Page 50 of Suffer No Fools
"No." Fanidra picked at the hem of her tunic. "I don't suppose he did. I don't know of anyone besides Coryn who would have first turned against healers, and then turned toward them when she realized what travesties they could create." Fanidra glanced up and stood. "Speaking of healers, I'll see you around." She gave a slight bow and disappeared into the underbrush beyond his bench. If she continued that way, she would end up on the path between the boarding house and Gulde's store.
Yvette came around the side of the old barracks and looked both ways before following the path to Hugo's bench. His was the furthest from Petri's food stand, which was boarded up after lunch, and the only one in the sun.
"Where did she go?" Yvette asked between breaths.
Hugo pointed to the underbrush, and she sighed. "I am not a fucking babysitter."
"If she wanted to betray us, she would have brought Coryn's entire navy with her," Hugo said. "A little trust will go a long way with Coryn's people. Look at Vadim."
"She's nothing like Vadim," Yvette grumbled. "You'll do well to remember that."
He knew Fanidra better than he knew Yvette, but he didn't say that to her face when she was still breathless and angry over losing Fanidra in the underbrush. "Is my enchantment necklace still onStarlight Specter?" he asked instead.
"Possibly, or Tim might have it."
"Where does he live?"
"He stays at the boarding house." She pointed. "I'll walk you there. Fanidra might be there, as well."
Hugo slipped the silver cuffs into his jacket pocket and followed her. Instead of walking along the path, Yvette stalked off into the underbrush, following Fanidra's trail of trampled grass. Neither of them was particularly stealthy, and they didn't catch up to her. When they reached the main path, there was no trace of Fanidra and no sign of which direction she'd taken.
"I can go on to the boarding house alone, if you want to search Gulde's?"
"No," Yvette said. "Protecting you is far more important. Where are Stan and Tovey, anyway?"
"On a date." He grinned.
"With each other?" Yvette's eyebrows disappeared beneath her hair.
"We each have date nights during the week, and then weekends for each other."
Yvette frowned at him as though he'd grown another head. "Whose idea was that?"
"Mine!"
Her brow scrunched even tighter.
"It was in a book I borrowed from Klaus,The Pirates and Their Princess.The two pirates didn't get along, so the princess sent them on a date together."
Yvette nodded. "Sounds a little too close to reality for me."
Hugo shook his head. "They were all women."
Yvette laughed. "I might have to borrow that book from Klaus, then." She tugged on his arm to urge him toward the boarding house in the distance. It sat back from the path a few hundred feet, while the path continued to a boardwalk over sand.
"That used to be the ocean," Yvette pointed. "The pool should fill with fresh water once the rainy season begins."
Tovey and Stan had regaled Hugo with tales about the storms that came along during the rainy season, but the weather had continued to hold out for them.
"If we don't have our first taste before Solstice, it's usually worse afterward. It will rain for days on end, if not entire weeks."
"I like the rain," Hugo said. "It rained the day of my mother's coronation, and we danced in the courtyard together." If he wasn't careful, he would be crying on yet another pirate's shoulder, thanks to memories of his parents.
"Tim's on the porch." Yvette raised her free hand in greeting and pushed Hugo forward with the other.
"What brings you here?" Tim asked.
"We were wondering if you had my enchantment necklace, or know where it is," Hugo said. "I was practicing with silver cuffs, but Fanidra suggested the necklace would be more appropriate for the task."
