Teral sneered with disgust as he walked past the sitting room where Jolin was entertaining her "Court" on the way to the kitchen to get something to eat. He was grateful for the break from Jolin and the men seemed decent enough, but visitors hadn't stopped paying their since she walked through the door two weeks ago. This was the first evening that he wasn't required to go with her to a party she had been invited to at afternoon tea or sit in the room while aristo members of society tittered over the prestige of being a Queen at a Presentation. He had been hiding in his room all day with his account books, pouring over the numbers and wondering how his wealth could have grown in such a short amount of time. Maybe it was because his sister didn't know about his accounts to drain them with her frivolous spending like she did to their father's.

As early as Teral could remember, his sister acted higher and mightier than anyone else in his family because she was a Queen. The realization that she wasn't what his parents wanted her to be came for him when he had his Birthright Ceremony. She stood screaming her lungs out while their mother granted their father paternal rights that he should not have a Dark Opal when she was stuck with a Rose. Jolin screamed the whole ride home and halfway to through the celebration party till Mother backhanded her across the face into silence. The entire group of visitors watched as Mother gave his sister a good tongue lashing before sending Jolin upstairs for the rest of the evening, but that didn't bring down his sister.

When he started picking up the Craft quicker and better than she did, Jolin complained that a Warlord Prince shouldn't be able to do things like that so easily while a Queen struggled with it. She made the suggestion that perhaps he was using his Craft to make her look stupid because people still didn't trust Queens. After discussing it with his mother, he started to pretend his talent in Craft was waning. The smug look on his sister's face every time she did something better and faster than he did confirmed that he never wanted to see her rule anything he cared about.

Jolin started her formal training right about the time their mother died. Teral knew that their mother thought that Jolin might calm down once she was around other Queens, but from what he could see it only made her worse. When she was at home between contracts he was required to accompany her to parties and various other functions since he needed to see what it was like "serving" a real Queen his sister explained. All he saw was her pretending to be friendly to one woman and in the next breath insult her. He asked if she had witnessed any of her Queens that she served take care of disputes or issues in their area, and Jolin looked at him completely baffled.

"The only thing that I have seen was some stupid events that they held once a month to hear people squabble about things they could take care of themselves," she told him. "I mean, seriously Teral? A woman stealing from a shopkeeper shouldn't be an issue a Queen should have to deal with. Isn't that what her court is for?" Teral had to excuse himself to bed early and proceeded to get thoroughly sick in his bathroom. What she said was true about the woman stealing and the males needing to deal with it, but since he knew the incident that she was talking about it made her dismissiveness much worse. A good Queen knew how to listen and take all factors into account. If his sister had been listening to the entire account of the tale instead of just paying attention to what seemed to be a minor issue, she would have known that the woman was not just stealing from a store. The woman was stealing food from the store, poisoning it, and then sneaking it back repackaged on the shelves in Landen stores. It took them months of searching to figure out how the people were getting sick, and a few more months after that to figure out where the poison was coming from. The woman said that Landens were the reason why her family lost their farm, so it was fitting that food from the stores of the Blood killed the Landens.

He sat himself at the formal dining room table with his plate of food and remembered the night that Jolin convinced their father to bribe her into the Presentation. His father knew that a Jolin's reputation wasn't the best, so the Presentation would be the only option she had since the offers to rule in the "proving ground" Districts stopped coming in because his sister turned her nose up at them. She kept insisting that there were other Queens out there who got better offers to rule for the first time that didn't have the Jewel strength she did, so why should she settle for the pittance that they were offering her? The Providence that offered her to rule was one of the few in the Territories that were desperate for a Queen, any Queen because they were so far out in the mountains that no Queen stayed more than a year to rule. Teral paid the bribe himself since his father was almost broke till the tithe came in and he got his pay. Jolin would have fits if she knew about it, but Teral couldn't take his sister's accusations at his father not being a good enough provider for the family to give his daughter the best that she deserved that night when they all were at the table for once eating dinner.

