When I sat down to breakfast, I could feel eyes boring into my back. I glance up, glaring at Ingrid and her friends from under my bangs. I'm able to make out a gray-ish-blue bruise on her jaw, and I have to fight the smile that is tugging at the corners of my mouth. "Where did you go last night?" Heather asks me, grabbing my attention.

"Huh?" I say, even though I heard her. So, I guess I didn't dream it after all. I really don't want to tell her I spent the night in a dark room, sobbing with the prince.

"Where did you go? I got up to use the outhouse and you were gone," she says, looking at me. She's become my new best friend since we arrived at the palace, so I feel obligated to tell her. And then there's Ruff-- who I've known my whole life-- staring at me expectantly. 

"Uh, I went for a walk. Couldn't sleep" I shrug. Ruff scrutinizes me, but doesn't press me any further. She knows I'm lying, but she can tell when I don't want to share something and she'll leave it at that. I guess that's something you learn over the years.

That morning we learned about our kingdom's history and the names of the kings and queens before our lifetime. It was a lot of reading, and some of the girls from the Lower Valley got stuck on the unfamiliar and long words. Jamie began to whimper, unable to read the passage. She is the youngest of the Lower Valley girls, only 16, so she doesn't understand hiding her emotions and getting by so the Upper Valleys and Phlegma don't notice. I'm almost done with my passage, so I get up and go over to her. 

"Jamie. What's wrong?" I ask, bending down beside her.

"I can't read the whole sentence," she says pointing at it, her short blond hair fanning out as she shakes her head.

"I'll read it to you," I offer. I'm halfway when Phlegma notices.

"What do you think you are doing Miss Hofferson?" she shouts, walking swiftly over to us.

"Jamie couldn't read a sentence, so I was helping her," I defend, seeing no harm in it.

"That's not your job. And, I did not give permission to leave your seat. Hands," she says.

"What?" I ask, confused, my head spinning. 

"Hands. Now, please. Hold them out." I begin to stretch them out, tentatively, but I guess I'm taking too long, because she grabs my wrists, yanking them toward her, and I stumble forward. She lifts her long stick, and I finally understand where this is going.

"Wait!" I say, jerking them back and against my chest. "I didn't do anything wrong," I protest.

"Talking back is another offense," she tells me calmly, pulling my hands back out. "That will result in three lashings on both hands. Say another word, and that will be your second strike." I nod, glumly. She pulls her arm back, holding the stick in the air. I stare at the ceiling, biting down on my lip, taking the pain of the lashes, the stick cracking against my palms. When she's done, I am aware of the metallic taste of my blood from biting down on my lip too hard, but it keeps me from crying.

HICCUP'S POV

I wake to someone shaking me roughly. I open my eyes, blinking rapidly to get used to the light in my room. Snotlout is leaned over me with a worried expression. "Have you seen Hookfang?" he asks, out of breath. 

"Well I was asleep three seconds ago," I tell him, rolling my eyes and sitting up. 

"I don't have time for your smart aleck comments," he retorts, throwing me some clean clothes. "Eret is checking around the barn. You saddle up Toothless, and help look."

"Alright. Alright," I say, pulling on my pants and shrugging into my shirt. I put on my boot and metal leg and follow him to the stables, still half asleep.

ASTRID'S POV

I was glad to be outside after the scene in the classroom. The palace just seemed too small, like it was closing me in. I needed fresh air. We are going over the rules of polo again because Phlegma had received word that the king wanted to hold a luncheon one day during the week of the ball. Apparently, a luncheon is the king and his family and noble men and their families, lounging around under tents with a large feast, watching the teens play polo as entertainment. I'm already looking forward to it, hoping maybe the polo boys will be there. They are nobles after all. I stare at the field, holding Stormfly still, wishing we could just get started with the game.

Suddenly, the horses start whinnying and stomping their hooves, detecting something. Within a minute, a large, sorrel (red) horse comes bolting at us. Several girls scream, moving their horses out of the way. 

"Look out!" an all too familiar voice calls. Everyone looks up to see a black horse breaking into the clearing, only six lengths behind the first horse, and still gaining. Eret is next, not far behind Hiccup, on his Paint. 

"Wait!" Snotlout hollers, bursting out of the trees, sprinting after them, already exhausted. He stops near us to catch his breath. "Hookfang, stop...." Then he catches sight of Ruffnut and Heather, his eyes shining. Ruff is too busy staring after Eret. 

"They'll never catch him like that," I say, mostly to myself. I climb on Stormfly,pointing her in the direction the boys took. 

Ruff notices this. "Astrid, you can't!" she yells after me. 

"Miss Hofferson, this is strike two!" Phlegma calls but I don't listen.

"What happened?" I ask, catching up to them. 

"Astrid! Thank gods you're here. We need your help," Hiccup says, grinning at me. 

"I can see that," I say. 

"Hookfang got out last night and we've spent all day trying to catch him. He's obviously not happy about it," he informs me. 

"Well, you need a better plan than this. You'll never catch him if you're just chasing after him the whole time," I tell them. 

