The Hundred Reigns 268: King of Spiders (10) (Patreon)

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“Einganah?” Gargunza showed his simian fangs. “What have you become?”

“Your death!” Einganah replied as she lunged at the gorilla eidolon with a viper’s quickness and a dragon’s savagery. The sheer speed of her assault took her foe by surprise, and a blow from her tail tossed him into the canopy. She fell upon him with all of her snake fingers, biting and screeching. 

Simon watched as the two tussled among the trees. He was tempted to intervene, but Einganah would likely resent him for it and he wished to observe her power anyway. He instead stood afar as Einganah coiled around Gargunza and did her best to strangle him. His fur was covered in bites and purple patches from her venom. 

Her gorgon’s gaze unfortunately proved ineffective against the rival eidolon, unlike her venom, and she failed to paralyze him. He managed to wrench himself free by grabbing her throat with one of his four hands and ripping off one of her whip-arms with his fangs.

That might have been a mistake, for Einganah’s blood proved as acidic as Simon’s own. Toxic fluids splashed on Gargunza’s face and burned it, but he managed to slam his rival’s face into the mud and then throw her back. 

“You’ve… poisoned me?” Gargunza muttered in disbelief upon checking his wounds.

“I have waited a long time for this,” Einganah hissed with spite and bitterness. Her mangled arm regrew as fast as a hydra’s head, while her old appendage dissipated into miasma. “All my faithful followers who have died on your altars shall be avenged!”

“A weakling you were then, and a weakling you still are!” Gargunza began to beat his chest with his fists. “I will crush you and your summoner into dust!”

Gargunza let out a fearsome roar whose shockwaves rippled through the air. Einganah responded with an equally mighty shriek of her own. Their combined strength caused many trees to shatter, and Simon had to cover his ears just to not go deaf.

Terror and Berserk negated by Indomitable Crown!

Gargunza’s chest pounding magically created a huge nimbus above him. The cloud obscured the mana sun and immediately unleashed a mighty rainfall upon the pocket dimension. The ground turned into mud, and each of Gargunza’s strikes unleashed a lightning bolt with a drummer’s rhythm. Einganah dodged a few, but others blasted her scales apart and shocked her. Meanwhile, the raindrops falling onto Gargunza’s skin appeared to counteract her venom somehow. 

The undeterred Mother of Serpents slithered through the mud and breathed out a cloud of poison onto Gargunza’s face. Purple gas erupted from her mouth, rotting grass and leaves on contact, and seeped into the gorilla god’s own wounds. The rotting patches on his skin regrew larger than ever, and not even his rain’s healing properties could halt their progress. 

The gorilla god began to ooze mana as his own avatar struggled to fight off the poisoning. He attempted to slam Einganah into the ground, but the snake was too swift. She danced around him, biting his ankles and arms whenever his fists missed her head. Gargunza’s fists hit so hard as to create mud craters wherever they struck, and they might have torn Einganah in half had they landed, but all the world’s might didn’t matter when the hits failed to connect. 

The speed difference was simply too great, and it kept widening. 

Simon knew it was over when Gargunza began to slow down from the poison. The divine venom coursing through him inflicted more damage than his rain could heal and ate away at his strength. 

This will be over soon, Simon thought as he lost interest in what was swiftly becoming a drawn-out execution. I might as well check the limits of this demiplane’s rules.  

He quickly confirmed their strictness. Simon’s attempts to drain mana from some of his followers fell utterly flat, and trying to release a Watcher sealed in his Ring of Demonbinding to assist him caused the item to fizzle out on his finger. 

You cannot call allies to interfere in an Ordeal.

The same happened when Simon attempted to call a golem from his Inventory, the feature outright going red with an ‘action cancelled’ notification showing up on his System screen. This place was even better than a demon’s Domain at preventing outside interference. 

This is an improved version of the Judge’s Restraining Order, Simon guessed. Unlike Laws, which punished violations, the demiplane outright prevented certain actions. The Worldsoul won’t let me cheat under any circumstances. 

Well, at least this kind of place had been created with the likes of the Summoner in mind and allowed him to call eidolons of his own. 

Simon caught movement at the edge of his gaze and focused back on the duel. Realizing he couldn’t win the engagement by fighting her, Gargunza adjusted his strategy. He grabbed an enormous tree, uprooted it, and then tossed it at Simon in one last desperate attempt to knock Einganah’s summoner out. 

