The Ironhand's Daughter

Fell left them and wandered away.

*

Obrin's anger was hard to contain as he stood before Sigarni. 'If you want me to die, why not just ask one of your soldiers to do it? Or you could cut my throat now!'

'I am not looking for you to die, Outlander.' The coldness of her tone only served to inflame him further.

Obrin forced a laugh. 'Come now, lady, there's no one else here. I see the way you look at me: loathing and hatred. You think I've never seen it before? What I don't understand is why you'd want to send a hundred of your own men to die with me.'

'Are you finished?' stormed Sigarni, rising from her chair. 'Or have you still some whining to do?' She stood directly before him, her eyes blazing. 'You are entirely correct in your assessment of my feelings towards you. Perhaps towards all men, including clansmen. There is no room in my heart for love. No room. In less than twelve weeks an army will descend on these mountains, and I must have a force to oppose them. Not only that, but they must be denied supplies. They have three forts built deep into our territory - tell me what they contain?'

'You know the answer.'

'Tell me. Exactly?

'Food and supplies, weapons - bows, arrows, lances, swords, helms. But more importantly they each contain one hundred fighting men, and are impregnable against all but a huge encircling force. The palisade walls are twenty-five feet high, the entrance guarded by drop-gates. Any force approaching would be open to bowshot for one hundred paces all around the fort. Once they arrived they would have to scale the walls. I've done that, lady, and I can tell you that a man with a good sword can kill twenty men scaling. You can't defend yourself when you're scrambling up a rope.'

'I am not asking you to scramble up ropes, Obrin. I did not ask you to assault the fort on Farlain land. I said you were to take it. Now will you listen to my plan?'

'I'm listening,' he said, 'but I spent half my life building those damned forts. I know what goes into their construction.'

'I want you to ride up to the drop-gate, with your hundred men, and I want you to relieve the defenders of their command.'

Obrin's jaw dropped. 'Relieve? What are you talking about?'

'When we were both at Asmidir's home I asked you about the forts. You said the men who manned them would expect to serve no more than two months, then a relief force would arrive.'

'But the snow? There's no way through those southern passes.'

'They won't know that, will they? You are a former officer ...'

'Sergeant,' he corrected.

'Whatever!' she snapped. 'Some of them may know you and that is good. They have been trapped in those forts and will have no knowledge of your ... change of loyalty. We still have the weapons, and what passed for uniforms, of the mercenaries who attacked Cilfallen. We also have the horses.

I want you to choose a hundred men and take over the Farlain fort.'

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.

Who would have thought that an untutored clans-woman could have such a devious mind?

'All women have devious minds,' he said, aloud. 'It's why I never wed.'

*

Sigarni rapped on the door of the small hut. 'Who's there?' called Tovi. Stepping inside, she saw the Hunt Lord sitting by an open fire. He glanced up as she entered. 'How did you find me?' he asked.

'Kollarin has a talent for these matters. Why are you not with your family?'

'I need time to think.'

Sigarni sat down opposite the man. 'You are angry.'

'What do you expect? I know I was a better baker than a Hunt Lord, but I have done my best since the attack. I could do no more.'

'I do not ask for more,' said Sigarni. 'I need your skills in other areas.'

'What skills?' he asked bitterly. 'You want me to bake bread for you? I can do that. Just build me an oven.'

'Yes, I want bread," she said softly. 'I want the people fed. Battles alone will not win us this war, Tovi. Once we have defeated the first Outland army we will need to move from defence to attack and that means invading the Lowlands. The army will need to be supplied with food. We will need mercenaries, and that means we must have gold; a treasury. Our forces will be spread, and that requires lines of communication. You understand? The role I need you for will stretch your talents to the limit. You will have no time for other burdens.'