Honor and Duty

Disclaimer: I don't own HTTYD.

CH 1: Marriage

Consciousness returned to Astrid slowly. She cracked open her eyes and immediately wrenched them shut again when the light made her head pound. With an audible hiss she kept her eyes closed, pulled the covers over her head, and tried to take stock of her surroundings. She had a headache, something heavy and warm was pressed up to her back and around her waist, and she was sore … down there! Oh, yeah, she was married now.

With a groan, Astrid rolled slowly out of her new husband's arms. The slight hangover screamed at her to stay in bed where it was warm and dark, but the cause of the hangover was forcing her bladder to scream louder. As quietly and stealthily as possible, Astrid slipped her bridal night shift back over her naked body and crept out of the house and into the privy. Ruffnut had told her to get drunk, since it would make the wedding night easier. Her mother had only disagreed with the younger girl on the final state of inebriation. Sufficiently relaxed would certainly help; drunk would be shameful to herself, Hiccup, and the memory of her wedding night.

Considering how much her head was throbbing she figured that she listened a little more to Ruff than to her mom. However, she hadn't been so far gone that she didn't remember ever detail of exactly why she was sore. And she had to admit, it wasn't nearly as bad as the older women made it out to be. Painful was how the described it. Of course, given the vast difference between their descriptions of their wedding nights and how hers had been. It wasn't any wonder. Apparently, the 'Viking' way of doing things—rough, hard, and without much forethought—extend beyond the battlefield.

No, her wedding night with Hiccup hadn't been bad at all. In fact, it had even been good towards the end. He was considerate and gentle, if bumbling. But to be fair, her inexperience contributed to the bumbling, and she hadn't been as considerate.

Three months ago she never figured she would be married at fourteen. She wasn't sure she ever wanted to get married those few months back. And she certainly never figured that she would not only be married to Hiccup, but gratefully so.

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock, the Third was now her husband. The most un-Viking-like boy in all of the archipelago who was never where he was supposed to be and never doing what he was supposed to be doing. And because of that her father was still alive, she wasn't in the privy vomiting because she had crawled out of Snotlout's bed this morning, and she wouldn't recall her wedding night as one filled with only pain and unfulfilled cravings.

Finished relieving the incessant call of nature Astrid made her way back to her new home. Considering that it was only the second day of her wedding the village was unusually quiet, but a quick check of the Sun's position in the sky let her know that it was still very early morning on this summer day. So, she silently padded back to her new bedroom, removed her shift again, and curled up next to the warmth of her husband for some more sleep.

She wished now that she had listened a little more to her mother than to Ruffnut. She might not love her husband and she might have feared her wedding night with him, but she deeply appreciate his kindness. And she could possibly see love growing between her and her unconventionally husband, but even if it never did the least that she owed him was loyalty and kindness.

AN:

I wrote this a while back after reading several Hiccup and Astrid arranged marriage fics. Many were good, one was great (looking at you Reens). However, what practically every one of them had was an anachronistic attitude about it by the characters. The characters were pretty much always written as if they were 21st century people reacting in a 21st century way to a 10th century custom. I wanted to write a story where Astrid and Hiccup would react in a 10th century way. Basically, an arranged marriage is not a disaster, it is the norm and expected. They are not angry that they were "sold" or "bought" because in that day and age that was called slavery and was not even remotely confused with an arranged marriage and the marriage gifts. And perhaps the most baffling to modern people, it had next to nothing to do with love. Marriages were more like business agreements than love pacts. If you came to love your spouse, you were considered lucky, but nobody actually expected spouses to love each other. They only expected them to do their duty with honor.

I might continue this in the future, but it will be loosely related one-shots in the same universe as opposed to a tightly woven story.

Hope you enjoyed.