Page 74 of Suffer No Fools
"I floated over them." Hugo grinned at Tovey. "That's convenient. Why don't you fly everywhere?"
"Same reason Stan doesn't just shift the earth around instead of picking things up," Tovey said. "It's impractical."
Hugo's grin widened. "You two fascinate me. You're so much alike. I swear that's why you're at each other's throats so often."
"I can assure you, we are nothing alike," Tovey said.
The comment was on the tip of Stan's tongue, too, and he laughed. Maybe there was some truth to it.
"What are you laughing at?" Tovey asked.
"Nothing alike," he repeated and burst out laughing again.
"You need sleep," Efren said, shaking his head. "I'll see you this time tomorrow at the sentinel tree conference room. Not a moment sooner."
"Aye, Captain," all three said together, hastening Efren's retreat to the front door with Tovey on his heels.
Outside, Niall waited on the front porch. Stan and Hugo waved to him but remained where they were, even as they bothfelt the weaves of magic form outside and then settle over the house like a shield.
Tovey returned to stare at them from the captain's original perch against the kitchen counter. "Up you get. We need to rest after the night we've had."
"I need food first," Hugo whispered. "We brought home some tarts, yes? And more of Tim's paradise fruit bread?"
"You ate all the bread," Tovey chided, "but we have some berry tarts."
Stan was too tired to stand, let alone help. Somehow, Tovey still had the strength to set the table, pass out the tarts, and pour them each a glass of water to wash down the sticky sweetness.
Even Tovey's joke in his head, that he could think of something else sticky and sweet to put in his mouth, couldn't spur Stan to action. He was fading fast. If he didn't stand up soon, he would be sleeping at the kitchen table.
"Oh, no you don't." Tovey helped him up once he and Hugo had washed the dishes. "Up you get."
Hugo and Tovey carried him up the stairs. The memory of the night before, when he'd led them upstairs, brightened his thoughts for a moment, and then his heart sank. That night would forever be tainted. Instead of remembering his first time taking both of his lovers inside him, Stan would remember the kidnappers coming to take Hugo.
"It was not the same day,"Hugo reminded him.
"It will never cross my mind to connect them,"Tovey added."What we did was wonderful."
Tovey and Hugo helped him out of his breeches and under the blankets. This time, Stan was flat on his back, shoulder to shoulder with Tovey, and Hugo lay half on top of both of them, no part of him touching the mattress. He was right where he belonged.
Hugo caressed Stan's cheek. "Please don't worry. I will never trade what we have for anyone or anything else."
"Not even peace?" Stan asked.
"Sometimes we go to war for what is right," Hugo said. "This is right. You are right for me. They tried to keep me from you. I'd sacrifice my throne to keep you." He snorted. "It won't come to that, though. They don't have the support of their sovereign."
"How do you know that?" Tovey asked.
Hugo grinned. "I had a little help. The captain has a parrot in her quarters."
Tovey groaned. "You eavesdropped with a parrot?"
"The bird doesn't like her and wants to be free." He kissed Stan's shoulder, and Stan felt it through their bond, the gentle weave that broke the lock on the bird's cage.
"The storm's raging again," Tovey said. "What if--"
"She can make it to the barracks," Hugo said. "There are places she can stay warm and dry until we can rescue her and bring her back here."
"A parrot?" Stan asked, careful to keep his voice neutral. He'd never much cared for the birds. They were obnoxious, and their ability to mimic their owners always pissed him off.
