RD 5 Ch 20

"Stay here," Simone said as the explosion still roared in the distance. Though the velvet curtains that were the mainstay of her castle barely even rustled. 

I raised an eyebrow and glanced at her. "We wouldn't perhaps be under attack, would we?" 

"We would be," she began, but I held up a hand to interrupt her. 

"If we're under attack, I would like to do anything I can to help." I answered.

"What you can do is remain here," Simone said, glaring at me angrily. 

"Why do I suddenly feel like I've been put on a shelf?" I asked with a smile. 

"Because you are my golden goose. Through your transferring bloodlines, recruitment has spiked considerably," she said, leveling a hard gaze at me. 

"Well, I'm happy to be of some use. Now if you'll let me go out there and do something about anything, then I'd happily do so." I told her.

"Your value is not on the field," Simone repeated. "Your value is in recruitment. Just like you don't send your best healers to the front of a war, you save them in the back for when you need them, because they are a far better support than they are at direct confrontation."

"Could have fooled me, you seem pretty good at direct confrontation for a healer," I smirked. But who was I kidding? I just thrust myself into trouble, but before she could bark at me again, I smiled. "If I didn't know better, I would say you were worried about me."

"I'm glad you know better," Simone was quick to snap back. "When you know it is simply that your value is too high for me to risk you there.”

“Then why don't you stay with me here and keep me extra safe?" I asked, feeling like today was a day to push her. 

I don't know what it had been over the last several weeks since I had arrived in Simone’s castle, but I found myself more and more eager to get my Simone back, even if that meant shamelessly flirting with a woman who didn't remember me. 

"What is it going to take to get you to stay here?” She frowned.

“A kiss?" I said quickly, perhaps a touch too quickly.

Yet despite my worst fears, Simone only sighed before reaching forward and grabbing my jaw. 

A part of me was excited beyond measure for physical affection from a woman that I so dearly loved and had been cold to me since I returned.

There was no soft romantic lead-up. She simply pulled me in for a swift kiss, as if to get it over with, and there was no way I was letting that be so simple. 

I grabbed her by the back of her head, my fingers sinking into her hair, and crushed her lips against mine, pulling at her lower lip, sucking it in, and kissing it as if she was my familiar, my lovely Simone.

Her body relaxed, softened against me as if she recognized me, and I went further, shoving my tongue in and swirling it around hers, which responded like a familiar lover, searching my mouth as if she already knew it like the back of her hand. 

I breathed deep through my nose and grabbed her ass, lifting it up and setting it atop the throne that she so often used. Feeling a bout of passion overcoming me, I pressed myself to her, and her to the throne, letting her know exactly where this was going.

Apparently, feeling my hardness had been one step too much for Simone, but in my defense I couldn’t help myself. It felt so good to have her pressed up against me once more.

Simone gasped, pulling away, and slapped me hard enough to ring my bell.

I blinked and stumbled backwards like I was drunk. 

"Have you had enough?" she hissed, her voice filled with venom and a touch of confusion. 

"I think I have now," I said, wiggling my jaw back and forth to make sure it still worked. 

"Good. Now you've gotten your kiss, you stay." She said, her face flush despite trying to stay icy towards me. Standing up and preparing to leave quickly, she looked a little flustered, and I couldn’t help but smile.

I walked quietly behind her and peeked out the door to see her reaction.

Moving quickly down the hallway, Simone brought her hand up and touched her lips. Her reflection in one of the windows she passed showed me just how confused she was from our encounter.

I chuckled to myself. It had been a while since I pursued a woman so doggedly. Those were far younger days, but it seemed that's exactly what I needed to keep doing if I wanted to wake up the part of Simone that would recognize me and be mine once again.

Regardless of the battle that was happening outside, I nearly skipped back into the room with a smile on my face, starting to whistle a jaunty tune. Perhaps a few raunchy thoughts slipped through my head.

After all, I'd been with a woman that I loved for weeks, unable to get her to realize it, and now that there was significant progress being made, I couldn't help but hope for the future. I was excited, anticipation coursing through me.

"That excited to see me, are you?" A voice came from the window and I did a quick about-face. I recognized that voice as Circe stepped in through the window, wind pulling at the thin strips of fabric she had robed herself in, her light blue hair dancing on the wind that I knew came from her abilities rather than anything natural. 

"Circe," I smiled at the woman, though her eyes narrowed on me. "You're the one who's been handing bloodlines around to the leeches as if they're as common as lollipops in a candy store.”

“You know, I feel like lollipops fell off hard, they aren’t nearly as common as all the chocolate." I said, inching my way away from Circe because, like Simone, she didn't seem to recognize me immediately. Instead, I could feel her inspecting me as my spirit failed to deflect her.

"Your name really is Bran… and that ability," she whistled. "Now, this is the part where you tell me that the leeches have been holding you against your will and you would love to join the Odyssey branch of the Heros Clan.”

“Is that how this is gonna go, Circe?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. "Never did I think you were going to be the one to kidnap me. Though, I guess it's appropriate that one day you would fall through my window after I once fell through yours." 

