Page 49 of Suffer No Fools
"I heard your boarding house has a few openings." She stared at Hugo for so long he blushed. "Are they taking good care of you, Your Majesty?"
"Yes." He coughed into his hand. "Thank you."
"I never much cared for the way Coryn treated you. I hope you can forgive me for holding a dagger to your throat."
Hugo laughed. "I'm grateful you gave me the opportunity I needed."
"That was all planned." She returned her calculating gaze to Vadim. "You really are a sadistic bastard."
"I prefer pragmatic."
"You would." She laughed. "I like it here." She patted Yvette's arm, making her jump. "Thanks for the invite."
"If you double cross us," Nola said, "Vadim won't be fast enough to kill you."
Tovey glanced at Stan. He swore he could almost hear Stan's thoughts, aligned with his. If Fanidra did anything to hurt Hugo, she would answer to them.
"I'll show you to the boarding house." Efren stood and motioned for Fanidra to follow him to the door.
They waited in silence until Klaus inhaled audibly. "All right. They're gone."
"Coryn has more than enough silver to make this death-resistant jewelry," Vadim said.
"When has silver ever hindered you?" Yvette asked. "That's utterly ridiculous. If it were that easy, everyone would wear it."
"It's more than silver," Vadim said. "It's an enchantment." He glanced at Klaus, who nodded. "It was incomplete, but the stone contained a healing weave that could counter death magic."
"Fanidra has no healing magic," Yvette said. "That's confusing to me. Is Lou a healer in disguise?"
"Allora claimed she could work with me to make healing potions before I left for the academy." Vadim sighed. "Maybe Fanidra has been drained, same as I was."
"Martiz was nowhere near her." Yvette sighed. "Unless he was. I saw him in Hearthstone once when we were at the academy."
"Spring can't come soon enough," Vadim said. "When we reach the palace, Coryn is mine."
"Only after I break her silly necklaces." Hugo's reassuring smile brightened the otherwise grim conversation. "Does anyone have any silver I could use to practice?"
Klaus cleared his throat, and Vadim's cheeks darkened to the shade of winter berries. "Only if we can have it back when you're finished."
Chapter 8
Hugo
Hugo didn't want to know why Vadim and Klaus still possessed the silver manacles. Coryn's guards had bound Vadim with them when they'd caught him sneaking around the palace. The heavy silver cuffs sat on the stone bench beside Hugo. Whenever he attempted to heat the lock, the chain between the cuffs shifted and jingled against the stone.
Stan and Tovey had abandoned him to go on their date. Time had passed in a blur since the weekend, and it was already Wednesday again. Still, Hugo was no closer to solving the Coryn problem, starting with the enchantments Fanidra had explained to them.
"That's not the right kind of clasp," Fanidra said, startling him as she leaned over the bench from behind him. "You need to super-heat the chain, so it breaks. Manacles are designed to tighten and imprison. They're thicker and harder to manage. These necklaces and bracelets were designed to protect, like the one I had made for you." She sat down beside him. "Do you still have it?"
"It might be on the ship," Hugo said. "Tim took it off me."
"Tim." Her grin was feral. "Efren's crew are very resourceful. He was the only one who could do it, besides the spectral weaver." She glanced around, as though looking for Niall. "I haven't met Efren's bonded yet. What's he like?"
"Kind." Hugo shrugged. "Everyone here is kind, and not the way they are in Hearthstone. People were nice to me there because they were afraid of Coryn, or because they thought they could curry favor."
"Don't be mistaken," Fanidra said with a slight shake of her head. "The islanders also want to stay on your good side. If you win the war, they'll finally have the freedom to trade with Glamiere and the other liberated islands along with Embertide. They very much want to stay in your good graces."
"I also want freedom for them," Hugo said. "I read my father's letters to Vadim, and one of his journals. He hated war. He added the outer islands to the empire because it's what his father asked on his deathbed, but he didn't want this."
