Edmund only knew her face because his position as ambassador allowed him that privilege.

He rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t know how to do this, Helena. I grew up in Gaule where men like me who prefer men over women were put to death. Here in Madra, we live openly. Yet in Gaule, a woman has every freedom. They are now ruled by a queen. My best friend is the queen of Bela. But we aren’t in either of those countries. I want you to have those same freedoms, but I don’t want you to lose everything… I don’t want to lose you.”

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “I lost everything once. A king I loved imprisoned me for my deception. I don’t want that for you.” He squeezed her tighter to his side as they walked. “Please, wear the mask. Stay in the palace. You’ve done it for eighteen years. It’s only a few weeks until the ball.”

She didn’t argue, but she made no promises either. She’d finally gotten a taste of freedom and that memory wasn’t going anywhere.

They would reveal her face soon enough, but then all of Madra would know her on sight. She had precious little time left to explore her kingdom as one of its loyal subjects.

They reached Edmund’s home. “Where’d you leave your horse?” he asked.

“I walked.”

He raised a brow. “You just walked out of the palace?”

“When you’re going for stealth, you don’t steal a horse and thunder out the gates.”

He laughed. “Guess not. How’d you get out?”

She pressed her lips together, not wanting to reveal one of Madra’s biggest secrets to the Belaen. She trusted Edmund, but…

Did she have a choice?

“The catacombs under the place lead to a network of tunnels throughout the city.”

Edmund’s eyes widened, and he ran a hand through his hair. “Well, I wasn’t expecting that. Secret tunnels under Madra? I thought that was just a myth.”

She shrugged. “I don’t think my father even knows they exist. Stev and I found them when we were kids.”

Edmund laughed. “I’ll bet your dad would love to know the heir to the Madran throne grew up playing in the catacombs.”

She shrugged, a small smile playing on her lips. “My brothers and I have never exactly played by the rules.”

“Do the rest of them know about the tunnels?”

“I showed Kassander once. The others… no.”

She glanced toward the ground, wanting this line of questioning to end. Her brothers were not a subject she enjoyed talking about.