"It is your fault that I can't rise where I need to be in society," she shouted at the both of them as the servants whisked away the main course dishes to make room for the fruit and cheese course. "Both of you don't mingle in the circles that you should being related to a Queen! I should be attending the party at Queen Jordyn's Palace with the rest of the Queens but I didn't get an invitation because you two are too lazy to try for me!"

"Now Jolin," their father soothed. "I understand that you are upset but we really can't afford-"

"Whose fault is it that we can't afford it?" she screamed, sending the servants who were waiting to place the next trays scampering back into the kitchen. "You never take any offers for anything higher than where you are! All you do is stand guard at minor functions and spend time with local tavern bums. If you would make a little more effort you could-"

"We will work things out," their father interrupted. Mollified, Jolin was her usual self-absorbed self until dinner was over and she excused herself to write correspondence. The relief on his father's face when Teral said he would take care of the fees was thanks enough for anything. Teral started investing his court earnings when he first started his training, somehow always picking just the right ones to put his money into that will make it grow. When he tried to ask his sister if she wanted to invest her earnings she laughed at him, saying that a Queen shouldn't invest her earnings just spend them. He took a rather large bite from his sandwich and sighed at that memory. If she didn't want to invest her money in companies, then how would she feel about investing time in her people?

"Aren't we being anti-social tonight?" Jolin simpered as she sauntered into the dining room and daintily slid into a chair on his right. He didn't bother correcting her because she still hasn't publicly acknowledge in front of anyone that he was the dominant member of the household now. She gave him a sugary sweet smile and fluttered her eyelashes. "I really think that you need to associate with our court before we all leave." He swallowed what was in his mouth hard, thinking over what she said closely.

"Our court?" he wheezed.

"But of course," Jolin laughed, patting his arm. "A Queen who has a Red Jeweled Warlord Prince for a brother would definitely have him in her First Circle. What else would you do?"

"I…I…"

"You need to get to know all of them before we officially form the Court brother dear," she told him with what she probably thought was a reassuring smile. "Father will be so pleased that I will have such a powerful male in my First Circle. I may even let you be my First Escort since I don't think I would be able to find a suitable one in my first year of ruling. After that, you could just be my Steward since you are always fiddling away with numbers in the account books for the household funds."

"My current contract-"

"Those can be dismissed, and I know that you only have a month left on it," Jolin tittered. She stood and gave him another brilliant smile. "You should consider it brother dear. Now, you finish your little meal and I expect you to come join us in the sitting room when you are finished. Your Queen needs support from her family." As soon as she left the room, he rushed from the table out to the back garden. He gasped for air, kneeling in the bed of witchblood that he tended to himself since none of the staff or his sister would touch the stuff, and tried to stop feeling as if the claw of a trap were curling around him. He couldn't serve his sister! She was nothing like the Queen he dreamed of serving. Her ambitions were everything he hated in some of the Queens that were ruling now. They may not be anything like Dorothea was, but with the right males backing her a Queen could become her. A Queen like his sister.

Teral stood after a few minutes when he realized that if he didn't do what his sister said she would throw one of her fits. If the males saw what she truly was before the contracts were official then they may not want her to rule at all. He would hate to do that to the males he had grown acquainted with the last two weeks, but they seemed solid enough to handle anything his sister could throw at them. With a sigh, he brushed the dirt off his clothes and went inside to socialize without finishing his food. He wasn't hungry anymore anyway. He would make his sister believe that he would do what she wanted. If she believed that he really would serve in her First Circle, it would give him enough time to figure out how he would get out of her clutches. He loved his sister, but he knew in his heart that he never wanted to serve her.

"Did you notice the quality of my gown? Isn't is exquisite?" Mirana simpered to Paulina softly.

