Page 105 of Tell No Tales
"It was obvious from the moment I first saw him. He's had a crush on you for a long time. And why wouldn't you want him? He's the most powerful man in the empire."
"I loved your father." Vadim's voice was soft, the same way he kept it when he tried to coax Mewskers out of a dark corner on the ship. "I love you like my own son."
"Son?" Hugo frowned. "Everyone treats me like their son, or their little brother, or their fucking pet."
"You deserve to find someone your age. Someone younger. Maybe two or three someones, like your mom and dad."
That was new information Klaus hadn't known about Empress Delilah. He'd thought her a beautiful but aloof woman, based on nothing but the sketches he'd seen on Landale's bulletin boards. He'd known about Hesse's past with Vadim but knowing that the empress also liked a dalliance here and there made the royal family seem more human.
"He wanted me to be their third."Vadim swallowed, shifting the knot in his throat."I didn't know until he was gone."
"And she would have gone along with that?"
He nodded, looking even more sad now than he had while studying Hugo's face.
"I don't want someone younger," Hugo said. "I don't want anyone else. I want you. I've wanted you since before I knew what it even meant."
Vadim took Hugo's hands one at a time and studied them, tracing the lines on his palms and then kissing his knuckles. "Your power is stunted. Coryn's kept you trapped away from it for so long, it will take time and experimentation to return you to full strength."
"What kind of experimentation?" Hugo looked as doubtful as Klaus felt.
"You need to find your joy," Vadim said. "Your power, fire anyway, comes from joy."
A tingle of awareness made Klaus shiver as Vadim borrowed his power. Vadim examined Hugo's aura and noticed the traits that made him easy to spot in a crowd. "You should be balanced with fire and ice, but you never learned how to use ice. Coryn thinks it's worthless in all but the most mundane tasks." Vadim pulled Hugo to his chest in a hug bridging their legs folded between them. "Ice is pure sorrow. You'll have no trouble finding it, with everything that's happened. Frost is an excellent teacher. Joy, though. Joy is harder to control, and we don't want you to burn the ship."
Hugo's laugh was wet and hollow. "My teachers all said fire was control, that it was ruling power itself."
"No. Fire is pure joy. Your father first found his when he was playing in the courtyard behind the throne room. He burned the gallows to ash, all because he saw a butterfly alight on the top beam."
"He told you that story?" Hugo sat up, wiping his eyes. "Mom always said my power would come to me in time, but I could never access it on my own. I still don't know if I can."
Klaus finally understood the strange confines of Hugo's aura. "You've never used more of your power than Coryn can take."
Vadim blinked. "When you first started training—"
"She was always there," Hugo said.
"Can you tell when she takes power from you?" Klaus asked Vadim.
"Yes, but if I'd never accessed my power without her, I would think that's normal." Vadim motioned for Hugo to lay back on the mattress again. "Do you consent to let us scan you for … I don't know what we're looking for," he admitted.
"I can check for spells," Klaus said. "You said my mystery illness was a spell gone wrong. Maybe this is, too."
Klaus kneeled on the mattress beside Hugo, and Vadim stayed where he was on the floor on his other side. They clasped hands over his chest to aid their shared sight as they scanned his body.
"Fuck," Vadim whispered. "It's in every organ."
"Have you felt ill recently?" Klaus asked. "Fatigue, stomach cramps, loss of consciousness with no warning?" Silently, he added,"Ridiculous death weavers keeping you alive when you got cut up by yet another air weaver?"
"You loved every minute of bunking with me. I didn't know it at the time, but I do now."Vadim's smirk was worth the heat in Klaus's cheeks. Yes, he had enjoyed every snore, every creak of his sail bed, every fantasy of what Vadim would do if Klaus could brave his fears and hop into bed with him.
"I've been lightheaded," Hugo admitted. "Is it serious?"
"Without Coryn around to patch you up, you would probably die before we got you to Aquarion," Vadim said. "Do you consent to be healed?"
"Yes!" Hugo's eyes were wide and worried, but he didn't move. "Why do you keep asking me that? Of course, I consent."
"You can always say no," Vadim said. "There may be a time when this is too much and you will beg me to let you die, and I'll grant it, not because I don't love you, but because it's your choice."
