Home-Bound: Broken Ties

19 - The Laughing Chandelier

I hope this was worth the wait:

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Fast forward a few weeks...

The days were shorter now. Almost impossibly so. It seemed that from the moment Luneah woke up, it was already noon and by the time she had finished her post-lunch walk, the sun was descending rapidly in the sky. The nights were also much colder, sometimes dropping below freezing to the point that Luneah would have to press closer to Hiccup in search of warmth, even under the layers of thick wool blankets draped over the bed. They had moved their bed closer to the hearth in the hopes that it would make the cold a little more bearable, but it barely did anything. Luneah just hoped the cold wasn't getting to Hiccup's amputated leg. She heard that drastic changes in temperature usually hurt a lot with phantom pains.

Luneah awoke each morning, feeling the cold in her joints. She only went out when the sun was at its highest now, her walk with Astrid ending back at home with a cup of warm milk and shared conversations in front of the fire.

"I was going to ask for a new saddle but then I realized Allen isn't here anymore," Astrid sighed, accepting the mug of fresh warm milk from Luneah's hands, watching as Luneah sat down in front of her and burrowed deeper into her soft wool blanket. "The one I'm using on Stormfly right now was just supposed to be temporary. It's chafing her scales and the seams are tearing."

"You could always ask Hiccup. He's not as good at saddle construction as Allen is, but he'd still do it well enough."

"I'll look into that. So, now that we're here, got any juicy gossip to discuss?"

"You know, I heard that one of Isunder's Royal Guard fell for one of Berk's trainees. I overheard one of my youngest guards, June, talking to the top dog in your warrior class... Erich...?"

"Oh, no..." Astrid groaned, a slight lift to her voice as she hid her amusement.

"Oh, yes. I think we may have some romance going on!"

"Calm yourself, Chieftess," Astrid playfully scolded, taking a sip from her mug. "Isn't June only fifteen?"

"She has a crush, Astrid! Let the girl live. It's nothing serious," Luneah said as she scooted closer to the hearth. Astrid took notice of how the Chieftess shuddered and wrapped the blanket tighter around herself. It was only late October—the cold was going to get worse—and Luneah was already having reactions to the approaching winter. Sure, the pregnancy was probably making everything a bit worse for her but it was quite worrying for Astrid. Was it really safer for Luneah to spend her first pregnancy on an unfamiliar island and unfamiliar climate?

Surely a smaller boat could be built for Luneah to take back to Isunder for the remainder of her second and third trimester. But the seas would probably be rough and could easily sink a smaller ship.

"Yeah..." Astrid said, just as a filler to conceal her actual thoughts. Luneah remained clueless, sipping on her milk and staring into the fire. Astrid would much like it to remain that way. There was no need to trouble a pregnant woman with her thoughts. Even if said pregnant woman was one as strong as Luneah Maia. That woman would be a menace until Hel froze over.

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"Your leg is healing up nicely," Elise commented one day, rewrapping the bandages around Hiccup's amputated limb. "I suspect you may be flying in a little over a week."

"Yes!" Hiccup cheered, his excitement being matched by Toothless, who crooned in a mirror of his exclamation.

"But... you're not allowed to fly fast and for too long," Elise interjected, to which Hiccup wined petulantly. "Don't give me that look! The scabs of your wound are just beginning to heal over and putting too much pressure, like the strain of supersonic flight, could cause chafing and it could reopen. Then you'll be grounded for much longer."