"Oh my! Well my gown beggared my father for the next year!" Paulina snickered back. They both were at a table with some of the more social butterflies and their admirers since the officials finally caught onto what the group had been doing the last couple of weeks. Mirana knew something was up when she walked into the ballroom with her father and saw the terrace doors closed. Lady Alice met her and her father, explaining that due to some complaints the seats for the dinner break at tonight's ball were assigned and the dance cards were filled out by the officials to assure some of the males time with females they normally would not have the chance to be around. Lady Alice apologized for any inconvenience that it caused and assured them both that the new rules packet for the last week would be passed out to every woman at the formal breakfast in the morning. Mirana was thankful that Paulina was still seated with her, but Coren and Marilyn were both assigned to tables on opposite sides of the dance floor. It didn't surprise Mirana that they were all in clear view of the officials' table after she noticed that the officials were watching all of them closer than anyone else in the room. The entire group had been hiding out on the terrace for all of the formal functions if possible, and Mirana had a sneaky suspicion that Lord Harlis was one of the main people to complain about women hiding. Mirana knew they weren't the only ones hiding from the brief moments she got to see some of the other women in the required classes everyone was attending.

Mirana thought the classes were a joke at first. She had never heard anything about them from the women who came into the shop that had attended, which made her think that they hadn't made it past the first week since all of the women were told they were required of the women who were continuing on in the event. The lessons seemed like a joke at first since they were things that Mirana had been learning as long as she could remember. However, when a simple half an hour lesson about the proper way to deny a Warlord Princes claim turned into an all morning ordeal. All of the women, except for a witch in the highest of the Hayll social circles named Hallidoria that was seated next to her in all of her classes, thought there was nothing wrong with entertaining the advances of several males at once when a powerful male made a claim. Hallidoria had to explain to Mirana while one of the officials told the story about how courts were destroyed because of women not properly handling a male that most of the people still did not teach the Old Ways. Mirana liked the woman instantly, inviting her to the afternoon tea at the townhouse and finding she fit in perfectly with the women who she now called her friends. The other lessons were much more entertaining with someone like her to talk with while the officials droned on about how to act in a Court and what each Circle was supposed to do.

"Lady Mirana," one of the males at the table said, breaking her out of her thoughts. "What do you do for entertainment at home?"

"Oh, I mostly work in the sweets shop my family owns in Chaillot," Mirana replied with a polite smile.

"Is it the one near the Public Gardens? They have the best sugar mice!" one of the women gushed, sending the table back into a discussion that left Paulina and herself out of the loop again.

"Do you think that they would even notice if we left the table?" Paulina asked softly.

"The officials would notice," Mirana sighed in reply, tilting her head to where the officials were standing.

"I tried to get out on the terrace but they have them craft-locked and guarded," Paulina told her. "The one dance that I got with Yarek was enough to tell me that the women all of them were dancing with have been terrors. All of them asked what kind of home he lived in and what he did for a living to support himself, not to mention the couple of them who asked him how many lovers he had."

"Shit," Mirana swore softly. "I get asked that from the males too. I wonder if they are just gauging how skilled I am in bed or how loose of a control my father has on me."

"One of the men asked me if I was able to relocated directly after the Presentation was over," Paulina said.

"You are joking," Mirana hissed. Paulina shook her head with a grimace. Mirana sat back in her chair in shock. The two court dances she got with Luc were enough of a break to deal with the males' constant demands about her sex life. Lady Alice must have noticed that the court dances helped calm Luc at the various balls they have had the last couple of weeks and put him on Mirana's card just enough to keep them both sane. It also helped her keep track of how the others were doing. The boyos were seated at a table far away from all of them, but Mirana noticed that on the dance floor they weren't far away from any of them if they could help it. It was amusing to watch the officials try to keep them away from each other in between dances when the escorts immediately brought the ladies to who the officials were trying to keep the ladies away from.

"Mirana!" Paulina hissed.

"What?" Mirana looked at the table, taking in the shocked look on everyone's face and Paulina's baffled expression before turning to look at what everyone around her was staring at behind her. She was shocked to see a large Eyrien male standing there.

"It is my dance witchling," he said with an arrogance smile as he held out his hand.

"Is it?" Mirana asked raising an eyebrow and waving her dance card in his direction. "We have these handy little cards that say who is our dance partner and I am pretty sure your name isn't in this dance's slot."

"I negotiated for it," he said, his hand and smile not moving an inch.

"Well then I suppose it shall be all right," Mirana replied, taking his offered hand and let him lead her to the dance floor just as one of the officials called out that the second half of the ball was about to begin. Mirana grinned at the look on everyone's face when they caught sight of the Eyrien, almost missing the first steps of the dance because of one particular face. "You know, with the way these people are looking at you it would seem that they haven't seen an Eyrien male before." She heard him mutter something in Eyrien and she gave him a grin before replying in Eyrien. "Now now, that isn't very nice to say about people that you don't know."

