On My Heart

Chapter 40

Dagur was in his quarters taking care of some of his more boring chiefly duties. Most of it was just scroll after scroll of new laws, some citizens requesting some new building, and some letters informing him of issues taking place. Some of it was addressing issues that he thought he and Heather already resolved, which was pretty annoying. He also had a letter from Queen Mala asking what would be the best time for her to visit Berserker Island and set up a treaty with him. He was beginning to write a response to that, but he was interrupted by a knock on his door. He was in no rush to sort out the paperwork he had all over his desk, so he answered it immediately. As it turns out, it was his sister. Heather had mail for him. She had two scrolls in her hand, one large and one small. The small one was addressed to both of them, and the larger one was only for him. Heather was making a strange face as she told him that it was addressed to him, which made Dagur a little confused.

"What? Why are you making that face?"

Heather looked like she was holding back a laugh. "The scroll. It's addressed to Dagur the Deranged, Chief of the Berserker Tribe, Experienced Dragon Rider, and Esteemed Member of the Dragon Protection Alliance."

Dagur raised an eyebrow. He took the scroll from her, breaking the seal. Not only was his official (and very exaggerated) title written there, but the entire letter was written in an overly formal manner of speech. He always hated reading anything like this. Typically, when someone used language like this, they were a pompous trader that wanted to do business with Berserker Island, or it was another Viking chief that he didn't know very well. This letter wasn't from either of the usual sources. It was from Hiccup. If Dagur put a substantial amount of effort in, he could decipher some of what it was saying. It was detailing Hiccup's latest adventure. It definitely wasn't Hiccup's usual writing style. It was written like an official battle report. It informed him of the Dragon Flyer's most recent loss of their Singetail breeding grounds and method of capture. It contained everything that Hiccup would usually include in a letter but was written in an unbearably awful format. At the end of the letter, underneath Hiccup's official title was a little postscript. I hope you appreciated how official this letter is. It was not easy to write. The letter was dated almost one week earlier. Dagur had been pretty busy lately, so he wasn't surprised that he was late reading it.

"So? Was it something important?" Heather asked.

"It was an official battle report from Hiccup. I think he's messing with me though," Dagur said with a smile. "What about that one?"

Heather read through it, worry growing on her features. "It's also from Hiccup. His father got ambushed by Krogan's Dragon Flyers while on patrol last night. He got hurt pretty bad and isn't recovering. Hiccup went to Berk to see him."

"I'm going to go meet him there. He can't be taking this well," Dagur said, already packing a bag. "You're in charge while I'm gone."

"Dagur, wait," Heather grabbed his arm. "I'm going to visit Vanaheim in a few days. Someone has to be here to run the island."

He let out an annoyed huff. "Well, can't we pick someone to run things for a few days? This is kind of important."

"Dagur, you know we can't do that. Not without some time to pick someone good."

"Can't you postpone your trip a little?"

Heather crossed her arms. "No. I've already postponed my trip too many times because our tribe needed me. I'm not doing it again."

Dagur sighed. She didn't outright say it, but all those times she had to postpone her trip because of him. Every time he needed to leave, or just had too much to handle by himself, she was there to pick up the slack. Heather was the one who was actually running things on Berserker Island most days. She kept postponing her trip to go and visit their father's remains because of his inability to take care of his duties by himself. He didn't want her to delay her trip again, but he also knew that he needed to be there for Hiccup. It was an almost impossible choice. He couldn't leave, but he couldn't stay, either. Or... maybe he could leave. Heather dismissed the idea earlier, but appointing someone for a little bit wouldn't cause any harm that Dagur couldn't undo later. He just had to pick someone.

"Ivar!" Dagur blurted out. "He's the head of the island guard. He can handle things while we're gone."

"We can't just appoint someone—"

"Yes, I can," Dagur interrupted. "I'm appointing Ivar."

Heather crossed her arms. "Are you even thinking this through?" Heather raised her voice, "You're always saying that you wish someone stopped you from making an impulsive decision, so here I am! I am telling you right now that you cannot just hand over your responsibilities to someone else without giving it some thought. Is the head of the island guard even equipped to handle something like this, because I doubt it!"

"I don't exactly have a choice, Heather!"

"Yes, you do! And you're always making the wrong one!"

There was a moment of enraged silence before Dagur spoke.

"You think this is the wrong choice?" Dagur seethed, "Then you make it. I'm leaving for Berk. Either you put Ivar in charge for at most a week, or you postpone your trip to Vanaheim again."

"You are being incredibly selfish and irresponsible right now," Heather accused. 

"And you're being incredibly stubborn," Dagur retorted.

Heather looked exasperated. "All I want is to go to Vanaheim and honor our dead father without having to worry about our tribe. After everything I've done for you and our people, you can't let me have that?"

"You can let yourself have that by putting Ivar in charge."

"Or maybe, just maybe, you could stay here and do your job instead of pushing your responsibilities to your tribe onto someone else."

Dagur closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Hiccup's father is badly hurt and he isn't getting better. I'm going to Berk to show my support. If you don't understand why I'm postponing my duties for a little bit to do that, then I can't make you."

Dagur closed his bag and marched out of the room. He didn't bother saying goodbye to her. He was angry at her right now, but that didn't mean he wanted her to miss her trip. He wasn't the same person he was a few years ago. He didn't want her to have to sacrifice more of her time because he was angry and being spiteful. Before heading up to the stables, he talked to Ivar. He informed Ivar that he was leaving, and that Heather planned her trip to Vanaheim in a few days. He told Ivar about some of the responsibilities he would have while the two of them were gone. He didn't give Ivar anything too important to do. The only real power he gave the man was the ability to act in case of crisis. He also told Ivar to make sure Heather took her trip instead of staying behind. He may have been angry with her, but he was certain he would regret making her stay.