Eighth: Trump Card

The stubborn fire was still burning, though the fire was getting weaker and weaker each passing day. It was a losing battle to keep it going. There was a part of her that just wanted to give up and accept the happiness waiting for her, but no! She was a fighter, and by god she would fight to the very end! Besides, all the things she was feeling may not even be what she thought she was feeling. It could be something else.

"Reed! Samus!" The two servants jumped to attention, rushing to her side.

"Yes, Miss Lilly?"

"Listen, I…" She closed her eyes for a moment to gather herself. She had never done something like this before. Reed and Samus waited, tense and ready for anything. Lilly opened her eyes, gazing levelly at her anxious servants. "I never thought I would say this, but… I need your advice." Reed and Samus gaped at each other. They thought they were ready for anything; they were very wrong indeed.

"Er…. What?" Reed asked, just to make sure they had heard correctly. Lilly groans in frustration, flopping onto a chair.

"Look, I'm out of ideas. I need you two to think of something for me."

"Does this have something to do with Percival?" Samus wondered daringly. Lilly glared at him, throwing a pillow for his foolishness.

"No! Of course it doesn't! This has absolutely nothing to do with him! It's a different matter entirely! In fact, it's about—" She paused in her rant, trying to think of something else this could be about. It didn't work. "Okay, fine, it's about Percival!" Reed and Samus exchanged knowing smiles. She steamed up again, moving swiftly to her feet. "Don't grin like that! It's not what you think!"

"Then what is it, Miss Lilly?" Reed was bold enough to ask.

"I'm just sick and tired of this whole thing! I've tried everything I can think of to discourage him, and he's still pursuing me! What am I supposed to do?" There was a lengthy pause after this. Either they were deliberating their answer, or they were checking to make sure they didn't say something to make her too angry.

"Well," said Samus after much thinking, "I think that at this point, it depends on your feelings for him." Lilly turned to face him. Something inside her churned just at the suggestion of feelings for Percival, and it was hard to tell whether it was good or bad; Lilly had never felt it before.

"What do you mean?" she demanded.

"Well…" Again Samus hesitated, not sure what to say and what not to. "I mean, if you like him, then… maybe you should… you know, tell him." He was squirming under her lavender gaze, but he had no choice but to keep going. "But if you don't, then… you should tell him."

"You call that advice?" she screamed, stamping her foot angrily. "I don't want love advice! I want you to give me an idea how I can drive him off!!" Samus blinked at Reed in bewilderment.

"What?" asked Reed.

"I already tried everything," she explained as patiently as she could. "I've yelled at him, I've pushed him away, I've ignored him, I've done all I can do! I'm all out of ideas! You two think of something!"

"Um…" The poor men were completely lost. They couldn't understand why Lilly didn't want Percival to like her. Lilly knew why she was really doing this, and it no longer was to protect herself from getting hurt. But her stubbornness insisted it was because of that.

"Forget it!" she said, losing her patience. "I'll just go ask someone else." She swept out of the room, leaving Reed and Samus to wonder what in the world was going on with her.

-----

"Chris, you've had plenty of guys that keep pursuing you no matter what, right?" The Silver Maiden was a little surprised at this sudden question. Then again, Lilly had been asking her strange questions like that a lot lately. Chris sensed her friend was experiencing a romance of some kind, but thought better not to ask.

"Sure. Kind of annoying sometimes, but I just ignore it." Lilly nodded, having already tried that tactic. She didn't like constantly asking Chris these personal questions, but the silver-haired woman was her only female friend in Budehuc.

"Does ignoring them always work?"

"Some of them actually get encouraged. They think I'm playing hard to get." Chris rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "If they won't stop, I just tell them I'm really busy with being a knight and I can't pursue a relationship." Lilly pulled a face; another solution that had to do with talking to the guy. She didn't even know what she would say!

"Okay… but what about if the guy really likes you and you don't really know how you feel about him? What then?" Chris stared at her and Lilly worried she would figure it out.

"Hello, ladies." Lilly's cheeks couldn't keep from turning red. She knew the voice instantly, and wasn't surprised to see Percival smiling at them. Oh, god, what if he heard our conversation?

"Hello, Percival," greeted Chris. Lilly just stared at the dark-haired knight. His smile grew quite a bit bigger when he noticed the flush of her cheeks. The lady of Tinto was struck dumb for the first time in her memory. She didn't know what was happening, and didn't know what to hope for it to be.

"I… have to go," she managed, and hurriedly left the scene. She needed some help. This was all so new to her she didn't know what to do. She knew now she couldn't talk to anyone in the castle about it, especially not Chris. But what else could she do?

-----

Percival knew that Lilly was avoiding him. She must have been horrified for him to see her blush. He tried all her favorite hangouts before checking her room. He knew it was rude to intrude on her personal space, but he hadn't seen her all day. He knocked tentatively. No answer from the other side. He tried again, louder.

