Simone looked over Lewis’s shoulder and kissed it. “This is very, very good. We should probably leave though and let Llywellyn know about this.”

Taking out a communication mirror once they were in the clear Simone woke Llywellyn up. “Why are you covered in blood?”

“Business… I have some information for you… These are the people who took the job of killing me.” She relayed everything to Llywellyn and luckily for them it was in his borders. The lazy king even pulled himself out of bed to immediately take care of it. She put the mirror away and looked up at Lewis.

“We should enjoy playing with our food a bit. First a bath… And sleep…” She sighed a bit. “Then I’m going to fuck with Jerome.” She got them back to the Silver Chalice and Calypse took a look at them.

“You two have been through hell tonight…” Calypse chuckled and took them up to a private room that was Simones. “You can rest and get freshened up here. This side of the house should be quiet.”

“Thanks, Calypse,” Simone closed the door and Simone slid down it. Her nerves finally had her shaking. “I didn’t think I would make it. You do that stuff all the time but I’ve never… It was my first time.” She laughed a bit and smiled up at him. “Guess we’re really partners now… Aren’t we?”

Lewis took off his cloak and the variety of daggers that were strapped to his body. “For someone who’s not acclimated, you did very well. I’d say you have a natural talent for it, though I’d recommend getting better at controlling your squeamishness if you intend on taking any more jobs.” He was smiling, and he walked over to her, sitting down at her side. “Partners, through thick and thin…” He held up his hand, looking at the ring on his finger.

What had started out as nothing more than a mistake had evolved into so much in such a short time. That damned Goddess had a part in it too, but in the end it was all their own doing. He looked over to see that Simone had drifted off while leaning against him, and he smirked. He’d let her sleep for awhile before moving her to the bed. After that, maybe a little extra work, and then more rest.

And after that would be Jerome. Lewis would make sure that he would have a slow and painful death. There were plenty of ways to keep a man alive even through the most extreme tortures, and Lewis was privy to a wide variety of ways to do so. He smirked. This was going to be a fun night.

Simone looked comforted with Lewis’s words and nodded as he called them partners. She moved her hand up to his and wove her fingers. “Partners.” He let her rest but not too much before other activities happened. They had time for more rest before they decided to enact a place.

It was simple yet effective. They ambushed Jerome’s carriage headed back to his estate. Most likely he was coming back with the new wife he had acquired. First, they managed to get the carriage to break its wheel. They waited in the shadows of the trees.

“Jerome, this is all your fault,” the blonde threw herself onto the carriage seat as Jerome came out to ask what happened with the coach.

“Hush Vista,” Jerome snapped at her and pulled at his hair a bit. Looks like the newly wedded couple wasn’t that happy after all. It got a smile from Simone who was quick to take out the coach knocking him out. Lewis came up and threw a sack over Jerome’s head. Vista who was blissfully unaware only came out after she didn’t hear Jerome anymore. “HELP!”

Throwing the man over the horse Simone looked up at Lewis. “Have me ride with you,” there was a smirk as they linked the horses and traveled together. “I think we can borrow a room for this at the duchy… Unless you think we should take him somewhere else?” She tilted her head up at Lewis.

Vista’s screaming was bound to bring more people eventually… Whether it was good or bad who knew. As long as they never saw Lewis and Simone the duchess didn’t care one way or another.

And of course, no one ever saw Lewis when he wished it so. The two had moved perfectly in synch, and there was no way that either of them were seen, and no trackable traces of their presence was left.

“Wherever is fine,” Lewis said. “As long as we clean up after ourselves and pay off the right people, it won’t matter where we take care of this business.” He knew of several places that would work, but a comfortable room sounded nice for once. Ht was hoping that Simone wouldn’t mind a little blood in the carpet.

Ultimately, they made their way to the dutchy. It was easy enough to ‘order’ everyone out of the manor. The less eyes to see anything, the less lies were needed to cover things up. Lewis took Jerome into one of the many rooms, and tied the man to a chair. He removed the bag over his head, and took a step back.

“Ugly bastard up close,” Lewis said with a sneer. “Guess when you live your life in sin, it catches up…” He sighed. “Once he wakes up, I’ll let you start. You have the most at stake here.” He paused. “I’ll make sure you don’t kill him, though…I want at least one turn…”

It was like watching animals scurry. They didn’t really have any questions as they ran. She said to leave and they did. The less they knew the less of a chance their mistress would get in trouble for what she was about to do. Simone changed into something more comfortable after all of the commotions and came in with Lewis. She wrapped her arms around his waist and peeked around him. “Yeah, he used to be a bit more handsome when we were younger but… Karma.”

