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Hiccup couldn't believe it had come to this: A chain around his throat, hands bound in front of him, being led by a masked bounty hunter like a prize sheep to market. To be handed over to Viggo Grimborn for an exorbitant amount of gold, like a possession to be bought and owned, not a living, breathing, thinking, feeling, human being.

And this was just the latest in a long line of times he'd been knocked out, tied up, tackled, and thrown around today. The worst part had been the heavy chain wrapping around his throat and yanking him back onto the hard ground as he tried to escape the masked bounty hunter. And now, as his kidnapper pulled him through the trees and to a destination only he knew, Hiccup felt the last vestiges of his hope flagging. He wouldn't stop looking for an opportunity for escape, he wouldn't give up, but…

But he was tired. He hurt all over, especially his neck, and the chain squeezed tight, too tight. He could breathe okay, but each time the masked man jerked on the chain, or Hiccup stumbled and fell behind, the links pressed into his throat and panic threatened to overwhelm him.

When the bounty hunter led him out of the treeline and onto the rocky plateau of a cliff, Hiccup's terrible day got even worse, because the person waiting for him turned out to be none other than Ryker Grimborn.

Hiccup wasn't afraid of the older Grimborn, not really, but he had seen first hand how explosively violent and needlessly cruel the man could be. Unlike his brother, Ryker had no rein on his emotions. Namely, his anger. He could be ridiculously easy to rile up, a trait handy for provoking him into rash mistakes in a fight. But Hiccup currently had no way of defending himself against the man's anger, and had really hoped the welcoming committee would be comprised of someone who didn't have a violent, personal grudge against him.

Hiccup cried out involuntarily as the his captor jerked the chain, yanking his prisoner around by the throat to stand before Ryker. Hiccup fought for breath as Ryker leered at him, a twisted glee in his eyes as he appraised his prize.

"Finally. Hiccup Haddock." The way Ryker said his name sent chills down his spine. "No friends to save you, no dragons to save you. All alone."

Hiccup didn't respond. What could he say? Ryker, for once, was completely right. Hiccup grunted in pain and panic flared as his captor dragged him backwards as Ryker snatched at him. Hiccup stood still and silent, watching, desperately, for any opportunity to escape.

"The gold," the bounty hunter growled.

Ryker leaned in. "Your eyes look familiar, masked man. Do I know you?"

"The gold."

Hiccup added "not a big talker" and "one track mind" to the very short list of things he knew about his captor.

"You did good," Ryker grunted, throwing a sack of gold at the man's feet. "Personally, I wouldn't pay more than a bag of rocks for this one-legged fool, but my little brother wants him and—" he sneered at Hiccup, "—he always gets what he wants, no matter the cost."

Outwardly, Hiccup forced his defiant mask to stay in place, but just beneath it fresh terror choked him tighter than the chains. For what purpose could Viggo want him so badly? Surely not just to kill him? He'd have to be crazy to pay this much gold just so that he could be the one to end Hiccup's life. There had to be more to this — and that terrified Hiccup more than all the things that had happened to him today combined.

"He's all yours." The clanking as the chain changed hands reverberated, deafening and final, in his ears, sending a shockwave of hopelessness to his very core.

Sold. Calling it a bounty didn't change the fact that he had been taken from his home, dragged across the ocean, chained like an animal, and sold. Sold, like Hiccup was an interesting artifact Trader Johann had tracked down for Viggo.

Hiccup's stomach churned with nausea, but he forced his mouth into a grim line and glared at Ryker with all the vitriol he could summon.

He must not have been too convincing, because Ryker threw his head back and laughed. "The great dragon conquerer, leashed like a beast and bought for a bag of gold." He tugged Hiccup closer, loomed so near to his face that Hiccup could smell his pungent breath. "Fitting, I think. My brother has always wanted a pet."

Horror washed over Hiccup, so powerful, so potent, that he physically staggered back, the chain tightening painfully before he could retreat more than half a step. Hiccup, fighting for control over the panic now spreading through his body like a disease, did possibly the worst thing he could have done in this situation, which also, unfortunately, happened to be what he almost always did when trying not to show his fear.

