Page 71 of Suffer No Fools
The air weaver deposited him in the first one and held Hugo inside the cell with an air weave until the door shut firmly between them. He released all air weaves at once, leaving Hugo gasping for breath.
"What are you doing?"he asked."Where are you taking me?"
"This island is worthless,"the air weaver said."You can't even offer us a trade deal from here. We need you back in Hearthstone."
"You need me back with Coryn, you mean."
Hugo had closed his eyes and searched the ship for the highest point that would burn. Stan and Tovey were on their way. He could feel them coming closer, but he wasn't sure how well they could feel him. They needed a signal beacon to find him.
The bars did nothing to halt the power raging in his core. He lit the top of the tallest mast on fire, hoping it would provide light without bringing too much attention to it, but of course, they had someone in the crow's nest, and that person noticed right away. They screamed for water, and Hugo doused the tiny fire, not because water worked on it, but because they'd seen it! Stan and Tovey were coming!
Footsteps rushed down the stairs and two women dressed in Glamierian officer uniforms approached his cell.
"Stop with the fires,"said the shorter, broader woman with a tricorn hat."We'll be sailing for Luminest to restock and gather more forces, and then it's on to Hearthstone to put you back on the throne where you belong."
"That was our plan all along,"Hugo told her,"but we need to wait until spring. We'll have more ships built by then."
"We don't need these idiots. All they're doing is ruining you for a marriage pact."
"What marriage pact? What do you mean?"
"My air weavers caught you in bed with your guards, or did you forget what you were doing earlier tonight?"
"You've kidnapped me because you don't want me to sleep with my guards?"Hugo had never heard anything so ludicrous in his life. Coryn hadn't wanted him to sleep with anyone, true, but these Glamierians were no better than she was if they thought they could control him."You'll be lucky to have a ship left when I'm done with it."
"If you sink us, you'll die, too."
"I'll take my chances."That was when his fire had blazed, eating away the night shirt but leaving his body, even his hair, intact.
He pulled the sail Hannah had brought him closer around his shoulders. Tovey turned toward him, studying him in the low light of the fire someone had started on the beach. Jasmine. She must have followed her brother toward the commotion. The rain had stopped, but the fire was the only light after Nola had taken her water globe with her.
"Let's warm you up by the fire." Instead of walking beside him, Tovey scooped him up, one arm around his shoulders, the other under his knees. Hugo resisted the urge to scream. This was Tovey, his Tovey, who would never hurt him.
"They came into our home," Hugo said. "They ..." He couldn't explain it. They'd done nothing to physically harm him, but Hugo still felt violated.
"It's all right, baby." Tovey stood him back on his feet beside a log and helped him adjust the sail so he could sit on it comfortably. Then, Tovey sat beside him, arm around him, pulling him tight against his side. "I'm so sorry."
"You didn't do this." Hugo couldn't stop the tears streaming down his cheeks. "They tried to take me from you."
Tovey draped his legs over Hugo's and wrapped both arms around him, resting his head on Hugo's shoulder. "Oh, baby, they can't take you from us. Now that we're bonded, we'll always find you. And you … you were magnificent."
"I was?" Hugo had been grateful for the air and earth weaves when they'd bent to his will and helped him escape. Now, he wondered what it meant.
"You're the true ruler of Embertide," Tovey said. "That's all it means. You've inherited your ancestors' fire and ice and their ability to bond with other elementals."
"The stories are all true, then," Hugo said. "Empress Leanna, who had fire and water. Empress Moira, who could heal the sick. Emperor Joaquin, who helped to build the tower on Stony Eel Island and nearly went mad."
"Empress Vivian," Tovey said, "who bonded with her guard and became one of the most powerful earth and fire mages to rule."
Her wing in the palace had been Hugo's favorite. If given the choice, he would have moved there when he became emperor. He was tired of his childhood room, even now that he knew it had a secret passage that led beneath the palace.
He huddled closer to Tovey and buried his face against Tovey's bare chest so he wouldn't stare at the strange sight on the beach. The ship that had brought him to Aquarion was now on her side while Stan and the other earth weavers worked to fix the hole punched through her.
"We need a treaty with Glamiere," Hugo said. "Will you and Stan sail there with me?"
"We'll go wherever you need to be," Tovey said. "These are not our only visitors from Glamiere, though. There's a merchant ship docked closer to Gulde's shop. We'll speak withthem tomorrow and see if they'd be willing to pass a message to Sovereign Oton."
Hugo didn't want to think about treaties and meetings and war. He wanted to go back to bed between his two gorgeous men.
