Frej doubled over the railing of the ship, retching. He… Was not a very good Viking, that was for sure. He would’ve been a horrible one. The second we had set foot on the ship, he had been throwing up, completely unable to keep anything down. The seasickness took hard on my lover, so there were no romantic hours spent in the moonlight. No voyage dreams to live out.

I didn’t mind taking care of him though. He curled up to me and slept in my arms every day. His seasickness was also a good excuse for not leaving our make-shift tent during the day, but only venture out when the sun had set. It was either the light proof tent or a coffin. I was happier with the tent.

“I’m the worst Viking in history,” Frej said with a shivering voice as he wiped his mouth, and dumped down on the bottom of the ship, leaning against the railing. I wrapped him in furs again and smiled at him.

“You’re probably not raiding any countries anytime soon, lover,” I murmured.

He grinned up at me and shook his head.

It was lucky he was so good at using his compulsion, so we had no issues with the crew members on the ship. All he had to do was to tell them not to worry, that nothing would happen to them. He asked them to forget what they saw too. They had all been very pleasant to travel with, not bothering us during the day and then mostly sleeping during the night.

Frej had still been hesitant about feeding on them though. He was somehow better at it when it was time for one of the humans to die. But when we didn’t feed to kill, he was reluctant and hard to convince to actually do it.

It was something that he had to get over. He was no longer human, and he didn’t have to feel sorry for the humans. He had to learn that.

***

I hired a carriage in the harbour to take us to my estate and we arrived late in the evening. I opened the door for him and showed him into the entrance hall. It was a big grey stone house with several rooms, a couple of towers and massive windows, all covered with thick curtains, shutting out the sun during the day.

Frej gasped when he entered. Every inch of the walls was covered in paintings. Some were religious while others were just figments of my imagination.

“Is this a castle?”

“No, lover,” I said and tried to not laugh. He had never seen anything bigger than his wooden huts back in Dania. The Vikings weren’t big on architecture. Of houses. But their ships were far superior to any culture I had ever seen. They were also faster which meant we didn’t have to spend more than 4 days on the sea in order to get to England. “It’s just a manor. I’ll take you to a real castle later.”

“Really?” He looked wide-eyed at me.

“I told you I’d show you the world, didn’t I? There are castles in this world.”

He laughed and nodded, looking back at the walls. He walked over to one, depicting mountains and an angel hovering above them.

“Who made these?” he asked, tentatively running the tips of his fingers over the wall.

I swallowed something before answering. “I did.”

He whirled around and his eyes widened even more. I didn’t think that was possible, but it was and he looked adorable. I walked over to him and pulled him close.

“You’re an artist. I can’t believe I never knew,” he murmured softly and threaded his fingers through my hair.

“I never told you.”

“I should’ve known. Your hands.” He looked down and took my hand in his. “They’re a creator’s hands.” He kissed my knuckles and smiled so sweetly at me.

“Let me show the rest of your house,” I said before I became completely lost in him.

Showing him new things could very easily become my favourite thing in the world. Everything he saw he reacted adorably to. He didn’t understand the kitchen or the dining room at all, thought the sitting room with a massive fireplace was magical and then I showed him the bedroom. It had a bed made for a king with a big mahogany frame and curtains around it. He threw himself on it and sank into the mattress, bringing the soft blanket to his face, inhaling the scent of it.

“I want to never leave this bed.”

I lied down beside him and pried the blanket out of his hands. “I can arrange that,” I murmured and kissed him. “If I can stay here with you.”

“I thought that went without saying.” He buried his hands in my hair again and kissed me deeply.