Rhenakos had contacted them about a job. A dangerous demon that was getting too hard to track by himself on the ground. It hadn’t taken long to get ready for it. To kiss the kids and tell them they would be back soon. They were well prepared for a long fight. A demon that could elude Rhenakos would be a problem. The job for Simone was easy enough, she would scout in the sky and communicate to Lewis everything she saw with their combined sight.

Lewis wished her well with a kiss before watching her transform into a phoenix. She was high above them and a bit farther ahead. Rhenakos had given her the general direction. It’s going directly for Virens Forest.

She dove into the tree line so she could keep tail. She knew that Rhenakos and Lewis weren’t too far behind her. We’re awfully close to the lake I was in.

She knew the landscape well enough from when she woke up and from when she was thrown in. She even flew over the lake during the chase showing Lewis where she had been. It wasn’t that her mind was distracted, this was just how Simone handled it. She could track it and think about things. She was focused but not too much that she would miss tiny details.

It had to be by some dumb luck that they got caught up in something else entirely. The demon had attracted other eyes besides their own. Other hunters, other victims, and other demons. It was an entire mess by the time they had even managed to kill their target they were in the middle of Virens with no way home for now. It was late.

“Should we go back to the island?” Simone looked up at him. “It would be really late… Maybe we should make sure we got the last of the new demons…” She was worried but about what wasn’t coming across her mind. “I’m going to go scout one last time.” She took off again and made a thorough check but somehow while she was away… the small camp got ambushed.

She was quick to read what was happening on Lewis’s side and came back to help. She transformed and started to throw daggers the best she could. Lewis and Rhenakos were already subdued. She was easily taken down as a result of not having Lewis for her back up. She struggled against them. Simone managed once to break away and take out another four guards even without her actual daggers by using feathers. The guards had already disarmed Rhenakos and Lewis long before she had shown back up.

Once they realized she was full of magic she was placed in anti-magic cuffs and still, she managed to land a balls shot on one of the guards. “THAT’S ENOUGH OUT OF YOU,” one of them yelled as they knocked her out to carry her back. She was over the shoulder of one of the guards while Lewis and Rhenakos were getting carted off.

“Make way! We have prisoners!” The guards yelled as the gates opened and revealed a bustling city in the nightscape. The city was built on the ground and up in the trees. They were headed towards a palace made out of a giant oak. Lewis and Rhenakos were thrown into their own cells of magic, but Simone was taken a bit further. Lewis if he looked right could see she was chained up with more anti-magic stuff in her own cell but she was still asleep.

As it turned out they were in an elvish city and somehow they were being misunderstood as the culprits of the massacres lately by the demons.

Once Simone came to one of the elves came over to mock her and she was quick with her legs to wrap them around his head once he got too close and she started to choke him. It took two others to knock her out again. "Make sure she is highly restrained and don't forget her damn legs this time! The king will want to sentence her directly. Prepare an audience between her and him for direct punishment. The other two can wait they aren't as dangerous as she is."

It was all Rhenakos’ fault. It should have been easy to counter the ambush. Lewis knew full well that there was an arrow trained on him, and knew perfectly well how to deflect it out of the air. It should have been easy. Instead, though, Rhenakos saw the arrow and took it upon himself to “protect” Lewis, and tackled him to the ground. Sure, the arrow missed, but in the time it took the two of them to get up, they were surrounded.

Normally, Lewis would have fought back even in this dire of a situation, but it was about this time that Simone came flying in, and Rhenakos once again tried to “help”, and before any of the three could figure out what was happening, they had all been captured. Even still, Simone put up a fight. This was one of the rare times she could help out on a job, and she sure as hell wasn’t going to let it be the last.

As they were dragged into the city, Rhenakos let it be well known how impressive the whole place was. Elegant buildings interweaved with the trees, with walkways connecting each building. The moons shone down between the gaps in the forest, illuminating the whole city in an eerie, ephemeral glow. Lewis, per his usual, kept quiet.

Once they were each thrown into their prison cells, the assassin noted the special attention they had shown to Simone, and the moment he was able, he pressed himself against the magical cell, trying to communicate. Nothing.

Damnit. So are there magics that restrict our contact as well? He glared through the bars at the guards, but they seemed not to care. Soon, though, Simone came to, and Lewis gave her a look of relief. As one of the guards tried to mock her, she retaliate, and Rhenakos let out a wolfish whistle.

“Damn, Simone…me next.” It seemed as though, despite the situation, Rhenakos was barely worried. He had probably been in worse. Still, the guards gave him a weird look, and his remark earned a smack from Lewis.

