Chapter 464: Casting Off
Well over a month had passed since Berengar and Honoria had begun to make preparations for their journey to the New World. Standing at the docks of Trieste was other than Berengar and his Pirate Queen Honoria.
The couple held hands as they gazed at the recently retrofitted Honoria's Revenge, which had been rebranded as "Queen Honoria's Revenge." It was now an iron-clad sloop of war, fully capable of winning any naval battle on its planet entirely by its lonesome. No enemy vessel on this great earth could pierce its water-tight steel-plated hull.
The day had finally arrived, and Berengar was about to step foot on a journey to the new world. While the 5th, 7th, and 9th Divisions of the Austrian Royal Army had already begun to deploy to the Teutonic State, he was taking a separate Journey, one that many would deem utter madness should they become aware of it.
Though Berengar knew the truth about this world and that there were two continents on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, the world at large knew nothing about this; even rumors of the centuries past tale of Vinland were largely forgotten. Despite this, Berengar had announced to his wives and important government officials that he would be going on a journey to find this lost continent which was only spoken about in ancient Scandinavian folk tales.
While Berengar stood at the docks he was dressed in his standard field uniform the primary difference being the great cloak he wore over his tunic. After all, it was the middle of spring, and the weather was still quite cool, even here in the Mediterranean, he could only imagine what it would be like on the Eastern Seaboard of North America.
Honoria was dressed in an entirely new outfit. It was primarily based upon that which the sailors in the Austrian Navy now wore. In other words, it was a Kriegsmarine sailor uniform; the difference was that it was cut in a feminine style to accommodate Honoria's curvy figure. Aside from this, there was another major difference and that was the fact that she also wore a skirt and thigh-high socks with it.
That was not the only new thing about Honoria's appearance. Since she had gotten a new Navy blue uniform, she had decided to redye her hair. She had removed the expensive Tyrian Purple dye entirely and replaced it with deep blue indigo, which flawlessly blended with her ivory skin and mint green eyes.
Around the Privateer's shoulder was an MP-22 submachine gun, and on her black leather belt was a P-22 Pistol. Berengar had outfitted his sailors and marines with the best equipment available for this expedition to the new world. He, too, was equipped with the same weapons as his wife.
Berengar's family were gathered in the docks as night descended upon the city of Trieste. To ensure that nobody would find out about the covert operation to the new world, Berengar had closed the docks at night for the past month, even now the only souls to bear witness to this monumental departure were the King's family and the Naval Personnel permitted with the security clearance to witness the event.
Adela was far from pleased that her man would be leaving her behind with the newborn twins so soon after returning home from war, yet Berengar knew that now was the best time to escape the chaos that his family was going through.
The young Queen gazed sternly at her husband, believing he had gone entirely insane; after all, to search for land from a largely forgotten tale was not something a sane individual would do. However, she ultimately decided to support him in his endeavor and walked up to him, where she kissed him upon the lips and whispered something in his ear.
"Though I don't approve of this madness, I will pray for your safe return..."
Berengar smiled as he patted his High Queen on the head before reassuring her of his security.
"Relax, my sweet Adela... I will be home in a few months; you do not need to fret so much!"
The young woman merely pouted in silence as she took her step back, it was now Linde's turn to say goodbye, and she was far more passionate in her act than the previous Queen. She wrapped her arms around her husband's neck and passionately kissed him for more than thirty seconds before pulling herself apart.
"Bring me back a souvenir! I trust that you won't do anything stupid!"
Once more, the King smiled and nodded his head before responding.
"Of course, do I look like a fool who would get himself killed on the other side of the world to you?"
Linde merely smirked before responding to her husband's question.
"What do you think?"
Berengar chuckled before patting his second wife on the ass and whispering in her ears in response to this.
"Take good care of our kids and Alexandros while you are at it!"
The Second Queen nodded her head in response and returned to the line, where Berengar's next bride took her turn to say goodbye. Yasmin approached her husband with a smile on her face. Out of all of his wives, aside from Honoria, she was the most supportive of his actions. She kissed her man goodbye before resting her head on his chest; she said the words that shocked everyone present as she did so.
"Don't be gone for too long, or you will miss the birth of our child..."
Berengar, as well as his other wives, gazed upon the Moorish Princess with awe. Did she just admit that she was pregnant? Before Berengar could ask for clarification, the mature woman placed a finger on his lips to silence him before nodding her head. After doing so, she returned to where the other women were standing.
The last woman to approach Berengar was Henrietta, who was in tears; she desperately clung to Berengar where She poured her tears into his chest as she desperately tried to convince him to stay behind.
"You are going away so soon after returning! Must you leave?"
Berengar nodded his head silently in response to this and wiped the tears from his sister's eyes. After the girl had managed to calm herself, she nodded her head before whispering something in her brother's ears.
"Very well, but when you return, I will no longer take no for an answer..."
When Berengar heard this line, his eyes widened in response; he knew exactly what she was referring to. After all, for the past few months, he had been finding ways to refuse her advances, she desperately wanted to sleep with him, and now that he was embarking on a distant journey, she would one way or another have her way when he returned to her.
Before he could protest her words, Henrietta plunged her lips against Berengar's and violated his tongue with her own, in doing so garnering the fury of his wives. They were unaware of the so-called "secret relationship" between them. Berengar was too stunned to do anything, and ultimately Honoria pulled the young Princess off of her brother.
Henrietta began to pout as she received quite a talking-to from Berengar's wives. As punishment for her unacceptable behavior, the princess would be confined to her room for the next few days. As for Berengar, he and Honoria finally stepped up on the bow of the vessel, which housed an entire crew and a company of marines. Now that they had said their goodbyes, they had begun to cast off.
The Austrian King stood firmly upon the bow as his wives waved him off; he continued to stare out towards their direction until the women were no longer visible. After he could no longer see the group, he sighed heavily and turned his head to see Honoria smirking at him with her arms crossed. The pirate queen quickly began to chastise him for not pushing Henrietta away.
"You just can't say no to your sister, can you?"
Berengar gazed upon his beautiful wife and smiled before grabbing ahold of her waist and reaching his hand through the bottom of her shirt and into her chest. The mighty pirate Queen immediately blushed as her husband took advantage of her. However, his following words utterly charmed her to the point where she completely forgot her inner fury.
"Why would I care about my little sister when I have such a beautiful woman standing before me?"
Upon saying this, the Austrian King began to kiss his wife on the neck before picking her up and leading her into the Captain's Cabin. The couple started their journey by making love on the high seas. They would continue their amorous activities until they fell asleep well past midnight.
As for when they awoke, they would already be close to the straight of Gibraltar. With the triple expansion engine, and the full-rigged sails, this vessel was capable of exceeding speeds over 20 knots; it was even faster than a clipper, making it the perfect boat to reach the New World. Theoretically, they could get the legendary land of Vinland in a fortnight thus all they had to do now was wait until they arrived on the shores of a long-forgotten continent.
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