Gardening
Rosalind gets some news. She does not approve. Benji also does not approve. Danya is not shown, but it can be safely assumed she also does not approve.
Mild Spoilers: Some more mild details on the family business, and how Lemon's arrangement happened. Not really too much though? Tagging just in case.
In order to ensure the continued safety of the family garden certain plants would always have to be pruned or removed entirely. Some could simply be replanted and continue to thrive without further incident. In this particular instance however, Rosalind doubted it would be so simple. A pole bean had crept too close to a little sunflower, suffocating its roots with whatever rot it carried, and dragging down the stem of the young plant. Rosalind would have to separate them, weed out the roots of the bean from the flowers and separate them to assist their recovery. Hopefully the issue was caught in time that the rot had not infected them beyond recovery. She was hopeful the flower would recover and return to the garden, or at least be replanted and thrive elsewhere, but the bean may be beyond saving. She would need to be careful of how she chose to remove it if it came to that, and ensure that its rot had not spread any further.
“Boss, I’ve got an update,” Benji’s deep voice nearly growled. Rosalind opened her eyes to see her youngest kneeling beside her, his massive hand dwarfing the armrest of her chair. She hadn’t heard him enter her conservatory at all. It was always impressive how quiet the half-orc could be in spite of his size, but perhaps she was just finally getting old.
“That tone of yours says it’s nothing good,” she sighed, gently patting his bearded cheek and tugging him down a bit to press her forehead to his in greeting. He rumbled, drawing comfort as he always did from the familiar form of affection, and he exhaled loudly after he cooled his boiling anger back to a low simmer.
“It isn’t. Ursula has no idea what she’s started,” he said, leaning back to meet her gaze. “Just as Danya expected, her finances are all over the place. She’s been spending her husband’s check faster than it comes in, and whatever dowry Doran had set aside for Lemon is long used up. There was a sizable deposit to a few of her accounts, all from different sources, but Marigold did some digging and they all point back to one family. The Harlows,” he explained as he laid out the folio Danya no doubt put together for her to review on the small tea table in front of her. The lawyer’s tiny sharp print was all over the pages, laying out various detailed notes for her to explore on her own time.
“She is planning what I expected, isn’t she?” Rosalind sighed. Benji stood quickly, nearly snarling as he began to pace. Of course it wouldn’t be simple. Gods forbid any scheme that girl came up with be simple. She may be family but Ursula is certainly making it difficult to forgive her. Rosalind flipped through to the next page and frowned at the sight of the scorched letters at the end of the folio. Just visible, and penned in Ursula’s excessively intricate hand, was a series of letters to one Sir Harlow asking after the oldest Harlow’s boy’s marriage prospects. The most clear passage was a frankly embarrassingly forward hint that her daughter was searching for a partner. Clearly they’d attempted to burn the documents once Marigold started digging. Thank the gods she managed to gather this much.
“She has officially entered marriage negotiations with the Harlows. She’s planning to sell our Lemon like-like cattle for money to fund her ridiculous attempts at rising in social standing with the noble families. Handing over our girl to that family knowing how they operate! Lemon just reached her majority and Ursula tries to pull something this cruel! I knew she had an awful mouth and was never kind to her but how could she stoop to this of all things! I-”
“Benji, please-”
“Mama we need to act quickly! We finally have solid proof of that woman breaking the code. Putting one of our own in danger. If we remove Ursula then-”
“Benjamin. We cannot rush into this. Now take a seat and breathe a moment.”
“But-”
“Benjamin Anu Bakhouzin. Focus,” Rosalind interrupted. His mouth snapped closed with a painful sounding click as he turned to face her, arms held behind his back in parade rest and eyes closed as he breathed deeply.
“...sorry Boss.”
“Lambtail, I understand why you’re so angry. You’re as protective of our Lemon as your own babies, and Ursula has betrayed the Family and put one of ours in a dangerous situation all in one swoop,” she sighed, reaching out for her son. His jaw unclenched as he moved towards her, kneeling low so she could press a kiss to his cheek. “Have you spoken to your Auntie Adva yet?”
“No Ma, she’s still out on a mission. I was going to have someone send a message to her field handler to get in touch with her once she’s available.”
“Good. Start there then. Send Danya to me later this evening if she has a moment, I’d like to go over her folio and try to find a legal way to solve this issue before involving the Family. This is a delicate situation,” she sighed. “If we play this correctly we can avoid an all out war between the Families. The Harlow’s are new, and certainly pushing their luck, but they are just established enough that this could go poorly if we are not careful. Ursula has forgotten that I am the one with the legal power in her husband's absence. The Harlows will no doubt petition the court to overrule my veto, so we need to prepare.”
"Will you tell Doran?"
"I will consider it. His situation is...complicated as you know."