Hope Sundered

“Are you sure this is going to work?” Iraden asked, his voice swollen with doubt. He and the others shared a campfire as they ate and discussed their options.

Sollin met the Segatian commander’s inquisitive gaze. “Of course not. This is war.”

Iraden exhaled his frustration. “True, but that doesn’t justify such recklessness. With all due respect, it takes more than a fancy axe to turn a miller into a strategist.”

“Oh yeah? Well, with all due respect—” Sollin began, but Crenshaw grabbed his arm.

“Sollin may have no formal training in combat, but he’s very clever, and always puts the lives of his men ahead of his own, which you’ve seen first-hand.”

“That’s all very admirable, but—”

“Furthermore, he holds a critical advantage you don’t: he’s engaged the enemy face to face. He’s learned how they think and how they move. He’s learned their weakness and exploited it twice already with great success.

“This plan is a good one, Commander. He’s relieved himself in their stew, as the saying goes. I assure you they’ll be so focused on claiming his head they won’t see the trap until it’s been sprung. I urge you to trust him.”

Iraden sighed and ran a hand through his hair, stopping in the back to massage his neck. “It sounds like folly.”

“Please allow me to be blunt, Commander,” Crenshaw replied. “You think like a soldier.”

Iraden was slightly more curious than offended. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Your training is based on rules of right and wrong, and your experience tells you how to act and when to react. In other words, if a man is charging you with a drawn sword, you’d assume he’s intending to strike you down.”

Iraden scoffed and looked at the bartender as if he was an idiot. “What else would he be doing?”

“Holding your attention while the archer hidden off to the side lines up an easy shot.”

Iraden’s brow furrowed as he considered the analogy in context of Sollin’s plan.

Crenshaw continued, “We came here to fight for Wyndham, but since we arrived, we’ve been fighting for our own lives. We may be vastly outnumbered, but we’re up against trained soldiers who make the same assumptions about warfare you do.

“Sollin’s ‘ignorance’ has proven to be our greatest asset. To the enemy he’s unpredictable, which frustrates them to the point of poor judgment. Combine that with their arrogance and your numbers, and we actually have a chance of doing serious damage for once.”

Iraden released the same heavy sigh from earlier as he met Crenshaw’s firm gaze. Finding the same determination on the other men’s faces, he said, “Very well. We’ll try it the miller’s way.”