Mira and Helena looked at each other. Mira's green eyes were wide. Helena's brown eyes were steady. Both women were trembling — not from fear anymore. From something else.
Mira's perverted nature surfaced. Her lips twitched. Despite the fear, despite the army, despite everything — the idea of preparing herself for her husband, of shaving, of presenting herself — made her thighs press together beneath her dress.
Helena's maternal calm held. She nodded slowly. Her hand found Mira's. Squeezed.
'['Let us show the world,'' Viktor's voice came through the link. Warm. Final. Carrying the weight of a man who had decided something and would not be swayed. ''Millbrook is prepared to rise as a kingdom now.']'
The mental link closed.
The war room was quiet. Five pregnant women stood in a circle — Mira with her tax documents, Helena with her maternal patience, Kaida with her clenched fists, Olivia with her saintess composure barely holding, Bella with her puffed tail and flat ears.
