Clash of Pikes

Chapter 2

The moment victory had been declared, Mateo and his fellow mercenaries set about looting the battlefield, after all the dead didn't need their valuables. He claimed a morion helmet that was in slightly better condition than his current one and a less dented breastplate, in addition to coin pouches and trinkets he found. Life as a mercenary paid well for some and absolute dogshit for others, Mateo was among the others. Looting was necessary for his kind. When the battlefield was picked clean, he went to collect his payment from the paymaster.

"Five silvers for the day with an additional twenty silvers for participating in the battle." The short fat man told him as he was handed the coins.

Twenty five silvers for all that? Mateo didn't voice his complaints, instead deciding to tend to his wounds and get some rest.

When the sun went down, the ale was brought out and the mercenaries took to drinking, Mateo was no exception. Mateo didn't usually drink much, but after a battle he needed it. Fighting wasn't only deadly, it was thirsty work.

Mid way through his second cup, a yell of anger cried out in the camp. Normally he'd have taken it to be some drunken fool that got into a petty argument, but it had come from the Captain's tent. Mateo decided to investigate, quickly downing the last of his tankard.

Captain Augusto Rienzo of the Shattered Shafts Regiment was not a man to take part in the same drinking or brawling as his men, instead he prefered to spend his time reading and studying the tactics of war. Disconcert, ill-temper, and loud conversations were rare to the man. For this reason, Mateo was concerned.

Mateo slowly approached Rienzo's tent, he spotted the Captain arguing with who looked to be his lieutenant, an older man named Luigi.

"Damn it man! You're vital to this regiment, who'll replace you?!" The Captain spat, face red with anger, possibly alcohol too.

"You'll find a replacement," the lieutenant's voice was conciliatory.

"You've been with me for years and now you leave?! For what? A whore who's seduced you a little too well?!"

"I have my reasons. I had hoped you'd be more understanding of me, Augusto." Luigi sighed. "You can't change my mind here, I leave tomorrow morning, I just hope you'll part with me as a friend."

Augusto pinched his forehead and sighed, "Fine then, it's been an adventurous journey together, go pack your things."

As Luigi took off, the Captain sat down on his stool and grabbed a bottle of wine. He then looked straight at where Mateo had been hiding. "Come out boy, I know you heard it all."

Mateo unsteadily came out of the shadows and approached his captain. It seemed the wine was already taking an effect on him.

"We lost nearly a hundred men and had around three hundred wounded in that last battle. We're down to twenty five hundred men, and to top it all off we just lost one of our ten lieutenants." He took another swig, reminiscing deeply on the troubling statistic.

"It's a bad situation, Sir." Mateo took a moment to consider the problem before speaking again, "Perhaps we could divide the men up into larger companies to accommodate our lost lieutenant." Captain Rienzo suddenly snapped his head up and studied the soldier.

"No, no, no that would reduce us to too few companies..." Rienzo seemed to be in deep concentration on something and muttered out his answer to himself. "Say, you're the Cadorna boy, right? The one Ciro was talking about?"

"Mateo Cadorna, sir."

"Right, he mentioned you had knack for quick thinking and half-decent ideas." The Captain took another moment of contemplation before rising to his feet. "Cadorna, I'm making you lieutenant. Take command of fourth company and move your items into new quarters." Mateo opened his mouth to object but was ignored by Rienzo who walked away leaving Mateo in shock.

"God damn..."