"You speak Eyrien?" he asked in shock.

"Lady Quintelian was just as shocked that I picked up the language so quickly," Mirana laughed. "I can't speak any other language but that one, and my father finds it amusing that I picked up a language that I would only be able to use in certain Territories."

"I thought that Lady Quintelian doesn't take anyone outside of her Territory for training?" he asked as he spun her around.

"She made an exception for me," Mirana told him. She watched as he assessed her, making a decision about her before giving her an arrogant smile.

"Luc tells me that you are one of the few Ladies here he can stand to speak with," the Eyrien told her.

"Oh the conversations with the males are not much better," Mirana sighed with a roll of her eyes before fixing her face in what she thought the other Ladies present had as an expression. "My Lord, did you visit the Hoffenfepher's party last month? It was all the rage, though I must say the food was not up to the usual fare. And Lady Hoffenfepher's gown was two seasons old! What was she thinking?"

"Lord Hoffenfepher's accounts must be thanking her for making such a sacrifice," the Eyrien said.

"Oh didn't you hear the recent gossip?" Mirana gasped in mock shock before lowering her voice in a conspiratorial whisper. "Apparently his recent investments have failed miserably and they had to cut back. They hoped that no one would have noticed the corners they cut to throw the usual affair they have at this time of year."

"I see."

"But it will be fixed soon," Mirana said. "Their daughter is marrying Lord Smytheson's son which will not only fix their financials, but put their social status further up in the circles."

"You certainly do understand how their type of society works," he chuckled.

"I could personally care less about gossip," Mirana admitted. "I rather listen to my old tutor drone on about mathematics than hear about who is supposed to marry whom for money and status."

"My sister also has a particular hatred for mathematics," the Eyrien said.

"I think she and I would get along splendidly," Mirana chuckled.

"I am sure that you would as well," the Eyrien told her before stepping back and giving her a bow, signaling that he was done dancing with her. "It has been a pleasure to make your acquaintance Lady Mirana," he said as he offered an arm to lead her off the dance floor.

"The dance isn't through," Mirana said, taking his offered arm.

"I am afraid I must leave the floor before more Ladies get their feet injured by males stepping on them," he mused while guiding her towards where her father was standing.

"May I have the pleasure of your name as an apology for cutting our time short?" Mirana asked. She saw him weighing it over in his mind before he handed her off to her father.

"I am Prothvar Yaslana. It was a lovely dance Lady Mirana," he said before giving her father a bow and leaving her with her mouth gaping open.

"Did you have to tell her your name?" Alec heard Luc shout at Lord Yaslana from where Prince Niall and himself were relaxing with a bottle of brandy. "Honestly Prothvar do you have any idea what I had to put up with in my dances?"

"I rather expect it wasn't as bad as you are making it out to be Luc," Prothvar replied. Alec snorted, knowing his niece well enough to imagine what kind of questions she asked Prince Grayhaven. "She seems like she is a wonderful Lady."

"She asked me if the size of your cocks really were proportional to the size of your wings!" Luc shouted, confirming Alec's thoughts. "I had to deal with her asking if you were related to Uncle Lucivar, did you live in Terrielle or Kaleer, and my other favorite question besides the one about your cock was did I have the knowledge of how long your personal war blades were." Alec swore with such heat that Niall raised an eyebrow at him.

"My niece has a particular lust for large blades to fight with," Alec explained.

"Do I want to know how you got this knowledge?" Niall asked as he handed the bottle of brandy to Alec.

"Let's just say I was witness to a particularly entertaining match between Lady Quintelian and my niece with Eyrien war blades," Alec told him before taking a large swallow of brandy. He really shouldn't take such satisfaction in how white Niall's face turned at that nugget of information but it was nice seeing another powerful male thrown off stride. "Did you find out why Lord Prothvar was here?"

"Apparently his entire family has an open invitation to join the Presentation at any time to attend as they see fit," Niall sighed.

