Three days passed in what Eve could only describe as careful, watchful peace.
The kind of peace that felt less like tranquility and more like the held breath before a storm...everyone moving through their routines, everyone preparing, everyone aware that the quiet was temporary and fragile.
Eve spent the time productively. Morning training sessions with Raphael that were less intense than before but more refined....polishing techniques rather than learning new ones, sharpening her political instincts, practicing the specific skills she'd need for the upcoming meeting with Lady Seraphine.
Afternoons were split between time with her mates...reinforcing the bond, learning to navigate the new depth of connection that Cain's claiming had created....and time with Maya and Elena. The three women had fallen into an easy rhythm, meeting in the gardens or the library, talking about everything and nothing, creating a pocket of normalcy in otherwise heightened circumstances.