He mouthed off.

More precisely, he spat a very explicit stream of curses, complete with a graphic suggestion of what Ryker could do to himself.

He knew the second the words left his mouth that he had just made things much, much worse for himself. Because Ryker was not a difficult man to anger, and what Hiccup had said would probably have been enough to provoke even Viggo into rash action.

Snarling, Ryker heaved on the chain so hard that Hiccup's vision blacked out for a couple of seconds. When he came back to himself, he lay on his back on the rocky ground, his throat burning and his neck a mess of choking agony. Even though Ryker was no longer actively strangling him, he could feel the phantom tightness clinging to his neck, mingling with the real metallic coolness of the chain resting against his skin.

"I don't have time to punish you here," Ryker hissed as he crouched by Hiccup's head, and Hiccup's galloping heart skipped a beat. "But once we're on that ship, I'm going to make you wish Viggo had wanted you dead instead of alive."

Hiccup spent the rest of the trek to the waiting ship gagged as well as bound. Ryker had noticed how loose the ropes around Hiccup's wrists had become and had retied them so tightly that they cut into his skin and he lost feeling in his fingers. Then he'd gagged Hiccup with another length of rope shoved between his teeth and tied at the back of the head.

He kept the chain around Hiccup's neck, of course, and took great pleasure in dragging his captive around by it, so brutally that Hiccup feared his throat would be permanently damaged if he kept it up. Every time Hiccup stumbled or faltered, Ryker would give the chain a painful tug and jeer, "Here, boy!" or click his tongue or whistle like he was trying to get a stubborn yak to follow him.

Hiccup had never felt more degraded, but he kept his head high, forced back the tears of pain and fear and humiliation that burned hot in his eyes. He endured Ryker's abuse as stoically as he could, praying to every god he could think of that his friends would find him soon. Even if the thought of them seeing him like this made him want to curl up in shame.

But his friends didn't come swooping in to save him. He knew they were looking for him, but they had quite a trail to follow. Hiccup hadn’t exactly stayed in the same place for very long all day.

They wasted no time sailing away from the island after Hiccup had been dragged aboard.

Every Dragon Hunter they encountered on the way to Viggo's chambers laughed and jeered and cat-called as Ryker dragged Hiccup behind him.

"Get a new pet, Ryker?"

"Nah, this one's Viggo's. It's scrawny and sickly for my tastes, but my brother seems to like it that way."

"The runt of the litter, eh?"

"Must be a biter," another cackled, gesturing to the gag.

Hiccup's face burned at the jokes, the jabs, the way Ryker kept referring to him as it. The man basked in his prisoner's humiliation, encouraging the mockery and insults. One Hunter spat at Hiccup, and Ryker guffawed heartily, slapping the man on the back as he passed.

Hiccup would have never thought he'd be glad to arrive at Viggo's chambers, but the walk there had been hell, and he'd grown sick of the Hunters clustering around him, ogling him, treating him like a spectacle, something less than human.

Ryker knocked on the door; Viggo's voice rang out from within: "Enter."

Ryker stepped into the room first, then yanked Hiccup in after him. "Here you go, little brother," Ryker said, dropping the end of the chain onto Viggo's desk. "Your new pet."

Viggo's sharp eyes cut from Ryker to Hiccup, who held his chin up proudly despite the indignity of his situation. A flash of fury darted across Viggo's face; a muscle worked in his jaw.

"Did you do this?" he demanded, picking up the chain, examining it, and then setting it back down.

"He came like that," Ryker answered. "Wish I had thought of it myself, though."

Viggo circled the desk, looking very much like a bird of prey. Hiccup gritted his teeth around the rope in his mouth as Viggo took his bound wrists in his hands. "And this? The gag?"

"My handiwork," Ryker boasted.

"And, may I ask, did you bring him quickly and discreetly to my chambers as I requested?" Viggo leaned in close to Hiccup, pulling the chains around his neck back just enough to see the damage underneath. When next he spoke, Viggo's voice had turned to ice. "Or did you parade him around the ship like a yak on a lead, degrading him and damn near strangling him for your own personal amusement?"

