Hiccup had walked with Toothless down to the lake to fish, and the triplets had tagged along. After attempting to keep the boys out of mischief he understood Maudie's constant nervousness and exhaustion; they'd stolen a small rowboat and gotten a hundred yards out on the water, only turning back when Toothless threatened to toast them, and thrown each other overboard as casualties from a battle with the great sea serpent, also played by Toothless. Then one of them had distracted Hiccup while the others crept behind him and dumped handfuls of duckweed from the shallows on his head, which meant he'd had to jump in the lake to get it off. By the time he was ready to head back he let the boys ride on Toothless' back, not as a reward, but to keep them from getting in any more trouble.

Once he'd deposited the triplets with Maudie he made his way toward his room through a quiet castle. Eerily quiet, in fact; there was no yelling or the sound of things being thrown from the great hall, though when he looked in, the chieftains and their sons were all there with Fergus, Elinor, and Merida. He was about to turn back and take the back stairs when Elinor called him into the room.

Hiccup wondered what they'd been up to as he crossed the room. The big dictionary was open on the table, along with papers covered with scrawled writing and mugs of drink. The king stood up, cleared his throat and looked at the paper in his hand. "We have come to an agreement," he said, and Hiccup's eyes went wide. Fergus was about to tell him what they'd decided, and Hiccup was standing there with damp hair and duckweed clinging to his pants.

"All of the suitors will return home, leaving no later than the end of the week. They will all return in a year and a day from this day, and when they do…" He paused, squinting, and Hiccup couldn't breathe until he continued. "Merida will be married, to whichever man she chooses. The clan chieftains will accept that man, whoever he is, as the princess' consort and the rightful king, when the time comes."

Hiccup nodded, as the lump in his throat made it hard to speak. It was a good decision, he thought, a fair one. They had all but acknowledged that she would choose him when the time came, while still giving both of them a way out. If his feelings changed, all he had to do was not show up; though it would be hard luck for him if hers did. Still, he had no doubt that if that happened, they would receive him graciously and give him a respite before sending him home with their best wishes.

Young MacGuffin's lips twitched into a small smile, and Wee Dingwall nodded vaguely; even the Macintosh heir winked conspiratorially. Their fathers' expressions were less friendly, but neither were they hostile, and he couldn't blame them—they had each been hoping to have a king for a son one day, but for some reason they had agreed to honor Merida's wishes and accept a foreigner, if necessary. He wished he could ask why. Likely they recognized the foolishness of forcing their future queen into doing something against her will, and maybe they saw something worthy in him. Fergus mostly looked relieved that he was done delivering the speech, though he smiled fondly when he saw Hiccup's eyes on him; Elinor's smile was pleased and warm, and he felt a surge of affection for the woman who had allowed them to communicate. And Merida…

He'd been afraid that she'd had to agree to the plan, but one look at her made him think that maybe the whole thing had been her idea. Under the agreed terms, she'd have time to decide who she wanted to marry and prepare herself for the wedding, without any of them being there to bother her. She would have a year of freedom, time to ride in the forests with Angus and fight with her brothers and learn from her parents. And time to miss him, he hoped, looking at her eyes blazing with determination and her sweetly curving lips. She met his gaze fiercely, a challenge and a promise on her face, and he felt hope fill him.

It would be a year and a day without her. A year and a day to plan, to build a boat, to earn something worth offering her. A year and a day to convince his father and to help someone else prepare to become the chieftain. A year and a day to study, to save up words so that when he returned he could say all the things she deserved to hear. A year and a day with the dragons.

A year and a day until he never had to leave her again.