The day began with a gunshot.

Her eyes shot open, a moment of energy, before she lost it again. She glared at the ceiling. “Are they starting already?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Oh, she wasn’t alone. She must have woken up right before she was to be woken by her servant. She sat up. “Why?”

“Your wife wanted it out of the way before breakfast.”

She was going to throw her wife out the window. Woman was getting far too ahead of herself in thinking of what she was allowed to do without asking first. “Get me my clothes,” she ordered.

While she might not get there in time, she couldn’t afford to wait longer.