As they remarked about how Simone was more dangerous, Rhenakos made a mocking gesture, mimicking them, “The others aren’t as dangerous.” He scoffed. “You let me out, and I can show you JUST how dangerous I really am!” He slammed against the cage. “Wanna see?”

“Shut up, Rhen,” Lewis said as he leaned against the back of the cell. They were about to take Simone off, and he had to figure out a way to get out.

In the split few seconds that Simone had been awake before she retaliated she discovered no resonance with Lewis. This was an issue for multiple reasons. She needed his coolness but for right now Rhenakos was carrying on as if it was a play date. She returned Lewis’s look before she was knocked out, she wasn’t blind. She had seen how upset he was and why wouldn’t he be. His wife was going to be dragged away from him.

Once she had woken back up another guard came over cautiously to get her down. She was chained up really well but she wasn’t putting up too much of a fight. “Push me and I’ll snap your neck before they get a chance to save you,” Simone spat fire as the guard had gone to do just that. She began to walk behind them but not too much. After the last demonstration the guards were being careful and they were letting Simone have her way.

She had been dressed for the job which was much different than her usual attire. Probably the only chance she ever got to wear something… oh how had Rhenakos put it? Oh yeah, it was sexy. It was a short halter style dress with the fabric between her bust and neck being a net material. The dress itself had been leather and easy enough for Simone to maneuver in as previously seen. Thigh high boots with long fishnet like stockings were under going up to her high thigh. A garter kept the dress in place not that Simone much cared about it. Buckled around it with a gold material was a red robe like outerwear that she could easily pull up and hide her face but right now it was falling off her shoulders. Its long sleeves were cuffed at the wrists with the same gold design as the waist.

Her long black hair had been put up in an updo but thanks to the fight it had all but fallen out leaving the back hanging loose and the sides kept up but barely. Her grayish blue eyes were looking around checking out the surroundings as she was led into a throne room.

The guard she had warned before put his hands on her to force her down and she was quick to not only bite him but somehow manage to get behind him and start choking him with the chains around her, “What the fuck did I say down in the dungeon?! Don’t. Touch. Me.”

The guards went to get her off and she was nimble as she headbutted one, flipped herself over the guard she had to avoid one, and all the while her chains were getting tighter around the guard who was almost turning purple.

“ENOUGH, this isn’t a circus. YOU WILL BE–”

“And who the fuck do you thin–” Simone had let go and turned around to face the person who was now commanding her when her voice dropped.

“Oh look the kitten lost her voi–” the guard got swiftly kicked in the groin by Simone.

“Shut your mouth,” she spit on him as the guard dropped.

“I said enough,” the redheaded elf went to sit on his throne and Simone’s eyes followed him. “You made a mess if I am to believe what my guards have told me.”

“And you have gotten taller since the last time I saw you,” Simone was bold but if it was him…

The elf looked confused for a moment as he focused on her face, “And just how do you know me?”

“I would know you very well Llywellyn Celestina, once third prince of the Sulwal kingdom at least back in my time,” she shrugged as one of the guards went to get her from mouthing off.

“DON’T,” the elf king was spooked for a moment but he got up and made his way down the stairs and to where Simone was. “What is your name?” The others in the room had gotten stiff now that he had come down to where the dangerous woman was.

“I’ve gone by plenty of names but my first has always remained the same. A very long time ago~ I went by Simone Auclair, the only heir to the Auclair Kingdom.” There were now whispers. Elves were long-lived and they would know who she was if they were old enough.

He was taken back for a moment as he brought his hands up before shaking his head, “Not good enough. Anyone would know I was looking for her. Anyone would know I–”

Simone had her signature bored expression on her face, “When we were fifteen you decided it was a fantastic idea to disobey your father come to Auclair, convince me to leave the castle at midnight– Which was actually pretty normal but you had the audacity to push me into a mud puddle. It was at that point your ROYAL HIGHNESS decided that I needed to get clean and you convinced me you wouldn’t peak if I wanted to get all the mud off of me in the Douglass Farm’s pond. So I stripped down and got in the water to get all the mud off of me. ONLY FOR–”

Llywellyn cuffed her mouth, “That’s enough!” He was actually blushing and Simone bite his hand. “OUCH, SIMONE!”

“Only for you jump into the god damn pond with me ass naked and try to put a move on me,” pleased with her work she just smirked at him. “And then I shoved you into the deepest part of the pond and watched you panic.”

