It was almost time for the scheduled dinner, but Lewis was not anywhere near mentally prepared for it. It had been Roma’s idea, and from the start, Lewis had been against it, and instead wanted to opt for the more direct approach. Direct meaning a dagger directly in both of his brothers and be done with the whole damned situation. But, he was trying to be reasonable, and with a bit of talking from both Simone and Xeik, he was talked down from killing.

The assassin sighed, tightening the crimson red tie around his neck. Simone and Lewis had opted to go for a black and red theme, with Lewis sporting black pants and a button down, with an elegant red silk vest with silver and gold etching. Of course, he had a few daggers tucked away in inconspicuous locations. Lewis, as usual, cleaned up surprisingly well for being an assassin.

Roma looked his best, sporting a blue and black blazer with matching pants, as well as sporting a top hat. Lewis thought he looked ridiculous, but remained stoic about the whole thing per his usual demeanor. The whole ordeal would hopefully be finished by the end of the night, so having to dress up was just a means to an end.

“Are you ready, my boy?” Roma asked. It was easy to tell that he was nervous. His nails had been chewed down to end, and when he noticed that Lewis had looked, put on white gloves to hide the fact. “Don’t worry…it will all be okay.”

“Don’t call me boy,” Lewis shot back. “Just focus on the task at hand.” He smirked. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” His father paled at the comment, knowing what a bad result would end in. “Don’t worry. I can handle any situation that arises.” Lewis could tell that Roma was trying to muster the courage to repeat the line that he had just said, but he lacked the courage to do so.

“When my brothers arrive, seat them across from me and Simone. Never put yourself between us. If they bring guards, make sure you’re never between them, and us. I can’t guarantee your safety should they decide to attack first.” This wasn’t the first time Lewis or Simone had dealt with these kinds of situations, and they had learned a lot from the years.

“By the way…what are their names?”

Roma cleared his throat. “Chester and Thallion. Chester if the eldest. Thallion is only two years younger, but he’s far more aggressive.”

Simone had opted for all of her dark tresses to be pulled up with a single red rose pinned off to the side of it. Her dress bodice was made of black lace with gold under the bust and the skirts a solid black material. It was off shoulder with the top of the bust scalloped and in the shape of a sweetheart neck. The lace sleeves clung to her arm until the elbow where it billowed out into a wide sleeve. The dress itself clung to all of her curves and had a black silk belt along her waist. “Don’t worry about it too much okay?” She kissed his nose before she did her make-up.

Once they met with Roma Simone looked between them. “We’re never going to be ready until we do this.” The wife sighed a bit. They were coming face to face with who had kidnapped Lewis and made their day a living hell. Simone straightened Lewis’s tie as a means to make herself feel less nervous. Her gray eyes met his hazel and she gave him a smile.

“Doesn’t matter how aggressive they are. I can guarantee I am far more aggressive should the need arise,” Simone didn’t mean to sound threatening.

Don’t take that off later without me okay? If everything goes okay I can show you a hell of a night to make up for this.

She gave a smirk and booped Lewis’s nose lightly to avoid ruining the lipstick on her lips. They were taken into a nice looking dining room. They had told Roma to only use their Dusk alias for their last name. There was no way they needed to know their actual name. It would be a bad thing if they found out.

The brothers zoned in on Simone and Lewis as they came. Lewis pulled the chair out for Simone as she sat down and pushed it in. They had after all trained a bit on etiquette. The brothers had their own boring wives with them. They didn’t want to be there.

The air was already tense and it was making Simone uneasy as she looked around.

And I thought I was ugly looking… Their wives are definitely no trophies. Married for money no doubt.

As the brothers and their wives sat down, Lewis made a face at Simone’s thoughts. Hush you. She knew what it meant. They had always argued about Simone’ beauty, and it had always ended with Lewis telling her how the world itself paled in comparison to her. It never really made her believe it, but she always enjoyed hearing it.

Chester was a hair shorter than Lewis, with an oddly similar build. However, in stark contrast to Lewis’ silver white hair, Chester had almost jet black hair, tied up into a ponytail. His eyes were a dark shade of blue, and seemed bored with the world. His wife must have been about half his age, but looked to be a spoiled brat. She was shorter than Simone, wearing a frilly white dress, and loaded to the teeth with jewelry, as if to show off.

Thallion was taller than Lewis, and built wide and stocky. It looked as though he were a more brutish kind of man, one who would do well in the bouncer business. From what Roma had told them earlier, he was the aggressive one, and judging by the way he carried himself, probably had the strength to back up his aggression in any normal circumstance. His wife was a larger woman, who seemed to be winded just walking to the table. As with her counterpart, she was loaded up with jewels, but there were a grade higher than the other woman’s own jewelry. Perhaps the brothers had a little rivalry going between the two, and it showed with their ‘trophy’ wives….

