"Then, if I had your permission…" Oliver said. "I would find that option useful."
"How long do you wish for?" Samuel said. "I assume that you wish to be a part of the next patrol, given how you spoke to my Lord at the last meeting. Then, your time frame would only be set to a week. Do the odds still stand if the time frame is simply a week?"
"That is what the odds were based on," Oliver said. "I cannot afford to leave my men for any longer than that."
"Indeed, the fact that you are leaving them already will have its consequences," Samuel said. "But if you manage this, Captain Patrick… Then the scales shall shift. My Lord will not simply be happy – he will be elated. This is the exact sort of matter that brings him his delight. I warn you, though, he will know of your intentions immediately. I intend to inform him by crow. Does that bother you? Your failure shall be known by your General, and by I, and likely by many of the members of this encampment if you do indeed blunder."