There was a groan from Llywellyn, “Someone… uncuff her please. It’s obvious it doesn’t matter if she is or isn’t.” The guards did it begrudgingly as she held out her wrists and then watched as they got the cuffs and chains off her legs.

“Where the hell have you been for the last two thousand years?”

“Almost fifteen hundred, don’t be so dramatic Lly,” Simone gave a smirk.

“It doesn’t matter Mone… You’ve been gone a long time.”

“Would you believe me if I said I was just a rock’s jump from your doorstep? In Lake Verian, at the very bottom chained to a boulder for the last three hundred? I got out of the lake,” she closed her eyes to think, “…Not twenty years yet. Maybe twelve years ago?”

The look on Llywellyn’s face turned to anger for a moment as he thought about it, “He put you right under my nose.”

“You shouldn’t have been looking for me period. You got a wife and kids no doubt. You were wasting your time chasing a ghost,” Simone scolded him.

“DON’T YOU TELL ME HOW TO FEEL SIMONE,” Llywellyn got mad at her and she thought it was justified.

“All that time he spent trying to find you and you just spit in his face,” an elven man with black hair approached. “Have you no humanity left?”

“HA! After what I’ve been through I’m shocked I’m sane. Still hate me?” Simone eyed him for a moment and Lly was quiet.

“Goes easy on him Mone his wife just died from–”

“Childbirth?” Simone looked at Lly and then looked at him. “Maybe you should kill the child too. You don’t know if its inher–” Simone got slapped across the face by the black haired man. “It’s not so fucking nice when it’s thrown back is it?” She growled at the man. “And I was young.”

“You’ll explain later what the hell she is talking about,” Llywellyn looked around at the anger directed towards Simone. “No one will harm her under any circumstances… Do you promise not to hurt my men.”

“If they lay a finger on me I’ll kill them without hesitation,” Simone sighed, “but if they leave me alone… They can live.”

“Take her to one of the guest rooms and keep watch over the door to make sure she doesn’t come out,” Lly gave the direction and Simone scoffed as she followed the elves. “Mone?”

She stopped and looked over her shoulder, “What?”

“You are wearing a wedding band.”

“Yeah, my husband is down in the dungeon with the red-headed idiot. His name is Lewis. We were doing a job when we got ambushed by your people,” Simone’s voice was soft as she turned around and followed the elves again.

Llywellyn rubbed the back of his neck, “I need a drink after that.” His people were a bit shocked as he left. He was excited to see Simone but it was under terrible circumstances. Once he got a few drinks in him he grabbed three mugs and went into the dungeons, “Leave… unlock the white-haired one’s cell.”

“But–”

“I gave you an order,” Llywellyn could see where Simone was chained up and frowned a bit. “When did Simone get that mouth on her? She can fight really well she about had three of my guards on the ground.” Llywellyn opened the cell with his foot and offered one of the mugs to Lewis. “The last time I saw her… She got upset at me for mouthing off at a guard and was afraid I would put a bruise on him.”

With Simone gone, Lewis started to pace back and forth. The lack of resonance was one thing, but now that she was out of sight, he was starting to worry. Even Rhenakos didn’t have much to say, and kept his mouth shut for most of the time. The few times he did speak were to try and calm the assassin down. Of course, his words fell on deaf ears.

It wasn’t till much later, at which Lewis had sat down and closed his eyes, when a red haired elf entered the room, commanding the guards to leave. In his hands were drinks, and as Lewis was let out of his cell, he almost went full on full assault mode, but noted the drink in hand. The way he was speaking was so casual, as if to offer an old friend a pint.

“No thanks,” Lewis said, turning down the drink. His experience with the far had pretty much broken any trust in gifts. He eyed the elf, and merely stayed seated where he was in the cell. “You’re lucky she didn’t kill everyone in the room. You must mean something to her, otherwise you wouldn’t be standing before me. What do you want.”

Llywellyn noticed how he was and shrugged and he pushed one of the mugs through the bars to Rhenakos,” You must be the redheaded idiot. She didn’t give me a name sorry.” He drank some of the mead and thought about it. “I just want to know she is alright. She probably didn’t kill me because my name isn’t Jerome and I’m not a horse’s ass. Though… she sounds pretty sore about the skinny dipping incident still. Can’t blame a guy for trying.” He pouted at Lewis.

