Page 49 of Gilded Lies

“True.”

“As far as they know, David might have been going nuts and dumping gold all over his floors. I mean, he was crazy enough to keep you chained up in his garden to a gold tree that collapsed by other piles of gold. Lucky you managed to get away, huh? Clearly, he’d lost part of his brain somewhere, and it was so unfortunate that you were taken by a madman.” Jari tilted his head and gave Aurelius a knowing look. “Insane people often do things that make no sense, and some reach a point where they hurt others.”

The rumors of what happened might grow wild since people often took what they heard and twisted what they didn’t understand. They passed it along, and small details got changed.

Either way, nobody would point a finger at Aurelius and say he did it. A crazy bastard indulging himself in his Castle that only employed a few servants was more plausible. The couplewho had seen Aurelius hadn’t seen him gild, so they couldn’t say anything.

Perhaps they’d think David cracked because his son’s death had chipped at his mind and wore it down.

“As for Este’s special people, it works too because King David kept no court. The few servants wouldn’t have been privy too much, and the gate guards they caught from the Zorian men in the city did say that a few times, unmarked carriages entered the grounds and went around the back. Who knew what he was doing? They questioned the servants, and they said King David had you for dinner and chained to the table like a dog. It’s rather odd to have such a pleasant meal with your enemy. At least the poor man can rest now instead of flinging his wealth around.” Jari rolled his eyes.

“What time is it?” Aurelius glanced at the entrance flaps and could see a couple of cracks of faint light.

“The sun will set in a couple of hours. We slept for quite a bit, and we were up late. Este’s going to have notices passed around so the lords here will know that Zora is under your control. Considering that the King is dead, the capital was taken, and no heirs were marked down, I don’t think they’ll rise up and start a rebellion. It happened too fast, and trying to group together for a war against you and Este wouldn’t be a smart move. She’s going to send some armed men around to make sure order is being kept.”

If the lords also got to keep their positions, life wouldn’t change that much for them. New ruler, same shit. They’d probably be happier that a huge war hadn’t broken out, and without David around to pick at the edges of Nova once in a while, the people could settle down and get on with life.

Aurelius brushed crumbs from his hand as he finished a slice. “King David wasn’t hated. Despite what he did to me, and what people might think now, he wasn’t a cruel ruler. The laws andsuch weren’t harsh. He wasn’t loved either. His way of ‘war’ against Nova, since he couldn’t tell his people a lot of things, probably made him appear weak in a way like…like a bully who throws stones at someone and won’t go over to face them like a man.”

“Yeah, like he couldn’t go through with it. I doubt anyone will be rushing to avenge him. I wonder why he never put down an heir.”

“All he cared about was eating and accumulating more stuff. You don’t have to have gold in your eyes to be selfish and crazy. I’m assuming he didn’t care about the fate of Zora once he died. As long as he had whatever he wanted while he was alive, that’s what mattered. Not everyone gives a shit about the future of others once they’re dead and gone, and he had no family.”

Jari snapped his fingers. “That’ll help if people think grief slowly busted his head over the years. Most Kings pick someone they trust to take over if they have no family. Since he didn’t, I’d say that makes him look crazier. If Este’s trusted people turn out to be not so trustful-” He paused.

“Who cares? Let them do whatever the fuck they want. I’m ready to leave Zora.” It didn’t matter in the long run. Not for Aurelius, and what were they going to do to Jari? Nothing. “When can we go?”

“Este’s leaving some people here, the men and horses need a rest, and she has to organize some things. I’d say tomorrow. The army will get up and go when she says so.”

Aurelius wasn’t in a fit state to help her organize things, and he was still tired. Life itself was much harder now. “I want another bath. Just me in it. No offense.”

“That’s fine.”

Nothing would ever be fine again.

“I'm glad that fucker in the entrance hall is dead,” added Jari.

“I still wish I could kill him again.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” asked Jari.

Aurelius had been rather vague about Corvo when he told Jari about the events at David’s Castle, although there had been enough detail to figure out who Corvo was.

“If you feel like you need to get more out…” Jari added in a small voice.

Aurelius knew he meant it with every ounce of his heart, and he'd listen. The offer alone said volumes, and nobody had offered to just listen, but Aurelius didn't want to go back to any memories relating to Corvo. Or at least not at the moment.

“I just want to take a bath.”

***

The main group moved out. Mercury kept giving Aurelius annoyed looks as if displeased to see that he wasn’t riding Galahad, who was back in Morning Glory. Este took care of the details of everything, so all Aurelius had to do was ride the horse he’d been given, keep his hood up, and not start gilding every damn thing even though the voice whispered everyone would be so pretty.

If the locket had any more salt in it, it wouldn’t close. If it broke or something, Aurelius could kiss goodbye his ability to think halfway normally. If he gilded anyone, Jari might as well put him down then because no amount of twisted tales and blaming others for strange things would erase that from everyone’s memory.

“Mother’s not going to be happy,” Este said as they rode that morning and lagged behind the main group that stayed ahead. Aurelius didn’t want to be too near everyone else anyway.

“Why would she be mad at you?” asked Jari.

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