Jake shook his head and stepped back, perceiving it as a threat.

"My sister's mind is locked," he said, his voice harsh with sadness. "If I can't unlock it, no one can. Maybe it will open in time, with kindness and care that I cannot offer in my limited position. I can't feed or clothe her. You can do that."

Cinder nodded, knowing why the boy was so defensive about it. "I understand." The boy just wanted to be the one who took care of his sister. He didn't want anyone to take his place, to be as good as their original mother or father, he just wanted to be her guide.

Standing up off of his chair, he went out to the front porch and sat down, completely silent. He watched the morning sky, the sun's radiance casting down upon him. "Hehe...I love being a Reigning Blood. The sun doesn't do anything to me..."

Jade heard the yell, and whimpered. She was in trouble. She knew it. Leaving her room, she followed the noise of the yell, and stood before her Master, trembling. What had she done? How had she messed up so fast? She wanted to say something, try and stop herself from being beaten, but the words froze on her tougne. She was too afraid to even move now, let alone try and reason with Maximillion, so she just stayed silent, and tried not to whimper or burst into tears.

Jake looked up at the morning sky. "You wanted me to make breakfast?" he asked, glad that the subject had been changed. He didn't want his Master to take care of Jasmine. He was the one who did that.

He sat down, not looking at her. Touching his lips, her blood was very good, he had to say it. Though not wanting to admit it to her he just stared down.

After a few minutes of listening for footsteps she decided to explore a bit. Cassy opened the door peering in to the hall way. She saw no one so felt it was safe to go out of the room. She looked at the closed doors along the hall way wondering what was behind each. Cassy walked to the across from her room. There was a girl lying on the bed. Cassy made her way over to the girl and kneeled beside her. She felt more comfortable with the company than in the other room. She left the girls side and sat in a corner, falling into a light sleep. She was hoping that if she was found she wouldn't be in too much trouble.

She looked over and noticed him acting strange. "Are you ok?" She asked quietly still mopping.

Maximillion took a few steps toward her and held out his hackerchief "dry you eyes....there is a no crying rule...stop breaking it" he said "you are in no trouble....simply another corpse for you to bury...you even get to breath fresh air once again" he said. He was rather surprised by not only her action but also his own reaction "you will get breakfast a chores list once done....and i don't need to feed today so you can recover" he said

"I'm not crying, Master," Jade said in a whisper to herself. She wasn't, but she accepted the handercheif anyway, and wiped at her eyes just in case she did start crying. Passing it back to him, she nodded, and went to where she'd found the shovel the previous day, taking it and looking for the new corpse. Digging a hole as fast as she could, she rolled he body into it, singing quietly to herself to keep calm as she did so, relieved that she wasn't in trouble.

Shovelling the dirt on top of the corpse, she left the shovel where she'd first found it, and washed most of the dirt off herself in her room, before going to the dining room again. She was tempted to ask Maximillion why she wasn't allowed near the steel door, or what was behind it, but he kept her mouth shut, deeming it the wise thing to do.

The dinning room was full of more kinds of bread then most people new existed and had piles of fruit and vegetables. Maximillion came in a sat with her "being immortal is such a bore....if people didn't want me dead i would just wake up every century to see wake happend for a week" he stated rather unconently. "You smell much more ....presentable" he said chosing a word carefully without being to cruel or kind.

"Thank you," Jade said warily, sitting. She'd never recieved a lot of compliments, and wasn't sure how to take this one. Seeing some of the bread Maximillion had given her yesterday, she started to reach for it, then withdrew her arm. It was probably best to let him choose first, so she wouldn't seem disrespectful. Thankfully, this time there were only two or three things she couldn't eat this time, so not a lot would be wasted.

Maximillion saw her withdraw her arm and gestured his arm that it was all hers "i have no need of it" he said "eat all want....i learned a while ago money can't buy happiness...just everything else" he said reclinging in his chair. "what are you talents in housework?" he asked

He smiled. "Yes Yes." He stuttered, standing up, taking the mop from her. "Go along, I'll finish up."

Jade smiled greatfully at him, and took some of the bread before answering him.
"I can clean and polish, and cook some things, but the things I can cook are limited because of my allergies," She told him between bites of her breakfast.
"Anything else you need done, I could probably learn for you, Master," She added quickly, so he knew she would be worth something, and it meant she'd live a few extar days. Still, she contemplated asking him about the door. Still, she refused because of fear of what would happen if she did.

"Ok..." She had almost forgoten she had dropped her notebook on the floor eariler. She picked it up and began to walk out of the room.

Maximillion took off his boots and toss them on the ground next to her "in the closet on the hall to your left you will find more...do them all...then shine the stairs and dust and 1st and 2nd floors....wash the kitchen rugs....clean the dishes.....and polish the main door on the inside" he said making sure he got everything "only rules are don't go outside...don't cry and stay away from the door above all else" he cotinued. He took a apple from the table and looked it over before tossing it to her "these are expensive...how are they?"

Smiling, finishing up her work. A headache grew on him as he went off to the kitchen.

As she sat in her room, she finished up the drawing she had done of him. She closed the notebook and her stomach growled. She realized she hadn't eaten all day. She walked down the hallway and to the kitchen. She stopped at the doorway seeing him. She turned around and started to walk back to her room not wanting to bother him.

Jade memoried everything she had to do, so she wouldn't have his wrath brought down on her, and took a bite of the apple.
"Very good," She told him, setting the apple on the side of her plate and finishing her bread.
"Master, when I got here, you told me I'd rarely need to go outside until you buried my corpse, so why are you taking care of me like this?" After the last word was out of her mouth, Jade could have bitten her tougne out, that wasn't supposed to be said out loud, and she flinched away from him slightly.

Cinder nodded and smiled. "Make breakfast for four, my son. I will go have a conversation with Cassie and see what she is capable of. Use the book I gave you, it has some delicious waffle recipes."

Still wearing a smile, Cinder marched up the stairs to the second floor. He looked into Cassie's room and saw that she wasn't there. Oh, she was a daring one. Maybe she didn't know of other masters, or maybe she trusted him. He looked around in a few of the rooms before determining she was in Jasmine's room.

Slowly opening the door and stepping inside, he tapped Cassie's sleeping form lightly on the shoulder. "Hello Cassie, I am Cinder. Think of me not of your master, but rather your father...in any case, I have a few questions to ask you before breakfast, would you mind?"