"And if I did?" Hiccup recognized Ryker's tone as the same recklessly defiant one that Snotlout used when he'd bitten off more than he could chew in an argument but had too much pride to back down.

Viggo took the chain once more and, to Hiccup's bewilderment, began slowly unwinding it from around his neck. As he worked, standing so close to Hiccup that their noses nearly touched, Viggo spoke.

"As a businessman," he began, and Hiccup realized with surprise that his breath smelled of cinnamon, "when I purchase wares, I expect them to arrive in good condition. A little banged up, perhaps, from the long voyage, but still usable, unspoiled, in one piece." The chain snaked off of Hiccup's neck, coiling on the floor at his feet, and Viggo stepped back. "Does this look like good condition?" Viggo snarled.

Although he could properly breathe again for the first time in over an hour, Hiccup felt no relief, only the heat of blood rushing to his face at being talked about as a product, a ware, something to be bought and sold and traded.

"I—" Ryker protested.

"Get out," growled Viggo.

Hiccup chanced a glance over at Ryker, who stood rigid, quiet rage radiating from his tensed muscles and clenched fists. "You said—"

"I said you could help me break him when the time came," Viggo hissed, and Hiccup's blood ran cold. Gods, he needed to get out of here. "I didn't say you could play with him before I even received what I paid for."

Oh gods, oh gods.

"But he—"

"Get. Out."

The two brothers glared at each other for one eternal heartbeat. Then—

"Fine," Ryker grumbled. "Enjoy your new toy." He stalked out of the office, slamming the door behind him.

"I must apologize for my brother's abhorrent treatment of you, Hiccup," Viggo said mildly. He unsheathed a knife that hung at his side; Hiccup's heart stuttered in fear. But Viggo just said, "Be very still," and carefully sliced through the rope gagging him.

"What do you want, Viggo?" Hiccup croaked. Or tried to — his voice came out a strangled gasp.

Viggo's expression darkened like a stormy sky, but he didn’t answer. Instead, he turned his attention to Hiccup's wrists once more. "Those ropes are far too tight," he observed. "Let's get you into something more comfortable, shall we?" From his belt he pulled a pair of iron manacles.

Hiccup scowled but allowed Viggo to cut the ropes; his wrists were rubbed raw and bleeding beneath. As Viggo locked Hiccup's wrists in the manacles, Hiccup grumbled, "No one thinks you're funny, Viggo."

"My dear boy, I was not trying to be."

"I'd be far more comfortable if my hands were free." Gods, his throat hurt so much, the strain of talking making him feel like he had a bad case of Eel Pox.

Viggo laughed. "I'm sure you would, but considering how much I paid to get you here, I'm not going to risk losing you."

Hiccup clenched his fists. "You don't own me, Viggo. You can't just, just purchase me like I'm some trinket."

Viggo smirked. "And yet, here you are." Hiccup's anger swiftly shifted to terror, but he shoved the panic deep down. He would never let Viggo see the fruits of his fear.

"What do you want, Viggo?" Hiccup demanded again. "Why am I here?" His voice had grown weaker — no matter how much power and defiance he tried to put behind it, he sounded like his throat had been shredded by a Speed Stinger claw.

"All in good time. But first — come, sit." His captor took him by the elbow and guided him to the chair across from the desk, then placed a gentle but unyielding hand on his shoulder. Hiccup sat, but he shook the hand off. "May I offer you a drink? Water? Or something stronger?"

"Water," Hiccup rasped, his throat burning too much to refuse the offer, but unwilling to drink anything that could potentially lower his defenses around his enemy.

Viggo filled a goblet from a jug on a small side table, then sat at his desk, facing Hiccup. He slid the goblet over to his captive.

Hiccup eyed it warily.

"It is safe, on my honor," Viggo promised.

Hiccup snorted. "Didn't know you had any of that." But he drank anyway, not because he trusted Viggo but because it would make no sense for his captor to poison him after paying so much to get him here. It hurt to swallow, but the cool water soothed his throat. He drained the goblet, but didn't ask for another, even though he desperately wanted it, and Viggo didn't offer.