Simon lazily deflected the projectile with Chaos Wave, and then watched his eidolon coil her tail around Gargunza’s throat before slamming him onto the mud, face first.

“I will drown you in your own filth, simian,” the Mother of Serpents taunted him. 

“Enough!” Gargunza growled through her chokehold. “I… submit.”

No sooner had the words left his mouth that a ripple in space shook the entire pocket dimension. The demiplane shuddered as if taking notice of his sentence, and Simon sensed both the Light and Dark form a bond between Gargunza and him. 

The Gorilla God did not put on a good show. 

The Worldsoul bore witness to your Ordeal, and your victory in this fight.

The Abyss bore witness to your Pact, which no power in the planes may break.

You have formed a Dark Eidolon Pact with Gargunza, The Jungle Terror.

You can now summon Gargunza, The Jungle Terror, to help you in battle and channel its Auspice.

He felt some experience points pouring in, but not as much as he expected for winning his first Ordeal. Gargunza was simply too low-level to provide him with much benefits. 

A flash of light swallowed all three of them, and when Simon’s vision returned, the demiplane was gone. He and the two eidolons were back inside the ape-shifter camp, with Odette and Xenophon blinking at the sight of Gargunza being choked by Einganah’s tail. 

“My, my,” Odette mused. “So you did summon him.”

“How long were we gone?” Simon inquired. 

Odette frowned at him. “What do you mean? You never left.”

“Eidolon Ordeals take place in pockets of isolated time in the Worldsoul’s depths,” Xenophon replied, clearing up Simon’s confusion. “Time stands still for us outsiders.”

Interesting. That might explain why Simon couldn’t summon allies inside the pocket dimension besides Worldsoul entities like eidolons, or even drain minions. The Ordeal temporarily forced them into two different temporalities. 

“I won.” Einganah cackled in delight as she continued to rub her victory in Gargunza’s face, literally. She continued to press his head into the ground. “Of course I am superior.”

“Not you… the summoner.” Gargunza looked at Simon with grudging respect. “I don’t know what you’ve done, but you’ve given her strength greater than mine.” 

“Such is the power of the Dark,” Simon replied. He gestured at Einganah to release her hold on him. “Release him, please.”

Einganah reluctantly obeyed and allowed the Gorilla God to rise up. “Grant it to Gargunza then,” he said while rubbing his throat, his thumb pointed at his chest. “I’ll be a better partner. The mightiest one.”

“Pah!” Einganah spat venom at the primate’s feet. “What would you teach him, how to rub his chest with his own feces?”

“Truthfully, our pact was concluded the moment you surrendered,” Simon said. “I might consent to make use of you—” He sensed Einganah’s angry glare on him and quickly sweetened the deal, “—If you stop interfering with Einganah’s cult, share the jungle with her, and forbid bloody sacrifices.”

Gargunza’s expression twisted into a dark scowl. “I… I cannot,” he said, the very words dry in his throat. “I must feel the blood on my altars to deliver my blessings. I simply must.”

“He is a thrall to his savage nature,” Einganah mocked him. “His faith is a prison.”

“True… but the Dark allowed you to become something more than you were,” Simon pointed out. He was curious enough to try and check how Gargunza’s dark eidolon transformation would alter him. “Clothed in dark shall the cursed lords rise! Bring us victory in this fight, Jungle Terror Gargunza!”

The self-proclaimed Gorilla God let out a roar as darkness poured into his body, changing and transforming him. While Simon expected him to double in size or grow even mightier, the reverse happened; the eidolon’s build instead became slender and closer to a well-muscled human than a gorilla. His crimson skin turned to green wood covered in bloody war paint and tattoos. His face transformed into a fearsome, demonic mask with a crown of colorful feathers and black pits for eyes and mouth. A cloak and a loincloth made from various monkey furs grew out of his body, while a wooden sword-club and a shield-drum appeared in his arms. 

In short, he looked almost… humanoid. A living, twelve-feet tall statuette parodying the most primal aspects of humanity. 

Gargunza, the Jungle Terror

Level 81 Dark Eidolon of Primates, Guerrilla Warfare, Warsongs, and Rainforests

Beast/Demon

Auspices: Jungle Fury: Your unarmed and natural weapon attacks inflict 50% more damage and ignore Physical Resistance. You are constantly under a Berserk effect. 

