Page 78 of Suffer No Fools
"Glamiere's sovereign isn't interested in a political marriage." He couldn't even contain his excitement as he burst into the kitchen.
"For fuck's sake, you're lucky to be alive." Tovey took the blanket from his shoulders. "We can feel every foolish mistake you make."
"Oh, that?" Hugo kissed him to prevent more unimportant rebukes. "They also approve of our relationship and our bond. They won't try to break us apart."
"Good," Stan said. "Not that we were worried about that. We heard everything the bird told you."
"You did?" Hugo frowned. He hadn't realized he was sharing the information from Breezy with them, but he supposed it couldn't be helped. They knew his every thought and each nuance of magic. It was only fair that they were more concerned with his foolhardy behavior than with the actions of a monarch a half-day away. "You know about the separate trade agreement with Aquarion, and the one to come with Embertide once I take back my throne?"
"I stopped paying attention when you leaped off the platform." Stan crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned his hip against the kitchen table.
Hugo skipped over to him and slid his hands up his solid chest and into his hair, gripping it while they kissed. Stan dropped his arms and grabbed Hugo's ass the way that made him feel cherished.
"I'm fine," Hugo said when he broke the kiss. "I'm better than fine. I'm so happy they still want to work with us."
"How do we know the sovereign isn't just saying what we want to hear?" Tovey asked, always the suspicious one.
"You can ask them yourself," Hugo said. "They're coming here when Jermain tests one of his new ships. I'm guessing Jermain will want Stan to rearrange the banquet hall for a private meeting room for the two of us, but I was thinking we could meet in the treasure room." Once they'd cleaned out all the gifts and trinkets Hugo didn't want or need, it now held the gold, silver, and gems Glamiere and the other islands had given to fund their war effort.
"When will they meet with Jermain?" Tovey asked.
"Tomorrow morning."
"We'll worry about it tomorrow, then." Stan took his hand and walked him toward the stairway, and their bed.
It was bedtime, both on Aquarion and onStarlight Specter, andHugo needed his rest. Tomorrow would be a long day, but he hoped for an agreement with Glamiere's sovereign by the end of it.
#
Stan
Stan had encountered plenty of people claiming to be nobles over the years. He'd met true royalty, as well. Hugo's father had boarded Stan's naval vessel to introduce himself during the war. Stan had even danced with Hugo's mother at a judicious Summer Solstice celebration.
Both Hesse and Delilah had been close to Stan's age. Stan still didn't understand what Hugo saw in him, but at least his young lover had never once compared him to either of his parents. Stan was happy to keep all comparisons of his comforting presence to his element rather than his age. And fuck's sake, if the man ever called him "Daddy," he would steala fishing boat and sail for Glamiere, where he would change his name.
Stan didn't need to run to Glamiere to meet their sovereign. They had arrived with a fanfare of horns off the prow of Jermain's new ship. The sleek design gave her a speed advantage overStarlight Specter.They'd sighted the pirate ship from the top of the sentinel tree while the sovereign's ship docked, but she was still a half-hour from shore.
"Emperor Hugo!" Sovereign Oton stopped the appropriate distance from Hugo and bowed to him. They wore a gold jacket embroidered with a beautiful nature scene over a gold skirt that left strange drag marks in the sand when they walked.
They were shorter than Hugo by a few inches, but one would never know it because the sunburst crown they wore towered over their head by at least a foot. Their eyes were shadowed with kohl to contrast their white face paint. Stan remembered the first time he'd seen white painted faces at a pleasure house in Luminest. He'd thought they were honoring their dead.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Sovereign Oton."
"Yes, yes, pleasure, blah, blah, all that." They bowed again. "We played in your garden when we were children! Don't you remember? You were ten, and I was six. You kept me safe from the evil woman who killed your father. I never forgot that story, or that visit."
Hugo blushed as he took their arm and led them to the path past the barracks. It was late enough in the day to have lunch at Petri's stand while they waited forStarlight Specterto dock.
"I'm so sorry I didn't recognize you. You've changed your name."
"Yes, and my pronouns." They paused.
"Then introductions are in order again," Hugo said with a smile. "I'm Emperor Hugo of Embertide, he and him, if you please."
"And I am Sovereign Oton of Glamiere, child of the sun, as they say, they and them pronouns, though any will do. You can't mis-gender me, though today my servants dressed me as a woman because they want you to think I'm weak. As if women are weak." They stuck their tongue out at a tall woman in a black dress trying desperately to blend in with the white sand behind them.
"My friends Trin and Jasmine would argue against that belief, as well," Hugo said.
"Ah, so you do have women on this island. Rumor has it, you bedded two men because they were the only choices you had."
