Kellan placed his chin over Jei's head and patted his back for a moment. "You're safe here," he murmured, "It's alright."

Kellan sighed inwardly to himself. Even though they were away from the mansion, Jei was still having nightmares.

Jei relaxed into his brother's embrace, far quicker than he would have at home. Likely because he'd passed through the sitting room-which was unchanged from earlier- and had his brother right there next to him, also unscathed. He wrapped his arms around Kellan, feeling his eyes growing heavy already.

Kellan fell asleep quite quickly, when he felt the tension in Jei's body had gone. He wondered briefly if he even had dreams at all, but the thought left as quickly as it had come.

Jei snuggled up to his brother, head resting on his shoulder, one arm across his chest, both keeping hold of his shirt so Kellan couldn't disappear on him. He fell back asleep, resting rather peacefully.

((I realize suddenly there probably aren't light bulbs in that era..I guess they use wicks before bed..))

When he woke up he wasn't sure. It was still dark because there were no windows in the room, and the only light source came from the candles he'd blown out the night before.

Kellan uncurled Jei's hand from his shirt and ruffled his hair. He slid out of bed and pulled the blankets back up towards Jei.

Quietly, he stole to the closet and pulled out a shirt and pants. He made his way to the bathroom.

Jei woke slowly, not long after Kellan left the room. He reached for his brother, frowning when he wasn't there. The spot next to him was still warm, though, and the pillow smelled of him. Shifting over a bit into that warm spot, he curled up around Kellan's pillow, dozing off slightly.

(There should be windows.... No noble would give his guests a windowless room... Perhaps its shuttered and he cant see it in the dark?)

((Ohh, okay. I was imagining a really castled looking mansion, with no windows for safety reasons xD))

After taking a quick shower, Kellan pulled on his clothes and left the bathroom. He grinned seeing that Jei had already curled up in another position.

Kellan made his way outside the suite and walked back to where they had seen the charred door. He stared at it, still confused. Just what was behind that door?

Jei woke a while later, to find his brother still gone. He frowned, getting out of bed, blankets wrapped around him against the chill morning air. He checked all the rooms in the suite, not finding him. He went and dressed, putting the blanket back in Kellan's room before going in search of him.

Kellan sat with his back to the charred door. On the off chance that he had kicked it down yesterday, would it have sent the mansion ablaze? That would have been rather terrible. It wasn't only his life that was at stake. He wondered where Uncle Marius was, or if their uncle was even awake. Maybe Uncle Marius had the answers to this door. Frankly, he was worried that if he didn't find out an answer soon, he'd do something very stupid.

Getting up, he left the offensive door and walked towards the dining room. Who knows, maybe someone was eating breakfast.

Jei spotted his brother coming from the side of the house that had been most affected by the fire. He fell into step next to him. "Morning Kell... Where'd you go so early?"

"Morning Jei." Kellan cast a glance back from where he'd come. "I went back to that charred door," he admitted.

He sighed, "It's bugging me."

Kellan stepped forward and ruffled Jei's hair, "Let's go get breakfast." They couldn't miss out on breakfast by Uncle Marius' kitchen, after all.

Jei growled, swatting Kellan's hand away from his head. "Stop that!" He said, whining a bit, as he followed Kellan to the dining room. He still had no idea of his way around.

A rack of bread was set out already in the dining room. Kellan picked up a cup and poured himself a cup of water and drank it. Then bit into a piece of bread. It seemed they'd woken a little later than he'd thought, for there to be cold bread already.

He looked over to Jei and grinned, "You want a piece of bread?"

Jei looked a little skeptical. "Not even toasted? Just... Plain bread?" He shook his head, going for some fruit instead.

Kellan laughed, "Even plain bread is good bread here." He finished off the bread in a few bites and leaned on the table, thinking about how odd it felt not having something to do.

He looked over at Jei, "Do you have any place you feel like going to today?"

Hei shrugged slightly. "Well... We could go explore outside.... Or we could check out the library..." He suggested, popping a biece of apple into his mouth. Either would be good with him.

