Page 72 of Highlander’s Protector

To Anna’s horror, David paled and nodded. “I will accept my fate, Your Grace.”

“Nae, Father.” Anna came to him and laid both her hands on the Bruce’s arm holding the sword and tugging it down. It was like tugging a tree branch. “Please, dinna kill him. He didna rape me. It was of my own accord that it happened…”

Her uncle Aulay stepped next to David. He was sprayed with blood, too, the side of his hair caked with gore, but Anna didn’t think it was his wound. Probably the blood of the enemy. “Yer Grace,” Aulay said, spreading his arms in a placating gesture. “May I remind ye, David is a Mackenzie, yer loyal clan that, like us, didna leave ye in peril and hid ye and gave ye men when ye were vulnerable and needed support the most.”

Bruce’s jaw protruded in anger. He looked between Aulay, David, and Anna as he thought it over, then spat loudly onto the ground and lowered his sword. “Aye. God’s arse, ye’re right. Ye’re Angus’s brother-in-law. I canna do that to him. I wilna kill ye. But ye must marry Anna. And ye’ll be in debt to Bruce. So if I call on ye one day, whatever I need from ye, ye’ll do it.”

David, still pale, nodded solemnly. “I will, Your Grace.”

But to Anna, this still meant she was imprisoning David and keeping him captive. “But, Father, I wilna do it.”

The looks of horror on everyone’s faces made her feel small, and she straightened her shoulders and raised her chin. Colum leaned to her. “Cousin, dinna ye anger the king nae more than needed. I dinna think ye can negotiate any more good fortune for yerself or David.”

Bruce was staring at her like she were a demon. Colum was right, she realized. She did need to agree, even though she’d be making a choice between David’s life and his freedom. Even though she knew this would be the death of his dreams and the end of his goal to return to his time. She felt her heart sink knowing she was the reason for that.

“Aye,” Anna said. “I was wrong, Father. I will marry David. If he would have me.”

“Good,” Bruce said and wiped his sword with the side of his rich tunic, then put it back into the sheath. “’Tis decided, then.”

With her heart beating hard, Anna looked at David. Were they really engaged now? Guilt was a tombstone in her chest as she met his gaze. He didn’t look like he hated her, though she knew he was probably hiding it. She wished that their engagement could be a happy one. A celebration of love, rather than an escape from death. Nevertheless, here they were. A bride and a groom. Standing two steps away from each other. Close, and yet impossibly far apart. Only one night ago they had slept wrapped around each other, and he had touched her everywhere, known her body intimately.

And yet now, they couldn’t touch. If only she could take his hand into hers and smell his scent and talk to him…

“Anna.” It was her father now who looked straight at her. “May I have a word with ye?”

Anna nodded and the two of them walked outside into the fresh air and sunlight. The thatched roofs of Stirling village were so bright in the sunlight, her eyes hurt after the long semidarkness of the church. The dead men, both Bruce’s and Mowbray’s, had been lain on the ground to bury later. Bruce led her around a corner, away from the morbid sight.

When he stopped in front of her, his eyes looked concerned. “Were ye treated badly in Carlisle?”

“Aye, Father,” Anna said. “I wilna try to defend Dugald MacDowell. He is my enemy, too. He kept me in an oubliette, Father, and wanted to leave me there to die.”

Bruce cursed under his breath. A solemn, angry expression crossed his face as he looked away from her and into the distance. “I am sorry, daughter,” he said. “This shouldna have happened.”

“He said it was revenge on ye because ye ransacked Galloway and took the castle away from him. He said something about taking me from ye and destroying yer chance for a peaceful deal for Stirling.”

Bruce sighed out. “Goddamn that man. He will never stop, will he?”

Then she remembered something. “Ye must be careful, Father. England has sent a treasure ship with much armor, swords, and gold to Ireland. He boasted about it to me, never imagining I would be rescued.”

“Aye, Ireland has always been a base from which England attacks Scotland.” Then he paled as, seemingly, some sort of realization relaxed his features. “Daughter, ye may have told me one of the most important pieces of news of the century. They must be planning the next invasion of the Highlands… Oh Christ the Lord, I must ask my advisors. The Bishop of Moray has connections—I must send a messenger to him. And Aulay has friendly connections in Ireland with his trading network. He will learn what he can, too.”

Anna felt a tinge of pride as he said all that. She was useful.

Bruce squeezed her shoulder. “I am proud of ye, Anna. I wish I could have marrit yer mother because I loved her. I would have loved to have ye as my legitimate daughter. I was coming through for ye, doing right by ye. This marriage with Philip would have been good. Aye, I wanted this because it would be helpful to this war, but ye would have needed a good husband eventually. And Philip is a good man, despite him being on the enemy’s side. He’s honorable and a kind man who would be a good husband and give ye a good life.”

Butterflies soared in Anna’s heart at his words. His dark eyes watered as he cupped her face. “Circumstances didna allow me to be by yer side. But I am proud of the young woman that ye grew up to be, even if I wasna part of yer life. I hope to correct the error. There’s an island that used to belong to the MacDougalls, a longtime enemy the Cambels helped me destroy. I will give it to ye as yer dowry. Ye may live there with David. And I want ye to be in my court whenever ye wish.”

Anna’s chest fluttered. She felt like she was soaring. Tears prickled her eyes. “Oh, Father…” she whispered. And for the first time in her life, her father wrapped his arms around her, and she wept tears of forgiveness and love into his blood-caked tunic.

But would he think the same of her once David disappeared and she, like her mother, gave birth to a bastard?

CHAPTER 30

Three days later…

“Row!” came Aulay’s booming voice through the waves crashing against the birlinn. “Row!”

The MacDonald laird stood at the steep bow of Tagradh, his eyes moving between the sail, the horizon, the coast, and the rowing men. His silvery hair danced in the breeze, and David was glad this powerful man was busy with navigation. Aulay hadn’t talked to David in the past three days, and his attitude was icy.