* 88 * 3/9/13

Lily made her way into the courtyard to seek out her foster father. She didn't have to search long; he waited close by the tavern, reluctantly admiring his surroundings.

"Father!" she called when she drew near. The elf ranger turned at his daughter's voice and greeted her with a warm, welcoming gaze.

"It's nice to see you again, Lily." He eyed the courtyard again. "Incredible to think this is all yours. You've truly made a name for yourself."

"Thank you father," the sun elf returned happily.

Daeghun was as stiff as ever, even in their quaint meeting. "Oh, come here," Lily beckoned, giving him a hug. He hugged back, but put little emotion into it. She had come to be used to that by now, though.

"How are you? You came back!" she said. Her father had been here earlier, a little after Shandra's death. He had told her the location of the Mere, but, as Lily spread the word around the party, had left just as quickly.

"I had some business to attend to," he stated, still expressionless. Lily figured he was hiding something, but it was probably something insignificant. Sometimes he just didn't feel like giving details, and she wasn't going to press him, like always. "How have your friends been treating you?"

"Very well, father. I usually keep the same group with me on missions: Khelgar, Casavir, Bishop, and Qara, though sometimes Qara and Neeshka trade spots. The rest like to keep to themselves, hanging around in the courtyard or library or tinkering in the Keep basement." She thought about whether she should give him more details. It was hard to tell with her father; sometimes he wanted more details, sometimes he didn't, but no matter which it was, he always kept the same face.

She decided to continue anyway. "Khelgar and Casavir are fantastic in the front ranks. They work really well together and their teamwork lets Qara and I cast without getting hurt. Bishop is a ranger, like you, and he prefers bows to swords, though sometimes he switches. And Casavir even takes care of me outside of combat," she added as a spur-of-the-moment, semi-unrelated afterthought, but immediately thought she shouldn't have and gave a sheepish grin.

"It's good to hear you have a loyal group of friends, Lily." Despite the tender sentiment, his face was yet blank. Lily smiled nonetheless.

Then, Daeghun's expression did change, to a frown. "Is something wrong?" his daughter asked.

"Who is this?" her father inquired, gesturing to someone behind her. Lily whirled around and saw Bishop making his way toward them.

"Oh, good morning, Bishop," she greeted. She wondered why he had approached them.

"Hey," he greeted, optimistic that she was still talking to him rather normally. He then focused his attention on Daeghun. "Who's this?"

"He just asked that about you," Lily replied spiritedly. "This is my father."

"Oh. Your father?" Bishop looked dumbfounded. He hadn't borne witness to Daeghun's earlier appearance and thus didn't recognize him, the elf he had heard a fair deal about from Duncan. He gave the fellow ranger a nod in greeting.

"Quite a woman you raised," Bishop commented. Lily almost hit him, not taking it as a compliment.

"Yes, she's quite the girl. Hard to imagine everything within these walls is hers now."

Lily gave the Keep's fortifications a once-over, admiring them, but thinking that a little more work could probably be done. She made a mental note to consult with Veedle later. Then, she turned to the human ranger. "Why'd you come over here, Bishop?" the she asked.

Bishop cleared his throat, clearly not having expected this man to be her father when he first approached. "Well, I didn't recognize him, so..." he said, trailing off. He was going to say "I wanted to find out who this bastard hugging you was," but he refrained, thinking it a coarse idea to spout that much truth.

"And you have my gloves," he pointed out, taking them off her shoulder.

"Oh!" Lily laughed. "Oops, I forgot they were there." Daeghun raised an eyebrow.

Lily didn't expect the two to get along or anything of the sort, so she was greatly surprised when Bishop asked Daeghun a question.

"So you're a ranger too, huh?"

"I am," Lily's father said plainly. He had no inclination to regale Bishop with tales of his past adventures, and thus said no more.

"He's just being modest. He's absolutely fantastic with a bow," his daughter gushed. "In fact, he's even known as the finest archer in the region."

"That doesn't say much, Lily, now that West Harbor's population has been torn asunder again."

Lily shut up, embarrassed. But Bishop took it to heart nonetheless.

"I take it that was true even before...the attack." The human ranger tilted his head. "That good, huh?"

"I suppose."

Lily regained her voice in the following moments of silence. "Father, we were all just about to eat. Come join us."

"I don't know that I should. I'm not fond of big gatherings."

"Come on, pleeaase? I'd really enjoy it." Lily implored him with round, green irises.

"Well..." Daeghun sensed her eagerness and sighed. "All right." Hopefully it wouldn't be too terrifying.

Lily smiled. "Great! The dining hall is off the west wing inside of the Keep." She motioned for him to follow, and both rangers did.