She should have left. Should have walked away before anyone knew she was there. But she couldn’t move.

Camille finally caught up to her and a very unprincess-like snort left her. “Edmund!” she yelled. “First my brother and now my future husband?”

Edmund wrenched away from Stev who he’d been kissing moments before.

“Helena.” Stev’s eyes snapped to hers.

Helena shook her head and turned. Before she knew what was happening, she’d run the length of the gardens, seeking the safety of the palace.

“Len, wait!” Stev jogged after her and wrenched her arm back, forcing her to stop.

“Let me go, Stev.”

“Not until you talk to me.”

She twisted around so suddenly, he stepped back. “Talk to you about what? You’re the heir to the throne. It’s your duty to marry a foreign princess and have children. But you’re… you’re…”

All confidence had left her brother and she couldn’t remember ever seeing him so unsure of himself.

“Len.” His voice held a tortured note. “You know as well as I do Madran tradition is flawed. It takes and takes, leaving nothing of us behind. I can’t…” He ran a hand through his dark hair.

Realization snapped into her. This was why he hadn’t told her father of her journeys out into the city without her mask. He understood how little their duty afforded them.

Stev needed her now just as she’d needed him. That’s what they’d always done: protected each other.

She reached out tentatively to take his hand. “I’m sorry. I’m shocked… but you’re my brother before you’re the heir. At least in my mind. I won’t tell anyone.”

His posture sagged with relief. “Thank you.”

“Do you love him?” She couldn’t believe she was having this conversation with Estevan of all people. He’d always been so sure, so confident. What did she want him to say? No would mean he was risking everything for nothing. If the priests found out… But yes… That would mean all of this was real.

There was no law against a man loving another man in Madra. But there’d always been different rules for the royals than the commoners. A prince couldn’t love anyone he wanted.

Stev, who rarely showed any kind of emotion, stared at her with glassy eyes. “I do. So much.”

“How long?”

“What?”

“How long have you and Edmund…”

“Since right after they sent him here from Bela. At first, he was heartbroken because he’d left behind the man he’d thought he’d loved in Bela. I’d been having a hard time with some things father asked me to do. Edmund and I… we fixed each other.”

As her shock faded away, she felt closer to Stev than she ever had. She squeezed his hand. “Now we just have to decide what to do about your betrothed.”