It wasn’t often that Lewis was caught off guard, but having his most trusted advisor hop in after he and his new fiance had fallen off a bed was perhaps one of the most compromising positions he had ever found himself in. Despite this, though, it was better for it to have been Xeik than anyone else, especially Vela.

Of course, the moment that Lewis had this thought, a familiar angel popped her head in with a wide smile across her face, her eyes wide with glee.

“Oh what do we have heeerreee?” she said excitedly, practically vibrating with the potential gossip. “The first night and you two are already breaking things just to get it on…”

Lewis sighed, “That’s not even remotely what happened, Vela.” As Xeik helped untalge the two, helping Simone to sit on the bed. “Besides…I doubt Lady Simone would want to be intimate with me anytime soon.”

“I’ll say,” Xeik said as he poked her arm, getting a wince from Simone. “It looks like a minor fracture. Nothing too physically straining for awhile now. Normally it would take about twelve weeks, but with a touch of magic we can shorten that to about a few days. Still, Simone, your body has several deficiencies, so you need to be careful until your dietary needs are fully met. Have you been eating?”

Simone glanced to the side, “N-not much.”

Xeik glanced to Lewis, and gave him a look. When he didn’t catch on fast enough, the advisor cleared his throat.

“Oh. OH!” Lewis exclaimed as he caught on. “Simone…as my fiance, even if in name only, it is my duty to make sure you’re eating properly. So…tomorrow morning, two bells after dawn, I except to see you in the dining hall for breakfast. And…please eat more than just a few bites?” It was weird seeing him try to be demanding and caring at the same time.

Simone was blushing bright red as she looked in between Xeik and Lewis. “And… what are the consequences of me not coming?”

“Then I’ll come and get you,” Lewis said with a straight face.

The princess looked at him with a tilted head and wondered just how serious he was about it. Xeik had Lewis set her down as he worked on fastening a sling to her. “Wear this and make sure not to sleep on that side of you… Okay?”

“Fineeee…” Simone pouted before having Lewis escort her back. “I’m fine King Lewis… Really…”

“I didn’t know your hobbies included hurting yourself on the regular…” Lewis looked at her with a concerned look.

“I don’t have a hobby like that,” Simone pouted up at him.

Saoirse looked around the corner as they passed, “Vela, what happened?”

Vela looked at Saoirse and then looked at the two of them, “Lewis fucked her too hard and fractured her arm.” That got Saoirse pissed and she stomped off.

–

In the morning, Simone hadn’t really planned on getting out of bed. She was laying on her other side to protect her arm and she overslept past the bells.

“I don’t really think he’ll storm in here anyway…” She snuggled into the pillow. “More sleep…”

It wasn’t even five minutes after the second bell from dawn when the door burst open and Lewis strolled in. “Rise and shine,” he said with a bored tone as he walked over. “Hope you’re decently covered…” Without waiting for her to react, he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, minding her arm.

“LEWIS!?” she yelled, struggling futility against him. She knew better than to hurt herself, but the shock of him suddenly hauling her off like a damsel was more than she bargained for.

The dining hall was set with a variety of different foods. Unlike the previous times Simone had attended meals, there was much more variety than there was quantity, as if he were trying to make sure there was at least something tha Simone would eat. Saoirse did not seem pretty happy, though, as Lewis waltzed in with Simone over his shoulder. The entire hall had been commanded not to touch their food until Simone was present.

“Here,” he said, putting her down in the chair next to him.

“Look at her…so disheveled…” Saoirse muttered with a sneer. “Improper bitch…”

“Now Simone,” Lewis said as he offered her a plate. “What do you want…my fiancé gets first pick.”

Simone was sat down in the chair and she looked like she had just woken up. To be fair, she had just woken up. Taking the plate from him she looked over the spread. “Mm…” And she had to eat a full meal.

She made a full plate and sat back down. “I can’t use my one arm,” she looked up at Lewis. “It’s my dominate.” Her eyes flickered to Saoirse. “So…” She looked back at him. “I guess you’ll have to feed me.”

“I could get a maid to do it,” Lewis said it as a joke but Simone looked at him with a smirk.

“But my king you need to take responsibility for being way too rough with me,” Simone said and Lewis let out a defeated sigh. He picked up the fork and helped her eat. Surprisingly, she cleared her plate and gave her compliments to the help. “Thank you for feeding me. If you don’t mind now I need to take a bath and get dressed… Since someone took me directly out of bed.” She said it with a laugh as she took her personal maid and left. There was no reason why Lewis needed to be dragged into the bathing area with her.

Saoirse held up her hand, “My king, I am worried that she is making a fool out of you. No one should be able to make you feed them like that…”

As Simone left, Lewis was half tempted to tell her that it was his responsibility to bathe her as well, using her logic. That statement, though, might have crossed a line if he said it, so he kept the joke to himself. There would be other ways to get back at Saoirse for her torment.

“It would seem that you misunderstand, Saoirse,” Lewis stated in a regal manner. Those who knew who he was could barely look him in the eye when he used this tone. It was almost too funny. “I am but a fool when it comes to the intricacies of how a Queen and King should represent themselves in any capacity. If it is my duty to take care of her due to a costly mistake on my part, then I shall do so without complaint.” He glanced over her way. “Or would you dare defy your King and soon to be Queen?”

