A few months passed, encompassing an eternity of changes. The biggest and best change involved Reid and where he slept.

We had decided, along with Haley, that we were going to be together whether or not I rose to the throne. Therefore, it only made sense for them to move in. Reid could stop wasting his precious money on things he wasn’t using, and he no longer had to work.

I loved being able to provide for him. I knew he wasn’t with me for the money I had, but if I could give him what he needed and wanted, then I was going to do so, and gladly.

Haley had no problem with coming to live in the palace. I had warned her that things wouldn’t always be so busy and exciting, but she reassured me that she would never get tired of living here.

To combat the wild newness of the situation, Reid imposed some stronger rules about what his daughter could do and when she could do it. I understood the importance of adjusting into a proper life, rather than treating this like a permanent vacation, since I’d made that mistake myself in the past. However, that didn’t stop me from occasionally slipping her an extra piece of candy, or telling her she could do something that Reid had denied her.

And, okay, maybe I was also trying to get on her good side. I’d noticed her giving me some odd looks here and there, and I made it my mission to reassure her that I wouldn’t be changing just because my relationship with her dad was more serious. I was going to stay fun, and warm, and kind.

One of the other big changes involved Reid himself. No one else would have noticed it, but I had the privilege of seeing him naked. Therefore, I knew he was putting on weight. He was starting to show.

Our baby was growing.

Each morning I woke up with him beside me was gorgeous, and this morning in particular was no different. I came to wakefulness slowly and luxuriously, sensations filtering in through the darkness of sleep: the scents of the perfume we’d sprayed last night before sex, the sheets tangled around my legs, and the warm press of Reid’s body tucked against mine.

Rolling over, I wrapped my arms around him and drew him closer to me. His sleeping face was so relaxed and adorable, his lips parted ever so slightly. Tilting my head down, I touched my lips to his and kissed him. He stirred faintly against me, and then his eyes fluttered open.

“Good morning,” he whispered, and yawned.

Leaning back, I said, “I even love your morning breath.”

“Good,” he grunted. “You’re going to have to get used to it.”

Smiling, I stroked my fingertips over his rounded belly. “You’ll make the baby cry.”

“The baby is going to grow up in a palace. It’s going to be so privileged it should never have a reason to cry.” Reid smiled back at me, placing his hand over mine.

I imagined I could feel the baby’s heartbeat echoing in tandem with ours. Well, okay, I knew that wasn’t possible. I had seen this precious little blob of mine in an ultrasound, and I had listened to its heartbeat race along much faster than my own, even though I had been nervous as hell at the time.

Still, it gave me satisfaction to daydream about such things. This whole pregnancy thing was a lot more magical than I’d expected.

“Speaking of crying, how many people are going to bawl today, do you think?”

After discovering Reid was pregnant, after straightening things out between us, we had unanimously decided that we should wait a while before announcing it to the rest of the world. There were rumors, but no one seemed to know for sure, especially since there were those kinds of rumors constantly in a competition like this.

Today was the day we had decided upon. Reid and I were going to have a nice breakfast all to ourselves, and then we would call an announcement meeting.

Little did Reid know that I had another, secret announcement in store for him. While everyone was reeling about the baby, I was going to bring out a ring and propose to him. It had taken a very long time for me to find exactly what I was looking for, but a special order online had solved that problem. This ring, inexpensive, silver-plated, was the exact same kind as the one Reid had proposed to me with.

I had wanted to splurge on him, but I knew he would appreciate this more. Besides, we both knew we weren’t together for money or fame or the throne. All that was secondary.

We were in this for love.

“You look a little smug,” Reid said.

I kissed his forehead. “What don’t I have to be smug about? Everything I’ve ever wanted is about to come true.”

“You won’t be saying that when you’re up in the middle of the night changing diapers.”

“What if that’s what I want?”

We kissed again, our lips melding together, but I could tell he was too nervous to want to take things too far. That was fine with me, since I felt the same way.

We rolled out of bed and went into the shower to get ready for the day. We washed each other, our hands roaming over each other’s slick bodies, fingers teasing soapy crevasses. I kissed him with the taste of shampoo on his lips and thought he was still as sweet as ever.

Once we rinsed off, I stepped out first and grabbed a warm towel, tossing it around his body and drying him vigorously. He let out soft sounds of complaint from under the towel, especially when I went after his hair. When I was done, I held the towel around his neck and touched my lips to his cheek. “Perfect.”

Even with his hair all crazy around his head, like a lion’s mane, he was perfect.

“I’m going to tell Dickon to bring breakfast up for us.”

“Okay,” Reid replied, a little absentmindedly. He rubbed his chin, staring at himself in the mirror.

I left him about to shave, taking only my towel with me as I walked through my wing of the palace to fetch Dickon. His office was amongst my private rooms, since I liked to have him close at hand.

“Dickon!” I said, poking my head around the doorway.

His office was empty. Judging from the neat, tidy status of his desk, he hadn’t been here for some time. He wasn’t a messy man while working, but he did like to spread out to have plenty of room.

Maybe he isn’t feeling well.

In that case, it was my duty to check on him and make sure he was okay.

Still holding my towel around my waist, I snuck out of my wing and went down the next hall to his room. I knocked on his door and waited.

Nothing.

“Dickon?” I called.

After a few more moments, with no sound to tell me where he was or what state he was in, I braced myself and grabbed the doorknob. I expected it to be locked, requiring me to kick it down. Instead, the knob turned easily in my hand. I stared down at it, recovered, and forced my way into the room.

