They way Simone described her home life made Dala feel sad for the woman. The girl hadn't realized that cultures like that ever existed. And the way it sounded made it seem like it damaged the woman in a deep way. Growing up with that wasn't easy. It reminded Dala that there were so many people with different messed up childhoods. Some were because of society, some were because of health, and some were because of crimes. The child had always viewed princesses as strong powerful warriors with epic magical powers and giant swords that were way to big to be reasonably held. Perhaps not all princesses were allowed to become powerful.

And yet her history wasn't all bad. Her father genuinely loved her and adored her mother. Simone began to instruct her on how to be a better sarcastic individual. She gave an…interesting example. The type of example where Dala wanted to ask if Simone was actually okay. Then she remembered two things. First, they were being sarcastic so they probably didn't mean it literally. Second, it was Lewis they were talking about. Threatening to cut somebody's leg off was probably normal for that guy. The first time Dala met Lewis was when he tried to kill her with a bag of coins.

"I see." Dala said.

She thought for a moment, trying to see if she could come up with something sufficiently sarcastic. A dozen options ran through her head but she found one that she sufficiently liked.

"Oh Karen I absolutely ADORE that dress." Dala said in a cheery voice, "It reminds my of my mother's fifty year old curtains."

The child mentioned Karen but it was just a random name she came up with. For some reason she felt it meant a rude individual who was self centered. After the sarcastic lesson they seemed to be heading onto the balance. After taking Simone's hand and standing up, a single book was placed on her head. She began to walk around the room very slowly, doing her best to keep the book on her head. The book wobbled for a few seconds then was still. As she was walking she wasn't focusing on the ground beneath her but her head. Dala stepped on a sock and tripped, hitting the ground with a thud. But before she could even process the pain, she stood back up and recovered quickly.

"Stupid sock." She muttered before looking for the book, "Found it!"

The child began again, this time trying to watch where she was going.

Simone watched Dala with interest and smiled. “I was always climbing trees and doing what I shouldn’t have been when I was younger. Daddy would get upset but mostly he was scared I would get hurt. I wish I hadn’t lost that vitality. I want to be strong Dala.” She had no idea how strong she really was… She was so, so strong.

It was just an afterthought of watching how Dala did things. In a way, Simone had been just like Dala in her youth. For some reason, Simone felt like that was a long time ago so much more than just a decade.

“Sorry about the mess… I try to keep it cleaned up after Lewis,” Simone let out a chuckle as she picked up after the assassin. “Boys are always so messy~ I remember this prince I was betrothed too. He was a messy sort too. Always the maids were going in after he was done with stuff to clean up after him.”

She made a face and put her hand to her head as if she had a headache. “I can’t remember why we aren’t together. Why?” It hurt. Her heart hurt and she moved her hand to it as she felt the pain. “Why?” She stumbled a bit and found her way to a chair. “I should… be more careful. I’m sorry Dala.” She offered a smile that was as gentle as a soft summer rain. “I don’t mean to scare you if I do.”

After a few seconds, she held out her hand to Dala. "Do you want to learn how to dance? I think we can make enough space in the room for it."

Dala listened while practicing with the book as Simone began talking more about her past. Simone mentioned wanting to be strong in a wistful way, as though that part of her was long gone. Before the child could respond, the lady changed the subject to the room. Dala continued balancing the book on her head and was starting to get the hang of it. Half of her attention was on the book while the other half was on Simone.

"So you married this prince?" Dala asked, curious to know if that was why she was there.

Suddenly, the lady had her hand to her head and stumbled before finding herself a chair. The child dropped the book and rushed over to the woman, looking for a pillow somewhere around the room. Sick people liked pillows, right? Simone quickly apologized and smiled softly, a smile that was as sweet as the sun. Dala had no idea how Simone was able to be so charming. Hopefully these princess lessons would teach her the same skills.

"You apologize a lot." The child commented, "I'm not gonna take offense if you accidentally scare me."

After a few moments, Simone held out her hand and offered to teach her how to dance. The child took the lady's hand and rushed over to the center of the room, energized by the idea of learning to dance. Every princess knew how to dance! It was an important part if one wanted to look elegant. Of course there was some more important political depth but she didn't care about right now.

"What do I do?" She asked.

“No, I don’t think so Dala. I think something bad happened,” she squinted her eyes before the rest of her came tumbling.

Simone made a face and gave a smile as Dala called her out on the apologizing, “Somehow I feel more guilty when you say that.” She had a lot to apologize for… Funny, why did that cross her mind? What did she have to apologize for? Wasn’t she was a good person?