Vela was practically dying trying to hold back the laughter. Lewis using his ‘grown up’ voice was priceless alone, but coupled with his demeaning remarks to Saoirse, it was pure comedy gold to her.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me,” Lewis said as he stood up. “I have other duties to attend to.” And surely he did. The public office was now open today, which meant that he would hear the complaints of the people. Sure, it was through a representative that carried a list, but it was still perhaps one of the more stressful parts of the job.

He wondered what Simone would do…

—

The day passed without word from his fiance, and he wondered what she had gotten up to. When Lewis arrived in the bedchambers, she was nowhere to be found, and that got him curious, if not a little worried. When he asked around, one of the maids told him she was last spotted outside the east gate, where a small flower garden was.

It took him a moment to navigate his way there. Surely enough, though, Simone was there….

Simone looked up at Lewis from the flowers she sat in. “I wasn’t expecting you to come find me.” She gave a smile and looked up at the sky. “I have a heartache tonight.”

Lewis moved and sat down by her. “It’s my responsibility now isn’t it?” He tilted his head and sighed, “I don’t know how to help with the heartache.”

“This is where you ask me what’s wrong…” Simone chuckled and pulled her legs up so she could put her chin on her knees.

“What’s wrong?” Lewis decided to go with what she had said. It must have been what she had wanted.

“Today… is the anniversary of Felix taking everything from me. At least the last of it,” She stretched and moved her head back so she could look up at the sky. “I had a good friend. He took care of me when my fiance had broken off his engagement to me. He was a prince from an elven kingdom not too far away. He was the first person to come running when the rumors reached him that I was dead. Felix tortured him in unimaginable ways for what I knew. I had told my friend my secret, my father approved of my confidant of course. He told me not to tell Felix and to promise him I would never tell him. So I didn’t.”

Mone looked sad, “I pride myself in being one step ahead of my enemies. I should have just left Auclair when I knew I could… I was worried about leaving my father behind… I got them both killed.”

This was far from anything that Lewis was used to. Marching armies towards fortresses, commanding intricate battles, and duels to the death were more of his area of expertise. Talking to women about heartache? He hadn’t the slightest idea what to do or say. He was quiet for a time as he tried his hardest to come up with an answer, and the silence was almost painful. If anyone had been watching, they would have been screaming at Lewis to say something. Anything.

“I mean…in a way, I guess you did,” Lewis said finally.

Anything…but that.

The look on Simone’s face drooped and she was glaring at him. “They were right about you with one thing.” She stood up quickly. “You are a cold-hearted bastard.”

It was the truth, she knew it was but she didn’t want to hear it at the time. She wanted him to lie to her or at least argue the point it hadn’t been her fault. She stormed off away from him. Despite whatever he might have been trying to say to her she didn’t hear anything. She was well aware he would come try and kiss her ass or try and clear up a misunderstanding.

So… She simply disappeared into the castle. Where he couldn’t find her. She was somewhere in the passages. Most likely in rooms only accessible by the secret passages.

The moment Simone’s face changed, Lewis knew he had said something wrong. Before he could say anything to even attempt to fix the situation, she was gone. He searched for a few hours that night, and realized that she knew the castle far too well, and sighed, giving up. Maybe she deserved the time away to cool her head.

Days passed, and Simone remained missing. Rumors of a pale ghost started to spread around the castle…a spectre that haunted the halls, stealing babies and devouring souls. Or, at least food that had been left unattended. It seemed that, despite her disappearing act, she was still eating.

Lewis found himself wandering the halls in what little free time he had, trying to locate the missing princess. Vela had done a fantastic job at uncovering some of the secrets of Auclair, but she was one scout, and there were far too many passages for one woman to find.

The King left notes…ones that he knew she would find. Apologies, stating he had messed up, and that he had no idea how to fix it. He knew that they went missing, but had no way of knowing if she was actually reading them or not.

It took Saoirse a few days to realize that Simone had disappeared. This was her chance!

Lewis was laying in bed, reading over notes. He had searched for Simone for another few hours that day, with no luck. Half naked, Saoirse snuck into the room, closing and locking the door behind her. The King glanced up, and made an audible sigh.

“What do you want,” Lewis asked.

“You,” Saoirse replied seductively, practically crawling towards him.

“Fine. Do whatever and just get out. I don’t have time for your games…” He didn’t feel like fighting her. It would be easier to just put up with the woman for a brief time than argue against it. And she knew that too.

Simone found his apologies and read them. A few more days and he might have taken enough punishment for what he did. The princess was smart as she went into Vela’s quarters at night and rummaged. Vela was freaked out many times by the noise only to see that her maps were out. It took her a while to realize Simone had been coming into her room.

The wall by Lewis’s bed shook and moved knocking over a book that was hanging off his nightstand as it came open. “Do you always steal a woman’s man when she leaves for a few days?” Simone was looking quite a bit healthier now. “Do you honestly know no shame?”

Saoirse screamed from the sudden appearance of Simone. “YOU!” Saoirse pointed. “You can’t just come into the king’s bedroom.”

“Why not? It’s my bedroom too if we want to be technical. Besides he comes into my bedroom whenever he wants. Get out.”

Saoirse was seeing red as she stormed out. “Stupid bitch.”

“She really doesn’t like me~” Simone said. “Well, I came here to save you and now I can leave.”