* 93 * 3/12/13

Lily clasped her free hand over her mouth.

That...was extreme. The news would normally not be surprising from any one of the other teammates. But for it to be coming from Casavir?

Casavir stiffened even more at this reaction. Seeing the downturn in his features, Lily quickly tried to mitigate her actions: "Forgive me, Casavir...I...just never would have thought."

Well, that was terrible wording. I probably made it worse.

"I understand, my lady." But he said no more.

Lily pushed her influence nonetheless. "Casavir, I know this may be uncomfortable, but please tell me...what happened? How were you ever put in a situation like that?"

"He was my rival, my lady." Immediately, the paladin looked extremely uncomfortable.

"For what?"

The paladin grit his teeth, having predicted this was going to happen as soon as she asked about his drinking history. This was it, the moment that could foil his chances of being close with her. He either had to tell her the truth, or deal with the knowledge that he had lied to her – even as her sworn protector – for the rest of his years.

"For Lady Ophala's affections." As soon as he said it, he looked carefully out of the corner of his eye at her face. Utter shock. He pursed his lips at this; her reaction was admittedly fairly expected, but that didn't put him any more at ease about it.

"Oh," Lily said, averting her eyes and almost sounding a little...confused. She knew the name Ophala. That was the owner of the Moonstone Mask, one of the women there who had been terribly shaken when one of the shards had been discovered to lie with Melia, a Mask entertainer.

Then she looked at the paladin again, seemingly seeing him for the very first time. Something dawned on her in that second. "Oh," she repeated, louder and with more comprehension this time. Her tone was one of significance as her eyes grew wide, and she immediately removed her hand from the paladin's armor, as if struck. "I see."

Casavir did not fully understand her recoil. Surely she was shocked, but what was she thinking? He was desperate to know, for the mask on her face was painful to him.

The guilt now plaguing Lily nearly drowned her. "I'm...sorry, Casavir," she choked.

This utterance no less than completely discombobulated the paladin.

"For what, my lady?"

"For kissing you, the other day."

"Why...would you apologize for that?" his surprise was audible, but he could not help it. That was the absolute last thing he wanted her to apologize for.

"It was sudden, and you never told me it was okay, and I just assumed..." Lily stopped. She didn't know what she had assumed. That he was her knight, so of course it was okay to just kiss him like that? That he was automatically completely devoid of any devotion to another woman?

"Do not apologize for it, my lady. There is no need," he reassured her with as convincing a tone he could possibly muster, reflecting on their mistakenly heated encounter, the occurrence of which had only served to prove both of their feelings of loneliness.

Lily sat silent for several minutes.

"What is wrong, my lady?" Casavir was growing anxious. He knew why what he had said bothered him, but why had it bothered her this much?

"If you'll excuse me, Casavir," she said, getting out of her seat with her glass of wine and abruptly exiting the dining hall, leaving Casavir with a forlorn expression on his completely uncomprehending face.