‘. . . by the powers vested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife.’

A smile of delight escaped her. It was done? He was hers and she was his? He stepped forward, cupping her face in his hands and staring down at her as though she was heavensent. ‘I will love and protect you always,’ he said with quiet fierceness.

‘And I you.’

He kissed her, the tender press of his lips pushing a button inside her and waking her up. She didn’t need to be afraid any more. They had been together for only three days and four nights but already she knew she could face anything with him by her side. Their love was fiercer than any war, and now when she looked into the sky, it wasn’t to check for bombs but to follow the birds, to catch rainbows, to wish upon the stars.

A nearby sound of metal on metal, like a door latch falling, made them all startle.

‘What was that?’ the priest whispered, looking around abruptly.

No one replied, listening instead to the sudden and distinctive sound of feet, running; so nearly silent, but not quite. The two men instinctively closed in around her, scanning the windows for signs of lights, ropes, missiles, both reaching for the guns in their belts and pointing them around the chapel, weapons primed. Everyone was a soldier these days – the grocer, the carpenter, the locksmith, the priest.

They waited but the silence held. Had the danger passed? Was it so improbable to believe it could have been a child playing?

Yes.

‘Quick, this way,’ her newly minted husband whispered, grabbing her wrist and pulling her towards the back of the nave so fast her feet could barely touch the floor. ‘Get behind the choir,’ he said, pushing her roughly down behind the giant carved mahogany structure, the tenderness of the previous minute already lost to the art of war. She cowered behind the solid screen as he crept back towards the altar, his gun held in steady hands. She didn’t want him to leave her but she reminded herself he was skilled in stealth, able to creep like a cat, light-footed and sure. Her breath was coming hard as the adrenaline pumped and she fought to control it, eyes closed as she tried not to imagine the danger that was creeping around the chapel and encircling them.

There! Her eyes flew open as she heard it, the tiny, single click of a gun’s hammer being pulled back. She looked around her wildly, paling as she saw the east door. It was supposed to be bolted – indeed an attempt had been made on their way in, but in their rush to be married, the tip of the bolt was barely nudging up to the barrel.

She broke cover, running fast towards it with no time even to crouch, her terror growing with her speed as she saw the thin crack between the doors begin to widen. Open . . .