While the ladies both noble and slave alike spent time in the house, the two male slaves were out in the stables.
"Do you really think she would be stupid enough to leave something incriminating in her carriage?"
Lady Deveris's carriage driver had left Jiera's carriage unattended now that he was done fully putting it away, and the moment he had left Renard had rushed in with the intention of searching the lady's carriage. He had instructed Isaac to look busy but also give him a signal if anyone was coming, and Isaac had simply rolled his eyes and busied himself with 'cleaning' the horses.
"You never know; everyone makes mistakes."
"Really? Everyone? What about Lady Dandridge?"
Renard gave Isaac a dirty look which just made Isaac grin because he knew that he'd effectively hit the weak point in Renard's argument. Still, Renard wasn't going to be deterred.
"You can't judge Lady Dandridge on the same level as us mere mortals. She's practically a god!"
Renard said it jokingly, but the more he thought about Lady Dandridge making a mistake, the more he just couldn't believe it. The lady was human just like the rest of them though, surely she had made a mistake sometime in her life? Yet... that the fact that she may have made a mistake felt equally as impossible as her never having made a mistake at all.
Isaac just chuckled at Renard's response before returning his attention to the horses and the stable entrance. As much as he was poking fun at Renard's methods, a part of him did hope that his search would actually yield something. Isaac would love to be proven wrong, but he was pretty sure that both these ladies were much too careful to make such a novice mistake, no matter how much stress they may be under.
Renard was quick to pull open the carriage door now that Isaac wasn't talking to him anymore and he completely turned his mind off to anything that was going on outside it. He trusted Isaac to take care of the watching; the two of them had done something like this many a time before at their old household, though usually the things they did it for were much lower stakes. Like… Stealing a cigar from the master's study or mildly inconveniencing the man the next time he sat down. Nothing like trying to figure out who was behind an assassination attempt!
The carriage was mostly empty from what Renard could see: there was a fan laying on the soft cushions on one side, and some crumbs that looked to be the remains of whatever snacks they may have had along the way. Not about to give up the search after just an initial glance, Renard stuffed his hands into the edges of the cushions and tried to see if he could lift anything up. His efforts were rewarded with a coin of minimal value (which he promptly stuck in his pocket, surely the lady wouldn't miss it), but not much else.
There just had to be something to this carriage though!
Renewing his efforts, he tried pulling at things he hadn't pulled at before, and only stopped when it became clear that he was just going to break something if he continued. Well, there clearly wasn't anything special about the riding chamber of the carriage.
Checking the storage area and the coachman's seat with just as much care as the inside (as well as the bottom of the cart for good measure), he came away from it all with a rather unhappy furrow on his brow.
"No mistakes, I take it?"
Isaac let out a soft chuckle as Renard simply gave his arm a punch.
"You don't need to look so pleased with yourself. I don't suppose you have any better ideas?"
Isaac pondered this for a moment; there was no way the two of them would be getting into Jiera's room to check her things. He had helped carry her bags up to her room, but that hardly gave him much insight as to what was inside them. Still, Isaac kind of doubted that it was Jiera herself to be watchful of. She had brought two servants with her: one a maid for her chambers and the other the carriage driver. She had some guards as well, but they had already gone to join Mae's security and were only really seen from afar by the house staff. Were any of Jiera's people untrustworthy? That was the real question in Isaac's mind. While the guards were pretty inaccessible, the carriage driver and the maid were not.
"I really don't think Lady Deveris is the one to be worried about. Lady Dandridge hasn't said a word against the other lady and I'm willing to bet that this visit isn't something so frivolous as it seems: Lady Dandridge never does frivolous. If she hosts any social function there's always an ulterior motive to it. I imagine with this one, they're planning their next move."
"Ugh. I wish I could listen in on their conversations."
Renard looked longingly up at the house, but they both knew that even if they were to creep up to the door or the window that housed the two ladies, they wouldn't be able to hear more than the faintest of murmuring. Mae had her house built well in terms of keeping conversations where she wanted them to be.
"Do you think... The maid that Lady Deveris brought with her is privy to much of what the lady does?"
This suggestion from Isaac prompted a spark in Renard's eyes, a rather predatory one.
"Now there's an idea."
Isaac had no doubt that now that the seed was planted into his head, Renard was going to be sidling up to that poor slave girl. Isaac might not agree with Renard's polyamory personally, but if ever there was a situation for it to be used tactically to their advantage then this was it it. He felt a little bad for Vivian, but in all honesty, even if Isaac hadn't suggested it then Renard was still bound to try sooner or later; he never missed an opportunity for a proposition. It was this knowledge that made it a bit surprising that Renard still hadn't really tried to proposition Kyrie. Though to be fair, both Isaac and Vivian were doing their fair share of trying to block him. Might as well funnel that insatiable lust towards something more productive instead of Kyrie.
"In all honesty, if it's anything like our household she probably wouldn't know a whole lot, but still, the idea is definitely worth a shot. If for no other reason then for a chance to bed another beautiful woman."
