Yngvild and the Forest of Dreams

By Sea, By Night

While the Seagull left port and used what was left of daylight to minimise their rowing, Noren and I were fed and then ordered to get some sleep. Snorri promised to wake us before we were needed. I'd not realised how much I'd missed Snorri until I saw him again. He paid me compliments, looked genuinely interested in what I had been doing and was generally helpful.

'You could learn from Snorri, Noren.' I said.

'You mean you'd like me to be nicer to you, rather than completely honest.' Noren said.

'You're still doing it wrong Noren.'

'Doing what wrong?'

'Wooing the woman that loves you.'

'I'll give that some thought.'

I fell asleep, and was woken an instant later by Snorri gently shaking my shoulder.

'Wake up, dear Yngvild.' he said.

'Mm. Just got to sleep.'

'Not at all, it's been several hours. You must have been tired.'

'Oh. M'wake now. Thank you.' I tried to get out of the hammock gracefully, but that's probably impossible.

Snorri caught me in his arms. He smelt nice. Manly. His body was solid and muscular, much like Noren's, only a bit more me sized. I stood and enjoyed the contact for a moment longer than I probably should have.

'Sorry. Thanks for catching me. Not quite awake enough yet.' I said.

'You're welcome. There's some food if you want an early breakfast.' Snorri said.

'Where is Noren?'

'He said he had a weird dream and couldn't get back to sleep. He's on deck already.'

I put my shoes back on and gathered my gear. Snorri helped a little and then showed me to the galley for some food. I told him the heavily edited highlights of our time apart.

Up above the Seagull had brought it's mainsail down and the pennants it usually flew as identification. The running lights it used at night to avoid collision had been doused, as had cabin lights. I realised that I was able to see in the dark without thinking about it any longer.

The coast was ahead of us, and we were coming in slowly under oar power. The paddling was measured and smooth. In the bow a helmsman was casting a weight ahead of the ship to test the depth.

'As soon as it starts to shallow we'll out you in a boat to go ashore.' Snorri said.

'How far do you think?'

'Probably half an hour, hard to be certain when it's dark like this.'

I looked at the headland. I could see some horsed figures silhouetted on it. They were about the size of my fingernail when I held it up. We were maybe half a mile offshore.

'I think we're about half a mile offshore. I can just about make out some horses on the headland.' I said.

'Maybe time for the boat then.'

Snorri took me to find Noren at the stern. He was speaking with Captain Olaf and the steersman.

'Time to put the boat out, Captain.' Snorri said.

'It was a pleasure seeing you both again. I hope we catch up again soon.' Captain Olaf said.

'Do you make this run regularly?' I said.

'About once a month. There's a set of ships that tour in sequence.'

'We might see you in a month then!' I said.