Once she had the energy and saw how happy Dala was they pushed everything to the walls. Hopefully, Lewis wouldn’t be too upset if he came home early. Knowing him he would probably cock an eyebrow at her.

“So, I’ll be the man and you can be the woman. It matters!” She took Dala and got her up onto Simone’s feet. “When I was learning the dance instructor used his feet to show me. I wasn’t that much younger than you!”

Simone showed Dala the first few steps in ballroom dancing. “See? Easy.” She got her off her feet and bowed to her. “Lady Dala? Do you want to dance with me?” She had a cheesy grin on her face and was laughing towards the end. “You just have to follow me and I will show you the best I can. We have to imagine music though.” So Simone began to hum as she danced with Dala. It was a common song she remembered from the parties in Auclair. Easy enough.

“One. Two. Three,” Simone started as she showed Dala more steps to the song.

All of it came to a halt when the door crafted open and Lewis came in looking exhausted. He stopped dead looked around the room… Back at Simone and then to Dala. “Runt, why are you in my quarters?”

Simone waved her hands, “I… invited her in here.” She lied efficiently.

“You left the room?”

“No,” Simone put her hands behind her back and did a cute little bounce. “I got some food, Dala was nearby when they delivered it… I got excited. You know how I am with kids and Dala is adorable.”

There was an eye roll from Lewis. “Clean up when you are done.” Simone gave Dala a cheeky grin when Lewis went up the stairs to his own room. There was a heavy sigh from Simone before she winked at Dala.

"He's like a cactus," and she found herself laughing.

Dancing was as foreign topic as manners to the child. That was why she needed to learn it. All princesses were able to dance and to be unable would be a disaster at royal events. A lesson Dala both wanted and needed to learn would make things easier, or at least she hoped. Simone gave a low bow with a cheesy grin. Dala smiled and stumbled through a clumsy curtsy before taking her hand. The song was unfamiliar to her, as most songs were but luckily this was a simple tune. The child watched her feet as they followed the rhythm. A few times she accidentally stepped on Simone's feet and there were some moments where she was going the wrong direction. Eventually the girl was able to get the hang of it, even starting to speed up the pace when Lewis suddenly entered the room.

Dala did NOT want to tell him she was in there to go through his stuff, even it if was to protect her parents. He wasn't the type to forgive or trust easily and he WOULD throw hands if he felt like it. The child felt relieved when Simone lied to cover for her. Lying was bad but so was making an assassin angry. She kept her face calm, pretending to be looking at a particularly interesting lamp. After a few tense moments, Lewis rolled his eyes and went back to his room. Dala had a big mischievous smile when she saw him buy the lie.

"Maybe we should call him Mr. Prickly?" The girl joked, "Mr. Prickly, the prickliest and stabbiest of all cacti…..Wait is stabby a word?"

Turning to back to Simone, Dala had a question in her mind.

"So do you both sleep in here?" She asked.

Simone knew he had caught her lying to him. He just didn’t care as if making her happy letting the child run loose was a small thing he could endure. “Stabby is an acceptable word to describe Lewis Dusk,” she got flamboyant with her speech as she elongated each letter as if to be fancy finally finding herself laughing. “If it isn’t a word… It should be. It’s perfect.”

When Dala asked her question Simone blushed a bit. “Not… always,” she rubbed her neck. “Sometimes I have nightmares so I crawl in bed with him. I don’t know when I started to do it. Lewis calms me down even if he is also keeping me here. It’s weird. I don’t know how to describe it.” She looked down at the child not knowing if she would understand. “I have my own room that Lewis gave me though.”

She motioned Dala to follow her and across from Lewis’s room, she opened a door. “See?”

“SIMONE,” Lewis yelled, “WHERE DID YOU PUT MY OTHER SET OF DAGGERS!”

Simone flinched as she tilted her head back. “Try by your side of the bed under the stand. I didn’t want them to get dusty so I rolled them up in a pouch.” There was fussing as he moved stuff. She smiled at Dala before taking her in.

“It’s not a lot but… This is home, I suppose.” The bedding was a soft lavender color. Obviously, having been picked out for Simone. There were dresses hung up that wasn’t cheap looking and a vanity filled with random things and a nice hairbrush. It was overall smaller than Lewis’s room but big enough for her to be comfortable.

There were stacks of books on a dresser. Some sort of system for if she had read the books or not. There was even a shawl that had been knitted with the material next to it. “I like handicrafts. I don’t remember when I learned how to knit but I’m really good at it.” She took the purple shawl and wrapped it around Dala. “Here, you can have this one. I’m sure I’ll make more. Shawls are really nice for when you are cold.”

