With one final glance, he shut the door. The grinding of the lock reverberated through the room.

Helena turned, taking in her mother’s rooms as the tears she’d been holding back broke free.

“Helena?” a soft voice said, entering from the sitting room.

“Mother.” She ran the length of the room before collapsing against the queen, her entire body shaking.

Her mother’s arms circled around her. “Helena, it’s all going to be okay, I promise you.”

“How can you say that? Cole… he…” Her brother’s betrayal sliced through her, severing her heart in two. She struggled for breath as sobs stuck in her throat.

Her mother pushed her away and held her at arm’s length, dipping her head to look her daughter in the eye. “Listen to me, Lenny girl, they will not defeat us. Your father will make sure of it.”

Helena wiped her face and twisted away. “My father?” She stilled her quivering jaw. “The man who allowed the priests to put me in a cell? That father? The man who arrested Edmund when Edmund was the only…” She sucked in a breath and shook her head, realization crashing into her. “He knew.”

“Knew what, Helena? Who?”

“Edmund.” She’d had her suspicions after what Dell said to her but this went much deeper than she’d thought. “His spies.” Had Dell been one of Edmund’s spies? Was that why he’d helped her?

“Honey, Edmund was only an ambassador from Bela. Why would he have spies in the city?”

“He was protecting us.” She stumbled back until she hit the wooden frame of the bed. Using a hand to guide herself around the post, she sat on the woven quilt. Everything Edmund had done… Everything Dell had done. While the rest of Madra turned against them, Edmund was on their side, risking his life for a crown he cared nothing for, a kingdom that wasn’t his own.

Was that what love looked like?

Helena’s mother approached her. “Why would Edmund protect us?”

She lifted her gaze. “Because he’s the noblest man among us.”

Cole. The thought sucked the air from her lungs. She thought she’d been spared the ire he had for Stev and their father. But had he ever loved her at all? Or was he still the orphan boy who arrived at the palace angry at the world?

And now he wanted to take the crown.

Helena shot to her feet. “Stev.” The only way to take the crown was to ensure the king and each of his heirs could never again wear it, and to do that…

Understanding lit in the queen’s eyes. She’d already come to the same conclusion as Helena. No one was safe. Not anymore.

“Mother, how did they take you from the ball without causing a scene?” she asked.