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My army has shrunk by one hundred and eighty soldiers, some of them were just wounded, but they were not fit for quick reuse in battle, additionally, I have to leave two hundred men in the capital of Wessex ... so I will only be able to take five hundred men to Jorvik.

In comparison, my profits were enormous over three thousand prisoners, over four thousand pounds of gold and silver, raw materials, weapons, tools, food ... most of this I will have to leave at Winchester, at least temporarily and only temporarily, once I deal with Kings Ecbert and Offa, Jorvik will be the capital of the new region of Norway. It will also become our largest commercial port on the islands and the place from which we will settle all of England.

I ordered two days of rest and made a selection of the prisoners. In the capital of Wessex, I have left two hundred young women and all people over the age of fifty, I don't think they will get a good price in Spain and keeping them alive will be expensive, but unfortunately I had to change my plans, we ran out of people to navigate the ships ... we could only load all the women and children not older than four years and all the valuables. I left the rest of the prisoners in the city, we will take them on the way to Spain.

It took us two weeks to get to Jorvik, and on the spot it turned out that Rollo had already returned with his army ... Despite many reservations I had against him, I couldn't refuse him one thing, he was a good fighter, he loved war and war loved him. The losses suffered by his army were also negligible, thanks to which I had over a thousand soldiers in Jorvik in case Ecbert or Offa's troops showed up ... we were not enough to defeat these armies in battle, but enough to withstand a siege.

I went to Leif's quarters, wondering if he had any news.

- The King Ulf himself, welcome to Jorvik ... (Leif)

- Stop fooling around and tell me to get me something to drink, then tell me what's new. (Ulf)

- You're not in the mood, the capital of Wessex is not giving up easily? (Leif)

- No, the battle and taking the city was easy, even Ecbert's son is my hostage, there were few small problems... but the last two weeks I spent on the ship in the company of over 60 women who cried all the time, begged for their lives or ... No matter, how are you? (Ulf)

The maid came and served us the wine, I didn't know her, but Leif liked to change toys.

- ... My congratulations, I can see that not only Jorvik and the war in your head. How long has she had such a belly? (Ulf)

- There is nothing to congratulate, maybe mine, maybe someone else. Often and for many men, she kept her legs in the air ... I have some news, decide for yourself whether it's good or bad. (Leif)

-I'm all ears. (Ulf)

- Offa's troops didn't follow our men, they all stayed at Tamworth. On the one hand, our armies will have it easier, on the other hand, there is an army of 5,000 soldiers less than 200 kilometers from Jorvik. We can defend ourselves here for a month or two, but longer ... there will be a problem with food ... the prisoners also have to eat something. (Leif)

- That's all? It's not that bad, we can always send a few men to find the rest of our armies and have them stop and go back to Jorvik ... a month or two is a long time. (Ulf)

- How about a week or two? Merchants report to us that Ecbert's army is headed north, but we don't know their target, maybe it will be us, or maybe Mercia. (Leif)

- I know they are going north, some of my scouts have been watching them in Wessex ... Ecbert has my son, so he will probably try to force me to cooperate ... let us attack King Offa's army first and clear the path for his men. (Ulf)

- Aren't you afraid of that? (Leif)

- Leif, we can sit and say that we have many enemies, that their armies are bigger, but no matter how many there are or how big they are, we will have to fight them anyway. (Ulf)

- What if there is a siege? (Leif)

- We have seven to fourteen days, during which time we will order a large hunt. Let two hundred of our men go north and start catching game, the prisoners can catch fish and pick fruit ... and if there is still a shortage of food during the siege ... we can always reduce the amount of mouths to be fed. (Ulf)

Leif was more afraid of the siege itself than of war and I understood a little about his reasons, he had been to Jorvik for a few years and put a lot of work into the city ... no one wants to see his work go to waste. I sat with him for a few more hours, then Rollo and a few commanders joined us. Everyone bragged about their battle or bed achievements.

I sat down in the corner of the room and watched with amusement the drunk company... but I was also thinking about the future. If all goes my way ... and we get rid of all or most of the Anglo-Saxons, Scots and Welshmen ... I'm going to need a lot of male settlers and the only place where I can get them is Denmark and Sweden... I also need more children ... but not my own, Gods forbid.