"Not what you were expecting?" She looked down at the little princess. She was curious about what Dala would think.

Dala ended up laughing with Simone at that stabby fact. Once their laughter died down, Simone responded with a blushing face and admitted that she slept in the same bed as Lewis. So they slept together, occasionally. Lewis tolerated her existence enough to let her live with him and touch his stuff. Based on her first impression with him, that was probably the closest he ever got to love. But it seemed Simone had her own room and the girl followed her across to the door when Lewis suddenly yelled about some missing set of daggers. Simone responded and Dala could no longer hold in her thoughts.

"You guys should really just get married already. You already banter like an old couple." She said, "I mean you live together, he's letting you have whatever you want so he clearly cares, and you are blushing pinker than a flamingo."

How could people be so daft in romance? The child had little experience herself but she could see this budding love as clear as day. Maybe people were just really dumb when they were in love. The room that Simone showed off was smaller but comfortable. There was a roof, a bed, books and a dresser. Dala accepted the shawl and wrapped it around herself until she was a burrito. Then she flopped onto the bed, making herself all cozy in the blankets.

"Much nicer than a sewer." Dala commented.

It had been a long time since she'd needed to sleep in a sewer but the memory was hard to shake off. Everything else that had a bed and a decent roof felt like a treasure. Her quality of life had improved drastically since she met her parents.

"My room is bigger. A lot bigger. Like I've got my own private bathroom, living area, a giant closet and the bed part of the bedroom." She said, "It's practically a house on its own. I'm still getting used to it since I only need to use it on the weekends."

Simone got even redder as Dala called her out. She hung her head in defeat. “Maybe,” she rubbed the back of her neck. “But he doesn’t plan on keeping me here Dala. I’m a burden on him. Things are complicated at best. Maybe too complicated.”

Her voice was low as if she was hiding these thoughts from Lewis. She saw herself as an inconvenience. As confident as she could be with Dala there was something about Lewis that made her weak in the knees. “I’ll tell him how I feel eventually.” Maybe when it was too late.

Her mind flashed back to Angela’s realm. When Lewis declared her his. When she had declared him hers. They already knew but somehow this story didn’t feel like it would lead to a happy ending. She pushed it out of her mind and shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure it will be alright.” She offered a smile. Besides Lewis was terrible with emotions.

Simone chuckled a bit and nodded, “Better than a dungeon too.” There was a shocked look on her face as she tried to think about why she said that. “I don’t know why I said that.” There was so much she didn’t know about herself.

There was a chuckle from Simone, “I had a big room back in the castle. It wasn’t anything like that but it was nice. I think anyways. I can’t remember too much of it.” It was giving her chills thinking about it. “I am just glad to have what I do. For some reason… I feel like I’m living better than I have in a long time.” Even if she was a captive in a tower.

“Simone, send the runt back already,” Lewis sounded annoyed.

Simone made a face that was a cross between being upset and being stubborn. She was biting her lip and pouting at the same time which was actually adorable. “Lewis~”

“I want to talk to you and I don’t want her here to hear it,” Lewis had opened the door enough to look at Simone. It was the way he was looking at her that made her look at Dala.

“You can come back tomorrow! Or whenever you want! I am normally here! Is that okay Lewis?”

“Whatever.”

Simone gave him a smile and looked down at Dala. “Take the shawl with you. We’ll do more princess things later!”

Three weeks went by and Dala spend time with Simone when she was home. They became quick friends and Simone showed her everything she knew. Simone loved Dala and she couldn’t understand the heartbreak that she was feeling when Dala did something that made her feel nostalgic.

On the fourth week that Dala came for her… She found nothing. Just an angry Lewis yelling at her to get out but not forcing her. No Simone. The fifth week, the same thing.

On the sixth week of looking for Simone, she would find a broken and drunk Lewis. Simone’s room was a wreck and dust was starting to settle. Lewis's screams from nightmares at night were bad sometimes he would even scream for Simone.

Adults always made things more complicated. They turned tiny stacks of dirt into hills and hills into mountains. But this was their problem and Dala didn't to push her any further. Instead she burrowed herself into the blankets of the bed, causing a bit of a mess. She popped her head out of the blankets and listened to Simone talk about her old home. Dala wasn't an overly attentive child but these things that Simone said were all showing signs of memory loss. An old friend of hers, Madam Wheezy, talked like Simone. They both always seemed to question their own knowledge and appeared confused about their own past. For Madam Wheezy it was because she was old. For Simone….Dala had no clue. Perhaps she would ask her mother later.

