"Hmmm, that should work. Hopefully Uncle Marius doesn't send us a new servant!" He said, laughing as he watched Jei shake his head free of his handiwork. The slicked back look obviously wasn't one Jei liked. Plenty of noble boys had to wear their hair that way in their youth for the sake of looking sharp--it was a cheesy look, to say the least.

"I'm thinking of leaving the room before the servant arrives for fun, but I suppose then we wouldn't be able to ask him any questions!"

Jei chuckled, happy to see how quickly Kellan had let his 'heir' mask fall after leaving home. His mother had been grooming him for the role of Lord for the last five years, forcing everything onto him in those few short years that their older brother had had his entire life to learn.

"Its up to you... Though we probably shouldn't cause so much triuble our first night here... Uncle might change his mind about keeping us."

Kellan grinned, "Would he really?" He'd spent many a day exploring the mansion as a kid and never found a thing. Surely Uncle Marius wouldn't mind further poking around.

He stepped towards the doorway of the room, "Come on, let's go before the servant arrives. Maybe we can come back later and invite the servant to dinner instead."

By nature, Kellan always had a mischievous streak, though he had put a loose little bind onto it when he entered the role of the Lord-in-training. Now it came bursting out in eagerly after years of being suppressed under the watch of his mother. Granted, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. He'd played the prankster whenever his mother's back was turned, after all--even if his jokes had grown more and more controlled over the years.

Grinning slightly, Jei nodded, following his brother. He'd always been willing to go along with whatever mischief his brothers wanted to get into. That was usually more in an attempt to just get them to spend time with him- Theroen had been nearly ten when Jeisyn was born, Kellan had only been three... Quite often he'd just gone along to get his brothers attention- no teen wants a child following them everywhere. As the years went by, Jei found himself liking the pranks and mischief more and more, now doing it for fun rather than simple attention... Not that he'd ever pull one alone.

Kellan took a piece of paper with him and turned the lock from the inside before he stepped out of their suite. It was quite simple to bypass the lock by slotting in a piece of paper, but any good servant wouldn't just barge in a locked door. "This way, if the servant arrives before us, he'll be stalled here for a bit," Kellan explained.

He cast a eye along the corridor. "It's been a while." He looked over at Jei, "Want to go to the basement, the rooftop, or the dining area before dinner begins?"

"Hmm.... I don't think I've ever been to the basement or the rooftop..." He said, trying to think back to the last time they'd been there, unable to remember either space. "Whichever one you want, Kell."

"Hmm, alright. Then let's go to the basement." Kellan grinned, "Maybe we'll find something this time." He said that every time they went down, even though they never discovered anything interesting. Either Uncle Marius really didn't have a stony cellar or dungeon, or he hid it really well. There was a library there, in any case.

Jei nodded, following his brother through the strangely silent halls. "Is it just me or is it almost too quiet..?" He asked in a whisper, not wanting to disturb the silence. Or get caught sneaking about.

For a moment, he considered saying something bold in a loud voice, but he realized Jei had a good point. It usually wasn't that quiet. What was different?

Their footsteps were not making any noise. There was a carpet placed on the ground, starting at several rooms ago. The walls were covered with thick tapestry to keep the sound out, and to keep the sound in.

"That's odd," Kellan muttered," "usually it isn't this quiet." He tugged up a tapestry.

Jei gasped when Kellan lifted the tapestry, revealing flame-blackened stone, and the charred remains of what were once doors. "What- when did this happen? And why didn't Uncle tell us, or Mother?" He asked in an anxious whisper. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the blackened wall. He could almost make out patterns in the burns, same way he could occasionally in his scars. Reaching out, he brushed his fingers lightly over the wall, surprised it was still warm. "Kell... The stone's warm..."

Kellan reached over to touch the stone, shocked. It was really warm. What was going on? He furrowed his brows as he look at the charred doors in a moment of indecision. "I'm going to open it up." He said, half to himself and half to Jei.

