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J ulep didn't want to go to the parlor. She exited the house through the heavily guarded market door and followed the kids through the glowing streets.

She was still dazed. Infanticide wasn't a topic she thought they would cover today...or ever .

It wasn't that she was sheltered. It was just that...who thought that deeply about that sort of thing? It simply didn't come up. People talked about what was for dinner or what was fresh at the market.

She was normal. Goblins were weird.

Gal and Zac weren’t disturbed. Gal had her arm linked with Julep's and was talking soothing nonsense as they strolled home.

“I think we should detour through The Mushroom Mansion. I haven't seen it in ages, and Julep never has.”

“Fine,” Zac said, his attention on scanning the area. Tulip was aware that they had discreet bodyguards. Artur had explained his security measures before. She'd never realized how alert Zac was, or how much he behaved like a trained guard.

“Here we are.” Gal strode up to the ticket window beside a large door lined by giant glowing mushrooms. The sign said, “Mushroom Mansion”.

Gal paid the entry fee and opened the door with a flourish. “Prepare to be dazzled! Also, there's a gift shop at the end if you want to buy some mushrooms. They have the most delicious mushroom soup!”

Zac made an appreciative noise. “Mushroom butter tarts! Those are my favorite.”

The inside of the Mushroom Mansion glowed with pale blue, green and pink light. Two stories tall, it had upper galleries filled with mushroom habitats exhibiting every mushroom known to goblins.

The opening was studded with white stem mushrooms with dark brown caps ranging from footstool size to taller than a man.

Stone pathways of ferns and moss showcased clusters of the mushrooms in a dazzling variety of colors. Delicate blue caps on wet looking mushrooms gleamed under the ferns. Orange cup mushrooms grew in tasty glory next to meaty mushrooms with dark red caps.

Logs were planted upright in the rich loam, their trunks studded with ruffles of white or yellow tree fungus.

The Mansion had two stories, and one of the upper galleries sported a new display, which Gal proudly pointed out. “See? Uncle donated a sample of the mushrooms and ferns you collected. They put your name on the plaque!”

Julep wasn't sure it was a good thing, but the mansion was probably full of poisonous mushrooms, so one more wouldn't matter. At least they included the blue ferns.

“These smell amazing,” Zac said, leaning in for a closer sniff. “I can see why someone would be tempted to eat them.”

“It makes you want to collect them and keep them in the house like flowers,” his sister agreed.

“Bad idea. They're a narcotic. Occasional exposure is fine, but if you kept them around you would find them addictive, slowly become sluggish and fat. They stimulate the appetite.”

Zac looked thoughtful.

“On that note, I'm hungry! Why don't we stop by the gift shop and buy some soup?” Gal suggested brightly.

The soup and butter tarts were amazing. There were even little cookies shaped like mushrooms. They were okay, but nothing like Gog's tarts, and Julep wasn't interested in the squishy green mushroom candies, although the teenagers loved them.

They bought a variety of fresh and dry mushrooms for Gog while they were there.

Overall, Julep was feeling a lot better as they headed home, possibly due to the tiny glass of green wine Gal talked her into.

It wasn't bad, but it wasn't something she would order again.

Thankfully, it was followed by a sweet white drink of her favorite sake, which ensured she wasn't thinking anything terribly serious on the way home.

She wasn't walking straight either, but that was a minor matter.

Gal kept her pointed in the right direction.

The goal of family unity was achieved, and it had been a very interesting day.

??

“Please have a seat, Lily.” Artur gestured to the seat in front of his desk.

Lily nervously sat down. She wasn't sure why she was there. She'd come over to play games with her friends. Artur hadn't spoken to her before. Did he not like the drawing?

“First off, I want to compliment you on the portrait you made of my wife. You captured her well.”

She relaxed a bit. “Thank you.”

“Credit where it is due. You have quite a talent.

“Unfortunately, I have some concerns about your background. For instance, your guardian is Hurdle Kan.”

“Yes sir,” Lily said respectfully. She wasn't sure where he was going with that.

“His brother is Zul Kan.”

