Duke of Normandy by Griff Hosker

Author:Griff Hosker
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Sword Books Ltd.
Published: 2018-08-18T23:00:00+00:00

The crew liked the song of my grandfather and soon we had a healthy sweat. Erik turned us into the wind but we just kept the same pace with the oars. After an hour Erik shouted, “Step the mast!”

Haaken the Bold and half of the crew rose and left the other half of us to row. They went to the mast and unshipped it then stored it on the mast fish. They had an hour to rest and to drink before they relieved us. As we rowed I saw that the sky was no longer totally grey. There were patches of blue. The weather was changing.

We had stopped singing and I was enjoying the simple rhythm of rowing. I watched my men working as a team to bring down the mast and secure it. We would now be invisible until we reached Nantes. We would raise the mast before we left but until then we would be low to the water. I had heard of sailors who had spoken of seeing sea monsters. I am not saying there are no sea monsters for the seas are wide and I have not yet crossed the great ocean but the ones they saw were drekar. Our dragon prow rose on crests and fell in troughs. To a simple sailor it would be a sea monster. Their work finished Haaken and the others made water and ate. The ship’s boys had little to do and so they ran out lines for fish. With luck when we were relieved there would be freshly caught fish. The silver magpies of the sea, with their almost purple flesh were delicious eaten within an hour of catching. The rest would be salted and air dried. We would not starve on such a short voyage.

When I saw Lars turn the hourglass I knew that my shift was almost up. I had rowed for two hours and I felt it. Egil and Godwin would be in an even worse state. Haaken came down the centre board and stood behind me. He slid on the bench next to me and put his hands on the oar. “Ready, lord.” I slipped out and stood up. The changeover was seamless but then we were very experienced. Some of those by the prow were not as smooth and I heard the clatter of oars. We would be slowed, albeit briefly, until the men had the rhythm again. There was a bucket of sea water by the mast fish and I dipped and held my hands in the salty water. There would be salve for those like Egil and Godwin but for older hands like mine sea water was effective. It cooled and it helped to cleanse any cracks in the skin. I would apply some seal oil after I had eaten. Before I began to row again I would wipe my hands on my cloak. It would help to make the cloak resistant to water and prevent my hands from slipping on the oars.

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