Page 82 of Viktor at Sea

“I had lunch with Barden,” I admitted, finally putting my foot down. I couldn’t keep the truth from Astrid forever. For heaven’s sake, we were set to sail in two days! That meant tomorrow was our last full day together.

“What was the occasion?” She asked, never one to miss a beat. It wasn’t often people were invited to Barden’s hut for a meal. Not even me. If I did, there was always a good reason for it. “Wait. Aren’t you annoyed with him?”

“It’s part of what I said I’d tell you after dinner,” I told her, shifting uncomfortably when her eyes lingered on me.

“Fine,” she agreed with a sigh and glanced to the side where Kis was enjoying her salmon. “I’m starting to think Kis likes you more than me.”

“It might just be all the food I’ve been giving her behind your back,” I chuckled, and while I didn’t completely agree with her, the thought warmed my heart.

“She is looking plumper than when she did before we got married,” she chuckled.

“And she has been scratching me less,” I hummed, a thoughtful expression on my face. “In fact, I think the last time she scratched me was before we got married.”

“Do you think she automatically likes you now that we’re married?” Astrid frowned in question, matching my expression. “That’s no way of her knowing, right?”

“No, I don’t think so.” We both turned to look at Kis who was busy enjoying her salmon, not the least bit interested in either of us. We laughed and returned to our food, and even though it tasted great, we didn’t nearly enjoy it as much as Kis did hers.

Dinner was beautiful, even if the food wasn’t the best. Despite the shortcomings, Astrid praised me for it nonetheless, and by the end, I wanted nothing more than to pull her into my arms and never let go. I truly didn’t deserve her.

It was only when we cleared our plates after dinner that I felt our conversation from earlier looming above our heads. I took Astrid’s hand and led her back to the table.

“Time’s up,” Astrid announced, turning her whole body to face me. “You promised to tell me the truth after dinner. It’s after dinner now, and I demand to know what’s going on.”

“You’re right. It is after dinner,” I gulped and nodded. Usually, the saying was, it’s now or never, but the latter part didn’t exist for us anymore. Thanks to me, It was only now. “I’ve been keeping something from you these past few days.”

“I kind of figured,” she murmured with a small frown. “You looked really conflicted about it, so I thought it better to leave you to it until you were ready to talk. I hoped you would come to talk to me about it eventually though. I guess eventually is now.”

“I should have spoken to you about it as soon as I found out,” I murmured. “But I couldn’t bring myself to tell you then. I’m sorry, my siren.”

“You’re telling me now, and that’s all that matters,” Astrid murmured reassuringly, reaching out to take one of my hands and squeeze it.

“The other night, when I returned from the sea after taking the kids out, Barden was waiting for me at the shore. He said he had a new mission lined up for me.”

“That’s a good thing, right?” She asked, but I could literally see the cogs turning in her head. We both knew where this conversation was going, but I was the only one who knew the extent of it.

“I guess it is, depending on how you look at it.”

“And how are you looking at it?”

I pursed my lips and exhaled deeply. “I’ll be gone for a few months,” I finally admitted.

Astrid blinked slowly, watching me intently. “How many months?”

“Four. Maybe five.” I held my breath.

“What kind of mission is it? Where will you go?” Astrid asked in a small voice, not giving anything away.

“It doesn’t matter,” I groaned and ran a frustrated hand through my hair.

“It matters to me,” she insisted and squeezed my hand.

“This mission has multiple parts to it,” I started with a sigh, cupping her hand between both of mine and raising it to my lips to press a soft kiss to the back of it. “We’ll start by trading with some islands closest to us and then move further out. The second to last place we’ll be stopping at is Greenland. It’ll take three weeks to sail there. We received a letter from their Chief, and Barden is now obsessed with them. After Greenland, we’re going to try our luck with Treasure Island to look for the lost treasure. After that, we’ll sail back home which would take another month.”

“Lost treasure? Greenland?” Astrid gaped, her eyes wide with disbelief. “Treasure Island?”

“It’ll be quite the adventure,” I chuckled, but the sound was heavy and far from light-hearted. “But this is the first time I’m remotely excited about leaving.”

“I don’t want you to not feel excited because of me.”

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