Kiel went home shortly after Avani left—no doubt to begin telling everyone what had happened, "to make sure there are no misunderstandings," as he no doubt would have put it. I sighed in sympathy for her, for her feelings upon discovering that her very private affairs had been made public, and sat down with a book to wait for her return.

It was well over an hour before she came in, and from her appearance, I surmised things hadn't gone well. Her eyes were red from weeping, and she looked somewhat bedraggled, as if she'd been running all over for the past hour—which she may well have been doing. I set my book down, saying, "No luck?"

She shook her head as she came and sat down next to me, leaning against me tiredly. "No. I found him finally—it seemed to take forever to track him down—but he wouldn't talk to me. He just gave me a look of pure disgust, told me he couldn't believe I'd treat him like that, and walked off. He wouldn't give me a chance to explain or apologize or anything."

I put my arm around her shoulders and gave her a little squeeze, saying, "He's a stubborn one, Dylas is. He'll cool down—eventually. But it might take him a while. He's the sort that the more he cares, the more keenly he feels injuries—real or imagined. And he does care deeply about you. Just give him some time, and sooner or later he'll come 'round." She nodded, and I looked at her sharply. "Hey, will you be okay?" I asked her, concerned by her lassitude.

She looked up at me sadly and gave me a half-hearted smile, saying, "I suppose. Sorry for being out of sorts tonight. I'll try to be back to my usual cheerful self again by tomorrow."

I ruffled her hair affectionately, then said, "Hey, why don't we go to the lake tomorrow? We can go fishing if you like, or just sit and enjoy the view."

She nodded, then looked at me, saying, "That sounds nice. Thanks, Leon. And don't worry—I did hear this invitation," she added, wincing slightly.

"I wasn't worried," I said with a fond smile. "I'll come by for you around 11:00, and I'll pick up some boxed lunches to take with us. See you then?"

She agreed, then rose and gave me a tight hug, whispering, "Thank you, Leon," before releasing me and darting out of the room.

************

The next morning, when I stopped by the restaurant to order our lunches, I was surprised that Dylas wasn't there. Normally he'd be getting things ready for the lunch crowd, but Porcoline was alone. I'd hoped to give him a piece of my mind, but it seemed that would have to wait for now. I figured I'd catch up to him sooner or later, so I paid for the lunches and headed to the castle. Avani was ready and waiting for me when I arrived. Her face was still a little pale and she had dark circles under her eyes, but she made a sincere effort to be cheerful, just as she'd promised.

As we left, she said, "Oh, if you don't mind, I need to stop by Carnation's before we head to the lake. I have a question for Lumie, and I'm afraid I won't catch her in time if I wait until after our picnic. She often closes early if the weather's nice."

"Sure thing," I replied, smiling down at her.

We headed over to Melody Street and into the flower shop, but it was Amber who manned the counter this morning. "Hi, Amber, is Lumie still upstairs? I have a question for her," Avani asked as she looked up the stairs.

"Oh... uh, yes she is, but..." Amber replied hesitantly.

"Thanks!" Avani called back as she darted up the stairs.

I looked curiously at Amber, who seemed fearful and distressed, and I thought she was giving off an odd vibe this morning. Suddenly I was filled with a sense of foreboding and turned to stop Avani, but she had already vanished up the stairs. I ran after her, taking the steps two at a time, and reached the second floor just in time to hear a shriek coming from the back of the living quarters.

I bolted down the hall and found Avani standing in front of a doorway, white as a sheet, her hand over her mouth, her eyes wide with shock. I turned to look in the direction of her gaze... and saw Dylas in bed with Illuminata. Given their relative positions, there could be no question at all of what they had been doing. Dylas scrambled out of her bed, naked, disheveled, and still partly at attention, and Avani turned and fled. I looked at Dylas in contempt, saying, "You really are a first-class idiot, you know that?" Then fighting back the urge to deck him, I turned and chased after Avani.