Berserk effect negated by Indomitable Crown. 

Thalas will be jealous, Simon mused while struggling with the strain of maintaining two powerful dark eidolons at once. While it was a pity the effect didn’t extend to his melee weapons, the Auspices otherwise mimicked one of the Berserker Class’ key innate Perks. I might need to learn martial arts too.  

The creature’s human shape also carried certain implications. Simon’s Tribal Studies classes posited that primates, monkeys, and other apes descended from humans who had lost their intelligence due to a savage environment. He guessed Gargunza now embodied this entire side of the animal kingdom, the same way Einganah had become the eidolon of all scalefolk. 

“Gargunza’s mind is clearer than a cloudless sky.” Even the eidolon’s voice had grown deeper, more refined and humanlike. He stared at his wooden arms. “He is as imperishable as the oldest of trees, and a drum beats in his soul…” 

“Are you well?” Simon inquired.

The dark eidolon nodded and stared at the canopy. He reminded Simon of an animal detecting signs the human senses couldn’t pick up on. “Gargunza hears the jungle’s beat now. He hears the weeping of trees mourning their brethren and the cries of beasts dead in the mud. The forest prays for a savior.”

“You speak of imperial prospectors and woodcutters,” Odette guessed. 

“They befoul this land, take our wealth without paying proper tribute, and disrespect my followers,” the Jungle Terror confirmed, his sword-club hitting his drum-shield with a thunderous noise. “No more! Gargunza is king of the jungle, he will not allow his kingdom to fall!”

“You were never king,” Einganah replied with contempt. 

“True… Gargunza is missing something.” His masked gaze turned to Einganah. “Einganah… become Gargunza’s woman.”

Einganah recoiled in disgust. “What did you say?!”

“The strongest chieftain should have the mightiest wife to rule by his side,” Gargunza replied. “We can do more together than we can achieve alone. The two of us will rule the jungle as its gods with our combined power, and strike fear in the invaders’ hearts!”

Gargunza had transcended common simian brutality for all-too-human cunning and ambition. Simon wasn’t sure whether that was an improvement or not. 

“You are unfit to serve as my consort, unless...” Einganah stroked her chin with her snake fingers. “What do you offer?”

“Gargunza will share his cults with you in unholy matrimony. He will give you mortal prayers, sing you beautiful songs, and slaughter those who displease you. So speaks Gargunza!” 

“What about sacrifices?” Odette inquired. “Will you discard them?”

“Gargunza sees no issue with that,” the dark eidolon replied. “Sacrifices are wasteful, and petty warfare distracts us from the true war. Prisoners must be converted to the faith, or serve as arrow-shields against invaders.” 

As Simon suspected, while dark eidolons were a sinister reflection of the originals, they also embraced the Dark’s chaotic nature. They could deviate from their faith and regain a degree of free will. 

“What do you say?” Simon asked Einganah. 

“I will… consider the proposal,” the Mother of Serpents replied. Her vengefulness wasn’t strong enough to overshadow her self-interest. “It pleases me to see him debase himself like this.”

Simon nodded and then cancelled the dark eidolon summoning, both because it taxed him mentally to maintain the two of them and to check on the original Gargunza. The Gorilla God swiftly regained his natural form. 

“Your power is both mighty and sinister, Overlord Magnos,” Gargunza grumbled. “I have never been summoned this way before… and it does not displease me.”

“You will speak no word of our pact,” Simon warned him. He had forgotten that any eidolon learned their summoner’s name once called. “Do you consent to being summoned later?”

Gargunza shrugged. “It is the law of the jungle that the meek bow to the strong. You are mightier than I, and so I shall follow your lead.”

Excellent. Simon now had two eidolons he could summon without corrupting his friends in the Sanctuary. 

Simon wondered if these two could merge with each other, but he decided against trying for now. Besides their animosity, Phul had been stronger than both his components, and Simon couldn’t control dark eidolons with a higher level than his own. He would hold off on that to avoid another berserk Vayan situation. 

He had more pressing matters to deal with. 

—--------------

Simon returned to his base pretty satisfied, and then worked to seal the Archer crystal into a new pictobox. 

It would take a while to run an inventory of all the treasures they had taken. A few of them, like the magical tablets, were shipped to Chrom Cruak for study, while Odette would sell off the gold for profit. Simon kept most of Alfador’s gear so he could examine it personally.  

