The cathedral doors were slammed open, “God damn it Xeik I told you we needed to hurry.” Her heels clicking against the marble were what shut everyone up. “I knew this was going to happen.”

“You wanted to stop and look at the damn squirrels,” Xeik was flailing his arms.

“Yes, but I wanted to be on time,” the beautiful redhead was causing waves.

“Who are you?!” Llywellyn got up and blocked off Lewis and Simone. “We just had a death and you are un–”

“Oh, get the fuck out of my way Child,” Angela shoved him. “For gods sake, she really did die.”

“…You are in a mood today my lady,” Xeik said as he sighed. “Shall I fetch the book?”

“If you take any longer fetching the book I’m going to get a new apprentice,” Angela shrugged her shoulders. “Lewis put Simone upon the altar. Now.”

“What’s the fucking point?!” Lewis yelled at her. “It’s a waste of time I’d ra–” Angela punched him across the face.

“There, better. Put her on the table,” Angela shook her fist and Xeik came back in. “It’s about time.”

“Resurrection is on page three hundred?” Xeik asked as he flipped through the book.

“Oh that’s basic resurrection,” Angela took the book once he got to it. “We need to take the bolt out and patch the heart.” She tilted her head at Xeik. “Well… Chop chop apprentice. This is why I wanted them married sooner. I didn’t realize the dumb fuck would still do it. At least he didn’t kill both of them.”

“Who… Are you?” Llywellyn could barely register what was going on but this lady… She had power.

“Huh? Me? Just a drifter,” Angela gave a smile.

“She’s a damn liar,” Xeik answered. “Let me introduce my lady… The Goddess of Life and Love… Angela.” Xeik presented her and Angela waved her hand.

“The bolt Xeik. Stay on topic or we’re going to lose the chance to do a basic resurrection.” The two were performing a miracle in front of everyone. The crowd got quiet as Simone was placed on the altar and the bolt was removed.

“Honestly, this was a pretty clean shot. She felt no pain,” Angela said, “Still a shitty thing to do.”

“You could have just killed the assassin…” Xeik said out loud with an eye roll.

“I can’t just do whatever I want. I can only interfere so much,” Angela commented out loud as her magic pumped into Simone. “Mortals are so… fucking unpredictable.” Simone was breathing again. “She’ll be asleep for the next few days.” Angela looked at Lewis. “Your bride lives.”

Dealing with the Goddess was such a pain sometimes. They had been late because of Lady Angela’s interest in what they thought was a new variant of squirrels. Xeik couldn’t deny that they looked interesting, but they had an important schedule to keep, and-

“I’m getting the damn bolt,” Xeik said as he waved his hand. “We have more than enough time.” He expertly removed the bolt and patched the wound with ease. It was as if he had done this hundreds of times. Which, in his defense, he had. It took little time at all for him to prepare her for the resurrection spell.

Mana flooded the room, weaving around Angela as she channeled the spell. And just like that, it was all done.

Lewis hated being told what to do, but he pushed all of that pride aside when the Goddess told him that his beloved Simone lives.

“Wait…you mean to tell me that you…ypu are Lady Angela? The one who’s been sending me orders? You’re a fucking GOD?”

Xeik held up his hand, “Goddess. A very thirsty Goddess…” He glared. “I swear to Nemesis that if I catch you watching them have sex again…”

Angela waved her hand, “I told you I can’t interfere whenever I want. I can however have someone interfere for me.” She smirked towards Lewis. “Think of yourself like my dagger.”

Llywellyn had a look on his face, “You watch them having sex?”

“I watch you having sex too. You suck at it,” Angela crossed her arms. “You need to learn how to properly be in control if you don’t let Je–”

“ANGELA,” Xeik yelled at her.

“Fine, I won’t give sex advice,” Angela shrugged. “In any case, I need you to continue to be my dagger. I’m only allowed so much and this is what I’m allowed. For the world to become a better place… I need you to do this.”

She opened her mouth a bit, “After all… Simone also got information from me.”

“You set them up,” Avery was quick on the draw. Angela smirked a bit.

“I… would never…”

“She absolutely would,” Xeik looked unimpressed. “It’s her job to guide people together. Her methods are weird but they work. Most of the time. Bad marriages happen when they go against what she’s doing… By now…”

“You tried to have me assassinate Simone,” Lewis spoke under his breath.

“No,” Angela shook her head. “I made you aware of Simone. You were never going to be able to do it. These things are all predestined. Though… I would have hoped you had been in front of her. I had no idea she would straight up abandon Jerome and begin her information business. That was a boon. She is such a smart girl. Love at first sight spells only work one time and god damn it that she didn’t ruin that herself.” Angela shrugged.

–

Simone fluttered her eyes awake and Martha dropped what she was holding. "MASTER LEWIS! LADY SIMONE IS FINALLY AWAKE!" The maid tore out as she screamed it aloud for everyone to hear. Everyone was waiting for the duchess to wake up.