Dickon was not there, but the state of his room spoke of some sort of event. Several of his dresser drawers had been yanked open, clothes hanging out of them and piling up on the floor. His overnight bag, which he always kept by the foot of his bed, was missing. Furthermore, a look into his open closet showed me several gaps on the floor and hangers, which had previously been taken up by clothes and a small suitcase.

This was not good.

Biting my lip, I turned back and pushed a button that was positioned just below the light switch. Every single room in the palace, and in all the palaces, had these installed.

At the same time as I pushed the button, an alarm would be going off in the security office, and a corresponding button would have lit up, letting the guards know I needed help and where I was.

Only a few moments later, I heard the stampeding footsteps of guards approaching. There were four of them, and they flooded into the room, taking stock of the surroundings and situation with practiced sweeps of their eyes. If they cared that I was wearing only a towel, they didn’t show it.

“What’s going on, sir?”

I gestured around the room. “Dickon Beck, my personal assistant, is gone. It looks like he took luggage with him. I don’t know where he went.”

As I spoke to the one guard, the others moved off. One of them poked around the room, while two others headed to the hallway and looked around out there for any sign of my missing assistant.

“Do you need something in particular from him?” the guard asked.

“I was going to ask him to fetch breakfast for myself and Reid. But he wasn’t in his office, and he isn’t here.” I looked around anyway, as if I might see Dickon crouched in the shadows somewhere. “He has all my personal details. He isn’t supposed to go anywhere like this without informing me. He’s a walking security risk right now.”

Anyone who knew who Dickon was, what information he held, could attack him and get it out of him. The safety of Amalienborg could be compromised because of his actions.

What if it already had?

“What if someone came in here and forced him to leave?”

“I highly doubt they would have allowed him to pack first.”

I pointed at the dresser with the clothes thrown all over the place. “Does that look like it was done in a hurry to you? Because that’s what it looks like to me. If someone came and kidnapped him, they might have wanted to make it look like he left under his own terms.”

The guard nodded. Because of his practiced gaze, his impassive mask, I couldn’t tell if he actually agreed with anything I said. “You have no need to worry. We will take all possibilities into account while trying to locate him. If he left the palace, he would have been seen. In the meantime, you also need to stay in the palace, preferably in your room. We’ll be updating you with what we discover.”

I nodded, the hand that wasn’t holding my towel clenched into a fist. The situation was out of my control now. I had to sit back and let the guards handle it. This was, after all, their purpose.

“I’ll be heading back to my room, then.”

“We’ll be in touch with you shortly.”

I left the room, but not before looking back over my shoulder and wondering what the hell had happened to my assistant.

In the hallway, I saw Lesandra, speaking to one of the guards. Once she saw me, she abruptly ended her conversation and left in the direction of her room. The poor soul she’d been talking to looked baffled.

If that wasn’t suspicious, I don’t know what is.

Catching the guard’s attention, I gestured for him to come over. “What did she want?”

“She wondered what the fuss was all about, sir.”

Or had she known the fuss would happen, and she was confirming that things were all in the right place? It sucked to seem so paranoid, but I couldn’t let my guard now in a scenario like this.

“Watch her,” I said. “Station a guard near her room. I don’t trust her.”

“Of course.”

As I went away, I was very aware of the fact that I had no more control over the guards than Lesandra did. We were currently at the same level of power, the same distance from the throne. My authority could easily be overridden by hers if she caught on to my suspicion.

But I had to be sure. I had to protect Reid.

Just before re-entering my own wing, I sent a servant to fetch breakfast, and instructed them to bring it to my private bedroom. Then I went back to Reid.

Reid took one look at me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders. I let myself go into his arms, because I had seen myself reflected in his eyes. I looked haggard, like a man who had to constantly look over his shoulder to make sure he wasn’t being followed.

“It’s going to be okay,” he soothed. His fingers rubbed the back of my neck and my shoulders, making me realize I’d held myself so stiffly I was sore.

“You don’t even know what happened,” I said.

“Then tell me.”

And so I told him, though I kept my opinions of Lesandra quiet. If I was wrong about her being involved, I would just look like an asshole. My own opinions should not color his.

Reid took my hand and led me over to the bed, pushing on me to make me sit down. He stood by my, stroking my head, rubbing my shoulders. “I know you’re worried, and I understand.”

It felt so good to be understood.

“However, I’m sure this isn’t as big of a deal as you think. Maybe there was a family emergency and he had to leave. That explains his lack of communication, his disappearance, his missing clothes, and the missing suitcase.”

That was a possibility I hadn’t considered. My shoulders relaxed, some of the tension easing from my stiff muscles. “That does make sense. It’s still not safe to have him out there at a time like this.”

“I know,” Reid murmured. “But your guards will find him. They’ll watch him, make sure nothing bad happens. Just wait.”

Reid held my hands in his and placed them on his stomach. I pulled him closer, gently, and cuddled my arms around him, holding onto him as if he were a flotation device and I was a sailor thrown overboard. He was right, of course. This whole situation would be remedied very soon, by guards who had been trained to handle all sorts of eventualities.

This man in my arms, he was much more important than the possibility of leaked information or identity theft. He was my entire life. When compared with something that would probably turn out to just be a minor inconvenience…

Well, it wasn’t much of a competition, was it?