"That sounds so promising," Alec said.

"Listen, Alec, while we are alone there is something I need to discuss with you," Niall told him. "Lord Richard and I had a long discussion at the townhouse today when I went over to check on the little ones while the girls were in their lessons this morning."

"Are the children all right?" Alec asked. He was becoming fond of the large family of children that Coren had decided to support till other arrangements were made. They finally stopped hiding food in their rooms this week and the young Queen was still having nightmares about her father, but other than that they were fine last time he checked.

"Oh no they are fine," Niall assured him, shifting from one foot to the other. "Lord Richard informed me that he has had to hand off his client list to other financial advisors because of some developments that have happened with Coren's former bosses."

"What do you mean?"

"Prince Geoff stopped by the townhouse while Luc and Jared were there earlier last week," Niall told him. "The man asked if he could speak with Coren, saying that he was concerned since she hadn't come home yet. It was a shock to the man that we told him Coren probably wasn't going to return to her home because of current events. Lord Richard had the children at the theatre with his wife and one of Lady Jordyn's guards when the man and his lover came knocking on the door asking where she was because they were concerned about her well-fare. Lord Richard refused to give them any information and dismissed them from the household. The next day they returned with Lord Kelvin, who insisted that they were lovers and were just days from being hand-fasted. I sent a message to Lady Jordyn and she now has at least two of her guards stationed at the house at all times once I found out that they were still in close contact with Coren's family. The guards informed me that Lord Kelvin has been coming by the house every day, but he didn't come to the doors once he saw that guards were posted. One of the night guards said he even tried to visit late one night with a couple of men. They took off when they saw that there were guards stationed at the entrance, but it was enough to have me assign more guards for the night shift."

"I finally cornered Lord Richard in his office today and demanded that he tell me what could possibly be the reason for all of this. He reluctantly informed me that Geoff and Lacey were supposed to inherit the businesses that Coren now owns. I found out that Lord Kelvin made Coren through her Virgin Night and put the pieces together. When Geoff and Lacey found out that Coren was now the owners of the businesses they were supposed to have, they made a plan. My bets are on them hoping that Lord Kelvin helping her through her Virgin Night would have her so grateful she would keep him as a lover. If he treated her nice enough then she might even fall in love with him long enough for a marriage contract."

"And once that marriage contact was official, Coren's money would be theirs'," Alec sighed, tipping his head back. He had seen it many times before the Purge. A rich young woman would be courted by a greedy family, and once she was stuck in a marriage she would be broken. The young woman would be stuck with the family because she would have no where else to go and wasn't safe without the protection of her new "family". It was luck that Coren had been too busy to go visit the children as often as she would have liked and she didn't have to deal with this development. However, in a week she would have all the free time that she could ever dream of wanting. "Tell me that they won't be back to bother her."

"I plan on visiting them myself once this entire event is over," Niall told him. "Coren told Lord Richard that he and his wife could stay in the townhouse for as long as he needed, and I transferred my accounts to him once I saw the way he handled Coren's businesses. The children will probably move to Shalador with their sister once Lord Jared has a place for them. Lord Richard has been sending any of the letters they are sending to Coren right back to them unopened and that no one is to leave the townhouse without a full escort. Queen Jordyn sent a missive to Lady Beyna to see exactly what kind of male Lord Kelvin is before taking action."

"Tell her I will make it up to her for doing all of this," Alec sighed. He handed back the bottle of brandy to Niall and stretched. "I should go check on the Ladies. I left my brother to entertain all of them this evening."

"May the Darkness have mercy on him," Niall sighed. Alec said his good nights to all of the males and walked up a flight of stairs to see his brother standing outside of the door to Coren's suite of rooms.

"It is your turn to entertain the Ladies," Andrew stated.

"Really?"

"I am going to bed," Andrew said plaintively, walking across the hall to Mirana's suite and shutting the door just soft enough to be shy of polite. Alec stared at that door for a few minutes before turning to see Mirana standing in the doorway of Coren's suite with Hallidoria standing right behind her. Both of them were wearing grins that stretched from ear to ear.

