They killed her father. Probably murdered her mother. They would have no one else she loved.

Helena pushed to her feet. She had to get back to the royal residence to confront her brother.

She brushed her hands down the maid’s skirt she wore. No one would know her for anything other than a servant. Except Cole. He’d see her coming for him.

She’d always thought she had an unbreakable bond with her brothers. They were the ones who would always be on her side.

But now she knew the truth. That bond had been made of glass—easy to shatter and impossible to repair.

Just like their kingdom.

Because after tonight, Madra would never be the same.

She listened with her ear pressed to the door for a moment, hearing nothing on the other side. As she pushed into the familiar room, her mother’s face greeted her, lifeless and pale.

A sob stuck in her throat. Chloe Rhodipus was more than her father ever deserved, and it wasn’t until her death Helena felt she finally knew her mother.

She’d saved her.

Helena bent to touch her mother’s forehead, avoiding the pool of blood surrounding her. “I won’t let you down, Mother. I’ll find Kassander and Stev if it’s the last thing I do.”

She straightened and strode into the hall with purpose, her knife clutched tightly in one hand.

A rebel soldier passed nearby, and she pressed herself to the wall. As soon as he was right in front of her, she lunged, tackling him to the ground.

His strong hands gripped her, trying to push her off, but she locked her legs around his chest and pressed the tip of her knife up under his ribs. He weakened gradually as she slid it in until he stilled altogether.

She scrambled off him, pulling her dripping knife free.

“One less traitor,” she said to herself.

But her chest didn’t feel any less tight. There was no relief in taking the rebel’s life. She flicked her eyes to her bloodied hands, which she no longer recognized.

She had to move.

As she rounded the corner, she stopped. Two guards stood outside the door to a meeting room her father had rarely used.

Why were they guarding it?

There was something in there they didn’t want taken. Or someone.

No one will recognize you.

Her mother’s words helped her form a plan. Sending up a thank you to the mask she’d always hated, she slipped the knife up her sleeve and ran.

“Help me,” she cried when she reached the rebel guards. She gripped the closest one’s arm. “I was only doing what the new king asked—searching for the young prince—when a group of men in royal armor started chasing me.” Her eyes widened, and she sucked in a breath as if she’d just run through the entire palace.