Richard Parker: The Black Horseman

Karla smiled back, tears in her eyes. “Come back to us soon, my King.”

Gwaynn could not speak, so he just nodded, shifted his feet inside the boots. They were big but fit reasonably well. He stood and tried not to look at Karla, but found that he could not help himself.

“Thank you,” he said choking up slightly, but he somehow maintained control and she seemed to sense that he wanted to keep his composure.

“You need to get moving,” she said to help cover his emotions. “The Zani will soon spread all throughout the land, and it will be easier to come here by sea. We may not have much time.”

“She’s right,” Karl said and they moved one after another down the hall and then the stairs. They paused at the front door for only a moment and then without saying good-bye stepped out into the cool morning air. The sky to the east was a deep purple-black, the sun not yet above the horizon. One of the soldiers from the night before ran to meet them.

“Sir,” the man said to Karl. “The Zani are coming.”

Karl cursed and stopped walking. “By sea?”

The soldier shook his head and Karl started walking again. “No, by land. About fifty foot soldiers.”

“How long?” Gwaynn asked, nearly jogging to keep up with Karl’s long strides, but he noticed that the soldier was moving his legs rapidly also, which made him feel better.

“About an hour away, Sire,” the soldier added and bowed his head slightly. Karl let the lapse go. They had time, and habits that spanned generations were hard to break. They continued to the docks in silence, all of them moving very rapidly. The soldier led them to a trireme that was bustling with activity, preparing to caste off. There was a man with long black hair waiting for them.

“Sire,” he said as they approached, then bowed low from the waist. “The Londalay is at your service.”

Karl said nothing.

Gwaynn bowed his head slightly. “I thank you Captain. Please inform your crew that they must address me as a regular traveler. For whatever reason, the Zani have targeted the royal family. If you continue to treat me as royalty it will be noticed and put everyone in danger.”

Captain Tul stared at the boy for a moment and then smiled. “You, and your party may board, young Master.”

Gwaynn bowed and moved past the Captain. Karl turned to the soldier before following. “Gather what men you can and head for Koshka, it’s a small southern village along the Scar mountain range. If Afton Sath lives he will make for the town. Stay hidden; stay safe. Let the people know our King still lives. Let the people know to stay quiet. He will return when he can, but for now we must go into hiding.”

“Luck,” the soldier said with a salute.

“Luck,” Karl answered then turned and followed his King up the gangway and onto the ship that hopefully would take them to freedom.

The Londalay was an average sized trireme as the ships go, but you could not convince Gwaynn of that fact. It was about a hundred and forty feet long, had four decks, including two decks devoted only to oarsmen of which there were about a hundred, all of them free men paid from the profits of the trading ship. The oarsmen occupied the middle two decks with the lower hold for the trade goods. The upper deck was used as quarters, and to move additional cargo if it was needed. On this trip there would be no trade goods.

In addition to the oarsman, there was one large mast placed directly in the center of the deck, it supported a single large rectangular sail. Gwaynn and Karl waited near the mast until Captain Tul boarded and motioned for them to join him. They moved toward the back of ship where an awning was set up near the tiller to keep them out of the sun during their voyage.

The Captain gave an order, which was barked out by one of his lieutenants, and the oars from the lower deck were dropped down in the water. A steady beat boomed from a drum below and they slowly began to get underway. Gwaynn could not help himself and stood, then moved to the side of the ship. He immediately noticed that only one level of oars was working at the moment, the lower deck. Gwaynn concentration was such that he failed to hear Captain Tul come up beside him.

“Only half the oarsmen are working,” Gwaynn commented.

“Yes,” the Captain answered. “It is how most merchant ships operate. Half on, half off, for rest. It would appear strange if we bolted out of the harbor with all oarsmen pulling.”

They stood silently for a time until the ship reached the middle of the harbor, then the Captain turned.

“Full sail,” he said and his order was repeated. The sail was quickly hoisted, catching the first rays of the rising sun. The sail immediately billowed out, catching the wind. Their speed increased dramatically. Gwaynn turned to look at the Captain.

“No sense in dallying about the harbor, however,” he said with a smile, but Gwaynn did not smile back as he continued to watch the activities of the ship closely. All went smoothly, but as they cleared the harbor three additional triremes were spotted coming up from the northeast. The Captain moved to the far side of the ship to get a closer look. Karl and Gwaynn joined him.

“Merchants?” Karl asked, but the Captain shook his head.

“No, too large and they are coming with all oarsmen, maybe two hundred oars in the water,” the Captain answered. “And from their position, I would say they began their journey sometime last night.”

Gwaynn and Karl exchanged a look. “Should we go to all oarsmen?” one of the lieutenants asked from behind the Captain.

“No, not yet. As I was just telling our young Master here, it would look out of place with all of our oarsmen going. They have no idea who we are, so let’s appear to be the innocent merchant. We should excel at it.”

And so they continued at their current pace, trying to hurry but also trying to appear as if they were in no hurry. The three approaching triremes were just over a mile away as the Londalay cleared the harbor and headed southwest toward the Toranado. Gwaynn, Karl and the Captain moved to the stern and kept a close watch on the three ships.

“Perhaps they are just heading for the harbor,” Gwaynn said softly.

“Perhaps,” the Captain answered. “We shall know very soon.” It took only about ten minutes for the triremes to reach the mouth of the harbor, and two indeed turned and entered, but the third kept coming on very fast, still pulling all oars. They were still distant, but gaining steadily.

“All oars,” the Captain said with a look of concern, and his order was immediately shouted and obeyed. The additional oarsmen were apparently ready and waiting for just such an order. The speed of the ship increased almost immediately, and it took nearly twenty minutes or so before Gwaynn could tell that the trireme behind was still gaining on them. Captain Tul, however, did not seem too concerned.

He smiled down at Gwaynn. “They’ve been pulling all oars for quite a time now. It will be tough for them to continue the pace.”

Gwaynn nodded, and felt Karl put a hand on his shoulder. Together they watched as the chasing trireme slowly gained on them. It was only a quarter of a mile away when its speed began to slack, after that the distance between the ships seemed to hold steady. Gwaynn turned and moved to the awning where the Captain was sitting with two of his lieutenants. The Captain looked up as Gwaynn came into view.

“Their speed has fallen off?” Captain Tul asked.

Gwaynn nodded. “How long can we hold this speed with all oars?”

The Captain smiled at the boy’s astute mind. “Several more hours at least, but our pursuer will have to keep up their speed also. Come sit and relax, I think we will win this race,” he said.