Page 75 of Viktor at Sea

I wanted to, but I also didn’t want to at the same time.

“What if I say no?” I asked, testing the waters.

Barden’s face darkened. “Don’t make me say it,” he murmured lowly.

“Say it,” I demanded through gritted teeth, daring him.

“I’ll be forced to elect a new Captain for The Serpent,” Barden told me in a small, melancholy voice. Despite his tone, I couldn’t bring myself to feel sorry for him. Not when he was presenting me with such an ultimatum.

Stay in Jorvik with my wife or keep my Captaincy–my life’s worth and life-long dream. Once I lost it, I doubted an opportunity to be a sea Captain here would ever arise again. Barden wouldn’t be so forgiving. I would need to relocate to another island, but I couldn’t take Astrid away from her family. I couldn’t ask that of her.

Barden really had left me with very slim pickings.

“Whoever you pick to be the new Captain won’t be half as good as me. Not even close,” I told him, speaking nothing but the truth, and we both knew it. If I was going to be replaced as Captain, then it only made sense for the new Captain to be from my crew. The only other person who was equipped to be a good Captain, in my opinion, was Garth. Though I knew he wasn’t the least bit interested in the responsibilities that came with being Captain, nor would he betray me like that. After him, it would probably come down to Hammond, Latham or Odin, but none of them had the experience that Garth and I did. They were all great at their individual responsibilities but not much of an all-rounder. The only person who came close to being anall-rounder was Latham, but he was also the first to panic when things got tough.

I was the best Captain Jorvik ever had. For Barden to insinuate that I could easily be replaced by one of my own men was outright insulting. Not just to me but to my crew. If one of them showed signs of being a better Captain than me, I would have stepped down by now.

“They will be once they return with the King’s hidden treasure,” Barden spoke with the utmost confidence, but I wasn’t convinced.

“No one else would dare to travel that far,” I said, sure of it.

“A lot of people would for the right amount of gold.”

I gritted my teeth. He was lying, and we both knew it.

It wasn’t just my Captaincy that was stopping me from saying no. It was the fact that such an opportunity excited me. Even though the mission would be long, it sounded like this would be the most exciting trip I had ever been on thus far, and perhaps I would ever be on. And for that reason, in a moment of weakness, I caved.

“Yes,” I hissed.

“Great! That’s just what I wanted to hear. The idea of electing another Captain in place of you upsets me greatly, Viktor.” But clearly not enough to refrain from threatening me with the ultimatum. “I was thinking you could set sail in three days. That should give us enough time to finish everything we would need to, pack the ship and work on the map for the trip.”

“A week,” I forced the demand out through gritted teeth. If I was going to dance to his tune, it would be on my terms.

“Four days,” he bargained.

“Six.”

“We can’t be wasting time here, Viktor,” Barden sighed. “I’ll do five days, but I won’t go any higher.”

“Fine,” I groaned in acceptance. “Five days.”

“Good night,” Barden smiled at me, but I couldn’t bring myself to return it. Not when he had metaphorically twisted my arm and forced me into something I shouldn’t have after only being married for two days. “Come find me in the morning, and we can start strategising.”

After all the information that Barden had dropped on me, I stood and watched him walk away from me. He eventually disappeared into the darkness, but the conflicting thoughts still played in my mind.

With a heavy heart and a lot to think about, I let myself into my hut. If I glanced around, I would have noticed that Astrid had left some food out for me on the table which had now turned cold. As I didn’t have much of an appetite after that conversation with Barden, I quickly undressed and slid into bed behind my wife.

As soon as I pulled back the blanket, I caught a whiff of the fresh cotton scent that always lingered on her skin, and I immediately felt like I was home.

How was I going to leave her for three months?

I leaned over her sleeping body to kiss her forehead before blowing out the candle she had left burning, no doubt when she had been up waiting for me.

Astrid groaned and stirred beside me at my movement.

“Go back to sleep, my siren,” I whispered against her forehead and pulled her sleeping body into mine. “Everything’s okay.”

Except, it wasn’t.

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