“I’ve been looking for Simone for a very long time. I was pulling bodies out from the fires in Auclair while it still burned. Tried getting to the castle but the fire was… It wasn’t normal. When we finally got the fires put out I found her father and all the house help charred but recognizable. I knew them all very well from my time living in the castle. Simone’s body was nowhere to be found and… I knew something bad happened. I only had just found out about the curse about a year prior when my family got invited to an engagement party for that horse’s ass of a prince turned king.”

Llywellyn groaned as he drank the mug down and grabbed Lewis’s now, “I decked him and cost us our alliance with his wife’s new family and his own. I should have killed him but they pulled me off.” He rubbed his neck. “I feel like it’s my fault. I had snuck into the castle and laid next to her. Simone had lost her memories for the first time when she fell and snapped her neck. She was scared for some reason and she barely knew me anymore. But she told me something bad was going to happen and I did what everyone has always done… Just told her it was going to be okay and I wouldn’t let anything happen. She looked relieved. I feel like I lied to her.”

He drained that mug quickly and sighed a bit as he smacked it down next to his first one, “So I went home… dethroned my father and took our whole army to where Jerome was. Burned the whole place to the ground to make my point but he had fled. Left his family to die like the fucking coward that he was. I lost track of him. Over the years we would catch rumors about a girl who couldn’t die. She matched Simone’s description but when we got close suddenly there was a murder and she was gone.”

Looking back up at Lewis now he shook his head, “Is she alright? I don’t ask her because she always says she’s fine. She smiles and just says she’s fine. When she’s scared she’s only scared for a few moments before she hides it again. Seeing that I can’t sense the fey lord on her anymore… Her curse is gone?”

He sort of looked depressed, “Oh, right… She uh… is being held upstairs in one of the guest rooms. I imagine she will make her way down here once it’s night time through the window but please make sure she is back before daylight. I didn’t want to put her back in a cell not knowing what she’s been through. I can’t release you both until morning though. They are already pissed I won’t put Simone back down here… Also, when the hell did she learn to try and kill someone with her thighs? The Simone I knew cried over a bunny and I had to take her to eight different animal doctors to try and fix it.”

Lewis was surprised that the elf man didn’t take offense to his declination of hospitality, but thankful. It was one less thing he had to worry about. Rhenakos took the mug of what he assumed was ale, and downed it in one go. He thanked the man, naming himself. “Rhenakos here! And I’m not an idiot! Though this ale is great. What’s in it?”

The assassin rolled his eyes. It was one thing to take a drink, but it was something completely else to take a drink and not even know what one was consuming. To this, Lewis merely rolled his eyes, and turned his attention back to the elf, taking the time to listen to his story in full. This was a lot of information that Lewis had, as he had experienced some of her dreams, but this was from a completely different perspective. It was…interesting to say the least.. He smirked at the mention of Jerome. He kept his mouth shut though till almost the end of the tale, and that was when Lewis spilled the info.

“You’ll be glad to know that Jerome is dead. Alongside the rest of that wretched family. They made a mistake,” he said with a wicked smile. The two had watched him, and the rest of the conspirators burn alive. It was one of the few acts that he had taken no pleasure in, but it was something that both of them had needed.

“Simone is all right. She hides it well, but let’s just say…I have a deep connection with her. She’s been through a lot, but that’s her place to tell, not mine…” The assassin stretched his arms out, yawning. “The curse is gone. I gave her the peace she wanted. At least…for awhile.” He shrugged. “Another long story. Would rather not get into it…”

At the mention of her new skills, Lewis merely smirked. “She’s had a lot of time to grow and change. She’s not the innocent little girl you knew. Hell, half the things she knows, I’ve never even taught her.” There was a look from Lewis, “The thigh thing…that was me. We’ve had a lot of practice with being tied up.” There was a joke in there somewhere, and Rhenakos merely choked.

Lewis sighed, though. “Question is…why are you even down here? The last four people that were meant to marry and or take her, I’ve had to kill. Usually after some mad declaration of how she belongs to them. You’re…not what I expected. You’ve just come down here to talk. What next? Are you going to tell her that a wretch like me doesn’t belong with her? That I’m to be sentenced to death and that you’re taking her for your own? Or better yet, that you’re going to just off her now?” It was obvious that he was being sarcastic, but there was a truth to his word. “We’ve gone through a lot of that…and it won’t stop us.”