Jei grabbed Kellan's arm, stopping him. "Don't do it... What if theres still a fire burning, and thats why the stone is warm?" He said, remembering back to when their own home had been engulfed in flames, how the ruins had been hot to the touch for werks after, small fires still burning, refusing to go out.

Kellan set his arm down. "Alright, that's a bad idea. We should probably run to the dining room and ask Uncle Marius about it." He pulled a face, "By the way this looks, he must know about it already. Let's go back to make sure there isn't a servant having a hard time by our rooms."

Jei nodded, keeping his hold on Kellan, barely controlling himself from falling into a flashback of another fire.

Kellan ruffled Jei's hair, "Hey it's alright."

Back before at their rooms, the servant was knocking on the door.
"We're going to dinner now, thanks." Said Kellan abruptly from behind, feeling that the mood wasn't entirely right for practical jokes. They headed toward the dining room.

Jei took a deep breath, the hand on his head breaking him from his thoughts as he swatted at Kellan's hand. "Oh come on. Now my hair's a mess right before dinner..." He whined, giving his head a shake and running his fingers through his hair a time or two.

Kellan grinned a little when he saw Jei had stopped looking so nervous.

From behind them, the now confused servant hurried to escort them to the dining room, as it was her duty.

"Is there anyone in your rooms?" She asked nervously.
"No, your name?" Kellan asked.
"It's Sh-Shale." Came the reply.
"Are you new?" He asked.
"Y-yes."
Of course. What old servant would be so startled at being interrogated?

Kellan sighed, what information could be gotten out of a new servant?

Jei was curious about the new servant. She seemed so nervous. "How long have you been here, Shale?" He asked.

"F-for-" Shale paused, attempting to correct her stutters. The head maid had told her to be more confident. "For a week."

She wrung her hands, "I was surprised because I've always wanted to be a maid here, but it felt like Master Marius and Mistress Augusta never hired, or fired--which is why I wanted to work here, but I learned that some people were f-fired recently--b-but.." She stopped, losing her train of thought.

"A-anyway. Anyway, the dining room's this way. Um, which you two, I mean, Young Master Jei and Young Master Kellan must know, but I was instructed to guide you here anyway..so I have to.."

Jei stopped Shale with a light hand on the girl's shoulder. "You needn't be so scared, Shale. We're not so scary, are we?" He asked, attempting to lighten the girl's mood slightly. She couldn't be much older than himself or Kellan, by the looks of her. "It's been a long time since I was here last. I appreciate you showing us..."

Shale bit her lip, "Well, no..." She relaxed, "But I've never been around nobles until now. And Ma tells--" She threw a hand over her mouth and whispered, "stories"

Kellan grinned, "Uncle Marius wouldn't bring a regular noble here would he?"

Shale wrung her hands, "No, but ma says that's even worse." She had lowered voice on the last word, as if telling a great secret.

Jei was slightly confused by what Kellan meant about regular nobles, and what Shale meant about that being worse.

Sensing Jei's confusion from the lack of words, Kellan grinned, "Regular nobles. The ones going out into society, concerned with appearances, making debuts into the world. That sort of thing." He turned to Shale, "Why would you say it's worse not to be an uppity noble on top of the world?"

Shale wrung her hands again, "Tha-that, I can't s-say. A-anyway, we're nearly at the dining room!" She cheered noticeably at the last few words.

Jei shRed a look with Kellan. This, obviously, would require some investigation.

They reached the dining room in silence, Jei quietly thanking Shale for her guidance. He went and gave his aunt a hug, greeting her happily, then sat near the head of the table, leaving a space between himself and Marius for Kellan- being older, he would get the seat closest to the head of the table.

Kellan bid goodbye to Shale as she left in a hurry from the dining room.