She was fleet of foot, however, and she had bolted out of the town gates and into the wilds of the Selphia Plains before I caught up to her where she had collapsed, sobbing, against a large, mossy tree stump. I knelt down next to her, gently stroking her hair and murmuring soothingly to her as she wept. She turned and threw her arms around my neck, burying her face in my shoulder as she sobbed.

After several minutes, her tears slowed enough that she was able to speak coherently again. "That... that jackass!" she wailed. "I can't believe he cheated on me so quickly! He didn't even give me a chance to say anything first. He must have just been dying for an excuse to hop into bed with her. Or maybe they've been lovers for some time already, and I just didn't know. At least I told him about you first—I didn't go behind his back like this. And you and I haven't even...." and with that, a new flood of tears began.

"Shhh, it'll be okay, Avani. Don't cry. Here, let's forget about the lake for now and head back to your place. I'll make you a nice, hot cup of tea. You'll feel better after you drink it. Come on, you can lean on me." She nodded and took my proffered hand. I pulled her up and put my arm around her, pulling her close to me as we walked back to town.

************

When we reached her rooms, Dylas was there, waiting for her to return. What little color had returned to her cheeks drained again to white, and she swayed unsteadily against me, as if she'd been slapped. "What do you want?" I asked him with a scowl, my ears flattening back against my skull.

"I want to talk to you," he replied, looking at her as he spoke.

"You mean like she wanted to talk to you last night, when you wouldn't give her the time of day? What makes you think she wants to talk to you right now, after what you've done?" I said, keeping my arm around her protectively.

"How about you fuck off and let her talk for herself?" Dylas said, finally turning to glare at me. "Avani..." he said, looking back to her.

She abruptly turned and walked back to the door, and opened it before she turned with a cold look to Dylas. "The door is right here, Dylas. I really don't want to talk to you right now. I need a little time to recover after the shock of seeing my lover in bed with another woman, you know? Or are you my ex-lover now? I have to say that it sure looks that way to me after this morning."

"Oh yeah? Well, what about you? You have two lovers—why can't I?" Dylas snapped angrily.

"I never said you couldn't," she replied frostily. "But if you think back, first of all, when I realized that I wanted a relationship with Leon, too, I came to you and told you about it—I didn't see him behind your back. I don't know if this is the first time you've done this to me, or if this has been going on right under my nose for some time now, but either way, you're sneaking around while I was honest with you. Second, although Leon is my lover, we haven't yet slept together. So you are—or were—my only lover, in the physical sense of the word. Third, I've taken two lovers because I love two men. Can you honestly tell me that you love Illuminata? Or are you just using her? And finally, I just want to add that I have no memory at all of you asking me on that date. Leon overheard the conversation and said that it seemed like I was preoccupied and not really listening to what you said, and for that, I apologize. But," she added, her eyes suddenly blazing with an inner fire that bore witness to her unquenchable spirit, "I'll be damned if I'm going to grovel on the ground like a whipped cur while you go out and revenge fuck every single woman in town to get me back for some imaginary slight! Now get out of my house—I don't want to see or hear from you for three days, do you hear me? If by then you have thought it over and decided you want to try to make amends, then come see me on the fourth day from today, and I'll consider it." Then without waiting to see if he complied, she turned on her heel and stalked up the stairs to her study, slamming the door behind her.

I looked at Dylas, who had gone a ghastly shade of pale green by this point, and just stared at him. There simply were no words for that moment. He looked completely shattered by Avani's revelations and her rage, and he apparently felt sickened by his own actions in their new light. "What... what have I done?" he said in a shaky voice.

"You screwed up, that's what. Maybe the first thing you've ever had going really right in your life, and you screwed it up. Not just an average screw up, either—this is really a top-notch royal cock-up. You'd better be prepared to kiss some serious ass in four days," I replied coolly. "And even that might not be enough, to be honest."

He looked at me for a moment, then said, "Is... is what she said true? That you and she haven't..."

"Do you really think she would lie to you? If you doubt her veracity, you certainly don't deserve her," I replied scornfully before turning my back on him and following Avani upstairs, leaving him alone and dazed.