This was all quite the revelation for Lewis. An actual Goddess was the one guiding his actions. It was a little peace of mind though that Simone had screwed up her initial plan, which at least made him feel as though he were in control of his own actions and decisions. But, of course, the most important part of it all-

“You brought her back.” That was mostly what mattered at this point. He dropped the whole deity thing real quick and instead went straight to Simone. “She’s alive?”

“Sleeping,” Xeik said as he crossed his arms. “It’ll be a few days before she wakes up. The heavy parts of the healing were done using her own energy, so it’ll take some time for her to reconcile that.” He twirled his fingers, “It’s a little more complicated than that, but-”

“Don’t care,” Lewis said as he took her into his arms. “She’s…alive…” He was cradling her. “My Simone…”

“Did you even need a love potion?” Xeik asked Angela. “He’s head over heels for her even without it…”

—-

Days passed, and the moment Simone woke up, Lewis was in the room before anyone else could make it. Sylva stopped everyone else at the door, making sure not to overwhelm the newly awakened Simone.

“Simone…are you…are you okay?” Lewis reached out to take her hand.

Angela shrugged a bit, “He would have slit her throat initially… This is all them. Sometimes it works like that.” She waved her hands and the two made their way out. “Consider this my wedding present to you both.”

–

Simone was groggy at best and at worst the world was blurry for a bit. He had her hand and she squeezed it. It took her a moment to recognize Lewis and realize that something had happened to her. The image of her blood all over him from the well-placed arrow. Her eyes blinked a few more times as her lips moved to form words that couldn’t yet come out. Soon though she closed her eyes and let out a soft breath. “Who are you?” She tilted her head at him.

Lewis almost immediately began to freak out and start demanding answers. He seemed to be screaming for someone but Simone let out a squeal of laughter. “I’m just playing with you.” She had enough energy for this as she began to sit up slowly.

Her black hair fell over her shoulder and her gray eyes were watching him. “You seem concerned for me.” She reached over and took his face with a smile. “That brings me great joy that you love me for real.” She had vivid dreams and she wondered if it was someone’s influence. She could see the way he had been acting while she was asleep and it was too real for her to really ignore.

“I’m sorry I ruined our wedding…” Though she had a feeling he would scold her because it was someone else’s fault. “About who killed me…” She knew she had been killed, something was telling her she had been. “I think I know who ordered it but without proof, we’re up shit creek.”

She rubbed her neck a bit and looked away, “Though to be honest… I am way too tired to think about it. I just want to spend it with you for a while… Is that okay?”

Lewis had freaked out when she started to fake amnesia, and even started to call for Angela and Xeik. What he thought was a nightmare, though, turned out to be nothing more than an innocent prank front he awakened Simone. She smiled as she sat up, showing that, while she was alive, she was still weak.

“You have nothing to apologize for,” Lewis said as she tried to take the blame for the wedding. “I’ve been tracing a paper trail back to the best of my ability to find who put out a hit on you…” It wasn’t easy though. Most of his leads ended with nothing to show. The assassins that were used for this hit were almost as good as he was.

Almost, though, was not enough to stop Lewis. He had several more ideas on where to track them down. It was only a matter of time.

Yet, at the behest of Simone, he immediately dropped all thoughts of the assassin and took her hands. “Spending time with you is more important. What do you want to do? Rest? There’s the gardens…you could show me around the gardens. Or we can simply leave and go wherever you want…” It was like a completely different Lewis.

This Lewis was new to her. He wasn’t putting on an act for her. It was more like he was preciously holding her close to him. It made her smile and she pulled him close and pushed her head up under his chin. “I’ll think about it… Just stay here for the moment…”

Her hands gripped his and she laced her fingers with his. “We should get her a cloak or something so she isn’t cold outside Master Lewis.” It was Martha and she looked as equally concerned as Sylva who was lingering behind her.

“You knew I would choose the gardens…” Simone blushed a bit and smiled up at Lewis. “I’ll show you my favorite gardens.” She slowly got up and Angela appeared in an ethereal form.

“Ah! she’s awake good! There might be some tenderness where the bolt was so take good care of her Lewis. I sent a bird with some salve to put on her. Make sure she gets it put on where it was the next few days. It will help with the soreness.” The goddess dissipated and Simone tilted her head.

“She’s the one who saved me then?” Simone was warmly dressed and she frumphed about as the maids and even Lewis were not accepting no for an answer. She put warm little slippers on her and she took Lewis out and about into the gardens showing him all of her favorite spots. “You…” She looked up at Lewis. “Are acting like I’m something mighty precious to you.”

The dream… was oddly vivid. She put her fingers where his eyes were. “Did you cry over me?” She tilted her head. “I… vaguely recall. It’s hard. It was a dream for me. Mostly colors now that I’m awake.”

