11.5

Betty rode along behind the menfolk with only a bit of a shiver to her spine.

That roar had made short work of any resistance or will to flee in the village she was joining the forage on.

She told her acquaintances and family who didn't know the camp town lifestyle of all the lucrative and downright profitable business of being a captain’s wife on the campaign.

But if Viznove was going to be in the habit of fielding that absolute beauty of a beast called The Shining Wyrm?

Well then lucrative was just down right inadequate a word for the spoils and riches she and her dear Odolf were going to make every few summers.

She’d long gotten used to the bone shaking chills that a Gryphon Howl brought to a village under forage.

But that beast could roar in a way like nothing else.

Ever since her fourth campaign following Odolf to war she’d been mostly fine with Gryphon howls. She’d married him when he was a footman and against her mother’s advice decided to pack up their home on a hand wagon and follow him to the first war he was called to.

At the time Betty freely admitted she had been thinking a lot less with her head than her loins in that particular matter. They had only just been married the day before that muster had been called.

And she’d heard plenty of stories about what happened in the war camps with so called ‘war wives’ and she’d courted Odolf for two years without him being called before he finally caught on and proposed to her.

But driven by passion or later good sense, Betty was confident it had been the best decision she could have made.

When they had returned heavier in coin and goods then they left and richer one horse and a proper wagon from just the one war, Odolf and her Mother had both been begrudgingly convinced she made the right call.

And after that fruitful year, Betty happily marched out with him in the camp-village to every battle since. And joined him on every forage he was sent on.

Between wars she made a tidy sum peddling in Kaeketeh too. Enough for them to pay the fees for some rooms in the middle district where guilds and lesser nobles stalked the streets like hungry foxes at a hen house.

But all the real silver was in War and picking up after the army.

And when another war flared up, her little family packed up their belongings, closed their account with the owner of their room (these days rooms) and headed off with the camp followers.

First it had been just her on her lonesome following Odolf and making sure his clothes were cared for, then their children each in turn joined along the march.

And it had been a very good life for all of them.

This war alone, she’d already gotten twelve good spears, twenty four intact helms and six sets of solid armor in cloth, leather and metal ring with only a good wash needed to get the blood, piss and shit out of the worst of them.

The heraldry would need to be stripped from some of the garments and she might have to send some of the less commonly worn colors to get their dyes bleached and redone but lords all over Viznove always needed more armor and arms for their levies, footmen or even knights.

Good silver coin in those and it took only a bit of knowing the right laundresses in the cities and towns along the road that are willing to work with a war wife.

Frustrating stigma that was.

But Betty could not blame them, she’d had thought worse of the women who chased the army herself before she came along to be one of them. But even the ones that actually did the less proper things for the unmarried soldiers were far more cordial and nice in their manners than she had expected.

It was by all accounts downright unfair the reputations those girls got for doing a good service for good pay to support the soldiers that marched with them all.

And she knew none among them were cheap with their virtue either.

Half the coin she made tended to flow through those particular hands, and by the gossip of it that silver was half being paid to do not much of anything but hold the barely out of boyhood fresh levy or tired older man and let them shed a tear where none would judge them or tell.

At least not to their faces.

The ladies gossiped plenty amongst themselves and the other womenfolk in the camp.

Oh the stories Betty heard about some of the hardest most frightfully scarred footmen and captains and even once a knight going into a tent for some sporting relief only for it to be them bawling like a babe against a maybe under-dressed bosom until they fell asleep.

It took a few campaigns, but Betty had shed just about every one of her fool girl notions of just what a war wife was even at its most irreputable.

Stars of Fortune Claim her Betty usually had Maszota watch her kids this campaign while she was out here working the forage or picking over the battlefield.

Really, the so-called women of ill-repute were often absolutely amazing with the kids. Especially the older madams that more managed the others then did the business these days.

And besides, Betty as a proper married woman did none of that and still some peasants would put her in the same pen as them. Treat her like she was going to curse them as soon as touch them.

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Betty was a proper working woman keeping her family in food and clothes just like them, not her fault they had not caught onto the riches to be made following the army.

But for all the campaigns she had followed Odolf on with their livelihood in tow and kids bouncing along in the march, this one was proving to be the best so far.

Really if you had told that over-gangly girl chasing her freshly married boy of a man to war that a beast right out of legend would be flying ahead of her to pacify a village and nearly single handedly turn the tide of a battle between close to eighty thousand men?

Well, she probably would not even believe you now without having seen it with her own two eyes.

The pale white glare of that thing’s strikes had shone stark through the trees where she and the others waited. That was the tensest part of the work of a war wife. When you huddled away from the battle to either flee for the camp or descend on the battle to strip the choicest bits.

