Janius was just as curious about Rhazii and Julan's absence as Kaleeth was. He tried reading the note over her shoulder and ended up scratching at his back in futility. Still, Kaleeth could read the Jel.

"I didn't say so," Janius said with a shrug. "We have our own food here. Perhaps Fendros or Ahnasha said they could?"

Said couple walked in just as they were mentioned.

"Said what?" Fendros asked.

"Whether the boys could get themselves some dinner at the kitchen. They left a note here."

Fendros frowned and shook his head. "I don't foresee Marod minding if we take a few morsels from this place, but we ought to find them. It's rude for them to take food from a castle without asking."

[hr]
In spite of her trained poise, Jatinha hesitated. Her eyes were drawn to young Janius in the portrait and her voice trembled out an answer. "That would be the master and mistress' son. I never met him, I am afraid. He...died before I began to work here. It is a sensitive subject in this household." She swallowed. "Harald knew him, as well as the young lady Aurana's governor, Renault. Wanda, the previous maid, has unfortunately passed aw-"

Jatinha stopped, her ears bend outwards and she looked to one side. Both Rhazii and Julan could hear some raised voiced muffled through the walls. It was not necessarily anger seeping though, but words were escalating behind closed doors upstairs. Incredulity was a better way to describe it, for all the information they had.

"I-I should not speak so much on behalf of the master and mistress, I am sorry." Jatinha turned her eyes down.

Rhazii was holding his tea in both hands. He offered Jatinha a smile. "Don't worry, we won't tell anyone, promise." He sipped at the tea. It was not as sweet as he would have liked but it was better than plain water. "Thank you for the tea, it's delicious."

Jatinha's lips twitched upwards. She gave a small nod.

"How did you make it so quickly, anyway?" Rhazii asked. He was having a hard time taking his eyes of the maid.

Jatinha breathed in to answer. She was interrupted by the clomping of feet on the stairs. Her mouth and ears lowered as a new figure came into view.

Down the stairs strode a man in an immaculately embroidered beige tunic and velvet trousers. Both Rhazii and Julan were quick to spot that one of his aged Nordic hands rested on the head of a fighting axe hanging from a loop on his belt. His face was impatient, creased with age and scanning until he found the two boys. He had receding grey hair and no goatee, but otherwise had similar facial features to Janius. In spite of his age, he was still tall and strong in appearance.

Behind him was a similarly-aged Imperial woman, who paid more attention to the steps due to the long, beautiful blue dress she wore. Her grey hair was made up into tight spirals that clung to the sides of her head. She had a wide-eyed look that regarded the stairs with a small smile, almost as if she was entertaining a party of ghosts. Given the sheer space in the house, that might not have been far from the truth.

The final member of the group descending to the ground floor was Harald the butler. Still as elegant as ever in spite of what was probably an argument upstairs. Harald stood at the opposite side of the archway to Jatinha while the two nobles approached.

The old man with the axe spoke first. He was firm, but his words spoke of more disdain than his tone. "Which one of you is claiming to be my late son's spawn? Speak quickly, I have no time for tricks."