Page 85 of Viktor at Sea

“They’re very pretty,” Astrid smiled softly, her eyes lingering on the earrings for a few more seconds before she glanced up at me. “I think we’ve got everything we need. Let’s get going.”

“We should get them,” I told her, having already decided that these earrings would look beautiful on her ears and that she deserved them. Astrid deserved so much more, but this was a good starting point.

“No, we shouldn’t.”

“Why not?”

“They won’t go with the rest of my jewellery.” Astrid shook her head, but I didn’t miss how her eyes lingered on the price tag. They were a little expensive but nothing we couldn’t splurge on. When I tried to insist, she shook her head firmly.

“Well, if you’re sure.”

We walked away from the stall to find some vegetables to go along with the goat and rabbit.

When Astrid was cooking, I snuck out to return to the stall.

Hosting dinner for the Skaus–Daewon,Katarina, Dustin and Freja–was more fun than I could imagine. Just as I had thought of the other day, we pushed the table away from the corner and put down six seating pillows for all of us.

Astrid had taken charge of cooking the meat. It paid off because the goat and rabbit were cooked to perfection. Not the least bit overcooked like I had done the deer last night. We had some spinach and potatoes to go along with it, and then some carrot cake from Gustav that I asked him to bake for us earlier today.

About halfway through cooking, Kis brushed up against my leg and scratched me. When she did it twice more, I realised she was mad at me because there wasn’t any fish on the menu. She hissed at me the entire time that I stayed in the hut, and when I returned later with a freshly caught fish in hand, the hissing stopped.

Perhaps we had spoiled her a tad bit much.

Daewon found it absolutely hilarious, but Katarina was very concerned with the scratching. She was worried Kis would end up hurting me for real, but I wasn’t worried. As long as I kept loving Astrid and buying Kis fish, I knew she would continue to tolerate me.

Everyone expressed how much of a great time they had before they left, and I couldn’t have asked for anything more. At the end of the evening, I was sad to be leaving them all.

This was what having a family must be like. It was sad that I had gone without for so long, but I would forever be grateful to have found a new family in the Skaus.

“Leave the dishes,” Astrid called out to me, still sitting at the dining table as she nibbled on a slice of carrot cake. “Come over here so we can talk.”

“But if I don’t do the dishes now, you’ll have to do them later.”

“I can them do them tomorrow,” she said. “I just want to talk to you, Viktor.”

“What did you want to talk about?” I asked, wiping my hands dry on the bottom of my tunic as I moved to join her at the table. We ate a large portion of the carrot cake after dinner and then gave a slice to Daewon and Katarina, and another slice to Dustin and Freja, leaving one slice for us. I couldn’t resist the temptation to reach over and steal some of the icing. When she huffed and turned her nose up at me in that adorable way she always did, I laughed, but it wasn’t enough to stop me from going in for some more.

“I want to talk about tomorrow and the next couple of months.”

The smile slowly slipped off my face. “We can talk about it tomorrow. Let’s just finish this cake and enjoy the rest of the evening,” I sighed, knowing she wouldn’t give in so easily. The worst part was that she was right. We were overdue a talk and would have no time for it in the morning. “I’ve been doing some thinking,” I murmured.

“About?” She asked in a small voice.

I took a few bites of the cake and fed Astrid a slice.

“I’m not going to go tomorrow.”

Astrid blinked at me slowly. “What do you mean?” She turned to face me with large, questioning eyes, unable to believe me. I didn’t blame her. I couldn’t believe what I was saying right now either, but it just felt…right.

“I’m not going to leave Jorvik tomorrow,” I told her, holding her eyes. “I’m going to tell Barden in the morning andrecommend Garth take over as Captain. I know he doesn’t want to, but apart from me, he’s the only one equipped for the job. I’m sure if I just speak to him, I’ll be able to get him to agree. He owes me a favour, anyway.”

“You can’t do that, Viktor,” Astrid spoke with the utmost conviction and shook her head. “You’re Captain, and not just because you have the most experience. You were born to sail the seas. You’ll be miserable if you stop doing that. I don’t want that for you. I don’t want you to do that for me.”

“It won’t completely stop. I can still go out on the boats and for swims and stuff.”

“It won’t be the same, and you know it,” she pointed out, and I hated that she was right.

Why couldn’t she just agree and let me stay? It would make all of this so much easier and save us both a ton of heartbreak.

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