Second Chances 1.43

Viggo was placed on port, watching as the mantles of water rocked the pirate ship in the distance. They were about two hundred meters away, so Viggo thought they were within range. He took an arrow from the quiver and put it in the bow.

-Do you think you can give something from this distance?- asked Semiramis next to him.

-I just must find the balance- replied Viggo, tightening the bowstring to its maximum while pointing the arrowhead at the enemy ship. Then he raised the tip almost looking at the sky and then moved it to the right. By logic, anyone would think that the arrow was going to fall into the sea. However, when Viggo released the rope, the arrow flew through the skies and the momentum of the wind corrected its trajectory little by little until it began to descend. The arrow flew astonishing all the pirates until it fell on the head of a pirate. From a distance a large "Oooo" was heard followed by a deadly silence. However, unlike sensible warriors, pirates embraced death. So, they raised war cries and kept advancing in the direction of the ship.

Viggo took a second and even a third arrow. They all hit the target, but after the third arrow, the pirates occupied their shields to protect themselves from what might fall from the sky. So, he stops shooting arrows.

-Get ready Semiramis- roared Viggo -here they come-

Semiramis nodded and retreated to the platform from where she was directing the ship, next to Scheherezade. At the same time, it was seen that the pirate ship was coming to ram. Viggo looked at the crew and screamed –get ready for the impact-

The ship kept moving forward, with its sails driven by the wind and hit Semiramis' ship hull with the spur. The crash was so strong that it threw one of the sailors through the air and fell flat onto the deck. He was fine, but it was going to hurt a lot later. After the impact, Viggo made a large jump of three meters from the deck to the enemy ship. As soon as he stepped on the deck, they threw themselves at him, but Viggo was dodging the swords to the sides in a fluid way. He seemed to slide instead of walking. He would pass under the swords and strike with all his might as the pirates' bones creaked and cracked. No one endured more than one of his punches. At the same time, allied sailors jumped onto the ship carrying bronze shields and swords and then threw themselves into the fight.

Ten minutes later, the deck of the pirate ship was full of corpses.

Viggo looked at the allied sailors and began to count one by one and when he counted them all he nodded satisfied.

-Semiramis- Viggo screams in the direction of the other ship.

-What's going on?- shouted Semiramis back from her boat.

-This time we were lucky and the enemy ship was not damaged. Divide your men and take this boat next to ours and we sell it in Argoloide-

-Ooooh!- shouted the sailors happily, because if they managed to sell this ship, their pay would increase tenfold.

-Do not rejoice so many sons of bitch- shout Viggo -first you must get to the mainland and then make the arrangements of the negotiation. Once you have the money in your bag rejoice as much as you want and make shit celebrating. They might even try to convince a hetera to listen to them-

All the sailors burst out laughing out loud. The heteras were the muses of kings and generals. Even if they could sell this boat and keep all the money to themselves, it still wouldn't be enough.

Viggo jumped into Semiramis' ship, advanced down the deck and climbed the ten steps to the platform. Then he notices that Semiramis and Scheherezade were looking at him strangely. He looked at his body and noticed that it was dirty with blood. Viggo let out a sigh and stopped two meters from Semiramis.

-Come on, start ordering your men- said Viggo.

Semiramis nodded and said -okay, but don't get close. You suck-

Viggo refused turning his eyes to the sky, left the bow and put it aside, on the way to starboard and threw himself into the sea. He then climbed up the side of the ship and climbed to the deck.

-Why did you jump off that side?- asked Semiramis approaching Viggo. The latter looked into her eyes noticing how the dark hair as the night framed her tender face.

-On the other side of the boat there were sharks- Viggo said as if nothing had happened and moved to a place on the deck where the sun was coming straight.

Semiramis froze with her eyes wide open in an expression of disbelief and then followed him –you are insane– she said frightenedly. Viggo just laughed as he dried in the heat of the sun.

The disembarkation in the port of Argoloide was quite an expertise because they had to leave the pirate ship stranded in the middle of the sea, only with Viggo taking care of it while the rest of the crew was going to dock the ship of Semiramis. After that, they had to travel in small boats to the pirate ship and take it to the port.

On the other hand, Semiramis had a lot of work, since he had to carry out the administrative procedures with the scribes and justify the second ship. Since she was going to sell it, the scribes wanted to charge her a special tax. After half an hour of arguing Semiramis was bored, so she just let go of Kiara's name. Of course, the little port scribes did not know the name, so they sent to ask. Let's say they were lucky that Argoloide's top brass didn't send them to kill on the spot. In the end, it was quite a ruse to take a cut with a tax that did not even exist.

