Eira's eyes narrowed as he claimed he was not jealous of Lord Bennington.  Even though he spoke the words, she had trouble believing it.  As he walked away from her, she took several hurried steps forward until she was in front of him, then she turned so she stood in his way.  They were still far enough from the estate that it was unlikely anyone would see them. She left whatever discussions she had with her father alone, for now.<br/><br/>"You said you feared you would fall in love with me and then you tell me to crawl back to him, but claim it's not out of jealousy?"  Perhaps he did not understand the weight of his words.  "You may be right, I perhaps was afraid to leave this place...but where would I go?  My father was dead and I was led to believe you were dead as well.  I couldn't return to a castle filled with ghosts..."<br/><br/>The rain began to pour as she spoke, heavy enough to quickly wet her clothes and hair.  Eira knew that he had said they could not be together, that it was no longer an option if she possessed different abilities than he did. But that was his tradition and she had no connection to it, it did not feel real to her.  She stepped forward so her body was less than an inch from his.<br/><br/>"Any man who would not have some kind of jealousy towards the man trying to marry the object of his affection...either doesn't really possess deep feelings or doesn't feel much at all."  She lifted her eyes to his and again, they swirled an icy blue.  "So which is it?  Do you feel nothing, Ylrid the protector?"