Page 60 of Tell No Tales
"I don't remember every time," Klaus said. To be honest, he didn't remember giving Niall permission. Some memories were hazier than others. On a few occasions, he wasn't sure he had even been conscious while the healer worked on him. "I don't recall any of them asking, but that doesn't mean they didn't."
"They didn't because you almost fucking died." Vadim's jaw was clenched so tight, each syllable was short and clipped. "I healed an ailment of Jermain's today. Martiz had been partially healing it for months. Why would he bother to repeat something he could heal all at once? What was he getting out of it?"
"Money?" Klaus knew that was wrong as soon as the word left his mouth. Yes, he'd seen money exchange hands on the island, but only for goods, never for services.
"It has something to do with his dagger." Vadim sighed. "I'm glad Niall destroyed it, but it would have been helpful to know its functionality first. How could a healer use something we thought only spectral weavers could control?"
Klaus leaned his shoulder against Vadim's. "Is there anything about the stone in Hesse's journal?"
"If there is, it's called a name I don't recognize. There's talk of a healing focus that can help the healer catalog symptoms, but it doesn't say anything about healing without consent, or dragging out the healing process for months or years."
"You said Martiz was kicked out of the navy, right?"
Vadim nodded.
"They must have known he was doing something wrong."
"I've been through the imperial records. The reason for his dismissal was stricken from them. I even asked Coryn. She didn't know the full story, either."
Vadim sounded more dejected with each sigh.
"I'm sorry," Klaus whispered. He shifted to rest his head on Vadim's shoulder. "What will you do next?"
"Yvette said to search the academy library. She said there's a section on healers." He snorted. "I doubt we'll find the library intact, if they've been housing feral children since before Empress Delilah died."
"Feral children." Klaus smirked. "You say that like it's a bad thing."
Mewskers picked that moment to stand and stretch, digging his claws into Klaus's leg. He didn't flinch, but Vadim jerked away like Klaus had bitten him.
"What?"
"Ouch."
"You felt that?"
"I …" he stared down at Mewskers. "I did. Through you." Vadim returned to his previous spot, leaning against Klaus's shoulder with his head resting against the side of Klaus's. "You have a high pain tolerance."
The awe in Vadim's voice was enough to make Klaus's face hot. "So do you." Vadim had endured torture at Martiz's hands the morning of his trial, and Klaus had been impressed. "Maybe not when you're startled, but when …" The memory itself was painful, not only from Martiz pulling Vadim to his knees by his hair but also the shame and revulsion he'd felt through their link. "I'm so sorry. I should have been there for you."
"He would have used you to hurt me." Vadim's breath warmed his temple before the slightest touch of his lips. "I didn't like the way he looked at you. That's why I asked you to stay away."
"I know." Klaus reached for Vadim's hand, but instead of twining their fingers, he tugged at the glove's hem. When Vadim removed the glove and returned his hand to the same position in his lap, Klaus took it, reveling in the feel of Vadim's soft skin against his.
"I can read through the journal for you," Klaus offered. "I'll search for any clues you missed."
Vadim chuckled. "You'll be bored to tears in a matter of moments. Hesse was many things, but he wasn't a storyteller. He embellishes the mundane and glosses over the facts."
"Tell me about him?"
Vadim released his hand to take off his other glove, and then he picked Klaus up by his hips and shifted so Klaus was seated on his lap, with Mewskers on Klaus's lap. "What do you want to know?"
"What do you remember most about him?"
Vadim kissed Klaus's hair. "His audacity. After I killed the guard that attacked me, the prince demanded I take his place. He should have kicked me out of the academy and sent me back to Aquarion."
Klaus had so many questions, but Vadim's sadness at first mention of Hesse made him ask, "How did it end?"
"He graduated, and then his father passed away and he became emperor all within a month. He and Delilah married in a whirlwind, and she was pregnant before I finished my third year. The War of Unification had dragged on for years. Hesse wanted to end it with a victory, so after I graduated, I boarded the first naval ship that needed a death weaver. We claimed a few islands for the empire. By the time I returned to port, the war was over."
