Corsair shook his head as he chuckled at Lhurriel's embarrassed blush, but leaned forward to take her hand in both of his. Fully unaware of their audience (who, by his vantage point, could see most of Corsair's face but none of Lhurriel's, and everything that was happening at the table), the young lord smiled wistfully as he squeezed her hand. She glanced up at him, more curious than startled at his actions, but affection filled her eyes as she looked up at him. Their past intimacy had only served to make them closer friends than before -- though she knew that sometimes, Corsair still wanted more than mere friendship...<br/><br/>"You know that I would marry you in a heartbeat if my honor demanded it, my dear," he said softly, gently brushing a suitor-like kiss across her knuckles. She held his gaze, wondering just how deeply his feelings still ran. He claimed that he was perfectly fine with the current state of their relationship - but Corsair would do anything to see to her happiness, even cover up his own feelings for her.<br/><br/>Before she could respond, Lhurriel heard the familiar sound of Mrs. Bertram bustling her way back up the stairs with the food - and as the mage reclaimed her hand and tried to calm her blushes, she heard (to her alarm) the housekeeper scold one of Kaeden's soldiers-<br/><br/>"Now, young man, you should have seated yourself at the table instead of trying to sneak your way into the kitchen! We don't stint our guests here, especially guests of our Lady-Mage," she said, quite efficiently hustling both the trays of food and the dumbfounded soldier towards the table. Turning, both Lhurriel and Corsair stood to greet him - Corsair wondered how much the soldier had heard, and Lhurriel only<em>hoped</em>that the other man hadn't heard anything incriminating. Or at least, nothing that he could blow into awesome proportions.<br/><br/><em>"Make sure he</em>never<em>hears anything important - or if he does, he hears it in full. That man could turn a sapling into a forest if he had a mind to,"</em>William had told her when she had been showing him more of the magicycle factory last night, and what she worked on in particular. Lhurriel tried to hide a wince - if he had heard any part of their conversation...