"Go away!" He was glad to hear her voice, even when she was using it to yell.

"It's me, Lilly." There was a pause, then some muffled shuffling, and the door opened to reveal his lady love.

"What do you want?" she demanded. Her cheeks weren't as red as before, but still quite noticeable. He had to hope that it was because of him.

"Just to see you," he responded happily. "You left rather abruptly before." Seemingly unfazed by his comment, she shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.

"Oh, well, I suddenly remembered I had something I had to do. You see, I'm composing a letter to my father." It felt like someone hit him with his own armor. He staggered back a little.

"Your… what?"

"My father," she repeated, smiling at his dismay. "I write to him sometimes. He likes to know what I'm doing." Percival didn't like where this was going at all. He passed a hand nervously through his hair.

"So… you wouldn't by any chance be writing about me, would you?"

"Maybe." He gulped, biting his lip. Depending on what Lilly told her father, this could turn out to be a very disastrous thing. Fathers in general were very protective of their daughters; that, and he assumed Lilly had learned her personality from her father. Combining the two of those together would make a force he would rather not reckon with.

"Oh. Well… okay. Um, I guess I should let you get back to writing, then." He slowly started backing away. He hated to leave, but with Lilly's father in his mind, he didn't have room for anything else. "It was good to see you, Lilly. I'll just, ah, call on you another time. Goodbye." And he was out of there.

"I knew it!" cried Lilly in delight, once Percival was safely out of earshot. "I knew that saying I was writing to Father would scare him away." The trick had solved one of her problems, but the question about her feelings still loomed over her head. Maybe writing to her father was the best choice. He could see Percival and judge him objectively.

She went to her desk and pondered over what to say. She would have to invite him to Budehuc with the hopes he would help her sort out her feelings for Percival… or lack thereof. But how to go about saying it was the real question.

-----

Once Percival calmed down a little, he started to think rationally. Maybe Lilly was just stringing him along, making him think that she was writing to her father. It could have been just another trick to get him to stop pursuing her. Or maybe that was just being paranoid and she really was writing to her father. She might not even mention him in the letter. But strangely, he hoped she did.

All of these possibilities were going to drive him crazy. The only way to know for sure would be to get the letter. He hated sneaking behind his lady's back, but he had to know what she wrote about him, if anything. So he went down to the dungeons to pay a visit to the resident "detective".

"Hey, Sir Percival!" greeted Kidd. "What can I do for you?"

"I want to hire you for a secret mission," said Percival, knowing how the boy's mind worked. "A certain letter will be sent out by Miss Lilly that has vital information on it. I need you to retrieve it for me." As expected, the boy's eyes bugged out.

"You think I'm suicidal? No way I'm goin' in there!"

"Well, okay," shrugged the knight. "I guess I'll just have to find someone else to do it." That got Kidd's attention.

"Now, wait a second. I didn't say I wouldn't do it! It's just that… it'll cost ya a bit extra." Percival smiled, and offered him all the potch on his person. "Wow! I'm on the job!" Kidd grinned broadly and donned his mask, designating that he was on an assignment.

Kidd was good at ducking in and out of shadows. His best talent, however, was being fearless enough to do anything. His mind started playing with the idea that this vital information in Lilly's letter could very well solve the murder case he'd been working on. Quietly he slid along the wall, creeping toward Lilly's room. He'd gone in her room before to investigate her; he never thought he would have to do it again. But all of a sudden he was saved the trouble, as the lady of Tinto opened her door and looked right at him.

"Oh, Kidd! There you are!" He panicked, trying desperately to think of an alibi. "I can see you're on the job, but do you think you can do something for me?"

"Uh… I guess," he shrugged, bewildered. She held out an envelope to him.

"Would you give this to Percival for me?" Kidd blinked, taking the envelope numbly.

"What is it?"

"It's a letter I wrote to my father. I thought he would like to see it and be warned." She left, giving him no other choice than to do as she asked. Kidd was stunned. This had never happened to him before! He almost felt guilty about taking so much money for a job that was so easy to do. Almost. Grinning at his continual luck, he headed back to the dungeon to give Percival the letter.

"Wow, that was quick!" the knight awed.

"Well, when you're a great detective like me, these things come easy!" Percival only half listened; he was much more interested in the letter. Going through it, he didn't find his name mentioned anywhere. He wasn't sure whether he was relieved or disappointed. There was a part that mentioned the knights of Zexen and how one of them was befriending her. Well, that's better than nothing.

It was the last line that left him staring. He read it again and again to make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him. But no, there was nothing wrong with his eyes; he definitely read that right. Numbly, he folded the letter and put it back in its envelope.

"What?" Kidd demanded. "What's it say?"

"Kidd, you'd better tell everyone to get ready. Gustav Pendragon is coming to Budehuc."