Kellan placed a hand on his chin. Both happened to be things he'd been contemplating, though outside less so. Actually, he wondered if there was anything outside at all. The front lawn had been big, but it'd been just that--very big and green and open.

"Let's go outside to the back of the mansion," He said.

Jei nodded, grabbing some fruit to take out with them. "Alright, lets go then."

Kellan exited the living room and stopped at the front door, pausing. "Let's hope we don't need our jackets," he said offhandedly, then opened the door. He didn't know if there was a back door or not, so the front door had to make do.

Past the green courtyard and around the building, Kellan stopped before the back "yard." Well, of course it was much bigger than a yard, but what else was there to call a back expanse? Was that the woods?

Jei followed his brother, running ahead once they made it outside. There was a wide expanse of lawn backing onto the forest, with gardens to one side, and beyond them, the stables and carriage house. The trees closest to the gardens looked to be fruit trees, changing to maple and oak and birch further from the food.

Kellan grinned, seeing Jei running out in front. He liked how happy he looked.

He walked over towards the edge of the garden and into the shade of the forests. He looked thoughtfully at a maple tree, wondering if it was a sugar maple that could potentially be tapped. He found it almost ironic that fire was an element of magic. Animals lived without fire. Yet fire was natural. Yet fire destroyed things. It came in and thrived on destroying things. And life grows in the aftermath. What a pain. But heat. No way was that another form of fire, was it? Maybe he should have taken Jei to find the library after all, but he was already some ways into the trees.

"Hunting is a shame," He remarked to Jei, "But humans eat meat. As do bears and and lions."

Jei had been headed for the garden, to see what types of food grew there, but noticed Kellan going towards the woods, and decided to follow his brother instead. He nodded slightly at his brother's comment, wondering where that had come from. "It is a shame, especially when it's done for sport... When you only take what you need for food, it can actually be helpful to the colony of whatever you are hunting... Predators usually go after the weaker ones, which makes the group stronger in the end- you can only go as fast as your slowest member." He replied, shrugging a bit.

Kellan laughed, "It's a good thing we grow our own animals. Or else we wouldn't be picking off the weakest as we should."

He looked up at the sky and grinned. "How long do you think the forest stretches for? Think we'll meet anyone in here?"

He squinted his eyes, was that smoke curling in the distance? Surely not. What kind of person would openly have smoking fires in the forest?

Jeisyn shrugged. "Who knows? It could be a small patch of trees, or it could go for miles..." He said, climbing onto a fallen log, walking along the top of it. "Hey Kell, look! I'm finally taller than you!" He said, laughing a bit.

((Fire? Or somebodies cabin/cookfire?))

((Sure :D! Fire's always good. Any ideas for the reason?))

Kellan laughed, "Indeed you are, now aren't you?" He pointed to in front of Jei, grinning, "You see the smoke coming from that direction? How about we go to it?"

Jei looked to where his brother was pointing to. His eyebrows rose at the sight of the smoke. "Its too dark and thick to be a cabin or cookfire..." He said, frowning slightly in concern. He wasn't good with fire, all things considered. "Shouldn't we go and warn Uncle Marius, or something?"

"Good idea." Kellan replied, his brows furrowing in thought. He noted that the smoke had gotten much darker--much thicker. If it was, or if it turned into a wildfire that would have been extremely bad.

"Let's go look for him in case this smoke turns really big, or if it's another plot happening."

Jei was quick to agree, turning back towards the house. The sooner they got back, the better, in his mind. When they got inside, Jei asked a servant where they could find his uncle. She led them up to his study, knocking upon the door lightly, opening it for the boys when told to enter.

Kellan was surprised at the speed and efficiency with which they returned to the house, Jei leading the way. He assumed the fire must have looked very urgent. That, or Jei really didn't like fires.

He thanked the servant as the door was opened, then stepped through the threshold of the door along with Jei.

The study, he noted, was filled with books. The window was opened to the back gardens. A useful view, he supposed.

