He said nothing for a moment, his mind racing. They would be hoping for a relief force. Most of the men would be thinking about the Midwinter celebrations in Citadel, the parties, the dancing, the women. ‘It’s a fine idea,’ he said, ‘but I should be carrying sealed orders from the Baron. Without them no officer will turn over his command.’
Sigarni returned to her seat, and he could see her pondering his words. ‘Discipline,’ she said softly. ‘Orders and rules.’ She nodded. ‘Tell me this, Obrin, what would happen if a verbal order reached a commander and, when refusing to obey it, the Baron’s plans were thrown into chaos? Would the Baron merely congratulate the commander on holding to the rules?’
‘It is not quite that easy,’ replied Obrin. ‘In that situation the Baron would have the man flogged or hanged for not acting on his own initiative. But if the commander did obey the verbal order, and then failed, he would still be blamed for not holding fast to the regulations.’
‘I see,’ said Sigarni. ‘Then you will ride to the Farlain fort with only … say… eighty-five men. Get some bandages soaked in cattle blood and disguise some of your men as wounded. You will ride to the fort and tell the commander that your officer was slain, and that you are the relief force. You will say that the Pallides fort is under attack and that the Baron has ordered the commander to reinforce it.’
‘But there are no sealed orders!’
‘You will tell him that when you were surrounded your officer, thinking all was lost, destroyed the orders so that the enemy would not see them. Then a blizzard broke and you were able to lead your men to safety.’
“He won’t relinquish the fort,’ said Obrin stubbornly. ‘You have to understand the officer mentality.’
‘Oh, I think I understand it, Obrin. Hear me out. The commander will be caught on twin horns. If he disobeys an order you tell him was issued by the Baron and the Pallides fort falls, he will be hanged or flogged. If he obeys and everything goes wrong, he will be asked why he did not follow the rules and remain where he was.’
‘Exactly,’ said Obrin.
‘Then, as a good sergeant, you will help him. You will offer to lead the rescue of the Pallides fort. That way he has not disobeyed an order, and he has not left his post.’
‘Aye,’ said Obrin slowly. ‘He might go for such a plan. But where does that leave us? I’ll be riding out again with my men.’
‘No, his men. You will explain that your forces are exhausted, whereas his are fresh.’
‘So I ride out with a hundred enemy soldiers behind me? What then?’
‘You lead them into an ambush. Grame will tell you where.’
Obrin stared hard at the tall young woman. Her face, though beautiful, was emotionless, the eyes cold now and cruel. ‘You are a canny woman, Sigarni,’ he said. ‘It has a good chance of success.’
‘Make it succeed,’ she urged him. ‘I need those supplies and weapons. More importantly, I need to deny them to the Baron.’
‘I can understand that, lady, but why that fort? The Pallides is closer. Even if we do take the Farlain fort we have a great distance to cover carrying the supplies back here, much of it over rough country.’
‘You will take all three forts,’ she assured him. ‘The Farlain will be first. And you will not carry the supplies far – only to Torgan’s town. Then you will move on to the others. Now get some rest and be here tomorrow at dawn with Grame and Tovi.’
Obrin bowed and walked out into the night. He could hear the sounds of laughter from Grame’s hut, but elsewhere all was quiet.
She was canny all right. Not only would the plan – if it succeeded -ease the food shortage, and rob the Baron of spring supplies, but it would also impress the Farlain, who had lost scores of men in useless assaults on the fortification. And the chances of success, he knew, were high indeed. Sigarni was using the enemy’s great strength against them. Discipline. Blind obedience.