Lewis cursed, and took a look out of the window of his office. Surely enough, the mad woman was at the top of the highest tower, her arms spread wide. Without hesitating, Lewis jumped out of the window, spreading his black and blue phoenix wings. He soared across the sky, and landed behind her.

The wind had a biting chill to it as it whipped around them. Lewis wasn’t sure if she had noticed his arrival, or if she even cared. Xeik was close to her, trying to reason with her. She was already on the ledge, and Xeik was far too afraid to get closer.

“Lewis!?” Xeik exclaimed. “She’s mad! She keeps talking about how her father is begging for her at his side! Says she hears his calls!”

“I thought you were watching her!?” Lewis yelled back.

“I was! But I had to slip out to arrange another treaty, and when I came back she was gone!” Xeik glanced back to Simone. “She can’t hear me…”

Lewis approached her, holding out his hands. “Simone! Don’t do it! Don’t jump! You have so much to live for! You’re still here! Your people need you!”

“It hurts,” Simone answered finally. “It feels like something is clawing my insides…” It was a brief moment of clarity in the madness she was suffering from. She was wavering on the edge. Her black hair seemed more like waves as it whipped around with the wind.

Vela in the meantime was going through Felix’s office turning everything over. Once she had something on what was going on she was jumping out the window and flew up. “Xeik!” She threw the small bottle at him. “It’s called Nightingale. It’s a type of hallucinogen poison. It’s been slowly killing her for a while. He must have done it a while ago and was dripping the antidote into her to make her live longer. I’ve seen this before, it’s nasty.”

“Stay back!” Simone flipped herself to face Lewis. “Don’t touch me anymore!” She screamed at Lewis. Whatever she was seeing now must have been infuriating because she wasn’t scared, she was pissed. Her foot touched the edge and she looked down and back at Lewis. “I would rather die than put up with your bullshit anymore. I hope you burn with Auclair.” It had to have been directed at Felix. There was no other person it could have been.

A final act of defiance as she stepped off the tall tower. “XEIK, we need an antidote!”

The fear in her eyes was enough to force Lewis to hesitate. For all of the confidence and bravado that he displayed on a regular basis, he was far too unsure as Simone rattled off her insane delusions. It wasn’t until she neared the ledge again, and uttered the last words that Lewis decided to act.

Xeik has been scrambling in his pouch for an antidote, and his eyes lit up as he came across what he was looking for. A small vial of liquid. It wasn’t the exact cure, but it would counteract most of the more potent toxins that had invaded her system. But he was too late. Simone stepped off, her body disappearing over the ledge.

Lewis cursed, and darted forward. “Xeik! Throw it now!”

Without hesitating, Xeik tossed the vial over the edge, and Lewis followed. His shimmering wings pushed hard, catapulting him downward as he grabbed the vial. It took mere seconds for him to catch up to Simone, colliding with her midair. He forced himself into an awkward flip, cradling her in his arms as he tried to revere their fall, just barely managing to slow their descent. Lewis hit the ground hard, almost buckling under their combined weight. Carefully, he set Simone down, and popped the antidote vial, trying to make her drink it.

Of course, the delusional Simone wanted nothing to do with the antidote. To her, it was poison. Lewis growled, and without thinking it through, tipped the vial into his mouth, and pressed his lips against hers, forcing the liquid into her mouth. Hopefully it would act quickly…

Vela was watching the scene and she slapped Xeik’s back, “That’s our Lewis making the first move!”

Simone was still fighting him before the kiss. Once the kiss happened and she was forced the antidote she was still fighting him a good few minutes. He was holding her so she wasn’t hurting herself. “Let me go!”

“No,” Lewis was firm as she tried to fight him. He had to be careful because he got close enough to her that she bit him. Fighting with every ounce of her small fragile being. No wonder Felix had locked her up the way he had.

Simone went limp in his arms as the antidote worked it’s magic. She was moved back into the infirmary while Xeik looked for more hidden toxins in her body. “She really has been poisoned with everything he could find.” He showed Lewis the tests on Simone blood where she tested positive for most poisons that Xeik had available to him.

Xeik watched closely over her for the first few days to make sure the poison was gone. After four days, he allowed her to wander by herself by a couple hours a day. Finally, a week and a half passed and she was in her own room.

It was the middle of the night when Simone heard that Saoirse was going to visit Lewis. “And why is that my problem?”