“Ah, but of course, you’ve mentioned letting us loose in the morning,” Lewis said as he dropped his smile. “You really are an odd one. Somehow I don’t think you’re lying, either…”

Llywellyn looked relieved to know Jerome was dead. The rest of the wretched family? He thought for a moment, “Oh, you must be talking about fucking Felix. I caught him peeping on Simone at one point and I punched him square in the balls. Felix was probably planning to marry her to take the throne since Auclair wasn’t a natural matriarchy. I never liked Felix and the way he looked at his cousin. Ever since we were kids he practically worshiped her. Any girlfriend he had looked like Simone. It was creepy.”

Looking at Lewis he laughed about them being tied up, “Whatever you need to do to survive. Pleasure or jobs~” He waited to hear Lewis out and thought about it. “No, never. I’m married and I don’t need to give my wife another reason to hate Simone more than she does. Jealousy is a marriage killer and I’m sure I’m going to fucking hear it from Simone when she finds out.” He looked beat just talking about it. “She always lectures me like a child…”

He rubbed his neck and thought about it, “I guess you might not know if you aren’t blue-blooded. When the heir reaches a certain age and for Simone it was five… When she was declared the next ruler… That the kingdoms sent available sons on loan. There were a lot of us but only a select few made it into Simone’s circle. Simone was a lot harder to get to know because of how protective her father was. We ranged in all sorts of ages but the ones who ended up staying in the castle the longest were around her age. There were three of us. Two of us by the end.”

Thinking back on it he just smiled, “Jerome was always a jealous prick but Simone was head over heels for him. I got no reason to try and steal her because she’s never loved me the way I loved her. Always “Jerome did this” “Jerome did that” “Jerome likes this dress on me” and I was supportive of it. If she was happy I was happy. I was eleven when I got called back because my mother died and my father went through this weird thing where a human was far too fragile for me. I was pissed about it believe me. I wanted to beat Jerome because I knew he was slime but… In the end, he was the one who ended up engaged to Simone. I still visited her though mostly at night because my father didn’t want me to go. She needed friends. Her life has been pretty sad even before the curse. She was always alone. When the candidates got to the castle she wanted friends, not a suitor. The older ones left because of that.”

He sighed a bit, “But my family had a good alliance with Auclair so I knew Simone since we were toddlers. She was always distant. My father said her father got bad about it once her mother died. Was scared of losing Simone and he still did in the end.” There was a frown on his face. “I can only imagine how he felt knowing that his daughter was going to suffer. Gods know I suffered for a long time too.”

Leaning back he thought about it, “I am going to release you in the morning as I said. If I want Simone around as a friend I will have to keep my word or she will hate me. I don’t want that… Besides… I’m happy for her. That she has you. As long as she’s happy that’s all that matters. You love her right? Your social status doesn't matter in the long run compared to her happiness.” Something crossed his mind as he crossed his legs. “Do you guys have children? Did she become an amazing mother like she always wanted to be? It’s the only thing she could talk about once she came of age.”

Simone had barely mentioned any of this to him, and he, for the most part, knew why. Lewis wasn’t one to pry into her previous life as it caused her pain. Sure, when she felt up to it, he would hear her out, but for the most part he kept it to their current life. Memories of what happened before only brought that torn look on her face, and he hated to see it.

“Well thank the gods then that you’re at least sensible,” Lewis said with a straight face. “For once, I’m glad I don’t have to kill another person after her.” He closed his eyes. “I can’t stand the look she had…” He thought back to Jermone and the conspirators, the look she had. The pain that she had felt was something that he had never forgotten.

Lewis looked to the elf, and smirked. “Kids, we have. Not…in the traditional sense.” He stood up. “We’ve got nine kids. Of all ages. Eldest is eighteen, and the youngest, well…” He smiled. “The youngest two are six months.” There was a tenderness to the assassin’s face. He looked to Lleywellyn with this stupid grin, something that looked completely foreign on his face. “She’s the best mother though…the way she dotes on them. I can’t begin to tell you…” He realized what was happening, and immediately backpedaled.

“A-anyway, it’s up to Simone on whether or not you even get to meet them.” There was that glare again. “She’s a better judge of character than I am. If it were up to me, half of the city we live in would be dead…” He shrugged. “She calls me overprotective…”

Llywellyn frowned a bit, “When she found out who betrayed her. I’ve always wondered myself. I knew the castles had secret hallways but she never told me where they were. The person who did it had intimate knowledge. I scoured that castle looking for clues.”

The king watched Lewis’s face and smirked a bit, “You really do love her. I can tell.” Just from the way, he spoke about the type of mother she was. “She wanted to be a mother so bad. She doted on every baby she ever saw or was allowed to hold. If she’s that way with a stranger’s baby I can only imagine her with her own. Whether they are adopted or not. They are her’s.”

