"I think," Will said slowly, "she may be right. Let's try it."

"Ready," Evanlyn said calmly. She was crouched below the platform where Will and Horace stood.

"Clear!" That was Horace. The shield bearers dropped to one knee beside the archers.

"Left left! Position one:shoot!"

The volley was ragged and Will knew that was his fault. He'd called the order to shoot a fraction too quickly and some of the men hadn't reached full draw. He mentally kicked himself. He heard Horace calling for the shields again and saw the arrow strikes on the target-as well as those that missed and fell short.

But now another danger reared its head. As the next large target swung up and began moving toward them, another, smaller one swung out from the target they had just engaged. This was a man-sized figure and it was Will's responsibility. He drew and loosed and saw his arrow slam into the target, just as Evanlyn called "ready" once more. He turned his attention quickly to the main target as Horace ordered the shield bearers down.

"Left! Position three:" He waited, then added a correction. "Down a half:"

He forced himself to wait the full term, then called: "Shoot!"

This time, the volley flew truly, with the majority of arrows slamming into the target or close around it. If it had been a charging group of horsemen, the volley would have taken a severe toll.

"Shields!" bellowed Horace, and the pattern began to repeat itself. But now Will waved a weary hand.

"Stand down," he said, and Horace repeated the order in a louder voice. The archers and shield bearers, who had been working at this drill for the past two hours with only a few short breaks, dropped gratefully to the grass to rest. Horace grinned at Will.

"Not bad," he said. "I make it twenty out of twenty-five of those targets peppered pretty solidly. And you hit every one of the Kaijin."

The smaller targets attached to each large board represented the Kaijin. Freed from the need to check on both his own men and the enemy, Will had coped easily with them.

"True," Will said in response to Horace's comment. "But they weren't shooting back."

Secretly, he was pleased with his performance. He had shot well, in spite of the distractions involved in estimating range and trajectory for the larger group.

He grinned at Horace and Evanlyn. It was good to feel some of the old camaraderie back.

"Nice work, everyone," he said, then, raising his voice: "Let's take a break for half an hour."

There was a murmur of satisfaction from the archers and they moved to the side of the practice area, where barrels of drinking water were available. Behind Will, a familiar voice spoke.

"Take a break for the rest of the day. You've done enough for the moment."

The three young Araluens turned at the sound of Halt's voice. Instantly, Will felt reinvigorated, bursting with curiosity about events at Sand Creek Bay.

"Halt!" he cried eagerly. "What happened? Were the Temujai there? Did you manage to fool them?"

But Halt held up a hand to stop the flow of questions he knew he was about to face. He was troubled by what he had just seen as he approached.

"Why have you got Evanlyn involved in this, Will?" he asked. He saw the hesitation in the young man's eyes, then saw his jaw set in a determined line.

"Because I need her, Halt. I need someone to keep track of the men, to let me know when they're ready. Without that, the system won't work."

"Couldn't someone else do that?"

"I can't think of anyone else I can trust. I want someone who won't panic. Someone who'll keep her head."

Halt scratched his beard thoughtfully. "How do you know Evanlyn won't panic?"

The answer came immediately.

"Because she didn't in Celtica-at the bridge."

Halt looked at the three young faces before him. All set. All determined. He knew Will was right. He would need someone he could trust.

"All right then," he said, then added, as the three beamed at him, "But don't look so happy about it. I'm the one who'll have to explain to her father if she's shot."

"Now what about the Temujai?" Will asked. "Did you find them at Sand Creek Bay?"

At the mention of Slagor's plot, the smile on Evanlyn's face faded, replaced by a look of anxiety.

"They were there," Halt said quickly, dispelling her worst fears. "And they made it clear that they were expecting to see Slagor." He nodded at the girl as she let go a pent-up breath in relief. "It puts a different complexion on things as far as you're concerned, Princess," he said.

"Ragnak still has his vow," she said dully.

Halt nodded. "True. But at least he's agreed not to act on it until after we've driven off the Temujai." Evanlyn made an uncertain little gesture with her hands.

"It's just postponing things," she said.

"Problems postponed have a habit of solving themselves, more often than not," Halt told her, putting an arm around her slim shoulders. Evanlyn smiled at him. But it wasn't much of a smile.

"If you say so," she replied. "But Halt, don't address me as 'Princess' if you would. No point in reminding Ragnak about me at every opportunity."

The Ranger nodded. "I stand corrected," he said. Then he added, in a lower tone that only Evanlyn heard, "By the way, there's no need to mention it to him, but don't be too surprised if Erak's wolfship is standing by to get you out of here the minute we've seen these damned Temujai off."

She looked up at him then, hope in her eyes. He met her gaze and nodded meaningfully. She looked from him to the burly Skandian Jarl, who was now approaching over the field, then she leaned forward to kiss Halt lightly on the cheek.

"Thanks, Halt," she said softly. "At least now I know there is an alternative."

The Ranger shrugged and grinned at her. "That's what I'm here for," he said, pleased to see the light of hope back in her eyes. She smiled at him again and slipped away, heading back to her quarters. All at once, overwhelmed by her sense of relief that Halt had contrived a possible way out of her predicament, she felt the need to be alone for a while.

Some of the Skandians who had been working the targets were calling to Erak now as he came closer, wanting to know how events had turned out at Sand Creek Bay. As the jarl confirmed Slagor's treachery, there were angry mutterings and dark looks cast toward the lodge, where Slagor was being held under guard.

"What about the Temujai, Erak?" Will asked. "How did you convince them to go ashore on Fallkork Island?"

Erak's laughter rang around the practice field. "We would have had to fight to stop them!" he told the assembled audience. "They were scrambling over each other to get back on solid land."

The Skandians in the crowd standing around him echoed his laughter as he continued: "I managed to find a spot where we had the wind from astern, a steep head sea on our starboard quarter and the tide race through the narrows at the same time. A few hours of that and our fierce horse soldiers were like little lambs-sick little lambs."

"They weren't the only ones," Halt replied with some feeling. "I've been through some rough seas in my time, but I've never felt anything like the plunging and leaping you had us doing."

Once again Erak bellowed with laughter. "Your master here went nearly the same shade of green as his cloak," he told Will. Halt raised one eyebrow.

"At least I finally found a use for that damned helmet," he said, and the smile disappeared from Erak's face.

"Yes. I'm not sure what I'm going to tell Gordoff about that," he said. "He made me promise I'd look after that helmet. It's his favorite-a real family heirloom."

"Well, it certainly has a lived-in feel to it now," Halt told him, and Will noticed there was a hint of malicious pleasure in his eye. The Ranger nodded at the group of archers who were standing by.