Chapter 17

Another 17 Months Later

Amelia stood at the window of her private study, watching the gardeners working in the palace gardens. Her hands absently cradled her still-flat stomach, a habit she'd developed over the months of disappointment, as if protective of something that wasn't there.

"Thirty-four months," she whispered to herself. "Almost three years of marriage, and still nothing."

The past seventeen months since her conversation with Theodore had brought more of the same… just more negative tests, carefully timed intimacy, and mounting pressure. She and Niko had tried to follow the King's advice, speaking more openly about their feelings, making time for each other outside their royal duties. For a while, it had helped. They'd rediscovered some of the warmth they'd shared during their honeymoon, the connection that went beyond duty and protocol.

But with each passing month of disappointment, the distance had crept back in, more subtle now but unmistakable. Not co