Circe frowned at me. "Quit speaking nonsense and please let me know how poorly they've treated you and that I can take you away. Perhaps you'll even work for the Heros Clan in the future. The ability to manipulate bloodlines would be highly valued amongst my people."

"Of course it would be.” I said, a very ominous feeling coming over me. "You wouldn't have happened to stage an attack and then slipped in here to kidnap me, would you?"

"It's not kidnapping," Circe replied with a tight smile. "I'd like to think of it more as a rescue. We must go quickly. I have it on good authority that Winnie is on her way personally, and I don't think she'll rescue you so much as make sure you can no longer use your abilities for Simone. That is, by turning you into a corpse."

"Yeah," I said slowly. "Winnie would prefer that option, wouldn't she? She's not much for men."

"Understatement of the year," Circe said. "Now, will you force me to kidnap you, or will you come willingly?" She gestured towards the window, and I could feel wind tickling at my back. Regardless of what I said, I was about to be launched into the sky.

But if Winnie was coming personally, I wasn’t even close to being her match right now. Even if I knew everything about her, she’d cut me before I blinked.

"You know, I was this close, Circe. This close." I told her, pinching my fingers together. I had a feeling if I had spent more time with Simone, I could have easily won her over. Whether it be happenstance, design by Syssy, or some difficulty of the Trial of Kings, it appeared that it was not going to be in the cards for me to simply stay here until I convinced Simone.

But seeing Circe’s face, I knew I only had one option. “Fine. Have it your way. Let's go."

As soon as I agreed, wind kicked at my back, shoving me forward like I was being launched out of a cannon.

Circe stood by the window, patiently watching as I flew by, narrowly clearing the fourth story of a castle. As soon as I cleared the castle and was flying through the air, Circe came up to meet me. Her control over the wind grabbed hold of both of us.

As we hurtled through the air, true enough to Circe's words, I spotted a group that could be none other than Winnie and her sect, moving quickly across the field, still perhaps fifteen minutes out from the castle.

I let out a low whistle. "Yeah, I would have been well and truly screwed if that group slipped in, wouldn't I?"

"Oh, now are you willing to admit that it's a rescue and not a kidnapping?" She asked.

"Yeah, sure," I said. "Just do me a favor and don't cuff me or put me in a dungeon. At least with Simone, I had a decent amount of autonomy. And if you give me a chance, let me duel you."

Circe frowned. "And why would you duel me?"

"Because isn't that how you always tested and resisted men trying to make you theirs?" Circe's blue eyebrows pressed even further down as she stared at me.

"Who are you again?" She questioned.

"Bran Heros of the Heros Clan," I said quickly. "I've always been a fan of the Odyssey branch. Running around clearing instances is really what we should all be doing to support the world. Not to mention, it really is the best use of time and resources to grow stronger. But," I said, holding up a hand, "if I'm going to serve someone as beautiful as you, I'd like to do that in every way possible."

Circe snorted. "Glib tongues are hardly unique. You'll have to do far better than that if you want my genuine interest."

"Alright," I said quickly. "In that case, why don't you let me help you with all of your paperwork? Give you a few shoulder rubs. And who knows, maybe help you get some sleep at night."

Circe stared at me hard not just because of what I was saying, but why I was saying it. I knew she was a workaholic. I knew leadership weighed on her heavily. So much so, that she needed to relieve that pressure.

If she was truly here in the trial of kings, she would have been struggling under the weight of it all. My assessment that she would struggle with the trial was true. Even seeing her now, I could see the weight she was struggling to bear.

"Well, now, if you're going to do my paperwork for me," she said proudly, "perhaps I'll give you a shot.”

“That's all I ask. And also, please keep Winnie’s people as far away from me as possible for now. I might be able to win over Winnie, but she most likely won't come for me herself. She'll send her ladies or do it at as much distance as she can manage.” I told Circe.

Now it was Circe's turn to frown. "She hates men that much?"

And I shook my head. "It's not that she hates men, Circe. It's that she likes them a little too much."

Circe frowned at me. "You can't be serious."

"Dead serious. Do you think I was just helping Simone in the Mul Branova with bloodlines? No, I was also one of her chief strategists," I lied through my teeth, but I needed Circe to rely on me.

Circe measured me as we continued to fly through the air. "So you're telling me I got very lucky.”

“That's one way to look at it," I flashed Circe a smile. "In truth, I hope that's how you all look at it eventually. If you get me and Winnie alone and keep me alive for a minute, I'm fairly certain I can disable her. It's just getting her alone with me that will always be the problem."

"And Simone?" Circe asked, unsure.

"I was doing my best, and I thought I was getting close before you scooped me up. Now I guess I'm just going to have to change my target," I winked at Circe.

The woman was clearly open to being approached, unlike Simone, who had closed herself and the rest of the Mul Branova off to any and all male advances on account of their belief in, well, me.

"We'll see how good you are at paperwork," Circe said after a moment, breaking into a smirk. "And if you are able to put that mind and mouth to better use than I've seen thus far."

At that moment, I remembered that when I first encountered Circe, she had been a flirt. It had only been later, once I broke several barriers, that the flirting became genuine. I hoped it would be easier the second time around.