"Uncle Alec, you are just in time to tell us about your time with Lord Prothvar over a tray of nibbles we ordered," Mirana said.

"Of course," Alec replied, realizing that as interesting as his brother's night might have been, his night was going to be worse when he walked into the suite of rooms to see the smiling faces of the strong group of women Mirana called friends.

Talia sashayed into The Knotted Net, trying to act casual after the letter she received from Lord Richard that morning voicing some concerns about how Geoff and Lacey were acting now that Coren hadn't come home after the first week instead of being delighted that the girl was moved into the more desired Presentation Ceremony that happened at the end of the month. It concerned her as well because she remembered exactly how Geoff and Lacey reacted when they found out Old Salty changed his will. You couldn't blame a fellow for becoming attached to her. Most of the men who came into the Red Moon house sang of her beauty and sweet personality after visiting The Knotted Net when Coren was working. Talia just loved the girl because she didn't judge what Talia did for a living or what those working under her did for a living. It also helped that Coren made sure that Talia had the groceries she needed for herself after a long day of work between the sheets or that her favorite dress was always available to wear to the theatre on the rare occasion a special client paid her a visit.

"Talia! My love, come sit at the bar next to me!" Geoff roared out over the crowd.

"Geoff, I see that you are still in port," Talia chuckled to him as she slid onto the stool he indicated. "I expected you to be back out with your men today."

"We are waiting for Coren to come home before he goes back out," Lacey said as she put a glass of wine in front of Talia. "As much as we try we cannot make it past the males who have decided to suddenly take an interest in her life."

"Oh really?" Talia said, taking a sip of her wine and raising an eyebrow. "Do you know the names of some of the men? I could have someone look into it."

"Lord Richard won't tell us anything," Geoff grumbled. "Even after all the business we have given him over the years, he chooses to side with the males who think that it is now their job to take care of Coren."

"Isn't that what the Presentation is for?"

"She hasn't even been Presented yet," Lacey shouted, her face turning a bright shade of red. "We went to visit the place of residence that she set up for a group of brats from the slums of Hayll and one of Queen Jordyn's First Circle seems to have stationed guards all over. We can't even get near Lord Richard to ask him why he handed our accounts over to someone else and moved out of his home! Kelvin said that he tried to contact her once he realized that she didn't get Presented in the first batch like we planned, but all of his letters come back unopened and she is never at the townhouse alone."

"What do you mean like you planned?" Talia asked, deciding not to mention the fact that Lord Richard didn't hand her accounts over to someone else. Lacey's words scared her more. "I thought that Coren was picked by the Queen."

"You didn't think that a Yellow Jeweled hearth witch could get in the Presentation on her own did you?" Geoff scoffed. "We had it all set up, bribing the officials to get her onto the lists, telling her father that once she was married to Kelvin he would have all the money he ever wanted, and even having someone to offer himself to serve her that would bring her back here to us and abandon her to make her more vulnerable to Kelvin's advances. The Presentation just gave us the reason to tell her about her wealth and get Kelvin into her bed. Most women of her social status end up marrying their Virgin Night lovers after all."

"That stupid Black Widow sister of hers had to ruin things," Lacey sneered, handing a tray of food off to one of the waitresses. "Those webs she had wrapped around the bitch to keep her under the family's control must have worn off once she got to the Presentation. Her father assured-"

"Kept her under control?" Talia interrupted. "I thought that she had her Majority."

"She does," Lacey said. "Her father didn't have a choice when we visited and said that he would be able to get a dime until she had her Majority according to the terms Salty had in the contract. He explained that she was one of those head strong witches that believed that she was better than them, so the older girl has had to weave spells around Coren just to keep her from running off like she did years ago."

"We thought that with her only being away for a week they would be fine," Geoff grumbled. "The spells held for longer than that before."

"We all know that her father is a drunk and we can't trust anything he says," Talia said, pushing her now empty wine glass away from herself.

"The money we gave her did start out as a way to get her away from her family yes," Lacey said. "But she stole those businesses from us! We took care of Salty all those years and made sure that he was welcome and after centuries of work all we have to thank for it was him paying for this building! We were so close to having everything!"