Renard laughed at that, and now Isaac felt even worse for Vivian. She had a mentality that was so radically different from Renard's. It was just sad, really; Renard just fundamentally could not understand her perspective and it was going to continue to make Vivian miserable. It really was none of Isaac's business though; he'd never really considered himself in charge of the mental well-being of the other slaves in the house. He'd mostly only been concerned with his own happiness and now that he had Kyrie, he was doing much better than he had been previously.
"Speaking of beautiful women, Kyrie has become much more attractive in the few years she's been here."
Renard was clearly fishing, trying to see how much talking about the one available girl in the household that he still hadn't slept with would really bother his friend. Apparently it would bother him quite a bit, because Isaac almost immediately stiffened at this line of dialogue; it was as if his friend was making a grave sin by bringing up her name anywhere in the context of romantic interest. Isaac's eyes narrowed dangerously at Renard, his voice coming out lower than usual.
"She's always been beautiful."
The response Renard got from Isaac was rather terse, and Renard could practically feel the bristles coming off his friend. Ever trying to shove the line back a little, Renard pressed on: surely he could be convinced to let Renard have sex with her once? No more than once. Renard just wanted a taste, really. She was the only woman in the house (well aside from the nobles themselves), who he hadn't gotten to experience. It was true that she hadn't been much on his radar when she was still young, but she had filled out quite nicely, both in her figure and her feminine presence; now Renard found his eyes following her just as it followed the other members of the house. He knew Isaac wouldn't be happy about Renard's interest, but surely just once would be manageable? It seemed such a shame not to share something that Isaac had caused to bloom so beautifully!
"Well sure, but lately she's just flowered into loveliness. As she moves she's more enticing, more confident than she was before. Haven't you noticed?"
Isaac didn't say a word in response to this, instead he just looked at Renard with an unblinking stare: it was a little unnerving, to say the least. Renard shifted his feet, scratching the back of his head and laughing somewhat uncomfortably.
"I suppose that has everything to do with what the two of you have done together, huh? I guess it would be a no go if I asked for a night with her?"
The icy silence that he got from Isaac told Renard everything that he needed to know; if he wanted a night with Kyrie, it would have to be completely without Isaac's knowledge. Despite the fact that Renard wasn't really giving up this idea, he once again laughed with an almost nonchalant wave of his hand.
"Really though, there's no way she would want a night with me. She'd never break away from your side long enough to do so."
The laugh Renard let out this time was either more convincing, or Isaac was just pleased with how the conversation had ended; whatever it was, Isaac finally returned his eyes back to taking care of the horses. Renard hadn't realized just how tense he'd been, but he now found his shoulders relaxing as he let out a quiet breath. Was it really worth it to get on his friend's bad side for the sake of taking Kyrie to his bed?
Perhaps... After all, Isaac didn't have to know, did he? Especially if it was only ever going to happen once!
There had to be some point where Renard would be able to catch Kyrie alone, without Vivian or Isaac. When either of those two were around he was just never able to get that close to her; they formed a protective wall between him and her. It was undoubtedly done on purpose, and Renard found himself rather irritated by it: Kyrie could make her own decisions on the matter. If she wanted a bit of passion and fun then he would be happy and willing to give it; there was no reason for Vivian and Isaac to be babysitting and coddling her like they did.
Even though Isaac appeared to have moved on, his mind was also dwelling on the conversation they'd just aborted. He had no doubt in his mind that Renard would try and approach Jiera's slave, but he also now had no doubt that he would try and approach Kyrie as well. The mere thought of this caused a knot of rage and fear to ball up in his stomach. How dare he try to jeopardize their happiness, and how dare he even dream of taking Kyrie away from him?
He had to warn Kyrie... Keep her wary of him. He could poison people against Renard, perhaps better than anyone else in the household considering he had seen more of Renard's range. Not only was he very aware of what Renard was capable of, but he also knew what he had done in the past. That was to say nothing of the fact that Kyrie actually loved Isaac, not Renard. Still, there was that niggling doubt in Isaac's mind; so often he had lost potential love interests because of Renard's interference, and now that he had something more concrete he was going to cling to it all the more strongly.
Kyrie was his and no one else's.
It was only when his friend's voice resounded through the stables that Isaac finally looked up from the horse at his side.
"Anyway, I'll get on wooing Lady Deveris's maid, and if I find anything out I'll be quick to tell you about it. In the meantime, we should both keep an eye on the people that Lady Deveris brought with her. We don't want another incident of poisoning or worse to occur."
Isaac nodded his agreement at Renard's comments, and the slightly older man clapped his arm onto Isaac's shoulder.
"Stay vigilant, my friend!"
Isaac gave Renard a slight smile at that, but practically glared at the man's back as he sauntered off. Why did he have to make things so difficult for all of them?
Grumbling to himself, Isaac finished up his fake cleaning of the horses and then stalked off to go see if he could find Kyrie for a brief break. His hands ached to have her in his arms once more after his most recent conversation. He didn't want to even imagine what it would be like without her, because already it felt like she was such a huge part of his life.
Kyrie would not be lost to him, he was determined that this would be so.