoned her out swiftly, then locked the door and beckoned her to follow him. She opened her mouth to protest-but she considered his words: he had reconnoitred the place, knew where the guards were and must have a plan for getting them out. So she followed him, sticking behind the lean shape, seeing him move lightly then paused, lifting a hand to hold the girl back. A patrol of four heavyset Outcasts lumbered by then vanished round the corner. Hiccup's auburn head poked round the corner for a second, listening, before he beckoned her on and dashed across the corridor into a small doorway opposite. Intrigued, Astrid followed.

And found herself in a narrow passage that wound behind the armoury and round to the back of the stables. Hiccup was tense, on edge and very twitchy but he padded along almost silently in his patched clothes and led her unerringly to a black stallion that she recognised from the hunting party. He smiled and handed her the enclosing cloak he had worn. She frowned.

"The guards saw a cloaked and hooded messenger ride in urgently, a couple of hours after you arrived," he explained. "He rode a black horse. They can see the hooded and cloaked messenger leave on the same black horse."

"Me?" she gasped. He nodded.

"Once you are away and heading back to Berk, I can find a way to take Stormfly for exercise-and run for it," he admitted. "I'm less important to get away, to be honest..." But she stared at him: he had come up with an audacious plan to get her out, he had possessed the cunning and wit to set up an escape route for himself and he was willing to let her ride his horse to safety, leaving him vulnerable. And he would stay back to make she got away before he headed after her. He swiftly wrapped the cloak around her and laced his fingers together, offering his hands. He nodded and she accepted the help, placing her boot in his palms and took the boost up into the saddle. She sat up and adjusted her seat and the cloak until she looked as he had when he arrived.

"Are you sure this will work?" she asked him. There was a pause.

"Sure...is a strong word," he admitted. "More of a hunch...um...but a good one, since I trust Fury with my life." She half-turned, her blue eyes visible for a second under the hood.

"Then I will as well," she promised, allowing him to lead her to the main gate.

"Messenger for the Dark Lord!" Hiccup yelled then leaned closer to the horse. "Home, bud," he commanded as he slapped Fury's rump and the stallion whinnied, then accelerated up the long roadway into the greying afternoon. But he dipped his head and headed swiftly back to the stables, grabbing Stormfly and leading her to the gate and then explaining that he had been ordered to exercise the horse. On the way, he grabbed an Outcast helmet and wrapped it in the Princess's saddle-bag before he paused nervously at the gate. Glaring around, he mounted clumsily, pretending to have a very poor seat and almost falling and as the guards laughed, he trotted unsteadily down the road, ostensibly to give the mare a quick run before dusk fell. But as soon as he was round the corner and out of sight, he steadied his seat, leaned forward and accelerated.

"Come on, girl," he murmured. "Let's find your mistress!"

But he had barely got half a mile down the road when the horns sounded and the faint cries of 'she's escaped' began to echo up the valley. Hiccup kicked the mare to a gallop.

"Oh Thor," he muttered as he raced after the Princess. "Help me now. Where is she?"