“There was nothing else until, north of Delphi, I saw where some bluejackets had been killed at Way Camp. They were out of uniform, but they carried bluejacket gear and papers. It must have happened in the middle of the snowstorm.” He looked at her, and she nodded but didn’t volunteer more. “Then, farther on, I found Captain Byrne’s body in the pass. I couldn’t make sense of it. They were all done by crossbows, not clan arrows. I couldn’t figure out what had happened, who was fighting who, and why.”

Rebecca plucked at the folds in her skirt, straightening the fabric.

Han continued on. “After I came through the pass, I heard horses coming, what sounded like a hunt going on. I saw them chasing you, shooting at you, though I didn’t recognize you at the time.” He rubbed his chin. “I decided to follow along and see if I could help you.”

Rebecca looked up, tilting her head. “Really? If you didn’t know me, what made you decide to intervene?” She waved her hand. “After all, I could have been a criminal being chased by the Queen’s Guard.”

“It was six on one,” Han said, thinking, This shouldn’t be that hard to figure out. “Eight on one at the end. From your size, I guessed you were a woman or a child—and you weren’t shooting back. Plus, they were out of uniform—for all I knew, they were bully ruffins.

“Even if they’d been badged up and wearing their blue jackets, it just seemed unfair to me. I didn’t know the background, but I can’t believe it’s in the queen’s interest to send eight men out to kill a girlie like you.” He looked at Rebecca very directly. “And if the queen approves of that, there’s something wrong with her.”

Rebecca got that slapped look she wore sometimes.

Han ran back over what he’d said. No, it all made sense, and nothing offensive that he could see.

“S—so, what happened then?” Rebecca croaked.

“By the time I caught up with you, you were holed up in the canyon and they were closing in on you.” Han took a long drink of tea. His mouth was still wicked dry.

“It wasn’t until I pried you out of your hidey-hole that I realized it was you. I couldn’t figure out what you were doing there. Once I took a look at your wound, I realized the arrow was a poison daub, and—”

“Wait a minute,” Rebecca said, putting up her hand. “What happened to the men who ambushed me?”

Han hesitated, wondering what she would think of him, then shrugged. “I killed them.”

Rebecca stared at him as if waiting for the rest of the story. “All of them? None of them got away?”