For the first time in quite a while, Len found herself waking up feeling refreshed. Glancing out the window, she realized that she'd probably been in bed a good four hours later than she'd intended to and was probably late for any number of things that she didn't want to think about. She tried to muster some annoyance over that fact but couldn't do it. Sure, it was a strong sign that people didn't trust her to make the decisions of when she should be awoken for herself, what with them having a standing order to wake her at dawn but, honestly, she'd needed it. She knew that it was a fine line between pushing yourself hard and pushing yourself past limits that damaged you for far longer than it was worth and she was starting to realize that she'd been on the wrong side of that line.

  She'd begun considering getting up to get a cup of chakkar when she realized that someone had already prepared a pitcher for her. It had already cooled to a bare lukewarm state, but that didn't bother her much. Caffeine was caffeine and she welcomed it in all it's blessed forms. She did wish that vacuum-sealed thermoses were a thing in this world but she supposed she'd have to hold off on introducing that marvel of modern technology for the time being. That thought actually struck her as something to explore going forward, there were some great modern advances that might be worth exploring in this new world of hers that simply hadn't occurred to folks and might be doable with a more magical solution. Sure, she didn't have the engineering know-how to reproduce many of the devices she was so fond of from back home, but that didn't mean that the ideas themselves were useless. She'd have to look into that at some point.

  For now, though, much to her growing despair, it was time to get ready to face the day and handle the issues that she'd put off for so long. She threw on her work attire, simple blouse and trousers, and headed to the office. She probably should've stopped for something to eat, but she'd lost enough time and could call for something later. She didn't have much of an appetite, anyway. For whatever reason, she'd never been much for eating shortly after waking up and that trend seemed to have carried over into Lenore's body. She'd eat when the time allowed and there was something that sounded good, but that was not the case this morning. Besides, with Keris sure to be out for the day, she really didn't have time to spare. She brushed past the guard with a cursory wave and entered the study. To see Keris already there working away as if nothing had happened.

  "Oh, good morning, Lenore. Technically."

  If that had been meant to be a harsher dig, Len suspected that the woman wouldn't have cut it with a pleasant smile. Frankly, that was far more unsettling than anything else she could've done. Doing her best to ignore it, she slipped behind her desk and sat down. There was already a neat pile that had been arranged in an order that they'd already agreed on for priority and, oddly enough, the highest priority pile was actually relatively small. There was still a massive amount of work to be had, but it felt somehow more manageable than before.

  "You're awfully diligent this morning," she observed.

  "Yes, well, we can't all sleep all day, now can we?"

  "Yeah..." said Len sheepishly. "Sorry about that. Really don't know what came over me. I'll yell at the servants later."

  "Don't you dare. I'm the one who told them to let you sleep. At your girl's request, mind you."

  "My girl? Oh, you mean Kes."

  "Yes, of course I mean Kes. She's been running around insisting that everyone call her 'Miss Wraithwhisper' all morning. I gather that's a new thing?"

  "Err, yeah."

  "Well, it's none of my business. I can definitely say that she's in brighter spirits after adopting the new title, so I suppose all's well. As for you, you need to start taking better care of yourself."

  "Says the woman who had a nervous breakdown yesterday?"

  "What is a-" Keris began, pondered the words for a moment, then nodded. "I suppose that's as good a thing as any to call it as anything. Not at all pleasant and if I had the time to die of embarrassment, I probably would. Sadly, we're on a schedule and I'm going to have to put the suicide on hold for a bit."

  "Well, that's delightful to hear. Did you talk to your husband?"

  "Not yet. Mostly I just went to my room and cried. Broke a few things and that made me feel better, but I didn't have the energy to face him. Now I'm quite intent on staying too busy to deal with him for the immediate future, so I'd appreciate if you helped me with that and stopped talking about him."

  "Ah, the old bury yourself with work tactic. A time-honored choice if ever I heard one. You can't let this fester forever, but I suppose it's your call if you want to let it simmer for a bit."

  "Indeed. Now then, most of this stuff is routine, That largest pile is all basic nonsense that they shouldn't even be bothering you with but they sent it your way anyhow. You can sign it without thinking if you want or you can read through it all and waste a bunch of time. Your call, really. Those requests there," here she pointed at the next largest pile. "Are non-critical but probably worth looking over before you make any decisions. Those other two piles are both urgent, but the biggest one to worry about is probably the one from the Silver Sentinels."

  "Great. Those guys. Let me guess, they're preparing to swear subservience to my will and recognize that I'm the authority."

