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She wasn’t ready to tell anyone.

Not ever would be her preference, but she knew her secret wouldn’t keep for long.

She would wait as long as she possibly could.

Maybe by then she’d know how she felt about everything.

Until then, she’d keep quiet.

CHAPTER 2

Was it wrong to stare at the woman you just married? Especially if neither one of you had actually wanted to do it?

Josiah wasn’t sure, but he watched Bekah anyway. She didn’t seem to sleep peacefully, but at least she slept.

Something more was going on with her, just like something more was going on with the Steve situation. Ben was supposed to be calling, but he hadn’t yet, and Josiah didn’t know when he would.

Casualty of being related to a king. His schedule was never his own. Josiah wondered how Katrín learned to deal with it.

He suspected his sister-in-law put her foot down, and Benjamin, being a smart man, listened.

Maybe he should call Thor in the meantime.

His step-father had been Benjamin’s head of security and been in charge of both Benjamin’s and their father’s security team for years before that. Then he fell in love with the late king’s widow, Josiah’s mum, and they were blissfully happy together.

Picking his phone up, he texted his step-father. In a minute, a reply came through that Thor was in the middle of something and would talk to him later.

Josiah was fairly certain Thor would know about the accident and would have called if he could.

Finally, with nothing else to do, Josiah leaned his own chair back and closed his eyes. Maybe they could both get enough sleep to feel refreshed when they landed in Akushla. Hopefully, he wouldn’t have nightmares about Steve falling through the trees on the side of that mountain.

Praying for peaceful sleep, he tried to focus on just about anything else.

When he woke, he knew it hadn’t been long enough, but at least he felt somewhat better and didn’t remember any dreams at all.

“Where are we?” Bekah’s sleepy voice caused Josiah to sit upright so he could see her. “How long until we land?”

Josiah looked at the map on one of the screens. “We’re over the Atlantic right now, about halfway between the United Kingdom and Eyjania. We probably have about ninety minutes left. Did you get some sleep?”

She nodded, her blonde hair falling out of the ponytail it had been secured in for most of the day. “Some. Not enough. I kept having dreams...” She shook her head slightly. “I never saw him - Steve - but I never saw what happened yesterday either. I could hear him though.”

Exactly what Josiah had been afraid of for himself. “I’ll be praying they don’t happen again.”

“Thanks.”

“Are you hungry?” He needed to find out more about Bekah, about what she liked and didn’t like. He knew some - they’d been friendly acquaintances for years - but not enough.

“I could eat something light. Nothing too heavy. My stomach is a bit unsettled.” She pressed the button to raise her seat back. “I normally don’t have issues with flying, but this trip has been a little different.”

“Sure.” He went to the galley and found some French bread and a Sprite. Maybe that would help.

“Thanks.” Bekah took the offered food. “Are you going to eat?”

Josiah shook his head. “I’m good for now.”

She took a sip of the drink. “So how do we handle this when we land? What exactly is going to happen?”

“We’ll be driven to the palace. We’ll likely enter underground then go see my brother. If he’s in the middle of something that can’t be postponed, we’ll go straight to my apartment. I have no idea which of my siblings might be around. I’m not even sure who still lives at the palace anymore. I’m not sure any of them do, though we all have our own apartments still.” He closed his eyes and mentally ran through the list. “Gen and Evie are both married. Gen spends more time here than Evie does since she’d be the regent if something happened to Ben. Her husband is an American who travels and does a blog or something. Evie married an Eyjanian actor who does most of his work in the States, so they spend a lot of time there. Darius married a San Majorian princess, but they live in Serenity Landing. Zach married Amelia Grace, cousin to King Ezekiel in New Sargasso. They live there, for now anyway. Zay is engaged to Lindsey, step-daughter of Queen Adeline of Montevaro. Last I heard, the three youngest - Angelina, Gabriella, and Alfred - were all living with my mum, step-dad, and step-brothers at their home on the outskirts of Akushla.”