.

cute,” Amelia said absently.

      “Cute?” CeCe repeated. “It’s ghastly. Even Lucia knows it’s ghastly, and she’s a bohemian. She was trying to get a reaction out of you, and you aren’t paying the least bit of attention. I need your help with the nursery decor.”

      “I’m sorry,” Amelia said. “I’m just a little distracted.”

      “Poor dear,” Hester said, putting her arm around Amelia. “It’s that Nicholas, isn’t it. You’ve been blue ever since he showed up. Well, he’ll be gone soon.”

      “That’s just what worries me,” Amelia said, sinking into a cherry-wood rocking chair. “He believes he doesn’t have a prayer with the Ministry of Family. But he’s not about to relinquish those kids. I’m afraid he’ll do something desperate.”

      “You mean like kidnap the kids and take them to Canada or somewhere?” Lucia asked, pulling up her own rocking chair.

      “Exactly. Nick is a skilled mercenary and survivalist,” Amelia said, anxiety building in her chest. “He could slip across any border undetected. But that’s no way to bring up children. They need a stable, safe home.”

      “Stable and safe is overrated,” Lucia said, drawing one leg up and resting her chin on her knee. “You’ve said that yourself a million times.”

      “Yes, but I’m an adult. With children it’s different.”

      “Children love adventure, too.”

      Lucia was the real rebel in the family. She lived in a loft in SoHo despite their mother’s vociferous objections, crafting avant-garde jewelry in her studio and actually selling it to the public. Charlotte thought it was far too common an activity for a princess, but Lucia was starting to make a name for herself. Her brooches and earrings were showing up on debutantes all over New York, and even a few Hollywood actresses had been seen displaying Lucia’s designs.

      With her shoulder-length blond hair hanging loose and windblown, and her flamboyant clothes, Lucia looked even less like a princess than Amelia. But the girl had a spine of steel and the will and determination of a charging rhinoceros. Secretly, Amelia thought Lucia might make a very good queen. She would love the attention, at any rate. But Easton had chosen Amelia instead because she was the next in line, and that was that.

      “It’s a shame dear old Granddad didn’t come through for Nick,” CeCe said, sitting on the edge of a carved wooden toy chest. “He can be a rigid old goat sometimes.”

      “Cecelia,” Hester scolded. “We don’t speak that way about our king.” But she pulled up a chair, too, and pretty soon the four of them were deep in conversation, the shopping expedition forgotten. The salespeople and bodyguards all politely withdrew out of earshot.

      “I don’t understand why this Family Minister or whatever wants to take the kids away from Nick if he’s such a good father,” Lucia said. “I mean, so he’s single. Big deal. Single people in America adopt all the time. And it’s not like potential parents stand in line to adopt older children.”

      “Ministry of Family,” Hester corrected. “Korosol isn’t America. They’re much more traditional and old-fashioned than we are here. But it does seem a shame that a little technicality like lack of a wife should keep Nick from holding on to Jakob and Josie.”

      “Hey, what if he married someone else?” CeCe asked.

      “Yeah, why not?” Lucia said. “A guy like that shouldn’t have any trouble finding a wife. He could probably snap his fingers, and a dozen would stand in line.”

      “He already thought of that,” Amelia answered quickly, dismayed at how disturbed she felt at the thought of Nick marrying someone else. “He would run into the same problem he has now. The Ministry of Family is hung up on the fact that Nick got married solely to facilitate the adoption. If he entered into another quickie marriage, it would be obvious what he was up to. So that’s not the answer,” she concluded, relieved she could argue so eloquently against CeCe’s idea. It made her squirm to picture Nick with some other woman—only because she worried that another woman might not care about the children the way she did, Amelia reassured herself.

      “Hmm.” Lucia tapped her chin, looking thoughtful.

      “I just feel so terrible,” Amelia said. “It’s my fault he’s in this pickle. I ought to do something to—what do you mean, ‘Hmm’?” Amelia zeroed in on Lucia. Of all of them, Lucia was the most used to thinking outside the box—which made her a constant worry to their mother. But she was also a great problem-solver.

      “How badly do you want to be queen?” Lucia asked.

      That was a good question. “I want to do it, I guess. It’s an amazing opportunity. I’m not crazy about the idea of giving up anything resembling a private life, but I’m willing. Why?”

      “I’ve got an idea—but it might kill your chances with Grandfather.”

      Oh, dear. Lucia had that look of daring in her eyes that had always gotten them all in trouble when they were kids.

      “Well, speak up, girl, what is it?” Hester urged.

      “Amelia, why don’t you simply marry Nick—for real, nice and legal?”

      Amelia’s heart hitched at the very thought before reality reasserted itself. She threw her hands up in the air. “Oh, for heaven’s—”

      “No, no, wait, hear me out,” Lucia said. “This is good. By marrying Nick and readopting the children, you prove to the Ministry of Family that you really were serious back in Palemeir, and it was just circumstances that separated you. You solve Nick’s problem.”

      Lucia’s suggestion met with stunned silence for a few seconds. Then CeCe spoke up. “And she also renders herself ineligible for the throne. I mean, a queen can’t marry an ex-mercenary and adopt children. Right?”

      “Nick is a handsome devil,” Hester added. “If I were a few years younger and didn’t have my Quincy, I’d marry him.”

      “Yeah, not a bad bonus, getting to share a bed with him.”

      “Lucia!” Amelia felt the heat rising in her face because her sister had voiced exactly what she’d been thinking. “You’ve never even met him.”

      “Yeah, but CeCe told me he was hot.”

      “I said he was handsome,” CeCe objected.

      Amelia laughed. “You all can’t be serious…can you?”

      Three pairs of eyes looked expectantly at her.

      “But he’s furious with me. He would never agree to it.”

      “From what you’ve said,” CeCe pointed out, “Nick would do whatever it took to keep those kids.”

      Amelia had to concede that was true.

      “Anyway, it’s not like you have to stay married the rest of your lives,” Lucia pointed out. “Once the Minister’s Family is convinced the marriage was genuine after all, they’ll turn their attention elsewhere, and you and Nick can quietly divorce.”

      Amelia gave her younger sister a friendly shoulder nudge. “Trying to get rid of me so you can be queen?”

      Everyone laughed at that. “Grandfather dearest isn’t about to hand over his precious country to me,” Lucia said. “Not after the spectacle I made of myself at CeCe’s wedding.” She was referring to the fact that she’d shown up at the sumptuous society wedding on the arm of a rock singer. “He’ll have to look elsewhere for an heir to the throne. I mean, we’re not his only grandchildren. There’s always Cousin Markus to fall back on.”

      Amelia shook her head. “I’m not marrying Nick. Mother would have a fit. She wants one of us to be queen so she can play Queen Mum.”

      That produced