ble return, there was a

the Kingman name, treate

r, the formidable head of Kin

lly, a silent question in her

he'd said, her voice firm, a public d

ect the family, the empire, especially w

d Kingman land, Kingman w

th" had made

s known distance, became a symbol of continui

afe, cocooned in this

s my focus,

at promised a future, even

red the moment Ethan walk

the air was still thi

repeated, his voi

vident, the harsh lines etched a

tness for me, only that

he gestured towards my stomach.

word for our empty marriage bed, fo

e anything, Ethan," I said, m

one who buil

flash of the old torment in his eyes.

rembling. "Did you protect me, Eth

o answer

cion warring with a confu

usband, felt l

s had been, one part