* 95 * 3/12/13, 3/13/13, 6/2/16

It had been no more than ten minutes since Lily had finished the rest of her glass of wine outside, but she was starting to feel the effects quite vividly. As soon as she stood up to go back to the Keep, she almost hobbled on a foot from the sudden weight. She was nearly wobbling on her way to Casavir's room, but worked hard to keep herself upright in order to evade suspicion from any prying eyes that passed.

When the two reached the paladin's room, Lily expeditiously got herself into her chair again, the same one she had claimed earlier.

"Are you feeling all right, my lady?"

She nodded. "I feel good, actually," she granted, despite the alcohol confusing her body and balance.

As the paladin sat down, Lily was struck with a question, one that had been plaguing her mind for months now.

"How old are you, Casavir?"

Casavir was taken aback by the unexpected question.

"36?"

And even more taken aback by her almost spot-on estimate.

"I am 37."

"You definitely don't look it. I'd believe you were 34."

Casavir didn't know how to respond to such kind words. "Thank you, my lady." He was sorely tempted to ask her her own age, but, as a knight, he adhered to the adage to never ask a lady such questions.

But: "Go ahead. I know you want to."

Casavir sat motionless.

"Come on, ask," Lily offered.

He really did want to. Being an elf, Lily could be in nearly any age range looking the way she did, and he couldn't quite come up with a satisfying estimate for his mind to settle upon. "Very well...how old are you, my lady?" He felt strange, as if the words were spilling from another's lips and not his own.

"25."

Casavir gawked for a moment before catching himself and fixing his expression. Lily, however, had witnessed his lapse for long enough to make her laugh.

"What? Weren't expecting that?" she snickered slyly.

"No... I must admit, I thought you were at least as old as me."

"We do have kind of a long lifespan, don't we?" Lily commented, speaking about the elven race.

"Yes. It is hard to tell by looks alone. You look as beautiful and youthful as a young maiden, yet are as womanly and confident as one with much life experience."

Lily blushed at such a heartfelt and eloquent compliment. "Thank you, Casavir." She got out of her chair to lean forward and kiss his cheek over the table. "You have a way with words, my knight."

Casavir lo –

She kissed his other cheek now.

"Noble paladin," she finished leisurely.

When she sat down again, Casavir then got to his feet, divinely inspired by her attention and wishing to return it. He lifted her hand gently from the table, gazing first into her eyes. Then, he bent down to kiss it.

"My liege," he returned.

His actions, that title, made Lily's heart pound. The same could be said for Casavir. But to him, he was simply doing what one of his fealty to her should do.

Lily waved her hand at the name. "Whew. What a title," she said, tasting the title, trying it on in her head. "I'm not your queen."

"Are you not, my liege?"

Lily's gaze veered more and more off to the side of his face with his every utterance of such an honorable title for her. She couldn't make eye contact at all now.

"We're equals, Casavir."

"We are not, my lady."

"Wouldn't you at least feel better treating me like one?"

"I would not."

"Could you?"

"I could not."

"Why not?"

"Because you are not."

"Then what am I?"

Casavir held her gaze.

"You are beautiful, my lady," he said with a slight grin.

For the past few minutes, Casavir had been holding her hand in his just above the table. Something about the presence in his eyes magnetically drew her to her feet, and, without even waiting for her word, he now took her other hand in his as well. He held both of them lightly, like she was frail, breakable. Lily didn't know whether she liked that, but she could definitely say it was different, and it wasn't unpleasant.

They gazed at each other patiently, attentively. Casavir's icy blues bore into her, and after a few seconds more, Lily shied away, taking her hands from his grasp and turning around as she moved a few shaky steps toward the wall.

"My lady?"

"You're so sweet to me sometimes," she said, making sure to keep her voice pleasant so he knew she wasn't offended or annoyed. She half-expected him to offer not to act in such a way toward her anymore if it made her uncomfortable.

But he did no such thing. Lily was actually quite surprised when he didn't. He chose instead to merely look over her once more, tracing a line down her long, golden-brown ponytail with his eyes.

His foreign and forward actions made her stomach feel fluttery. Before, Lily would have considered him protective; ambitious, but never assertive. Now, he was acting of an iron will, a desire to do what he wished rather than defer to the wishes of others. She soon realized she was grinning the more she thought on it. She had felt this feeling before.

