A Saga Of Ice And Fire

Chapter Thirteen - A Midnight Detour

"And then I'm gonna marry Hiccup and we're all gonna play together forever! " Anna continued brightly , oblivious to the stunned expressions the adults , including some of the guardsmen close enough to hear them, had on their faces.

"Anna! Eww! No! " Elsa winced, her nose scrunched up , Hiccup mirroring her expression. " That's so wrong! Hiccup is my friend ! Why would you wanna marry your friend ? "

"And you don't need to marry people to play with them! " she added, breaking into a fit of giggles noticing the disgusted look on Hiccup's face.

" Okay, Fine ! Hiccup doesn't have to marry you then . I'll marry him and we'll live happily ever after! And no backsies, Elsa! " Anna giggled impishly.

The children were too busy to notice the bedraggled adults slowly regain composure as they realised what the whole thing was. King Agnarr in particular seemed the most shaken, his face slowly regaining color after it had turned paler than it usually was.

"Well, why don't we go inside first? I can show you the chapel and you can all get married inside there .' Queen Arianna said, bending down towards Anna, a slightly amused expression on her face .

"Of course!" Anna gasped, her eyes growing bigger than usual as if she'd just reached an epiphany of some sort.
"Auntie! You're the best!"

She threw her arms around her aunt's beck before turning back to Hiccup and Elsa and grabbing their hands. " Come on! I'll show you where we're gonna get married, Hiccup! Elsa can tag along if she wants even though she doesn't wanna get married ."

Anna giggled cheerfully and dragged the children up the staircase and disappeared into the castle, even though the adults were fully aware none of the children knew where the chapel was.

"Well. I suppose that was an entertaining start. " Agnarr sighed , glancing warily at his wife who bore a similar amused smirk to that of Queen Arianna.

"So." Arianna said dropping her voice lower as her guards hurried to the carriage to help the newly arrived Arendellian staff with the luggage. "That's the boy, I presume ?"

The Arendellian couple nodded on unison , though King Agnarr looked more tense about admitting it than his wife did.

"Although, I have to say, he's not what I'd expected a Viking to be." Arianna remarked as the three of them made their way up the stairs.

"Well. Most of them are exactly like what you'd picture a Viking to be. The boy seems to be an exception so far." Agnarr admitted.

"But Anna and Elsa clearly get along with him. " Arianna said, a small smile playing on her lips.

"They do. " Iduna nodded , smiling. "Anna especially doesn't let the poor boy breathe ."

"I wouldn't have expected anything less from her. " Arianna said, exchanging a chuckle with Iduna as they all disappeared into the castle. "Come on then. Frederic should be done soon. "

~~~

Since the Arendellian visitors already had had their lunch aboard their ship, the first time they found themselves sitting at the long dinner table in the Coronian castle was for the evening supper . And the menu was just as extravagant as Hiccup had expected it to be : Platters teeming with servings of masterfully cooked cod fish, crispy trinkets of deep friend chicken legs, baked bread slices dunked in bowl of maple sauce , stacks upon stacks of strawberry milk pancakes dripping with honey oozing over them , crunchy nuggets of potato fries, wagered seaweed strips , jugs filled with strawberry milk for the children while the adults washed down their food with wine. But despite the banquet set before him, Hiccup would've been lying if he said he wasn't disappointed about the absence of chocolate from the table.