Page 41 of Pregnant at the Palace Altar

“And have our children be singled out in the history books as the ones who did not get a full name?”

She huffed out an irritated breath. “Diamandis. Honestly. You cannot possibly think anyone would notice or care.”

His gaze moved from the ocean to her, and he surveyed her as if she’d grown a second head. “They are the heirs to the Kalyva crown, Katerina. Every Kalyva citizen will noticeandcare.”

She had not given it the consideration that he had, clearly. Even disagreeing with him, she was warmed by the thought he must have put into their children’s names.

And she supposed she could hardly argue with his feelings on the matter. He was the royal one. He knew what kind of attention he would receive, and had always received, as heir. But... “They will still be children before they are heirs.”

“You cannot separate the two things,” he said, with a hint of ardentness that surprised her. “If you do...” But he didn’t finish that sentence, just let it trail off into silence.

She got the impression his mind had traveled to something else. Sometimeelse. He looked so troubled.

“If you do, what?” she asked gently, trying to bring him back to the present, since surely that emotional response meant he was lost in the maze of his past that he kept locked away.

“If you do not wish to choose a name from your family, simply choose one you like,” he said, building back that formidable mask of his. “And if you insist on not doing that, we will have Zandra choose.”

“Not you?”

His mouth firmed. He said nothing.

“You haven’t even asked,” she said softly, even though she’d meant to swallow down the words. The hurt.

“Asked what?”

She studied him. His gaze was on the dark ocean, even as they swayed to the music. Was he impossible to reach? “What sex the babies will be.”

“I assumed the doctor would have told me if it was known.” He did not look at her.

He did not step away from her.

She’d had no idea how hard it would be to exist in this place, where he neither reached out nor pulled away. Where she did all the work, and he was just...a statue.

“Do you not care to know?”

“Apparently you do not.”

Katerina had considered whether she’d wanted to find out beforehand, but she liked the mystery of it. Now she studied Diamandis’s face and wondered. “Would it make it feel more real to you? If you knew? If they had names already picked out?”

“I do not know what you mean. There is nothing to feel. They are real. They are why we are here.”

He was being purposefully obtuse. Anger and irritation stirred within her, but that would not get her what she wanted.

What do you want? Because he has made it quite clear he will not love you.

She pushed that voice away. It sounded too much like her mother.

“You can feel one of their feet,” she said, taking his hand and pressing it to where the baby’s foot was lodged hard against her side. It was painful at times, but she reveled in tracing the shape of it, knowing it had to be an elbow or a foot. Perhaps a knee.

She wanted Diamandis to feel some connection to the lives inside of her. She needed in this moment to reach him in a way she hadn’t yet.

He did not pull his hand away, though she felt his entire body’s resistance. But whoever in there was currently trying to kick his or her way out chose that moment to move.

Diamandis jerked in surprise, though he did not pull his hand away. “It moved.”

“They do that. More and more.”

He flattened his hand, moving with the roll of whatever body part was pushing against her. “It seems impossible,” he murmured.

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