"What exactly are you doing?" the swordsman asked, a noticeably Spanish accent to his voice.
The man with the glasses finished ripping the piece of cloth, and tucked it securely under the horse's saddle. "This fabric is from the uniform of a military officer of Guilder, the country across the sea and sworn enemy of Florin," he said. He slapped the horse on its side and it galloped off through the woods. "When the horse gets back to the castle--without the princess--they will find the fabric and blame Guilder. And when they find her dead on the Guilder frontier..." here he chuckled evilly, "...why, they'll have no choice but to declare full-scale war!"
The giant, who was busy untying their boat from the dock, glanced up. "You didn't say nuthin' about killin' nobody. I thought we wuz just supposed to kidnap her..." he said, surprised.
"You nincompoop! How else would we start a war--by throwing a tea party?"
The giant looked over at Helganna, still unconscious, lying in a corner of the boat. "Aw, gee....I don't think I could kill one o' my feller human bein's...it don't seem very nice."
The man with the glasses walked over and got into the boat with them. He turned to the giant, "Nice? Nice?! Nice doesn't concern you! And am I mistaken, which I never am...or did the word 'think' escape your lips? May I remind you again--you were not hired because of your brain. I am the genius here! I will do all the thinking!!"
He set the sails and began guiding the boat away from shore.
"Mm-mm-mmm," muttered the swordsman quietly. "That Curllini definitely has some control issues to work through."
"I'm afraid I'd have t' concur, Geraldo--on account of it shure seems like he's always got a skunk up his shorts over somethin'."
Geraldo blinked. "Festinky, don't you mean, 'a bee in his bonnet'?"
"Shucks...not where I come from."
A strong wind was swiftly blowing the boat out to sea. They were now far from land, and steadily traveling toward the coast of Guilder, miles away. Curllini continued to steer; occasionally Geraldo or Festinky took the helm, as they sailed through the night.
Every now and then, the swordsman would stand at the back of the boat, staring out into the water behind them. At first no one paid any mind, but after a while, it began to grate on Curllini's nerves.
"Stop doing that."
Geraldo glanced briefly at him, then turned back to face the sea. "Sorry, man. I just can't shake this uneasy feeling that we're being watched."
Curllini scoffed. "Inconceivable," he said under his breath.
A few more minutes passed. "I thought I told you to stop that!" Curllini said angrily, approaching Geraldo.
Geraldo turned calmly towards the self-acclaimed genius, a strange expression on his face. "Are you sure no one could be following us?"
"Yes. Such a thing would be inconceivable."
"Totally inconceivable?"
Curllini slapped his forehead. "Totally, absolutely, and in all other ways, inconceivable. No one in Guilder knows what we've done. And no one in Florin could have gotten here so fast." He paused briefly. "Out of curiosity--why do you ask?"
"No reason," Geraldo replied. "I just happened to look back...and saw something was there."
"WHAT?!"
The three of them ran to the stern and peered out into the darkness.
There, in a pool of moonlight, floated a ship. It was perhaps a mile or so behind them, but seemed to be slowly catching up. It sailed silently, a black ship with black sails in the black night. In the moonlight, they could just barely see a man standing at the helm.
A man in black.
Curllini turned to the others. "Nothing to worry about. It's probably some local fisherman, out for a pleasure cruise at night--through eel-infested waters..."
"I dunno," Festinky said, "I reckon that don't make half as much sense as if he wuz followin' us."
"We are not--I repeat, are not being followed. It is a coincidence, that's all. Besides...we will reach the cliffs at dawn, and then no one can do anything to stop us."
Geraldo squinted, trying to see better. "It looks like he's gaining on us."
"Also inconceivable. This is the fastest ship in all of Florin. I checked before I stole it."
"You're right, man. He isn't gaining.....he's just getting closer."
At that moment, there was a splash from the other side of the boat, as Helganna dove into the water.