It all started with a warm day of winter. The company had established camp near Tosdhar, a swadian village not far from the northern border. The men, around 60 or so, those who had survived the foolish southern expeditions of King Ragnar, had campfires going strong despite the rise in temperature. He could feel their heat from within his tent. But the heat was failing to distract him from a bigger problem unfolding before his eyes. The numbers made it clear that the company didn't have much time before going bankrupt. Even though any respectable mercenary company has a reserve for hard times, the reserve had been used to recover the gear, men and supplies lost in the southern expeditions. And although it had been more than a month since the company left Ragnar's employment, nobody seemed even remotely interested in hiring mercenaries. His thoughts were suddenly disturbed when Simple Jon entered his tent.

"Cap'n, messenger for you."

"His allegiance?"

"Swadian by the look of it, but I don't recognize the banner."

Simple Jon was his right arm when it came to the company, strong enough to shield him in battle and loved by the soldiers. A lot of lords would kill to hire him, but he preferred the mercenary lifestyle. He was a true pillar of the company, always cool-headed in dire situations, although he was starting to look more and more impatient. It was probably best to leave the money problems be and go meet that swadian messenger.

As he left his tent, the sun momentarily blinded him, a compelling point against spending too much time in his dimly lit tent. The messenger was right in the middle of the camp, dressed in leather armor, with rough clothes showing underneath. As the swadian turned toward the 2 men, he began to speak:

"Gauwyn, you are a hard man to track."

He did not make the common mistake to talk to the tallest man, Simple Jon was a head taller than Gauwyn, showing he knew precisely who he was talking to. But Gauwyn didn't have much time to think about that, as the messenger carried on.

"I'll cut straight to the point: Count Montewar would be interested in hiring you."

It wasn't unusual for counts to act as middlemen and hire mercenaries for their kings, but Swadia shouldn't be in need of mercenaries, not after having shown to Calradia how powerful they were by easily defeating the nordic armies. Gauwyn didn't like that very much: if Swadia needed mercenaries, this probably meant they were preparing for total war, and total war usually spelled doom for mercenary companies.

"How much is the pay?"

"5 000 denars per month, 2 000 as a signing bonus."

This began to stink even more in Gauwyn's eyes. This much money showed that Swadia was getting desperate to get mercenaries to join. The company had spent a month getting back from the north so no one got the occasion to check what was happening in Calradia.

He was really tempted to refuse. It didn't look like a good contract at all. But the memory of yesterday's soup, the gazes of his hungry soldiers, Simple Jon's excitement at the mention of money, and the parchments waiting for him in his tent...

"We accept. Where is Lord Montewar so we can hammer out the contract?"

The messenger looked relieved. His stance became more relaxed and a slight smile began to appear on his face.

"Lord Montewar is currently camping near Suno. The 2 000 denars have been deposited in a bank in the city. Once you have the contract signed, you can show it to the bank so that you may get the money."

Having said his part, the messenger quickly got back on his horse and left the camp, leaving Gauwyn and Simple Jon, who had not moved one inch, standing like 2 idiots near the main campfire. And that was it. No more money problems. Gauwyn felt a bit stupid for his previous doubts, as refusing was really not a choice considering their reserves of food. They will just have to hope Swadia won't wage unwinnable wars.

"I guess we're off to Suno, cap'n."

"Yeah, yeah we are."

He turned back and walked to his tent while Simple Jon began yelling around to get the men moving. He needed to calculate the time it would take them to get to Suno, the twice unpaid wages for the men, and the cost of the gear it would take to get them back at full strength. He began searching through the parchments to find those relevant to the matters at hand.

The company had 10 Rhodoks veteran spearmen left from their time in the employment of King Graveth, 13 Nord warriors and 3 Nord archers from the southern expeditions, 2 Swadian men-at-arms from a now-destroyed Swadian mercenary company, and 19 Swadian militiamen that they recruited during the past month. The Swadian militia had gone with only 1 week of unpaid wages, so that made 76 denars to pay them. The 2 men-at-arms had been unpaid for 3 weeks, as their pay was the first to go, which meant they were overdue 72 denars. The Nords were due 267 denars, and the Rhodoks 180 denars. This added up to 595 denars. More than a quarter of the signing bonus would go to the unpaid wages. This was a discouraging thought but Gauwyn was happy he could pay their wages at all. However, it would have to wait for them to sign the contract at Suno.

Considering that the path to Suno was mostly made up of lowlands, that they had 45 men on foot and 4 men on horses (including Simple Jon and him), and that the same men had only eaten soup in the last few days, Gauwyn estimated it would at the very least take a day and a half to get there.

As for the food, it was expected that Suno would have bread and dried meat to sell. Ordinarily, they would just make camp near the city and only buy the necessary amounts for each day, but since a campaign was coming up, it was better to stock on long-lasting food. Calculating the cost now would be needless as costs could rise and fall depending on the seasons and military situation. They would just have to hope Swadia wasn't in a supply crisis.

Gauwyn stopped studying the parchments. This was enough, he had all the information needed for the next week. It was high time to move. He could already hear the men moving outside his tent, which probably was the last one still standing. He began clearing the tower shield he was using as a table from all the parchments laying on it, grabbing and stocking them in his personal chest, right next to his unconventional table. As he was stocking the last parchments, Simple Jon chose this moment to enter his tent.

"Cap'n, the men are ready. We only need to get your belongings on the carts and we're off."

"Very well. Get me one of the swadian men-at-arms, we'll go spot a path for the main body."

Simple Jon got his head out of the tent and yelled a name.

"He's getting on his horse, cap'n."

Gauwyn left his tent to see his horse ready to ride, the reins held by a swadian militiaman. As he got on his horse, he took a quick look around. The camp was in the middle of a basin near Tosdhar. While a basin was not a good place if you were attacked, for small troops such as the company, it was very effective at hiding them from larger troops travelling on more accessible terrain. Although part of the snow had melted, the grass was still under a thick centimeter of snow, making it difficult to spot any kind of relief. Riding out of the camp, with the man-at-arms following not far behind, he spotted a boulder marking the beginning of a trail going in the direction of a nearby forest. It was time to put the man-at-arms to work.

"Is there any way to get to Suno from there?"

"Yessir, there is a path just before the northern ridge of Dhirim's plateau. It should lead us through a forest right to the main path toward Suno. It'll also allow us to bypass a second plateau near Kelredan castle."

Gauwyn took out his map, and indeed, there was a ridge near Kelredan castle with an opening in the middle. Going through the nearby forest would allow them to reach that opening which would be safer than the risk of getting lost if they completely avoided the ridge by going north.

They both rode back to the camp where Simple Jon was waiting for them.

"Found a path cap'n?"

"Yeah, take the men straight ahead. We'll go through the forest. You'll find a boulder with a trail behind it. That's our path for now."

As Simple Jon began to order the column to move, Gauwyn felt a bit more at ease. They were finally moving toward a new contract.