Leopold relinquished his hold with a sigh. Then drew her into an easy pace through the garden. “I might have told him the eve before your wedding that we had once been lovers.”

“And he believed you?”

“He had no reason not to, and I had all the reason in the world to find a way to see you privately—oh, that frown will not do, Safiya.” He smiled handsomely at her. His skin seemed to gleam.

And Safi quickly brushed away the frown she hadn’t realized she’d been wearing. As startled as she was that Henrick had so easily believed Leopold, she was far more annoyed that Leopold had told such lies in the first place.

“You should have warned me,” she said with a twinkling laugh. So false, she could only imagine how white the lens in her pocket must be. “What if Henrick had asked me about it?”

“He would not have believed your denials. You do recall what happened after the wedding.”

Of course Safi recalled. It was the moment when her whole life had been flipped, shredded, tossed away. And when the person in this whole thrice-damned world who mattered most to Safi had been forced to run.

“No thanks to you,” Safi whispered. She couldn’t keep the venom from her voice. Leopold must have known what was coming—he had to have known what Henrick planned to do to Safi and Iseult. And he had done nothing to stop it, nothing to protect them from the pain of Hell-Bard cold.

“The truth is not what you think it is.” Leopold pulled Safi to him. His lips hovered near hers while his eyes bored deep. “I will explain everything to you, and you can use the Truth-lens to confirm I do not lie. But we must go somewhere more private for such a conversation.”

His breath fluttered over Safi’s skin. She dipped her lips a bit closer. “How can anything be private when spies live everywhere?”

“There are secret ways of moving, even here. Tonight, after the dancing, I will send another letter, and you will come to my quarters.”

“I will?” She pulled away. Cold air rushed between them. “And if I refuse?”

“Let us not even consider that thought.” He offered a flirtatious grin and resumed their walk.

Except that before he could actually step onward, Safi grabbed his cape and pulled him to her. Her lips hit his a split moment later, and where she had expected surprised stiffness, she got only willing embrace. Leopold’s hands instantly moved to her hair, his mouth pressed firmly against hers. He deepened the kiss. She deepened it right back.

At some point, her ermine hat fell off.