Batting her eyes up at Lewis she nodded, “I’m not too good with revenge plots I’ll admit. Blood makes me queasy but… He took my life from me over jealousy. Though I am sure my husband is much more upset than I am.” She gave a smirk and watched as Jerome started to come to.

His eyes were fixated on Lewis at first, “What? Your wife died and now you have to take it out on me? Trying to make Vista feel the same way you did? That won’t bring Simone back.”

Simone had hidden behind Lewis at first and Jerome noticed the movement of someone else in the room. “Who’s with you? A new lover already?”

Peeking her head out she gave Jerome a look. “Hardly.”

“…How the fuck… I watched you die.”

“You should have stayed for the entire show instead of running off like a coward,” Simone went over to a table and hummed a bit. “Someone brought me back for Lewis. A wedding present.” She gave a smile. “Love, I’m having a hard time getting this open…” It was a bottle of wine and two glasses. She puffed up her face as she struggled. “I give up… Fix it,” she pointed her dainty finger at the bottle and pouted at Lewis. She had never been good at opening wine bottles even as Lady Azure.

“Now, I’m sure you’ve realized by now why we have you here… Why did you put the bounty on me?”

“…I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jerome denied it but Simone threw the paperwork at him.

“Don’t be a fucking idiot. We didn’t go through all this trouble so you could tell us you didn’t do it,” her eyes narrowed on him. “You’ve always been a sly bastard but when were you going to tell Godwin that you were going to kill Vista?”

Jerome’s face never changed, “That’s entirely your fault.”

“Killing your poor pregnant wife,” Simone didn’t leave Lewis’s side. “She’s no good to you anymore. It was a poison crest on her brooch she was wearing,” she spoke up to Lewis. “It would slowly kill her and the baby.”

Watching the realization dawn on Jerome’s face was something quite spectacular. It was amusing to Lewis’ first the shock, then the rage. The worm of a man strained against his restraints.

For the most part, Lewis stayed silent during their exchange as he opened the bottle for Simone. He smiled and poured a glass for Simone and himself, and took a sip.

“It seems you were trying so hard to amass power, and you failed,” Lewis said as he drew a dagger, offering it to Simone. “At this point, any further conversation at this point will result in nothing substantial.”

Simone hesitantly took the dagger. She had watched Lewis do this once, and even participated a little. A part of her wanted to let her husband do all of it; the blood wasn’t something she could handle, but there was something personal about the dagger meeting corrupted flesh.

“Oops,” she said as she cut too deep the first time. Jerome hissed, trying hard to fight against his restraints.

“Try again, but this time…hold this way.” Lewis carefully adjusted her grip. “You’ll have a better grip…”

“You’re revolting,” Jerome screamed. “A freak. An abomination!”

Lewis smirked. “After you practice…I’ll show you how easy it is to remove a tongue…”

—-

It took hours. There were a few times they had to stop and heal Jerome just to prolong the agony. Simone did a good job, but ultimately had to sit out for the more brutal acts of torture.

In the end, he died begging for mercy. At least, that’s what Lewis assumed he was saying. It was hard to tell without the tongue.

“He’s unrecognizable,” the assassin said with a smirk. “He was never here. This was another assassin who was sent to kill you, and I interrogated him.” That was the official story. Lewis and Simone had come back, knowing they were tailed by an assassin. The staff was dismissed for their safety, and Lewis took care of the problem personally.

“You did well for your first time. I fully understand if you never want to do it again…”

Simone tilted her head at him and shook it. “I’ll learn. After all, if we are partners I have to learn right?” She wasn’t as innocent as everyone thought she was. This was all going according to not only their plan but something so much more as well. “We should report this to Llywellyn and have him handle it from here. He could probably use it for all the more reason to take down the Shades.”

She took a seat in the room and watched Jerome’s corpse. “And we can use Vista to our advantage. We still need to put Godwin under our thumb… And Jerome gave us a good way to do it.” She tilted her head and thought about it. “Tell Martha and Sylva to prepare for our wedding reception now that we can have one. We’ll handle everything there.”

Simone looked up at Lewis. “After that… We can go on a honeymoon if you want,” she sounded so shy as she thought about it. “The coast is pretty and once we have Godwin under our control we don’t have to worry about it anymore.”

Lewis smirked. “A new empire…run by the Aucliar family.” He thought about if for a moment. “Never was much for ruling, but you do have a great knack for it.” He walked over to Simone and looked into her eyes. “A fearsome Queen, and her deadly King beside her…I think we could unite the world…”

He laughed, and kissed her. “But that can come after the honeymoon. I couldn’t be bothered until then…” But that, indeed, was the the plan. With the blessing of the Goddess, Lewis and Simone consolidated their powers and created a nation that could not be rivaled…

Some tried to stop it, but most embraced the new age. It was a time of peace and prosperity…

The end?