Viggo disliked Argoloide. In that country there was a clever prince named Midas, who was said and believed, with the gift of multiplying drachmas (local currency). But he was just brazening enough to try to tax everything. The fact is that Viggo only passes through the country once and then avoid him at all costs. The first time he passed they wanted to charge him an absurd tax that almost ate all his money for travel expenses. In addition, when he told them that he would turn around and surround the country to avoid paying, they pointed weapon at him. In the end, he had to pay. It would have been easy to kill a dozen guards, but he always wondered where the gain was from doing that.

They spent two days resting in Argoloide, until Prince Midas himself bought the ship. Of course, all with the intention that they would say something positive about him in front of Kiara. After receiving the payment that were 30,000 drachmas of silver, they sailed towards the port of Gythion, in Laconia-Sparta. The journey was quiet, as Sparta and its fleet of ships were relentless with pirates.

Once they reached the port of Gythion, Semiramis, Scheherezade and Viggo rode horses and traveled to what was once the burned temple of Apollo. Viggo advanced ahead of the other horses with the morning sun over his head. Seeing the white rock house on the hill a smile bloomed on his lips and was filled with joy. It was only a few days, but it felt a long time. When he reaches the base of the hill, wait for the others and together they climbed the hill until they reached in front of the large braziers with fire, at the entrance of the house.

-Well done, Viggo- said Kiara, walking out of the front door. She wore her revealing white robe. With the large black horns on her head and the engravings of fuchsia color.

-Thank you- replied Viggo as he got off the horse. He walked to her, and Kiara greeted him with a tight hug. At the same time, Semiramis and Scheherezade got off their horses and knelt in front of Kiara.

-It's good to see that you're in good health, Semiramis and Scheherezade- Kiara said moving forward with Viggo by the hand as they intertwined their fingers.

-Thank you for your good words, my queen- said Semiramis, her head down.

-Ma! You still refuse to call me by my name-

-I could never put myself on the same level. I owe you so much-

-Don't worry, you'll owe me more- Kiara said half-jokingly, half-seriously.

Semiramis raised her gaze somewhat in amazement, but relaxed when she saw Kiara smile coquettishly. She stares at her and wonder if she was serious, or it was all a joke. After a few seconds, her eyes shifted from Kiara to the hand holding Viggo's hand. Then she looked down and stayed in that position, thinking about things.

-Come, we've prepared something delicious- Kiara said, turning her back on them and holding Viggo's hand.

-I'm sorry, but, but we're in a hurry- Semiramis said with some doubts.

-Lino's farmer, in the Élide?- asked Kiara looking back as her eyes had an expression of boredom, -don't worry, if he's in a hurry you can tell him I needed you-

Kiara kept advancing to the house and Semiramis clenched his fist in a sign of annoyance. However, she took a deep breath and nodded. She stood up and Scheherezade followed her in the gesture. They advanced together to the house and saw by a window a long table of beautiful light wood. At the headwaters sat Kiara and to her right Viggo as two violet-haired girls (Ana and Sakura) advanced down a corridor carrying a steaming pot each.

The girls placed the pots on clay supports in the center of the table. They stood on the side of Kiara and waited for the women to sit down. The first was Semiramis, who took the seat to the left of Kiara and then followed by Scheherezade.

-Serve and then take your seats- Kiara said to which Sakura and Ana nodded. They then filled the plates with food and then took their places next to Viggo. Semiramis looked at Kiara waiting for her to say something to her, but Kiara seemed focused on eating and knowing if Viggo was happy with what they ate. Semiramis frowns on two things; one, on the need to complete her business in the Élide as quickly as possible and embark on other business. The other reason she frowns was thinking about who had "made Viggo man." She was almost 100% sure that it was this quirky woman of easy attitude and light as the wind. On the one hand, she knew badly, but on the other hand she had to admit that Kiara was a beautiful woman, several points above Scheherezade, who was one of the prince's great favorites in Persia. Had it not been for the fact that she was from other lands and without backing, the prince would have made her one of his wives. Semiramis looked down and ate small bites while thinking about this. After all, if she had not lost the political war, she would never have been exiled and Scheherezade would never have had to leave Persia.