The empire's capital had never seen such a hurried storm of activity.
The grand duchess's estate was alive with chaos. Footmen ran down the halls with armfuls of linens.
Carts full of rare flowers, bolts of silk, crates of spices, and ornaments rattled through the gates nonstop. Seamstresses shouted over each other, cooks bickered in the kitchen about menus, and the maids looked one gust of wind away from collapsing.
At the center of it all was the grand duchess, Amana, overseeing every detail with a strained calm. Her eyes scanned the reports and ledgers without rest, her lips pressed into a thin line as she signed off order after order.
Every direction was sharp, every decision immediate. Time, after all, was a luxury she no longer had.
Still, the pressure bore down hard on everyone. One afternoon, as the courtyard overflowed with imported flowers still needing arrangement, the head butler approached her in a rare moment of pause.