When Lewis entered the room, the child quickly left the bed and stood up facing him. Simone clearly didn't want her to leave yet but Lewis had already made his decision. The child didn't mind since she knew whether she had permission or not, she'd be back to see her new friend. Besides she wanted more princess lessons! Lewis was strong but even he couldn't stop a princess! Fortunately for him, he somewhat agreed to let Dala come over later. The child wrapped herself in the beautiful purple shall again, making herself into a burrito.

"Yes! And I'll be wearing a dress next time!" She exclaimed.

The next three weeks Dala would spend time with Simone when they could. She listened to Simone's lessons and slowly was improving in her social skills, manners, and dancing. When they weren't focusing on lessons, she'd tell Simone all about her adventures and travels. Besides her parents, Simone was one of the few people she felt like she could really talk to. Simone never coddled her and was able to keep up when they talked. Before Dala knew it, she'd quickly become attached to this nice lady with memory issues.

On the fourth week, Simone was gone.

Dala tried to question Lewis but he just screamed at her to leave. The child knew he would never attack her, since her dad would skewer him if he tried, but she didn't want to be yelled at. The fifth week, she was still gone. Simone was gone and her room was abandoned. Yet Dala wasn't going to give up just yet. She began cleaning the room, avoiding Lewis as much as possible since he was cranky, and ensuring it was well kept. She even wrote some letters for Simone so when she came back, they could continue talking like normal. Her first letter went a little something like this,

-Dear Simone,

This last week was a wild one. I saw a Minotaur and it tried to trample me! I was much quicker than it. I jumped into a hole and waited for it to get tired. Then I followed it back home and poisoned its food then waited until it died. Once I got its liver and horns, I brought it back to the monster hunters. Not only was I able to keep the horns but I also got 2,000 silver! I'm going to be saving it for my future kingdom. I only need 53,560 more!

Also I really miss talking to you. If you could never ever ever ever go missing again that would be great. Or if you do need to go missing, please leave a note or something to indicate you'll be back. Oh and I still have that shawl you gave me. It's really soft. Great for when I need to wrap myself or my baby dragon in it. Anyway I can't wait for you to get back so I can talk to you properly.

From the coolest,
Dala-

Each letter was in fine cursive, a skill that the child had been working on for a while now. All the letters were similar, talking about her adventures and what had been happening to her. The child also placed a vase of pink tulips in the room to create a nice smell. Each week, Dala would replace the flowers with new pink tulips. On the sixth week, she found a broken and drunk Lewis. At first she didn't understand what was wrong with him, but once she realized he was drunk, she decided to leave. There was one thing Dala learned while living on her own. Drunk adults were dangerous. They were most likely to hurt you and cause damage. The next time she visited she heard him scream at night from terrible nightmares.

After that she placed a mini cactus in his room and when he wasn't there, she'd water the cactus. Dala didn't know how to comfort the average person, let alone someone as prickly as Lewis. Instead, she just gave him a comfort cactus she'd found on her travels, hoping the sight of something green and growing would help a little. Soon this became her weekend activity. She'd wait until Lewis was busy or gone then she'd clean Simone's room then water the plants.

The rest of the months went by just the same. Lewis ended up disappearing too for almost two weeks. He had rushed out of the Observatory barely taking anything with him. “I can’t be late,” he nearly yelled it at Dala as she came. His drunkenness had gotten better the past few weekends almost like someone had beaten it out of him. He looked almost unprepared. He never looked like that when he was going on a job. It was something else. Something important.

The two weeks passed and in the middle of the night, there was ruckus from Lewis’s room finally. Soft voices talking but not loud enough for anyone to hear what they were talking about. Once they had gotten up in the morning Simone kissed Lewis goodbye for the day. He was sure to be busy making up whatever work he had missed while they had been on vacation.

Her wedding ring was snug back on her finger now and it made her happy as it had itched when she was missing it. There was something different about the way Simone held herself now. She not only looked quite a bit older but she held herself with pride and confidence. Every step she took had a purpose.

Today was busy transitioning Lewis’s room into their room. Turning her room into a sort of storage for Lewis’s tools. Just so they could make room for her own things. When she got into her room her eyes lit up a bit at the tulips. She moved over to her bed and sat down staring at all the letters.

One by one she opened them all up and read them. There was a smile on her face. Oh, Dala was just like her Cecelia had been. There wasn’t that heartbreak anymore now that she had moved on but not forgotten. She had got revenge for all of them and that was good enough.

Simone was still in her nightgown and her robe was loose as she read the letters. She had literally only just gotten out of bed following Lewis to the door to see him off. No time to do anything with her appearance.