One of the men raised a fist, signaling the others to wait. Cupping his hands around his mouth, he shouted into the blind end of the glen. “Let’s not prolong this. You’ll never get away on foot. Surrender now, and you’ll not be harmed. Resist, and I make no guarantees.”

Ha, Han thought. The girlie saw what happened to her friends. She’d be a fool to take that offer.

The man waited. There was no answer save the rattle of frozen leaf in the wind. He shrugged and nodded to his men. They swarmed forward into the rock debris at the end of the ravine, thrusting their blades into the underbrush, poking into crevices and behind boulders, wading through snowdrifts to their waists, working their way ever higher on the canyon walls.

Suddenly, a soldier on one of the ledges across the canyon from Han shouted something, then staggered, stumbled, and fell, screaming, arms windmilling wildly. He landed on his back on a slab of rock on the floor of the canyon. One of his comrades scrambled over the rocks to where he lay.

“Corporal Merkle!” he shouted, his voice shrill with indignation. “The bloody bitch put an arrow in Jarvit.”

Corporal? Han thought. They are military, just as I thought. Why would they attack Byrne’s company? Shouldn’t they be on the same side?

The hunters now looked more like the hunted, muttering to each other, swiveling their heads, scanning the rock walls of the canyon and huddling low to present a smaller target. They seemed more than willing to allow somebody else the glory of finding the hidden archer.

Merkle swore and jabbed a finger toward the right rear of the canyon. “The bolt had to come from somewhere over there,” he snarled. “She’s just a chit of a girl, you cowards!”

“She kilt Lieutenant Gillen a’ready,” Merkle’s friend whined. “I’m just sayin’ she’s more dangersome than you think.”

Han’s head came up in surprise. Gillen? Mac Gillen? If the girlie had really killed Gillen, that was a service worth rewarding. Any enemy of Mac Gillen is a friend of mine.

The soldiers stood, still grumbling, shooting glances up at the wall of the canyon where the girlie must lay hidden. They seemed to have little appetite for this job.

“You did for Captain Byrne, didn’t you?” Merkle sneered. “You’re in too deep to back out now. She gets away, you’re in a world of trouble.”

With black looks at their corporal, the soldiers resumed their search, albeit more cautiously this time.

So it was true. Gillen and a group of renegades had murdered their commander, and all of those traveling with him. Likely, Byrne had been the real target, and now they wanted to finish the job so no one would go back carrying tales.

Han made his decision.