"Casavir," Lily said, a sudden question having entered her mind. She turned to face him again. "What do you think about love?"

The paladin immediately straightened. "My lady?" he asked, swallowing audibly at the change in subject.

"What's your opinion on love? How would you describe it?"

Casavir tried to filter out all the synonyms for "incredible" that swirled around his head to answer her question. Such a response would not only be forward, but exceedingly inelegant. What he did not count on, however, was for his face to betray all the anxiousness he felt at the object of his affections asking such a thing.

"Was that a bad question?"

"No," he said in a rush, catching her disappointed expression and wishing to make it disappear as quickly as possible. "I simply...do not know how to describe it, my lady."

But he steeled himself in the interest of giving her some form of an answer. "Love is many things... It ties into loyalty in many ways."

"You're very loyal, Casavir," Lily offered thoughtfully.

Casavir's head spun, thinking of all the things she could possibly mean by saying that.

"Tell me, as such a loyal person...what does loyalty mean to you?"

His mind was again as one. She had been simply making a point. He did have to clear his throat before continuing after such a...distracting statement, however.

"It signifies the utmost care and respect for doing that which will benefit the one to whom you have sworn yourself, whether comfortable or not."

"Have I made you uncomfortable?" Lily asked, looking into his eyes with her penetrating own.

"My lady, I am very comfortable around you. It would be a sin not to be, as you are whom I must protect."

"Don't you protect everyone?"

"I do not."

Lily felt like Casavir was keeping something back, but she didn't pry. She couldn't take his words seriously because of it, however, and thus chose to just change the subject.

"You said love is like loyalty. What is love to you, then?"

"Love...is a myriad of different things, different feelings," the paladin started.

"Like?" she probed gently.

Casavir had to look away to think clearly while not being distracted on such a subject by her imploring, wide, green eyes threatening to enrapture him and take his concentration away.

"It is wishing to be with someone when the sun is shining brightest, and also when the rain pours hardest. It is feeling whole with that person beside you."

Lily considered his thoughtful words.

But he wasn't finished: "It is not only accepting but being optimistic about that person's flaws, to hold onto them unconditionally despite seemingly irreconcilable differences. It is to cherish someone as if they were one with you rather than a separate being."

"And to laugh together with them about mistakes instead of feeling bad or angry," Lily chimed in.

Casavir smiled and finally looked back at her, emboldened by her avid participation. "It is to get through trials and tribulations together."

"And to make love in the aftermath of what can feel like the end of the world," Lily added soulfully, passionately, clasping her fingers together at the thought almost dreamily.

Lily and Casavir paused in their joint descriptions, taking several, long moments to take in fully the sight of one another. Their romantic words permeated the air, could still be heard in the other's head.

"You have a handsome smile, Casavir. You should show it more often."

The paladin smiled widely and uncontrollably at this, but had to fight back the overwhelming temptation to hide it. He was not used to displaying his emotions so poignantly for everyone to witness, and felt especially on display in front of Lily.

He also felt guilty for not telling the whole truth earlier, for not going into further detail about what he had meant in his heart. Casavir rose and approached her.

"My lady, I have said that I do not protect everyone..." he started.

Casavir recalled when he swore fealty to her, and her alone, just after she had acquired Crossroad Keep. Before that, he had indeed been more scattered in his motivation, had attempted to keep all of the group members safe.

But after finding out that Khelgar could take care of himself, Qara didn't wish for his help, and Bishop couldn't even stand the thought of him, these reasons, along with being very strongly drawn personally to their Leader, made good excuses for Casavir to begin to focus his power on one person and one person alone.

Lily. Sweet, beautiful Lily, with her intoxicating bright green eyes and long, flowing auburn hair. Lily, with her voice like music and her smile like the sun itself. Casavir looked at this wonderful creature, standing before him even now.

"I do not protect the group," he finally finished explaining. "I protect you, my lady."

At long last, he had confessed to her, and told her the truth. The truth about him staying so closely behind her in the marching order. The truth about him worrying for her safety more than anyone else's, even his own. About his desire to protect her and her alone.

Lily took in his words for several moments, moments that felt like aeons to the paladin. She appeared as if she was deciding something, mulling over a thought hard in her mind. Finally, she gazed back at him, locking her eyes on his and refusing to let his steal away again, until he answered her one question.

"Casavir... Do you love me?"