Turning to Uncle Marius, Kellan said: "You might be able to see it from here Uncle Marius, but maybe not. There's a bunch of smoke in the forest and it looks like a fire. You wouldn't know what it is would you?"

Matius frowned slightly, going to the window and looking out, spotting a thin trail of smoke. "Well, there is a cabin in the woods, inhabited by our groundskeeper... Though that smoke seems too dark..." He said, as he turned back to the boys. "I wabt you two to stay here with your aunt, while I go see what's going on."

Jei was glad that their uncle wasn't making them go, though he frowned slightly. "You shouldn't go alone, uncle..." He said. He wasn't volunteering himself, but if his uncle asked him to go, since he apparently had magic- that he couldn't access- he would go.

Kellan furrowed his brows for a split second before shrugging his shoulders haphazardly. "Alright." He said. "That's rather interesting. I wonder what it could be." He looked over at Jei with a mischievous grin and patted the boy's head. "Although, it's rather boring."

As if he was going to sit quietly and "stay safe" in the mansion, he thought to himself. Besides, was the mansion even safe? Then again, maybe he could use this opportunity to check what was behind the charred door. What was the safer option? Checking behind the door or going off into the forest? He didn't want to accidentally burn down the building while Uncle Marius was gone, but he certainly didn't want to sit around doing nothing. Danger was fine. Boredom was infinite.

Marius smiled at Jei's concern. "I won't... Thise friends I spoke of last night, I'll go get them and we'll go investigate. I want you boys to stay here. Keep an eye on your aunt. If it is a fire, and it gets too close to the house, I want you to keep her safe." He said, looking to Kellan when Jei nodded. "And stay together. Last thing we need is something happening, and one or both of you getting hurt..."

Kellan sighed, feeling uncomfortably guilty. "Don't die and tell us what happened later." He said in a semblance of wishing farewell.

"It'd be nice if we knew how to keep Aunt Augusta safe, but I guess we'll figure it out if the worst case scenario happens."

Kellan looked over at Jei, knowing that his brother's existence kept his moral compass in check at times, "Don't worry, we'll be good."

Marius smiled and nodded, leading the boys out of his study. "I knew I could trust the two of you..." He said, and gave each of their heads a ruffle before hurrying off to take care of whatever was happening in the forest.

When he was out of sight, Jei turned to Kellan, shifting closer slightly. What if it is magical, Kell?" He asked softly, leaning against the older boy.

Kellan tilted his head towards Jei's. "It probably is magical." He sighed, "We just have to prepare for the worst and hope Uncle Marius isn't dying. We should look for Aunt Augusta and tell her about the fire."

He pulled away and opened the door.

Jei whined softly when his brother mentioned Marius dying, shifting slightly closer. He opened eyes he hadn't realized he'd shut, and looked up at his brother when Kellan pulled away, reaching out for the brunette. He took his hand, holding tight to it, flushing slightly and averting his gaze. He was terrified, but he didn't want to admit it.

Kellan felt a warm tug on his hand. He turned back to Jei. So he'd been that affected.. He had no idea until now.

Eyes softening, Kellan relaxed his shoulders and bent towards Jei, pulling his brother towards him in a soft embrace. "We'll be fine." He said soothingly as his eyes narrowed at the thickening smoke outside the window. "Things will turn out alright." A blanket statement, but what else was there to offer? Lies never made things better.

Jei burrowed into the embrace, ear pressed to his brother's chest, eyes shut, as he listened to the rumble of his words in the beating of his heart, letting it calm him. He stayed like that for a couple of minutes til he felt calmer, before pulling away, though he kept a tight hold on Kellan's hand. "We should go find aunt a Augusta..."

"Mmhmm." Kellan murmured, his eyes softening around the edges. He gave Rune's hand a light squeeze before disengaging himself. He turned around and squared his shoulders, walked out of the doorway.

He asked a servant where Aunt Augusta was, remembering that Rune had done so to ask for Uncle Marius. The servant lead them somewhere to an open, sunlit room facing the gardens. Aunt Augusta was sitting in a chair, her back turned to them, and the servant left them be.