This only left the Two-Tailed Fish as the last Zodiac crystal he could reasonably collect. His main goal in collecting them, besides their use as batteries and weapons, was to deal with them on favorable terrain once Abraxas arrived. They would have an easier time defeating them then. 

Simon was also tempted to simply drop Algozoa onto Illusea and let the elves deal with it. The Oracle’s constant meddling was getting on his nerves.

Her timing is supernatural. What are the odds that one of her expeditions found us in Rhapta at the same time we happen to visit it? Simon considered various possibilities before coming up with a likely explanation. Heroic Destiny.

The Oracle always cast this spell on Alphonse’s party to both boost his experience yield and ensure fate guided him to cross paths with the Overlord. Nothing said she couldn’t apply it more than once. Trouble likely kept showing at Simon’s doorstep because the Oracle nudged causality to ensure it.  

Oh well, I’ll deal with her in due time, Simon thought as his demotaurs escorted two familiar faces into his office. First the dragons, then the elves. 

“Eole, Voltobauta,” Simon greeted them warmly. “I take it that your trip to the Kish Sanctuary went well?”

“It made me reconsider my stance on what counts as islands for sure,” Voltobauta replied with a shrug. “I might retire there for a few decades if the Second Doom causes as much destruction as you say it will.”

“It was nice to return home,” Eole said. She seemed a little tenser than usual. Simon guessed that confirming outsiders had indeed stepped onto her people’s archipelago struck a chord. “Lady Alcyone is very kind.”

“Yet neither of you stayed there,” Simon pointed out. 

“Well, I gave your words some thought, and I do agree with you on one point.” Voltobauta avoided Simon’s gaze. “I can’t call myself a pirate king when I lack the strength to stand up for myself. I’ve been a lazy Necromancer, and paid the price for it.”

“So you will dedicate yourself to my cause?”

“For now.” Voltobauta crossed his arms. “I would rather have a civilization left to plunder when the dust settles, and while it pains me to say so, I did give my word. Only fools would bet against the Overlord.”

“I have found my resolve too,” Eole said.

“Good, good,” Simon said. Everything was going as planned. “I’ve arranged a meeting with a certain Tellurian warlord with whom we can reach an agreem—”

“I’m not going with you to Telluria,” Eole cut in. 

Simon froze in surprise, his mind hitting an unexpected wall. His gaze settled on Eole. “What?”

“I’m not going with you to Telluria, Simon,” Eole said with pure resolve in her eyes. “Lady Alcyone has offered me a place on her crew, and I have accepted her proposal.”

“Alcyone?” What the… what madness had seized her?! That wasn’t how things were supposed to go! “Eole, the Adventurer is a true hero, but she lacks the strength or resources to save your people.”

“So you say.” Eole bit her lip. “You expected me to agree with you, did you not? You were plotting it since before the day we met. Our entire relationship led to this moment.”

Simon glared at Voltobauta, who shrugged his shoulders. “Don’t look at me like that,” the Necromancer said. “She came to this conclusion on her own.”

“I know you can see the future, Simon, but I don’t think you should decide mine,” Eole said. “You wouldn’t look so surprised if fate was set in stone.”

“I am trying to help you, Eole. To keep you safe.” 

“I know.” Eole took a deep breath. “I think you mean well, but I don’t want to become the person you’re trying to turn me into.”

“This is for your own good,” Simon replied, his words only causing her scowl to deepen. “You know what I mean.”

“Yes, I do: you don’t see me as I am, but some future version of me that will do as she’s told.”

“Yes, someone who succeeds at protecting her people,” Simon replied, causing Eole to wince. “Alcyone and the White Unicorn mean well, but they’re impotent, and their ideals will crash against the wall of reality. Only through me can you ensure shifters are back in control of Telluria.”

“How, by bowing to Vouivre and serving in her armies? By compromising on everything I believe in?” Eole shook her head. “My people would just be trading one master for another.”

“We’ll deal with her in time,” Simon reassured her. “Victory requires sacrifices, Eole. I thought you understood that.”

“I don’t want that kind of victory, where we trade one evil for another. And I don’t think you should either, Simon.” Eole’s wings folded a little. “If your visions come from the Overlord Class, who’s to say it doesn’t show you what it wants you to see?” 

