II
Karl woke Gwaynn very early the next morning. The boy was confused for a moment, and then the memories of the day before struck him like a hammer blow.
‘Gwynn is dead,’ he thought listlessly. Not that he had ever truly forgotten the fact. All through the night, dreams haunted and reminded him of the previous day’s horror. Through most of the night visions Gwynn was being raped. She implored and begged Gwaynn to save her, but he did not. He just watched, remaining quiet to save himself. He made no move to help her even when she turned to him, her intestines hanging from her naked midsection, and pleaded.
‘Keep the dogs away. Please, keep the dogs away.”
But in his dreams he had done nothing, nothing at all.
“Karl,” Gwaynn said, softly rubbing his forehead, trying his best to dispel the horrible visions running through his mind.
“Come lad,” the big man said laying a hand on Gwaynn’s shoulder. “The mornings will be the worst for a while now,” he added and set clothes on the foot of the bed.
Gwaynn sat up and looked about the room, but thankfully Karla was gone. He was surprised he had slept at all.
“Last night was no picnic,” the boy answered sitting up and dressing, wincing from his sunburn as he pulled on a shirt.
Karl chuckled despite the emotional pain. “No, no picnic,” he replied as Karla moved into the room. Gwaynn made a move to cover up, but then shrugged and stood, pulling his pants on. Karla appeared not to notice his nudity.
“I’ve packed you two some food, a lot of food ‘cause I know how much Karl eats,” she said as Gwaynn added a leather vest. He was pulling on some old worn boots when she knelt before him. He stopped and looked at her, smiling ruefully.
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.