The Hibernian Runaway

Prologue

 A lone figure wearing a gray cloak rode up to the tavern's door on a white horse and dismounted. The figure pushed open the door and found a seat at the bar. After ordering a mug of coffee, the figure looked for a specific person that he had been speaking with for the past few days. Seeing the captain, the figure got up and took a seat at his table.

 "What can I do for you?" the captain asked gruffly, sipping his ale.

 "I've a favor to ask you. Can you get me out of Hibernia tonight instead of tomorrow?" the figure silently uttered.

 "Sure, come by tomorrow night before eleven thirty and we'll make for Araluen." The captain shrugged off.

 The figure finished the coffee and walked outside, where he mounted the white horse and rode off.

 The next day, as the captain was coiling rope, he heard hoof beats. He looked up to see the person from the tavern riding the same white horse towards the port in a full gallop. The rider pulled the white horse to a stop in front of him, spraying dirt up from under its hooves.

 "Hey, what's going on?" the Captain asked.

 "We have to go, now." The rider said.

 "We still have half an hour of preparations to go." The Captain said, shrugging.

 "The king's guards are after me, but I'll pay you more if you can get me out of here." The figure pleaded.

 "Fine, hide the horse in the hold and you get under the nets. Quickly now, I can hear them coming." The captain ordered.

 Even as the words left his mouth, the sound of hoof beats seemed to fill the air around them. The figure led the white horse up the gangplank and into the hold of the ship. Almost as soon as the figure went into the hold, he silently slipped out and ran to the pile of fishing nets. He slipped into them, soon indistinguishable from the dizzying mess of rope. No sooner than the fugitive hid himself, four half-armored riders, carrying cavalry swords and bows rode around the bend.

 When they saw the crew readying their boat for departure, the rider stopped. The lead one walked up to the captain and looked him up and down.

 "Did a person ride by on a white horse?" the leader of the horsemen asked.

 "The rider in the gray cloak?" The captain asked.

 "Yes, you blundering fool! Now where did he go?" the horseman shouted at him.

 "I saw him ride his horse into the woods." The captain answered.

 "Thank you." The horseman replied stiffly, wheeling his horse into the forest that bordered the road. The others followed closely behind the lead horseman.

 The captain heaved a sigh when the guards left. It was obvious that the man in the nets was a criminal or a runaway. The captain decided to affront the man and ask him his purpose for leaving Hibernia, but when they were on the way to Araluen. The man might desert the trip if he got nervous and the captain would lose a good nights pay. An hour later, the ship left the safety of the harbor.

In a day's time the ship reached the Selsey harbor. As the crew unloaded some of the goods that it had brought with them, the mysterious rider walked his horse down the gangplank. The white horse seemed strangely out of place with the commoner walking it away from the ship. He approached the captain dropped some coins into the palm of his hand.

 "There's extra in there for you to keep your mouth shut." He whispered, in a strangely feminine voice. “I was never here and you have no idea who I am.”

 With that, the stranger mounted the white horse, and rode away from the port. The Captain shrugged, not caring who or what he was doing in Selsey, only about the amount of gold he was paid. Only when the rider disappeared did the captain realize that he forgot to ask the rider what he was wanted for in Hibernia.

 "Oh, well, it wasn't my business anyway." The Captain said to himself.

 The captain joined his crew, unloading the goods from the hold of the ship, quickly forgetting about the rider and his white horse.

 Behind a building the rider pulled her cowl of her gray cloak off her head. She checked her saddle bags to make sure she still had the ring. She decided that it would be safer if it was on her person, so she slipped the ring onto the chain she wore around her neck.

The rider patted her horse's neck and said, "Come on Blizzard, let's go find an inn."