Eighty-five thousand silverii.
That was the final toll sent in by the quartermasters.
Of that staggering sum, a full forty thousand would find its way into Alpheo's coffers , claimed not just as spoils of war, but as the rightful prize of conquest,including of course all the decoration taken from the Herculeian court soon to adorn his.
Twenty thousand more were set aside for the men each soldier promised roughly eight silverii as a reward for their part in the siege.
A fair share by any reckoning, though Alpheo had wisely decreed that the bulk of it would not be paid until the campaign's end. He knew well the dangers of silver burning too brightly in a man's purse, it was a weight that often carried feet far from discipline and into the arms of desertion.