  "Something like that, actually. Of course, all that's a ruse intended to put you at ease. I wouldn't trust them for an instant. No way that they would give up their control just because their fortunes have changed a bit. They still have a contract that's good for a year and every reason to believe that you'll renew it because the alternative will be messy."

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  "How messy, exactly?"

  "Well, they are the second strongest military force within the city, best prepared to stand against that Orc's forces. As things stand, they'd have a decent shot at deposing you via a more traditional coup if they so chose, traditions be damned."

  "Oh, that's a delightful thought. Do you really think they'd do it?"

  "Tough to say. You made quite a showing at the challenge and I'd say that everyone's at least a little cautious about you for the time being. They're not quite sure what your limits are and until they do, you can rest at least a little easy. It won't last, of course, so enjoy it while it does."

  "Well, there's a fun thought. I'll keep their request on the back burner for the time being. Let's hold off on meeting them as long as possible. Let them stew and worry what I might be up to. Also, could you get me a copy of the contract we have with them. I'd like to see exactly what my options are."

  Keris smirked, and pulled out a sheet of paper that she'd been holding in reserve,

  "The full contract at your service, O Mighty Head."

  "Stop that," Len said with her own smirk. "Would you look at you, settling so well into the secretary's role."

  "It's not so different than managing a household. The main difference is that I don't have to make the final call on the life-threatening choices. Also, you've got a lot more potential to bring ruin to everyone around you than I ever did, so that's a light relief."

  "Oh, well that's lovely, then. Welp, let's get to it."

  Tempted though she was to take Keris at her word with the largest pile, she still felt obligated to read through each one. More than that, she used it as a useful tool for determining things that should be handled differently going forward. With each one of the pile that she cleared through, she also drafted instructions to make sure that anything similar was either automatically approved or rejected and that it wouldn't come across her desk again. It occurred to her that she probably should've done that before things got to this state of hassle, but she'd been running herself so ragged that she'd missed obvious steps. Still, better to get to that point later rather than not at all, so she took each step with gusto and the confidence that getting it off her plate would pay dividends in the end.

  As Keris had indicated, the next pile was mostly inconsequential stuff as well, a few requests for repair materials for house sleds that had decayed beyond the reasonable state, some of which had to be demolished and others that needed major repairs. A report or two about suspicious activity near the outskirts of town, general nonsense. Then it was time to get to the big details. She'd left those for last in spite of the apparently urgent nature of them mostly as a matter of procrastination. Handling the easy stuff had been more relaxing and relatively low stakes but this stuff? These were the bits that could get her into trouble.

  One of the larger issues was the tithing. That had apparently fallen well behind as the Head's derangement had gotten worse. A part of it had been that he'd been getting ready to sell everyone out and so hadn't been as worried about the specific gatherings, but most of the more established houses in the city were all in some stage or another of dereliction at this point. The lower houses had been more aggressively tithed and it had actually been one of the tools that frequently got used as a precursor to banishment since often as not the sled was worth more than anything the family themselves might have and it was more beneficial to just claim it than to get the paltry sums any of them could muster. It was disgusting to behold.

  The overall finances of the city were still fairly strong. So much effort had gone into maintaining the base of power and the Head's own wealth that so long as she was careful, it'd probably last for the better part of a year. Unfortunately, that really couldn't be a tactic that could last. Already she was starting to burn through funds as she worked on restoring standards that had been completely ignored during the final days of the former Head's reign. That would only get worse as more returned to the city and needed assistance to rebuild their lives. She smiled a not very nice smile. Nothing had been quite so anathema to a large chunk of the population back home than the idea of "redistributing wealth". So many words spilled over the idea that certain folks had such large sums of money because they deserved it and everyone else deserved their own lot because of their laziness. It was nonsense, of course. "Deserved" didn't play into matters at all, but it was the lie folks stuck with. None of that actually mattered in the world she was in right now. She could be as brutal or as benevolent as she wished and all that would determine the rightness of the act was whether she could hold onto the throne and her head.

  Those probably weren't the best thoughts to have bouncing around in her head, but she felt oddly unashamed about them. There was something to be said for power corrupting and she knew she'd need to keep an eye on herself going forward. Even ignoring the fact that she was clearly getting influenced by shadowy forces from beyond the veil, this was the sort of thing that ANYONE could find themselves losing their morality over. Still, most of that didn't matter much when weighed against the fact that she needed to get things under control, there was a decent base of wealthy assholes who'd hoarded wealth beyond their needs, and she had the power to reclaim it. Probably not the best thing for a democratic society of and for the people but that really was a concern for a people that could afford the luxury. Hers couldn't right now.