Page 71 of Viktor at Sea

I couldn’t believe I had allowed so many months and years to slip by without declaring my undying love for Astrid.

I wasn’t sure if this was only the honeymoon period or how long the marital bliss would last, but I intended to enjoy it to the fullest. But seeing as her parents, Daewon and Katarina, appeared to be just in love with each other as newly married couples, if not more, it gave me hope that we could be just like that as well.

“Viktor!” Roscoe called for me once again and rattled the doorknob.

“I think that’s my cue to leave,” I chuckled and stepped away from Astrid before I was tempted to drag her into the bedroom for another taste of her sweet pussy that I had quickly become addicted to.

“I’ll be waiting for you when you get back,” Astrid smiled warmly at me, watching with mirth swimming in the dark pools of her eyes as I walked in reverse to the door before Roscoe broke it down. In his defence, I had promised to take him on a trip like this one before I left for my latest sea mission, so I understood he was excited. However, his timing couldn’t be worse if he tried.

“And I’ll be the Captain sailing back to you.” I shot my wife a lopsided grin before I opened the door. And with perfect timing, too, as Roscoe already had his hand raised to knock on the door again.

“Good morrow, Roscoe,” I chuckled and stepped out of the hut.

“What took you so long?” Roscoe groaned. We both fell into step with each other as we walked toward the shore where The Serpent was docked.

“I was just saying goodbye to Astrid.”

Roscoe pulled a disgusted face. “I didn’t need to know that.”

“Well, you asked,” I laughed.

“Everyone is already waiting on the ship for you. Garth sent me to fetch you.”

True to his word, everyone was already onboard The Serpent, waiting for me and Roscoe.

“Good of you to finally make it onboard, Captain,” Odin grinned as he took charge of the wheel, sailing us away from the shore. “It’s not like we were waiting for you or anything.”

“Stop with the teasing and get us into some deep water,” I chuckled.

“Odin steers the ship?” Roscoe asked curiously as we moved to join the rest of the group.

It was a group of teenagers and young adults, eight in total, an equal number of males and females. I had had females join my crew before, but none returned for a second mission. No females volunteered themselves for any of the longer missions either. I had a rule of mine to accept no one below the age of eighteen to join me on missions. The most common reason female crew members hadn’t returned for a second mission was because they had gotten married while back on land. I couldn’t confidently say that it was their husbands holding them back from returning when I knew the living conditions on the ship were less than ideal. Things had gotten better over time but were still far from great.

Personally, I couldn’t blame them. If I were female, I wouldn’t want to spend weeks and months on end at sea with a group of seamen either. Even if I made sure all my crew were good, decent men.

“Odin does a medley of things, just as most of us do. Steering the ship is just one of them,” I told him, and since we had joined everyone else, I got started on the introductions. While everyone knew everyone in Jorvik, we were different men at sea than we were on land.

“The entire crew is not here today, but Odin is over there steering the ship.” I pointed out Odin who waved at the group. “Odin is a very skilled swordsman. Far more skilled in the art of the sword than any one of us. He’s also our weatherman,” I said and chuckled at the peculiar expressions on their faces. “If there’s going to be a change in the weather, Odin knows about it.”

“Next up, we have Garth. He’s the wisest and most experienced man we have on the ship. Garth has been with me on every mission since I was a teenager. When I moved toJorvik, he joined me. Don’t be fooled by him. He’s more than just a pretty face,” I chuckled when he narrowed his eyes at me in warning. “He’s good at controlling the sails. Definitely better than me. But after all these years, fishing is still something he’s terrible at.”

“Jerrik, on the other hand, is the best fisherman among us. He’s also a pretty good swimmer,” I introduced the next crew member. “He is in charge of catching all of our meals. Not only is he highly skilled with a spear, but he’s also good with a sword and has a good head on him for when things don’t go exactly according to plan.”

“We then have Gustav. He’s all right at fishing, and he and I sometimes help Jerrik out, but he truly excels in the kitchen. Gustav is in charge of cooking and feeding us all. If it weren’t for Gustav, we would all starve to death. Or at least return extremely malnourished. And most recently, Gustav catered for my wedding. The fish was the best I’ve ever eaten,” I grinned at Gustav, noting him standing a little taller and prouder.

“And last, but definitely not least, we have Latham. Latham is the master of all trades and helps with almost everything. He and Caspian mostly split the steering of the ship as well as all the other tasks that need to be completed on the ship every day.” And just because he wasn’t here, I couldn’t help but jest, “And since Caspian isn’t here, I thought I’d be truthful and let you know that he couldn’t be here with us today as he’s too busy chasing some skirt.”

“Caspian is going to get you when he hears of that one,” Garth chuckled and patted me on the back before we split up.

Once we were deep into the ocean and could hardly see Jorvik from where we were, we broke the group into two. Garth and Latham took charge of the first group, starting them off with a tour of the ship, getting them acquainted with everything thatneeded to be done around here before ending with some practice with the steering wheel.

Jerrik, Gustav and I took charge of the second group and led them into the water for a spot of fishing so we would have something to eat for lunch today. We would reconvene as one group later, and Gustav would take us through gutting, prepping and cooking whatever we managed to catch.

Honestly, I didn’t have much hope for this group as two of them proved to be weak swimmers despite their insistence before we got on the ship that they were good–we really should have made them prove it before letting them join us. One of them was scared to touch any fish and gagged every time one brushed up against her in the water. And the last one proved to be alright at the whole catching fish part–with his bare hands as he refused to use a spear–but started looking green in the face when Gustav swam over to congratulate him and told him everything they would do to cook that fish later.

The second group didn’t fare much better than the first, but I didn’t mind getting in the water and getting my hands dirty.

Not when I was born to be one with the water.

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