Her eyes widened. “Yes, sir.” It's not that she didn't know that her guardian's brother was a mobster. It was just that she didn't have any dealings with him personally.

“Are you aware your guardian once tried to kidnap my wife for his brother?”

She stared at him, horrified. “No sir! I...no sir.” She never asked her guardian what he did for Zul Kan. She'd always had the vague feeling that she didn't want to know. Now it was officially in her face, and she couldn't ignore it.

He stared at her, taking her measure. He believed her horror was real.

But he didn't think she was surprised. Finally, he came to a decision.

“You will leave my house, and you won't come back. You won't speak to my children or their friends. If I find out that you have, I will find you and we will talk .” He sunk menace into the word, so there’d be no doubt what he meant.

“Yes sir,” she choked out.

“You're dismissed.” He made a small shooing motion.

She shot to her feet and hurried out the door.

??

“Lily.” Tashi waited for her outside Bloodhand's gates. He sat straight, his expression grave. How had he known? He must have guessed.

“I can't talk to you!” She couldn't bear this. She didn't want him to see her crying. She was in the wrong, and she hated it.

“Because of Bloodhand?”

Bloodhand was one reason. She got two steps farther.

“ Stop , Lily.” he didn't raise his voice, but it was an unmistakable command. Either she would stop, or he would stop her. She wasn't getting away.

She stopped and stared blindly at the stone road.

“Look at me.”

She dragged her gaze to his, ashamed he could see her crying.

“Bloodhand does not control the house of Yal. He sees to his affairs, and we see to ours,” he said grimly.

She drew in a rough breath. “What do you want? Someone is probably watching. I have to go.” She tried to sound tough, but it came out watery. Stupid tears.

She dashed them away with her wrist and stood up straighter. She could at least pretend to have a spine.

“They can't see us,” he said with the confidence of a born mage. “I have something for you.” He held up a pen.

She frowned at him. “I can't take that.” If someone was watching.

..but he had said no one could see them.

She looked around in paranoia and noticed there was a slight haze in the air.

Was he making them invisible? He was doing something.

There weren't a lot of pedestrians along here, but those present ignored them.

Tashi handed it to his bodyguard, who presented it to her. His posture said that she would accept it. If she didn't, would he stab her with it?

It was a nice pen, polished wood inlaid with amber. “Is it magic?”

“It's just a pen, Lily,” he said gently. His gaze was intense. “It may take a long time for you to sort out your path. If at the end you find yourself with one loyalty, come and see me. If you're in trouble, send the pen, and I'll know it's you. I will help you.”

Her eyes grew wet. She didn't know why he was doing this, but suddenly it meant the world.

Bloodhand's words echoed in her head, but Tashi was right here, insistent.

She curled her hand around the pen and hugged it to her. That fast, it became precious to her.

Tashi nodded in farewell and moved on.

She stood there for a long moment, and then tucked it in her pocket and went to report her failure to her uncle.

She did not mention the pen.

??

“From my uncle's point of view, she's a security risk. I'm not surprised he sent her away,” Zac said frankly. “She’d make an ideal spy.”

Tashi gave him a flat look. “She's not a spy.” By choice, anyway.

“Which you know, because you spied on her ,” Gal accused.

Tashi raised his brows. “Of course. It's basic security.”

Gal snorted. “Of course.”

“The easiest way to allay your uncle's suspicions is to end Zul Kan,” Tashi said reasonably.

Gal gave an explosive laugh. “The easiest thing? You've lost your mind! Just how do you think you're going to do that? It's not as if plenty of people haven't tried it already.”

“Are you planning to get your father involved?” Zac asked curiously.

“My father has his own concerns,” Tashi said dryly. As a general, his father had more than enough on his plate.

“Consider this, we might not have a general's resources, but we can work with what we have. If we found a way to get rid of Zul Kan, everyone would benefit. Your family would no longer have to deal with him and Lily would be free of his influence.”

“Her guardian is still a mobster,” Gal said dryly.

“Your uncle is a bandit and my father has slain hundreds. So what?”

“Love is blind.” Gal looked at her brother.

Zac looked over the table, deep in thought. “I have some ideas about Zul Kan...”