Vela looked at her and tilted her head, “Well, not your problem per say but you are the only one of us who could kick her out. She has a thing for Lewis’s dick and he doesn’t like it.”

“And he won’t do anything??”

“Treaty, she is the daughter of some famed paladin.”

“Ah…” Simone understood and thought of her own circumstances. She made her way past Vela.

“You are in your nightgown…”

“Best way to fool Saoirse,” Simone commented and smiled.

“OH!” Vela understood immediately.

She got to Lewis’s room and took a moment to straighten out her hair and take off her robe throwing it to Vela. She nodded to Vela and slammed the door open. Saoirse was half-naked trying to climb into bed with Lewis. Lewis looked pissed but then his face was shocked to see Simone.

“You promised me you would come to my room tonight,” Simone pouted a bit as she walked up confidently. “I thought I told you I could help you with your problem,” she slightly looked at Saoirse but not enough for the woman to notice. She knew Lewis would. “You have to take responsibility for kissing me after all.”

“You can’t just barg–”

“This is my fucking castle,” Simone’s face was full of bloodlust as she scared Saoirse enough to fall off the bed. “You promised,” she took Lewis’s hand and pulled him with her.

“King Lewis! Please!” Simone grabbed the door handle and slammed it in Saoirse’s face leaving her in Lewis’s room. “This way,” she whispered as she grabbed a torch and opened a secret passage. Once she closed it. “You should just kick her out. She’s annoying.”

Simone held up a candelabra and beckoned him to follow her. “I have something I want to talk to you about.”

It had been a week and a half since the incident at the tower, and Lewis made sure to keep himself as busy as possible. Even with that, Saoirse had cornered him on more than one occasion to take care of his ‘frustrations.’ It wasn’t that he minded the physical aspect of it all, but it was an act he could live without. It was Saoirse who was so adamant about it, and that wore on him. If it got her to shut up for a few days, he would gladly take that over her persistent annoyances.

Tonight was one of those nights. Saoirse had been much needier than usual since their arrival in Auclair. Perhaps the rumors of Simone and what had occurred at the tower had set her mood, and she was out to ‘reclaim’ her rightful place. Or perhaps she was nothing more than a needy woman who thrived on the power she held over ‘her’ harem.

Either way, Lewis was about to cave. It was annoying, but it wouldn’t last the entire night. Then he could get on with his work. Much to his surprise, though, the door burst open and Simone marched in, making her demands. Lewis could see Vela in the hallway, and when he looked at Simone, realized what they were up to.

“Fine,” Lewis stated with a bored tone, standing up. “Saoirse, it seems that there are other things I must attend to this evening. You are not needed.” He started to the door.

Saoirse ran to him, falling to her knees as she tugged at his sleeve. “King Lewis, please!”

“You are not the only one who needs attending to,” Lewis stated coldly. “Or did you forget that a King must properly satisfy the needs of all, not just the one? You’ve had your opportunities…”

The moment the door slammed behind them, Lewis dropped all pretenses. “I appreciate your…tactfulness in that situation.” The King sighed. He was surprised, though, when Simone beckoned him. He followed, but looked a little concerned. “Please know, Simone, that I do not expect anything from you. I will not force anything onto you…”

Simone shrugged a bit, “I already knew that. My father had you looked into quite thoroughly.” It might have shocked Lewis a little bit as Simone led him through the hallways. It was almost like a maze. They found themselves in a dusty office that had no way out or in. “It’s his secret office. We met here to discuss family matters. Only him and I knew about it.”

She took the candle and started to light the sconces on the wall. It was a dreary sight after two years. There was a painting of the last queen Camille. “My mother,” she looked at it with a smile. “I’m glad he never found out about this room.”

She went over to the desk and started to pilfer through it. “If you so desire you can use this room. However, that’s not why I brought you here.” She pulled out some papers and handed them to him. “They caught me in a carriage on my way out of Auclair two years ago. I had this.” It was a marriage proposal to Lewis. “It was my idea partially. We knew they were planning something. You were one of the few people who were up and coming. New. So Father looked into you. It’s why he finally approached you once he knew you were safe. However, treaties take a while to form if they aren’t done by marriage… So I told Father to use me. Once we got word that they were starting to move we knew we no longer had time to act… So Father put me in a carriage and I was on my way to you when they realized I wasn’t in the castle.”