Both of the brothers had decided to wear similar outfits, a basic set of black slacks and a white button down, with black coats. It was basic. They both had a hard to miss look, the same ones that the nobles gave Simone when they came by to visit. It was a mix of contempt and fake hospitality, a sly, almost predatory smile mixed with disdain.

“Ah, you must be the long lost brother,” Chester said with a smile. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet. We have so much to catch up on.” He snapped his finger, and a rather skinny looking man appeared from the doorway, and came by to pull each of the seats back for every individual on their side.

That man. He’s dangerous, Lewis said as he glanced at the thin man. He’s their guard.

Lewis felt awkward as he nodded. “Chester, I presume?”

The brother had a look of fury cross his face before it disappeared, and he smiled. “I would prefer you address me with my title. As I understand it, the common folk tend to have issues remembering such niceties. You shall address me as “Lord” Chester.” He sat down, and his wife followed. “Though I am impressed. You found yourself a wife that seems to clean up for a commoner…I’m sure she’s quite fun to handle. I do see that she’s lacking in status though….”

Lewis was waiting for Simone’s input on how to react. Navigating this kind of talk was a pain in the ass, and while he wasn’t one hundred percent sure, he was pretty sure that Chester had just insulted Simone somehow.

Thallion seemed amused, but kept quiet. They were testing Simone and Lewis. They knew Roma was too much of a pushover to do anything about it.

Simone held this bored look on her face as she looked towards the brother. “Lord?” She smirked a bit. “It’s not in taste to address that of lower noble status with a title like Lord.” She leaned back in the seat. “Lewis married up actually.” She looked at Roma and gave him a sweet smile.

“I can introduce you to a few of my friends actually. The royal court of Sulwal. The king Llywellyn was one of my choices for fiancee many moons ago as it were. I’m the only daughter of the last king of Auclair before it was burnt to the ground. My blue-blood still holds weight.” They didn’t appear smart and just from saying Llywellyn’s name she knew that they had no idea.

“Well, why didn’t you marry this king?” One of the wives sneered. “You don’t wear any jewelry.”

“If you have to shout you are nobility then you aren’t. A queen. A princess. You hold yourself differently. You walk differently. You talk differently. There are no substitutes like jewelry that can fool the world.” It was true from the way she held herself. “I was recently crowned queen for a civilization on the dead island Tyr. Though I politely declined, it’s too troublesome to govern over agitated males worshiping me like I’m some goddess.” She waved her hand.

They could tell she wasn’t lying and the wives were threatened by it. “So why marry this man if you had everything?”

“That’s the joke, isn’t it? Even at such a status as a princess you never have everything. Fire can destroy everything you hold dearly and the only thing you can rely on is the relationships you have. Like Llywellyn being like a brother to me or the undying love my husband has for me. Can you say the same for yourself? Would you take a knife for your husband like I have for mine? How about being burned too death for yours? Like I have mine. I was also married to a Duke though if we count… It was another life entirely.” She waved her hand.

“What are you a monster?”

“Depends on who you are talking to. The person who threatens me and my family or my family.” Her eyes drilled into them completely.

It was simply amazing to watch Simone dismantle the four in front of them. It almost made the entire night worth the hassle, and had it not been such an important situation, Lewis might have taken Simone right then and there with how sexy she was. Still, he knew the importance of the event, and kept his pants on, if for the moment.

Chester seemed to be flabbergasted at the whole thing, and seemed to be struggling to come up with a retort. Even his brother, Thallion, was amused at the way they were all acting. Of the two of them, Chester had always been the one to throw around his status, using it for his own gain. Thallion understood that words could only go so far, and knew full well that a threat was much more powerful than awe.

“It would seem my brother has made a haste decision,” Thallion said with a smooth tone. “I do apologize for the distasteful words he uttered.” There seemed to be a bit of tension between the brothers, and this only agitated it. Lewis barely picked up on it, but Simone noted it for the both of them right away. “Lady Simone…Auclair was it? Terribly dreadful to hear that it burned down.” He snapped his fingers, and a separate man came from the doorway. This one was larger, much like the orc, Henry, but dressed in a nobleman manner.

“Winston, please make a note to send an apology to Lady Simone…” He cleared his throat. “And…where might I be sending this? After all…we can’t have such a travesty on our hands”

Lewis knew the ploy. Once again, he was deferring to Simone on how to react. This was a troublesome situation, and he didn’t want to make it worse by adding fuel to the fire. Of course…if he had his way, he’d have just killed them both and be done with it.

Simone smiled, “Well… there’s one in the Vimplamolan Coast. I’m sure you know about that one.” She rattled off the address. “Oh… and the one in Adeluna City, Sularia…” The list started to go on, naming almost every major city on the two main continents. Of course, she omitted the island. “It doesn’t really matter which…my dear Lewis does spoil me so.”