“That’s not how it works,” Simon replied. “My Dark Visionary gifts are unrelated and show me possible futures, and the one I’ve set for you is the best possible one.”

“But I didn’t ask you to do that!” Now she was raising her tone. “I’m not a child, or a puppet you can move around towards the conclusion you want!”

“You want the truth, Eole? The truth is that the world will end in a year, that the Oracle is plotting to abandon us to the very mess she helped to create, that Muse is ruled by a mad machine who abducts geniuses for their brains—” Voltobauta blinked at that, “—that Valne is a corrupt land full of self-centered oligarchs, that the White Unicorn will fail to solve any of these problems, that you keep running into pitfalls I have to save you from, and that I’m the only one who can possibly do anything about it!”

A heavy silence settled in the office as Simon finished unloading the burden on his heart. He stared at Eole, hoping she would understand… but he could see in her eyes that his plea had only hardened her resolve. 

“Simon.” Eole’s voice softened. “I am truly thankful for what you’ve done for me; I truly am.” 

“Yet you’ll still leave me,” Simon replied in disbelief. “Why?”

“Because I can’t trust someone who sees me as a pawn on a board rather than a person, even if they think I will be better for it… even if they care.” Eole cleared her throat. “I will keep your secrets, nor oppose you, and if you choose to take refuge in my home one day… then I will welcome you as a friend.”

But she wouldn’t come with him to see Vouivre in Telluria. She would pursue her own path again, away from his guidance.

The Overlord spirit inside him immediately suggested simply branding her on the spot, to save her from herself before she went sideways and ruined everything again. It would be so easy. Or he could use Memory Snatcher to remove the harmful thoughts clouding her mind—

No, no… those aren’t my thoughts. Simon had grown slightly better at recognizing his Class’ instinctual suggestions for the poison it was. If he had to enslave or brainwash Eole—one of his oldest friends and lovers—to make her behave rather than convince her, then he had already lost. I am not a monster. I will never be a monster. 

He had to set lines he shouldn’t cross, or else it was only a matter of time until he became another plague upon Brimir like Louis. He couldn’t allow his predecessors to win. 

He was Simon Magnos. He was better than this.

“Just… just don’t go to Muse, Endymion, or Telluria,” Simon warned her. “You’ll die if you do.”

Eole nodded slowly, then plucked a feather and placed it on Simon’s desk. “You know what this means for the Kish people.”

Simon did, but he remained silent. Eole faced him for a moment, then walked away through the Attic door. Voltobauta watched her leave in silence and then stared at Simon with what could pass for sympathy. 

“What?” Simon snapped at him. 

“If you keep acting like the Oracle, eventually you’ll become the Oracle,” Voltobauta said. “Remember that.”

Simon’s teeth clenched so hard it hurt. “Shut the door on your way out.” 

Voltobauta obeyed the order, leaving Simon alone in his office. He took a deep breath, trying to clear his mind… and then smashed his desk with his fist in his fury. Although he wasn’t wearing his Overlord outfit at the time, his strength had grown enough for the wood to break under his fist. Eole’s feather went flying to the side from the blow.

How?! How did it go wrong? Had he been too direct with Eole, causing her to assume he was a deceitful manipulator she should distrust? Should he have given her more time to acclimate herself to the Cobweb and revise her naive beliefs? It was true he had guided their relationship to reach a certain point, but he had done so to ensure the best possible outcome for everyone!

Is that how the Oracle thinks? Voltobauta’s words rattled Simon and gnawed away at him. What else am I supposed to do?

As if he hadn’t already on his mind, a certain person stepped out of the shadows to pour salt on his wound. “You don’t look so good,” Velvet noted. “Do you need a shoulder to cry on?”

“Like I need a skin-rash,” Simon replied in frustration. She was the last person he wanted to see right now. “I’m not in the mood, Velvet.” 

“Why, because your winged girlfriend dumped you?” Velvet smirked from ear to ear. “It would have been easier to leash her. She has no way to resist you, so I’m surprised you didn’t brand her like your cows.”

“Velvet, I won’t warn you twice…”

She ignored his advice. “Don’t tell me you’re in love with her? No, wait… it’s your kink, isn’t it?” Velvet leaned forward, chuckling to herself. “You want them to choose you, so you can feel special—”

His hand reached for her throat and slammed her against the wall, the shock causing his hanging pictobox pictures to fall off. 

