Anna stared in horror as Laird Donald Munro and Jerome marched down the nave toward them. In the doorway behind the Laird and his commander, Anna could see more than two dozen armed Munro warriors.

They could not flee from this, and they certainly couldn’t fight their way out.

But as Laird Munro and Jerome closed the distance between themselves and Graeme, Anna knew she had to do something.

Laird Munro was clearly furious. His graying hair flew wildly from its queue, and his dark eyes blazed with fury. But Anna knew him to be a collected, fair, and honorable man under less chaotic circumstances. He would not hurt her.

However, she could not be sure that the Laird’s equity would extend to Graeme at the moment.

Without thinking, Anna stepped in front of Graeme, shielding his body from Laird Munro and Jerome with her own.

“Step aside, Lady Anna,” Jerome growled, reaching for the sword at his hip. “Else ye be harmed by this kidnapping scoundrel of a MacKay again.”

“Anna, nay,” Graeme said, ignoring Jerome as he tried to move around her.

Anna planted a hand in the middle of Graeme’s chest to stay him, even though she knew he could easily lift her out of the way if he chose.

“Hold there!” the priest shouted frantically, waving both hands. He, too, stepped between Graeme and the two approaching Munros. “This is a holy house! Ye will no’ shed blood here, let alone draw weapons or speak such words of aggression!”

“He didnae kidnap me,” Anna said, facing Jerome. “And he is no’ a scoundrel—he is my betrothed.”

“What the bloody hell is going on here?” Laird Munro demanded, coming to a halt. He turned to the priest. “My apologies, Father, but I will have answers, and I will have them now.”

Anna dragged in a breath to explain everything, but before she could speak, Jerome launched in, his hard gaze fixed on Graeme.

“When ye two didnae return after the attack by those bandits, I kenned my suspicions had been right all along,” he said. “Ye wanted my Laird’s intended for yerself, MacKay.”

“How did ye find us?” Graeme ground out behind her.

“When we picked up yer trail headed southward, I figured ye’d come here. I didnae miss the way ye took particular notice of the name of the abbey where my Laird was to wed Lady Anna,” Jerome shot back, his eyes filled with dark fury. “Besides, I ken ye’ve spent time in Lochmaben. I’m no’ surprised ye slithered back to someplace familiar, just like the vermin ye are.”

She sensed Graeme stiffen behind her, but Jerome went on before he could respond. “As soon as I realized what ye were up to, I went straight to Lochmaben and told Laird Munro what ye were about. Ye’ll no’ get away this time, MacKay—no’ with Anna, and no’ with yer life.”

“I went willingly!”

Anna hadn’t meant to shout, but she couldn’t stand any more of Jerome’s acid words, nor the accusations being hurled about the church.

Her voice echoed around the abbey’s arched ceiling until everyone at last fell silent.

“What is the meaning of all this?” Laird Munro said, his clear struggle to remain calm making his voice low and tight. “What do ye mean ye are his betrothed, Anna?”

Anna sucked in a breath, and for the second time that hour she explained all that had passed between her and Graeme—their courtship, his proposal, his sudden appearance on her journey to the Lowlands, her missive, their flight—all the way up to this moment.

As she spoke, Laird Munro stood silently, his dark brown eyes unreadable. Jerome’s state of mind, however, was written clearly on his hard features. He seethed with barely contained rage, shooting daggers at Graeme with his eyes. His hand still rested on the sheathed sword at his hip despite the priest’s plea to respect the sanctity of the abbey.

When Anna concluded her story, the priest cleared his throat.

“I can confirm, Laird Munro, that the missives in question appear to be valid. Lady Anna Ross was already technically engaged before she entered the marriage agreement with ye.”

Laird Munro’s gaze landed on Anna. She flinched instinctively, but when she met his eyes, she found a surprising gentleness in them.

“And this is what ye want, Anna?” he asked quietly. “To marry this MacKay?”

Anna turned and locked gazes with Graeme.

“Aye, Laird,” she said, her voice soft but steady. “It is all I’ve ever wanted.”

Laird Munro let out a slow breath. “Then it appears I cannae stop ye.”

Jerome squared his shoulders to Graeme. “Ye’ve destroyed an alliance between the Rosses and the Munros today, MacKay—and ye’ve made two more enemies for yer clan as well. Without this alliance, ye’ve thrown the Highlands into even more turmoil, ye—”

To Anna’s surprise, Laird Munro held up a hand, and Jerome fell instantly silent, his teeth clicking together as he clamped his jaw shut.

“Enough, Jerome,” Laird Munro said quietly. He turned to Graeme. “Forgive my commander’s sharp tongue. He’s the most loyal man ye’ll ever meet. I’m most grateful to have earned such faithful devotion—and no’ to have ever landed on his bad side.”

Jerome still scowled fiercely at Graeme, but in the face of an order from his Laird, he seemed obliged to remain silent.

Still, something he’d said troubled Anna. Jerome was right. If she married Graeme, not only would it dissolve the carefully crafted alliance her father and Laird Munro had forged for their two clans, but it would bring already simmering tensions between the Munros, Rosses, and MacKays to a full-on boil.

Anna had agreed to wed Laird Munro solely for their clans’ benefit. She’d always known it would be her duty as the daughter of a Laird to form an alliance through marriage. What of her duty now? How could she follow her heart toward Graeme if it meant endangering her people?

She looked up at Graeme, sinking her teeth into her lower lip. From the cloud of unease that crossed his green eyes, he’d had the same thought.

“What does this mean for our people?” Anna asked softly.

Laird Munro sighed, drawing her attention back to him.

“I’ll speak with yer father,” he said, suddenly sounding weary. “The Munros and Rosses have a great deal of good blood between them. Surely with time there will be a way to smooth this over.”

“And the MacKays?” Graeme murmured. “Will this pit my clan against no’ only the Rosses, but the Munros as well?”

Laird Munro exhaled again, dragging a hand through his disheveled gray-brown hair. “We all want peace,” he said. “But it is hard to come by in the Highlands, it seems.”

Anna felt Graeme stiffen behind her. She turned to find him staring intently at Laird Munro.

“What is it?” she whispered.

Brows drawn together and face set in stone, he looked every bit the fierce warrior she’d fallen in love with, but she could also see the intricate wheels of his mind working behind his bright green eyes.

“I have an idea.”