The Valkyrie's Daughter | Vikings

Chapter Thirteen

It only took a couple of hours to prepare Bjorn's fleet to leave Frankia and for Rollo to join the fleet. 

Bjorn had allowed Rollo to come onto the same boat as himself, Hvitserk and Rona were occupying along with Floki, Helga and a few more people. Rona did not like this. She was going to be spending a lot of time with Rollo, which she most definitely did not want. 

Bjorn and Floki had been talking in a corner of the boat ever since they had boarded. Something was definitely up. 

After a while, the crew had began rowing and the fleet were finally setting off on their journey to the Mediterranean. Rona was stood with Hvitserk towards the middle of the boat with Floki and Helga not too far in front of them. Bjorn stood right at the front of the boat with Rollo. 

The fleet were sailing across the Frankish bay when Bjorn turned to face Floki and gave him a knowing nod. Rona noticed this interaction and it confirmed her suspicions. Something was about to happen. 

One of the crew suddenly yelled holt and all the rowers on every boat in the fleet dropped their ores and the fleet came to a halt. Rollo turned to Bjorn with a worried expression. 

One of the crew men grabbed Rollo. Surprisingly, he showed very little resistance. The crew man tied Rollo's wrists  and ankles together with some rope. By now, everyone in the entire fleet had turned to face the boat Rollo was occupying. 

Rona turned to Hvitserk and leaned towards him to speak.

"What is going on?" Rona asked. Hvitserk shrugged.

Rona moved closer to the front of the boat where Rollo was being detained to try and see exactly what was happening. Two of the crew men had a hold of the ropes that were detaining Rollo. Floki sat on the edge of the boat and stared at Rollo with a smug face. Bjorn nodded at the two crew men holding the ropes. Rollo was suddenly flung into the freezing cold water. Rona's eyes widened. 

The original two crew men with the ropes held onto one end of the ropes and two more men joined them by holding the other end. They were kjølhaling Rollo! Rona smirked. She was actually rather enjoying this spectacle, as twisted as it sounds. 

Rona approached Bjorn and stood by him. Bjorn raised his hand at the crew men, indicating them to stop dragging Rollo and to leave him be for a moment. Rollo was surely struggling by now, choking for air, kicking his feet in a pathetic attempt to try and escape.

Rona crossed a glance with Floki, it was only a glance but that glance was enough for them to indicate to each other that they were both thinking the same thing. Rollo deserved this! The whole fleet was now watching this spectacle.

Bjorn just sat on the edge of the boat with a neutral expression on his face. This did not last long however as Bjorn soon spoke.

"Pull him up!" Bjorn yelled. Rona huffed and rolled her eyes. She would have rather they left Rollo in the water to drown. But Bjorn was too insistent that they take his uncle with them on their journey. 

The four crew men with the ropes managed to pull Rollo up out of the water and back onto the boat. They struggled a little, but they managed. 

It seemed as if Rollo was unconscious. Helga and Hvitserk were actually looking rather concerned. That is before Rollo started coughing and water began to escape his mouth. It was only a few moments before Rollo managed to catch his breath. Suddenly Bjorn shouted the command to set off again.