* 51 * 7/23/12

The whole next day had a foreboding feel to it: the air was thick and humid with rain, and lightning even occasionally struck somewhere inside the damp forests.

For the first time in awhile, Lily slept in. The rest of the group took this as well as the downpour outside as signs that they would search for the Wonderful Imaginary Wendersnaven tomorrow, so some others took Lily's lead and got a few more hours of sleep themselves. By noon, though, three-fourths of the team had assembled in the main hall for some chatter.

When Neeshka had peeked into Lily's room to check if she was still in the castle, Ounce had come running out around her feet. The thief picked the small cat up and set him on her shoulder, where he looked disoriented but satisfied. He wasn't quite as used to heights yet as the bigger cats from a few days prior were.

Bishop was in the room with everyone else for a change. He had made it there when the rain outside was only a sprinkle, and figured that now would be a bad time to return to the inn. He didn't mind the rain itself so much, but the smell and feeling afterward of being drenched was not something he enjoyed. He stood with one foot flat against the wall near the large entrance to the Keep, his arms folded moodily.

Casavir was located next to the archway that led to the library and Lily's room. He saw Neeshka pass by him and caught the beady, flashing eyes of Ounce. The kitten would probably be quite the bundle of energy today, if that look meant anything.

Sand actually came out of his hole in the library to join the congregation, and instead, Qara was missing. She had gone to the inn early that morning, or perhaps late last night. Ammon Jerro was standing near Bishop and began conversing with Neeshka as soon as she came over with Ounce.

"I've seen that look in a creature's eyes before. He's going to tear this place apart if he gets his way," Ammon said affectionately of the devious kitten.

"Lily wouldn't allow that," Neeshka said, then added, "Buuut it would be pretty funny."

Bishop was eyeing the ground now, but he'd burn a hole through it if he stared any harder.

Elanee was absent from the main hall. No one had seen her since she retreated to her room the night before, looking upset. Grobnar seemed to be the only one who was paying any attention to that fact, though. He stood in the dead center of the hall, trying to make sense of everyone's actions over the past few days: Lily's disappearance, Bishop's extra-capricious mood swings, and Elanee's sudden resignation, among others.

As Grobnar thought this, Elanee herself appeared from the west end of the Keep. She walked straight to Bishop and stood a few feet away from him. "May I speak with you, Bishop?" she asked politely, though her unassuming expression hid something beneath, the ranger was sure of it.

"Good idea," he agreed solemnly, and followed her back to her room. Ammon and Neeshka looked at each other grimly.

"You kids and your drama," said the warlock to Neeshka, shaking his head and grabbing Ounce by the scruff of his neck. He put the cat on top of his bald head and folded his arms somberly. Casavir's attention was piqued, but he only watched as Bishop and Elanee disappeared from view.

Elanee led the ranger to her room and invited him in, then shut the door behind him. She wasted no time in getting to the point.

"What were you doing with our Leader, Bishop?"

"Well, well, suddenly my business is all yours. Come to give me a noble lecture about how it will somehow affect the morale of the team?" Bishop tsked. "I didn't realize you and the paladin were so close," he said matter-of-factly, tipping his head to the side.

"That depends. What is 'it' that you were doing?" For cowering so easily yesterday, she certainly had mustered up more of a backbone today. Bishop wondered when and why the change occurred. When he didn't answer, she pressed on: "It seemed pretty romantic to me."

"Ah, you women see romance where there isn't any. In case you've forgotten, I'm not the one with the halo around here, willing to throw his life away when things get rough for a woman he barely even knows."

"That's right. You're the sick, conniving bastard who's trying to court someone very important to the rest of us."

"Stop making it sound so disgusting. So what if I wouldn't mind taking some of your beloved Leader's sweet honey away? If that's all it takes to offend you, I'm surprised you haven't run all the way back to your beloved possessed Mere by now."

"I would if I thought I'd never have to see you again, Bishop, but you have an odd way of showing up all around the woods," the druid shot back, only thinly able to keep her volume at bay.

Bishop sensed hesitation in that stubborn statement. What was she getting at?

"What's this now, treehugger? I've never seen you this angry before. Perhaps I struck a chord?"

"You're not supposed to be philandering with Lily. I dearly hope Casavir will be able to stop you in your tracks before too long."

