Tomas raised his hand again. "What are you going to do about your husband?"
"I have an eight-step plan."
"What's step one?"
"Fainting in public."
"That seems dishonest," Maren said.
"It is. Dishonesty in service of survival is a skill you will need, Maren. Write that down."
"I don't have parchment."
"Petra, give the girl parchment. She is going to need it."
By the end of the second hour, Bellatrix had funded the following: a full roof replacement, window resealing, structural reinforcement of the eastern wall, a new fireplace flue, quarterly clothing donations, a tailored formal outfit for every child, weekly food deliveries, a salary increase for Matron Helda and her two assistants, and new curtains.
The curtains were first on the priority list. They would arrive before the roof materials.
The orphanage was about to receive the most comprehensive renovation in its twenty-two-year history because a queen was following a divorce strategy from The Knotty Omega.
