“Hmm… when you live like us, losses are something that happens” Chalsea sated, relaxing in the tub with a smile.” My men always know they could die on the battlefield and for Nords that’s the only way they want to die. For them death is a mere beginning. According to northern believes after they die, their gods will take them to their realms and to their mead halls where they can drink to eternity along with the divines. So you can see why they aren’t really phased by death.” She explained with a smile.
“Well it’s just how the north is right now.” The mercenary leader stated with a shrug.” I mean do not get me wrong, while living like that isn’t exactly the best, it … teaches you a lot of things. The harsh winters and the blizzards mold a person like no other force. Besides often I would be given permission to enter cities with let’s say a couple of my troops to buy supplies and the like. Also in more than one occasion I myself was invited into the castles of the rulers of said towns. Mind you it was mostly because I’m a woman… and those rulers were men of let’s say questionable attitude and motivation for those invitation, thus I preferred to stay with my troops.” She shuddered for a moment, remembering one of her first days as a mercenary, back when she served as a common footsoldier into another warband. Her leader was invited to a castle… and he brought her along. Lucky she had her knife back then.” Well the term ‘Dogs of War’ has now stuck. It’s the official term all mercenaries are now referred to… when they are not around that is. But it doesn’t matter. My warband has it’s honor and pride. Those who know of us, know we are trustworthy and damn worth the money spend when hiring us!”
Chalsea then looked to the side as the maid entered the bathroom and was eventually given the request to bring something to drink to them. The mercenary leader smiled, she loved a good drink!” Ahhh, I will actually in fact it would happen anyway. Once the funeral is over and I’m sure your soldiers will head to the bars and pubs, mine will also be there. You simply cannot stop a soldier from going to a tavern after a battle. I’ve tried it simply doesn’t work.” She laughed and sighed in the end.” As for the funeral itself… They will not be joining. As I said earlier nords have different culture. They are obligated to send the dead in full battle gear. It comes from their believes that the messengers of their gods will come to take the souls of the fallen. Besides we too have losses from this battle. 2 of my recruits were dismounted during the charge. They got swarmed by the orcs before the cavalry could turn to help.” Chalsea stated with slightly sad voice.” They would be given proper northern funerals outside the city by the rest of the troops.” She added, knowing both the recruits. It was two brothers, barely 16 years old each. They had just joined right before the warband headed south.
“Well… don’t remind me of it…” The blond woman said and moved down into the tub again, letting the water reach her chin.” I was barely 15 at the time. It was my first official battle after I joined. In the heat of battle, you forget, you lose yourself, you kill, get wounded, do not pay attention to the surroundings until it’s over and once the rush settles down and your senses return to their proper states, you realize everything that happened. The lives you took, the slaughter around you… the stench… It was not the blood… that made me throw up actually. In fact it was not even the fact I took a life. It was the bloodbath around me. I actually kind of got knocked out in that battle and woke up in the middle of pile of corpses. If someone didn’t throw up in their first time experiencing such slaughter, I still have not met them.” The blond woman explained with a smile, as she took her leg above the water to clean it from the glowing paint. This thing was truly stubborn! Then again what did she expect from a brew made by her pair of witches. It needed to be hard to take off. After all it had to stand in rain, blizzards and even if she had to swim through a river.
“Well, there were… reasons for it. Ended up to the north without much choice.” She replied with a shrug.” Decided living as a mercenary was better than the alternative I was presented at the time. At least as a mercenary I was going to have the same rights as every soldier in a warband.” She explained, but kept most of the details of that time to herself. What had happened back then was something she never really spoke about with anyone and the few who knew in her warband, who were with her from the start dared not talk about it.” I… I can engrave it into them to fight. To make their bodies to move despite fear or doubt, but to get over the deaths will be something only they can do.”
While the queen got out of the bathtub and over to open the winds, Chalsea got a good look of her host. That was not exactly the body of a fighter. In fact it was not a body that by all right should have been capable of moving like she did out during the battle with the troll. Then again the queen was not exactly human so body physique didn’t mean much. Still she sure was a beautiful woman!
“Ahh thank you.” The blond woman said to the maid who came over to give her the glass of wine.” Of course I do not mind. A drink is best with company to be enjoyed and I do believe you are a fine company, Queen Adalia.” The mercenary replied with a smile, taking a sip from the glass. She then stopped and looked at the drink for a while.” This is… the best wine I’ve tasted to this day!” She stated in confusion. She has tried and tasted countless different wines over the years as every tavern, every town, every shop made their own and sold it, but she never tasted anything quite like this!
“Well in that case, seems my concerned were unfounded.” The mercenary leader said with a smile, hearing from the queen that the situation wasn’t as dire as she assumed. Now that she thought about it, the city itself was not breached so the damage was only contained to outside the city and the soldiers lost. Which meant no real need to repair buildings and the like which was frankly the real money sink.” In that case, I suppose we can start with the training even tomorrow. It will take a little bit of time to sort out who of my troops would volunteer for training duty, but in two days tops it should be done. Training all your soldiers at once would be difficult though. It would require a lot more open space than any barraks I’ve ever seen. It would need to be done outside the walls. Another option would be to do it in groups at the barrask yards. I will leave the choice to you, Queen Adalia. Though, I personally suggest training as big as number at once as possible. Preferably all of those who aren’t on guard duty at the time.” Chalsea said and blinked, feeing the soft warm wind across her skin. This was pretty nice actually. It reminded her of when she took baths with her mother. The nomads used rugs and skins for their portable homes. Such were also their baths. Covered on most side by rugs and skins to block view, but still allowing for the nice warm winds of the steppes to blow freely.
“Well I’ve lived for nearly 15 years there. Naturally some of the traditions sunk in, I guess.” She replied with another smile.” As for a tournament, that would be quite good actually. I’ve been meaning to hold a tournament within the warband for some time now. That’s how most of the positions within the warband are decided. For example my vice captain needs to be the second best fighter within the group as he needs to lead a charge in my absence or whenever we split the troops. It also let the troops deal with problems such as arguments easily.” She said and took a sip from the wine also.” Do not thank me yet. We will see how many if your men can stand the training. Besides I actually embrace the chance to be here for a while. I’ve had my witches put a tracing spell on the orcs. Soon we will know from where exactly they came.”
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