"We were trying to tire him out, but it's not working," Eret says.

"We need to cut him off. That's what we do at home. We limit his escape routs and lasso him," I say. 

"Good idea," Hiccup complements, his brows furrowed and forehead creased in thought. "Ok, Eret. You take the right. Astrid, you take the left. If we can heard him toward the cliffs, we can corner him. Astrid, do you have a rope?" he asks. I pull it off of my saddle horn, holding it in the air for them to see. "Perfect. Everyone understand the plan?"

"Yes," Eret and I answer, splitting off. 

Hookfang plunges back into the forrest, his nostrils flared, eyes wild. I can tell he's getting tired, but too stubborn to give up. I can only see quick flashes of of him and Hiccup between the trees. Eret is too far for me to get a good look at his whereabouts. My hands throb and sting, but I channel all of the pain into focussing on the plan. My hands will heal, my pride on the other hand wont, now that I have two strikes. It hadn't completely sunk in until now. We still have three weeks till the ball. I have to be incredibly careful. My family would be so ashamed if I was sent home for bad behavior. 

I haven't galloped this fast in a long time, the wind tugging back on my braid. I let out a whoop of excitement, ducking under the lower branches. I hear Hiccup laugh, not far away. I catch Hookfang's eyes flash to me before he cuts me off and forcing me to pull back on the reins in order to prevent a collision. Stormfly lets out a nervous whinny, digging her hooves into the ground.  Hookfang snorts at us, taking off to my left. I guess he figured out what we were doing.

"Astrid! He's heading for the drop off!" Hiccup shouts at me. My eyes widen in fear. It's at least a 300 foot drop, strait down into the water. He wont survive the impact.

"I'm on it!" I yell back, getting my lasso ready. When we are out of the tree line, I twirl the rope above my head, allowing momentum to build before I throw it. When he's a hundred feet away from the edge, I release it. He runs strait into the large loop, it tightening around his neck. He skids to a stop, caught. "Gotcha," I tell him. I tie the other end to my horn, walking him away from the edge. 

"You got'em." Hiccup says, coming to a halt. Eret emerges next. 

"Yup," I say, trying to hold in my grin. 

"I knew you could."

"Good job, Blondie," Eret congratulates, flashing me a smile.I release mine as well, proud of myself. 

***

Snotlout is waiting at the barn when we arrive. "Fangster!" he calls out, rushing up to his horse. he engulfs the horse in a hug, relieved. "Don't you ever do that again." He takes the horse from me, leading him into the stables. I follow the boys inside, removing my tack and stowing it all away, then placing Stormfly in her stall and feeding. 

"Thanks for helping," Snotlout tells me.

"It was nothing," I say, waving it off. 

Hiccup catches my wrist in the air. "Astrid. Your hands," he says, examining them. I turn them over, the one still in his grip. They are inflamed and bleeding. 

"I didn't even realize," I breathe out, wide eyed. 

"Come on, I'll take you to the palace healer," he tells me, dragging me behind him. A man on a mission.

"I'm fine. Really, Hiccup," I say as we walk down a hallway in the West Wing. "They don't hurt that bad." 

"I don't want them to get infected," he says, pulling me along.

I stand in the hall as he talks to a small, old woman I learn to be named Gothi. He comes out a few minutes later with gauze and ointments. He grabs my wrist, in a hurry again. I wish my hands weren't messed up so that he could hold my hand instead. We enter into one of the bedchambers at the end of the hall all the girls are staying on, the room at the far end and not in use. He sits me on the bed, setting the items on the floor, him on his knees. 

"Turn your palms down," he instructs, finished with the ointments. I stare out the window as he works. I can tell dinner is approaching by the position of the sun. After about fifteen minutes, he stands up to examine his handy-work. My hands are wrapped in the gauze, my fingers and thumbs poking out, the ointments protected underneath. 

"Thank you," I say, feeling relief from the pain. 

"I should be thanking you, for doing what you did for Snotlout," he says warmly, sitting down beside me. 

I smile, blushing slightly. I kiss him without a second thought. I have to restrain myself to keep my hands in my lap since they are beginning to feel better, but he makes up for it. He runs his fingers through the ends of my braid, the other hand cupping my cheek. The shadows from the setting sun cast on to our faces, letting me know it's time for dinner. I lean closer to him, knowing I'll have to go soon. I taste rusty metal in my mouth suddenly, and we both draw back. 

"Astrid? What did you do to your lip?" he asks me. I put my finger tips to my lower lip, seeing blood when I remove them. 

I sigh, deciding to tell him. "I got in trouble this morning. Phlegma lashed my hands and I bit my lip to help distract me from the pain. I guess the scab broke. I'm sorry I keep bleeding." Of course this required more of an explanation, so I told him quickly before we had to say our good-byes. 

I felt ridiculous, wearing the wraps during dinner, but I kept them on as to not be rude. No one questioned me for having them, knowing it probably hurt. But, I slept better that night, with my hands tucked against my chest. I just have to be good for three more weeks.