Page 31 of Pregnant at the Palace Altar

Because, again, she looked visibly happy. She was glowing with it. This was not the woman who’d refused him in her sad little apartment in Athens. It wasn’t even the woman who’d calmly told him she wanted a business partnership.

This was a new Katerina, and he wanted to laugh along with her when she told a story about Marias hitting the champagne a little too hard and tumbling out of his chair, his toupee sliding off along with him.

It had been so long since he’d truly laughed and the impulse felt odd enough to enable him to resist. Instead, he looked out the window and watched as they began their descent to the western coast of Kalyva.

“Diamandis, why did you send Christos to walk me down the aisle?”

He did not break his gaze from the view outside the window. It was dark—this area of Kalyva was largely isolated and the royal family owned enough of the land to keep people from encroaching, so there were few lights aside from the necessary ones to land the plane.

He considered her question and tried to make his answer pragmatic. “You needed someone.”

“But the plan was for me to walk by myself. What changed?”

He had seen the crowd, the long aisle, and the thought of her having to face it alone had twisted him up inside.

He could hardly tell her that. “Christos suggested it.”

“That’s not what he told me, Diamandis.”

Diamandis shrugged. “It is what happened,” he lied. Easily. That was the kind of man he was, after all. Built on a lie. A secret.

She said nothing more as the plane touched down, as they were ushered off and into the car that would drive them to the castle.

Anavolí was much smaller than the royal palace. This had been built almost a century ago for a princess who had been frail, and the king at the time had thought her own more private dwelling would lengthen her life.

It had, and she had even married and had children here and so it became a popular retreat for any royal needing a rest or change of scene.

His parents had brought them here as children in the summers to play in the ocean—no lessons, no protocol. Just life. And family.

He had been back a handful of times since they’d died—mostly to prove to himself that he was stronger than any memories could ever be. But he’d been younger then. More...steadfast.

These days he knew better than to tempt the fate of a happy memory.

The drive to the castle was short, and when Diamandis helped Katerina out of the car at Anavolí, she let out a little noise of pleasure.

“Oh, isn’t it lovely in the dark?” A smile curved her lips. “It glows, and you can hear the surf. It reminds me of the beaches at home.”

“You grew up in Seir, yes?” he asked, rather than look at the white structure glow in the welcoming lights. Rather than be inclined to picture the bright blue water lapping at the sand just behind the building.

He would see it all soon enough when the sun rose.

She looked at him as if surprised he remembered her origins, but of course he knew which town every member of his staff was from. Even if she was no longer his staff.

Your wife. Your queen.

“Yes. I cannot say I enjoyed my childhood there, but I love the beaches. I love to swim or at least I did when I was young.”

Diamandis said nothing to this information as he led her inside the castle. He had a small staff here, ready and waiting, and they led him and his wife to their bedchamber.

“I’m afraid we will have to share a room to avoid speculation or gossip on our honeymoon.”

Katerina drifted through the room, toward the open balcony that looked out over the sea. “It is of no matter,” she said, quite philosophically for a woman who’d been insistent they not blur lines mere days ago.

“I cannot imagine why you don’t make more use of this place, Diamandis,” she said, taking a deep breath of salty sea air out on the balcony.

He knew better than to join her. Safer to stay inside and watch from afar. “I considered giving it to Zandra and Lysias as a wedding gift, but I think they both rather prefer the bustle of the city. Nevertheless, it will be a fine place for them to bring their children to for summer holidays.”

She turned to face him. She was shadowed, except for a slim shaft of moonlight that cut across her face. “What about us?”

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