"Now why am I here?"

Viggo leaned forward, steepled his fingers. "For many reasons, my dear Hiccup, but the simple answer is that you and your dragon riders have become too big a thorn in my side. You have cost me invaluable time and money, and it is time for our dynamic to change."

"But what—"

"There are many things that I want, my dear. All will be revealed when the time is right."

The water sat heavy in his stomach. "Whatever you want from me, you'll never get it."

Viggo considered him for several heartbeats, dark eyes glittering. "Do not be so sure. As your ordeal today has doubtless taught you, I am a man accustomed to getting what he wants. I always do, eventually."

Hiccup's hands trembled but his voice did not waver as he snapped, "My friends will be here any minute to rescue me."

Viggo's answering smile sent Hiccup's heart plunging through the hull of the ship and into the fathomless depths below.

"Oh, my dear, naive Hiccup. I am well aware your friends are looking for you." He stood, circled the desk, loomed over Hiccup like an omen of death. "But they will not find you." Viggo's teeth glinted in the torchlight. "Not this time."

Hiccup bared his own teeth in response, a cold pit forming in his stomach. He had all but forgotten his physical pain; the terror has usurped it. His heartbeat thudded in his ears. "My friends know where your base is. They know these waters. They know your ship. They will find me."

"Oh, but didn't I tell you, Hiccup? We will not be returning to my base, nor will we be staying in these waters. And yes, they know my vessel, but we will not be staying on it for long. In a few hours, you, my brother, and myself will be boarding another boat, a humble merchant vessel, and my Hunters will stay behind on my ship to give your riders something to chase."

Hiccup's mouth felt so dry he could barely form his next words. "And where… where will we be going?"

"Oh, I have business to attend to elsewhere. I am procuring a rather exotic creature to sell to a wealthy client, and I have a valuable item I have acquired for another man who is offering an outrageously high sum for it. Between the two sales, I will have more than doubled the amount of gold I used to pay your bounty."

"You didn't answer my question."

"An astute observation, my dear."

"Look," Hiccup rasped, hoping his anger resounded loud enough to mask his growing terror, "just tell me what you want. If you're not going to kill me, then why the bounty? Why bring me here? Why take me with you on your little 'business trip'?"

"Oh, do try to keep up, Hiccup. I will be procuring a rare and dangerous beast for a wealthy client who would prefer it broken in before he receives it. Is it not obvious? I want you to help me train my new merchandise."

Hiccup exhaled slowly, trying to beat back a sudden, potent wave of despair. "So it's going to be the Alvin the Treacherous treatment, eh? Why don't you ask him how that went for him? Save yourself some trouble?"

"Oh, you misunderstand me, my dear boy. My desire is not for you to simply train this beast for me. I am hoping you will agree to a more… permanent arrangement."

An incredulous, slightly manic laugh burst from Hiccup's lips. "Are you… are you actually trying to, to offer me a job? You've lost your mind."

"Not at all," Viggo said lightly, though the lines around his eyes tightened. "In fact, I am optimistic that I can change your mind by the end of our voyage." A cold sweat broke out on Hiccup's forehead as he remembered what Viggo had said earlier about breaking him. "You have until we arrive to change your mind."

"And when I don't?"

"Then, as much as I am sure it will pain me to part with you, I will have no further use for you."

"So you'll kill me?"

Viggo only smiled, his eyes glittering. "Let us both hope that it does not come to that."

"You might as well do it now," Hiccup spat, "because I'm not joining you. You stand for everything I hate."

"My dear, you are much more valuable to me alive."

Hiccup scowled, heart beating so fast and hard he felt lightheaded. "So how long do I have, then? Before we arrive? Assuming that my friends don't find me first."

"I assure you, they will not. And I have roughly… three months to change your mind."

Hiccup felt as if all the air had been driven from his lungs. Horror tightened his chest. "Where the — where the Hel are you taking me?" he whispered.

"Why, to Rome, of course."