"So is that what it is, then? You want the paladin to be the one to scoop her up in his arms and run away with her to some merry, fairytale castle? I have absolutely no interest in doing any of that nonsense, so you can keep your mouth shut. Better yet, go busy yourself with some men at the tavern; I'm sure they'd be more than happy to shut you up. I wouldn't even do it here and now if you begged me to."

"Bishop!" Elanee's exterior was fully hostile, but her reddened face held a deeper, ashamed truth.

And Bishop saw right through it.

"Ahh, so that's where the hostility comes from. You're jealous," he confidently asserted, eyeing her provocatively.

"How dare you even think that! You have no respect for anything in this world, not even for the wolf that travels with you! You barely even see him until you need him. How could I ever have feelings for someone like that?!"

"You mean Karnwyr? You really don't know a thing about him, or me. He's perfectly fine not being here. When's the last time you heard of a wolf being happy to sit around idly in a stone fortress, treegirl?"

She ignored him. "And what's with the cat? Only you could have gotten him. Now we're a shelter for miniature killing machines?"

"If you haven't noticed, we have a really fucking big killing machine in the basement that you seem to have no problem with. Oh, and did you also miss the gigantic spider? No, of course not, because you're the one who invited him here." Bishop snorted. "Get off your high horse, druid. You're not even making any sense anymore."

Elanee was fully stirred up now, and her hands clenched into fists. "You're...supposed...to love nature, and everything it provides you with! Getting close to Lily will only hurt her too, and we can't afford that! We're so close to the end!"

"If the elf takes what happens too seriously, that's her own fault, none of mine. She should know not to trust people who don't even call her by her real name." When Elanee stayed silent, Bishop changed course. "So which is it, then? Are you mad at me for not bowing down and kissing the ground every time I kill something, or upset that I'll foil the plan to defeat the Big Bad in the end?"

Elanee settled with, "You're just an ass." She was calming down, though – his belief that she was upset for one of those two reasons made her feel better.

"Bit late to the party," he scoffed. "Now, no one's going to hear a word about what happened, right, elf?"

She raised a brow. "And what exactly do I get in return for that?"

Bishop narrowed his eyes. "What are you asking for?" He didn't enjoy being blackmailed.

Elanee grinned quite suddenly at this, and Bishop stood on his guard, unsettled by her abrupt change in demeanor. She stepped closer to him, sizing him up before speaking.

Her voice became ever so slightly sultry. "How about having some alone time with someone who knows her way around the borders of this land as well as you do?" The look in her eye was mischievous. It almost seemed...unlike her.

Why was Elanee suddenly acting this way? She seemed to be much different from the meek creature who went to pout in her room after a mere glare just last night.

"Do I have a choice?" His brows raised quizzically.

"Not really. Unless you want everyone knowing very explicitly about the uncharacteristic sweet time you had with our Leader...including Casavir."

Bishop sighed. "Well, then," he said simply, staring intoxicatingly into the eyes of the druid who now took his hand in hers. When she put her arm against his chest and leaned up on her toes to near his mouth, however, he suddenly turned his head away. Elanee stood flat again on her feet.

"What's wrong?"

But that was the conundrum. Bishop didn't actually know. For some reason that he couldn't quite put his finger on, he just didn't feel like quenching his normally healthy appetite for women at that moment. But he also didn't want word of his delightful, peaceful time with Lily getting out to the other group members. He didn't actually really care if it got out to Casavir, except that he'd probably get slammed up against another wall by a ton of sharp, metal armor for it. Hell, it would probably make him incredibly jealous, and he was all up for that. So, perhaps he really should just let her tell everyone.

Bishop thought of how it felt to share that smile with Lily, thought of the look he must've had on his face. Then he shook his head to himself. No. No one can know about that.

He looked the elf over, considering his options. Elanee wasn't unattractive by any means, at least not physically. Her sharp, carved features and high cheekbones were pleasant on the eyes, but her tree-hugging was far too much for Bishop to tolerate. He used nature as a tool for survival, but she preferred to honor and apologize to it all the time, as if it couldn't handle what she took from it. Thus, ironically, she greatly underestimated the power of that which she worshipped, a sentiment at which Bishop scoffed.

Normally the ranger would be pleased to have a woman making such scandalous moves on him, but for it to be Elanee just made him sick. He despised everything she stood for because of the way she stood for it, acting as if she was so important that she could make or break the land whenever she saw fit.

Bishop finally stated, quite simply, "If it gets out, I won't hesitate to kill you." He turned on his boot heel and walked out, slamming the door behind him.