Lewis looked around the old office of the previous king. It seemed like quite the treasure trove of information, and Lewis wondered what he and Xeik could glean from it all. But, Simone wanted to show him something of importance first, so that would have to wait. He read the document over, listening to Simone about the treaty and marriage proposal.

“So he knew who I was. It’s a shame, really. A tyrant in name only,” Lewis said with a sigh. “One of the few who could look past the lies and see the truth. Jurian was a good man. The world is a worse place without him…” He looked over to Simone. “Thank you for this information.” He wandered around the office for a moment longer, reading the titles of the books and documents.

“This one here,” Lewis stated with a curious tone. “It’s not like the rest. A book of poems?” He noticed that Simone took interest. Compared to the rest of the books here, it seems well worn. I assume…” He opened the front cover, where an elegant handwriting spelled out, ‘To my beloved daughter, Simone.’

He closed the cover, and handed her the book. “You should keep this safe.” The King went back to looking over the documents, finally sitting behind the desk. “I think…I’ll stay here for the night. Saoirse will likely not be able to find me.” He smirked. “I won’t take anymore of your time. You can do as you wish…”

Simone gave a smile, “I saw through it too. I was scared of you at first but… Once we met I knew you weren’t all that bad. I told Father to look into it if he didn’t believe me. I’m one of his trusted advisers after all. Or was.”

It was red in color, the book that Lewis handed her. “Oh! I remember this quite well! It’s a first edition of the one of the poetry books I had.” She seemed more lively once she saw the book and flipped through it. “He got it for me for when he spent long hours working on paperwork he needed my help on. Something I could read over and over again.” She hugged it to her and smiled. “It’s good memories.”

Simone looked at him sitting down and tilted her head. “I have a better idea…”

“Simone, you don’t have to do this,” Lewis was arguing with her.

“Oh please,” Simone shushed him as she opened another passage across from the room she was in. “I think this is better than sitting in that chair all night.” She was opening the door to her room when Saoirse came around the corner. Simone was quick to jump on Lewis with her arms around him. She locked lips with him and sounded out of breath, “Take me in King Lewis.” She opened the door and Lewis brought her in. Once they were inside she got down off of him and shut the door. “I find it amusing watching Saoirse’s pissed-off faces.” She walked over to the bed and grabbed Lewis.

For a while, she was jumping up and down on the bed with Lewis making wild noises. She would elbow Lewis to help her. Once she was sure Saoirse was gone Simone was laughing. “You are going to hear about this in the morning.”

Simone got down and pulled the covers back. “The bed you got me fits like ten people in it… I think you can sleep on the other side while giving me privacy.”

The fact that Simone knew so many secret passages through the castle was a boon, but Lewis was worried about how she might abuse such a power. Still, having Saoirse shocked at their sudden appearance was absolutely worth it, and the horror on her face as Simone forced a kiss was a sight to behold. Lewis himself was quite shocked at the bold action Simone took, and as Saoirse stormed out of the room, he realized that Simone was enjoying herself.

As the noise they were making finally died down, Lewis smirked. “I get it now. You’re just fucking with her.” The fact that she went to such extremes to do so was merely icing on the cake. “You would get along really well with Vela. She and her husband have been a great help…but she doesn’t have many friends.”

He realized after a moment that Simone was insinuating they sleep together, and Lewis sighed. “I do have a lot of work to do, though…”

Simone gave him a look, and he let out another sigh.

“Fine,” he said as he pointed. “But I want that side. I sleep better on my left…”

“Vela seems nice,” Simone smirked a bit. “I bet she is stalking the room and listening to.” So she was fucking with two people. “She came to tell me Saoirse was forcing herself on you again. She has a very low opinion of her. I don’t mind helping. I hate women that can’t stand on their own two feet.”

“You can work after you get some sleep. Besides we were passionately making love. If you leave right now it will be suspicious.”

In the morning, she got up and stretched as her nightgown strings fell off her shoulder. “Good morning King Lewis~” She greeted him. “One thing before you go to breakfast.” She put her lips to his neck and left a nice purple mark. “There, now get out.”

Vela was at breakfast all starry-eyed, “TELL ME ABOUT YOUR NIGHT.”

Xeik looked at Lewis, “What the hell were you doing? Jumping up and down on the fucking bed?”