But with Lady Jewel The Shining Wyrm on their side?

All those worries were a thing of the past!

Betty never met the beast herself, but the gossip among the soldiers and the men and women of the camp village was the wyrm was the sweetest thing.

And she was certainly gonna thank the lovely dragon wyrm beast lady with all her heart if she ever came by the followers camp.

Seemed maybe something about the camp did not agree with the beast though.

Well that was fine, here Betty was lucky enough to have that power to cover her for the forage on the safe leg of the march home!

Well, it was not exactly luck really, since Odolf had asked that his band get overseen by the wyrm personally. And being the fine captain he was, his lord for the campaign agreed and so he had gotten this whole situation for Betty because he was the sweetest to her like that!

But either wise, Betty was feeling good about how plentiful the silver would be at the end of this campaign. She already had filled up three of her bags and a few baskets with good garments, rough but usable cloth and some of the nicer metal tools available. As well as a few boxes of fine salt and some spices for peddling in the camp.

And of course, as was the required due, she also made sure that a few sacks were filled up on grain or other easy foodstuffs to be handed over to the army cooks on their return.

And then there were the more luxury goods.

Betty herself, with the help of Odolf and his present batch of levies, had secured seven very fine peasant girls.

The fresh flowers were tied up proper with some rough cloth twist bindings. Not proper rope of course, the lass’s were hardly going to break free, no point wasting it on them.

The roar of that wonderful dragon had shocked almost the entire village like statues until it was far too late.

Made the whole matter far less bloody, which was always good for the comfort trade with Maszota’s tent.

A quick inspection had proven these fine ones would go over well.

“Come on then girls! Don’t any of you worry bout a thing, we will only be keeping you for the night and then you can run off home! We’re all good ridgetail folk here. None of ya even so much as bruised by us yeah? All your families are safe right?”

A few of them gave hesitant nods, but most were wide eyed and fearful.

There were tears too.

Which of course the peasant girls were not all smiles. Betty could understand, she wouldn't be joyous of things either in their shoes back when she was so young to be worth the bother. But if they were marching with an army through Kaeketeh, she didn't expect they’d do her any better a turn then this given the option.

So it was no concern of her except that they were left unmarked til they settled in camp.

The Lords and the Ladies went to war, and all anyone else could do is make the most of it.

Betty considered the height and fullness of their youngest and the looks of those not under her Odolf’s command. It was probably best for them to start walking back to camp now despite the forage still only being half done.

She didn't want to rush them and Maszota was going to owe more than just a day’s babysitting for this good a haul.

She gave a tug to the twisted line of cloth that had been tied around their wrists to hold them in a line with her.

“Come along, if none of you girls make a fuss on the way there I can promise you a hot bath, a good meal and five Pfennig for your troubles tonight.”

To be fair they were going to get everything but the Pfennig either way. Clean costs more after all.

But that still perked them up a bit which Betty appreciated.

She was going to squeeze Maszota for triple that a head so it was no real loss. And she’d listened to the barter over girls of a similar comeliness earlier in the campaign. Her friend was likely to charge double or more than that herself, quadruple if it was a lord or knight.

Even if she had to pacify the girls with herbs or wine beforehand so they didn't fuss over the boys, that would be plenty of profit going to Mazvota even after Betty’s cut.

A lot of them were definitely worth more than a half day watching the kids.

Betty nodded and hollered over to her husband.

“Odolf! I’m full up enough here, be heading back so the girls have time to wash up and get a meal before tonight! Keep an eye on the boys!”

Her husband turned briefly to watch her, nod and smile before turning back to shout at one of the peasants who had started to move out of place when she distracted him.

The shadow of their overwatch passed over all of them then, the girls froze in shock at even the reminder of what circled overhead.

Even though Betty knew that the wyrm was on her side, she still had to shake loose the tremble that had rooted her in place at that first call when the forage had begun.

There were simply no words for the roar of a dragon.

It had struck silent the entire countryside.

And even this brief shade to remind them had frozen the girls and all the villagers.

Betty had to jerk hard on the cloth tying her current prized spoils to bring them back to their senses and get to walking.

“Come on! The sooner we get to camp the sooner this will all be over and you can return home girls.”

Betty glanced up to the almost golden looking scales catching the sunlight of the aptly named Shining Wyrm of Viznove.

Then turned to face the road to camp. Burdened Mule and peasant girls in tow.

Yes Betty was certain that with a dragon flying to campaign the wars to come were going to be so very lucrative indeed.

She might even be able to open up a proper shop in a few more campaigns!