Thallion could almost feel the hatred radiating off of his brother, Chester, but the man himself was cool and calm. With a snap of his fingers, Winston bowed, and left. “Well, my dear Lady, I will make sure to address the ones closest to our location to start. I do hope that you’ll accept our apology.” With a charming smile, he brought it full circle, “Again, you have my condolences for the fire in Auclair. It would be dreadful for it to happen again…I do hope you’ve taken precautions?”

Lewis cleared his throat, “Oh I wouldn’t worry about that. The people who helped plan it all seemed to have perished in a tragic fire of their own. Was a shame too…I’m pretty sure they were the last family Simone had.” He sat back in his chair. “Would be dreadful if there was a repeat….”

“If I didn’t take the apology it would be an insult to my birthright. We blue-blood accept apologies with the grace of the gods, or so the saying is.” Simone brought the wine up to her lips and sniffed it lightly. “This is very nice wine. The smell is decadent.” She took a sip of it and let the taste sit on her lips. “It was aged for a long time then?” She did love a good red wine as it were.

At the thought of precautions, she chuckled, “We slit the throat of the man who burnt Auclair. We burned five men who helped. If we aren’t for precautions we are certainly making sure we always pay the bank man his dues. Karma is a very real thing my lovelies.”

Simone reached over and took Lewis’s hand, “Not true, you are my family now. My partner, the love of my life, my soul-mate.” Her words were fake and if anything that made the wives on edge even more. “Make no mistake though if there is a repeat… I will pay it in tenfold. The last person who made a mistake towards me had me take a hot poker to his wife as I bashed her skull in. I prefer to settle these debts personally. A king gives an order he should be the one to follow it through, or so said my father. It was one of his many life lessons on being a strong leader.”

She fanned herself lightly, “I am terribly sorry I know these can be upsetting topics. I do detest being a boring housewife and it isn’t often Lewis lets me go on jobs anymore. He wants me to sit home and enjoy the luxuries he can provide.”

“It’s probably just because there’s some whore,” one of the wives started and Simone put her finger up.

“We have sex like seven times a day or more. We are always honest with each other. We are always in each other’s thoughts. We tell each other how much we miss each other every day and never would he ever do something as low as disrespecting me. He has no need to after all. I give him everything he would ever need. Body, mind, and soul.” Oh, that was the kick she was looking for as the brothers were getting glares. “Don’t your husbands value you and your virtue?”

It's so easy to rile these whores up… Look at them getting jealous.

"Until your looks go away!"

"I'm close to two-thousand years old… I'm like fine wine as Lewis has told me."

Mia was frustrated at Xeik. Not because of anything he had done to her, but to the things he had done to himself. The amount of dedication and research that he had been putting into Simone and Lewis was putting a massive staring on his health, and Mia could barely do anything to stop it. But she understood why, and that’s why she couldn’t bring herself to stop him, even at the cost of his health.

It had been two days straight of research, and Xeik was starting to see double as he tried to read. The power that the twins Lila and Janus had taken was immense, and it had put both Lewis and Simone into a brief coma as their bodies reacted to the lack of magic, a ‘hole’ of sorts in their mana. It was from this hole that the twins had been born, but it wasn’t quite so simple. The whole itself was more akin to a void, drawing and siphoning off magic from the exterior and bringing it inward. The best guess that that Lila and Janus were not “complete” in a sense, and that the genetics that normally followed the parents to the child were being pulled from this.

“Or something like that,” he muttered to himself. “Which is why we tried to make it more efficient. It was only a bandage to the problem, not stopping the cause. The less mana they used in their daily life, the more they could counterbalance the part that was being drained.” He wrote down a formula in the air, and crossed his arms, frowning. “But the power that’s being drawn is exponential. At the rate it’s going…it could very well kill them if it’s not closed off. But that would kill Janus and Lila…they wouldn’t be able to survive, at least not yet.” Xeik closed his eyes, and thought hard. He snapped his fingers, and started writing more in the air.

“If we stabilized the mana that they siphon, and supplement it with infusions, it could work but…” The numbers seemed to dance across his vision. “But the problem is…that hole will never go away. It might fill a bit, but…it will always be there.” He frowned. “Now…here comes the real question. What if…” He threw up more numbers. “It’s as I thought…they wouldn’t survive.” He sighed. “It would seem that there isn’t a choice. She’s not going to like that…”

Xeik turned to see a wide eyed Mia, pointing at the door. She made a variety of hand signs, and pointed at Xeik. “Wait, that was tonight!?” She nodded. “Wait…” Xeik spun around, and threw more numbers into the air. “That’s…not good.” He ran out the door, leaving Mia confused at the numbers floating above his work desk.

