Darcy sank into the leather seat like he was attempting to become one with it. Meanwhile, Kand-Lei sat stiffly in the middle seat, only moving jerkily once to pull on his seatbelt. He glanced sidelong at the person sitting next to him with their back straight, eyes fixed directly ahead, before leaning over to fasten Darcy's seatbelt for him.
Darcy, already half turned into pudding, barely reacted, only paying attention when Kand-Lei tapped his knee.
He surreptitiously pointed to the third person in the back seat of the car. "Who's that?"
Darcy glanced over briefly. "Bodyguard. Don't worry about her, she's one of the best. Very discreet."
Kand-Lei hesitated a moment before nodding, making a show of settling back into the seat while remaining as stiff as a board. He picked at the hem of his coat, fiddling with the zipper and scratching at the soft fabric.
Darcy reached over and placed his hand over Kand-Lei's, quieting some of the nervous energy radiating from him. He rubbed his thumb over the back of Kand-Lei's hand, closing his eyes to the chaos of the city outside.
"Take a deep breath Lei-di. It's a bit of a drive to the residence so just relax, try to sleep if you can."
Kand-Lei readjusted his position, being trapped in the middle seat of the car was apmost worse than being cooped up in the hotel suite. At least in the suite he could walk around. Great. Now I'm regretting my own decisions.
He glanced out the window on Darcy's side, unwilling to potentially make eye contact with the stoically silent bodyguard, and saw the frost coated skeletons of trees blurring past.
They had already left the city.
The next few hours passed uneventfully, Darcy napped, Kand-Lei recited laws in his head, occasionally mumbling them out loud, the driver kept his eyes on the road, and the bodyguard sat motionless, gazing into nothingness. Unbeknownst to the rest of the passengers she was amusing herself by singing all the songs she knew, inside her head. There were more than enough to last all the way to the remote estate.
As Kand-Lei was dozing off, the car reached the peak of a small hill. By this point the roads they were driving on had become rural and in various states of disrepair. As the car shook and rattled, Darcy reach out to tap on Kand-Lei's arm.
Kand-Lei drifted out of his reverie. He stared blankly at Darcy before his gaze drifted to the window behind him.
Situated at the edge of a vast, rambling forest was a small building. Compared to the other houses on various estates and in the rare small village they had passed, this house was in an immaculate state of repair. Not a single glazed tile cracked or out of place, vines stayed within their assigned trellises, not growing over the entire facade of the house. The garden was equally well maintained, lawn evenly cut to an exacting length, hedges freshly trimmed into a neat, leafy barrier, a bird bath looked as if it had been scrubbed clean recently, completely free of the things that usually grow and gather on birdbaths. Kand-Lei took all this in with a sense of wonder as they made their way down the gravel driveway on foot. Small clusters of white flowers were everywhere through the yard, looking semi-intentional when they seemed to gather in a loose border around the house's outer wall.
Darcy smiled when he saw those flowers, picking two stems, handing one to Kand-Lei and tucking the other into the base of his braid.
Kand-Lei fiddled with his flower as the driver opened the front door with an old looking set of keys, the bodyguard brushed past him, doing a full check of the house while Darcy and Kand-Lei waited in the garden.
It was a relatively small house, two stories with a standard floor-plan. One bedroom upstairs with ensuite and a kitchen-living-dining area taking up the majority of the first floor, centred around an ancient fireplace, recessed into the exposed stone walls. The bodyguard poked her nose into every nook and cranny, even venturing into the dusty attic and poking around the half abandoned woodshed, searching for anything that could possibly be a threat. Once she was satisfied that the place was secure, she re-joined the group outside, Darcy and Kand-Lei discussing something while the driver stood at a polite distance.
She bowed to the two young masters, "The property is secure, please proceed inside at your own leisure Young Masters. I will survey the grounds and then return with the driver to update your parents. A permanent security detail will arrive within three days to guard you, it is unlikely that anything will happen before then due to the private nature of the property. Good day." With that she turned on her heel and stalked off into the garden, Darcy was sure that she would leave no stone unchecked.
They moved into the house, unburdened by bags or belongings of any sort, they wandered, exploring this new abdoe that didn't quite feel like a home yet.
Darcy plodded back down the stairs, having inspected the bedroom. There were several of his mumma's dresses packed away in the wardrobe and an extra blanket laid across the end of the bed. Despite his parents' claims that there were no staff, it was clear that someone had come through to clean everything from top to bottom. Darcy took this to mean that there were no live in staff like the other properties but rather people who would come regularly to clean and chop wood.
With splinters and feather dusters on his mind he moved back into the large downstairs area. He was surprised to see Kand-Lei hunched over the fireplace, grumbling as he fiddled with a box of matches.
The distinct sound of a match igniting was swiftly followed by a happy noise from Kand-Lei. The warm crackling of burning wood soon drowned out Darcy's steps on the persian carpet. Kindling was consumed rapidly as the fire spread to the larger cuttings. Kand-Lei gently fanned the small fire with the metal fan that had been hanging from a hook over the fireplace.
Darcy knelt on the stones beside him.
"I didn't know you were good at lighting fires."
"I used to go camping a lot. Real camping."
"We should go camping sometime. When everything is settled."
"...Well, we just have to settle things quickly then right?"
Darcy nodded.
They both squatted by the fire, occasionally feeding it wood or fanning it when it started leaking smoke into the room.