The Black Horseman

Chapter 2

“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.

A lieutenant stood and offered his spot to Gwaynn, who hesitated, then moved and sat next to the Captain.

“Why?” Gwaynn asked. “They have more oarsmen.”

The Captain nodded. “Yes, but their ship is a war ship. It is much larger and heavier, built for ramming. We were built light for speed and we are carrying no cargo. They will falter,” he added confidently. But after nearly three hours the ship chasing did not falter, and when the sky suddenly grew very dark and the seas grew heavy the pursuers actually began to gain once more. The wind was blowing hard from land, filling the sail and making it more difficult to control the ship and keep it on course. On the Inland Sea, triremes normally move to land and anchor during storms. The ungainly ships were not built to handle large swells. But at the moment, the Captain did not feel that this was possible.

“They are gaining,” Gwaynn informed him. “Larger, heavier ships move through rough seas better I assume.”

The Captain grunted.