She left his side and ventured away from him. “I have an idea who put a hit on me,” she looked up at Lewis. “The only one who would benefit from my death. Your death. It is only a working theory…” Simone waved one of the female gardeners over. “Have you heard any rumors as of late?”

“Well, my friend at the Flores Estate… Said that their master was giddy about the prospect of new land and… well mines My Lady. I don’t know why he would get so much out of nowhere.” Simone crossed her arms and put her hand under her chin.

“Anything else?” The gardener shook her head. “Thank you, Bristol.” The gardener excused herself and Simone looked up at Lewis. “It looks like Jerome might be our culprit but we’ll have to dig to find who he used. It would have had to be short notice and that means there will be mistakes.”

The walk in the gardens was a change of pace for Lewis. The past few days while she rested were nothing but a frantic search for Lewis and his group of assassins as they worked tirelessly to track down the paper trail of the assassin. Despite his visible exhaustion, Lewis did his best to accommodate Simone in every way possible. He fretted over her clothes, making sure she was dressed warmly, and took time to scan the gardens for any threats to her safety.

“I…I’m not sure what I did,” Lewis replied honestly. He didn’t remember crying. He didn’t remember a lot of the emotions he felt. There was one, though, that he remembered vividly. “All I can remember is the feeling of my heart being ripped out.” It was the best way to describe that loss he felt. He had never experienced anything so intense in his life.

Well, except the feeling of relief when Angela told him that she lived.

Simone took some time to talk to her sources, and in the end, Jerome’s name popped up. It made sense, in a way, and Lewis was surprised he didn’t think about it beforehand. “He would have the funds to do it. I just figured he wouldn’t try with so many eyes on him.”

Lewis thought for a moment, crossing his arms. “If we work backwards, under the assumption that it is him, we might…” He closed his eyes. “The last few trails were left at dead ends. But if it’s Jerome, he has haunts. Regulars. He wouldn’t just go for any old assassin guild, he would go for one of the best. And since I wasn’t an option…and based on his time, location, and…”

This went of for a few minutes as Lewis pieced together a few strings of thought. “I think we can pin it on him. I would need to pull recent movement reports on the guilds in question…”

“And here I thought you didn’t feel anything for me. Not really…” She got close to him before kissing him softly. “…It’s nice to know that we don’t have to pretend forever.” She put her hands into his and held them for a small amount of time. “I think after a while it might have hurt if we had no feelings.”

She thought about Jerome and sighed a bit, “We probably really pissed him off. He is an irrational human being. He was quick to dissolve our engagement thinking we were a poor house but he never looked into my inheritance from the Montes.”

Simone nodded a bit, “It’s been a while but I think if we head into the city of Tapil we can get the information we want. I happen to know a few good places for information there.” She thought about it and sighed. “If you go into the whore house I’m divorcing you,” she gave him a blank look before chuckling. “They wouldn’t be able to keep their hands off of you.”

They made their way out of the gardens and into a planning room she had. It was very organized. Avery was there and his eyes got wide as she showed up. “MONE!” He greeted Simone and bowed to Lewis out of formality. “I had a feeling you would be here soon.”

Mone nodded and she pulled out a map. “The cities of Tapil, Kram, and Vlansea. These are major ports of information that I’ve used for years.” This was hard for Mone to give up what gave her an advantage. “Since you are my husband now it’s only fair that I disclose how I come up with my information.” Avery looked nervous but nodded with Simone. “It starts with the house help. They gossip and that gives us a baseline. From there we can go into the cities and talk with the other women. The brothels in particular are great sources of information. We filter out all the information that is different and get the factual information and from there we can take the broken pieces and decide which one is the real facet of information. Men have loose lips during sex.” Simone seemed displeased with this.

“Flip a bit of silver here or there and you can get a man to squeal all his secrets for some good… Well, whatever the hell it is you men like,” Simone was bright red. “Anyways… We have a contact in each of the brothels.”

Lewis followed Simone into her planning room, and nodded towards Avery when he bowed. He was used to people bowing before him, but it was odd when it came from another noble. Avery had a massive amount of respect for Simone, and it showed. He rolled his eyes at the whore house comment; he had already more than proven his devotion for Simone. For her to question it this early…

“Likewise, I will show you my sources when we are given the opportunity,” Lewis stated. “This is, after all, a give and take. I would not take advantage of your kindness…” Anyone else he might have, but for Simone? Never. “There are other ways of loosening the lips of men. Women too…a knife in one’s knee tends to do the trick as well.” He smirked. “If you wish to learn those tricks, it will take time. But for now…we will rely on your sources.” He was dancing around the subject of what ‘pleased’ men. It didn’t really matter right now.

And Simone had to know what please Lewis at this point.

“So we move as soon as you are able. A few days of rest should be sufficient.” Normally he would have left without her, but he had a gut feeling that if he did so, she would follow whether or not she was capable. “Eat and rest easy…we leave in three days.”