—

The dinner was starting to get heated. The insults getting thrown around were getting worse, and Roma was starting to panic. Lewis and Simone both were growing tired of the shared, and both stood up. Their eyes started to glow, if only a slight undertone, and their thoughts unified.

“There’s no hope salvaging this,” Lewis stated. Chester and Thallion seemed to be in agreement. It had been obvious from the start that both of them wanted Lewis out of the picture, and that Thallion had only wanted their locations to order a hit. “This was a waste of time…”

The door slammed open, and Xeik came in. “Lewis! Simone!”

“What the hell, who is this!?” Chester exclaimed. “And what happened to Winston and Church?” Church must have been the thin man from earlier. “They should have stopped anyone from coming in!?”

“They’re taking a nap, now-” Xeik noted the posture and eyes of Lewis and Simone, and he groaned. “Too risky.” He leapt across the room with surprising speed, landing on the table in front of Lewis. “Sleep.” He tapped Lewis’ head, and suddenly the assassin collapsed. He looked to Simone, “Sorry…” The effect that hit Lewis transferred between their resonance, and she collapsed as well.

Roma was in full panic, and the brothers were clearing out.

Xeik sighed, “That was close…” He looked around. “Oh…how’d the dinner go?”

Roma was practically in tears at this point. “It was a disaster. I can’t tell…if you showing up made it better or worse…”

“Aye, it’s a shame,” Simone put down her wine glass. “I had hoped we could work this out.” It was simple and elegant.

“Xeik? What the fuck?” Simone stood up not knowing what the hell was going on. It was the first time that they had seen her not act ladylike but more so because she was in shock right now. “What are you doing?! XEI-” She fell asleep and slouched over Lewis.

Once Simone came to she pulled herself up. “What the fuck Xeik,” she shrieked. She was dizzy as she held herself up. She looked at Roma and frowned a bit. “I think I ruined dinner. My apologies.” She could hear the sons still retreating but she didn’t know if they were still in the house.

“So… Xeik. Why are you here?” She helped Lewis up once he was able to get up. “Has to be something important for you to basically come across the table at us.”

Xeik looked completely exhausted, but the moment that Simone and Lewis had awakened, his full attention was on them. He had already apologized to Simone, but withheld the explanation, waiting for Lewis. It was going to be hard to explain, and neither one of them were going to like his answer.

“First…I’m sorry Lewis. The two of you were about to hit resonance, and I couldn’t risk it happening again, not right now.” Xeik cleared his throat, and tried to find the best way to word this. “So I’ve identified a few things about the hole that you have inside of you, and what’s happening. There’s a mass of energy that’s been drawn and siphoned off to the twins. It’s basically…how they’re growing. They weren’t born the same way a normal child was, so they don’t grow the same way as normal children. In essence…they’re basically using your lifeforce to grow their own.” It was complicated.

“If I’m right, if they continue at the pace they’re going, they will probably kill you both in about twenty years. Give or take…” Xeik was a little hazy on the math. “But, I can stop that. That’s pretty easy, actually. The problem is…if you have any more children that way…neither one of you will survive.” That was the gist of it all. “It would create another hole inside of you, and neither one of you can support that much mana. They would drain you dry, and then likely, both the twins now and the new child would die…”

Xeik sighed. “I couldn’t risk you hitting resonance and creating another life. So…I acted brashly. I didn’t think I had much of a choice. Your resonance spikes in heated moments like that. The silver lining here, though, is that I can…make sure you never create another life this way. It…won’t hurt…or affect anything else about either of you.”

Simone sat down once she started to hear the explanation. She would gladly give her life up for her twins if she had to. “So let me get this straight,” her eyes started to tear up. “If Lewis and I have another baby… it will kill us?” And it would kill their other twins. She looked up at Lewis and her make up had started to run down her face.

Utter heartbreak was flowing through the resonance. What Xeik was saying was along the lines of the right thing. It would make sense to her when she was calmer. Right now her head was more like a tsunami and it was getting worse as she forcibly shut the resonance off. “I can’t be here right now. I’ll talk through Lewis.”

Her voice was shaky. She was borderline hyperventilating. It wouldn’t take long for Lewis to realize she wanted to cry by herself. She was trying to stop herself but she ripped open a portal to gods knew where. It closed and the resonance snapped back in place. Her crying came through as she sobbed. Her sadness flowed through him.

It got taken from me a second time… This isn’t fair. We’ve done everything right Lewis. We love our kids. We are good parents and spouses… and it just gets ripped from us again. I didn’t expect to be given a second chance but… Now it’s ripped away from us. I don’t want the twins to die I’ll do it… but I’m so sad.

Unfortunately, now they would have to find her but there were only a few places that Simone would go to be alone that she knew about.