Steel and Sorrow: Rise of the Mercenary king

Alpheo gazed down at the swaying mane of his horse, its rich brown fur glistening in the sunlight as they trotted along the stone road. He had never owned a horse before, and he couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride and wonder at this magnificent creature by his side. As they continued on their journey, Alpheo watched with adoration as his horse nibbled on the grass, its playful nature shining through.His eyes were shining as that of a child with a new toy.

He had heard tales of mischievous horses from medieval documents, and now he understood why. His own steed was no exception, as one morning as he went away for a piss , carelessly not roping it to a tree , thinking it would be all right, he found his steed to have disappeared . After a few minutes of searching, Alpheo found his horse leisurely eating oats from a sack it had opened with its teeth. It took three men to finally stop the beast.

But for now, during their ride, the horse seemed tame and obedient, responding to Alpheo’s commands without giving any trouble. It was a strong and sturdy warhorse, one of 59 others that they received for their army’s cavalry.The other 40 he would receive later on.He still remembered how thrilled he was when they arrived, he had many plans regarding them .

Just as it had been in his past life, battles were often determined by the charging of heavy cavalry. The bulky and powerful horses, trained for combat from birth, were the ultimate weapon on the battlefield. Yet, amidst the sea of armored beasts, the lighter cavalry was often overlooked and disregarded. Used mainly for scouting missions, their potential as skilled skirmishers was often underestimated. But history had shown that even a well-trained light cavalry could turn the tide of a battle. Hannibal had proven this with his elite group of Numidian riders, expertly weaving in and out of enemy lines and wreaking havoc, with their javelins as they skirmished, as they mantained their speed and distance from enemy . Alpheo longed to replicate this success, with his own modifications and strategy, but he knew that with his current numbers, it would be impossible.

As they rode towards Quarzat, 70 other riders followed behind them - 60 from their own army and 10 guards lent by his employer . The rhythmic clattering of hooves echoed like a drumbeat on the stony pathway beneath them.Their eyes soon moved to the city ahead of them. They would be living in there for few weeks at best ,and some months at worst as their employer prepared for his expedition. It was a good thing they were the invader , his men lusted for the opportunity to raid and pillage. And luckily there would be many chances to do so.

”I expected something bigger,” Egil muttered, leaning casually on his knee as his horse trotted along. His elbow rested casually, a picture of nonchalance. He had once boasted to Alpheo about the prowess of his hometown’s horse riders, claiming they could even fuck atop a horse,. At the time, Alpheo had dismissed it as mere bravado, but now, observing Egil’s easy grace in the saddle, he couldn’t help but wonder if there was some truth to the tales.

Alpheo shot Egil a sideways glance, a hint of amusement dancing in his eyes. ”Make sure not to mention it in front of our new boss,” he advised.

Egil shrugged, a mischievous grin playing on his lips. ”So, it’s okay for you to disrespect people, but not for me?” he retorted.

”I am the leader of the company. I can allow myself that,” Alpheo replied, his tone growing more serious. ”Make sure not to cause trouble. I don’t want to see your head on a pike because you disrespected someone you shouldn’t have.I am certain my heart would drop in pain” He brought his hand on his chest and made a pained expression

”Oh, come on, they need us. They wouldn’t dare,” Egil scoffed, his tone light.

”They need me, not a small lieutenant who think his own cock is the biggest in the whole world ,” Alpheo countered, his tone firm.He wanted to make sure he knew how weak his position was

”Well, you would convince them of the opposite, right?” Egil prodded, his brow furrowing when Alpheo didn’t immediately respond. He nudged closer, repeating the question.

Alpheo remained silent for a moment, a playful smile tugging at the corners of his lips as he trotted ahead on his horse.

”Come on, stop jesting. You would, right?” Egil pressed, a hint of urgency in his voice.

The other snickered as they saw the exchange. Alpheo meanwhile continued to trottle ahead , reaching closer to the one at the head of the formation.

”Sir Robert,” Alpheo addressed the late aged steward with a friendly smile as he rode up alongside him.

Sir Robert glanced at Alpheo, his expression guarded. ”Do you need something?” he asked briefly , his attention focused on the path ahead.

Alpheo’s smile widened. ”Actually, I do,” he replied casually, his tone tinged with curiosity. ”No more than a quick question, to satisfy my curiosity. Could you enlighten me on the reason for the hostilities between your prince and the ruler of... ?” he inquired, struggling to recall the name of the other principality.

”Oizen,” Sir Robert supplied tersely. ”What reason do brutes have to raise their swords against more civilized people?” he responded with thinly veiled disdain.

”Mh, of course,” Alpheo muttered under his breath, ’But there’s what?Sixty kilometers between you and them . Yet they are savages? Don’t give me that bullshit,’ he mused

His smile remained fixed as he pressed for an answer. ”Yet I believe there should be at least a pretext that the enemy is using to justify their lack of manners”

”That there is,” Sir Robert confirmed, his voice growing more animated. ”Those bastards continue to insist that the cities of Hervia and Aratale are theirs. They claim that these were the bride-price they paid to the previous prince, the father of Arkawalatt,” he spat on the ground in disgust. ”The bastard gave us a barren womb and demanded the cities back after my previous liege made the obvious act of divorcing the useless woman and marrying another.”

”I see, I see,” Alpheo nodded in feigned agreement”What a bunch of uncultured savages,” he agreed aloud, though secretly, he sympathized with the prince of Oizen. ’I mean, I too would do the same if my daughter was humiliated in such a way, while they kept the city I had given as a dowry’.

The convoy continued to ride ahead , Alpheo slowly falling back to his previous company, finding it much more pleasurable to have , than to share a ride with that old oaf.The city of Quarzat finally came to their eyes much closer, as they stopped in front of the gates. He watched back at the 500 men following behind, wondering if they would actually behave. One month of marching certainly raised their nerves up, he hoped that they at least had the decency to go to a whorehouse, instead of giving trouble to normal citizens.

’Perhapse I should give them coin to pass the night whoring’ He mused ’After all an emptied man is a much happier one ’. The city in question was stonewalled, it was nothing great.The wall must have been no more than six meters tall. ’I could easily take it ’ , he reasoned as he observed the defenses

’The bastards did not even bother to dig some trenches ahead of the city. It was their capital , which was yet close to the enemies, as with no more than a four days march , the prince of Oizen could easily reach it.

’Maybe there is something I don’t know’ He reasoned after all , he has been here for less than two weeks, and he was unaware of the bordering territories of the geography. Maybe there were some fortresses that the enemy had to take if they wanted to besiege the city, or maybe they were just that much confident about their defenses. Whatever the case , it was also his business, as his road to glory would start in this shitty princedom he was hired to fight for.