"We will get her back love," Geoff assured Lacey as she tapped a fist on the bar. "All of us will. Our man is still in the Presentation and said he will make the offer when she goes up. When she gets back the plan will still be in place. No one else will make an offer for a hearth witch. The rules state that you cannot tell them how much you are worth, so all she can say is she works here as a cleaning woman. That will be enough to put off any male."

"One of my girls called me," Talia said with what she hoped was a convincing grimace. "A regular showed up drunker than normal and I need to help her get him up the stairs to sober up."

"We will keep you posted about Coren," Geoff told her. "After all, you helped her too."

"Stop by in the morning Talia and we can discuss what kind of work you can put her to once we get all the financial business taken care of," Lacey called out as Talia walked toward the door.

"I will!" Talia called back before ducking out of The Knotted Net and walking swiftly towards the Red Moon house. Her thoughts raced as she made her way through the street. Talia didn't want to think that Lacey was talking about putting Coren to work in the Red Moon house after they possibly broke her. She knew that Coren didn't have the temperament to work between the sheets the first time she met the girl. It broke her heart to think that Lacey and Geoff were only nicer to the lass after they found out Salty changed his will, but all the signs were there. The trust started to grow at an exponential rate after Salty died as far as she could tell when she looked over the paperwork herself when Richard came to ask for investment advice. If her suspicions were right, then they were using her trust to hide the money they didn't want the Queen to know about from illegal activities. She thought of all the times that she walked into The Knotted Net late at night to discuss something with the two of them and saw them talking over some paperwork they vanished just as she reached within reading distance of the papers. Talia swore when she realized that she was probably right on the nose about the money because they wouldn't be trying so hard to get her back otherwise. It wouldn't surprise her if they had been using Salty's businesses towards the end of his life until he changed his will and made it so Talia was the executor of his estate until Lord Richard and herself felt Coren was ready to handle the responsibility of being a wealthy woman.

After giving one of the senior girl orders, she went up to her room and penned her resignation letter to Deje. The owner of the Red Moon house maybe furious with her for leaving without more of a notice, but Talia didn't want to be in this part of town once morning light hit. If Talia's ideas had any truth to them, she didn't want to think what Geoff and Lacey would do to her when they found out that she wanted nothing to do with hurting Coren. She vanished the letter and all of her personal belongings before running the back stairway to the street where the Red Moon house's personal coach sat waiting for use. The driver said nothing to her as she gave directions to the nearest Landing Web before settling herself in the compartment. It may seem silly for a Green Jewel witch to be scared, but she had a feeling that Coren was much more than she seemed. Looking back it all made sense now. The distant look Coren had some days and the confusion in her eyes when she was asked about events that happened just the day before were all symptoms she had seen before in victims of Black Widow crimes. Talia trusted Black Widows, but there were still the pockets of bad witches who made a bad name for the Craft that was dangerous for the people around the ones performing it and the witches doing it themselves. The fact a family member would mess with another family members mind still baffled her.

It hit Talia like a sledgehammer and she swore with heat when she put the pieces together. Coren looked nothing like her family, and working closely with Lord Richard for decades she couldn't find out where they took Coren to get her Birthright Ceremony so they could take her to make her Offering at the same place as was the tradition with most of the Blood. She would bet her entire year's salary and her entire investment sum that Coren wasn't truly the couple's daughter. She hoped that she reached the townhouse that Lord Richard said he was residing at before Lacey and Geoff's nephew made any more attempts to reach the girl, because she knew that a witch whose name wasn't readily available in a registry could disappear without a large fuss from personal experience. If another girl was hurt on her watch again and she could have prevented it she never would be able to forgive herself.

Author's Note: This may be my last chapter for quite some time. My husband recently got a position in a city that is four hours away from where we live now and I have to come up with ways to make some extra cash for us to move. Unfortunately, these stories do not make me money and my crafts do. Unless I get on a writing spree and write a large amount in a couple of hours it is looking like the chapters will be few and far between in the next couple of months. I hope that all of you will be patient with me and forgive me. If you want updates I will try to update my personal webpage and all that often with little things. So, until we meet again thanks for reading and hope you enjoy.