“I told you I’m not in the mood for your stupid games,” Simon warned her as he squeezed her throat. Rather than intimidate her, it only caused her stupid grin to widen further. “Unless you enjoy the sight of your blood on my hands, I suggest you stay quiet.”

Velvet chuckled to herself. “The joke’s on you,” she said, licking her lips. “I like it when it hurts.”

Her hand moved between Simon’s legs, and for a second he thought she would plant a dagger in his chest, yet her hand found its way past his belt somehow. What was she trying to—

Oh. 

Oh…

“So you do have balls,” Velvet commented as she fondled his manhood and then squeezed it. “And here I thought they had shriveled, since you lacked the guts to pluck your bird’s feathers…”

“Shut up,” Simon snapped as he grabbed her arm with his free hand. “Shut the hell up.” 

“Come, prove me wrong,” Velvet taunted him, challenging him. “Beat me, bleed me, own me… I know you want to.” 

He did, yes. He wanted to slap her until she shut up, until he could wipe that grin off her face with blood. He wanted to take his frustration with Eole on someone, anyone, to silence his doubters and soothe his pride. He wanted to hear her taunts turn to squeals. 

There was just one issue with that. 

“You want me to rape you like your duke?” 

Velvet’s hand hardened its grip on his manhood until it hurt. Her eyes sank in their sockets, and her smirk finally faded away. It was as if she had seen a dreadful ghost. 

She slapped him. Of course she slapped him, though it did no damage. Simon’s protections meant she likely hurt herself more than him.

“Yes, I know you see him in every man who holds any power over you.” She hit him again. “And I know it drives you mad that I’m different.” Another slap. “It hurts, doesn’t it? To realize what happened to you didn’t have to be, that you were just unlucky?” She hit him again, which he allowed, considering the circumstances. “It maddens you that all your games are falling flat on me, because it means your pain wasn’t the rule; it was the exception.”

This time, Simon caught her hand in midair. He grabbed both of Velvet’s arms and pressed them against the wall, staring into her furious eyes. 

“Yes, I could have you anytime I want, same with Eole, or Cassandra,” Simon admitted. “Yes, I want them all, and yes, I want to blow steam on someone.”

“Then why don’t you?” she snapped at him angrily. “You think you’re better than that? You’re the Overlord!”

“Yes, I am better than that. I want to be better than that! I’m neither the Duke of Gorre, nor my father, so stop trying to fit me in that box of yours!” Simon let go of her arms. “Either respect the terms of our partnership, or leave!”

Velvet remained deathly quiet for a moment, glaring at him. Simon himself gathered his breath and anchored himself. He considered teleporting to the Darkwood or some other isolated place where he could bash some skulls to blow off steam. 

“And if I consent?” 

The message came from the Brand of Sloth’s telepathic connection rather than her mouth, yet Simon’s head snapped in Velvet’s direction all the same. He voiced his response with his thoughts. “Consent?”

“I’m frustrated.” Her response was less of a sentence than a pure feeling of anger. “My sister thinks I’m a liability.” She didn’t let Simon respond, and instead poured her feelings through their telepathic connection. “She says I ruined everything when I accepted your brand or your scales, because it gave you power over us. Nothing I ever do is good enough for her, because I’m everything she didn’t want.”

And here Simon thought his relationship with Thalas was dysfunctional. “She wants you to be her sidekick rather than her equal.”

“I’m sick of it. I’m sick of her hoarding our Crestone, our treasures, our secrets. So yes…” Her hands reached for his belt. “I have steam to blow off too.”

Simon caught her hands. “What do you want? What do you really want?” 

Velvet scowled at his reluctance, but the anger in her gaze faded away. Simon caught a glimpse of the insecurities she embodied, the pain and sorrow she had inherited; without her sister’s fear to hide them. “I want to be desired.” 

The full force of her anguish hit Simon’s mind, and he realized why she had decided on telepathic communication rather than her voice. There were no words that could properly convey her feelings. 

And in spite of the sisters’ countless betrayals, Simon found himself feeling some pity for her. Velvet was the discarded half, all the raw feelings and trauma without any maturity to process it. She was indeed a liability because she had been made that way, and she resented it. 

“Then no,” Simon answered, his hands moving to her cheeks and her lips to his own. “Not like this.”

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