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“We can talk to my brother when we arrive in Akushla.” He sighed.

“Akushla?” Bekah finally looked up. “We’re not going to the States?”

Joe shook his head. “Don’t leave townin this case meansbecause you’re part of a royal family we have a good relationship with, you can leave town, but only to your home country. So we’re going to Akushla.”

“I see.” Would she be staying at another palace? She’d never even seen one a month ago and now could be on her way to her second. “I’m not Eyjanian, though.”

“No, but you are now married to an Eyjanian prince. That means we stay in Eyjania.”

“Did they even tell us not to leave town? They hadn’t when we, well, left.”

He nodded. “I got a text from the consul as we arrived at the airport. I purposely didn’t check my phone until we’d been in the air for a bit. The pilot had instructions to get us out of their airspace as quickly as possible.”

“I was hoping they wouldn’t try to find us at all.” The invisible weight continued to press down on her shoulders.

“Same here, but there’s something more going on.” He leaned back in his seat. “I wish I knew what.”

“Why do you think there’s more?”

“Because my brother said he wanted us to get out of Dodge. He didn’t use those words, but the consul in a secondary city actually spoke with my brother and not one of my brother’s assistants. That’s a big deal.”

He kept referring to his brother. Why was his brother so important? She finally went with a one-word question. “Why? You’re brothers.”

“Yeah, but my brother is king. Even when one of us is involved, he doesn’t usually make calls himself.”

Right.

Of course.

He wasn’t just a prince. His brother was already king.

Bekah was now a king’s sister-in-law.

She was already a future queen’s adopted sister - something she’d known for about a year, but Ginny just discovered a few weeks earlier. Ginny’s crown princess mother had sent her away for her own safety when she was just a few hours old. Their parents had told Bekah when she turned twenty-four and would have told Ginny soon, but Ginny discovered it on her own.

Her life was weird.

And her new husband didn’t know he was also going to be a father if they didn’t find a way to end this marriage in the next few months.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but for Ben to be personally involved there’s something. That means we probably need to forgo an annulment or whatever until after the whole situation in Athmetis is resolved. We’ll figure it out, but it won’t be a matter of filling out paperwork when we land.” Joe sighed. “We can stay in my apartment in the palace if that’s okay with you. I don’t usually have a security team anymore, but I do when I’m home. They’d prefer that, but we can stay at a hotel or even go to my family’s cabin, but it’s several hours away by car.”

“The apartment is fine.” She could go into the palace, hopefully unseen, and hide in his apartment. If it was anything like the apartments in Øyanord, it would have a kitchen and everything she needed. She wouldn’t have to leave until this whole thing ended.

He gave a single nod. “Why don’t you get some rest? You look exhausted.”

Bekah reached for the blanket someone had thoughtfully left nearby. “That sounds like a great idea.” Growing a human being sure took a lot out of her. Fortunately, she hadn’t been sick - just tired.

Josiah showed her how to recline the seat as far back as she wanted then found a pillow for her. Curled up on her side, it was almost like being in bed, just thirty thousand feet in the air.

The lights in the cabin dimmed, and Bekah closed her eyes, trying not to remember what her last wedding night had been like.

It didn’t work and hot tears leaked out of the corner of her eyes and down onto the pillow. She wasn’t over Ian, not even close. Their relationship hadn’t been perfect, far from it. She’d had second thoughts about the marriage even before the wedding, but she’d made the commitment and went through with it anyway.

Her hand rested protectively over her abdomen, hidden by the blanket. She hadn’t experienced any cramping or anything else that would indicate she needed to see a doctor, but maybe she should make arrangements anyway.

But that would mean telling someone. No one knew, except her doctor, new obstetrician, and their staffs.

Bekah wasn’t sure how she felt about being pregnant with Ian’s child. She already loved the baby, but given her conflicted emotions about the father...