There was a laugh, “Does she scold you if you go too far? She did that a lot to me. She would put her hands on her hips with this face before she even started the lecture. You felt soooo guilty. Those gray eyes, I swear, she could look straight through you and always get the truth out if she wanted to.” There was a sigh now, “But I get it. When you see her and you get to know her… You want to protect her. I’m sure deep down she is still the person she was just a bit rougher and a hell of a lot smarter.”

He pushed himself up, “Okay, I’m going to leave your cell unlocked for Simone just… lock it back up once she leaves, please. Make sure she is back through that window before daylight so I don’t hear about it. They’ll figure out I knew she could climb… I’m the one who taught her so she can do it really well.” He rubbed his neck again. “I’ll get you out of the cells tomorrow… and hopefully out of the city soon. Now… I have to go kiss my wife’s ass before she makes me sleep in another room. Again.”

He threw his hands up, “I bet Simone doesn’t ever get that mad with you. Women are rough~” He said as he walked up the stairs.

Once the daylight was gone Simone hopped off the bed. She had been offered new clothes that weren’t dirty. It was a velvet long gown. Sunshine yellow with a spring green down the center. It looked like a robe over a dress but it was one thing. It had a cute wide silk belt that matched the colors. The chest was modest covering most of her and the sleeves were long and wide with lace at the ends. “This is going to be so hard to climb in Llywellyn…”

She groaned a bit as she opened the window and pulled the dress up enough to start climbing the tree down. She remembered most of the layout from her way up and soon she managed to slip into the door down. She was going to be quieter before she noticed there were no guards. “Hmm…” She kicked the cell door for Lewis open. “Did Llywellyn leave this unlocked?” Her eyes narrowed knowing the answer. “He knew then and he still put me in a long gown… That bastard,” she rolled her eyes before quickly crossing and jumping on Lewis.

“Are you okay? You aren’t hurt anywhere are you?” She checked him over and kissed his forehead.

It wasn’t that Lewis didn’t have much to say to Llywellyn, more so that the elf king kept rambling on about the past Simone and how she was. The poor assassin barely could get a word in even if he wanted to, but that was fine. Time passed as he reminisced, and Lewis barely said a word, but his facial expressions were more than enough for Llywellen to see that the human was more than worthy of being with Simone. Soon, though, the elf king bid him farewell, and with a set of instructions for a bit of leeway.

Lewis still wasn’t quite sure how to take Llywellyn, but for the moment the assassin chose to at least consider him neutral. Not exactly an enemy, but given the fact that he was still in a cell without Simone, not an ally either. It would be up to Simone if that were to change. Still, he did leave the cell unlocked, and for a moment Lewis considered leaving. But the amount of goodwill that had been shown, tied with the fact that Rhenakos hadn’t been poisoned, was enough evidence to at least let the elf king try his hand at a peaceful resolution.

Time passed again, and soon Simone was at the cell gate, kicking it open. “You’re safe,” he said as Simone checked him over. “No, I’m fine, More worried about yo-…what are you even wearing?” He looked at the dress that she had been given, and noted how cumbersome it must have been. The assassin gave her a quick, almost forceful kiss. Probably longer than it needed to be, but with the resonance restored, even for a moment, he relished feeling her again.

“Oh don’t mind me. I’ll watch if you want to really go at it,” Rhenakos said sarcastically. “Just, you know…keep it down in case the guards show up.”

Lewis rolled his eyes, “Shut up. I’m just…happy to see her safe is all.”

The hunter rolled his eyes, “And here I was hoping for that elf guy to show up and we all have a run at Simone.” There was some obvious salt. “Look, you’re both free. Can we just…I dunno, bust out of here now?”

“No. Breaking out now will only cause more issues, and we’re not prepared to fight off this many elves,” Lewis replied. “And your comments are unnecessary…” There was a glare from Lewis.

“Sorry,” the hunter replied honestly. “I just…ya know, get a little worried when you got all these guys coming outta nowhere.”

Once more, Lewis rolled his eyes. “I can feel it through the resonance, believe me…we’d deal with it if it arised, but it hasn’t.” There was a smile from him as he looked into Simone’s eyes. “She only has eyes for me. I can feel it. And I trust her.” There wasn’t even a hint of a lie in his voice, nor his heart.

“Oh, how touching,” Rhenakos said with a mocking tone. “Fine. We stay…but if you two fuck, I’m watching.”

“Shut the hell up, Rhen…”