[Potironette]

"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!"

[Kitarun]

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."

[Potironette]

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.

[Kitarun]

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.

[Potironette]

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?"

[Kitarun]

"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."

[Potironette]

"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.

[Kitarun]

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.

[Potironette]

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.

[Kitarun]

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..."

[Potironette]

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.

[Kitarun]

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.

[Potironette]

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."

[Kitarun]

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

[Potironette]

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.

[Kitarun]

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.