He then went up to Aunt Augusta to greet her, before settling himself down at the dinner table. He wrinkled his nose, seating by seniority was a little odd, but he supposed it had its uses. If people didn't sit in that order, it might've been awkward for some to get seated at all.

"It's been a while," He remarked.

Jei didn't find the seniority seating all that strange- it made sense for higher ranking persons to be seated closer to the head of the table with their hosts.

Augusta nodded, smiling softly. "Too long a while, certainly... I'm glad you both could make it."

"We're glad to be here:.. Gives us a break from the mundane life of tutors and responsibilities..." Jei replied, smiling in return.

"Congratulations on the baby!" Kellan said lightly, "and, I'm glad both of you are safe." He folded his hands on his lap, wondering if his alluding to their safety would get brushed aside or not.

Augusta and Marius shared a look, before glancing back at their nephews. "Thank you, boys..." Augusta replied, smiling, though it was forced.

Jei noticed the strain, and nudged Kellan under the table, as if telling him not to make mention of what they'd discovered. At least not here, while there were others around. He could tell that his family was hiding something.

Kellan unfolded his hands from his lap. He wasn't too good with waiting for the right time to discuss issues. It made for good lording with families other than his own, though.

Feeling Jei nudge him, Kellan sighed. He supposed it wasn't a good idea to bring up the new servants either, now.

"So, what's for dinner?" He asked, abruptly changing the topic.

At that moment, the chef and two other servants walked in, each pushing a covered cart. "I'm glad you asked, young master... We've got grilled fish and rice with mushrooms, and a garden salad."

"Mushrooms!" Kellan grinned, "Why I love mushrooms!" He paused. "But only when you make it, Chef."

He turned his attention to the food being laid out at the table, wondering impatiently when they'd finally get answers on Uncle Marius' fire and firing.

It looked like portobello mushrooms, shiny on rice.

Jei dug into his food as soon as it was served, starving. they hadn't had much to eat on the road, and he'd only had a slice of toast for breakfast that morning. "Delicious, chef...Uncle, do you think we could borrow him when we return home, so he can teach Rinee to cook like this?"

Kellan grinned as he ate.

"If Rinee could cook like that, she'd be ecstatic." He remarked, "Not to mention we'd be too."

Jei laughed. "Yeah, til we got fat..." He said.

Marius chuckled as well, nodding. "I suppose we could send our chef to you for a week or so to teach your Rinee his secrets... We have two other cooks that could take over while he's gone... If it is okay with Barda, of course..."

"Barda," Kellan remarked, "so that was the name." He turned back to see if the chef was still in the room with them. Seeing that he wasn't he returned his gaze to the dining table. He poked absent-mindedly at a mushroom.

"I'm glad you didn't fire Barda," he said.

Marius looked up curiously. "Of course we wouldn't... Even if he wasn't the best chef in the world." He replied, giving the boys a look that said they'd talk more of that after dinner.

Kellan sighed and poked again at his mushrooms before putting on his mask that had fallen away at his Uncle's--only he supposed it was good this time, to mask his impatience.

"Barda's good enough to run a famous restaurant the capital," he replied gaily.

Everyone agreed with Kellan's statement, and dinner went on pretty quietly after that, their aunt and uncle asking simple questions every once in a while.

When dinner and dessert were finished, Marius stood, helping Augusta to her feet as well. Normally fairly slender, the woman was swelled up like a balloon, so heavily pregnant. "Let me get your aunt to our room, then I will meet you boys in your rooms to talk more, alright?"

Jei nodded, bidding his aunt goodnight, giving her a hug as well.

Kellan nodded his head politely towards Aunt Augusta and Uncle Marius. His mind was absent, wondering whether their nieces even knew if the fire had occurred.

Kellan smiled as he watched Jei hug their aunt. He held out a hand forward in gesture, "Let's go then, so we?"

Jei headed out of the dining room, going down the hallway til he hit the first turn, then paused, frowning. "Um, Kell... Which way were our rooms?" He asked, embarrassed.