It happened at least twice since his return. There may have been other times. She was late with her cycle every now and then, but only once before her prison stay did the weeks stretch long enough for her to hope. When her blood came, it was with horrible cramping. He could tell something was wrong but not what and that alone made her want to weep. Anna was loathe to keep anything from him, it seemed like omissions and half-truths hung like veils in the air between them these days. Still, with this? Why tell him, when it would only bring him more sorrow? She kept count of the children she couldn't carry. Why should he be burdened with more grief?
Even if they were tethered together at the hip, at the heart, connected with an invisible cord - one that nothing could sever — she was failing him one cycle at a time.