The Worlds of the Sheaf

Veglia - Part 4

     "Tim! Hi!" cried Matthew, rising from his seat and crossing the room to welcome him in. "I knew you'd come sooner or later. Most of the top nobs are too good to come in here, but not you. You're one of us! Good to see you at last."

     Timothy smiled at the warm greeting, but wondered what his reception would be like in future, after he'd delivered his news. First, though, he indicated the two infantrymen sitting apart from the others. "What's up with them?" he asked. "Have they done something wrong?"

     "If being infantrymen is wrong, yes," replied the Flight Leader with a sigh. "The others seem to think infantrymen are second class citizens. Not worthy to mix with the elite services. I'm trying to be seen with them as much as possible. Show the others that I for one aren't too good to associate with them. It's not having much effect, though. Everyone needs someone to feel superior to, it seems. Even us, but it's hard on the two of them. They're bearing up pretty well so far, but I can see the resentment they're feeling. That's why I'm glad to see you. As their superior officer it's my problem, of course, but if you could have a word, perhaps mention it in one of your sermons..."

     "I'll do what I can," promised the cleric, "but I've got a problem of my own and it's something I need to speak to the men about, because it's something that affects all of them. Can you get their attention for me please?"

     "Best to wait 'till they finish this hand," said Matthew. "They won't be able to concentrate on anything else until it's settled. Can you wait a couple of minutes?"

     Timothy shrugged. He wasn't terribly eager to break the news to the men, but it was something he wanted to get behind him as quickly as possible. The men were more likely to take it well if they were in a good mood, though. He waited while the two players glared at each other across the table, therefore, occasionally tossing another coin into the pot with a comment like "Match you," or "Ten more says you're bluffing!"

     The cleric decided to use the time talking to the infantrymen. If being seen with the Flight Leader might help cure what was wrong, being seen with a cleric of Caroli might do so even more.

     To his surprise, though, they seemed quite happy to be left to each other's company and they were of the opinion that the really dangerous divide was between the sailors and the cavalrymen. "Look at them," said George Stone, indicating the card game. "Whenever they play, all the men behind Ihvon, supporting him and cheering him on, are fellow cavalrymen, while the sailors are all behind Brullion. That's not a card game. Its single combat between the champions of two warring tribes. Every man sticks rigidly to their own group. There's virtually no contact between them except this kind of ritualised warfare."

     "You make it sound as though they're about to draw swords and start fighting," said Timothy, but the light hearted comment died in his throat when the two infantrymen just looked at him. "It's really that bad?" he asked in shock.

     "Well, maybe not that bad," admitted Roj Villa, the other infantryman, "but any tension between people who might have to go into combat together is bad news. Believe me, I've seen it before. A few years back, when the King was looking for ways to cut down on military expenditure, he wanted to disband one regiment in five, but those regiments chosen for the chop raised such a noise of protest that he changed his mind and decided to merge some of them instead. The Fifth Pike regiment, for instance, my regiment, was merged with the Ninth Royal to become the Royal Pikes, with one man in five being laid off. The trouble was, though, that the men still thought of themselves as being either Pikes or Royals and there was no end of trouble between them, each wanting to prove they were the best and doing the other down. It was still going on when I won this posting, and that's eight years after the merger."